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Thunderbird Club

#310,701
Count Bassie said:
[Count Bassie/Rant] So the other day I went to my job, cedars on a house exterior and re-trimming some windows, to find a piece of window still nosing I'd rounded over (block plane and sandpaper) and cut to length, cut shorter to fit a new installation by another contractor on the same job. I didn't know there would be another contractor working, and hadn't done the math for materials *I wasn't going to need*. Naturally I was annoyed.
I spoke to him, but was meet with the protest that the owner of the house told him to use whatever was there... (He's in Greece)
Today I'm mulling over whether to pull the sill he installed and cut him a new piece to do his own work on, and put my own work on another window I have to address. It seems slightly petty, looking at the big picture. And I don't wish to stress the owner of the house, he's a friend of mine and works hard for his family. But gddmmt, that's my work and time he stole. I'm already trying to get out with my skin here.
I hate this business, it is populated by a considerable percentage of people who are dumb and lazy, who show up and go through all the motions but are willing to steal and cut corners. It is a dishonorable business so much of the time. And these people think they're tough and full of purpose. Homo Sapiens-Sapiens often suck.
Sometimes I hate people. [End rant/etc]

THUNDERBIRDS!!
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When not playing your Thunderbird, you might discuss how to address this with the owner.
When I worked for a general contractor (mostly commercial) I think most of our work came from other companies not knowing what they were doing and we would take over and fix their messes. We were doing what the Canadian Mike something or other on TV did ("Make It Right" or something like that). We were known for doing things right and fixing problems from other "professionals." Got to point some people just called us and didn't get bids because they didnt' want to risk that potential problems. And we were not cheap.
Way too many people think because they have a hammer and a saw they can do carpentry. Same for other related trades as well. Just because a person has done it, doesn't mean they know how to do it. Big difference. I feel sorry for people needing contractors. When I need something done I can't do now or don't want to tackle, I casually talk about working construction and politely mention I'm picky and know what it should look like and if it's not right, they will not be finished,so if they don't want to take the job, I understand. Better to walk away now than have to keep coming back to get right, or not get fully paid. While I never pained a car, I told a body shop once that if they can't make it to where I can't tell what and where they did the work, they need to let me know now because they won't be finished if I can tell. I was nice about it and told the guy not to take any offense and he didn't. And did a great job.
 
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#310,702
I have done what I do for 40 years now, (electronic security, intrusion alarms, cameras, access control and fire alarm systems) and everything was hardwire when I started. Long ago while working for a company I found that I would rather work alone as much as possible because, with only a few exceptions over those years, every “apprentice” or “experienced” technician would always cut corners or otherwise not do things to my standards.

When I went out on my own, from day one, I knew I would not have any employee(s). I have help occasionally when simply pulling cable, but all terminations and control panel wiring is done by me only. When I worked for a company, I moved from installations to service only, every service call I went on was not to my original installations, almost always being an installation done by another “experienced” technician. When it was a call to one of my own installations, it was and easy fix due to my clear documentation of wiring, zones, devices, etc.

Now, running my own show for 15 years or so, I have over 200 systems I monitor, and am responsible for, and aside from standard type service calls (batteries, equipment malfunction), I rarely have to do any service, all systems I am responsible for were installed or updated and fully documented by me.

I have a couple of companies I work with (subcontracting them for bigger installs that are way too much for one guy), and luckily I have found they have high standards as well, and they are not cheap, for sure.
 
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#310,704
Count Bassie said:
[Count Bassie/Rant] So the other day I went to my job, cedars on a house exterior and re-trimming some windows, to find a piece of window still nosing I'd rounded over (block plane and sandpaper) and cut to length, cut shorter to fit a new installation by another contractor on the same job. I didn't know there would be another contractor working, and hadn't done the math for materials *I wasn't going to need*. Naturally I was annoyed.
I spoke to him, but was meet with the protest that the owner of the house told him to use whatever was there... (He's in Greece)
Today I'm mulling over whether to pull the sill he installed and cut him a new piece to do his own work on, and put my own work on another window I have to address. It seems slightly petty, looking at the big picture. And I don't wish to stress the owner of the house, he's a friend of mine and works hard for his family. But gddmmt, that's my work and time he stole. I'm already trying to get out with my skin here.
I hate this business, it is populated by a considerable percentage of people who are dumb and lazy, who show up and go through all the motions but are willing to steal and cut corners. It is a dishonorable business so much of the time. And these people think they're tough and full of purpose. Homo Sapiens-Sapiens often suck.
Sometimes I hate people. [End rant/etc]

THUNDERBIRDS!!
Click to expand...
That sounds like a frustrating situation! I think you're better off taking the high road and leaving the sill installed.
There needs to be a conversation about the owner hiring another contractor without telling you though.
 
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#310,705
Count Bassie said:
[Count Bassie/Rant] So the other day I went to my job, cedars on a house exterior and re-trimming some windows, to find a piece of window still nosing I'd rounded over (block plane and sandpaper) and cut to length, cut shorter to fit a new installation by another contractor on the same job. I didn't know there would be another contractor working, and hadn't done the math for materials *I wasn't going to need*. Naturally I was annoyed.
I spoke to him, but was meet with the protest that the owner of the house told him to use whatever was there... (He's in Greece)
Today I'm mulling over whether to pull the sill he installed and cut him a new piece to do his own work on, and put my own work on another window I have to address. It seems slightly petty, looking at the big picture. And I don't wish to stress the owner of the house, he's a friend of mine and works hard for his family. But gddmmt, that's my work and time he stole. I'm already trying to get out with my skin here.
I hate this business, it is populated by a considerable percentage of people who are dumb and lazy, who show up and go through all the motions but are willing to steal and cut corners. It is a dishonorable business so much of the time. And these people think they're tough and full of purpose. Homo Sapiens-Sapiens often suck.
Sometimes I hate people. [End rant/etc]

THUNDERBIRDS!!
Click to expand...
my wife contracted the husband of a work colleague to redo the carpets upstairs....somehow it was agreed he would redo the staircase (for which he's not qualified) as well......can totally see why MDs are not allowed to practice on folks they "know"..
 
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#310,706
Gaolee said:
The one in Lake Washington has been down there since it crashed. I don't remember whether it was before or after the end of WWII, but it happened in the 1940s.
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There's quite a few planes in the lake! As I recall there are submerged forests as well and it's pretty deep - No diving for the Queen!

"Portions of at least eight US Navy aircraft are located in Lake Washington. These aircraft include a J2F Duck, and FG-ID Corsair, and F4F Wildcat, a TBF Avenger, an SNV Trainer. a PV-2 Harpoon, a PBM Mariner, and a PBJY-2 Privateer."
 
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#310,707
TBird1958 said:
There's quite a few planes in the lake! As I recall there are submerged forests as well and it's pretty deep - No diving for the Queen!

"Portions of at least eight US Navy aircraft are located in Lake Washington. These aircraft include a J2F Duck, and FG-ID Corsair, and F4F Wildcat, a TBF Avenger, an SNV Trainer. a PV-2 Harpoon, a PBM Mariner, and a PBJY-2 Privateer."
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Most of them are way too deep for recreational divers, as I recall. The sunken forest down there is intriguing to me. I assume it got there because there was a land slide back when. As I understand it, there's stands of timber at the bottom, all still standing up like they originally grew.
 
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#310,710
Thanks for chiming in on the rant, you guys. I appreciate the insights, and the third party perspectives.
Irv, I think I'll just take the high road at this point, I've had a chunk eaten out of my side now over it, and I didn't need that at all. I also think I'll start coming up with more novel ways to make bread. The left shoulder burns almost all the time. That needs to be over too... Chronic pain is bad for morale, especially when dealing with other people's slackness and/or silliness (read "plundering your work").
[Count Bassie/Vent]At 63, I'm officially not getting any younger, even though I know guys still in the field at 70+.
Also I get to thinking it is, but it's probably not, worth physical conflict. Dude's bigger than me, but I'll bet I can take him. 👊😁 [Vent over]
 
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#310,711
I can’t get tradespeople to show up when agreed, or to contact me if they can’t make it. Very frustrating.

Currently trying to spend a bucketload of money on landscaping the front, put a few steps in, paving, a few more stairs & garden in front of the veranda.

Been trying on and off since November, stopped around Christmas, restarted the last week of Jan… hopefully it will get resolved soon!
 
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#310,712
Today would have been his 71st birthday, there's a really touching piece by Spencer Lull on FB today. Mike was such a warm, genuine man, I
count myself as fortunate to have gotten to know him just a little.

FTICmWa.jpg
 
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#310,713
RedVee said:
I can’t get tradespeople to show up when agreed, or to contact me if they can’t make it. Very frustrating.

Currently trying to spend a bucketload of money on landscaping the front, put a few steps in, paving, a few more stairs & garden in front of the veranda.

Been trying on and off since November, stopped around Christmas, restarted the last week of Jan… hopefully it will get resolved soon!
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Rebuilding after the SoCal fires is going to be a long, drawn out process. Good contractors are always busy and booking one is hard enough. Now they’ll be swamped.

We were fortunate to find a good contractor to fix the bear break in damage. But it took three months to get everything completed. Some of the delay was getting the right bathroom door made and sourcing some of the materials.
 
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#310,714
MCF said:
Interesting. I have only tried the the short scale , the Studio, and the ‘15. They don’t contact the rear bar. It doesn’t bother me. I’m glad I got the rack. My wife is much happier now. She is really great about letting me have “all that stuff” in the bedroom.
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I’m not sure how many of mine touch the back, but it doesn’t matter to me. They stay where I put them. Maybe a problem on a vibrating floor? Maybe? Maybe not.
 
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