watching this and thinking so its not just my kids that wanna roll down ramps on chairs lol

So happy for you Ray, you're doing it!
Wish you the best

It's cool that your child is there with you and learning. My mom used to take me to work when I was very young and it made me feel so good to learn and to be helpful.

You have insurance on ALL THE THINGS already right? disasters, theft of your stuff, injury, bla bla bla.

I know the fear with your livelihood I moved all my tools from Arizona to California then to Oregon and a yr ago to Alaska 35yrs 5 boxes and a never told the wife amount of tool truck rapeage

Ray needs a live in shop dog, a big one with a bad attitude and f@*ck off big teeth.

Be safe this week. I see a storm is on the way.

First shop upgrade, put a decent winch on the roller door.

Some of my fondest memories is from when my Dad owned his shop. Spent many hours playing in his shop. I was probably about the age of your kids. Thanks for taking me back. Good luck brother.

Customers sweat about their crummy cars

How hot has it been in Florida man it's been almost 80 here in Tennessee

I hope it all goes well for you Ray. It's a big step..

I hope to live this dream as you are in the near future, It's nice to see what it could look like. Lot's of work to do to get there.

Man I've been here since you left the dealership and glad to see your progress! I'm starting from scratch myself doing Mobile repairs

Where's the cat?

It’s somewhat reassuring to see your oil pressure runs as low as mine. Even after replacing 2 oil pressure sensors, I am still receiving this “blessing” from GMC. Best of luck going out on your own. I’m sure you’ll do just fine.

Thank you !

congrats Ray wish you all the best in your new venture and umm you turned the radio off so what are the mice going to listen to😁😁

Your very livelyhood is no longer in your trailer in your backyard or some other owner's garage. It's in an industrial area near what I think is the Palmetto area. So: Use Ably or Best brand locks, reenforced door ways and jams, harden those windows in the office, find security surveillance cameras that use onsite DVR equipment bolted to the infrastructure with online backup, with 3x full online UPS (to avoid constant tripping to battery as your air compressor kicks on). and you might consider motion and sound monitoring while unoccupied. Find a security system that is monitored with operator ability to PA into the area. 7-11 uses similar systems Don't forget to consider intrusion from your neighbor's shop. And get insured and reevaluated by their adjuster. You know, once you can afford all it. Oh, and make friends with the local Manatee/Sarasota Sheriff's office. Perhaps pick up some contract work for their office, but offer friend/family discounts to the individual officers personal vehicles. That can go a long way for emergency response and false alarms.

There's 2 ways to set up shop for "Ray's Bays"… The first way is to simply bring in your most used tools, but do NOT dedicate any particular place for them. Start bringing in cars for repair and all your tools will quickly find their correct place where they make the most sense to you. The downside of this first method is the disorganization at the beginning, but it quickly becomes organized over the first week or two. While this method takes a bit longer up front, the tools will end up being in a more usable place because their locations come out of necessity of actual use. The second method is to put the tools where you think they ought to be before you start doing repairs. This is the way most people do things. The downside of this method is that you will probably do a whole bunch of rearranging as necessities and convenience becomes clarified. These people often never feel they're done organizing and it can go on forever, which is fine if it suits you. Both of these ways do work, but one needs to realize it's smarter to go with one of these methods then it is to have no organizational plan whatsoever (but even that can work too).

The office should not have an outside window! You desperately need more/better lighting – have fun !

You need a CCTV system… Lorex makes one with free smartphone notifications when there is movement in a defined area and it sends it to you) … Can also hook up to your alarm to set it off of it sees movement in your shop for example. Plus it serves as a record for any damages claimed by a customer both in your shop and outside it for liability purposes. Super cheap and easy to setup. I used to do these on the side. Just a tip. Don't go wireless, easily jammed by criminals.