A Singaporean In Australia

Another Barry White Project update


Carey came over at 0800hrs sharp this morning. He lived 50km away from us in Baldivis and probably drove close to 1 hour to get here. Carey took only 5 minutes to walk around Barry White and made his decision what he wanted from me.

He wanted the spare tyre, battery and a casing lid and asked me how much I wanted for them. I quoted A$90.00 and asked him if he was fine with that. He agreed to the sum without haggling. I didn't kick myself for not asking for more because he was a great customer. I didn't feel bad for not getting more. In fact, I didn't have a single clue if I was over or under-charging. It didn't matter I guess, I felt good with this deal.

We spent a total of 10 minutes to settle the deal and pack them into Carey's 2006 Toyota Hilux. He got that for A$8000. It sound like and great deal to me and I told him that. Not surprisingly, he agreed. I asked him why did he choose to live so far away from the city. Without hesitation he told me he paid A$400,000 for his 350sqm house sitting on a 960sqm land and went on describing the place and the town in detail. He was very clear what he wanted and remained happy about his decision despite having to travel quite a bit of distance to work in Cannington every day.

Carey worked as a electrical apprentice, being paid around A25.00 an hour with all allowances added in. He pointed that his company was generous, apprentice could be paid much lower in other companies. Prior to being offered apprenticeship, he worked for the same company as a construction trade assistant, taking about A$30.00 an hour. He accepted a pay cut to take up the apprenticeship so that he would be able to command a tradesman wage if he could graduate after 4 years.

Carey was a panel beater when he was in New Zealand, with 25 years of experience behind him. Beats me why he did not continue this trade after he moved to Australia. I guess I was not the only one who wanted to take a break from my work in the previous industry after I landed in Perth. We went on for another good half an hour talking about panel beating and car spraying. Finally, I got some of my questions that bugged me for decades answered.

When I was young, I tried to spray the frame of my old bicycle so that it looked 'fierce' enough to ride along with the other boys in the neighbourhood. To my disappointment it never turned out well for me even once. I could not understand why the spray can could not produce the 'chrome' effect that was promised in the product label. As I grew up, I didn't really understand the concept and gave up learning about it, conveniently assumed I needed expensive equipment to produce what I wanted in mind.

Carrey actually took a lot of time explaining how touching up a car works in steps. It was a good Sunday morning. On top of that, another A$90.00 went to the Barry White Project.