Quote:
Originally Posted by nightfighter
A lot of good comments here, but this one really hits on the way things used to be done... When I first went out on my own I was able to team up with a gruff, ex-biker, Viet Nam vet who a lot of people did not care for in the trades and especially those who had worked under him at the construction firm I had been working for. He had the skills and experience. I had the education, contacts, and patience. I ran the business, but he ran the show. I learned SO MUCH from him. I was the paymaster every Friday, but I was his whipping boy for the rest of the week. I had hired the best teacher, even if he lacked some social skills. We lasted just over ten years. Not all relationships are meant to be forever, business or social. But we always overbuilt, had a clean/neat jobsite at the end of the day, every day, and did not ever say "that's good enough". I carry those with me today, on every job. I definitely don't have the largest bank account, or the highest profit margins. But I carry the pride in my work, that has MY NAME on it. I would love to have skilled, caring, neat tradespeople working with me every day, just like they show on This Old House. I just don't know where to find them... And the toll on the body is real.
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Ross...the guy who broke me in as a scrawny 18 year old was 32....had done his basic training at Paris Island and after discharged took advantage of gi bill and went to Wentworth institute of Technology where graduated with honors....i know of other guys who dropped out.... heard its extremely tough.
Neat? this guy had a crewcut....matching pressed tan work pants and shirt with pocket protector. He had to be 6'3...but lean. Always had his lunch box with like 4 sandwhiches and stainless thermos. Had to sit with him at lunchtime and all he would talk about was what we were going to do next....while he was chewing.
When we framed he turned into a maniac....barking out orders....sometimes saying mean things. One time another guy got hired and then nailed the ceiling strapping on the wrong or opposite side of the chalk line. Boss went nuts....knocking it all down with a sledge....swearing like you wouldnt believe. Guy comes running out and tells me "that guys nuts" and left.
It wasnt all bad though... He had a huge newly built fully equipped shop stocked with an inventory of building materials....i liked that I got to run all the big shop tools..once he showed me....thickness planer was my favorite.. we used it a lot....but joiners....shapers etc.
The town where he was the prominent builder was a beautiful seaside down here just off cape that I knew little about but it was definitely upscale from what I came from....and i liked it being a short commute. Became so familiar with towns people and places...i felt like a townie.
I stayed with him and i learned all i could.....which was enough to build a home for myself 4 years later. We parted a few years later in 1980 when I got offers for bigger and better things. I talked to him just recently.....hes 81 now and remembers me.