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contracting 101
2024.05.18 00:26 Internal_Prune_5108 contracting 101
Residential Contracting 101
With over 20 years of building experience, I would like to share with you my insights in navigating becoming a successful contractor. With many different avenues of the building world its key to understand what problems will arise on any given day. A man once told a saying that stuck-the 6 p’s in life- Piss Poor Preparation leads to Piss Poor Performance. Preparation builds everything in construction, without preparation the jobsite will not run correctly. The best advice I was ever given was to learn a little about every trade giving you the ability to understand trade lingo and secrets. An example would be painters use the terminology flash; this means when the sub structure bleads through the paint. Subcontractors will give the best pricing if they respect your knowledge of the industry. If the subcontractor feels they will have to hold your hand through the job they will charge an extra fee…i.e. I call it the aggravation fee. In this blog I will explain the key elements in finding success in all aspects of the industry. Contracting is a physically and emotionally demanding job which requires planning and foresight to complete projects on time within budget. Picking your customer is just as important as picking your employees or subcontractors. I have worked for some of the most demanding customers leading me to question at the end if the job was even worth it. Sleepless nights, constant changes, lack of payment, lawsuit threats, adding work that was in the contract are just a few things you could face with a tough customer. With so many moving parts at all times it is critical to be able to adapt to changes within a short time frame. Materials will come in damaged, subcontractors will be late, employees will get sick, but the deadline you set does not change. The stress can be overwhelming at times keeping your mind in a good place is key to navigating all that is thrown at you. Choosing your client picking the right jobs-Keep these questions in mind The first question to be asked is what the time frame is to start the job to see if it fits within the timeframe for your business. If the time frame doesn’t work then move on from the project or let them know when you would be available to start. If the client really wants to use, they will wait until you are available. Taking on too much work will only lead to problems. Construction is a serviced based business, staying on top of the project and client will eliminate an unhappy customer and construction issues that will be over seen. With online presence if details are missed and customer service lacks it will only be a matter of time the phone will not ring. The second question to be asked to the client is do they have a budget in mind for the project. If they answer yes this is good, follow through with what the budget is. If the budget seems low let them know, this will eliminate a tire kicker, educate them on what the price range could be. If the budget seems reasonable then continue the discussion to the next question. If they answer no let them know that you can give them an estimate to see if the project is feasible with their finical capabilities. Taking on a job that is not correctly budgeted will lead to an unsatisfied customer due to non-transparency of the construction cost. The third question to be asked is anyone else bidding on the job, if the answer is yes, understand you might just be number check for the contractor doing the job. Dig a little deeper and find out how many numbers they are getting and why. If your business model is to be competitive be completely transparent with customer, this will gain trust with them. Let them know you get what you pay for and if you they choose the lowest bid it could lead into lack of quality of work.
The fourth question I will ask is there any specific subcontractors they wanted to use. If the answer is yes then I would explain to them you only use the subcontractors you have a working relationship with. Otherwise, this could backfire as the subcontractor might not show, do subpar work, talk behind your back to the homeowner. In my experience I would stay away from using any homeowner to alleviate problems down the road. A quick conversation now can save headaches down the road. The fifth question I will ask are planning on getting the job permitted, this needs to be known it takes more time for the permitting process. Plans will have to drawn submitted and approved to the city before work can commence. The sixth question I will ask if a residential remodel is are you going to be living through the remodel if yes understand this will take more time to navigate the project due to answering questions and cleaning the house on a daily occurrence. I would recommend seeing if the customer would be willing to move into an Airbnb or friends for at least the demo portion of the project. If they do plan on living through the remodel add a couple hours a day to accommodate the extra time that will be required. The seventh question I would ask in a residential remodel is how old the house is to see if there is asbestos that would need to removed by a proper company. A home built before 1979 will most likely have some asbestos in the house, use a licensed company with proper insurance to dispose of the materials. If everything looks good to this point find out a little more about the client personality. If the client seems reasonable, I would bid the job. Unreasonable people can cause you more stress than its worth. These are some red flags I would look out for. Some jobs are not worth the money. Very demanding in the way you are going to perform your job- I.e., tell you how you are going to do your job- You’re the professional not them! Give you a hard time about your price- haggle with price you estimated- The price is the price! If they are a family with little money and you want to help them out is one thing, if they are trying to beat you down is another. Mention they have a lawyer-there is no need for them to bring up that they have a lawyer - Run for the hills as if the job goes south, you will be the one losing out! Tell you what the payment terms are. It’s your business you get paid how it works for your company. If you want to get paid every Friday, put it into your contract-If the clients do not agree move on it will save you frustrations If they talk bad about the last contractor, chances are they will talk bad about you. There is a reason why the contractor does not work for them anymore, unless he did subpar work this a red flag Clients are using an interior decorator that will purchasing all of the materials- The materials could be ordered incorrectly by the interior designer your company will not make the mark-up it deserves. Interior decorators usually add time to the job as well as act like your boss. Charging a little extra for the time and stress that it will entail is only fair. Clients want to purchase the materials- You are using your knowledge to buy the correct materials-The mark up on the materials keeps the doors open working for wages only pays the bills The husband and wife do not get along-You will become the mediator between the couple it will lead to taking sides a losing proposition- A drama free work place is always best! Dangling carrot-if you do this job the next one will be better-Only look at what there offering at the present moment, if its not a good fit do not take the job for a job down the road…Its not worth chasing a job that might not happen! The Art of the Sale First things first selling your company is all about presentation. In meeting your clients for the first time show up with a collared golf shirt tucked in, belt, nice jeans, and newer shoes. Have a truck that a clean, no dents scratches, preferably washed the day you are going into your meeting. Have a leather note pad that is clean no dirt or paint visible. Show up 5 minutes early, if you’re running a little late shoot them a text to let them know. Treat the situation as if were going on a first date, best foot forward. As you introduce yourself give them a warm greeting, letting them know you are very interested in the work. Find out a little about them, hobbies, where they lived, etc etc. You are going to be working with them on a daily basis its nice to know what makes them tick. Having a good working relationship from the start is key forming a solid relationship. As the conversation progresses find out who wears the pants in the family…ie who’s the final decision maker. If its fits the wife, chances it is…..then kindly let the husband know happy wife happy life when their in a stall mate on an issue. As your looking at the project throw in some suggestions of what you think would look good from past experiences, this will get their attention that you have knowledge and want what’s best for them. If you see ways to save them money in their project let them know, money is a large point of the sale keep that in mind. Mention that you’re not the least expensive contractor but you’re not the most expensive either. Your customer satisfaction is your number one goal which leads to more time spent on keeping them happy. One happy customer will lead to another, one unsatisfied customer leads to work in the future. Bring up the fact the finishing the job on time is key goal to your business, many contractors run several jobs at once causing the jobs to be finished way behind schedule. You must stand out as having integrity, good morals, and the ability to problem solve to get the job. The clients will be testing you to see if you’re a good fit as well. Keep in mind as you take your notes that you must not forget anything they mention as it will come back before the job is completed…i.e. we mentioned that to you before we started the job! Take pictures of the proposed area for work, that way you can use it to better right your estimate. Let them know you will give them a detailed outline of when the job will be completed letting them see how long each phase will take and correlate it with your payment schedule. Before you leave their house let them know when the estimate will be sent to them. MAKE SURE YOU HIT THAT DEADLINE! Once you sent the email over with estimate make sure you get confirmation that they received it. Wait at least 2 days before checking with them, hopefully they contact you first! If they want negotiate the price, let them know that it is the best price that you can manage, its not worth losing money before you start. I closed 80% of the work I estimated by being very transparent and friendly. If you come off with an attitude charge double what the going rates are you might only land 1 out of 10 jobs as well as getting the reputation of being expensive. Bidding the job Looking up industry standards on pricing is what I would go buy for pricing. If you google the coat of any installation there will be a cost range for everything. Looking at the cost ranging from high to low I would tend to be in the middle. Some items might be low on the internet if this is the case use your best judgment not to lose money. Closing sales is key to success and keep the doors open for business. Being in the middle on pricing is key as most customers shy away from contractors that are extremely low or high on the price range. I tend not bid out hourly as wages do not pay for retirement. Bidding is better as customers no the exact price of the cost of construction. It also keeps the job moving quicker as time and material contractors take longer to complete projects…Thus costing the client more money and valuable time they could spend in their house. Using a Contract Using a detailed estimate tied to a contract covers your butt in 99% of the time. Having a piece of mind that every aspect of the job is covered in the estimate and contract protects both your company and the client. Key terms to include in your estimate/contract are. Have a schedule on excel showing the start dates and dates of each trade this will show the customer you are organized with time lines. If not written in the detailed in the estimate the item is excluded- This ensures if its not written down its not included. TBD- To be Determined- A phrase on a line item that has yet to had final decision of products or service needed. -The pricing will follow the decisions to be finalized Give out what your written warranty will be for parts and labor this changes state to state. If the homeowner provides the product than no warranty will be given on that particular item. In the contract have a start date and end date with the verbiage subject to change due to weather, product delivery, change orders Have a progress payment schedule to ensure the client understands when funding will be expected-Including if not payment is rendered service to the project will stop. Have written terms of how change orders will be charged-cost plus 20% or a set fee Make sure in your contract that arbitration is required versus going to court- This will save lawyer fees and going to court Many contracts can be found online and each state requires different contracts
Finding leads Finding leads is easy with the right network of people. I personally do not find working for friends or family members a good fit. Relationships get strained when money is involved, causing undue stress for both parties. I have listed a couple of ways to build a network or find work using the internet. Get in contact with realtor’s- Realtors have a big client base of homeowners who need work done Contact local Architects to see if they are working with any general contractors Leave some business cards at your local materials suppliers-Doowindow/lumber-many times clients will ask salesman for a referral. Join a business networking group- BNI is one of many Join a internet website lead generation company- Houzz, Angie’s List, Home Advisor, thumbtack, Yelp run an ad on craigslist Use a marketing company to market your website-This could become costly with little results Create a Facebook business page Create a Yelp business page
Building your subcontractor base Having 2 subcontractors for every trade, gives you the flexibility of completing jobs on time if the one the subcontractors is too busy at the time you need their service. Your subcontractors are the face of your business, choose owner run companies that are professional. Check to make sure there license are up to date..ie workman’s comp, liability insurance, state license. Choosing subcontractors with lettered vans, logoed t-shirts is s key to looking professional in the clients’ eyes. In the past I have gotten a lot of subcontractors for material supply shops, stopping by jobsites, researching the internet using Yelp, Home Advisor, etc etc. Once you get one good subcontractor ask them if they know any other trades they would recommend. One good subcontractor leads to another in most cases. The key to having a good group of subcontractors is to let them know that you are there to get help them get the job done. They do work for you but without them you are nothing…keep that in mind! Make them aware a clean jobsite is required at the end of everyday to ensure the proper safety for all parties including theirs! Over the years I have referred a lot of companies work when there is only 1 trade needed. Referring work to subcontractors is a good way to get top priority when you have work that needs to be completed ASAP. Timing is everything in times of emergency having a good group of subcontractors will make your business run smoothly. Pay your subcontractors immediately after performing work, this will make them feel appreciated! A happy subcontractor is one that will gladly go the extra mile for you knowing that there not just a number to your business! Buying lunch once a week for the jobsite is always a good token of appreciation!
Supervising In supervising any jobsite its key to monitor everything from materials on hand, weather, vehicle parking (if applicable), jobsite safety, and subcontractors’ workmanship. If you hired a professional there should be little supervision in the work being performed, on rare occasions a new hire might need some mentoring to get the results completed correctly. If you see a problem with there work address it with the worker directly, no need to call his boss…. building repour with the worker letting him know you got his back goes miles down the road! Checking in on the job first in the morning to answer any questions or changes that need to be conveyed and once in the afternoon to make sure all work be completed is done per construction industry standards. A job that is run blindly will have many more issues than one that is watched over. I have seen many jobs with no site supervision, leading to subpar quality work as well as safety hazards. Its better to be like an eagle than cluck like a turkey!
Working with the City/Inspectors On permitted jobs the city and site inspector will be a large part of how smoothly the job runs. Each phase of construction has an inspection allowing for the project to continue. Make sure your subcontractors are aware that the project is inspected before starting the job. The best way to stay on his good side is to provide a clean jobsite and having the job built to the highest standards possible. When having the site inspected be courteous to the inspector asking any questions or concerns you have with the work during the job. Being completely transparent will save you aggravation of problems down the road. The more he trust you the better if you seem sneaky or rude he will make your life a living nightmare! Many inspectors will have an attitude towards you….I suggest keeping quiet and doing what ever he wants….he’s the boss no need to get in a pissing match you will not win at. How to deal with irate customer Stay calm during any argument with an irate customer. Never raise your voice or show that you are bothered by their disgruntled behavior. If the customer is trying to get more from you than agreed upon stand your ground. Worst case scenario is you walk from the job, which in the long run be more of a loss for the client. I have only run into a couple of these clients; they are unreasonable and not worth losing sleep over a few dollars. Its best to terminate the relationship as it would be my best guess that a referral from this customer would not be one you wanted anyway. If you feel it was just a miscommunication on your end, take reasonability and remedy the problem. Taking accountability for your mistake will go a far way in their eyes and on future issues that arise. Prepping the homeowner pre-construction Before starting the job, it very important to give the homeowners a warning of what will happen during the construction process.
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With over 20 years of building experience, I would like to share with you my insights in navigating becoming a successful contractor. With many different avenues of the building world its key to understand what problems will arise on any given day. A man once told a saying that stuck-the 6 p’s in life- Piss Poor Preparation leads to Piss Poor Performance. Preparation builds everything in construction, without preparation the jobsite will not run correctly. The best advice I was ever given was to learn a little about every trade giving you the ability to understand trade lingo and secrets. An example would be painters use the terminology flash; this means when the sub structure bleads through the paint. Subcontractors will give the best pricing if they respect your knowledge of the industry. If the subcontractor feels they will have to hold your hand through the job they will charge an extra fee…i.e. I call it the aggravation fee. In this blog I will explain the key elements in finding success in all aspects of the industry. Contracting is a physically and emotionally demanding job which requires planning and foresight to complete projects on time within budget. Picking your customer is just as important as picking your employees or subcontractors. I have worked for some of the most demanding customers leading me to question at the end if the job was even worth it. Sleepless nights, constant changes, lack of payment, lawsuit threats, adding work that was in the contract are just a few things you could face with a tough customer. With so many moving parts at all times it is critical to be able to adapt to changes within a short time frame. Materials will come in damaged, subcontractors will be late, employees will get sick, but the deadline you set does not change. The stress can be overwhelming at times keeping your mind in a good place is key to navigating all that is thrown at you. Choosing your client picking the right jobs-Keep these questions in mind The first question to be asked is what the time frame is to start the job to see if it fits within the timeframe for your business. If the time frame doesn’t work then move on from the project or let them know when you would be available to start. If the client really wants to use, they will wait until you are available. Taking on too much work will only lead to problems. Construction is a serviced based business, staying on top of the project and client will eliminate an unhappy customer and construction issues that will be over seen. With online presence if details are missed and customer service lacks it will only be a matter of time the phone will not ring. The second question to be asked to the client is do they have a budget in mind for the project. If they answer yes this is good, follow through with what the budget is. If the budget seems low let them know, this will eliminate a tire kicker, educate them on what the price range could be. If the budget seems reasonable then continue the discussion to the next question. If they answer no let them know that you can give them an estimate to see if the project is feasible with their finical capabilities. Taking on a job that is not correctly budgeted will lead to an unsatisfied customer due to non-transparency of the construction cost. The third question to be asked is anyone else bidding on the job, if the answer is yes, understand you might just be number check for the contractor doing the job. Dig a little deeper and find out how many numbers they are getting and why. If your business model is to be competitive be completely transparent with customer, this will gain trust with them. Let them know you get what you pay for and if you they choose the lowest bid it could lead into lack of quality of work.
The fourth question I will ask is there any specific subcontractors they wanted to use. If the answer is yes then I would explain to them you only use the subcontractors you have a working relationship with. Otherwise, this could backfire as the subcontractor might not show, do subpar work, talk behind your back to the homeowner. In my experience I would stay away from using any homeowner to alleviate problems down the road. A quick conversation now can save headaches down the road. The fifth question I will ask are planning on getting the job permitted, this needs to be known it takes more time for the permitting process. Plans will have to drawn submitted and approved to the city before work can commence. The sixth question I will ask if a residential remodel is are you going to be living through the remodel if yes understand this will take more time to navigate the project due to answering questions and cleaning the house on a daily occurrence. I would recommend seeing if the customer would be willing to move into an Airbnb or friends for at least the demo portion of the project. If they do plan on living through the remodel add a couple hours a day to accommodate the extra time that will be required. The seventh question I would ask in a residential remodel is how old the house is to see if there is asbestos that would need to removed by a proper company. A home built before 1979 will most likely have some asbestos in the house, use a licensed company with proper insurance to dispose of the materials. If everything looks good to this point find out a little more about the client personality. If the client seems reasonable, I would bid the job. Unreasonable people can cause you more stress than its worth. These are some red flags I would look out for. Some jobs are not worth the money. Very demanding in the way you are going to perform your job- I.e., tell you how you are going to do your job- You’re the professional not them! Give you a hard time about your price- haggle with price you estimated- The price is the price! If they are a family with little money and you want to help them out is one thing, if they are trying to beat you down is another. Mention they have a lawyer-there is no need for them to bring up that they have a lawyer - Run for the hills as if the job goes south, you will be the one losing out! Tell you what the payment terms are. It’s your business you get paid how it works for your company. If you want to get paid every Friday, put it into your contract-If the clients do not agree move on it will save you frustrations If they talk bad about the last contractor, chances are they will talk bad about you. There is a reason why the contractor does not work for them anymore, unless he did subpar work this a red flag Clients are using an interior decorator that will purchasing all of the materials- The materials could be ordered incorrectly by the interior designer your company will not make the mark-up it deserves. Interior decorators usually add time to the job as well as act like your boss. Charging a little extra for the time and stress that it will entail is only fair. Clients want to purchase the materials- You are using your knowledge to buy the correct materials-The mark up on the materials keeps the doors open working for wages only pays the bills The husband and wife do not get along-You will become the mediator between the couple it will lead to taking sides a losing proposition- A drama free work place is always best! Dangling carrot-if you do this job the next one will be better-Only look at what there offering at the present moment, if its not a good fit do not take the job for a job down the road…Its not worth chasing a job that might not happen! The Art of the Sale First things first selling your company is all about presentation. In meeting your clients for the first time show up with a collared golf shirt tucked in, belt, nice jeans, and newer shoes. Have a truck that a clean, no dents scratches, preferably washed the day you are going into your meeting. Have a leather note pad that is clean no dirt or paint visible. Show up 5 minutes early, if you’re running a little late shoot them a text to let them know. Treat the situation as if were going on a first date, best foot forward. As you introduce yourself give them a warm greeting, letting them know you are very interested in the work. Find out a little about them, hobbies, where they lived, etc etc. You are going to be working with them on a daily basis its nice to know what makes them tick. Having a good working relationship from the start is key forming a solid relationship. As the conversation progresses find out who wears the pants in the family…ie who’s the final decision maker. If its fits the wife, chances it is…..then kindly let the husband know happy wife happy life when their in a stall mate on an issue. As your looking at the project throw in some suggestions of what you think would look good from past experiences, this will get their attention that you have knowledge and want what’s best for them. If you see ways to save them money in their project let them know, money is a large point of the sale keep that in mind. Mention that you’re not the least expensive contractor but you’re not the most expensive either. Your customer satisfaction is your number one goal which leads to more time spent on keeping them happy. One happy customer will lead to another, one unsatisfied customer leads to work in the future. Bring up the fact the finishing the job on time is key goal to your business, many contractors run several jobs at once causing the jobs to be finished way behind schedule. You must stand out as having integrity, good morals, and the ability to problem solve to get the job. The clients will be testing you to see if you’re a good fit as well. Keep in mind as you take your notes that you must not forget anything they mention as it will come back before the job is completed…i.e. we mentioned that to you before we started the job! Take pictures of the proposed area for work, that way you can use it to better right your estimate. Let them know you will give them a detailed outline of when the job will be completed letting them see how long each phase will take and correlate it with your payment schedule. Before you leave their house let them know when the estimate will be sent to them. MAKE SURE YOU HIT THAT DEADLINE! Once you sent the email over with estimate make sure you get confirmation that they received it. Wait at least 2 days before checking with them, hopefully they contact you first! If they want negotiate the price, let them know that it is the best price that you can manage, its not worth losing money before you start. I closed 80% of the work I estimated by being very transparent and friendly. If you come off with an attitude charge double what the going rates are you might only land 1 out of 10 jobs as well as getting the reputation of being expensive. Bidding the job Looking up industry standards on pricing is what I would go buy for pricing. If you google the coat of any installation there will be a cost range for everything. Looking at the cost ranging from high to low I would tend to be in the middle. Some items might be low on the internet if this is the case use your best judgment not to lose money. Closing sales is key to success and keep the doors open for business. Being in the middle on pricing is key as most customers shy away from contractors that are extremely low or high on the price range. I tend not bid out hourly as wages do not pay for retirement. Bidding is better as customers no the exact price of the cost of construction. It also keeps the job moving quicker as time and material contractors take longer to complete projects…Thus costing the client more money and valuable time they could spend in their house. Using a Contract Using a detailed estimate tied to a contract covers your butt in 99% of the time. Having a piece of mind that every aspect of the job is covered in the estimate and contract protects both your company and the client. Key terms to include in your estimate/contract are. Have a schedule on excel showing the start dates and dates of each trade this will show the customer you are organized with time lines. If not written in the detailed in the estimate the item is excluded- This ensures if its not written down its not included. TBD- To be Determined- A phrase on a line item that has yet to had final decision of products or service needed. -The pricing will follow the decisions to be finalized Give out what your written warranty will be for parts and labor this changes state to state. If the homeowner provides the product than no warranty will be given on that particular item. In the contract have a start date and end date with the verbiage subject to change due to weather, product delivery, change orders Have a progress payment schedule to ensure the client understands when funding will be expected-Including if not payment is rendered service to the project will stop. Have written terms of how change orders will be charged-cost plus 20% or a set fee Make sure in your contract that arbitration is required versus going to court- This will save lawyer fees and going to court Many contracts can be found online and each state requires different contracts
Finding leads Finding leads is easy with the right network of people. I personally do not find working for friends or family members a good fit. Relationships get strained when money is involved, causing undue stress for both parties. I have listed a couple of ways to build a network or find work using the internet. Get in contact with realtor’s- Realtors have a big client base of homeowners who need work done Contact local Architects to see if they are working with any general contractors Leave some business cards at your local materials suppliers-Doowindow/lumber-many times clients will ask salesman for a referral. Join a business networking group- BNI is one of many Join a internet website lead generation company- Houzz, Angie’s List, Home Advisor, thumbtack, Yelp run an ad on craigslist Use a marketing company to market your website-This could become costly with little results Create a Facebook business page Create a Yelp business page
Building your subcontractor base Having 2 subcontractors for every trade, gives you the flexibility of completing jobs on time if the one the subcontractors is too busy at the time you need their service. Your subcontractors are the face of your business, choose owner run companies that are professional. Check to make sure there license are up to date..ie workman’s comp, liability insurance, state license. Choosing subcontractors with lettered vans, logoed t-shirts is s key to looking professional in the clients’ eyes. In the past I have gotten a lot of subcontractors for material supply shops, stopping by jobsites, researching the internet using Yelp, Home Advisor, etc etc. Once you get one good subcontractor ask them if they know any other trades they would recommend. One good subcontractor leads to another in most cases. The key to having a good group of subcontractors is to let them know that you are there to get help them get the job done. They do work for you but without them you are nothing…keep that in mind! Make them aware a clean jobsite is required at the end of everyday to ensure the proper safety for all parties including theirs! Over the years I have referred a lot of companies work when there is only 1 trade needed. Referring work to subcontractors is a good way to get top priority when you have work that needs to be completed ASAP. Timing is everything in times of emergency having a good group of subcontractors will make your business run smoothly. Pay your subcontractors immediately after performing work, this will make them feel appreciated! A happy subcontractor is one that will gladly go the extra mile for you knowing that there not just a number to your business! Buying lunch once a week for the jobsite is always a good token of appreciation!
Supervising In supervising any jobsite its key to monitor everything from materials on hand, weather, vehicle parking (if applicable), jobsite safety, and subcontractors’ workmanship. If you hired a professional there should be little supervision in the work being performed, on rare occasions a new hire might need some mentoring to get the results completed correctly. If you see a problem with there work address it with the worker directly, no need to call his boss…. building repour with the worker letting him know you got his back goes miles down the road! Checking in on the job first in the morning to answer any questions or changes that need to be conveyed and once in the afternoon to make sure all work be completed is done per construction industry standards. A job that is run blindly will have many more issues than one that is watched over. I have seen many jobs with no site supervision, leading to subpar quality work as well as safety hazards. Its better to be like an eagle than cluck like a turkey!
Working with the City/Inspectors On permitted jobs the city and site inspector will be a large part of how smoothly the job runs. Each phase of construction has an inspection allowing for the project to continue. Make sure your subcontractors are aware that the project is inspected before starting the job. The best way to stay on his good side is to provide a clean jobsite and having the job built to the highest standards possible. When having the site inspected be courteous to the inspector asking any questions or concerns you have with the work during the job. Being completely transparent will save you aggravation of problems down the road. The more he trust you the better if you seem sneaky or rude he will make your life a living nightmare! Many inspectors will have an attitude towards you….I suggest keeping quiet and doing what ever he wants….he’s the boss no need to get in a pissing match you will not win at. How to deal with irate customer Stay calm during any argument with an irate customer. Never raise your voice or show that you are bothered by their disgruntled behavior. If the customer is trying to get more from you than agreed upon stand your ground. Worst case scenario is you walk from the job, which in the long run be more of a loss for the client. I have only run into a couple of these clients; they are unreasonable and not worth losing sleep over a few dollars. Its best to terminate the relationship as it would be my best guess that a referral from this customer would not be one you wanted anyway. If you feel it was just a miscommunication on your end, take reasonability and remedy the problem. Taking accountability for your mistake will go a far way in their eyes and on future issues that arise. Prepping the homeowner pre-construction Before starting the job, it very important to give the homeowners a warning of what will happen during the construction process.
- All furniture in the proposed working area must be moved- I would recommend having the clients take care of this to limit the risk of damage to their belongings.
- There will be dust that will be in the house up to 3 months after construction-I would recommend hiring a construction cleaning company at the end of the job even so after it is cleaned dust will be present months after words.
- There will be conflicts between you in the homeowner at some course of the job. - You will do your best to eliminate them as quickly as they arise-i.e. material damages, miscommunication, job delays
- All decisions on materials must be made before the start of the job- this will eliminate job stoppage due to materials not being on site.
- All materials will be on site before commencement of job-
- Payment structures must be made per contract otherwise job will stop until payment rendered
- Cars are to be moved out of the driveway- Ensures ease of loading and unloading of materials/tools
- Give the specific hours that workers will be present- i.e. 7-3:30
- Determine what areas are allowed to be used as staging for tools/materials
- If animals are present in the home that they put outside or in a room during the day
- All valuables in the house are locked in safe
- Ask if using client’s household bathroom is okay or to bring in Porter Potty
- Being transparent as possible is key to keeping a great relationship with your client!
2024.05.17 16:12 Best_Mastodon4675 1st Week of Writing Stand Up, Please Read and Offer Any Advice or Punchline Up.
- Punch Up not punchline up
I have 26 jokes written out and I know they’re not fully formed yet. I’d appreciate it if you would read them and give me some feedback, advice or punch up.
Thank you!
1- Jewish Carpenter: I’m a spiritual guy. I like to tell people my boss, he’s a Jewish Carpenter. I think you know who I’m talking about.The big guy….Emanuel Rubinstein, Licensed General Contractor. It’s hard to not believe in God, when you see the miracles he preforms… On kitchen and bath renovations. Forget about lunch time….You don’t need to bring anything. He’s got you.
2- Racist Pot: Does the pot calling the tea kettle “black” make it racist?…Why does he have to bring race into it?
3- Look Tired: I look like a human yawn because I’m so tired. Kids just take it out of you. But it’s worth it to know, all your love and time and affection will be rewarded….When they’ll abandon you in a rest home.
4-Addict: I’m a reddit addict…I’m so sorry, I meant to say addict. But I’m also addicted to Reddit…and anything else you can be addicted to. I dunno if you got that vibe from me when I walked in.
5- Roast Me: I decided to post a picture to Roast Me….That was a bad idea…I guess I was feeling too good and hadn’t felt suicidal in a while…
6-Just Concerned: It wouldn’t have been so bad if they were mean….They just were concerned
7-Water and Sleep A lot of people said I should prioritize water and sleep more… It’s pretty bad when your roast turns into sound medical advice.
8- It Gets Better: A lot of people said “it gets better.”…Gets better?…This is me crushing it!
9-Get Sober: A lot of people told me to get sober, Bro I am sober!…You should’ve seen the before photo
10-Gay Guy Compliment: One was a gay guy said he “Came here to roast, but daddy is totally my type.”…Not what I was expecting, but a compliments a compliment…A compliment from a guy dude is like getting compliments from ten hot girls…. Hot girls will date ugly guys for their personality… I’m just saying…
11-Craigslist: I was looking for an apartment on Craigslist and I saw a post for felon friendly room mates…I read that as feline friendly roommates, because I’m brain damaged… Turns out I can live with felines…. Felons on the other hand…
12-RPG’s: I like playing table top RPG’s….For those of you who aren’t still saving their virginity for marriage, think of the game the 12 year old play in Stranger Things….One thing I discovered about myself is I enjoy role playing as female characters….So if I’m in fantasyland I’ll pretend I understand women.
13-Blow In: My wife was born and raised In ________, she calls me a “blow in” as in I blew into town, she thinks she’s better then me….I’m sorry she tells me to blow in, the breathalyzer so my car can start, that’s why she thinks she’s better then me
14-Bluey: I have a 4 year old, So that means my only culture reference for the past 4 years has been Bluey. Holding myself up to the standards set by two cartoon dog parents…and utterly failing. Bandit and Chilli are teaching the girls full on life lessons with imagination games….Meanwhile dada is having a hard time getting up the slide because of his bum knee
15-Trifecta: My wife is a Disney Adult and a Swifty…So if we add horse girl to that I have the trifecta.
16-Hand Stuff: My wife is a Swifty…. Which means We do a lot of hand stuff, Taylor allows it….Hand holding, hand touching, interlacing of the hands.
17-Nothing: I wish “nothing” was an acceptable answer to what do you like to do? And by nothing I really mean nothing….Like this ( demonstrates ) You and boys just…( demonstrates ) for a few hours. Wouldn’t that be nice? We should normalize nothing.
18-ADHD: Like Everyone you know, including yourself, I have from ADHD. And like a lot of people with ADHD I’ve left a swath of abandoned hobbies, causes and interests in my wake. Hobbies, causes and interests that defined who I was …for a week…But as long as I can remember, two weeks ago, it has always been my dream to be a stand up comedian, but I know if I work hard at it and give it my all and I’m honest and Ernest and smart and cleaver and work on my craft…I will loose interest in it and give up on it and move onto something else. And I’ll put my joke book next to my tennis racket and golf clubs and guitars and all that break dancing equipment and the vintage motorcycle I said I’d restore and find a new thing to hyper-fixate on and obsess about and get kinda okay at, and I legitimately forget what I was talking about…Oh yeah, I’m gonna finish that Darkwsve album I started 7 years ago.
19-Adderall: Adderall. What a life changing drug.A lot of people associate it with speeding you up, kinda methy…. It’s Meth lite. But if you really need it, it has Opposite effect, incredibly calming, it actually quiets your brain down. But if you, let’s say, accidentally take extra… well then it is methy…Now it’s a party….A cleaning party. I also have OCD and that pairs really well with partying on Adderall…Getting up in the woodwork, cleaning the windowsill that you can’t even see, I’m Dusting the dustrer.
20-1st Rule: Anyone here go to AA? You broke the first rule of AA…anonymity. It’s right in the name. The first rule should be…don’t drink. That could just be it.
21-Im Sober: I’m sober….Which means if I don’t mention it at least three new people I meet a day that I’ll die….Kinda like a vegan or someone who did CrossFit once. I’m sober…Which is just another way of saying I’m bad at being too good at partying.
22-1 Year Chip: I just got my one year chip… in the mail. Pro tip: You can get any chip you want on EBay… Fun fact, Three 24 hour chips gets you a free picture of Coors Light at the (name of club)
23-Escalator: I kinda feel bad trash talking AA since I did so little of it.I kinda treated AA like how my father in law treats more than four steps…Look for a slight incline. Whining the whole time….I saw how many steps there was and thought, 'Forget that, I'm taking the escalator.'
24-Epstein: Some guys in AA are hardcore, they don’t like you to say anything negative about it. So If I end up dead after this, just know like Epstein,I didn’t kill myself. I’m definitely not saying I’m like Epstein for the record… I know I’m not that cool
25-Baseball: Going to a baseball game sober… you think it’s too long cocked? Try it stone cold sober. The conception of time breaks down….You know your sport sucks when a beach ball being passed amount the crowd allocates more of a response than the actual game
26-Grizzly VS Man: My wife showed me that there’s a great discussion on Tik Tok, would a woman rather run into Grizzly or a man while walking alone in the woods? Statistically, the odds are higher that the man will hurt or kill the woman than the grizzly…What? You’re gonna take into account statistics now?…. And all of human history like that?…A few several thousand years of some bad behavior and you’re choosing the grizzly over us?
27-Savers (Thrift Store): I love Savers. I get all my clothes there. I am worried about my dimensions though, my clothes keep getting larger, but it’s kinda comforting knowing somebody with my same body type was out there…And died, and I now have their clothes
28-Family Open Mic: I practice in the basement in front of my wife and kid before I get up here…I could really do without the heckling and insults though…. Last night the bouncer had to escort my toddler out.
2024.05.17 03:15 incywince Reading The Baby Decision as a parent
I used to be a fencesitter. I became a parent. I have fencesitting sisters now. I'm wondering about having another child. But more than all of this, I'm just struck by the public discourse about having kids, and not much of it matches my experience, so I try to analyze why the discourse is what it is, and I like the perspectives on here.
I notice a lot of people talk about The Baby Decision on this sub, so I decided to borrow it from my library and read it. I got through like 4-5 chapters, and I have some opinions on it that I thought might be interesting to people on here.
The authors have thought about things and tried to consult experts etc. When it comes to practical advice, they have a few good chapters, like the checklist for if you're ready to be a parent. But there were glaring issues with the whole approach to this decision which makes me wonder if this is even a good book for this purpose.
One of the first things that struck me was presenting parenting as a "job where your boss is a hard taskmaster, you receive no pay, have to work 24x7, and this job lasts 18 years". The author doesn't seem to present being childfree as a choice where "you have a job where you try to fill the family-shaped hole in your life with incessant travel" or something equally disingenuous and unrepresentative. I guess it leans into the pop culture notions of what parenting is, but it feels like anyone who isn't terminally online doesn't actually feel like that's what parenting is.
The author further sells the book with this whole "you need to consider this decision very carefully and plan every aspect of it, otherwise you will REGRET". She says you will be trapped without an out if you don't make the decision carefully enough. She literally says that if others seem to have decided more quickly, that's not true, they probably took a long time to decide, or they made a bad decision. In my experience, this is a false dichotomy. The world isn't divided into well-considered extremely planned decisions and wrong decisions. A lot of the best things in my life have been decided on the fly. Most of the happiest people I know don't ruminate over decisions, while the unhappy ones agonize over every decision. There's a lot more to decisionmaking than how much time and thought you spend on it. Most life-saving decisions for instance are made in a snap.
I also don't know how much ruminating over a decision like having children is supposed to help with it. Maybe it's because I used to do this and then got out of ruminative patterns using cognitive behavioral therapy recently, but rumination really isn't great for mental health. And what exactly are you getting out of thinking over this decision a lot? Thinking back to my past when I agonized about kids, it feels like this doesn't get you any closer to making a better decision. From this alone, it feels like this book is a recommendation for a holding pattern which you can get into to feel productive while the real work of getting ready for the rest of your life happens as it does anyway.
There's a lot of specific notes I've made about when she actually gets into the meat and bones of having children, and I can go into that if required. But the underlying assumption I have a huge problem with is it assumes you're the exact same person with the exact same life, but there's a baby or there's not a baby. But that's not true.
Most people change when kids come along. You don't know how to prioritize something that's not there in your life, so you're not going to understand how to make room for a child unless there's a child in your house already. We're like that with a lot of things. Until I have a boyfriend, I'm not going to know what it's going to be like to live with a boyfriend. I don't think it'll particularly help to pay someone to leave their dirty underwear on the floor now and then to understand what it's like, just because my friend told me that's what her boyfriend does that drives her insane. If I decide "hm, it's not so bad" based on the underwear-leaver, that's still not a very considered decision anyway.
But also, does it really matter that you know what exactly having a boyfriend is going to be like day to day, before you have one? You probably just think "It's going to be a new experience, and I mostly trust this guy to respect me and not throw too many things I can't handle at me, and if he leaves his underwear on the floor, I'll just talk to him about it."
It feels like having a child is similar too. I didn't find any thought of "am i made to change diapers?" to be useful. Most parenting skills are not hard to master. You just need to have empathy, confidence and some external support and you're mostly set. Plus, everything I imagined about parenting was wrong. Diapers weren't as big a deal as a lot of memes made it out to be. I couldn't write my book while my child happily played by my feet (as one author wrote in the acknowledgements section of his book). The exercise she makes you do where you imagine having a child in all sorts of situations (including asking you if you imagine nursing your baby to be erotic, wtf is up with that), I'm not sure how it's going to help you make an informed decision.
I couldn't have told you ahead of time that I I have a phobia of playground equipment. It didn't come up until my kid was 18mo and wanted to go on the mom-and-kid swing for like 2 hrs daily. I also couldn't have told you ahead of time that I'd get over it with my husband's help. So doing an exercise where im imagining playing with my child wouldn't have given me any new information that was actually practically useful. Or like, I'd have imagined I'd have a large family happy to help with my child, and I had no reason to think otherwise. My child came along and at 12mo I realized I don't want her in my mom's care until she's like 3.
Most of all, none of this ever gives you an idea of the emotions you feel for your child. It makes all the other things that seem hard into something easy and reasonable. And this book doesn't account for that. It assumes and even asserts for you that your emotions for a child will be what you imagine them to be, and that's not true. It's not just the love, it's the awareness, the connection, the seeing your inner child in your child, and the wanting the best for them. This for most parents I know has been the predominant emotion of parenting, even if they aren't articulate about it. When this big aspect of parenting is missing from a book called the 'baby decision', how good is it really?
It could be argued that this aspect of parenting is personal and wishy washy. But then the author doesn't hesitate to go into other wishy washy aspects. She says babies can feel like monsters and that "a lot of" moms feel like babies are monsters. She finds some source that asserts that Mary Shelly was describing her babies when she described Frankenstein's Monster. Not Mary Shelley herself, but some random critic who tries to divine what Mary Shelley was thinking. I don't know why this whole section is in the book, it's really weird.
There's also this other section of the book where she talks about "games childfree/parents play". I find that whole section quite unhealthy coming from a CBT perspective. She tries to divine motives for when people tell you "you'd make a great parent" or "but you have a happy life, why would you want to throw that away for kids?" In one part she says "they intend to punish you for having a happy family life that they dont have" or something. It feels like a recipe for mental illness to think like that and/or have a book reiterate that. Attributing ill-intent to random things people say for a million different reasons is not healthy in the least.
Another big aspect of the book I found unhelpful was this equivocating of having kids vs not having kids. They are actually very very different lives, not a coin toss. You'll end up finding some sort of happiness and sadness in either life, given your inherent tendencies of being happy or sad. For instance, I had decided I wouldn't have kids if it was risky or not easily happening. Whether I get pregnant quickly isn't something in my hands, but it did happen and hence I have a child. If it didn't happen naturally for me, I would have been childfree. That the decision can go either way, and that I'd find ways to be happy in both ways doesn't mean that both choices are the same. Me with child is not just me without child minus time and money plus elder care.
I guess this is the core of it that I don't find anyone talking about. Being a parent is a developmental stage. Sure, there are many emotionally stunted parents, but that's not what I'm talking about. Being a parent presents you with an opportunity to change your concept of your self and how you view the world. You get to see your own inner child and figure out what you want to do with that, and if you want that to inform any healing you needed. You are forced to make all the decisions for a little version of you, who has their own needs and preferences, so you're trying to navigate the world, but with a level of detachment. I find this experience to be an opportunity to learn the kind of detachment that is touted around a lot in Buddhism and Hinduism, for instance, as a way to a higher state of being. There are many many many accounts including in celebrity memoirs that talk of the internally transformative nature of parenting. You cannot predict exactly how this is going to go for you, the same as you cannot in advance predict your attitude towards playground equipment. But if you're discussing everything else about parenting, why not this as well? Especially since this is the part that determines how you'll feel about the rest of the stuff. Not everyone has to go through this experience, but knowing that this exists is a big part of making the decision of whether or not.
Another side of this is it talks about regret the same way on both sides. I don't think it works quite that way. When you're experiencing regret, it's usually a singular moment or a collection of singular moments. When you make the choice to not have children, it's easy during a singular moment to trace things back to this choice to not have kids. But when you're experiencing a regretful moment as a parent, the choice you'd trace your unhappiness back to would be stuff like "we should have picked a different school where she wouldn't have had such assholes for friends" or "I should have been stricter about studies" or "I should have spent less time at the office". There's too many choices to go back to, so your mind doesn't go back as often to "I shouldn't have had kids at all". Usually too much water has flown under the bridge to go all that way back, a lot of it with happy moments, so it takes a lot of pain to get a parent to be regretful of having had each individual kid at all. Whether or not the choice to have kids has been bad for you, just from the way your mind works and how life works, it might not attribute it to that original decision.
A third but minor theme that I find to be unhelpful is the whole "You can't say 'we can figure this out when the baby comes' because if you disagree on this, you probably won't be good parents together and should probably not have a child' type of attitude. Things change a lot with a kid in the mix, including your own attitudes to things as I've mentioned earlier. If you'd asked me and my husband pre-kid if we'd consider being a fulltime parent, we'd have said NO. But about a year into parent life, we were basically drawing straws for who gets to be the SAHP, and we have taken turns. All our family and friends have been quite surprised by what we've done. The reason we were able to do this is because despite our differences, we worked on communicating our needs and being authentic about what made us happy and sad and could trust each other with vulnerability, and all this was centered around what was best for our child. Other parents we know have also made dramatically different decisions as the situation demanded.
There are many aspects of the book that are decent, like dispelling common myths etc, but since this is a book about making a big decision, it felt weird to me that it wasn't talking about important parts of these decisions.
The thing I realize is a family is a complex system. You can't plan for all of it, and if you do, it won't go according to plan and leave you super disappointed. The best thing to do is to optimize for greatness while hedging against negative outcomes. Like marrying an equal partner. Or looking for rent-controlled homes in a great school district on craigslist as a matter of habit. Or developing expertise in your career so you can opt out briefly if you want to be there for kids, or opt out briefly so you can hike the pacific crest trail, without having to worry about the career hit. As for the actual decision, I feel like there needs to be more content on the internal experience of parenting rather than just the scheduling and butt-wiping, but apart from that, I feel like more people will be helped by thinking of it not as a decision to make, but an opportunity they can refuse if they don't feel it'll be right for them.
submitted by incywince to Fencesitter [link] [comments]
I notice a lot of people talk about The Baby Decision on this sub, so I decided to borrow it from my library and read it. I got through like 4-5 chapters, and I have some opinions on it that I thought might be interesting to people on here.
The authors have thought about things and tried to consult experts etc. When it comes to practical advice, they have a few good chapters, like the checklist for if you're ready to be a parent. But there were glaring issues with the whole approach to this decision which makes me wonder if this is even a good book for this purpose.
One of the first things that struck me was presenting parenting as a "job where your boss is a hard taskmaster, you receive no pay, have to work 24x7, and this job lasts 18 years". The author doesn't seem to present being childfree as a choice where "you have a job where you try to fill the family-shaped hole in your life with incessant travel" or something equally disingenuous and unrepresentative. I guess it leans into the pop culture notions of what parenting is, but it feels like anyone who isn't terminally online doesn't actually feel like that's what parenting is.
The author further sells the book with this whole "you need to consider this decision very carefully and plan every aspect of it, otherwise you will REGRET". She says you will be trapped without an out if you don't make the decision carefully enough. She literally says that if others seem to have decided more quickly, that's not true, they probably took a long time to decide, or they made a bad decision. In my experience, this is a false dichotomy. The world isn't divided into well-considered extremely planned decisions and wrong decisions. A lot of the best things in my life have been decided on the fly. Most of the happiest people I know don't ruminate over decisions, while the unhappy ones agonize over every decision. There's a lot more to decisionmaking than how much time and thought you spend on it. Most life-saving decisions for instance are made in a snap.
I also don't know how much ruminating over a decision like having children is supposed to help with it. Maybe it's because I used to do this and then got out of ruminative patterns using cognitive behavioral therapy recently, but rumination really isn't great for mental health. And what exactly are you getting out of thinking over this decision a lot? Thinking back to my past when I agonized about kids, it feels like this doesn't get you any closer to making a better decision. From this alone, it feels like this book is a recommendation for a holding pattern which you can get into to feel productive while the real work of getting ready for the rest of your life happens as it does anyway.
There's a lot of specific notes I've made about when she actually gets into the meat and bones of having children, and I can go into that if required. But the underlying assumption I have a huge problem with is it assumes you're the exact same person with the exact same life, but there's a baby or there's not a baby. But that's not true.
Most people change when kids come along. You don't know how to prioritize something that's not there in your life, so you're not going to understand how to make room for a child unless there's a child in your house already. We're like that with a lot of things. Until I have a boyfriend, I'm not going to know what it's going to be like to live with a boyfriend. I don't think it'll particularly help to pay someone to leave their dirty underwear on the floor now and then to understand what it's like, just because my friend told me that's what her boyfriend does that drives her insane. If I decide "hm, it's not so bad" based on the underwear-leaver, that's still not a very considered decision anyway.
But also, does it really matter that you know what exactly having a boyfriend is going to be like day to day, before you have one? You probably just think "It's going to be a new experience, and I mostly trust this guy to respect me and not throw too many things I can't handle at me, and if he leaves his underwear on the floor, I'll just talk to him about it."
It feels like having a child is similar too. I didn't find any thought of "am i made to change diapers?" to be useful. Most parenting skills are not hard to master. You just need to have empathy, confidence and some external support and you're mostly set. Plus, everything I imagined about parenting was wrong. Diapers weren't as big a deal as a lot of memes made it out to be. I couldn't write my book while my child happily played by my feet (as one author wrote in the acknowledgements section of his book). The exercise she makes you do where you imagine having a child in all sorts of situations (including asking you if you imagine nursing your baby to be erotic, wtf is up with that), I'm not sure how it's going to help you make an informed decision.
I couldn't have told you ahead of time that I I have a phobia of playground equipment. It didn't come up until my kid was 18mo and wanted to go on the mom-and-kid swing for like 2 hrs daily. I also couldn't have told you ahead of time that I'd get over it with my husband's help. So doing an exercise where im imagining playing with my child wouldn't have given me any new information that was actually practically useful. Or like, I'd have imagined I'd have a large family happy to help with my child, and I had no reason to think otherwise. My child came along and at 12mo I realized I don't want her in my mom's care until she's like 3.
Most of all, none of this ever gives you an idea of the emotions you feel for your child. It makes all the other things that seem hard into something easy and reasonable. And this book doesn't account for that. It assumes and even asserts for you that your emotions for a child will be what you imagine them to be, and that's not true. It's not just the love, it's the awareness, the connection, the seeing your inner child in your child, and the wanting the best for them. This for most parents I know has been the predominant emotion of parenting, even if they aren't articulate about it. When this big aspect of parenting is missing from a book called the 'baby decision', how good is it really?
It could be argued that this aspect of parenting is personal and wishy washy. But then the author doesn't hesitate to go into other wishy washy aspects. She says babies can feel like monsters and that "a lot of" moms feel like babies are monsters. She finds some source that asserts that Mary Shelly was describing her babies when she described Frankenstein's Monster. Not Mary Shelley herself, but some random critic who tries to divine what Mary Shelley was thinking. I don't know why this whole section is in the book, it's really weird.
There's also this other section of the book where she talks about "games childfree/parents play". I find that whole section quite unhealthy coming from a CBT perspective. She tries to divine motives for when people tell you "you'd make a great parent" or "but you have a happy life, why would you want to throw that away for kids?" In one part she says "they intend to punish you for having a happy family life that they dont have" or something. It feels like a recipe for mental illness to think like that and/or have a book reiterate that. Attributing ill-intent to random things people say for a million different reasons is not healthy in the least.
Another big aspect of the book I found unhelpful was this equivocating of having kids vs not having kids. They are actually very very different lives, not a coin toss. You'll end up finding some sort of happiness and sadness in either life, given your inherent tendencies of being happy or sad. For instance, I had decided I wouldn't have kids if it was risky or not easily happening. Whether I get pregnant quickly isn't something in my hands, but it did happen and hence I have a child. If it didn't happen naturally for me, I would have been childfree. That the decision can go either way, and that I'd find ways to be happy in both ways doesn't mean that both choices are the same. Me with child is not just me without child minus time and money plus elder care.
I guess this is the core of it that I don't find anyone talking about. Being a parent is a developmental stage. Sure, there are many emotionally stunted parents, but that's not what I'm talking about. Being a parent presents you with an opportunity to change your concept of your self and how you view the world. You get to see your own inner child and figure out what you want to do with that, and if you want that to inform any healing you needed. You are forced to make all the decisions for a little version of you, who has their own needs and preferences, so you're trying to navigate the world, but with a level of detachment. I find this experience to be an opportunity to learn the kind of detachment that is touted around a lot in Buddhism and Hinduism, for instance, as a way to a higher state of being. There are many many many accounts including in celebrity memoirs that talk of the internally transformative nature of parenting. You cannot predict exactly how this is going to go for you, the same as you cannot in advance predict your attitude towards playground equipment. But if you're discussing everything else about parenting, why not this as well? Especially since this is the part that determines how you'll feel about the rest of the stuff. Not everyone has to go through this experience, but knowing that this exists is a big part of making the decision of whether or not.
Another side of this is it talks about regret the same way on both sides. I don't think it works quite that way. When you're experiencing regret, it's usually a singular moment or a collection of singular moments. When you make the choice to not have children, it's easy during a singular moment to trace things back to this choice to not have kids. But when you're experiencing a regretful moment as a parent, the choice you'd trace your unhappiness back to would be stuff like "we should have picked a different school where she wouldn't have had such assholes for friends" or "I should have been stricter about studies" or "I should have spent less time at the office". There's too many choices to go back to, so your mind doesn't go back as often to "I shouldn't have had kids at all". Usually too much water has flown under the bridge to go all that way back, a lot of it with happy moments, so it takes a lot of pain to get a parent to be regretful of having had each individual kid at all. Whether or not the choice to have kids has been bad for you, just from the way your mind works and how life works, it might not attribute it to that original decision.
A third but minor theme that I find to be unhelpful is the whole "You can't say 'we can figure this out when the baby comes' because if you disagree on this, you probably won't be good parents together and should probably not have a child' type of attitude. Things change a lot with a kid in the mix, including your own attitudes to things as I've mentioned earlier. If you'd asked me and my husband pre-kid if we'd consider being a fulltime parent, we'd have said NO. But about a year into parent life, we were basically drawing straws for who gets to be the SAHP, and we have taken turns. All our family and friends have been quite surprised by what we've done. The reason we were able to do this is because despite our differences, we worked on communicating our needs and being authentic about what made us happy and sad and could trust each other with vulnerability, and all this was centered around what was best for our child. Other parents we know have also made dramatically different decisions as the situation demanded.
There are many aspects of the book that are decent, like dispelling common myths etc, but since this is a book about making a big decision, it felt weird to me that it wasn't talking about important parts of these decisions.
The thing I realize is a family is a complex system. You can't plan for all of it, and if you do, it won't go according to plan and leave you super disappointed. The best thing to do is to optimize for greatness while hedging against negative outcomes. Like marrying an equal partner. Or looking for rent-controlled homes in a great school district on craigslist as a matter of habit. Or developing expertise in your career so you can opt out briefly if you want to be there for kids, or opt out briefly so you can hike the pacific crest trail, without having to worry about the career hit. As for the actual decision, I feel like there needs to be more content on the internal experience of parenting rather than just the scheduling and butt-wiping, but apart from that, I feel like more people will be helped by thinking of it not as a decision to make, but an opportunity they can refuse if they don't feel it'll be right for them.
2024.05.16 07:07 RealityBytes2023 Co-founded a company and am treated worse than the janitor there - How to cope?
So glad I found this group. I have a serious problem and am at wits end. Please excuse the longwinded and likely confusing post. This entire ordeal has caused me physical, mental, and emotional damage that can't be repaired.
I co-founded a company with my dad in the early 2000s after the dot-com meltdown. I thought since he appeared to successfully run multiple companies in the past, I would have a chance to see him in action and build my career in the process.
Instead he decided to give me an honorary title ("CIO") which had nothing to do with my experience (I am marketer, corporate strategist, analytics expert, and customer success person) nor was one that the company needed or respected. It was very clear early on that every time I tried to do anything that showed true IT leadership or something that resembled IT, they balked, but they were more than happy to ask me to install software on their computers, replace hard disks on their broken laptops and the like -- I am not a help desk person; I'm a seasoned professional who has helped multiple companies grow their business from 0 to 8 figures, taught thousands of people, and built/strengthened relationships between the companies I worked for and their customers, helping my employers avoid tons of money in terms of potential lawsuits.
Being the good son, I grudgingly kept going as he continued to hire increasingly lower quality candidates and making bad business decision after another which was a total shock to me. The worst part was he only paid me room and board, wanted me to work for him 24/7/365 (I worked weekends, holidays, and evenings while everyone else in the company took time off) and expected me to be in essence the company slave.
I eventually managed to escape for a bit to begin rebuilding my career even though my parents tried to sabotage me at every opportunity. During this time, they stressed me out so much I ended up losing almost all of those jobs because they refused to accept my boundaries and emotionally blackmailed me into taking their damaging advice - and if that wasn't bad enough, they can't even remember which companies they fucked me over with.
Fast forward to 2017 or so. I started to build traction as a corporate advisor and had a opportunity to teach at a highly respectable school, but once again their abuse was too much. Instead of leaving me alone, they demanded that I sell cell phones at Costco because "that was a job where I worked 40 hours a week" even though I would have made lots more doing the jobs I picked. It was by far one if the worst jobs I ever had, but my mom decided to strongarm my dad into officially hiring me, but at a salary where I made close to nothing, but at least I would finally be paid something.
While this was going on, the company was hemorrhaging money while he stupidly paid everyone else he hired market rate out of fear they would quit (which most of them did by 2021 during the "Great Resignation").
I managed to get a contract which gave me a brief break from my family at the end of 2021, but once again as soon as it ended. I grinded really hard and worked with a career coach and miraculously got an offer to be a Director Marketing with a fast track to CMO in less than a year in a company that would have finally helped me reboot my career yet again. However, I couldn't accept that one once again to emotional blackmail - something that my friends constantly remind me was the biggest mistake of my life.
Fadt forward to this year. My dad officially made me officially work for someone else -- a certifiably crazy Indian guy who was hired because he was the friend of the CTO. He loved the opportunity to boss me around and delegate even more menial jobs to me which continued to deflate my ego. While he would have been great as an assembler, he was given an executive level job and I continued to get pushed futher into the dirt.
As of now, my dad has finally accepted after dumping millions of dollars into the company that it needs to go out of business, though my mom and him argue every day that they need to keep trying. They clearly have no idea what they are doing and the only remaining employees -- me, my boss and the CTO are left in a position if anything breaks, the company is good as dead. The worst part about this is that my dad returned not to paying me and he is still paying the other two because he's afraid they'll leave. He knows I can't leave because if I do, then they will simply threaten to make me work as a janitor somewhere... and given how bad the economy is, I bet I couldn't even get that job either.
One positive note - I did manage to save some money along the way, but since most apartments around here ( SF Bay Area) expect you to make 3x the rent price to get an apartment there's no way I can possibly rent one - even a 1BR apartment is out of reach for me -- can you believe that my parents have fucked me up so badly that I can't even do that?
That leaves me with very little in terms of options.
How do I move forward? I'm going to be 53 on May 20 and I feel like I truly lost 20+ years of my life due to this nonsense and don't know what to do.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Please help!
submitted by RealityBytes2023 to careerguidance [link] [comments]
I co-founded a company with my dad in the early 2000s after the dot-com meltdown. I thought since he appeared to successfully run multiple companies in the past, I would have a chance to see him in action and build my career in the process.
Instead he decided to give me an honorary title ("CIO") which had nothing to do with my experience (I am marketer, corporate strategist, analytics expert, and customer success person) nor was one that the company needed or respected. It was very clear early on that every time I tried to do anything that showed true IT leadership or something that resembled IT, they balked, but they were more than happy to ask me to install software on their computers, replace hard disks on their broken laptops and the like -- I am not a help desk person; I'm a seasoned professional who has helped multiple companies grow their business from 0 to 8 figures, taught thousands of people, and built/strengthened relationships between the companies I worked for and their customers, helping my employers avoid tons of money in terms of potential lawsuits.
Being the good son, I grudgingly kept going as he continued to hire increasingly lower quality candidates and making bad business decision after another which was a total shock to me. The worst part was he only paid me room and board, wanted me to work for him 24/7/365 (I worked weekends, holidays, and evenings while everyone else in the company took time off) and expected me to be in essence the company slave.
I eventually managed to escape for a bit to begin rebuilding my career even though my parents tried to sabotage me at every opportunity. During this time, they stressed me out so much I ended up losing almost all of those jobs because they refused to accept my boundaries and emotionally blackmailed me into taking their damaging advice - and if that wasn't bad enough, they can't even remember which companies they fucked me over with.
Fast forward to 2017 or so. I started to build traction as a corporate advisor and had a opportunity to teach at a highly respectable school, but once again their abuse was too much. Instead of leaving me alone, they demanded that I sell cell phones at Costco because "that was a job where I worked 40 hours a week" even though I would have made lots more doing the jobs I picked. It was by far one if the worst jobs I ever had, but my mom decided to strongarm my dad into officially hiring me, but at a salary where I made close to nothing, but at least I would finally be paid something.
While this was going on, the company was hemorrhaging money while he stupidly paid everyone else he hired market rate out of fear they would quit (which most of them did by 2021 during the "Great Resignation").
I managed to get a contract which gave me a brief break from my family at the end of 2021, but once again as soon as it ended. I grinded really hard and worked with a career coach and miraculously got an offer to be a Director Marketing with a fast track to CMO in less than a year in a company that would have finally helped me reboot my career yet again. However, I couldn't accept that one once again to emotional blackmail - something that my friends constantly remind me was the biggest mistake of my life.
Fadt forward to this year. My dad officially made me officially work for someone else -- a certifiably crazy Indian guy who was hired because he was the friend of the CTO. He loved the opportunity to boss me around and delegate even more menial jobs to me which continued to deflate my ego. While he would have been great as an assembler, he was given an executive level job and I continued to get pushed futher into the dirt.
As of now, my dad has finally accepted after dumping millions of dollars into the company that it needs to go out of business, though my mom and him argue every day that they need to keep trying. They clearly have no idea what they are doing and the only remaining employees -- me, my boss and the CTO are left in a position if anything breaks, the company is good as dead. The worst part about this is that my dad returned not to paying me and he is still paying the other two because he's afraid they'll leave. He knows I can't leave because if I do, then they will simply threaten to make me work as a janitor somewhere... and given how bad the economy is, I bet I couldn't even get that job either.
One positive note - I did manage to save some money along the way, but since most apartments around here ( SF Bay Area) expect you to make 3x the rent price to get an apartment there's no way I can possibly rent one - even a 1BR apartment is out of reach for me -- can you believe that my parents have fucked me up so badly that I can't even do that?
That leaves me with very little in terms of options.
How do I move forward? I'm going to be 53 on May 20 and I feel like I truly lost 20+ years of my life due to this nonsense and don't know what to do.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
- Couch surfing is not an option. I can't Couch surf at friends isn't a viable option because none of them respect me very much and despite grinding as hard as I can to get another job that will give me the money to move out, I just can't seem to land one despite countless referrals, endorsements and introductions to the hiring teams as well as personally knowing the hiring managers themselves.
- Should I pack up / sell everything I own except for a few changes of clothing and move somewhere cheaper or out of the country knowing I don't have a job lined up and don't know when I will? When arguing with my parents they always threaten me to do it, they stop at nothing to pull me into their web once I actually get away for a while.
- Should I try to move with relatives and risk bring disowned? Full disclosure, that's not going to work because my extended family thinks my mom is crazy and they don't need this drama in addition to their own problems?
- Should I buy a van and live in it so i can get away from them and have a form of transportation? I checked prices on Craigslist for a cheap one and they are still really expensive?
- Should I risk living with a complete stranger that may steal my property or worse leaving me worse off than where I started?
Please help!
2024.05.14 22:26 artep222 Is my boss bad or am I overreacting?
Whew, this is gonna be a long one. I (19F) got a job at this law office. I basically found the job thru craigslist and emailed the office, got a phone interview and a trial day. I went in with zero knowledge of what the position was, as the ad was very ambiguous. The requirements were to be a spanish and english speaker and have office experience. I initially thought I was going in for a receptionist role and maybe translator.
Long story short, I somehow got the job. Turns out what they were looking for was a paralegal (I have no degree in that. I went to law school in Mexico for 8 months and dropped out, that’s about it). I still got the job and have been working here for 5 months or so.
Since I first started the job, I have been doing every step of the cases that come in. I talk to clients, fill out forms and mail the cases to the respective agencies.
The first 2 weeks of the job were great and I thought I had hit the jackpot with it. My boss seemed amazing and very nice.
Things changed quickly a few weeks in though. He started becoming meaner and more sarcastic with his comments. I also realized he started micromanaging more and more, down to how he wanted me to take notes and getting angry when I did it differently.
Every time we’d review cases, he’d get angry and raise his voice because he did not remember the decisions he took himself on said cases. And when we’d try to remind him, he would not listen.
I recall one time he got so mad at me for “not asking him enough questions”, he claimed I acted like “I know it all” and that I am too ashamed to admit I’m ignorant. He told me my time at the office would not be long if I kept doing that.
I have done exactly what he told me to do that time. I ask as many questions as I can, even when the answers are pretty obvious. This has definitely made the environment less stressful.
However, he still micro manages everything we do. I have also noticed some serious sexist behavior. There is only 1 more paralegal at the office besides me. Every time he refers to us, he will be sarcastic and call us names in diminutive if that makes sense. He does not do this when we have a male assisting us in the office. He only does it to the female workers, and even clients.
One time, he got so angry at my coworker over something he did not remember he said and yelled at us. He even slammed a phone on my desk because he was angry at me for not taking notes. He said we were not producing any work despite having been working in multiple cases for weeks. I decided to say something and said he was being really disrespectful and that I was not going to tolerate him raising his voice at us. I have to admit I was so frustrated I cried at some point but even then I said I was in no condition to keep the conversation going and tried to excuse myself. He said I could go home and he’d give me a check, basically firing me. I said okay. He then said I was just standing up for my coworker because of “sisterhood”. That we were being hysteric. He made me give him a list of instances where he has been mean. After a while, we both calmed down and he told me I could stay if I wanted to. I did.
A day later, he made me write down the definition of hysteria. He said it was when someone doesn’t get what they want and then gets angry or cries to emotionally blackmail and get their way. He mentions hysteria a lot since then.
There has been other minor instances regarding this behavior but I am trying to keep it as short as I can.
I would also like to highlight that this is a law office handling at least 50 active cases right now with 2 paralegals only. My coworker has told me people don’t last long here since they get fired fast and usually it ends up bad.
I want to mention that sometimes he is really nice and we do have good days too. He gives out a lot of bonuses, is very flexible with vacation days and does not get angry when any of us is late.
Am I overreacting by thinking he might be a bad boss?
submitted by artep222 to work [link] [comments]
Long story short, I somehow got the job. Turns out what they were looking for was a paralegal (I have no degree in that. I went to law school in Mexico for 8 months and dropped out, that’s about it). I still got the job and have been working here for 5 months or so.
Since I first started the job, I have been doing every step of the cases that come in. I talk to clients, fill out forms and mail the cases to the respective agencies.
The first 2 weeks of the job were great and I thought I had hit the jackpot with it. My boss seemed amazing and very nice.
Things changed quickly a few weeks in though. He started becoming meaner and more sarcastic with his comments. I also realized he started micromanaging more and more, down to how he wanted me to take notes and getting angry when I did it differently.
Every time we’d review cases, he’d get angry and raise his voice because he did not remember the decisions he took himself on said cases. And when we’d try to remind him, he would not listen.
I recall one time he got so mad at me for “not asking him enough questions”, he claimed I acted like “I know it all” and that I am too ashamed to admit I’m ignorant. He told me my time at the office would not be long if I kept doing that.
I have done exactly what he told me to do that time. I ask as many questions as I can, even when the answers are pretty obvious. This has definitely made the environment less stressful.
However, he still micro manages everything we do. I have also noticed some serious sexist behavior. There is only 1 more paralegal at the office besides me. Every time he refers to us, he will be sarcastic and call us names in diminutive if that makes sense. He does not do this when we have a male assisting us in the office. He only does it to the female workers, and even clients.
One time, he got so angry at my coworker over something he did not remember he said and yelled at us. He even slammed a phone on my desk because he was angry at me for not taking notes. He said we were not producing any work despite having been working in multiple cases for weeks. I decided to say something and said he was being really disrespectful and that I was not going to tolerate him raising his voice at us. I have to admit I was so frustrated I cried at some point but even then I said I was in no condition to keep the conversation going and tried to excuse myself. He said I could go home and he’d give me a check, basically firing me. I said okay. He then said I was just standing up for my coworker because of “sisterhood”. That we were being hysteric. He made me give him a list of instances where he has been mean. After a while, we both calmed down and he told me I could stay if I wanted to. I did.
A day later, he made me write down the definition of hysteria. He said it was when someone doesn’t get what they want and then gets angry or cries to emotionally blackmail and get their way. He mentions hysteria a lot since then.
There has been other minor instances regarding this behavior but I am trying to keep it as short as I can.
I would also like to highlight that this is a law office handling at least 50 active cases right now with 2 paralegals only. My coworker has told me people don’t last long here since they get fired fast and usually it ends up bad.
I want to mention that sometimes he is really nice and we do have good days too. He gives out a lot of bonuses, is very flexible with vacation days and does not get angry when any of us is late.
Am I overreacting by thinking he might be a bad boss?
2024.05.12 14:41 Funkoiceisland_Car14 Do you think team cherry will add a second playable character to hollow Knight Along with the silksong release
 | submitted by Funkoiceisland_Car14 to Silksong [link] [comments] |
2024.05.11 00:26 Internal_Prune_5108 contracting 101
Residential Contracting 101
With over 20 years of building experience, I would like to share with you my insights in navigating becoming a successful contractor. With many different avenues of the building world its key to understand what problems will arise on any given day. A man once told a saying that stuck-the 6 p’s in life- Piss Poor Preparation leads to Piss Poor Performance. Preparation builds everything in construction, without preparation the jobsite will not run correctly. The best advice I was ever given was to learn a little about every trade giving you the ability to understand trade lingo and secrets. An example would be painters use the terminology flash; this means when the sub structure bleads through the paint. Subcontractors will give the best pricing if they respect your knowledge of the industry. If the subcontractor feels they will have to hold your hand through the job they will charge an extra fee…i.e. I call it the aggravation fee. In this blog I will explain the key elements in finding success in all aspects of the industry. Contracting is a physically and emotionally demanding job which requires planning and foresight to complete projects on time within budget. Picking your customer is just as important as picking your employees or subcontractors. I have worked for some of the most demanding customers leading me to question at the end if the job was even worth it. Sleepless nights, constant changes, lack of payment, lawsuit threats, adding work that was in the contract are just a few things you could face with a tough customer. With so many moving parts at all times it is critical to be able to adapt to changes within a short time frame. Materials will come in damaged, subcontractors will be late, employees will get sick, but the deadline you set does not change. The stress can be overwhelming at times keeping your mind in a good place is key to navigating all that is thrown at you. Choosing your client picking the right jobs-Keep these questions in mind The first question to be asked is what the time frame is to start the job to see if it fits within the timeframe for your business. If the time frame doesn’t work then move on from the project or let them know when you would be available to start. If the client really wants to use, they will wait until you are available. Taking on too much work will only lead to problems. Construction is a serviced based business, staying on top of the project and client will eliminate an unhappy customer and construction issues that will be over seen. With online presence if details are missed and customer service lacks it will only be a matter of time the phone will not ring. The second question to be asked to the client is do they have a budget in mind for the project. If they answer yes this is good, follow through with what the budget is. If the budget seems low let them know, this will eliminate a tire kicker, educate them on what the price range could be. If the budget seems reasonable then continue the discussion to the next question. If they answer no let them know that you can give them an estimate to see if the project is feasible with their finical capabilities. Taking on a job that is not correctly budgeted will lead to an unsatisfied customer due to non-transparency of the construction cost. The third question to be asked is anyone else bidding on the job, if the answer is yes, understand you might just be number check for the contractor doing the job. Dig a little deeper and find out how many numbers they are getting and why. If your business model is to be competitive be completely transparent with customer, this will gain trust with them. Let them know you get what you pay for and if you they choose the lowest bid it could lead into lack of quality of work.
The fourth question I will ask is there any specific subcontractors they wanted to use. If the answer is yes then I would explain to them you only use the subcontractors you have a working relationship with. Otherwise, this could backfire as the subcontractor might not show, do subpar work, talk behind your back to the homeowner. In my experience I would stay away from using any homeowner to alleviate problems down the road. A quick conversation now can save headaches down the road. The fifth question I will ask are planning on getting the job permitted, this needs to be known it takes more time for the permitting process. Plans will have to drawn submitted and approved to the city before work can commence. The sixth question I will ask if a residential remodel is are you going to be living through the remodel if yes understand this will take more time to navigate the project due to answering questions and cleaning the house on a daily occurrence. I would recommend seeing if the customer would be willing to move into an Airbnb or friends for at least the demo portion of the project. If they do plan on living through the remodel add a couple hours a day to accommodate the extra time that will be required. The seventh question I would ask in a residential remodel is how old the house is to see if there is asbestos that would need to removed by a proper company. A home built before 1979 will most likely have some asbestos in the house, use a licensed company with proper insurance to dispose of the materials. If everything looks good to this point find out a little more about the client personality. If the client seems reasonable, I would bid the job. Unreasonable people can cause you more stress than its worth. These are some red flags I would look out for. Some jobs are not worth the money. Very demanding in the way you are going to perform your job- I.e., tell you how you are going to do your job- You’re the professional not them! Give you a hard time about your price- haggle with price you estimated- The price is the price! If they are a family with little money and you want to help them out is one thing, if they are trying to beat you down is another. Mention they have a lawyer-there is no need for them to bring up that they have a lawyer - Run for the hills as if the job goes south, you will be the one losing out! Tell you what the payment terms are. It’s your business you get paid how it works for your company. If you want to get paid every Friday, put it into your contract-If the clients do not agree move on it will save you frustrations If they talk bad about the last contractor, chances are they will talk bad about you. There is a reason why the contractor does not work for them anymore, unless he did subpar work this a red flag Clients are using an interior decorator that will purchasing all of the materials- The materials could be ordered incorrectly by the interior designer your company will not make the mark-up it deserves. Interior decorators usually add time to the job as well as act like your boss. Charging a little extra for the time and stress that it will entail is only fair. Clients want to purchase the materials- You are using your knowledge to buy the correct materials-The mark up on the materials keeps the doors open working for wages only pays the bills The husband and wife do not get along-You will become the mediator between the couple it will lead to taking sides a losing proposition- A drama free work place is always best! Dangling carrot-if you do this job the next one will be better-Only look at what there offering at the present moment, if its not a good fit do not take the job for a job down the road…Its not worth chasing a job that might not happen! The Art of the Sale First things first selling your company is all about presentation. In meeting your clients for the first time show up with a collared golf shirt tucked in, belt, nice jeans, and newer shoes. Have a truck that a clean, no dents scratches, preferably washed the day you are going into your meeting. Have a leather note pad that is clean no dirt or paint visible. Show up 5 minutes early, if you’re running a little late shoot them a text to let them know. Treat the situation as if were going on a first date, best foot forward. As you introduce yourself give them a warm greeting, letting them know you are very interested in the work. Find out a little about them, hobbies, where they lived, etc etc. You are going to be working with them on a daily basis its nice to know what makes them tick. Having a good working relationship from the start is key forming a solid relationship. As the conversation progresses find out who wears the pants in the family…ie who’s the final decision maker. If its fits the wife, chances it is…..then kindly let the husband know happy wife happy life when their in a stall mate on an issue. As your looking at the project throw in some suggestions of what you think would look good from past experiences, this will get their attention that you have knowledge and want what’s best for them. If you see ways to save them money in their project let them know, money is a large point of the sale keep that in mind. Mention that you’re not the least expensive contractor but you’re not the most expensive either. Your customer satisfaction is your number one goal which leads to more time spent on keeping them happy. One happy customer will lead to another, one unsatisfied customer leads to work in the future. Bring up the fact the finishing the job on time is key goal to your business, many contractors run several jobs at once causing the jobs to be finished way behind schedule. You must stand out as having integrity, good morals, and the ability to problem solve to get the job. The clients will be testing you to see if you’re a good fit as well. Keep in mind as you take your notes that you must not forget anything they mention as it will come back before the job is completed…i.e. we mentioned that to you before we started the job! Take pictures of the proposed area for work, that way you can use it to better right your estimate. Let them know you will give them a detailed outline of when the job will be completed letting them see how long each phase will take and correlate it with your payment schedule. Before you leave their house let them know when the estimate will be sent to them. MAKE SURE YOU HIT THAT DEADLINE! Once you sent the email over with estimate make sure you get confirmation that they received it. Wait at least 2 days before checking with them, hopefully they contact you first! If they want negotiate the price, let them know that it is the best price that you can manage, its not worth losing money before you start. I closed 80% of the work I estimated by being very transparent and friendly. If you come off with an attitude charge double what the going rates are you might only land 1 out of 10 jobs as well as getting the reputation of being expensive. Bidding the job Looking up industry standards on pricing is what I would go buy for pricing. If you google the coat of any installation there will be a cost range for everything. Looking at the cost ranging from high to low I would tend to be in the middle. Some items might be low on the internet if this is the case use your best judgment not to lose money. Closing sales is key to success and keep the doors open for business. Being in the middle on pricing is key as most customers shy away from contractors that are extremely low or high on the price range. I tend not bid out hourly as wages do not pay for retirement. Bidding is better as customers no the exact price of the cost of construction. It also keeps the job moving quicker as time and material contractors take longer to complete projects…Thus costing the client more money and valuable time they could spend in their house. Using a Contract Using a detailed estimate tied to a contract covers your butt in 99% of the time. Having a piece of mind that every aspect of the job is covered in the estimate and contract protects both your company and the client. Key terms to include in your estimate/contract are. Have a schedule on excel showing the start dates and dates of each trade this will show the customer you are organized with time lines. If not written in the detailed in the estimate the item is excluded- This ensures if its not written down its not included. TBD- To be Determined- A phrase on a line item that has yet to had final decision of products or service needed. -The pricing will follow the decisions to be finalized Give out what your written warranty will be for parts and labor this changes state to state. If the homeowner provides the product than no warranty will be given on that particular item. In the contract have a start date and end date with the verbiage subject to change due to weather, product delivery, change orders Have a progress payment schedule to ensure the client understands when funding will be expected-Including if not payment is rendered service to the project will stop. Have written terms of how change orders will be charged-cost plus 20% or a set fee Make sure in your contract that arbitration is required versus going to court- This will save lawyer fees and going to court Many contracts can be found online and each state requires different contracts
Finding leads Finding leads is easy with the right network of people. I personally do not find working for friends or family members a good fit. Relationships get strained when money is involved, causing undue stress for both parties. I have listed a couple of ways to build a network or find work using the internet. Get in contact with realtor’s- Realtors have a big client base of homeowners who need work done Contact local Architects to see if they are working with any general contractors Leave some business cards at your local materials suppliers-Doowindow/lumber-many times clients will ask salesman for a referral. Join a business networking group- BNI is one of many Join a internet website lead generation company- Houzz, Angie’s List, Home Advisor, thumbtack, Yelp run an ad on craigslist Use a marketing company to market your website-This could become costly with little results Create a Facebook business page Create a Yelp business page
Building your subcontractor base Having 2 subcontractors for every trade, gives you the flexibility of completing jobs on time if the one the subcontractors is too busy at the time you need their service. Your subcontractors are the face of your business, choose owner run companies that are professional. Check to make sure there license are up to date..ie workman’s comp, liability insurance, state license. Choosing subcontractors with lettered vans, logoed t-shirts is s key to looking professional in the clients’ eyes. In the past I have gotten a lot of subcontractors for material supply shops, stopping by jobsites, researching the internet using Yelp, Home Advisor, etc etc. Once you get one good subcontractor ask them if they know any other trades they would recommend. One good subcontractor leads to another in most cases. The key to having a good group of subcontractors is to let them know that you are there to get help them get the job done. They do work for you but without them you are nothing…keep that in mind! Make them aware a clean jobsite is required at the end of everyday to ensure the proper safety for all parties including theirs! Over the years I have referred a lot of companies work when there is only 1 trade needed. Referring work to subcontractors is a good way to get top priority when you have work that needs to be completed ASAP. Timing is everything in times of emergency having a good group of subcontractors will make your business run smoothly. Pay your subcontractors immediately after performing work, this will make them feel appreciated! A happy subcontractor is one that will gladly go the extra mile for you knowing that there not just a number to your business! Buying lunch once a week for the jobsite is always a good token of appreciation!
Supervising In supervising any jobsite its key to monitor everything from materials on hand, weather, vehicle parking (if applicable), jobsite safety, and subcontractors’ workmanship. If you hired a professional there should be little supervision in the work being performed, on rare occasions a new hire might need some mentoring to get the results completed correctly. If you see a problem with there work address it with the worker directly, no need to call his boss…. building repour with the worker letting him know you got his back goes miles down the road! Checking in on the job first in the morning to answer any questions or changes that need to be conveyed and once in the afternoon to make sure all work be completed is done per construction industry standards. A job that is run blindly will have many more issues than one that is watched over. I have seen many jobs with no site supervision, leading to subpar quality work as well as safety hazards. Its better to be like an eagle than cluck like a turkey!
Working with the City/Inspectors On permitted jobs the city and site inspector will be a large part of how smoothly the job runs. Each phase of construction has an inspection allowing for the project to continue. Make sure your subcontractors are aware that the project is inspected before starting the job. The best way to stay on his good side is to provide a clean jobsite and having the job built to the highest standards possible. When having the site inspected be courteous to the inspector asking any questions or concerns you have with the work during the job. Being completely transparent will save you aggravation of problems down the road. The more he trust you the better if you seem sneaky or rude he will make your life a living nightmare! Many inspectors will have an attitude towards you….I suggest keeping quiet and doing what ever he wants….he’s the boss no need to get in a pissing match you will not win at. How to deal with irate customer Stay calm during any argument with an irate customer. Never raise your voice or show that you are bothered by their disgruntled behavior. If the customer is trying to get more from you than agreed upon stand your ground. Worst case scenario is you walk from the job, which in the long run be more of a loss for the client. I have only run into a couple of these clients; they are unreasonable and not worth losing sleep over a few dollars. Its best to terminate the relationship as it would be my best guess that a referral from this customer would not be one you wanted anyway. If you feel it was just a miscommunication on your end, take reasonability and remedy the problem. Taking accountability for your mistake will go a far way in their eyes and on future issues that arise. Prepping the homeowner pre-construction Before starting the job, it very important to give the homeowners a warning of what will happen during the construction process.
submitted by Internal_Prune_5108 to Contracting [link] [comments]
With over 20 years of building experience, I would like to share with you my insights in navigating becoming a successful contractor. With many different avenues of the building world its key to understand what problems will arise on any given day. A man once told a saying that stuck-the 6 p’s in life- Piss Poor Preparation leads to Piss Poor Performance. Preparation builds everything in construction, without preparation the jobsite will not run correctly. The best advice I was ever given was to learn a little about every trade giving you the ability to understand trade lingo and secrets. An example would be painters use the terminology flash; this means when the sub structure bleads through the paint. Subcontractors will give the best pricing if they respect your knowledge of the industry. If the subcontractor feels they will have to hold your hand through the job they will charge an extra fee…i.e. I call it the aggravation fee. In this blog I will explain the key elements in finding success in all aspects of the industry. Contracting is a physically and emotionally demanding job which requires planning and foresight to complete projects on time within budget. Picking your customer is just as important as picking your employees or subcontractors. I have worked for some of the most demanding customers leading me to question at the end if the job was even worth it. Sleepless nights, constant changes, lack of payment, lawsuit threats, adding work that was in the contract are just a few things you could face with a tough customer. With so many moving parts at all times it is critical to be able to adapt to changes within a short time frame. Materials will come in damaged, subcontractors will be late, employees will get sick, but the deadline you set does not change. The stress can be overwhelming at times keeping your mind in a good place is key to navigating all that is thrown at you. Choosing your client picking the right jobs-Keep these questions in mind The first question to be asked is what the time frame is to start the job to see if it fits within the timeframe for your business. If the time frame doesn’t work then move on from the project or let them know when you would be available to start. If the client really wants to use, they will wait until you are available. Taking on too much work will only lead to problems. Construction is a serviced based business, staying on top of the project and client will eliminate an unhappy customer and construction issues that will be over seen. With online presence if details are missed and customer service lacks it will only be a matter of time the phone will not ring. The second question to be asked to the client is do they have a budget in mind for the project. If they answer yes this is good, follow through with what the budget is. If the budget seems low let them know, this will eliminate a tire kicker, educate them on what the price range could be. If the budget seems reasonable then continue the discussion to the next question. If they answer no let them know that you can give them an estimate to see if the project is feasible with their finical capabilities. Taking on a job that is not correctly budgeted will lead to an unsatisfied customer due to non-transparency of the construction cost. The third question to be asked is anyone else bidding on the job, if the answer is yes, understand you might just be number check for the contractor doing the job. Dig a little deeper and find out how many numbers they are getting and why. If your business model is to be competitive be completely transparent with customer, this will gain trust with them. Let them know you get what you pay for and if you they choose the lowest bid it could lead into lack of quality of work.
The fourth question I will ask is there any specific subcontractors they wanted to use. If the answer is yes then I would explain to them you only use the subcontractors you have a working relationship with. Otherwise, this could backfire as the subcontractor might not show, do subpar work, talk behind your back to the homeowner. In my experience I would stay away from using any homeowner to alleviate problems down the road. A quick conversation now can save headaches down the road. The fifth question I will ask are planning on getting the job permitted, this needs to be known it takes more time for the permitting process. Plans will have to drawn submitted and approved to the city before work can commence. The sixth question I will ask if a residential remodel is are you going to be living through the remodel if yes understand this will take more time to navigate the project due to answering questions and cleaning the house on a daily occurrence. I would recommend seeing if the customer would be willing to move into an Airbnb or friends for at least the demo portion of the project. If they do plan on living through the remodel add a couple hours a day to accommodate the extra time that will be required. The seventh question I would ask in a residential remodel is how old the house is to see if there is asbestos that would need to removed by a proper company. A home built before 1979 will most likely have some asbestos in the house, use a licensed company with proper insurance to dispose of the materials. If everything looks good to this point find out a little more about the client personality. If the client seems reasonable, I would bid the job. Unreasonable people can cause you more stress than its worth. These are some red flags I would look out for. Some jobs are not worth the money. Very demanding in the way you are going to perform your job- I.e., tell you how you are going to do your job- You’re the professional not them! Give you a hard time about your price- haggle with price you estimated- The price is the price! If they are a family with little money and you want to help them out is one thing, if they are trying to beat you down is another. Mention they have a lawyer-there is no need for them to bring up that they have a lawyer - Run for the hills as if the job goes south, you will be the one losing out! Tell you what the payment terms are. It’s your business you get paid how it works for your company. If you want to get paid every Friday, put it into your contract-If the clients do not agree move on it will save you frustrations If they talk bad about the last contractor, chances are they will talk bad about you. There is a reason why the contractor does not work for them anymore, unless he did subpar work this a red flag Clients are using an interior decorator that will purchasing all of the materials- The materials could be ordered incorrectly by the interior designer your company will not make the mark-up it deserves. Interior decorators usually add time to the job as well as act like your boss. Charging a little extra for the time and stress that it will entail is only fair. Clients want to purchase the materials- You are using your knowledge to buy the correct materials-The mark up on the materials keeps the doors open working for wages only pays the bills The husband and wife do not get along-You will become the mediator between the couple it will lead to taking sides a losing proposition- A drama free work place is always best! Dangling carrot-if you do this job the next one will be better-Only look at what there offering at the present moment, if its not a good fit do not take the job for a job down the road…Its not worth chasing a job that might not happen! The Art of the Sale First things first selling your company is all about presentation. In meeting your clients for the first time show up with a collared golf shirt tucked in, belt, nice jeans, and newer shoes. Have a truck that a clean, no dents scratches, preferably washed the day you are going into your meeting. Have a leather note pad that is clean no dirt or paint visible. Show up 5 minutes early, if you’re running a little late shoot them a text to let them know. Treat the situation as if were going on a first date, best foot forward. As you introduce yourself give them a warm greeting, letting them know you are very interested in the work. Find out a little about them, hobbies, where they lived, etc etc. You are going to be working with them on a daily basis its nice to know what makes them tick. Having a good working relationship from the start is key forming a solid relationship. As the conversation progresses find out who wears the pants in the family…ie who’s the final decision maker. If its fits the wife, chances it is…..then kindly let the husband know happy wife happy life when their in a stall mate on an issue. As your looking at the project throw in some suggestions of what you think would look good from past experiences, this will get their attention that you have knowledge and want what’s best for them. If you see ways to save them money in their project let them know, money is a large point of the sale keep that in mind. Mention that you’re not the least expensive contractor but you’re not the most expensive either. Your customer satisfaction is your number one goal which leads to more time spent on keeping them happy. One happy customer will lead to another, one unsatisfied customer leads to work in the future. Bring up the fact the finishing the job on time is key goal to your business, many contractors run several jobs at once causing the jobs to be finished way behind schedule. You must stand out as having integrity, good morals, and the ability to problem solve to get the job. The clients will be testing you to see if you’re a good fit as well. Keep in mind as you take your notes that you must not forget anything they mention as it will come back before the job is completed…i.e. we mentioned that to you before we started the job! Take pictures of the proposed area for work, that way you can use it to better right your estimate. Let them know you will give them a detailed outline of when the job will be completed letting them see how long each phase will take and correlate it with your payment schedule. Before you leave their house let them know when the estimate will be sent to them. MAKE SURE YOU HIT THAT DEADLINE! Once you sent the email over with estimate make sure you get confirmation that they received it. Wait at least 2 days before checking with them, hopefully they contact you first! If they want negotiate the price, let them know that it is the best price that you can manage, its not worth losing money before you start. I closed 80% of the work I estimated by being very transparent and friendly. If you come off with an attitude charge double what the going rates are you might only land 1 out of 10 jobs as well as getting the reputation of being expensive. Bidding the job Looking up industry standards on pricing is what I would go buy for pricing. If you google the coat of any installation there will be a cost range for everything. Looking at the cost ranging from high to low I would tend to be in the middle. Some items might be low on the internet if this is the case use your best judgment not to lose money. Closing sales is key to success and keep the doors open for business. Being in the middle on pricing is key as most customers shy away from contractors that are extremely low or high on the price range. I tend not bid out hourly as wages do not pay for retirement. Bidding is better as customers no the exact price of the cost of construction. It also keeps the job moving quicker as time and material contractors take longer to complete projects…Thus costing the client more money and valuable time they could spend in their house. Using a Contract Using a detailed estimate tied to a contract covers your butt in 99% of the time. Having a piece of mind that every aspect of the job is covered in the estimate and contract protects both your company and the client. Key terms to include in your estimate/contract are. Have a schedule on excel showing the start dates and dates of each trade this will show the customer you are organized with time lines. If not written in the detailed in the estimate the item is excluded- This ensures if its not written down its not included. TBD- To be Determined- A phrase on a line item that has yet to had final decision of products or service needed. -The pricing will follow the decisions to be finalized Give out what your written warranty will be for parts and labor this changes state to state. If the homeowner provides the product than no warranty will be given on that particular item. In the contract have a start date and end date with the verbiage subject to change due to weather, product delivery, change orders Have a progress payment schedule to ensure the client understands when funding will be expected-Including if not payment is rendered service to the project will stop. Have written terms of how change orders will be charged-cost plus 20% or a set fee Make sure in your contract that arbitration is required versus going to court- This will save lawyer fees and going to court Many contracts can be found online and each state requires different contracts
Finding leads Finding leads is easy with the right network of people. I personally do not find working for friends or family members a good fit. Relationships get strained when money is involved, causing undue stress for both parties. I have listed a couple of ways to build a network or find work using the internet. Get in contact with realtor’s- Realtors have a big client base of homeowners who need work done Contact local Architects to see if they are working with any general contractors Leave some business cards at your local materials suppliers-Doowindow/lumber-many times clients will ask salesman for a referral. Join a business networking group- BNI is one of many Join a internet website lead generation company- Houzz, Angie’s List, Home Advisor, thumbtack, Yelp run an ad on craigslist Use a marketing company to market your website-This could become costly with little results Create a Facebook business page Create a Yelp business page
Building your subcontractor base Having 2 subcontractors for every trade, gives you the flexibility of completing jobs on time if the one the subcontractors is too busy at the time you need their service. Your subcontractors are the face of your business, choose owner run companies that are professional. Check to make sure there license are up to date..ie workman’s comp, liability insurance, state license. Choosing subcontractors with lettered vans, logoed t-shirts is s key to looking professional in the clients’ eyes. In the past I have gotten a lot of subcontractors for material supply shops, stopping by jobsites, researching the internet using Yelp, Home Advisor, etc etc. Once you get one good subcontractor ask them if they know any other trades they would recommend. One good subcontractor leads to another in most cases. The key to having a good group of subcontractors is to let them know that you are there to get help them get the job done. They do work for you but without them you are nothing…keep that in mind! Make them aware a clean jobsite is required at the end of everyday to ensure the proper safety for all parties including theirs! Over the years I have referred a lot of companies work when there is only 1 trade needed. Referring work to subcontractors is a good way to get top priority when you have work that needs to be completed ASAP. Timing is everything in times of emergency having a good group of subcontractors will make your business run smoothly. Pay your subcontractors immediately after performing work, this will make them feel appreciated! A happy subcontractor is one that will gladly go the extra mile for you knowing that there not just a number to your business! Buying lunch once a week for the jobsite is always a good token of appreciation!
Supervising In supervising any jobsite its key to monitor everything from materials on hand, weather, vehicle parking (if applicable), jobsite safety, and subcontractors’ workmanship. If you hired a professional there should be little supervision in the work being performed, on rare occasions a new hire might need some mentoring to get the results completed correctly. If you see a problem with there work address it with the worker directly, no need to call his boss…. building repour with the worker letting him know you got his back goes miles down the road! Checking in on the job first in the morning to answer any questions or changes that need to be conveyed and once in the afternoon to make sure all work be completed is done per construction industry standards. A job that is run blindly will have many more issues than one that is watched over. I have seen many jobs with no site supervision, leading to subpar quality work as well as safety hazards. Its better to be like an eagle than cluck like a turkey!
Working with the City/Inspectors On permitted jobs the city and site inspector will be a large part of how smoothly the job runs. Each phase of construction has an inspection allowing for the project to continue. Make sure your subcontractors are aware that the project is inspected before starting the job. The best way to stay on his good side is to provide a clean jobsite and having the job built to the highest standards possible. When having the site inspected be courteous to the inspector asking any questions or concerns you have with the work during the job. Being completely transparent will save you aggravation of problems down the road. The more he trust you the better if you seem sneaky or rude he will make your life a living nightmare! Many inspectors will have an attitude towards you….I suggest keeping quiet and doing what ever he wants….he’s the boss no need to get in a pissing match you will not win at. How to deal with irate customer Stay calm during any argument with an irate customer. Never raise your voice or show that you are bothered by their disgruntled behavior. If the customer is trying to get more from you than agreed upon stand your ground. Worst case scenario is you walk from the job, which in the long run be more of a loss for the client. I have only run into a couple of these clients; they are unreasonable and not worth losing sleep over a few dollars. Its best to terminate the relationship as it would be my best guess that a referral from this customer would not be one you wanted anyway. If you feel it was just a miscommunication on your end, take reasonability and remedy the problem. Taking accountability for your mistake will go a far way in their eyes and on future issues that arise. Prepping the homeowner pre-construction Before starting the job, it very important to give the homeowners a warning of what will happen during the construction process.
- All furniture in the proposed working area must be moved- I would recommend having the clients take care of this to limit the risk of damage to their belongings.
- There will be dust that will be in the house up to 3 months after construction-I would recommend hiring a construction cleaning company at the end of the job even so after it is cleaned dust will be present months after words.
- There will be conflicts between you in the homeowner at some course of the job. - You will do your best to eliminate them as quickly as they arise-i.e. material damages, miscommunication, job delays
- All decisions on materials must be made before the start of the job- this will eliminate job stoppage due to materials not being on site.
- All materials will be on site before commencement of job-
- Payment structures must be made per contract otherwise job will stop until payment rendered
- Cars are to be moved out of the driveway- Ensures ease of loading and unloading of materials/tools
- Give the specific hours that workers will be present- i.e. 7-3:30
- Determine what areas are allowed to be used as staging for tools/materials
- If animals are present in the home that they put outside or in a room during the day
- All valuables in the house are locked in safe
- Ask if using client’s household bathroom is okay or to bring in Porter Potty
- Being transparent as possible is key to keeping a great relationship with your client!
2024.05.10 19:52 HippoHead6597 Finally got to test my theory on how many Bosses trikes could kill
 | submitted by HippoHead6597 to ArkSurvivalAscended [link] [comments] |
2024.05.08 11:47 kdshap Saw my old payslip and I realized na kahit malayo pa, malayo na.
 | Nagbubura ako ng old emails kasi mapupuno na yung gmail ko and I stumbled upon my old payslip from my first job. Just a quick backrgound, I work in the hospitality industry and uso yung mga tinatawag na "casual" staff. Meaning hindi kami directly hired ng Hotel. Yung agency ang nagpapasahod samin and if meron dito makakarelate, alam nyong lagi may problema ang agency kapag pa-sahod na. submitted by kdshap to adultingph [link] [comments] Anyway, nung nakita ko yung payslip ko noon grabe talaga naiyak ako. Bigla ako nag flashback sa mga moments na halos everyday ako umiiyak ako kasi 2 cut offs nang delayed yung sahod ko dahil sa agency - kung hindi ko pa babanggitin na ipapa-DOLE ko sila di sila agad magrerelease ng sahod, sobrang bilang lang yung araw na makakapag eat out ako or milktea kasi mawawalan ako ng pamasahe, lahat ng opportunities makapag overtime kinukuha ko para makadagdag sa sahod ko, pag nagaaya yung friends ko na gumala kami kung anu-anong dahilan na sinasabi ko na hindi ako pwede kasi yung totoo wala naman ako extra pera, syempre kaya nila ako sagutin pero ako na mismo nahihiya sa sarili ko, kapag umuuwi imbes na mag trike papasok samin nilalakad ko nalang para makatipid, at marami pang iba. Kaya payo ko sa mga nagsisimula palang, kapit lang guys, do your jobs efficiently and with integrity, build lasting relationships especially with your boss, and learn when to say NO. Happy Monday! :') |
2024.05.07 18:38 Melodic_Gap_2239 Here’s an option for making more income
So I’ve been reading all of these different different posts and I wanted to get my input on what worked for me (32m). For one Im not rich, but my income did triple when I started doing this.
So I grew up doing Masonry work with my father, but I hated the work so much and didn’t want anything to do with it. Got on drugs as a teen and got clean then decided to go to college part time at 22 years old. Parents were poor so I had to pay my way through it and didn’t graduate with my bachelors until 2019 at 27. Went for film studies, which I don’t regret at all. I just haven’t decided to move to a big film industry city as of yet. Plus I’m making more than now than either of my parents ever have (Dad always worked by the hour). So Im enjoying having comfortable income for the first time.
Long story short, I worked maintenance jobs around my city after college and did the Masonry work part-time using Facebook ads and Craigslist to find work. I didn’t put a lot of money into it like maybe 20 bucks a month with craigslist and every now and then throw 50 bucks on Facebook ads with my business page. I would get a job or two every month or so. Mind you I was doing all this by myself without anybody’s help so I only priced smaller projects. Which in hindsight, gave me a niche cause a lot of bigger masonry crews don’t wanna do the small repairs and small stuff. Most of the time handymen do masonry work repairs the wrong way and usually don’t even try small masonry projects.
I could’ve been doing this before I started college if I had put more money in advertising and even done some door knocking. I wasn’t too confident in my abilities as a mason because only knew like the basics but with the basics and YouTube it really wasn’t that hard to pick up. As long as you take pride in your work, then word spreads, and you end up doing better and better. When I was working maintenance, I was making around $18 an hour and last year, my first year with my business doing masonry work full time I made $120,000.
It’s not easy work by no means and I still would rather not do it, but I’d rather do this than do the maintenance job for sure. I’m my own boss so I’m more accountable for my income. Since I’m not hiring out the labor, which honestly i should probably go ahead and hire someone, it can be really exhausting. Not including dealing with the customers, finding work, pricing the jobs the right way (i definitely lost money on a few jobs). Next step is to delegate and focus on the sales part while checking in on my workers. Though I don’t necessarily want to get really big either. Don’t sleep on the knowledge and skills you already have like I did in my early 20s. Hope this helps!
submitted by Melodic_Gap_2239 to Rich [link] [comments]
So I grew up doing Masonry work with my father, but I hated the work so much and didn’t want anything to do with it. Got on drugs as a teen and got clean then decided to go to college part time at 22 years old. Parents were poor so I had to pay my way through it and didn’t graduate with my bachelors until 2019 at 27. Went for film studies, which I don’t regret at all. I just haven’t decided to move to a big film industry city as of yet. Plus I’m making more than now than either of my parents ever have (Dad always worked by the hour). So Im enjoying having comfortable income for the first time.
Long story short, I worked maintenance jobs around my city after college and did the Masonry work part-time using Facebook ads and Craigslist to find work. I didn’t put a lot of money into it like maybe 20 bucks a month with craigslist and every now and then throw 50 bucks on Facebook ads with my business page. I would get a job or two every month or so. Mind you I was doing all this by myself without anybody’s help so I only priced smaller projects. Which in hindsight, gave me a niche cause a lot of bigger masonry crews don’t wanna do the small repairs and small stuff. Most of the time handymen do masonry work repairs the wrong way and usually don’t even try small masonry projects.
I could’ve been doing this before I started college if I had put more money in advertising and even done some door knocking. I wasn’t too confident in my abilities as a mason because only knew like the basics but with the basics and YouTube it really wasn’t that hard to pick up. As long as you take pride in your work, then word spreads, and you end up doing better and better. When I was working maintenance, I was making around $18 an hour and last year, my first year with my business doing masonry work full time I made $120,000.
It’s not easy work by no means and I still would rather not do it, but I’d rather do this than do the maintenance job for sure. I’m my own boss so I’m more accountable for my income. Since I’m not hiring out the labor, which honestly i should probably go ahead and hire someone, it can be really exhausting. Not including dealing with the customers, finding work, pricing the jobs the right way (i definitely lost money on a few jobs). Next step is to delegate and focus on the sales part while checking in on my workers. Though I don’t necessarily want to get really big either. Don’t sleep on the knowledge and skills you already have like I did in my early 20s. Hope this helps!
2024.05.07 00:57 Colt1873 What's the biggest fuel tank capacity you can get on a Harley?
My dream chopper (other than a boss hoss) is a nice Harley, either Fat Boy or Heritage Classic, with some nice forks and a big fuel tank for long rides.
The main look I wanna go for is Deryl's chopper from the Walking Dead but more beefy cause I'm 6'2
As for saying that, what is basically the biggest model of harley to use for what I'm after? I'm not a tricycle fan, and is either a kickstart or electric start more reliable? I really wanna know since it's my first time here.
(And from what I heard, it says that his bike is an off-road chopper from a Triumph. I mainly wanna try mine with a Harley.)
https://youtu.be/ZXVz-qxa32U?si=HIEODnFs_gXWOb91
submitted by Colt1873 to choppers [link] [comments]
The main look I wanna go for is Deryl's chopper from the Walking Dead but more beefy cause I'm 6'2
As for saying that, what is basically the biggest model of harley to use for what I'm after? I'm not a tricycle fan, and is either a kickstart or electric start more reliable? I really wanna know since it's my first time here.
(And from what I heard, it says that his bike is an off-road chopper from a Triumph. I mainly wanna try mine with a Harley.)
https://youtu.be/ZXVz-qxa32U?si=HIEODnFs_gXWOb91
2024.05.06 16:01 Nutter1557 Selling Grandfathers Tools
My Grandfather has decided to down size and with that, comes selling his tools. He was a heavy equipment/ diesel mechanic when he retired in 1992 and then he kept working privately for his old boss till 2008. Now at 90 he's decide to move into my in-law apartment since the upkeep on his house is too much.
We've spent about 5-6 hours going though the tools he's wants to keep, he's keeping a little box, and thing that I need to fill out mine. For the rest of the 60 years worth of tools he has, what's the best option? FB market place? Craigslist? Do any of the trucks buy old stuff at like .25 on the dollar? I don't know if it make sense to toss it in the back of my truck and go to dealership to dealership to see if any of the mechanics there want any of it.
Thank you for the help and advice.
submitted by Nutter1557 to Tools [link] [comments]
We've spent about 5-6 hours going though the tools he's wants to keep, he's keeping a little box, and thing that I need to fill out mine. For the rest of the 60 years worth of tools he has, what's the best option? FB market place? Craigslist? Do any of the trucks buy old stuff at like .25 on the dollar? I don't know if it make sense to toss it in the back of my truck and go to dealership to dealership to see if any of the mechanics there want any of it.
Thank you for the help and advice.
2024.05.04 19:57 deandradek Thoughts on 2k Army
WUT DO YOUZ GITS FINK OF DA SPEEDFREEKS IM FINKIN A RUNNIN?
Deffkilla War Trike with wazblasta
War Boss in Mega Armor with fasta than yooz
War Boss in Mega Armor with fasta than yooz
11x Gretchen
11x Gretchen
10 boys
5 mega nobs
5 mega nobs
6 warbikers
6 warbikers
6 warbikers
6 deffkoptas
6 deffkoptas
6 deffkoptas
Trukk Trukk Trukk
2000k on the button if my maths is right
Bikes go fast Deffkoptas do dakka Trukks bring boys and ard Mega nobs with fasta than yooz
The gits farm CP
submitted by deandradek to orks [link] [comments]
Deffkilla War Trike with wazblasta
War Boss in Mega Armor with fasta than yooz
War Boss in Mega Armor with fasta than yooz
11x Gretchen
11x Gretchen
10 boys
5 mega nobs
5 mega nobs
6 warbikers
6 warbikers
6 warbikers
6 deffkoptas
6 deffkoptas
6 deffkoptas
Trukk Trukk Trukk
2000k on the button if my maths is right
Bikes go fast Deffkoptas do dakka Trukks bring boys and ard Mega nobs with fasta than yooz
The gits farm CP
2024.05.04 16:15 Worldly_Advisor007 I’d love to hear opinions on forced treatment. For those who’ve been through the trauma, but it got you medicated, or at minimum aware of your mental state do you think the rules/laws should be relaxed?
I don’t doubt one bit how traumatic forced temporary treatment could be.
I’m aware the rules/laws are what they are because enough individuals misused the forced admittance process.
I’m unsure if many realize just how rock bottom/psychotic/ill someone must be?
Example, my sister sent texts to multiple individuals that she was writing an ad to post on Craigslist - for a hit man to kill her.
This is one of many things she’s done that are violent/express potential violence.
The police told us it wasn’t enough to qualify as valid threat of suicide/homicide.
In her state the only way forced treatment can be carried out is she calls 911 for something that requires ER evaluation - an example is suspected poisoning. That she’s dying someone poisoned her. That she’s made credible/grave threats to kill herself, or another with proof available.
Writing an add for a hitman alone is not enough it would have to be posted with a monetary amount, and communication had on a target. So far she has not posted it.
Many here vent on ptsd from forced intervention. At the same time, many here post on the trauma of processing the consequences of choices made while ill, and saddness/frustration of having to “rebuild” etc.
My family has adopted the NAMI approach/“Im Not Sick! I Don’t Need Help.” We do all personally have found weeks in that this far null progress. In many ways it’s enabled my sister to manipulate. She’s delusional and paranoid, but aware of her rights. I wouldn’t be shocked if she’s read the book herself, and yet doesn’t acknowledge she fits the illness.
Things continue to “escalate” by that she’s becoming more erratic, prone to violent outbursts (and some occur when she’s alone via what we’ve read we’ve refrained from asking if she hears voices etc that could be triggering this.)
Last week she did a few things that included taking every article of clothing belonging to her children bagging them up, putting them in bins, and pouring gasoline all over them. We are unsure why she didn’t light them, but grateful as she’s been living alone in the house for weeks. She was meticulous in doing this - everything from shoes to bows. She’s made enough written comments that my brother in law had to file for custody and she’ll no longer be allowed within 1000 ft of them. That night she did $12,300 in damages to their home - including breaking every window she could reach. Blowing up both microwaves via tinfoil. She easily could have killers herself in a house fire. She’s unaware her children will be cut off from her because she then took off without her drivers license or wallet. She has been MIA for days.
In the state of Colorado, none of the above among dozens of other written statements/acts is enough to qualify for forced ER evaluation. The last time a lawyelaw enforcement were consulted was Friday, and it’s all not enough.
Too me, and I respect personal freedom, this is ridiculous. What are your thoughts on the rules/laws in place? Do you personally (I value every opinion of someone who’s been in her situation) feel they don’t need expanded on? That they should be what they are? For those who ended up in forced evaluation do you wish you’d been forced sooner?
I wonder how many died before they were evaluated/medicated while their families watched helpless. I haven’t looked up estimates because of my current situation. Self preservation. I’m shocked there isn’t lobbying to address this, and assume it must be a money/organizational hurdle.
What do you all think? If you think the rules/laws should be altered what would you expand on?
For example, I feel if three family members, and three individuals outside of the family unit make sworn statements of an individual being psychotic in multiple ways on multiple occasions that should be enough - should be efficient. In my sisters case, over a dozen individuals from her former boss, to her best friend, to her neighbor hypothetically would be willing to make sworn statements under threat of perjury if lying.
Just curious to hear what those impacted think on this topic.
Appreciate your time and thoughts etc.
submitted by Worldly_Advisor007 to schizophrenia [link] [comments]
I’m aware the rules/laws are what they are because enough individuals misused the forced admittance process.
I’m unsure if many realize just how rock bottom/psychotic/ill someone must be?
Example, my sister sent texts to multiple individuals that she was writing an ad to post on Craigslist - for a hit man to kill her.
This is one of many things she’s done that are violent/express potential violence.
The police told us it wasn’t enough to qualify as valid threat of suicide/homicide.
In her state the only way forced treatment can be carried out is she calls 911 for something that requires ER evaluation - an example is suspected poisoning. That she’s dying someone poisoned her. That she’s made credible/grave threats to kill herself, or another with proof available.
Writing an add for a hitman alone is not enough it would have to be posted with a monetary amount, and communication had on a target. So far she has not posted it.
Many here vent on ptsd from forced intervention. At the same time, many here post on the trauma of processing the consequences of choices made while ill, and saddness/frustration of having to “rebuild” etc.
My family has adopted the NAMI approach/“Im Not Sick! I Don’t Need Help.” We do all personally have found weeks in that this far null progress. In many ways it’s enabled my sister to manipulate. She’s delusional and paranoid, but aware of her rights. I wouldn’t be shocked if she’s read the book herself, and yet doesn’t acknowledge she fits the illness.
Things continue to “escalate” by that she’s becoming more erratic, prone to violent outbursts (and some occur when she’s alone via what we’ve read we’ve refrained from asking if she hears voices etc that could be triggering this.)
Last week she did a few things that included taking every article of clothing belonging to her children bagging them up, putting them in bins, and pouring gasoline all over them. We are unsure why she didn’t light them, but grateful as she’s been living alone in the house for weeks. She was meticulous in doing this - everything from shoes to bows. She’s made enough written comments that my brother in law had to file for custody and she’ll no longer be allowed within 1000 ft of them. That night she did $12,300 in damages to their home - including breaking every window she could reach. Blowing up both microwaves via tinfoil. She easily could have killers herself in a house fire. She’s unaware her children will be cut off from her because she then took off without her drivers license or wallet. She has been MIA for days.
In the state of Colorado, none of the above among dozens of other written statements/acts is enough to qualify for forced ER evaluation. The last time a lawyelaw enforcement were consulted was Friday, and it’s all not enough.
Too me, and I respect personal freedom, this is ridiculous. What are your thoughts on the rules/laws in place? Do you personally (I value every opinion of someone who’s been in her situation) feel they don’t need expanded on? That they should be what they are? For those who ended up in forced evaluation do you wish you’d been forced sooner?
I wonder how many died before they were evaluated/medicated while their families watched helpless. I haven’t looked up estimates because of my current situation. Self preservation. I’m shocked there isn’t lobbying to address this, and assume it must be a money/organizational hurdle.
What do you all think? If you think the rules/laws should be altered what would you expand on?
For example, I feel if three family members, and three individuals outside of the family unit make sworn statements of an individual being psychotic in multiple ways on multiple occasions that should be enough - should be efficient. In my sisters case, over a dozen individuals from her former boss, to her best friend, to her neighbor hypothetically would be willing to make sworn statements under threat of perjury if lying.
Just curious to hear what those impacted think on this topic.
Appreciate your time and thoughts etc.
2024.05.04 00:26 Internal_Prune_5108 contracting 101
Residential Contracting 101
With over 20 years of building experience, I would like to share with you my insights in navigating becoming a successful contractor. With many different avenues of the building world its key to understand what problems will arise on any given day. A man once told a saying that stuck-the 6 p’s in life- Piss Poor Preparation leads to Piss Poor Performance. Preparation builds everything in construction, without preparation the jobsite will not run correctly. The best advice I was ever given was to learn a little about every trade giving you the ability to understand trade lingo and secrets. An example would be painters use the terminology flash; this means when the sub structure bleads through the paint. Subcontractors will give the best pricing if they respect your knowledge of the industry. If the subcontractor feels they will have to hold your hand through the job they will charge an extra fee…i.e. I call it the aggravation fee. In this blog I will explain the key elements in finding success in all aspects of the industry. Contracting is a physically and emotionally demanding job which requires planning and foresight to complete projects on time within budget. Picking your customer is just as important as picking your employees or subcontractors. I have worked for some of the most demanding customers leading me to question at the end if the job was even worth it. Sleepless nights, constant changes, lack of payment, lawsuit threats, adding work that was in the contract are just a few things you could face with a tough customer. With so many moving parts at all times it is critical to be able to adapt to changes within a short time frame. Materials will come in damaged, subcontractors will be late, employees will get sick, but the deadline you set does not change. The stress can be overwhelming at times keeping your mind in a good place is key to navigating all that is thrown at you. Choosing your client picking the right jobs-Keep these questions in mind The first question to be asked is what the time frame is to start the job to see if it fits within the timeframe for your business. If the time frame doesn’t work then move on from the project or let them know when you would be available to start. If the client really wants to use, they will wait until you are available. Taking on too much work will only lead to problems. Construction is a serviced based business, staying on top of the project and client will eliminate an unhappy customer and construction issues that will be over seen. With online presence if details are missed and customer service lacks it will only be a matter of time the phone will not ring. The second question to be asked to the client is do they have a budget in mind for the project. If they answer yes this is good, follow through with what the budget is. If the budget seems low let them know, this will eliminate a tire kicker, educate them on what the price range could be. If the budget seems reasonable then continue the discussion to the next question. If they answer no let them know that you can give them an estimate to see if the project is feasible with their finical capabilities. Taking on a job that is not correctly budgeted will lead to an unsatisfied customer due to non-transparency of the construction cost. The third question to be asked is anyone else bidding on the job, if the answer is yes, understand you might just be number check for the contractor doing the job. Dig a little deeper and find out how many numbers they are getting and why. If your business model is to be competitive be completely transparent with customer, this will gain trust with them. Let them know you get what you pay for and if you they choose the lowest bid it could lead into lack of quality of work.
The fourth question I will ask is there any specific subcontractors they wanted to use. If the answer is yes then I would explain to them you only use the subcontractors you have a working relationship with. Otherwise, this could backfire as the subcontractor might not show, do subpar work, talk behind your back to the homeowner. In my experience I would stay away from using any homeowner to alleviate problems down the road. A quick conversation now can save headaches down the road. The fifth question I will ask are planning on getting the job permitted, this needs to be known it takes more time for the permitting process. Plans will have to drawn submitted and approved to the city before work can commence. The sixth question I will ask if a residential remodel is are you going to be living through the remodel if yes understand this will take more time to navigate the project due to answering questions and cleaning the house on a daily occurrence. I would recommend seeing if the customer would be willing to move into an Airbnb or friends for at least the demo portion of the project. If they do plan on living through the remodel add a couple hours a day to accommodate the extra time that will be required. The seventh question I would ask in a residential remodel is how old the house is to see if there is asbestos that would need to removed by a proper company. A home built before 1979 will most likely have some asbestos in the house, use a licensed company with proper insurance to dispose of the materials. If everything looks good to this point find out a little more about the client personality. If the client seems reasonable, I would bid the job. Unreasonable people can cause you more stress than its worth. These are some red flags I would look out for. Some jobs are not worth the money. Very demanding in the way you are going to perform your job- I.e., tell you how you are going to do your job- You’re the professional not them! Give you a hard time about your price- haggle with price you estimated- The price is the price! If they are a family with little money and you want to help them out is one thing, if they are trying to beat you down is another. Mention they have a lawyer-there is no need for them to bring up that they have a lawyer - Run for the hills as if the job goes south, you will be the one losing out! Tell you what the payment terms are. It’s your business you get paid how it works for your company. If you want to get paid every Friday, put it into your contract-If the clients do not agree move on it will save you frustrations If they talk bad about the last contractor, chances are they will talk bad about you. There is a reason why the contractor does not work for them anymore, unless he did subpar work this a red flag Clients are using an interior decorator that will purchasing all of the materials- The materials could be ordered incorrectly by the interior designer your company will not make the mark-up it deserves. Interior decorators usually add time to the job as well as act like your boss. Charging a little extra for the time and stress that it will entail is only fair. Clients want to purchase the materials- You are using your knowledge to buy the correct materials-The mark up on the materials keeps the doors open working for wages only pays the bills The husband and wife do not get along-You will become the mediator between the couple it will lead to taking sides a losing proposition- A drama free work place is always best! Dangling carrot-if you do this job the next one will be better-Only look at what there offering at the present moment, if its not a good fit do not take the job for a job down the road…Its not worth chasing a job that might not happen! The Art of the Sale First things first selling your company is all about presentation. In meeting your clients for the first time show up with a collared golf shirt tucked in, belt, nice jeans, and newer shoes. Have a truck that a clean, no dents scratches, preferably washed the day you are going into your meeting. Have a leather note pad that is clean no dirt or paint visible. Show up 5 minutes early, if you’re running a little late shoot them a text to let them know. Treat the situation as if were going on a first date, best foot forward. As you introduce yourself give them a warm greeting, letting them know you are very interested in the work. Find out a little about them, hobbies, where they lived, etc etc. You are going to be working with them on a daily basis its nice to know what makes them tick. Having a good working relationship from the start is key forming a solid relationship. As the conversation progresses find out who wears the pants in the family…ie who’s the final decision maker. If its fits the wife, chances it is…..then kindly let the husband know happy wife happy life when their in a stall mate on an issue. As your looking at the project throw in some suggestions of what you think would look good from past experiences, this will get their attention that you have knowledge and want what’s best for them. If you see ways to save them money in their project let them know, money is a large point of the sale keep that in mind. Mention that you’re not the least expensive contractor but you’re not the most expensive either. Your customer satisfaction is your number one goal which leads to more time spent on keeping them happy. One happy customer will lead to another, one unsatisfied customer leads to work in the future. Bring up the fact the finishing the job on time is key goal to your business, many contractors run several jobs at once causing the jobs to be finished way behind schedule. You must stand out as having integrity, good morals, and the ability to problem solve to get the job. The clients will be testing you to see if you’re a good fit as well. Keep in mind as you take your notes that you must not forget anything they mention as it will come back before the job is completed…i.e. we mentioned that to you before we started the job! Take pictures of the proposed area for work, that way you can use it to better right your estimate. Let them know you will give them a detailed outline of when the job will be completed letting them see how long each phase will take and correlate it with your payment schedule. Before you leave their house let them know when the estimate will be sent to them. MAKE SURE YOU HIT THAT DEADLINE! Once you sent the email over with estimate make sure you get confirmation that they received it. Wait at least 2 days before checking with them, hopefully they contact you first! If they want negotiate the price, let them know that it is the best price that you can manage, its not worth losing money before you start. I closed 80% of the work I estimated by being very transparent and friendly. If you come off with an attitude charge double what the going rates are you might only land 1 out of 10 jobs as well as getting the reputation of being expensive. Bidding the job Looking up industry standards on pricing is what I would go buy for pricing. If you google the coat of any installation there will be a cost range for everything. Looking at the cost ranging from high to low I would tend to be in the middle. Some items might be low on the internet if this is the case use your best judgment not to lose money. Closing sales is key to success and keep the doors open for business. Being in the middle on pricing is key as most customers shy away from contractors that are extremely low or high on the price range. I tend not bid out hourly as wages do not pay for retirement. Bidding is better as customers no the exact price of the cost of construction. It also keeps the job moving quicker as time and material contractors take longer to complete projects…Thus costing the client more money and valuable time they could spend in their house. Using a Contract Using a detailed estimate tied to a contract covers your butt in 99% of the time. Having a piece of mind that every aspect of the job is covered in the estimate and contract protects both your company and the client. Key terms to include in your estimate/contract are. Have a schedule on excel showing the start dates and dates of each trade this will show the customer you are organized with time lines. If not written in the detailed in the estimate the item is excluded- This ensures if its not written down its not included. TBD- To be Determined- A phrase on a line item that has yet to had final decision of products or service needed. -The pricing will follow the decisions to be finalized Give out what your written warranty will be for parts and labor this changes state to state. If the homeowner provides the product than no warranty will be given on that particular item. In the contract have a start date and end date with the verbiage subject to change due to weather, product delivery, change orders Have a progress payment schedule to ensure the client understands when funding will be expected-Including if not payment is rendered service to the project will stop. Have written terms of how change orders will be charged-cost plus 20% or a set fee Make sure in your contract that arbitration is required versus going to court- This will save lawyer fees and going to court Many contracts can be found online and each state requires different contracts
Finding leads Finding leads is easy with the right network of people. I personally do not find working for friends or family members a good fit. Relationships get strained when money is involved, causing undue stress for both parties. I have listed a couple of ways to build a network or find work using the internet. Get in contact with realtor’s- Realtors have a big client base of homeowners who need work done Contact local Architects to see if they are working with any general contractors Leave some business cards at your local materials suppliers-Doowindow/lumber-many times clients will ask salesman for a referral. Join a business networking group- BNI is one of many Join a internet website lead generation company- Houzz, Angie’s List, Home Advisor, thumbtack, Yelp run an ad on craigslist Use a marketing company to market your website-This could become costly with little results Create a Facebook business page Create a Yelp business page
Building your subcontractor base Having 2 subcontractors for every trade, gives you the flexibility of completing jobs on time if the one the subcontractors is too busy at the time you need their service. Your subcontractors are the face of your business, choose owner run companies that are professional. Check to make sure there license are up to date..ie workman’s comp, liability insurance, state license. Choosing subcontractors with lettered vans, logoed t-shirts is s key to looking professional in the clients’ eyes. In the past I have gotten a lot of subcontractors for material supply shops, stopping by jobsites, researching the internet using Yelp, Home Advisor, etc etc. Once you get one good subcontractor ask them if they know any other trades they would recommend. One good subcontractor leads to another in most cases. The key to having a good group of subcontractors is to let them know that you are there to get help them get the job done. They do work for you but without them you are nothing…keep that in mind! Make them aware a clean jobsite is required at the end of everyday to ensure the proper safety for all parties including theirs! Over the years I have referred a lot of companies work when there is only 1 trade needed. Referring work to subcontractors is a good way to get top priority when you have work that needs to be completed ASAP. Timing is everything in times of emergency having a good group of subcontractors will make your business run smoothly. Pay your subcontractors immediately after performing work, this will make them feel appreciated! A happy subcontractor is one that will gladly go the extra mile for you knowing that there not just a number to your business! Buying lunch once a week for the jobsite is always a good token of appreciation!
Supervising In supervising any jobsite its key to monitor everything from materials on hand, weather, vehicle parking (if applicable), jobsite safety, and subcontractors’ workmanship. If you hired a professional there should be little supervision in the work being performed, on rare occasions a new hire might need some mentoring to get the results completed correctly. If you see a problem with there work address it with the worker directly, no need to call his boss…. building repour with the worker letting him know you got his back goes miles down the road! Checking in on the job first in the morning to answer any questions or changes that need to be conveyed and once in the afternoon to make sure all work be completed is done per construction industry standards. A job that is run blindly will have many more issues than one that is watched over. I have seen many jobs with no site supervision, leading to subpar quality work as well as safety hazards. Its better to be like an eagle than cluck like a turkey!
Working with the City/Inspectors On permitted jobs the city and site inspector will be a large part of how smoothly the job runs. Each phase of construction has an inspection allowing for the project to continue. Make sure your subcontractors are aware that the project is inspected before starting the job. The best way to stay on his good side is to provide a clean jobsite and having the job built to the highest standards possible. When having the site inspected be courteous to the inspector asking any questions or concerns you have with the work during the job. Being completely transparent will save you aggravation of problems down the road. The more he trust you the better if you seem sneaky or rude he will make your life a living nightmare! Many inspectors will have an attitude towards you….I suggest keeping quiet and doing what ever he wants….he’s the boss no need to get in a pissing match you will not win at. How to deal with irate customer Stay calm during any argument with an irate customer. Never raise your voice or show that you are bothered by their disgruntled behavior. If the customer is trying to get more from you than agreed upon stand your ground. Worst case scenario is you walk from the job, which in the long run be more of a loss for the client. I have only run into a couple of these clients; they are unreasonable and not worth losing sleep over a few dollars. Its best to terminate the relationship as it would be my best guess that a referral from this customer would not be one you wanted anyway. If you feel it was just a miscommunication on your end, take reasonability and remedy the problem. Taking accountability for your mistake will go a far way in their eyes and on future issues that arise. Prepping the homeowner pre-construction Before starting the job, it very important to give the homeowners a warning of what will happen during the construction process.
submitted by Internal_Prune_5108 to Contracting [link] [comments]
With over 20 years of building experience, I would like to share with you my insights in navigating becoming a successful contractor. With many different avenues of the building world its key to understand what problems will arise on any given day. A man once told a saying that stuck-the 6 p’s in life- Piss Poor Preparation leads to Piss Poor Performance. Preparation builds everything in construction, without preparation the jobsite will not run correctly. The best advice I was ever given was to learn a little about every trade giving you the ability to understand trade lingo and secrets. An example would be painters use the terminology flash; this means when the sub structure bleads through the paint. Subcontractors will give the best pricing if they respect your knowledge of the industry. If the subcontractor feels they will have to hold your hand through the job they will charge an extra fee…i.e. I call it the aggravation fee. In this blog I will explain the key elements in finding success in all aspects of the industry. Contracting is a physically and emotionally demanding job which requires planning and foresight to complete projects on time within budget. Picking your customer is just as important as picking your employees or subcontractors. I have worked for some of the most demanding customers leading me to question at the end if the job was even worth it. Sleepless nights, constant changes, lack of payment, lawsuit threats, adding work that was in the contract are just a few things you could face with a tough customer. With so many moving parts at all times it is critical to be able to adapt to changes within a short time frame. Materials will come in damaged, subcontractors will be late, employees will get sick, but the deadline you set does not change. The stress can be overwhelming at times keeping your mind in a good place is key to navigating all that is thrown at you. Choosing your client picking the right jobs-Keep these questions in mind The first question to be asked is what the time frame is to start the job to see if it fits within the timeframe for your business. If the time frame doesn’t work then move on from the project or let them know when you would be available to start. If the client really wants to use, they will wait until you are available. Taking on too much work will only lead to problems. Construction is a serviced based business, staying on top of the project and client will eliminate an unhappy customer and construction issues that will be over seen. With online presence if details are missed and customer service lacks it will only be a matter of time the phone will not ring. The second question to be asked to the client is do they have a budget in mind for the project. If they answer yes this is good, follow through with what the budget is. If the budget seems low let them know, this will eliminate a tire kicker, educate them on what the price range could be. If the budget seems reasonable then continue the discussion to the next question. If they answer no let them know that you can give them an estimate to see if the project is feasible with their finical capabilities. Taking on a job that is not correctly budgeted will lead to an unsatisfied customer due to non-transparency of the construction cost. The third question to be asked is anyone else bidding on the job, if the answer is yes, understand you might just be number check for the contractor doing the job. Dig a little deeper and find out how many numbers they are getting and why. If your business model is to be competitive be completely transparent with customer, this will gain trust with them. Let them know you get what you pay for and if you they choose the lowest bid it could lead into lack of quality of work.
The fourth question I will ask is there any specific subcontractors they wanted to use. If the answer is yes then I would explain to them you only use the subcontractors you have a working relationship with. Otherwise, this could backfire as the subcontractor might not show, do subpar work, talk behind your back to the homeowner. In my experience I would stay away from using any homeowner to alleviate problems down the road. A quick conversation now can save headaches down the road. The fifth question I will ask are planning on getting the job permitted, this needs to be known it takes more time for the permitting process. Plans will have to drawn submitted and approved to the city before work can commence. The sixth question I will ask if a residential remodel is are you going to be living through the remodel if yes understand this will take more time to navigate the project due to answering questions and cleaning the house on a daily occurrence. I would recommend seeing if the customer would be willing to move into an Airbnb or friends for at least the demo portion of the project. If they do plan on living through the remodel add a couple hours a day to accommodate the extra time that will be required. The seventh question I would ask in a residential remodel is how old the house is to see if there is asbestos that would need to removed by a proper company. A home built before 1979 will most likely have some asbestos in the house, use a licensed company with proper insurance to dispose of the materials. If everything looks good to this point find out a little more about the client personality. If the client seems reasonable, I would bid the job. Unreasonable people can cause you more stress than its worth. These are some red flags I would look out for. Some jobs are not worth the money. Very demanding in the way you are going to perform your job- I.e., tell you how you are going to do your job- You’re the professional not them! Give you a hard time about your price- haggle with price you estimated- The price is the price! If they are a family with little money and you want to help them out is one thing, if they are trying to beat you down is another. Mention they have a lawyer-there is no need for them to bring up that they have a lawyer - Run for the hills as if the job goes south, you will be the one losing out! Tell you what the payment terms are. It’s your business you get paid how it works for your company. If you want to get paid every Friday, put it into your contract-If the clients do not agree move on it will save you frustrations If they talk bad about the last contractor, chances are they will talk bad about you. There is a reason why the contractor does not work for them anymore, unless he did subpar work this a red flag Clients are using an interior decorator that will purchasing all of the materials- The materials could be ordered incorrectly by the interior designer your company will not make the mark-up it deserves. Interior decorators usually add time to the job as well as act like your boss. Charging a little extra for the time and stress that it will entail is only fair. Clients want to purchase the materials- You are using your knowledge to buy the correct materials-The mark up on the materials keeps the doors open working for wages only pays the bills The husband and wife do not get along-You will become the mediator between the couple it will lead to taking sides a losing proposition- A drama free work place is always best! Dangling carrot-if you do this job the next one will be better-Only look at what there offering at the present moment, if its not a good fit do not take the job for a job down the road…Its not worth chasing a job that might not happen! The Art of the Sale First things first selling your company is all about presentation. In meeting your clients for the first time show up with a collared golf shirt tucked in, belt, nice jeans, and newer shoes. Have a truck that a clean, no dents scratches, preferably washed the day you are going into your meeting. Have a leather note pad that is clean no dirt or paint visible. Show up 5 minutes early, if you’re running a little late shoot them a text to let them know. Treat the situation as if were going on a first date, best foot forward. As you introduce yourself give them a warm greeting, letting them know you are very interested in the work. Find out a little about them, hobbies, where they lived, etc etc. You are going to be working with them on a daily basis its nice to know what makes them tick. Having a good working relationship from the start is key forming a solid relationship. As the conversation progresses find out who wears the pants in the family…ie who’s the final decision maker. If its fits the wife, chances it is…..then kindly let the husband know happy wife happy life when their in a stall mate on an issue. As your looking at the project throw in some suggestions of what you think would look good from past experiences, this will get their attention that you have knowledge and want what’s best for them. If you see ways to save them money in their project let them know, money is a large point of the sale keep that in mind. Mention that you’re not the least expensive contractor but you’re not the most expensive either. Your customer satisfaction is your number one goal which leads to more time spent on keeping them happy. One happy customer will lead to another, one unsatisfied customer leads to work in the future. Bring up the fact the finishing the job on time is key goal to your business, many contractors run several jobs at once causing the jobs to be finished way behind schedule. You must stand out as having integrity, good morals, and the ability to problem solve to get the job. The clients will be testing you to see if you’re a good fit as well. Keep in mind as you take your notes that you must not forget anything they mention as it will come back before the job is completed…i.e. we mentioned that to you before we started the job! Take pictures of the proposed area for work, that way you can use it to better right your estimate. Let them know you will give them a detailed outline of when the job will be completed letting them see how long each phase will take and correlate it with your payment schedule. Before you leave their house let them know when the estimate will be sent to them. MAKE SURE YOU HIT THAT DEADLINE! Once you sent the email over with estimate make sure you get confirmation that they received it. Wait at least 2 days before checking with them, hopefully they contact you first! If they want negotiate the price, let them know that it is the best price that you can manage, its not worth losing money before you start. I closed 80% of the work I estimated by being very transparent and friendly. If you come off with an attitude charge double what the going rates are you might only land 1 out of 10 jobs as well as getting the reputation of being expensive. Bidding the job Looking up industry standards on pricing is what I would go buy for pricing. If you google the coat of any installation there will be a cost range for everything. Looking at the cost ranging from high to low I would tend to be in the middle. Some items might be low on the internet if this is the case use your best judgment not to lose money. Closing sales is key to success and keep the doors open for business. Being in the middle on pricing is key as most customers shy away from contractors that are extremely low or high on the price range. I tend not bid out hourly as wages do not pay for retirement. Bidding is better as customers no the exact price of the cost of construction. It also keeps the job moving quicker as time and material contractors take longer to complete projects…Thus costing the client more money and valuable time they could spend in their house. Using a Contract Using a detailed estimate tied to a contract covers your butt in 99% of the time. Having a piece of mind that every aspect of the job is covered in the estimate and contract protects both your company and the client. Key terms to include in your estimate/contract are. Have a schedule on excel showing the start dates and dates of each trade this will show the customer you are organized with time lines. If not written in the detailed in the estimate the item is excluded- This ensures if its not written down its not included. TBD- To be Determined- A phrase on a line item that has yet to had final decision of products or service needed. -The pricing will follow the decisions to be finalized Give out what your written warranty will be for parts and labor this changes state to state. If the homeowner provides the product than no warranty will be given on that particular item. In the contract have a start date and end date with the verbiage subject to change due to weather, product delivery, change orders Have a progress payment schedule to ensure the client understands when funding will be expected-Including if not payment is rendered service to the project will stop. Have written terms of how change orders will be charged-cost plus 20% or a set fee Make sure in your contract that arbitration is required versus going to court- This will save lawyer fees and going to court Many contracts can be found online and each state requires different contracts
Finding leads Finding leads is easy with the right network of people. I personally do not find working for friends or family members a good fit. Relationships get strained when money is involved, causing undue stress for both parties. I have listed a couple of ways to build a network or find work using the internet. Get in contact with realtor’s- Realtors have a big client base of homeowners who need work done Contact local Architects to see if they are working with any general contractors Leave some business cards at your local materials suppliers-Doowindow/lumber-many times clients will ask salesman for a referral. Join a business networking group- BNI is one of many Join a internet website lead generation company- Houzz, Angie’s List, Home Advisor, thumbtack, Yelp run an ad on craigslist Use a marketing company to market your website-This could become costly with little results Create a Facebook business page Create a Yelp business page
Building your subcontractor base Having 2 subcontractors for every trade, gives you the flexibility of completing jobs on time if the one the subcontractors is too busy at the time you need their service. Your subcontractors are the face of your business, choose owner run companies that are professional. Check to make sure there license are up to date..ie workman’s comp, liability insurance, state license. Choosing subcontractors with lettered vans, logoed t-shirts is s key to looking professional in the clients’ eyes. In the past I have gotten a lot of subcontractors for material supply shops, stopping by jobsites, researching the internet using Yelp, Home Advisor, etc etc. Once you get one good subcontractor ask them if they know any other trades they would recommend. One good subcontractor leads to another in most cases. The key to having a good group of subcontractors is to let them know that you are there to get help them get the job done. They do work for you but without them you are nothing…keep that in mind! Make them aware a clean jobsite is required at the end of everyday to ensure the proper safety for all parties including theirs! Over the years I have referred a lot of companies work when there is only 1 trade needed. Referring work to subcontractors is a good way to get top priority when you have work that needs to be completed ASAP. Timing is everything in times of emergency having a good group of subcontractors will make your business run smoothly. Pay your subcontractors immediately after performing work, this will make them feel appreciated! A happy subcontractor is one that will gladly go the extra mile for you knowing that there not just a number to your business! Buying lunch once a week for the jobsite is always a good token of appreciation!
Supervising In supervising any jobsite its key to monitor everything from materials on hand, weather, vehicle parking (if applicable), jobsite safety, and subcontractors’ workmanship. If you hired a professional there should be little supervision in the work being performed, on rare occasions a new hire might need some mentoring to get the results completed correctly. If you see a problem with there work address it with the worker directly, no need to call his boss…. building repour with the worker letting him know you got his back goes miles down the road! Checking in on the job first in the morning to answer any questions or changes that need to be conveyed and once in the afternoon to make sure all work be completed is done per construction industry standards. A job that is run blindly will have many more issues than one that is watched over. I have seen many jobs with no site supervision, leading to subpar quality work as well as safety hazards. Its better to be like an eagle than cluck like a turkey!
Working with the City/Inspectors On permitted jobs the city and site inspector will be a large part of how smoothly the job runs. Each phase of construction has an inspection allowing for the project to continue. Make sure your subcontractors are aware that the project is inspected before starting the job. The best way to stay on his good side is to provide a clean jobsite and having the job built to the highest standards possible. When having the site inspected be courteous to the inspector asking any questions or concerns you have with the work during the job. Being completely transparent will save you aggravation of problems down the road. The more he trust you the better if you seem sneaky or rude he will make your life a living nightmare! Many inspectors will have an attitude towards you….I suggest keeping quiet and doing what ever he wants….he’s the boss no need to get in a pissing match you will not win at. How to deal with irate customer Stay calm during any argument with an irate customer. Never raise your voice or show that you are bothered by their disgruntled behavior. If the customer is trying to get more from you than agreed upon stand your ground. Worst case scenario is you walk from the job, which in the long run be more of a loss for the client. I have only run into a couple of these clients; they are unreasonable and not worth losing sleep over a few dollars. Its best to terminate the relationship as it would be my best guess that a referral from this customer would not be one you wanted anyway. If you feel it was just a miscommunication on your end, take reasonability and remedy the problem. Taking accountability for your mistake will go a far way in their eyes and on future issues that arise. Prepping the homeowner pre-construction Before starting the job, it very important to give the homeowners a warning of what will happen during the construction process.
- All furniture in the proposed working area must be moved- I would recommend having the clients take care of this to limit the risk of damage to their belongings.
- There will be dust that will be in the house up to 3 months after construction-I would recommend hiring a construction cleaning company at the end of the job even so after it is cleaned dust will be present months after words.
- There will be conflicts between you in the homeowner at some course of the job. - You will do your best to eliminate them as quickly as they arise-i.e. material damages, miscommunication, job delays
- All decisions on materials must be made before the start of the job- this will eliminate job stoppage due to materials not being on site.
- All materials will be on site before commencement of job-
- Payment structures must be made per contract otherwise job will stop until payment rendered
- Cars are to be moved out of the driveway- Ensures ease of loading and unloading of materials/tools
- Give the specific hours that workers will be present- i.e. 7-3:30
- Determine what areas are allowed to be used as staging for tools/materials
- If animals are present in the home that they put outside or in a room during the day
- All valuables in the house are locked in safe
- Ask if using client’s household bathroom is okay or to bring in Porter Potty
- Being transparent as possible is key to keeping a great relationship with your client!
2024.05.02 18:20 ChristianWallis I responded to a craigslist ad looking for a personal stalker
Let’s get the obvious out of the way.
Being a PI sucks. It’s not what you think. It’s pretty much harassing women. Men hire PIs to go harass their wives and girlfriends and once in a blue moon you get asked to find a missing dog, or to harass a man instead. But that’s it, really. Sometimes I’m looking for hard evidence of infidelity, but a lot of the time my clients just want to rattle the soon-to-be-ex. To make them paranoid and jittery and less reliable in a courtroom, or less likely to pay attention to small print agreements that stiff them out of the holiday home. So that’s my job. I’m a pawn and it is almost always on behalf of the kind of men who think women reading a book in public are secretly looking for male attention.
I don’t have an office. I did for a short while. But things are tough, as I’m sure many of you know, and PI work isn’t exactly lucrative. I don’t know why I’m still doing this job, except to say I’m my own boss, and it’s not easy out there. I went into this with vastly different expectations. If anyone wants to hire someone who was convicted of insurance fraud while training to be a police officer, let me know. Otherwise I’m on my own, following people in cars and sleeping in dingy motels. So when this new job came along, a craigslist ad looking for a guy to stalk them, I just figured it was a fetish thing. I got a nephew who went to art school and makes big bucks painting cartoon characters doing fucked up stuff. He ain’t painting the Sistine Chapel, but he pays the bills and looks after his family. I figure if that work is good enough for him, it’s good enough for me.
So I met the woman who posted the ad and was surprised at how normal she looked. It was in a public place, a park with a nice bench. And even though it was starting to rain a little we didn’t let it bother either of us. We sat there, two tape recorders running, and hashed it out. She said she liked me. If she hadn’t she wouldn’t have gotten out of her car. That was flattering coming from her. Good looking woman. Professional. I didn’t know at the time but I’d quickly figure out she was a forensic accountant.
Anyway, we got talking. She never gave me her motivation, but I would later come to understand her as an amateur narcissist. She was new at loving herself. She was smart, accomplished, and actually rather beautiful provided you didn’t spend a great deal of time agonising over things like symmetry or eyebrows, and instead paid attention to how a smile reaches the eyes, or how laughter sounds when it catches someone by surprise. But she grew up dirt poor and spent her teen years unable to visit the dentist, or access a gym, or even just eat home cooked food that wasn’t microwaved. Plump frame, blotchy skin, hair she kept short with a pair of scissors because her and her mother relied on the shampoo and soap they stole from the motel where they shared cleaning shifts. When she fumbled awkward questions at some of the better looking boys in her class, she rarely met with success. That’s not to say she was an outcast, either. She had a social life. It’s just poor kids have to grow up early. Prom’s a luxury. Eating isn’t. If you know, you know. Otherwise you might be surprised by just how fucking tough it can be for some kids in this country. Anyway, she got out of that hole, fought tooth and nail, got an education, a good job, and by the time she finished her victory lap and took stock of her life she was thirty-five years old and a thousand miles from the trailer she was raised in.
And she looked good. The woman in the mirror was a stranger that she wanted to get to know. I think hiring me was an act of self-love. I think if she could have, she would have sat in a car and watched herself get a cup of coffee, spying closely at the professional looking woman doing a little half-run half-skip to get out of the rain. The way she stood in line rocking back and forth on her heels to the music in her airpods thinking no one’d notice. She wanted to admire herself, but unable to time travel or clone herself, she instead resorted to hiring me as a kind of proxy.
I had my own boundaries, of course. They covered anything that was gonna get me in trouble. The gist of the contract, after a nice week spent meeting after work and talking, was that I was to follow her as often as I could and just… observe her. Photos. Videos. Secret recordings. Occasionally a little bit more. Nothing physical. For example, one time I inventoried her handbag after she left it in a taxi by accident. I’m not a photographer, but something about all those knick knacks laid out on a motel bed snapped with a black and white polaroid, it looked good. Like something you’d see in a fancy gallery. Avant garde my nephew would say. She loved it. Paid me a bonus for it and everything.
Anyway, this carried on like this for about six months. They were… interesting times. Tailing her across train stations, racing across open parking lots to install a tracker on her car, standing on a bridge and dropping an air tag in her bag as she walked past. It was a little bit like being a spy. She even paid for me to buy high end equipment. Crazy stuff. One camera, I could sit on my balcony and read the texts on her phone from a block away. Occasionally there were days where I couldn’t or wouldn’t keep up the required intensity. Stalking requires a lot of cardio. When that happened, when I didn’t feel like following her into a crowded place, or sprinting half-way around town following her car, I’d do research. I’d investigate who this woman had once been. I created fake Facebook profiles and tracked down old school friends, spoke to former teachers, lovers, all of that. The whole job was a matter of mapping her out, like she was a country, you know? And a country isn’t just hills and rivers and borders. Countries have history.
She was happy with my initiative. The text she sent me when I showed her the research folder was a glowing commendation. First one I’d had in a long time. It was nice, someone telling me good job. She had a real way of making me feel like a kid getting a gold star. I didn’t realise at the time, but I was putty in her hands. Head over heels, bless my stupid heart. Of course I didn’t know what I was getting into, but I’d had just enough time to grow over confident. I made the mistake of thinking that I wasn’t gonna find anything in her past that’d give me trouble sleeping.
Boy did I get that one fucking wrong.
Her mother. That’s where things took an odd turn. Now I knew from news reports the mother died in their trailer while her daughter was off staying at some boyfriend’s place for a few days. Natural causes, it read. I wanted to know a little more about what natural causes they were. Figured if there was a congenital thing, it seemed like maybe I ought to know. You’d think the way the trailer park owner reacted to me asking about it, I’d tried asking the Russian government for proof of a democratic election. Thin reedy little woman who gave me hell the moment I mentioned a name. What do you wanna know that for? Who’s asking? Who’s paying you? Why you wanna dig this shit up?
Oh she ripped me to pieces. I put it down to the natural sprinkling of crazies in the standard population and took a different tact. Started calling up the older folks in the park. Residents. Every single one of them put the phone down on me the second I mentioned her name.
Well, all of them except one.
Some people wanna talk and this old bastard was one of them. He had a lot to say about everything from the president to social media and I let him ramble on before starting to press my point. Told him at the start I was a historian looking into the local area, that made it so it wasn’t too suspicious when I began asking about this and that. Slowly making my way to the death of a fifty-three year old woman a couple trailers down from him some years ago.
Again, soon as I mentioned her name, there was a change in the air, even over the phone. For a second I thought this old guy was gonna hang up just like the others. Could hear him smacking his dry lips as he mulled it over.
“Francine didn’t deserve what happened to her,” he said after a while. “She wasn’t a good woman. Didn’t treat her daughter too good neither. But didn’t deserve what happened. Maybe if they’d found her earlier, some of those fellas in white coats could’ve got more evidence, put that little wretch of hers away. But from what I understand, weren’t much left of her at all.”
Then he hung up, leaving me with a whole lot of questions.
This frustrated me. I had, until now, had a fair bit of luck at this new profession of mine. They say be careful what you get good at. Sad truth was, I was getting good at stalking and this was my first real roadblock. I remembered the way I felt when she told me good job and it bothered me I couldn’t really say much about this critical part of her life. That and, well, maybe I still got a chip on my shoulder about being a failed policeman. If you give me a problem, I can sometimes drive myself crazy looking for a fix.
So I hopped in my car and drove to the trailer park, damn near on the other side of the country. Don’t know I was hoping to find. No way the trailer was still there, and it wasn’t. But what I found odd was the lot hadn’t been replaced. There was a hole in the ground, about the right size, and nothing else. Just an empty spot where the trailer had once stood. And the trailers on either side weren’t occupied either. I could tell by politely and legally looking through the windows. Most of them were cleared out, but a few weren’t. They still had plates and other knick knacks left hanging around, like the owners had left without bothering to pack.
“You shouldn’t hang around there, mister.”
The girl who appeared stood a good twenty feet away, shouting over the wind so as to be heard.
“Smell can make you awful sick.”
I wrinkled my nose, aware of the odour she was talking about. Had been since I approached the empty lot. A faint musty smell that made me think of an exotic pet shop.
“What do you mean?”
“Smell makes you sick,” she said like it was self-explanatory. “Woman who died there left behind an awful stench. Made the neighbours sick. And the neighbour’s neighbours, and so on for a couple trailers in a row. No one likes to live there now. Still can’t. Had a couple move in a year or two back and they got sick too. Daddy says it’s a bad one. Not even rats go near that hole.”
The smell wasn’t pretty, but this trailer park looked like the kinda place where hubcaps went missing regularly. Figured they would’ve been used to bad smells. What made this one so special?
I looked over at the girl.
“Where is your dad?”
Few minutes later and I was stood outside a trailer waiting pensively. The little girl had disappeared inside to fetch her father and since then I’d been sat listening to the quietest trailer park in the whole world. Crickets and silence. Traffic on a distant highway. Place was dying, that much was clear.
When the father finally did make an appearance, he said nothing for the first few minutes. Lit a cigarette, offered me one. I refused on account of having quit some time back.
After a while he spoke up.
“I’d invite you in but if you been hanging around that old lot, not sure I want you inside my home. No offence.”
“None taken,” I replied.
“Sally says you’re a historian.”
The man wasn’t terribly old. Mid-thirties, at a guess, but he looked me up and down like I was a teenager caught throwing eggs at his house.
“What’re you really?”
“PI,” I replied.
“Ha now that makes sense. Some relative looking for answers? Heard the Hendersons had a sister with money.”
“That’s exactly it,” I lied. “She didn’t buy the official story.”
“Nor should she,” he replied. “Henderson was fit as a fiddle day he moved in. Weren’t no justice in what happened to those who got sick. And poor Francine… They say she died of natural causes. Man even back then I knew it was shit and I was just a lil kid. The smell alone. Think it’s bad now but at the time, before they came in with a crane to lift the trailer up whole and move it to the dump. Shit it was something awful. There was talk of moving the whole park. Course no one gave enough of a shit about us to go ahead and actually do it.”
“What did she die of?”
“Don’t know. Only thing I am sure of is that that girl of Francine’s lied. Said her mother was live and well when she left before the weekend and they was all on good terms, but that was bullshit. We heard ‘em fighting for weeks before, for one. And of course the body, state that was in, ain’t no way it’d been rotting for just a few days.”
He offered me another cigarette. I refused. He lit it up instead. Second one in what felt like just a few minutes. Made me itchy just to see. I wanted to say something, anything to get a little bit more. But I’d told a big lie pretending to be there on someone else’s behalf, and didn’t want to catch myself out, so I just sat and listened to the quiet buzz of his little patio light.
After the second cigarette was done he reached into his back pocket and took out an old photo.
“I hope you find justice for Henderson and the rest of them,” he said. “Only real bit of proof I ever had something fishy went on.”
He handed me the picture. Wasn’t easy to see what I was looking at. Pile of old leaves, maybe. Mulch. I squinted at it for a few good seconds but couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
“What…?”
“Took that the day they arrived to get rid of the trailer. Had to stand on my friend’s shoulders just to reach.”
“What is it?” I asked, my skin starting to crawl as I picked out details. Whatever I was looking at, it was slumped on a sofa with floral wallpaper in the background. It was about the size of a man, but riddled with holes and cavities the size of golf balls. In my whole life, I’d never seen something that looked like that.
“Why that’s Francine,” he said. “Or at least what was left of her.”
He let me keep the photo. At a guess, that was the only interesting thing that’d ever happened to that man and he’d been waiting to share it with someone. All I had to do was give him an excuse. He seemed to take some pleasure in passing it on. Certainly found my reaction to it amusing. I must’ve gone pale as I grappled with thoughts of what had happened to make a body go bad like that. Back in the hotel, under a good light, I checked that picture again and again. Something about it made me deeply uncomfortable. Knowing a woman was under all that… all those holes and crevices must’ve been made in her flesh. And what’d happened to her skin that’d turned it such a funny texture? Looked furry, like the kinda thing that grows on top of a long-forgotten cup of coffee.
A part of me considered asking my client about this, but I knew that wasn’t the way to go. First, she probably wouldn’t tell me good job if I had to ask. She hired me to do a certain thing and that didn’t involve politely requesting information right from the source. Second, well… I’d read the police reports, what was publicly available, anyway. And she’d made it clear she’d left on the friday and came home on the Monday and…
Well what if that guy was right? Did she really leave her mother alive and well? I mean, people kill. Not just psychos. People like you and me. We do it every day and sometimes we even pull it off. Only half of US murders get solved. That’s a fact. If anyone could be in the right half of that equation, it’d be her. She was smart as hell, my client. Even at seventeen she would’ve been a clever one. Clever enough that she might easily have been able to cover her tracks. Gone over to some boyfriend, twisted his arm into giving her an alibi. Sure, I could see that.
I just needed to figure out what the fuck was going on with that crime scene in the trailer. Thankfully I got some friends still on the force, one of which I even have a bit of leverage on. At first he couldn’t find much on the actual mother, but then I asked him to see if he could take the photo I had, show it around, and see if anyone had seen something like it before. That proved a lot more fruitful. Few days later he came back with a strange one, but straight away I saw the connection.
I’ll spare the details. Old man was found in a tub, all sorts of fucked up, in some old apartment building. It had since been condemned on account of the body which is fairly weird since bodies don’t usually cause that much fuss, but less weird when you realise that said body was in such a bad state it made three people sick and caused long-lasting structural damage. Whatever happened to this guy, it ate through the tub he’d been lying in and seeped into the floors and walls below. Turned plasterboard to shit and apparently even caused some trouble for the sturdier elements like steel and concrete. I don’t know how that works exactly, but that’s what the file said and going by the photos, I didn’t feel like anyone was lying.
As for the pictures? What can I say? Made my fucking skin crawl. No blurry little polaroid snapped by a kid. These were professional crime scene pictures that showed something in a bathtub that didn’t register as human until my eyes went looking for details. He looked like a hairy paper-wasp’s nest, only there were fingers and nipples and other little things that made it clear it had been built using a person as the framework. No face though. Just a head like a pile of used paper plates. Looking at those photos made me learn a new word just to describe how I felt. Trypophobia.
Wasn’t just the one guy either. Building was linked to the disappearance of the ground floor tenant. Some computer geek. I didn’t worry about him too much. But what did catch my eye was there was only one woman living in the whole place. Second floor apartment. The registered name was… somewhat familiar. Close enough to a certain someone’s that it raised the hairs on my neck. Police at the scene managed to get a photo of her and sure enough, there she was. My client going by a different name. Clearly something fishy was going on or else why the pseudonym? I figured it possible she’d maybe offed her own mother. Parents and spouses make the most common victims. But what connection was there to that second corpse, and what about the missing guy?
It was like a horror movie was following her around and she was just blissfully unaware. Condemned buildings and festering trailers made for a far cry from the professional accountant who enjoyed oat milk lattes and used sweetener instead of sugar to spare her teeth. But there was no denying she was the connection. There was photographic proof she’d lived in that building. If I wanted to get ahead of this, to really understand what was going on, I had to figure out what had happened to those bodies. I’d pretty much exhausted my favours with the police and truth was they didn’t know any more than I did. But it turned out the building was still standing. Condemned, but they hadn’t demolished it, partly because no one wanted to take responsibility, but I reckon it might have had something to do with the biohazard warnings slapped on every single window and door.
Good thing I’d brought a gas mask. I waited for sunset, geared up, and entered through the unlocked door. First thing that hit me as the door swung open was the smell. Similar to the trailer park but full pelt and hot as hell. Made me think of lizards and poorly kept terrariums. Strong enough to make my eyes water even through the mask. One thing was clear as I took a look around the hallway - the building was diseased. Not just rundown or decrepit like the usual urban decay. This was something else. Looked like the inside of a clogged pipe. You know how limescale fills it up? It was a bit like that. This oily rust coloured fluid had seeped down the walls and left them glistening and soft. Ropey stalactites of the stuff hung down from the ceiling like old party banners, and I edged around them afraid of what might happen if one touched me.
Best guess was that stuff was digesting the place. Anything soft or organic was going or gone. Old umbrella frames were left standing in one corner, the fabric burnt or dissolved away. The carpet was reduced to just a few patches no bigger than my hand. And a bunch of old cardboard boxes piled up under the stairs had turned squat and half-liquid, almost flowing down and around each other. The worst came when I took a look in the back room. More of a broom closet, I guess. Wouldn't have gone in but something caught my eye. A well-worn shoe that wasn’t covered in that oily shit. Sign of recent activity. That and the way the door was ajar just raised my suspicions, so I took a look.
Even now the timeline eludes me, but someone, a vagrant most likely given the way they were dressed, died a nasty death in there. Chemical burns come to mind. They were balled up in one corner, eyeless, looking up at me as I pushed the door open to take a closer look. Pink flesh threaded with red blood vessels, yellow bones poking through here and there. From the looks of things they’d been trying to work the door open. You could see a history of their escape attempts left by bleeding hands. Rust coloured finger streaks ran all along the door’s edges, special attention paid to the hinges. And he’d broken the only window and tried hauling himself up there only to realise it was barred from the other side. The jagged glass that still clung to the frame was covered in old blood. His palms must have looked like grated cheese. Eventually he’d given up and lain down in that shit and the thought of it made my chest feel heavy and tight. I’d only been in the building a few minutes and that shit was already eating through my shoes. I could hear the thick rubber soles sizzle and pop with each step. But that guy had been forced to sit down in an inch deep puddle of the stuff, likely because exhaustion had left him no choice but to tough it out. So how long had he tried staying up right?
Hours? Days? Weeks?
Him getting stuck in there had to be deliberate. I was sure of it. A feeling in my gut. Someone had locked the door behind him and left him to die slowly. God only knows why, but did that mean they were still hanging around and waiting for a chance to get to me? Looking around, I sure didn’t feel safe or alone. The shadows seemed too deep and the steady drip drip drip of that rancid oil oozing out of every surface was too monotonous. Someone or something lived in that filth and chances were they’d been responsible for that poor vagrant’s agonising death.
That meant getting out of that shithole was a priority, so I made for the stairs and started the climb. If there were any answers in that place, it’d be in the apartment where that old man died. The crime scene tape was still hanging off the door frame when I found it, and the TV and sofa, or what remained of them, stood in the same place as in the photos. Back in the day the old man had been a hoarder and I was surprised crime scene hadn’t cleared all his shit out. It was all still there, only what had once been a chest high maze of papers and magazines was now just a kind of hardened pulp, almost like magma dried mid-flow. Whole fucking place was covered in the stuff like a coral reef, growing up the walls and even patches of the ceiling. Looked a hell of a lot like a wasp’s nest, and it looked to be the source of that oily looking fluid. You could see it sweating out of every crease and fold in that strange hive. It was almost hypnotic to look at. Glistening amber beads oozing out of papery sheets that flowed like rock striata. There was a gentle, barely perceptible rhythm. Hypnotic.
I don’t know why but I reached out and ran the tip of my finger as gently as I could along the surface. It felt like the underside of a mushroom. All those papery gills. Gossamer thin. Soft and inviting. I wore no gloves and the brief moment of contact had deposited a single bead of that strange syrup on my fingertip. It caused a tingling sensation that was not entirely unpleasant. Even the blood that trickled down my knuckle felt warm and wet, like testing a hot bath with your hand. I liked it. I liked it and I wanted more.
I went to reach out and push my arm into the nest when a hand burst out of the nest and gripped my wrist. I was so surprised I didn’t even make a noise, but instead wordlessly fell back as the hand pushed me away from the nest. A very nearly skinless forearm followed and soon after a face emerged from the papery nest like a grime covered nightmare. Black eyes and a lipless mouth. It was a man that could have passed for a corpse, like a half-digested piece of meat. Terrified, I struggled to my feet and realised that this person had broken damn near every bone in my wrist with that single grip.
“Your meat smells raw,” he growled before heaving himself out of the nest in a disgusting parody of childbirth.
My sanity flickered and the next thing I knew I was on the ground floor with bleeding eyes and both hands frantically pulling at the door handle. My mind returned in pieces. I blinked red tears away but didn’t stop trying to open the door. I felt it, that urgent need to leave, like a suffocating man feels the need to breathe. But I’d fucked up bad. I’d sniffed out the closet and saw the trap laid there, but hadn’t seen the larger one set for me. There was only one way in and out of that building and I hadn’t jammed the door open! Now it was shut and nothing I did could get it open. With more time maybe I could’ve pried the jamb or even kicked it down, but my heart was racing and my vision blurring. I wanted out of that place. A hot primal need to get the hell out. The air was too hot. My mask too stifling. Sweat condensed on the inner plastic and made it damn near impossible to see. And the pain in my wrist was a throbbing explosion that made sensible thought impossible. I’d realised early on into my little foray that I was underprepared, but the scale of what that meant eluded me until I was there wrestling with thoughts of exposure and contagion and disease, fumbling at a greasy doorknob with a broken hand while suppressing thoughts of what might be crawling up my leg or back or neck. Panic threatened to consume me. The world and all the normality it represented was right fucking there. I could hear it. The distant hum of traffic. The amber glow of streetlights that lit up the biohazard posters. Not thirty minutes ago I’d been there. Safe and far away from this waking nightmare.
I was being reduced to a prey animal. Even in the moment I could sense it happening to me. Being made into something lesser, but it was like my actions were no longer my own. When I finally gave up on the front door, I turned around and saw the shadows way back at the hallway begin to shift as something descended the stairwell. There was no other way out. No door. No window. Just me, a long corridor, and a nightmare coming right at me.
Something inside me gave up. I don’t know how to describe it. I’m still not sure if it was that building and that strange fluid that seemed to warp my own thoughts, or maybe there’s just too much one person can go through. But I could practically hear the thin membrane of my sanity tear as I fell backwards into the door and slid down onto my ass, breathlessly awaiting my terrible fate. I almost contemplated turning off my light but by then it was too late. I could see him coming towards me. He was legless. Nothing from the waist down except blackened viscera trailing up the stairs behind him. He pulled himself towards hand over hand with hungry eyes. Before I knew it he was on top of me, one hand gripping my mouth with a salty palm, the other stroking my hair.
And then in an instant his demeanour changed. He pulled back with a terrified cry and scrambled away like I’d just stuck him with a blade.
“No no no no no,” he muttered. “No no you should have said you should have said I didn’t know I thought you were another one I didn’t know I thought you were here for me I didn’t know you were hers.”
He cowered away, pedalling on both hands backwards while keeping his eyes fixed on me.
“Tell her I did not know you were hers I could not smell until I was close very close if I hurt you I am sorry tell her I am sorry I did not mean to hurt you it is just I do not get to eat often and am always hungry.”
With a rapid gesture he threw the key for the door at me. It skittered across the floor and fell just short of my feet.
“Tell her I did not know.”
“W-w-w-what are you?” I stammered.
He looked at me curiously, stopping his retreat only briefly to gauge my expression.
“She likes to be seen but I looked without asking and I got what I deserve.”
“Who are you talking about?” I asked.
He very nearly laughed, but with such deformities it was mostly a drooling guffaw.
“You know!” he gasped. “Don’t be stupid. You’re in love with her. Just like me. But different. You got permission. I didn’t. But she was good. She left me an old nest to live in. And I have permission to eat anything I kill or trap myself. Hard now that people know to stay away but sometimes I get lucky.”
His eyes flicked to the closet with sickening hunger.
“What has this got to do with her?” I asked.
“What colour are her eyes?” he replied, almost manic with excitement. “Answer. Answer. Tell me. Tell me. What colour are her eyes?”
“G–”
I stopped. The word felt wrong in my mouth.
“Bl–
“Bro–”
“No no,” he chittered. “None of those.”
Seemingly excited but afraid, he raced forward momentarily and gripped my lapels with twisted glee.
“Compound,” he hissed with such forbidden pleasure. “Her eyes are compound. She’s jealous of us, you know?
“Jealous we get to love her.”
And then he disappeared into the darkness and something inside me gave way entirely and I passed out.
I don’t know much of what came after, exactly. I was found a few hours later in my car, idling at a traffic light. I’d made some effort at getting away on my own but didn’t get very far. No surprise here but I got sick as a dog going in that place. A deep chest infection. The kind that scares everyone at least once in their life. Only fair given how fucking stupid I was. But forgive me, I hadn’t anticipated nightmares beyond human comprehension. I challenge anybody to think that fucking far ahead. You think junkies. You think flies. Squatters. But that guy… that man slipping out of the nest and barrelling towards me on two hands. My mind going sizzle pop along with the soles on my boots. In real life, shit like that always sneaks up on you.
So I paid the price. Six months. Jesus. Six long months. I got every fever you can think of. Sepsis. Kidney failure. Liver failure. Month after month drowning in my own fluids, coughing up shit that made the nurses gag and leave. I asked the doctor what the long term effects will be and he winced before reading a list of things that didn’t leave much hope for a happy retirement. And if it was hard on my body, it was even worse on my mind. Those fever dreams… doctors say what I remember in that building, that was all just part of the sickness. Say I spent a good three days in a coma and strange dreams are the norm. Which I might accept if it weren’t the fucking skin graft still healing on my right hand. No one can explain that.
My client visited. Just the once. There are universally sad moments in life and one of them is realising someone you have a lot of affection for doesn’t have it back. They have some. Just not the same amount. It was always one way though, wasn’t it? I saw her every single day but if I was doing my job right, she only saw me once a month for our meetings. Our arrangement ended not long after, so I hope anyway. She left like it was nothing but me… ah Jesus it felt like someone excavated my heart right out. Even after what she told me why she was there, even after what I did, I could barely stand up straight I was so heartbroken. There were times after that I wished the sickness would just take me. Maybe that defeatism is why it got so bad. Who knows?
She came to me looking for a recommendation, of all things. She wasn’t cold. Far from it. But there was a sense of disappointment as she sat beside me and eyed me up.
“I liked the initiative,” she said after a while. “But the results leave me unimpressed.”
“What the fuck happened in that place?” I asked, and even though I could barely hear my own voice, she seemed like she heard every word. For a moment, the way she contemplated it, I thought I was gonna get a straight answer.
“You know my mother said men don’t see ugly women. They know they exist but they just poof them right outta their mind. Like a magic trick. She said we worked better being a little plain. Good enough to take home for a night. Any more and we’d start to leave problems everywhere we go. That guy was a problem. She was trying to warn me about the dangers of attention but silly me, I went and got addicted. I hoped with you there might be a degree of… separation. Infatuation on a contractual basis.”
She took a deep breath like she’d had a long hard day.
“I don’t know. Maybe Mom was right. It’s ridiculous, I suppose. The fly shouldn’t admire the spider. It either sees it and fears it, or doesn’t know what’s coming until it’s too late. I think Mom was telling me to go for the latter. It’s no fun being invisible though. You spent all that time looking at me. Following me. What did you see?”
I looked at her until my eyes watered and something throbbed in my skull.
“I don’t know,” I tried to lie.
“Be honest.”
She looked right at me and something in the air changed. I don’t know what. Hot. Jesus it was hot. Like looking at the sun. I remember the heart rate monitor going nuts and then… then I remember gossamer wings and serrated chitin. A tick on the inside of your cheek. A leech on your tongue. A horsehair worm that won’t leave the skin. And then an instant later my eyes refocused and there was just a normal woman in front of me.
“Someone I could have loved,” I answered, unable to stop the words spilling like vomit. “Someone who I thought deserved love.”
“See,” she said. “Who wouldn’t like your version better?”
I was crying again. Heart racing. World like butter, going soft at the edges. Whatever she did, it was like undergoing brain surgery in real time.
“I’d like a recommendation,” she said after another minute or two of silence. “I’d like to see myself. I look in the mirror and I don’t see what you do. I’d like an artist to paint me. A version of me, at least. It won’t be easy on them. All this time you’ve probably looked directly at me for no more than five, ten minutes in total. Just didn’t realise it. Always the back of my head or my hair obscuring just so. That won’t do. I want a portrait. I want to know what you see.”
“What will you do to them?”
“I won’t do anything. Not intentionally. But if you ask someone to paint the sun, expect them to go blind. Whoever paints me will be painting the sun in their living room. Going blind is the least of their problems. Now, fess up. You know someone. You mentioned them once in passing. A cousin, maybe. An artist in need of cash. I’m sure of it.”
“Why would I tell you anything?”
“Because you love me,” she said. “And because despite everything you will get better and you will come back to me. Year or two, I think. You are adamant I have no hold on you, and you will think that for a long time. And this period of freedom, you’ll enjoy it only by my good grace and mercy. You did a good job. Better than any before. I’ve read your notes and reports over and over and seen details of myself I didn’t even know were there. It’s a thing of beauty, what you did. And one day soon you’ll come back to me with some excuse for why you want the contract to continue.”
I tried to spit the word never but managed, at best, a weak shake of the head. Something that put a most peculiar smile on her face.
“It doesn’t work like that. It’d be like trying to brute force your way through Alzheimer’s. You’ll be back. Even now you’re mine. All mine. I’m just being gentle. And you’re going to give me the name and number of this artist because even though you know I could no more love you than a spider loves the fly, you are desperate to please me. Because when I broke the man in that apartment building. When I tore him in two and told him that he would live for as long as I desired, writhing without air for years and years, drowning in sickly fluids and trapped helplessly in a hive he is determined to maintain even though I wouldn't be caught dead going back there. He was grateful. And, with time, you’ll be grateful too.”
She put the pen in my hand. She smiled, mouthed the word good boy, and God help me…
I gave her my nephew’s number.
submitted by ChristianWallis to u/ChristianWallis [link] [comments]
Being a PI sucks. It’s not what you think. It’s pretty much harassing women. Men hire PIs to go harass their wives and girlfriends and once in a blue moon you get asked to find a missing dog, or to harass a man instead. But that’s it, really. Sometimes I’m looking for hard evidence of infidelity, but a lot of the time my clients just want to rattle the soon-to-be-ex. To make them paranoid and jittery and less reliable in a courtroom, or less likely to pay attention to small print agreements that stiff them out of the holiday home. So that’s my job. I’m a pawn and it is almost always on behalf of the kind of men who think women reading a book in public are secretly looking for male attention.
I don’t have an office. I did for a short while. But things are tough, as I’m sure many of you know, and PI work isn’t exactly lucrative. I don’t know why I’m still doing this job, except to say I’m my own boss, and it’s not easy out there. I went into this with vastly different expectations. If anyone wants to hire someone who was convicted of insurance fraud while training to be a police officer, let me know. Otherwise I’m on my own, following people in cars and sleeping in dingy motels. So when this new job came along, a craigslist ad looking for a guy to stalk them, I just figured it was a fetish thing. I got a nephew who went to art school and makes big bucks painting cartoon characters doing fucked up stuff. He ain’t painting the Sistine Chapel, but he pays the bills and looks after his family. I figure if that work is good enough for him, it’s good enough for me.
So I met the woman who posted the ad and was surprised at how normal she looked. It was in a public place, a park with a nice bench. And even though it was starting to rain a little we didn’t let it bother either of us. We sat there, two tape recorders running, and hashed it out. She said she liked me. If she hadn’t she wouldn’t have gotten out of her car. That was flattering coming from her. Good looking woman. Professional. I didn’t know at the time but I’d quickly figure out she was a forensic accountant.
Anyway, we got talking. She never gave me her motivation, but I would later come to understand her as an amateur narcissist. She was new at loving herself. She was smart, accomplished, and actually rather beautiful provided you didn’t spend a great deal of time agonising over things like symmetry or eyebrows, and instead paid attention to how a smile reaches the eyes, or how laughter sounds when it catches someone by surprise. But she grew up dirt poor and spent her teen years unable to visit the dentist, or access a gym, or even just eat home cooked food that wasn’t microwaved. Plump frame, blotchy skin, hair she kept short with a pair of scissors because her and her mother relied on the shampoo and soap they stole from the motel where they shared cleaning shifts. When she fumbled awkward questions at some of the better looking boys in her class, she rarely met with success. That’s not to say she was an outcast, either. She had a social life. It’s just poor kids have to grow up early. Prom’s a luxury. Eating isn’t. If you know, you know. Otherwise you might be surprised by just how fucking tough it can be for some kids in this country. Anyway, she got out of that hole, fought tooth and nail, got an education, a good job, and by the time she finished her victory lap and took stock of her life she was thirty-five years old and a thousand miles from the trailer she was raised in.
And she looked good. The woman in the mirror was a stranger that she wanted to get to know. I think hiring me was an act of self-love. I think if she could have, she would have sat in a car and watched herself get a cup of coffee, spying closely at the professional looking woman doing a little half-run half-skip to get out of the rain. The way she stood in line rocking back and forth on her heels to the music in her airpods thinking no one’d notice. She wanted to admire herself, but unable to time travel or clone herself, she instead resorted to hiring me as a kind of proxy.
I had my own boundaries, of course. They covered anything that was gonna get me in trouble. The gist of the contract, after a nice week spent meeting after work and talking, was that I was to follow her as often as I could and just… observe her. Photos. Videos. Secret recordings. Occasionally a little bit more. Nothing physical. For example, one time I inventoried her handbag after she left it in a taxi by accident. I’m not a photographer, but something about all those knick knacks laid out on a motel bed snapped with a black and white polaroid, it looked good. Like something you’d see in a fancy gallery. Avant garde my nephew would say. She loved it. Paid me a bonus for it and everything.
Anyway, this carried on like this for about six months. They were… interesting times. Tailing her across train stations, racing across open parking lots to install a tracker on her car, standing on a bridge and dropping an air tag in her bag as she walked past. It was a little bit like being a spy. She even paid for me to buy high end equipment. Crazy stuff. One camera, I could sit on my balcony and read the texts on her phone from a block away. Occasionally there were days where I couldn’t or wouldn’t keep up the required intensity. Stalking requires a lot of cardio. When that happened, when I didn’t feel like following her into a crowded place, or sprinting half-way around town following her car, I’d do research. I’d investigate who this woman had once been. I created fake Facebook profiles and tracked down old school friends, spoke to former teachers, lovers, all of that. The whole job was a matter of mapping her out, like she was a country, you know? And a country isn’t just hills and rivers and borders. Countries have history.
She was happy with my initiative. The text she sent me when I showed her the research folder was a glowing commendation. First one I’d had in a long time. It was nice, someone telling me good job. She had a real way of making me feel like a kid getting a gold star. I didn’t realise at the time, but I was putty in her hands. Head over heels, bless my stupid heart. Of course I didn’t know what I was getting into, but I’d had just enough time to grow over confident. I made the mistake of thinking that I wasn’t gonna find anything in her past that’d give me trouble sleeping.
Boy did I get that one fucking wrong.
Her mother. That’s where things took an odd turn. Now I knew from news reports the mother died in their trailer while her daughter was off staying at some boyfriend’s place for a few days. Natural causes, it read. I wanted to know a little more about what natural causes they were. Figured if there was a congenital thing, it seemed like maybe I ought to know. You’d think the way the trailer park owner reacted to me asking about it, I’d tried asking the Russian government for proof of a democratic election. Thin reedy little woman who gave me hell the moment I mentioned a name. What do you wanna know that for? Who’s asking? Who’s paying you? Why you wanna dig this shit up?
Oh she ripped me to pieces. I put it down to the natural sprinkling of crazies in the standard population and took a different tact. Started calling up the older folks in the park. Residents. Every single one of them put the phone down on me the second I mentioned her name.
Well, all of them except one.
Some people wanna talk and this old bastard was one of them. He had a lot to say about everything from the president to social media and I let him ramble on before starting to press my point. Told him at the start I was a historian looking into the local area, that made it so it wasn’t too suspicious when I began asking about this and that. Slowly making my way to the death of a fifty-three year old woman a couple trailers down from him some years ago.
Again, soon as I mentioned her name, there was a change in the air, even over the phone. For a second I thought this old guy was gonna hang up just like the others. Could hear him smacking his dry lips as he mulled it over.
“Francine didn’t deserve what happened to her,” he said after a while. “She wasn’t a good woman. Didn’t treat her daughter too good neither. But didn’t deserve what happened. Maybe if they’d found her earlier, some of those fellas in white coats could’ve got more evidence, put that little wretch of hers away. But from what I understand, weren’t much left of her at all.”
Then he hung up, leaving me with a whole lot of questions.
This frustrated me. I had, until now, had a fair bit of luck at this new profession of mine. They say be careful what you get good at. Sad truth was, I was getting good at stalking and this was my first real roadblock. I remembered the way I felt when she told me good job and it bothered me I couldn’t really say much about this critical part of her life. That and, well, maybe I still got a chip on my shoulder about being a failed policeman. If you give me a problem, I can sometimes drive myself crazy looking for a fix.
So I hopped in my car and drove to the trailer park, damn near on the other side of the country. Don’t know I was hoping to find. No way the trailer was still there, and it wasn’t. But what I found odd was the lot hadn’t been replaced. There was a hole in the ground, about the right size, and nothing else. Just an empty spot where the trailer had once stood. And the trailers on either side weren’t occupied either. I could tell by politely and legally looking through the windows. Most of them were cleared out, but a few weren’t. They still had plates and other knick knacks left hanging around, like the owners had left without bothering to pack.
“You shouldn’t hang around there, mister.”
The girl who appeared stood a good twenty feet away, shouting over the wind so as to be heard.
“Smell can make you awful sick.”
I wrinkled my nose, aware of the odour she was talking about. Had been since I approached the empty lot. A faint musty smell that made me think of an exotic pet shop.
“What do you mean?”
“Smell makes you sick,” she said like it was self-explanatory. “Woman who died there left behind an awful stench. Made the neighbours sick. And the neighbour’s neighbours, and so on for a couple trailers in a row. No one likes to live there now. Still can’t. Had a couple move in a year or two back and they got sick too. Daddy says it’s a bad one. Not even rats go near that hole.”
The smell wasn’t pretty, but this trailer park looked like the kinda place where hubcaps went missing regularly. Figured they would’ve been used to bad smells. What made this one so special?
I looked over at the girl.
“Where is your dad?”
Few minutes later and I was stood outside a trailer waiting pensively. The little girl had disappeared inside to fetch her father and since then I’d been sat listening to the quietest trailer park in the whole world. Crickets and silence. Traffic on a distant highway. Place was dying, that much was clear.
When the father finally did make an appearance, he said nothing for the first few minutes. Lit a cigarette, offered me one. I refused on account of having quit some time back.
After a while he spoke up.
“I’d invite you in but if you been hanging around that old lot, not sure I want you inside my home. No offence.”
“None taken,” I replied.
“Sally says you’re a historian.”
The man wasn’t terribly old. Mid-thirties, at a guess, but he looked me up and down like I was a teenager caught throwing eggs at his house.
“What’re you really?”
“PI,” I replied.
“Ha now that makes sense. Some relative looking for answers? Heard the Hendersons had a sister with money.”
“That’s exactly it,” I lied. “She didn’t buy the official story.”
“Nor should she,” he replied. “Henderson was fit as a fiddle day he moved in. Weren’t no justice in what happened to those who got sick. And poor Francine… They say she died of natural causes. Man even back then I knew it was shit and I was just a lil kid. The smell alone. Think it’s bad now but at the time, before they came in with a crane to lift the trailer up whole and move it to the dump. Shit it was something awful. There was talk of moving the whole park. Course no one gave enough of a shit about us to go ahead and actually do it.”
“What did she die of?”
“Don’t know. Only thing I am sure of is that that girl of Francine’s lied. Said her mother was live and well when she left before the weekend and they was all on good terms, but that was bullshit. We heard ‘em fighting for weeks before, for one. And of course the body, state that was in, ain’t no way it’d been rotting for just a few days.”
He offered me another cigarette. I refused. He lit it up instead. Second one in what felt like just a few minutes. Made me itchy just to see. I wanted to say something, anything to get a little bit more. But I’d told a big lie pretending to be there on someone else’s behalf, and didn’t want to catch myself out, so I just sat and listened to the quiet buzz of his little patio light.
After the second cigarette was done he reached into his back pocket and took out an old photo.
“I hope you find justice for Henderson and the rest of them,” he said. “Only real bit of proof I ever had something fishy went on.”
He handed me the picture. Wasn’t easy to see what I was looking at. Pile of old leaves, maybe. Mulch. I squinted at it for a few good seconds but couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
“What…?”
“Took that the day they arrived to get rid of the trailer. Had to stand on my friend’s shoulders just to reach.”
“What is it?” I asked, my skin starting to crawl as I picked out details. Whatever I was looking at, it was slumped on a sofa with floral wallpaper in the background. It was about the size of a man, but riddled with holes and cavities the size of golf balls. In my whole life, I’d never seen something that looked like that.
“Why that’s Francine,” he said. “Or at least what was left of her.”
He let me keep the photo. At a guess, that was the only interesting thing that’d ever happened to that man and he’d been waiting to share it with someone. All I had to do was give him an excuse. He seemed to take some pleasure in passing it on. Certainly found my reaction to it amusing. I must’ve gone pale as I grappled with thoughts of what had happened to make a body go bad like that. Back in the hotel, under a good light, I checked that picture again and again. Something about it made me deeply uncomfortable. Knowing a woman was under all that… all those holes and crevices must’ve been made in her flesh. And what’d happened to her skin that’d turned it such a funny texture? Looked furry, like the kinda thing that grows on top of a long-forgotten cup of coffee.
A part of me considered asking my client about this, but I knew that wasn’t the way to go. First, she probably wouldn’t tell me good job if I had to ask. She hired me to do a certain thing and that didn’t involve politely requesting information right from the source. Second, well… I’d read the police reports, what was publicly available, anyway. And she’d made it clear she’d left on the friday and came home on the Monday and…
Well what if that guy was right? Did she really leave her mother alive and well? I mean, people kill. Not just psychos. People like you and me. We do it every day and sometimes we even pull it off. Only half of US murders get solved. That’s a fact. If anyone could be in the right half of that equation, it’d be her. She was smart as hell, my client. Even at seventeen she would’ve been a clever one. Clever enough that she might easily have been able to cover her tracks. Gone over to some boyfriend, twisted his arm into giving her an alibi. Sure, I could see that.
I just needed to figure out what the fuck was going on with that crime scene in the trailer. Thankfully I got some friends still on the force, one of which I even have a bit of leverage on. At first he couldn’t find much on the actual mother, but then I asked him to see if he could take the photo I had, show it around, and see if anyone had seen something like it before. That proved a lot more fruitful. Few days later he came back with a strange one, but straight away I saw the connection.
I’ll spare the details. Old man was found in a tub, all sorts of fucked up, in some old apartment building. It had since been condemned on account of the body which is fairly weird since bodies don’t usually cause that much fuss, but less weird when you realise that said body was in such a bad state it made three people sick and caused long-lasting structural damage. Whatever happened to this guy, it ate through the tub he’d been lying in and seeped into the floors and walls below. Turned plasterboard to shit and apparently even caused some trouble for the sturdier elements like steel and concrete. I don’t know how that works exactly, but that’s what the file said and going by the photos, I didn’t feel like anyone was lying.
As for the pictures? What can I say? Made my fucking skin crawl. No blurry little polaroid snapped by a kid. These were professional crime scene pictures that showed something in a bathtub that didn’t register as human until my eyes went looking for details. He looked like a hairy paper-wasp’s nest, only there were fingers and nipples and other little things that made it clear it had been built using a person as the framework. No face though. Just a head like a pile of used paper plates. Looking at those photos made me learn a new word just to describe how I felt. Trypophobia.
Wasn’t just the one guy either. Building was linked to the disappearance of the ground floor tenant. Some computer geek. I didn’t worry about him too much. But what did catch my eye was there was only one woman living in the whole place. Second floor apartment. The registered name was… somewhat familiar. Close enough to a certain someone’s that it raised the hairs on my neck. Police at the scene managed to get a photo of her and sure enough, there she was. My client going by a different name. Clearly something fishy was going on or else why the pseudonym? I figured it possible she’d maybe offed her own mother. Parents and spouses make the most common victims. But what connection was there to that second corpse, and what about the missing guy?
It was like a horror movie was following her around and she was just blissfully unaware. Condemned buildings and festering trailers made for a far cry from the professional accountant who enjoyed oat milk lattes and used sweetener instead of sugar to spare her teeth. But there was no denying she was the connection. There was photographic proof she’d lived in that building. If I wanted to get ahead of this, to really understand what was going on, I had to figure out what had happened to those bodies. I’d pretty much exhausted my favours with the police and truth was they didn’t know any more than I did. But it turned out the building was still standing. Condemned, but they hadn’t demolished it, partly because no one wanted to take responsibility, but I reckon it might have had something to do with the biohazard warnings slapped on every single window and door.
Good thing I’d brought a gas mask. I waited for sunset, geared up, and entered through the unlocked door. First thing that hit me as the door swung open was the smell. Similar to the trailer park but full pelt and hot as hell. Made me think of lizards and poorly kept terrariums. Strong enough to make my eyes water even through the mask. One thing was clear as I took a look around the hallway - the building was diseased. Not just rundown or decrepit like the usual urban decay. This was something else. Looked like the inside of a clogged pipe. You know how limescale fills it up? It was a bit like that. This oily rust coloured fluid had seeped down the walls and left them glistening and soft. Ropey stalactites of the stuff hung down from the ceiling like old party banners, and I edged around them afraid of what might happen if one touched me.
Best guess was that stuff was digesting the place. Anything soft or organic was going or gone. Old umbrella frames were left standing in one corner, the fabric burnt or dissolved away. The carpet was reduced to just a few patches no bigger than my hand. And a bunch of old cardboard boxes piled up under the stairs had turned squat and half-liquid, almost flowing down and around each other. The worst came when I took a look in the back room. More of a broom closet, I guess. Wouldn't have gone in but something caught my eye. A well-worn shoe that wasn’t covered in that oily shit. Sign of recent activity. That and the way the door was ajar just raised my suspicions, so I took a look.
Even now the timeline eludes me, but someone, a vagrant most likely given the way they were dressed, died a nasty death in there. Chemical burns come to mind. They were balled up in one corner, eyeless, looking up at me as I pushed the door open to take a closer look. Pink flesh threaded with red blood vessels, yellow bones poking through here and there. From the looks of things they’d been trying to work the door open. You could see a history of their escape attempts left by bleeding hands. Rust coloured finger streaks ran all along the door’s edges, special attention paid to the hinges. And he’d broken the only window and tried hauling himself up there only to realise it was barred from the other side. The jagged glass that still clung to the frame was covered in old blood. His palms must have looked like grated cheese. Eventually he’d given up and lain down in that shit and the thought of it made my chest feel heavy and tight. I’d only been in the building a few minutes and that shit was already eating through my shoes. I could hear the thick rubber soles sizzle and pop with each step. But that guy had been forced to sit down in an inch deep puddle of the stuff, likely because exhaustion had left him no choice but to tough it out. So how long had he tried staying up right?
Hours? Days? Weeks?
Him getting stuck in there had to be deliberate. I was sure of it. A feeling in my gut. Someone had locked the door behind him and left him to die slowly. God only knows why, but did that mean they were still hanging around and waiting for a chance to get to me? Looking around, I sure didn’t feel safe or alone. The shadows seemed too deep and the steady drip drip drip of that rancid oil oozing out of every surface was too monotonous. Someone or something lived in that filth and chances were they’d been responsible for that poor vagrant’s agonising death.
That meant getting out of that shithole was a priority, so I made for the stairs and started the climb. If there were any answers in that place, it’d be in the apartment where that old man died. The crime scene tape was still hanging off the door frame when I found it, and the TV and sofa, or what remained of them, stood in the same place as in the photos. Back in the day the old man had been a hoarder and I was surprised crime scene hadn’t cleared all his shit out. It was all still there, only what had once been a chest high maze of papers and magazines was now just a kind of hardened pulp, almost like magma dried mid-flow. Whole fucking place was covered in the stuff like a coral reef, growing up the walls and even patches of the ceiling. Looked a hell of a lot like a wasp’s nest, and it looked to be the source of that oily looking fluid. You could see it sweating out of every crease and fold in that strange hive. It was almost hypnotic to look at. Glistening amber beads oozing out of papery sheets that flowed like rock striata. There was a gentle, barely perceptible rhythm. Hypnotic.
I don’t know why but I reached out and ran the tip of my finger as gently as I could along the surface. It felt like the underside of a mushroom. All those papery gills. Gossamer thin. Soft and inviting. I wore no gloves and the brief moment of contact had deposited a single bead of that strange syrup on my fingertip. It caused a tingling sensation that was not entirely unpleasant. Even the blood that trickled down my knuckle felt warm and wet, like testing a hot bath with your hand. I liked it. I liked it and I wanted more.
I went to reach out and push my arm into the nest when a hand burst out of the nest and gripped my wrist. I was so surprised I didn’t even make a noise, but instead wordlessly fell back as the hand pushed me away from the nest. A very nearly skinless forearm followed and soon after a face emerged from the papery nest like a grime covered nightmare. Black eyes and a lipless mouth. It was a man that could have passed for a corpse, like a half-digested piece of meat. Terrified, I struggled to my feet and realised that this person had broken damn near every bone in my wrist with that single grip.
“Your meat smells raw,” he growled before heaving himself out of the nest in a disgusting parody of childbirth.
My sanity flickered and the next thing I knew I was on the ground floor with bleeding eyes and both hands frantically pulling at the door handle. My mind returned in pieces. I blinked red tears away but didn’t stop trying to open the door. I felt it, that urgent need to leave, like a suffocating man feels the need to breathe. But I’d fucked up bad. I’d sniffed out the closet and saw the trap laid there, but hadn’t seen the larger one set for me. There was only one way in and out of that building and I hadn’t jammed the door open! Now it was shut and nothing I did could get it open. With more time maybe I could’ve pried the jamb or even kicked it down, but my heart was racing and my vision blurring. I wanted out of that place. A hot primal need to get the hell out. The air was too hot. My mask too stifling. Sweat condensed on the inner plastic and made it damn near impossible to see. And the pain in my wrist was a throbbing explosion that made sensible thought impossible. I’d realised early on into my little foray that I was underprepared, but the scale of what that meant eluded me until I was there wrestling with thoughts of exposure and contagion and disease, fumbling at a greasy doorknob with a broken hand while suppressing thoughts of what might be crawling up my leg or back or neck. Panic threatened to consume me. The world and all the normality it represented was right fucking there. I could hear it. The distant hum of traffic. The amber glow of streetlights that lit up the biohazard posters. Not thirty minutes ago I’d been there. Safe and far away from this waking nightmare.
I was being reduced to a prey animal. Even in the moment I could sense it happening to me. Being made into something lesser, but it was like my actions were no longer my own. When I finally gave up on the front door, I turned around and saw the shadows way back at the hallway begin to shift as something descended the stairwell. There was no other way out. No door. No window. Just me, a long corridor, and a nightmare coming right at me.
Something inside me gave up. I don’t know how to describe it. I’m still not sure if it was that building and that strange fluid that seemed to warp my own thoughts, or maybe there’s just too much one person can go through. But I could practically hear the thin membrane of my sanity tear as I fell backwards into the door and slid down onto my ass, breathlessly awaiting my terrible fate. I almost contemplated turning off my light but by then it was too late. I could see him coming towards me. He was legless. Nothing from the waist down except blackened viscera trailing up the stairs behind him. He pulled himself towards hand over hand with hungry eyes. Before I knew it he was on top of me, one hand gripping my mouth with a salty palm, the other stroking my hair.
And then in an instant his demeanour changed. He pulled back with a terrified cry and scrambled away like I’d just stuck him with a blade.
“No no no no no,” he muttered. “No no you should have said you should have said I didn’t know I thought you were another one I didn’t know I thought you were here for me I didn’t know you were hers.”
He cowered away, pedalling on both hands backwards while keeping his eyes fixed on me.
“Tell her I did not know you were hers I could not smell until I was close very close if I hurt you I am sorry tell her I am sorry I did not mean to hurt you it is just I do not get to eat often and am always hungry.”
With a rapid gesture he threw the key for the door at me. It skittered across the floor and fell just short of my feet.
“Tell her I did not know.”
“W-w-w-what are you?” I stammered.
He looked at me curiously, stopping his retreat only briefly to gauge my expression.
“She likes to be seen but I looked without asking and I got what I deserve.”
“Who are you talking about?” I asked.
He very nearly laughed, but with such deformities it was mostly a drooling guffaw.
“You know!” he gasped. “Don’t be stupid. You’re in love with her. Just like me. But different. You got permission. I didn’t. But she was good. She left me an old nest to live in. And I have permission to eat anything I kill or trap myself. Hard now that people know to stay away but sometimes I get lucky.”
His eyes flicked to the closet with sickening hunger.
“What has this got to do with her?” I asked.
“What colour are her eyes?” he replied, almost manic with excitement. “Answer. Answer. Tell me. Tell me. What colour are her eyes?”
“G–”
I stopped. The word felt wrong in my mouth.
“Bl–
“Bro–”
“No no,” he chittered. “None of those.”
Seemingly excited but afraid, he raced forward momentarily and gripped my lapels with twisted glee.
“Compound,” he hissed with such forbidden pleasure. “Her eyes are compound. She’s jealous of us, you know?
“Jealous we get to love her.”
And then he disappeared into the darkness and something inside me gave way entirely and I passed out.
I don’t know much of what came after, exactly. I was found a few hours later in my car, idling at a traffic light. I’d made some effort at getting away on my own but didn’t get very far. No surprise here but I got sick as a dog going in that place. A deep chest infection. The kind that scares everyone at least once in their life. Only fair given how fucking stupid I was. But forgive me, I hadn’t anticipated nightmares beyond human comprehension. I challenge anybody to think that fucking far ahead. You think junkies. You think flies. Squatters. But that guy… that man slipping out of the nest and barrelling towards me on two hands. My mind going sizzle pop along with the soles on my boots. In real life, shit like that always sneaks up on you.
So I paid the price. Six months. Jesus. Six long months. I got every fever you can think of. Sepsis. Kidney failure. Liver failure. Month after month drowning in my own fluids, coughing up shit that made the nurses gag and leave. I asked the doctor what the long term effects will be and he winced before reading a list of things that didn’t leave much hope for a happy retirement. And if it was hard on my body, it was even worse on my mind. Those fever dreams… doctors say what I remember in that building, that was all just part of the sickness. Say I spent a good three days in a coma and strange dreams are the norm. Which I might accept if it weren’t the fucking skin graft still healing on my right hand. No one can explain that.
My client visited. Just the once. There are universally sad moments in life and one of them is realising someone you have a lot of affection for doesn’t have it back. They have some. Just not the same amount. It was always one way though, wasn’t it? I saw her every single day but if I was doing my job right, she only saw me once a month for our meetings. Our arrangement ended not long after, so I hope anyway. She left like it was nothing but me… ah Jesus it felt like someone excavated my heart right out. Even after what she told me why she was there, even after what I did, I could barely stand up straight I was so heartbroken. There were times after that I wished the sickness would just take me. Maybe that defeatism is why it got so bad. Who knows?
She came to me looking for a recommendation, of all things. She wasn’t cold. Far from it. But there was a sense of disappointment as she sat beside me and eyed me up.
“I liked the initiative,” she said after a while. “But the results leave me unimpressed.”
“What the fuck happened in that place?” I asked, and even though I could barely hear my own voice, she seemed like she heard every word. For a moment, the way she contemplated it, I thought I was gonna get a straight answer.
“You know my mother said men don’t see ugly women. They know they exist but they just poof them right outta their mind. Like a magic trick. She said we worked better being a little plain. Good enough to take home for a night. Any more and we’d start to leave problems everywhere we go. That guy was a problem. She was trying to warn me about the dangers of attention but silly me, I went and got addicted. I hoped with you there might be a degree of… separation. Infatuation on a contractual basis.”
She took a deep breath like she’d had a long hard day.
“I don’t know. Maybe Mom was right. It’s ridiculous, I suppose. The fly shouldn’t admire the spider. It either sees it and fears it, or doesn’t know what’s coming until it’s too late. I think Mom was telling me to go for the latter. It’s no fun being invisible though. You spent all that time looking at me. Following me. What did you see?”
I looked at her until my eyes watered and something throbbed in my skull.
“I don’t know,” I tried to lie.
“Be honest.”
She looked right at me and something in the air changed. I don’t know what. Hot. Jesus it was hot. Like looking at the sun. I remember the heart rate monitor going nuts and then… then I remember gossamer wings and serrated chitin. A tick on the inside of your cheek. A leech on your tongue. A horsehair worm that won’t leave the skin. And then an instant later my eyes refocused and there was just a normal woman in front of me.
“Someone I could have loved,” I answered, unable to stop the words spilling like vomit. “Someone who I thought deserved love.”
“See,” she said. “Who wouldn’t like your version better?”
I was crying again. Heart racing. World like butter, going soft at the edges. Whatever she did, it was like undergoing brain surgery in real time.
“I’d like a recommendation,” she said after another minute or two of silence. “I’d like to see myself. I look in the mirror and I don’t see what you do. I’d like an artist to paint me. A version of me, at least. It won’t be easy on them. All this time you’ve probably looked directly at me for no more than five, ten minutes in total. Just didn’t realise it. Always the back of my head or my hair obscuring just so. That won’t do. I want a portrait. I want to know what you see.”
“What will you do to them?”
“I won’t do anything. Not intentionally. But if you ask someone to paint the sun, expect them to go blind. Whoever paints me will be painting the sun in their living room. Going blind is the least of their problems. Now, fess up. You know someone. You mentioned them once in passing. A cousin, maybe. An artist in need of cash. I’m sure of it.”
“Why would I tell you anything?”
“Because you love me,” she said. “And because despite everything you will get better and you will come back to me. Year or two, I think. You are adamant I have no hold on you, and you will think that for a long time. And this period of freedom, you’ll enjoy it only by my good grace and mercy. You did a good job. Better than any before. I’ve read your notes and reports over and over and seen details of myself I didn’t even know were there. It’s a thing of beauty, what you did. And one day soon you’ll come back to me with some excuse for why you want the contract to continue.”
I tried to spit the word never but managed, at best, a weak shake of the head. Something that put a most peculiar smile on her face.
“It doesn’t work like that. It’d be like trying to brute force your way through Alzheimer’s. You’ll be back. Even now you’re mine. All mine. I’m just being gentle. And you’re going to give me the name and number of this artist because even though you know I could no more love you than a spider loves the fly, you are desperate to please me. Because when I broke the man in that apartment building. When I tore him in two and told him that he would live for as long as I desired, writhing without air for years and years, drowning in sickly fluids and trapped helplessly in a hive he is determined to maintain even though I wouldn't be caught dead going back there. He was grateful. And, with time, you’ll be grateful too.”
She put the pen in my hand. She smiled, mouthed the word good boy, and God help me…
I gave her my nephew’s number.
2024.05.02 04:40 Alex_Expected The fun nicknames I have seen for each dino
Rhamp= rat or seagull
Achillo= boss or mafia boss
Eurhino= sword fish
Hatz=bird
Thala=bird
Patchy=goat
Pycho=pug
Rex=Rex
Amarga=whale
Sucho= (haven’t actually seen a good one, what do y’all think?)
Styra=demon
Struthi= ostrich
Stego=(havent seen a good one)
Spino=spoon
Meg=lizard
Lat=chicken
Lamb= rodeo/bull/horse (I have seen a few since new tlc)
Kent=porcupine
Iguanadon=iggy
Eotriceratops=trike
Deinocheirus=duck
Deinonychus=chicken
Dasp= mini Rex
Conc= land shark
Cera= (haven’t seen a good one)
Campto=(havent seen a good one)
Ano=dog or pug
Allo= OG
Alio= Turkey
Bars= cow
Sarco=croc
Metri= dart frog?
Abert=( havent seen a good one)
Those are my favorites! If y’all know any for the ones that are missing a nickname tell me what u think it should be!
submitted by Alex_Expected to pathoftitans [link] [comments]
Achillo= boss or mafia boss
Eurhino= sword fish
Hatz=bird
Thala=bird
Patchy=goat
Pycho=pug
Rex=Rex
Amarga=whale
Sucho= (haven’t actually seen a good one, what do y’all think?)
Styra=demon
Struthi= ostrich
Stego=(havent seen a good one)
Spino=spoon
Meg=lizard
Lat=chicken
Lamb= rodeo/bull/horse (I have seen a few since new tlc)
Kent=porcupine
Iguanadon=iggy
Eotriceratops=trike
Deinocheirus=duck
Deinonychus=chicken
Dasp= mini Rex
Conc= land shark
Cera= (haven’t seen a good one)
Campto=(havent seen a good one)
Ano=dog or pug
Allo= OG
Alio= Turkey
Bars= cow
Sarco=croc
Metri= dart frog?
Abert=( havent seen a good one)
Those are my favorites! If y’all know any for the ones that are missing a nickname tell me what u think it should be!
2024.04.27 12:11 XVIII-2 Spotify knows who’s the Boss
 | submitted by XVIII-2 to BruceSpringsteen [link] [comments] |
2024.04.27 00:26 Internal_Prune_5108 contracting 101
Residential Contracting 101
With over 20 years of building experience, I would like to share with you my insights in navigating becoming a successful contractor. With many different avenues of the building world its key to understand what problems will arise on any given day. A man once told a saying that stuck-the 6 p’s in life- Piss Poor Preparation leads to Piss Poor Performance. Preparation builds everything in construction, without preparation the jobsite will not run correctly. The best advice I was ever given was to learn a little about every trade giving you the ability to understand trade lingo and secrets. An example would be painters use the terminology flash; this means when the sub structure bleads through the paint. Subcontractors will give the best pricing if they respect your knowledge of the industry. If the subcontractor feels they will have to hold your hand through the job they will charge an extra fee…i.e. I call it the aggravation fee. In this blog I will explain the key elements in finding success in all aspects of the industry. Contracting is a physically and emotionally demanding job which requires planning and foresight to complete projects on time within budget. Picking your customer is just as important as picking your employees or subcontractors. I have worked for some of the most demanding customers leading me to question at the end if the job was even worth it. Sleepless nights, constant changes, lack of payment, lawsuit threats, adding work that was in the contract are just a few things you could face with a tough customer. With so many moving parts at all times it is critical to be able to adapt to changes within a short time frame. Materials will come in damaged, subcontractors will be late, employees will get sick, but the deadline you set does not change. The stress can be overwhelming at times keeping your mind in a good place is key to navigating all that is thrown at you. Choosing your client picking the right jobs-Keep these questions in mind The first question to be asked is what the time frame is to start the job to see if it fits within the timeframe for your business. If the time frame doesn’t work then move on from the project or let them know when you would be available to start. If the client really wants to use, they will wait until you are available. Taking on too much work will only lead to problems. Construction is a serviced based business, staying on top of the project and client will eliminate an unhappy customer and construction issues that will be over seen. With online presence if details are missed and customer service lacks it will only be a matter of time the phone will not ring. The second question to be asked to the client is do they have a budget in mind for the project. If they answer yes this is good, follow through with what the budget is. If the budget seems low let them know, this will eliminate a tire kicker, educate them on what the price range could be. If the budget seems reasonable then continue the discussion to the next question. If they answer no let them know that you can give them an estimate to see if the project is feasible with their finical capabilities. Taking on a job that is not correctly budgeted will lead to an unsatisfied customer due to non-transparency of the construction cost. The third question to be asked is anyone else bidding on the job, if the answer is yes, understand you might just be number check for the contractor doing the job. Dig a little deeper and find out how many numbers they are getting and why. If your business model is to be competitive be completely transparent with customer, this will gain trust with them. Let them know you get what you pay for and if you they choose the lowest bid it could lead into lack of quality of work.
The fourth question I will ask is there any specific subcontractors they wanted to use. If the answer is yes then I would explain to them you only use the subcontractors you have a working relationship with. Otherwise, this could backfire as the subcontractor might not show, do subpar work, talk behind your back to the homeowner. In my experience I would stay away from using any homeowner to alleviate problems down the road. A quick conversation now can save headaches down the road. The fifth question I will ask are planning on getting the job permitted, this needs to be known it takes more time for the permitting process. Plans will have to drawn submitted and approved to the city before work can commence. The sixth question I will ask if a residential remodel is are you going to be living through the remodel if yes understand this will take more time to navigate the project due to answering questions and cleaning the house on a daily occurrence. I would recommend seeing if the customer would be willing to move into an Airbnb or friends for at least the demo portion of the project. If they do plan on living through the remodel add a couple hours a day to accommodate the extra time that will be required. The seventh question I would ask in a residential remodel is how old the house is to see if there is asbestos that would need to removed by a proper company. A home built before 1979 will most likely have some asbestos in the house, use a licensed company with proper insurance to dispose of the materials. If everything looks good to this point find out a little more about the client personality. If the client seems reasonable, I would bid the job. Unreasonable people can cause you more stress than its worth. These are some red flags I would look out for. Some jobs are not worth the money. Very demanding in the way you are going to perform your job- I.e., tell you how you are going to do your job- You’re the professional not them! Give you a hard time about your price- haggle with price you estimated- The price is the price! If they are a family with little money and you want to help them out is one thing, if they are trying to beat you down is another. Mention they have a lawyer-there is no need for them to bring up that they have a lawyer - Run for the hills as if the job goes south, you will be the one losing out! Tell you what the payment terms are. It’s your business you get paid how it works for your company. If you want to get paid every Friday, put it into your contract-If the clients do not agree move on it will save you frustrations If they talk bad about the last contractor, chances are they will talk bad about you. There is a reason why the contractor does not work for them anymore, unless he did subpar work this a red flag Clients are using an interior decorator that will purchasing all of the materials- The materials could be ordered incorrectly by the interior designer your company will not make the mark-up it deserves. Interior decorators usually add time to the job as well as act like your boss. Charging a little extra for the time and stress that it will entail is only fair. Clients want to purchase the materials- You are using your knowledge to buy the correct materials-The mark up on the materials keeps the doors open working for wages only pays the bills The husband and wife do not get along-You will become the mediator between the couple it will lead to taking sides a losing proposition- A drama free work place is always best! Dangling carrot-if you do this job the next one will be better-Only look at what there offering at the present moment, if its not a good fit do not take the job for a job down the road…Its not worth chasing a job that might not happen! The Art of the Sale First things first selling your company is all about presentation. In meeting your clients for the first time show up with a collared golf shirt tucked in, belt, nice jeans, and newer shoes. Have a truck that a clean, no dents scratches, preferably washed the day you are going into your meeting. Have a leather note pad that is clean no dirt or paint visible. Show up 5 minutes early, if you’re running a little late shoot them a text to let them know. Treat the situation as if were going on a first date, best foot forward. As you introduce yourself give them a warm greeting, letting them know you are very interested in the work. Find out a little about them, hobbies, where they lived, etc etc. You are going to be working with them on a daily basis its nice to know what makes them tick. Having a good working relationship from the start is key forming a solid relationship. As the conversation progresses find out who wears the pants in the family…ie who’s the final decision maker. If its fits the wife, chances it is…..then kindly let the husband know happy wife happy life when their in a stall mate on an issue. As your looking at the project throw in some suggestions of what you think would look good from past experiences, this will get their attention that you have knowledge and want what’s best for them. If you see ways to save them money in their project let them know, money is a large point of the sale keep that in mind. Mention that you’re not the least expensive contractor but you’re not the most expensive either. Your customer satisfaction is your number one goal which leads to more time spent on keeping them happy. One happy customer will lead to another, one unsatisfied customer leads to work in the future. Bring up the fact the finishing the job on time is key goal to your business, many contractors run several jobs at once causing the jobs to be finished way behind schedule. You must stand out as having integrity, good morals, and the ability to problem solve to get the job. The clients will be testing you to see if you’re a good fit as well. Keep in mind as you take your notes that you must not forget anything they mention as it will come back before the job is completed…i.e. we mentioned that to you before we started the job! Take pictures of the proposed area for work, that way you can use it to better right your estimate. Let them know you will give them a detailed outline of when the job will be completed letting them see how long each phase will take and correlate it with your payment schedule. Before you leave their house let them know when the estimate will be sent to them. MAKE SURE YOU HIT THAT DEADLINE! Once you sent the email over with estimate make sure you get confirmation that they received it. Wait at least 2 days before checking with them, hopefully they contact you first! If they want negotiate the price, let them know that it is the best price that you can manage, its not worth losing money before you start. I closed 80% of the work I estimated by being very transparent and friendly. If you come off with an attitude charge double what the going rates are you might only land 1 out of 10 jobs as well as getting the reputation of being expensive. Bidding the job Looking up industry standards on pricing is what I would go buy for pricing. If you google the coat of any installation there will be a cost range for everything. Looking at the cost ranging from high to low I would tend to be in the middle. Some items might be low on the internet if this is the case use your best judgment not to lose money. Closing sales is key to success and keep the doors open for business. Being in the middle on pricing is key as most customers shy away from contractors that are extremely low or high on the price range. I tend not bid out hourly as wages do not pay for retirement. Bidding is better as customers no the exact price of the cost of construction. It also keeps the job moving quicker as time and material contractors take longer to complete projects…Thus costing the client more money and valuable time they could spend in their house. Using a Contract Using a detailed estimate tied to a contract covers your butt in 99% of the time. Having a piece of mind that every aspect of the job is covered in the estimate and contract protects both your company and the client. Key terms to include in your estimate/contract are. Have a schedule on excel showing the start dates and dates of each trade this will show the customer you are organized with time lines. If not written in the detailed in the estimate the item is excluded- This ensures if its not written down its not included. TBD- To be Determined- A phrase on a line item that has yet to had final decision of products or service needed. -The pricing will follow the decisions to be finalized Give out what your written warranty will be for parts and labor this changes state to state. If the homeowner provides the product than no warranty will be given on that particular item. In the contract have a start date and end date with the verbiage subject to change due to weather, product delivery, change orders Have a progress payment schedule to ensure the client understands when funding will be expected-Including if not payment is rendered service to the project will stop. Have written terms of how change orders will be charged-cost plus 20% or a set fee Make sure in your contract that arbitration is required versus going to court- This will save lawyer fees and going to court Many contracts can be found online and each state requires different contracts
Finding leads Finding leads is easy with the right network of people. I personally do not find working for friends or family members a good fit. Relationships get strained when money is involved, causing undue stress for both parties. I have listed a couple of ways to build a network or find work using the internet. Get in contact with realtor’s- Realtors have a big client base of homeowners who need work done Contact local Architects to see if they are working with any general contractors Leave some business cards at your local materials suppliers-Doowindow/lumber-many times clients will ask salesman for a referral. Join a business networking group- BNI is one of many Join a internet website lead generation company- Houzz, Angie’s List, Home Advisor, thumbtack, Yelp run an ad on craigslist Use a marketing company to market your website-This could become costly with little results Create a Facebook business page Create a Yelp business page
Building your subcontractor base Having 2 subcontractors for every trade, gives you the flexibility of completing jobs on time if the one the subcontractors is too busy at the time you need their service. Your subcontractors are the face of your business, choose owner run companies that are professional. Check to make sure there license are up to date..ie workman’s comp, liability insurance, state license. Choosing subcontractors with lettered vans, logoed t-shirts is s key to looking professional in the clients’ eyes. In the past I have gotten a lot of subcontractors for material supply shops, stopping by jobsites, researching the internet using Yelp, Home Advisor, etc etc. Once you get one good subcontractor ask them if they know any other trades they would recommend. One good subcontractor leads to another in most cases. The key to having a good group of subcontractors is to let them know that you are there to get help them get the job done. They do work for you but without them you are nothing…keep that in mind! Make them aware a clean jobsite is required at the end of everyday to ensure the proper safety for all parties including theirs! Over the years I have referred a lot of companies work when there is only 1 trade needed. Referring work to subcontractors is a good way to get top priority when you have work that needs to be completed ASAP. Timing is everything in times of emergency having a good group of subcontractors will make your business run smoothly. Pay your subcontractors immediately after performing work, this will make them feel appreciated! A happy subcontractor is one that will gladly go the extra mile for you knowing that there not just a number to your business! Buying lunch once a week for the jobsite is always a good token of appreciation!
Supervising In supervising any jobsite its key to monitor everything from materials on hand, weather, vehicle parking (if applicable), jobsite safety, and subcontractors’ workmanship. If you hired a professional there should be little supervision in the work being performed, on rare occasions a new hire might need some mentoring to get the results completed correctly. If you see a problem with there work address it with the worker directly, no need to call his boss…. building repour with the worker letting him know you got his back goes miles down the road! Checking in on the job first in the morning to answer any questions or changes that need to be conveyed and once in the afternoon to make sure all work be completed is done per construction industry standards. A job that is run blindly will have many more issues than one that is watched over. I have seen many jobs with no site supervision, leading to subpar quality work as well as safety hazards. Its better to be like an eagle than cluck like a turkey!
Working with the City/Inspectors On permitted jobs the city and site inspector will be a large part of how smoothly the job runs. Each phase of construction has an inspection allowing for the project to continue. Make sure your subcontractors are aware that the project is inspected before starting the job. The best way to stay on his good side is to provide a clean jobsite and having the job built to the highest standards possible. When having the site inspected be courteous to the inspector asking any questions or concerns you have with the work during the job. Being completely transparent will save you aggravation of problems down the road. The more he trust you the better if you seem sneaky or rude he will make your life a living nightmare! Many inspectors will have an attitude towards you….I suggest keeping quiet and doing what ever he wants….he’s the boss no need to get in a pissing match you will not win at. How to deal with irate customer Stay calm during any argument with an irate customer. Never raise your voice or show that you are bothered by their disgruntled behavior. If the customer is trying to get more from you than agreed upon stand your ground. Worst case scenario is you walk from the job, which in the long run be more of a loss for the client. I have only run into a couple of these clients; they are unreasonable and not worth losing sleep over a few dollars. Its best to terminate the relationship as it would be my best guess that a referral from this customer would not be one you wanted anyway. If you feel it was just a miscommunication on your end, take reasonability and remedy the problem. Taking accountability for your mistake will go a far way in their eyes and on future issues that arise. Prepping the homeowner pre-construction Before starting the job, it very important to give the homeowners a warning of what will happen during the construction process.
submitted by Internal_Prune_5108 to Contracting [link] [comments]
With over 20 years of building experience, I would like to share with you my insights in navigating becoming a successful contractor. With many different avenues of the building world its key to understand what problems will arise on any given day. A man once told a saying that stuck-the 6 p’s in life- Piss Poor Preparation leads to Piss Poor Performance. Preparation builds everything in construction, without preparation the jobsite will not run correctly. The best advice I was ever given was to learn a little about every trade giving you the ability to understand trade lingo and secrets. An example would be painters use the terminology flash; this means when the sub structure bleads through the paint. Subcontractors will give the best pricing if they respect your knowledge of the industry. If the subcontractor feels they will have to hold your hand through the job they will charge an extra fee…i.e. I call it the aggravation fee. In this blog I will explain the key elements in finding success in all aspects of the industry. Contracting is a physically and emotionally demanding job which requires planning and foresight to complete projects on time within budget. Picking your customer is just as important as picking your employees or subcontractors. I have worked for some of the most demanding customers leading me to question at the end if the job was even worth it. Sleepless nights, constant changes, lack of payment, lawsuit threats, adding work that was in the contract are just a few things you could face with a tough customer. With so many moving parts at all times it is critical to be able to adapt to changes within a short time frame. Materials will come in damaged, subcontractors will be late, employees will get sick, but the deadline you set does not change. The stress can be overwhelming at times keeping your mind in a good place is key to navigating all that is thrown at you. Choosing your client picking the right jobs-Keep these questions in mind The first question to be asked is what the time frame is to start the job to see if it fits within the timeframe for your business. If the time frame doesn’t work then move on from the project or let them know when you would be available to start. If the client really wants to use, they will wait until you are available. Taking on too much work will only lead to problems. Construction is a serviced based business, staying on top of the project and client will eliminate an unhappy customer and construction issues that will be over seen. With online presence if details are missed and customer service lacks it will only be a matter of time the phone will not ring. The second question to be asked to the client is do they have a budget in mind for the project. If they answer yes this is good, follow through with what the budget is. If the budget seems low let them know, this will eliminate a tire kicker, educate them on what the price range could be. If the budget seems reasonable then continue the discussion to the next question. If they answer no let them know that you can give them an estimate to see if the project is feasible with their finical capabilities. Taking on a job that is not correctly budgeted will lead to an unsatisfied customer due to non-transparency of the construction cost. The third question to be asked is anyone else bidding on the job, if the answer is yes, understand you might just be number check for the contractor doing the job. Dig a little deeper and find out how many numbers they are getting and why. If your business model is to be competitive be completely transparent with customer, this will gain trust with them. Let them know you get what you pay for and if you they choose the lowest bid it could lead into lack of quality of work.
The fourth question I will ask is there any specific subcontractors they wanted to use. If the answer is yes then I would explain to them you only use the subcontractors you have a working relationship with. Otherwise, this could backfire as the subcontractor might not show, do subpar work, talk behind your back to the homeowner. In my experience I would stay away from using any homeowner to alleviate problems down the road. A quick conversation now can save headaches down the road. The fifth question I will ask are planning on getting the job permitted, this needs to be known it takes more time for the permitting process. Plans will have to drawn submitted and approved to the city before work can commence. The sixth question I will ask if a residential remodel is are you going to be living through the remodel if yes understand this will take more time to navigate the project due to answering questions and cleaning the house on a daily occurrence. I would recommend seeing if the customer would be willing to move into an Airbnb or friends for at least the demo portion of the project. If they do plan on living through the remodel add a couple hours a day to accommodate the extra time that will be required. The seventh question I would ask in a residential remodel is how old the house is to see if there is asbestos that would need to removed by a proper company. A home built before 1979 will most likely have some asbestos in the house, use a licensed company with proper insurance to dispose of the materials. If everything looks good to this point find out a little more about the client personality. If the client seems reasonable, I would bid the job. Unreasonable people can cause you more stress than its worth. These are some red flags I would look out for. Some jobs are not worth the money. Very demanding in the way you are going to perform your job- I.e., tell you how you are going to do your job- You’re the professional not them! Give you a hard time about your price- haggle with price you estimated- The price is the price! If they are a family with little money and you want to help them out is one thing, if they are trying to beat you down is another. Mention they have a lawyer-there is no need for them to bring up that they have a lawyer - Run for the hills as if the job goes south, you will be the one losing out! Tell you what the payment terms are. It’s your business you get paid how it works for your company. If you want to get paid every Friday, put it into your contract-If the clients do not agree move on it will save you frustrations If they talk bad about the last contractor, chances are they will talk bad about you. There is a reason why the contractor does not work for them anymore, unless he did subpar work this a red flag Clients are using an interior decorator that will purchasing all of the materials- The materials could be ordered incorrectly by the interior designer your company will not make the mark-up it deserves. Interior decorators usually add time to the job as well as act like your boss. Charging a little extra for the time and stress that it will entail is only fair. Clients want to purchase the materials- You are using your knowledge to buy the correct materials-The mark up on the materials keeps the doors open working for wages only pays the bills The husband and wife do not get along-You will become the mediator between the couple it will lead to taking sides a losing proposition- A drama free work place is always best! Dangling carrot-if you do this job the next one will be better-Only look at what there offering at the present moment, if its not a good fit do not take the job for a job down the road…Its not worth chasing a job that might not happen! The Art of the Sale First things first selling your company is all about presentation. In meeting your clients for the first time show up with a collared golf shirt tucked in, belt, nice jeans, and newer shoes. Have a truck that a clean, no dents scratches, preferably washed the day you are going into your meeting. Have a leather note pad that is clean no dirt or paint visible. Show up 5 minutes early, if you’re running a little late shoot them a text to let them know. Treat the situation as if were going on a first date, best foot forward. As you introduce yourself give them a warm greeting, letting them know you are very interested in the work. Find out a little about them, hobbies, where they lived, etc etc. You are going to be working with them on a daily basis its nice to know what makes them tick. Having a good working relationship from the start is key forming a solid relationship. As the conversation progresses find out who wears the pants in the family…ie who’s the final decision maker. If its fits the wife, chances it is…..then kindly let the husband know happy wife happy life when their in a stall mate on an issue. As your looking at the project throw in some suggestions of what you think would look good from past experiences, this will get their attention that you have knowledge and want what’s best for them. If you see ways to save them money in their project let them know, money is a large point of the sale keep that in mind. Mention that you’re not the least expensive contractor but you’re not the most expensive either. Your customer satisfaction is your number one goal which leads to more time spent on keeping them happy. One happy customer will lead to another, one unsatisfied customer leads to work in the future. Bring up the fact the finishing the job on time is key goal to your business, many contractors run several jobs at once causing the jobs to be finished way behind schedule. You must stand out as having integrity, good morals, and the ability to problem solve to get the job. The clients will be testing you to see if you’re a good fit as well. Keep in mind as you take your notes that you must not forget anything they mention as it will come back before the job is completed…i.e. we mentioned that to you before we started the job! Take pictures of the proposed area for work, that way you can use it to better right your estimate. Let them know you will give them a detailed outline of when the job will be completed letting them see how long each phase will take and correlate it with your payment schedule. Before you leave their house let them know when the estimate will be sent to them. MAKE SURE YOU HIT THAT DEADLINE! Once you sent the email over with estimate make sure you get confirmation that they received it. Wait at least 2 days before checking with them, hopefully they contact you first! If they want negotiate the price, let them know that it is the best price that you can manage, its not worth losing money before you start. I closed 80% of the work I estimated by being very transparent and friendly. If you come off with an attitude charge double what the going rates are you might only land 1 out of 10 jobs as well as getting the reputation of being expensive. Bidding the job Looking up industry standards on pricing is what I would go buy for pricing. If you google the coat of any installation there will be a cost range for everything. Looking at the cost ranging from high to low I would tend to be in the middle. Some items might be low on the internet if this is the case use your best judgment not to lose money. Closing sales is key to success and keep the doors open for business. Being in the middle on pricing is key as most customers shy away from contractors that are extremely low or high on the price range. I tend not bid out hourly as wages do not pay for retirement. Bidding is better as customers no the exact price of the cost of construction. It also keeps the job moving quicker as time and material contractors take longer to complete projects…Thus costing the client more money and valuable time they could spend in their house. Using a Contract Using a detailed estimate tied to a contract covers your butt in 99% of the time. Having a piece of mind that every aspect of the job is covered in the estimate and contract protects both your company and the client. Key terms to include in your estimate/contract are. Have a schedule on excel showing the start dates and dates of each trade this will show the customer you are organized with time lines. If not written in the detailed in the estimate the item is excluded- This ensures if its not written down its not included. TBD- To be Determined- A phrase on a line item that has yet to had final decision of products or service needed. -The pricing will follow the decisions to be finalized Give out what your written warranty will be for parts and labor this changes state to state. If the homeowner provides the product than no warranty will be given on that particular item. In the contract have a start date and end date with the verbiage subject to change due to weather, product delivery, change orders Have a progress payment schedule to ensure the client understands when funding will be expected-Including if not payment is rendered service to the project will stop. Have written terms of how change orders will be charged-cost plus 20% or a set fee Make sure in your contract that arbitration is required versus going to court- This will save lawyer fees and going to court Many contracts can be found online and each state requires different contracts
Finding leads Finding leads is easy with the right network of people. I personally do not find working for friends or family members a good fit. Relationships get strained when money is involved, causing undue stress for both parties. I have listed a couple of ways to build a network or find work using the internet. Get in contact with realtor’s- Realtors have a big client base of homeowners who need work done Contact local Architects to see if they are working with any general contractors Leave some business cards at your local materials suppliers-Doowindow/lumber-many times clients will ask salesman for a referral. Join a business networking group- BNI is one of many Join a internet website lead generation company- Houzz, Angie’s List, Home Advisor, thumbtack, Yelp run an ad on craigslist Use a marketing company to market your website-This could become costly with little results Create a Facebook business page Create a Yelp business page
Building your subcontractor base Having 2 subcontractors for every trade, gives you the flexibility of completing jobs on time if the one the subcontractors is too busy at the time you need their service. Your subcontractors are the face of your business, choose owner run companies that are professional. Check to make sure there license are up to date..ie workman’s comp, liability insurance, state license. Choosing subcontractors with lettered vans, logoed t-shirts is s key to looking professional in the clients’ eyes. In the past I have gotten a lot of subcontractors for material supply shops, stopping by jobsites, researching the internet using Yelp, Home Advisor, etc etc. Once you get one good subcontractor ask them if they know any other trades they would recommend. One good subcontractor leads to another in most cases. The key to having a good group of subcontractors is to let them know that you are there to get help them get the job done. They do work for you but without them you are nothing…keep that in mind! Make them aware a clean jobsite is required at the end of everyday to ensure the proper safety for all parties including theirs! Over the years I have referred a lot of companies work when there is only 1 trade needed. Referring work to subcontractors is a good way to get top priority when you have work that needs to be completed ASAP. Timing is everything in times of emergency having a good group of subcontractors will make your business run smoothly. Pay your subcontractors immediately after performing work, this will make them feel appreciated! A happy subcontractor is one that will gladly go the extra mile for you knowing that there not just a number to your business! Buying lunch once a week for the jobsite is always a good token of appreciation!
Supervising In supervising any jobsite its key to monitor everything from materials on hand, weather, vehicle parking (if applicable), jobsite safety, and subcontractors’ workmanship. If you hired a professional there should be little supervision in the work being performed, on rare occasions a new hire might need some mentoring to get the results completed correctly. If you see a problem with there work address it with the worker directly, no need to call his boss…. building repour with the worker letting him know you got his back goes miles down the road! Checking in on the job first in the morning to answer any questions or changes that need to be conveyed and once in the afternoon to make sure all work be completed is done per construction industry standards. A job that is run blindly will have many more issues than one that is watched over. I have seen many jobs with no site supervision, leading to subpar quality work as well as safety hazards. Its better to be like an eagle than cluck like a turkey!
Working with the City/Inspectors On permitted jobs the city and site inspector will be a large part of how smoothly the job runs. Each phase of construction has an inspection allowing for the project to continue. Make sure your subcontractors are aware that the project is inspected before starting the job. The best way to stay on his good side is to provide a clean jobsite and having the job built to the highest standards possible. When having the site inspected be courteous to the inspector asking any questions or concerns you have with the work during the job. Being completely transparent will save you aggravation of problems down the road. The more he trust you the better if you seem sneaky or rude he will make your life a living nightmare! Many inspectors will have an attitude towards you….I suggest keeping quiet and doing what ever he wants….he’s the boss no need to get in a pissing match you will not win at. How to deal with irate customer Stay calm during any argument with an irate customer. Never raise your voice or show that you are bothered by their disgruntled behavior. If the customer is trying to get more from you than agreed upon stand your ground. Worst case scenario is you walk from the job, which in the long run be more of a loss for the client. I have only run into a couple of these clients; they are unreasonable and not worth losing sleep over a few dollars. Its best to terminate the relationship as it would be my best guess that a referral from this customer would not be one you wanted anyway. If you feel it was just a miscommunication on your end, take reasonability and remedy the problem. Taking accountability for your mistake will go a far way in their eyes and on future issues that arise. Prepping the homeowner pre-construction Before starting the job, it very important to give the homeowners a warning of what will happen during the construction process.
- All furniture in the proposed working area must be moved- I would recommend having the clients take care of this to limit the risk of damage to their belongings.
- There will be dust that will be in the house up to 3 months after construction-I would recommend hiring a construction cleaning company at the end of the job even so after it is cleaned dust will be present months after words.
- There will be conflicts between you in the homeowner at some course of the job. - You will do your best to eliminate them as quickly as they arise-i.e. material damages, miscommunication, job delays
- All decisions on materials must be made before the start of the job- this will eliminate job stoppage due to materials not being on site.
- All materials will be on site before commencement of job-
- Payment structures must be made per contract otherwise job will stop until payment rendered
- Cars are to be moved out of the driveway- Ensures ease of loading and unloading of materials/tools
- Give the specific hours that workers will be present- i.e. 7-3:30
- Determine what areas are allowed to be used as staging for tools/materials
- If animals are present in the home that they put outside or in a room during the day
- All valuables in the house are locked in safe
- Ask if using client’s household bathroom is okay or to bring in Porter Potty
- Being transparent as possible is key to keeping a great relationship with your client!
2024.04.24 05:53 Slight_Function_3561 What you can find on my local Craigslist…
 | Notice how the $800 one is so skinny you can see his ribs. And that one set of pups already have the rashy faces. Why are people like this? submitted by Slight_Function_3561 to BanPitBulls [link] [comments] |
2024.04.23 19:27 TradeAdditional4761 NAD Just picked up a 5150 sig
 | I know this amp has been posted many times but I am really really stoked to have just picked up this 5150 off of Craigslist. I fell in love with this line amps after hearing them on many of my favorite albums, and seeing them being played live by bands like Hell, Thou, and Spectral Voice. I used Peaveys website to look up the serial number and it was built in 1994. It does not have the original tubes but instead has what I believe are Mojotone branded Sovtek 5881s, I could find very little info about these so if anyone knows anything about them please let me know. submitted by TradeAdditional4761 to GuitarAmps [link] [comments] In the picture are a couple pedals because I wanted to include the Fowl Sounds Echonomicon I recently purchased as well. Also shown Peavey 6505+ combo, Peteys Pedals Filter Fuzz, Boss HM-2, and an Avalanche Run by Earthquaker. Shoutout to the seller for being so cool and spending way more time than they needed talking to me about the amp, sharing knowledge, and letting me get a good feel for how it sounded. |
2024.04.22 21:17 LadyofDungeons UPDATE: My (F29) Nightmare Roommate from Hell (M23) wants to move with me to my new apartment. If I do not, there's a real possibility he may go homeless. I don't want him around for multiple reasons, do you think I am being unfair in not allowing him to move with me?
Hello Everyone!
I promised I would give an update after we moved and I finally have internet set up to do so. Link to first post at the bottom. TLDR for this post is at the bottom.
Before I get started, I just wanted to thank all of you for your comments and support. A lot of them were eye-opening for me, or very validating in how I was feeling. The guilt tripping had really gotten to me and made me doubt myself. Thank you so much for pulling the wool from my eyes. I read every single one of your comments, even if they criticized my choices. I wasn't able to reply to all of them, but I appreciated the help, advice, and encouragement.Recap from the 1st post:
Ex-Roommate's brother, 'Prince', moved in as a replacement roommate. From the start, many issues arose: Missed bill deadlines, invasions of privacy, demeaning behavior, rudeness, moving in before being on the lease, victim syndrome, accusations of abuse and other serious things, etc. Despite efforts to resolve conflicts, problems persisted leading to tensions and even a threat to sue me. A major repair was needed which prompted us to terminate our lease by mutual agreement with the landlord. We are to be moved out by May 1st. My partner and I found a new apartment and don't want to room with Prince anymore despite previous assurances we would. Prince procrastinated finding a new place and isn't financially stable. I'm struggling with guilt over not letting him stay with us because it will likely lead to Prince becoming homeless... but I also do not feel safe nor trust him to be a responsible adult anymore. We move April 19th to our new home.To reiterate:
Prince: Male, 23, nightmare roommate
Me: Female, 29
Partner: Male, 22.
________________________________
Okay and now to begin with the update. And oh man, is this... scary. Some shit came to light y'all. I am trying to keep this short but I am posting some text conversations for context and tea.
As I mentioned previously, he has been doing things like purposely listening in on conversations I'm having inside the house whether its on the phone or with Partner. Because of this, I started taking my conversations outside and did not speak about him or our moving inside the house. This is important later.
As also mentioned previously, Partner and I have been trying to help him by sending him ads for rooms or roommates from websites like Roomies or Craigslist. For one reason or another, he turned most of them down despite some of them being even cheaper than rooming with us. There was one that was $425 utilities included that was 5 minutes walking distance from his workplace. Turned down for dumb reasons.
For the past 2 months, we have also encouraged him to get a part time job. There is a gas station that is 10 minutes biking, 5 minutes bus from our house whose owner pays his workers daily. He pays $14 to $16 an hour. He did not do this because he didn't want to bike to work.
So basically, Prince has turned down a lot of really cheap and good options, and he has continued to not bother trying to get work.
April 15th
No incidents other than Prince trying to talk over my boss who is on the phone with me, training me, to tell me something. I couldn't hear him and told him 'not now, I'm on the phone with my boss'. He sent me a passive aggressive later that I 'need to stop talking to him like that because hes been nice to me' and to 'cut it out'.
April 17th
I am packing non-essential items and Prince starts texting me:
P: Are yall leaving tonight? Me: No, we're moving the 19th- Friday- like I've said before. P: Im just kinda confused because sunday I was told two weeks and the time frame keeps getting shorter.I really badly just wanted to say "That's how time works." I told him numerous times verbally and in text we moved on the 19th, not just that I got paid. Trying to keep this shorter. So skipping to important parts.
P: Is there anyway yall can move one day later? I have a tour the 19th and it's one of the only money making opportunities I have at the moment.April 19th - Moving Day and Partner gives in to guilt tripping (>:( )
All throughout moving day, he kept trying to interrupt us by texting us. Partner and I stopped responding to text messages and began ignoring them.
I get the following text in our group text after I fail to respond to direct texts:
P: Yall not responding is confusing when yall need the router and mirror that's in my room? You guys cant back out of agreements people depend on. LadyofDungeons you literally said you could help with a deposit for one of the roomies ads because of your raiseI did not say this. Partner apparently had caved in and said he would loan Prince a security deposit if it wasn't too much so long as Prince paid it back. (Apparently he planned to draw up papers to make it official to get it back). At this point I had told Partner that I would not be giving Prince a dime and that I am not comfortable with our joint savings or my money being used to help Prince as I know I will not get it back as he has not, in fact, 'followed through on every promise made to us'.
Me: We are moving. I'm not looking at my phone because I am doing physical labor and packing and moving boxes. Sorry. I'll talk when I'm done actually moving. I put all your bathroom stuff beneath the sink and anything else in the shower caddy we are leaving. You can have the toothbrush holder if you want it.I did not want to leave a key with him. My partner apparently did leave the third extra key we had.
April 21st - Shit hits the Fan
We wake up with the intention of unpacking the whole day. This morning Prince calls Partner as I make breakfast. I overhear Partner's tone starting to get upset and frustrated. I walk over concerned and listen. Summarized:
Partner: "I know I said I'd help you with a deposit, but I don't have $1600 to give you. I just don't have that much money."
Prince: *unintelligent angry Prince noises coming from partners phone*
The conversation basically devolved and Prince hangs up on Partner. I ask him 'what's going on?'
Partner: Prince found an artist couple who are willing to take him on as a roommate. The issue is that they want 1st and last months rent plus a security deposit. The sum total is $1600. Prince says he has only $45.00 in his bank account. I just don't have that sort of money.
Me: Prince is not our adoptive son. We are not responsible for him. I know you said you would help, but neither of us has that kind of moving after all of our moving expenses. Just ignore him. He is an adult and will have to learn the hard way that his choices got him here, not us. We didn't do anything wrong, we just won't financially support him.
4 hours later, Prince starts blowing up our group text chat:
P: Yall genuinely reassured me at every turn that this wouldn't happen You waited to get my rent and then dipped.We didn't know the lease would be ending until April. Partner actually agreed to give some of Prince's rent back to him if he moved out before May 1st for the days he doesn't live there, despite the fact that Partner and I are NOT getting prorated rent back from the leasing company. I did not agree to this. Partner did. Much to my grave annoyance.
P: This isn't legal, Friends don't do this to friends. Y'all knew what situation I came from and even though rent/bills were paid and agreements/promises were made yall went back on every single word.We've known him for 2 months. We're not friends.
He was late on EVERY utility bill by 15 days.
I asked the landlord if they'd let me sublet, they said no. I told him this. I told him to get on the lease before he moved in because I wasn't comfy with him moving in before being on it. Prince told me that he had submitted his app prior to moving in, and even borrowed 50$ to do so. After he moved in, I asked how the app was going. He told me he didn't submit it yet because he was worried it'd affect his credit score......So he lied to me.
P: This isn't hearsay I have proof of every payment every agreement and all the work I did plus all the things I had cleaned up after the fact.We paid him $350 to clean and organize 3 common rooms. He never finished the kitchen. He also never did any chores like taking out trash, doing dishes, mopping, sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, sanitizing bathroom etc. He would go through my office in the living room as we slept and claim this was his part of the chores.
P: I do not want to have to take my show pay and go to court and this isn't me threatening, this is the only option I have. What yall did/are doing isn't right.This is the 2nd or 3rd time he has threatened to sue us. We were ignoring the texts up until this point. But, I had it. Since he wanted to threaten me with court, I responded in kind:
Me: Just because you say this isn't a threat doesn't mean it isn't a threat. I will speak with my attorney again if this is truly the route you want to take. We (Partner) were willing to help you despite not being obligated to. But the fact is that we literally don't have $1600 to spare. We aren't rich. If you want to threaten to sue me, then you can speak with my attorney from now on.We are gonna pause here BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE THE IMPORTANT INFO COMES INTO PLAY)
Ya'll.... I get my Attorney through my work. I do not have any friends who are lawyers or attorneys!!!! So where the fuck did he get this idea, do you think??
There is only 1 explanation for him thinking this. Anytime I vented about him or asked opinions/advice with someone about this situation, I WALKED OUTSIDE to have those conversations so he couldn't eavesdrop. Not just outside the house too, I'd walk down the street in the neighborhood and talk. I only spoke about potential legal issues with 1 person, my actual attorney. After I explained what was happening to her, she responded with something along the lines of:
"Honey, you are not this man's mother. You did not adopt him. You are NOT responsible for him. Do not let him move in with you when you move out. Do not loan him any money. You are not legally obligated to him. Verbal and text agreements do not hold up in personal civil court. That is only a thing in commercial transaction cases with companies or things like that."
She spent about 5 minutes reassuring me and joking around about how wrong Prince is which ended up making me laugh. From the outside, it could've looked like I was having a convo with a friend because she was so casual.
Considering this is the only time I talked, he must have FOLLOWED ME around the neighborhood to listen to my conversation with her. So not only has he been touching my shit while I sleep, but also fucking stalking me.
We continue.
P: I'm being displaced because of a broken agreement if it was me renting from the landlord they'd be responsible for where I end please till I got on my feet. I rented from yall though. I trusted you both. Also if your attorneys a friend of yours isn't that a conflict of interest?The rent thing... he texted me at 12AM on April 1st, asking if we were still awake because he 'Had money for us'. His utility bills were 15 days late, and rent is due April 1st. I assumed that mean he had rent + the late utility bills ready for us. Apparently he was only talking about the late bills and not utilities he planned to pay rent 2 days late. This is upsetting because we are charged a 100$ late fee if we pay past the 1st. So it became a fight. It was clarified with him that I thought by 'had money for us' that meant Rent and late utility bills..... yet he seems to continue with this narrative that we were 'beating his door down for rent money'... he started the conversation.
P: I'm not threatening anyone, I'm stating if a resolution isn't made per the arrangements yall previously agreed too I will have no other option. Yall don't get that I could be HOMELESS. Because yall pulled this stunt.Obviously, I stopped replying after I sent him my lawyers contact information. I don't think he understood why I sent him my lawyers contact information, but I have already called my attorney's office and left a voicemail with my attorney to call me back to consult me on next steps if any.
By this last text message, I was fuming with rage at the nerve of this manchild. I basically called the non-emergency dispatcher and asked what I can do to get the key back. The cop told me to just make a copy of the key since we do not want to physically come into contact with Prince as I am worried he won't be able to control his temper and try to hurt me. The cop also said that since we had moved out, this matter is now basically up to the leasing office and Prince. Which is fine by me. I don't think we'll get our safety deposit back anyway as they are a scummy leasing office and have suggested that the water damage causing the floor to cave in is our fault. (It's not but thats a whole other story).
Aftermath and Epilogue:
I know that some of you are going to be really at my Partner for giving in. . I want to say that he gave into Prince without my knowledge and only later did I learn about certain things he said he'd help Prince with. I made it very clear that we should not be helping Prince, Prince is not our responsibility, and that I do not want my money, or our joint funds to go towards Prince as we will not see it back. I do not think at this point that my Partner will be helping Prince with any deposits. Prince demanding 1600 and then threatening to sue us if we didn't give it to him, I think, was the straw that broke the camels back for my Partner.
Partner and I will be going to couples therapy tonight, and we will be talking about his people pleasing behavior. We both realize that initially people pleasing is what lead to us getting into this AWFUL situation with Prince. We should have said no after the first few flags started. We didn't and we recognize that we need to change that to protect ourselves. If it's worth anything, I sent my first post to him and asked him to read the comments. He knows he fucked up there. But he's working on it.
I feel really proud of myself for standing up for myself and putting my foot down. I think that refusing to engage with Prince has really helped me with my confidence and I feel even more certain that I was never in the wrong in this situation. I could've certainly handled some things better, but ultimately, I know now that it isn't my responsibility to look after this dude. I didn't put him in this situation, he put himself here.
As for our new home? It's fucking amazing. I love it. I have a large office/guest bedroom. Big kitchen, big living room. There is a fenced in back yard that my dog can play in. The upstairs neighbors are quiet. In fact, we think they have a cat because we hear zoomies in the morning- and it is delight to listen to. We both feel mentally and physically have relaxed. I'm not too worried about the threats of suing us. My attorney says Prince has no actual legal legs to stand on, and even if he did.... he wouldn't have the money to actually even retain a lawyer. Most fees to even retain a lawyer are $250 up front or more.
I sincerely hope that I will not have to update again. If I need to update (such as he actually tries to sue us), I will update on my profile since this thread only allows for one update. Thank you again for all the encouragement and help. Ya'll rock.
TLDR:
We moved out with some more passive aggressive incidents. Prince continued to turn down cheaper rooming options and refused to get extra part time work despite having options. Prince panicked and then freaked out after we moved out. He's now changed his story and accusing us of breaking 'contract' with him as his 'landlords'. We never agreed to anything like that. He's threatening to proceed with court proceedings. Partner, much to my anger, gave in on a few things. Instead of refuting or responding or even playing his childish games, I sent him my attorneys contact information for his attorney to have if he decided to play court jester. In the same texts, he confirmed that he had been following me when I left the house to listen to my conversations with people. Because of his little stunt and insulting me to Partner, Partner has thankfully backed out on the things he gave in on.
We are now living in our new place and we LOVE IT.
edit:
If he does continue with harassment, as he has. I will look into filing a restraining order. I've also set up cameras at our new house with a ring camera. If he somehow managed to get our new address and shows up, I have pepper spray and footage.
He just said he was going to file small claims court today for $150, instead of using that money to get himself a place to live. I suppose I need to contact my lawyer now... great.
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First post: https://www.reddit.com/relationship_advice/comments/1c4x64q/my_f29_nightmare_roommate_from_hell_m23_wants_to/
Most recent update is on my profile. It's gotten worse. :(