Sometimes being an equipment appraiser means we have to take a road trip. And sometimes, a series of assignments means that the laptop and the smart phone transform the passenger seat of the company car into a mobile office for several days on end. Last month was very much like that, as we traveled from a business meeting in San Francisco to a construction equipment inspection in Crescent City, then down to Redding to look at boring equipment (as in horizontal boring, not dull) before taking a quick stop at an event production warehouse in our backyard of Sacramento and moving on to the Central Valley where we inspected a machine tool shop and a variety of medical equipment. Then up to the Bay area for yet one more restaurant equipment appraisal … since we were on the road anyway!
Lots of travel means forwarding the office phone to the cell phone, remembering to bring along phone headset, chargers for the phone and the laptop and the iPad, and visiting local coffee shops, restaurants, grocery stores and, of course, hotels. It’s always interesting to compare Yelp & TripAdvisor reviews with our own experience as we navigate through the state of California.
We’ve found some real jewels (Cafe Corazon in Fresno, for example, Sidewinders in Angels Camp, and just about any Best Western, where even if you only have 5 hours of sleep, they are excellent hours!) and had some “eh” meals. My driver and office manager remarked lately that trying to find good quality cooked vegetables was a real guessing game, where folks often respond to her request for a restaurant with good vegetables with reviews of potatoes, salad, tofu, rice & beans, instead of broccoli, spinach or green beans.
Communication is everything, from restaurant reviews on the internet to setting up inspections. We always receive and review asset lists before we show up for an equipment appraisal inspection so we know exactly what we’re looking for and at. All too often I find myself in possession of a depreciation schedule when I ask for an asset list. That’s when I pick up the phone and call the business owner to sort out item by item which pieces of equipment are ghosts, zombies, or dead.
And speaking of ghosts — have you ever tried to find a coffee shop that should be there & has disappeared? Maybe it’s just as well, because one thing I’ve noticed is that it’s mostly restaurants with mediocre ratings that don’t last very long. In fact, I’ve taken to checking ratings on bankrupt restaurants I appraise and sure enough, most of them haven’t been tops in the on-line ratings, for what that’s worth. The good ones generally fold for different reasons, such as financial over-extension, but that’s another story.
Jack Young, ASA, CPA
On-the-road equipment appraiser
NorCal Valuation Inc.
