NO!!!!
Sorry gang…..gotta vent.
My brother, a painter with his own business, called me three weeks back….asked me if I`d be interested in “picking up a couple peices of furniture” for a client of his that didn`t get delivered with the original shipment. Says the HO is willing to pay $150. I ask him for the details…….that was my first mistake…I shoulda said no right off the bat…..I`m not a delivery service, nor a moving company….no, thank you, I just don`t have the time. But I didn`t….he`s my brother, trying to make a client happy, if its cut and dry I`ll make $75 on my lunch hour helping out my little bro. $75 was not the reason….were somebody to offer me $75 to pick up and drop off I`d say no thanks and be done with it. So long as that someone wasn`t family. He agreed to get the details.
Fast forward to this past Saturday afternoon….I`m on the ballfeild coaching my daughters Little League game…phone rings….its my bro…..”is today good to pick up that furniture?”…..um, no, I`m on the feild ,yada, yada…..did you get the details?, I ask. “Not really….I`m going to see her now….how about Monday?” I tell him to find out whats involved….how many peices? What size? Where is this place? etc. If its not too involved, I`ll make myself available to him on Monday.
Didn`t hear from him until late Monday afternoon….”I`m standing here with a very distraught homeowner….can we pick up the furniture tomorrow?” Here comes mistake number two….”yeah, sure….tomorrow at noon”. I told him to meet me at my house to help empty the truck bed and remove the cap.
He shows up 12:00 sharp…still doesn`t have details….he thinks its a sofa and chair….we gotta stop off to get directions from homeowner. Now, I`m livid! I tear into him about never having given my final OK….this better not screw my day….yada yada!
He`s very good at deflecting my anger. (for a while)
To make an already far too long a story short….we spent over two hours driving around the Bronx looking for this furniture wharehouse….we never found it…not even with the dimwits driving directions and three phone calls.
I brought this sh!t upon myself….I`m not looking for sympathy…I don`t deserve it…..merely a freindly reminder….”just say no”!
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
“DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE”
Replies
vent away.
better then a heart-attack, or a dead brother.
I honestly doubt I`ll ever suffer a heart attack....those are for people who keep things bottled up. Me? I explode...erupt over the most minor inconveniences....extremely short fuse...but after I`m done....good to go....never come home in a "bad mood" from a rough day.....there are no rough days......only volitile moments...just don`t be standing nearby when the extension cord gets hooked on the foot of the step ladder.LOLJ. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
oh yeah nothing like ext.cord hooked on the ladder!!!i used to have a drill the cord was the perfect length for the ladder to sit on-always just a couple inches short from where i needed to reach. one day i blew up i grab a pair of wire cutters that was laying on top of the ladder and cut that cord off,plugged in still, sparks flying,i'm cussing but man it felt goooood. never hooked that drill on a ladder again. larry
I got "caught" yesterday.
I let some #%^&$ take control and try to get me in to trouble.
I live on a small (100+ acre) lake. Yesterday I drove across the dam and saw a boat with the engine cover up. Went across the other end and looked back and saw that the cover was still up.
So I turned around and asked if he needed a tow. He said yes and I did not seee another boats out. So I sezs that I will get my boat, take about 5 minutes.
So I did and on the way I grab an old ski rope and it read to use it as a tow rope.
By the time I get there the wind has blown him up against the dam and into a corner at the far end of the dam.
Normally when I do this I have someone with me so I can control the boat and have them handle the rope. But this time I was along.
He was in the water holding the boat and hands me a rope. It was about 6 ft long. tried to get it hooked up and at the same time control the boat and fight the wind.
I got blown into the dan and prop hit rocks, but don't appear to be any damage.
And I could not get him to get into the boat. I want to GO as soon as I was connected.
So I pushed of the dam, get it in reverse, and worked my way back out and circled back.
Then I took control and said that I was using MY rope and threw him about a 40ft line. And after he got hooked up and I could work back and forth and keep clear.
THEN I tied off and pulled him out.
a real friend is a friend who will help you move... a body.
m
Or show up at 3 in the morning with a shovel and not ask why...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... WOW!!! What a Ride!
"a real friend is a friend who will help you move..."
Mitch,
And it's amazing how much bigger your circle of friends gets when you own a pick-up truck and they don't......or a pressure washer,.....or a table saw,.......or a.........
Jon
having owned a truck of one sort or another my entire adult life i can say, "that' no ####!"
which reminds me of a funny story- right after college i was living with my parents and my younger sister (who also lived at home) borrowed my gmc 3/4t 4x4 to help a friend move on a weekend. as it was getting later in the evening, she had a worried look on her face and her friend asked her what's wrong? the little smarta$$ says, "i'm not sure this truck knows how to get home on a saturday nite- it almost never makes it when my brother drives it."
m
Edited 6/10/2004 10:23 am ET by mitch
"And it's amazing how much bigger your circle of friends gets when you own a pick-up truck and they don't......
Not around here. Most all us rednecks have our own pickup trucks.
(-:If peanut butter cookies are made from peanut butter, then what are Girl Scout cookies made from?
Boss,
Unfortunately where I live, and who (my wife's) circle of friends are.....overextended DINK's, yuppies, and families "struggling".
BTW, PU's here, out number cars, so why do people always call me?
Jon
word travels fast when there's a mark on the property?... ;-)
m
I often respond to one neighbor that he is more than welcome to borrow a certain tool as soon as its returned by another neighbor....after a breif rant about how annoying it is that folks don`t return tools, the neighbors usually stop asking. (So far)J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
Rule numero uno.....if yer asking for MY expert assistance, we`ll be doing things MY way! Why do folks have such trouble accepting that?....sheesh...I could start an entirely seperate thread on that.J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
Its a good thing that you didnt pick up the furniture. All it would take is the HO saying you scratched it or damaged it in some way even if it was previously damaged or scratched. look at this like as blessing in disguise.
It could of saved you from some real heart ache later.
Darkworksite4:
El americano pasado hacia fuera ase la bandera
That was one of my concerns from the get go, which is why I wasn`t too keen on the idea. But you know how it is with family.J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
Jaybird,
1)now ya see what happens when ya let someone make THEIR problem become YOUR problem.
2) Why didn't the customer simply have the furniture store make the delivery?---and again---how is that YOUR problem. LOL
3) Tell your brother that HE is a douchebag---and that he owes you BIG. ( also LOL)
Had a talk with my brother the other day regarding the incident....he ended up throwing my own words back in my face. Whenever he`s bitchin` about someone screwing something up, I tell him its his own fault.....I always tell him to "assume everybodies an azzhole, and you`ll never be dissapointed"*. He pointed I out I should have assumed the same of him......we had a good laugh.....but he knows never to ask for such again!
*(I usually do this with everybody....the deli guy I see every morning thinks I`m crazy for explaining exactly how I like my coffee each and every day....sometimes twice a day.....but ya know what? I always get my coffee the way I like it!) J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
Remember, "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished"
Like most of us, I have a pick up, tools, a small amount of know how, and plenty of people more than willing to take advantage of it. Several years ago a neighbor borrowed my chainsaw and brought it back with $200 of unrepaired damage and no offer to fix it.
Since then, in most cases, I tell the would be borrower. "There are 2 things I don't loan out, my wife and what ever it is they want to borrow".
44217.15 in reply to 44217.1
Remember, "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished"
Like most of us, I have a pick up, tools, a small amount of know how, and plenty of people more than willing to take advantage of it.
Russ,
I have a friend (actually husband of the wife's former co-worker). Real nice guy, but...Last year he borrowed my pressure washer 3 times during the summer !!! also, my PC 7 1/4" saw, my 3" power planer, my 9" MKE disk sander all for like a month or two. The last time he borrowed the PW, I topped the it up with gas and it was returned BONE DRY. Think he borrowed my PU at least once too.
His wife had me pick up lawn furniture once for him once on the way to a BBQ as their house also (on the way, but still took 45 minutes extra and they live 10 minutes away.). Geez, how do ya' tell 'um, enough already. Alway's offers to lend a hand if I need one, but I don't.
Like I said, nice guy, but ...I don't know the word.
Jon
"I don't know the word."
It's NO. Sorry buddy, I'd love to help you out, but I'm using _(insert_tool_here)_ pretty regularly over the next couple of months and I can't lend it out. Why don't you try Timp Rental (Ace Rents, Home Depot, whoever rents in your area) and see if they have one?
NEVER loan out your chainsaw to ANYone.
They'll use it to cut a log that's been on the ground for a year, either cutting through it into the ground or rolling the log and cutting through the dirt still on it.
Yep, or use crank case oil for bar oil, or let the bar oil run out, or mix motor oil with gas for fuel, or won't shake up the gas before filling up, or stick the bar in a back cut, or let the airfilter clog and mess with the mixture setting to get it to run,....
BDDT (Been there done that)
Man you got that right -I would like to add a couple of more. Router bits , Sharp chisels, planers, acually anything with a sharp blade that you acually will use again, I say charge them rental equal to the price of a new blade etc. Soon one of two things will happen, they stop asking or they start buying their own. Either way I dont own these tools for fun they are my fanilies livelehood. hard? yes I would agree but I have invested heavily in these tools and well what can i say. mike
I have been loaning my tools to other crews lately and charging a rental fee to the project. I charge 1/2 of what the rental places charge and I feel like I am getting enough for their replacement as necessary but I will say that these guys have no mercy on tools.When I use someones tools I try to be as careful as possible and clean them up to better looking than before.But these guys will crush the cords let them lay on the floor while they're doing demolition and just let things crash down on them.It is like they never took care of something yet they have decent tools and new trucks that they keep up nicely.What is it with people that they actually lose respect when its not theirs?I MAY DISAGREE WITH WHAT YOUR SAYING BUT I WILL DEFEND TO THE DEATH YOUR RIGHT TO SAY IT.
Remodeler/Punchout
a close friend of mine builds very expensive custom guns (base price in the low 5 figures) for a living, but since some think of gunmaking as an enjoyable hobby, he is occasionally asked by a prospective client to 'just work on it in your spare time'. his standard response is to explain to these boobs that in his 'spare time' he is enjoying his family, doing household chores, hunting and fishing, like everybody else with a real job and life, therefore, any work performed during his 'spare time' is charged at triple rate. that puts an end to the bs pretty quickly.
m
My sentiments exactly.Who Dares Wins.
I haven't exactly done that, but time and time again one of the subs, and these are top people, tells me, "I forgot, another crew member on another job, left mine at the shop, etc" , but for one reason or the other don't have a tool, which is holding up the job, so I loan them one of mine. What inevitably happens?
I'm 25 miles from nowhere, must finish a small hangnail to get paid, have the owner standing around after I told them I could fix it in a second, on and on and on, then find the tool is broken, parts are missing, they forgot to give it back, etc, etc. If I wasn't so big, I'd cry.
I use mainly the same group of subs and I've gone to the $300/hr deduct for my time strategy. This is also a very effective method to keep the job site cleaned up, another of my pet peeves.
Believe me it only take once.Never serious, but always right.
I'll second that. I lent my saw out once and found the guy putting used motor oil in it for chain lube. Even though I gave him the Stihl oil to use
Da Bronx?
Ya shoulda hung out around Hunts Point and watched the hookers......its truley a gas to observe.
And no.....I never indulged......I just watched.
The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
"Ya shoulda hung out around Hunts Point and watched the hookers......its truley a gas to observe"
Andy,
Do they still NOT wear clothes in warm weather? I remember one defecating like a dog in the gutter once in the 80's, prior to turning a trick. Hard to believe the powers that be allowed that stuff.
I haven't been there since ~late 80's, but man, talk about a $hit hole.
Jon
Used to cruise Hunts Point back in HS.....to observe only of course.J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
And what did you learn while observing?
A buddy sez "If they're clean & their hair is combed they're cops."
Joe H
44217.34 in reply to 44217.19
Used to cruise Hunts Point back in HS.....to observe only of course."
Jay,
If ya referrin' to me there, and I think you are, best buddies dad at the time owned a two block large machine shop,(70+ employees) there, and was also the President of The Hunts Point Chamber of Commerce, so we used the facility to build our race cars. His dad figured it a good way too keep us out of trouble, and an eye on us at the same time.
Used to go down there daily after HS classes for years. And back then that area was an eye opener, considering I grew up in Scarsdale. Pretty much the powers that be gave up on it, and decided containment was the way to go.
Jon
If ya referrin' to me there....
No, I honestly wasn`t....we`d cruise around down there on a Saturday night for goofs. Aint been there in years....you`ve got me wonderin` if anythings changed.J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
"cruise around down there on a Saturday night for goofs"
Jay,
Was the White Castle on Bruckner Bvld just prior to the BRP a manditory stop? Was for us a 3:00am. 5 or 6 guys, yes we'd like 80 burgers to go please.
Jon
LOL! Belly Bombs were our excuse to make the trip.
Thinking back its really amazing we survived half those "missions".J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
Yea I dont even pick up my own stuff I buy when it comes to furniture and appliances. it seems everyone is busy when I need the help. but its ok cuz I cant imagine buying 3K in furniture and sctratching it getting it through the door. This way if julio and juan scratch it the store has to replace it.
Darkworksite4:
El americano pasado hacia fuera ase la bandera
At first people think I'm a real azzhole for not doing that kind of stuff. But then when I explain what an azzhole they are for trying to drag me into their drama and not even considering my time, they understand.
I know you didn't bring it up but I hae a rule for side jobs for buddies. $75.00 dollars an hour. Reaon being that's what electrical contractors around here charge for after hours and weekend work and I wouldn't want to cut anyones throat. I also go on to explain that an established contractor is better then me because you can sue them if your not happy, me your screwed. Besides I get all the money I need at me reguler sixty to eighty hour a week job. If I do something on the side it's gonna make me very happy when I collect the money.
Who Dares Wins.
OK jay..... just say "NO"