Help comes and goes

[ddawg16]

Yes I did....man, you have a lot of stuff in there....

You need to make sure you post some pics of the storage drawers your going to install under your table....

You should should also post a couple of pics of the work 'area' you have set up....it redifines the concept of the work triangle....

But the hardest part is not telling the rest of the guys what I really 'know'......

 

[onewaydave]

Well, I'll chime in.

I live rural and the majority of my "home" work is alone. Much of my career has been teaching students OJT. I like to work alone to kinda decompress. Necessity IS the mother of invention.

My family has gravitated to a method. If something needs done and you're around, you chip in and help get it done. So when family (spread around the country) do get to gether it's group work. The only rule that I abide by is that whoever's project it is is the foreman and I do it his way, even if I disagree. I expect the same in return.

My brother with 4 boys, nephew with 2 daughters, me and my sister and BIL can make up a daunting crew. Gofer's that know their way around a job site and tools, muscle that can lift and tote and a strong and close family are things I will forever be grateful.

I still prefer to work alone.

Dave.

 

[Aberdale]

I work alone 90% of the time. The other 10% my wife helps out, and she is a quite good help. (She changes her own oil and maintains her own motorcycle. She's also quite adept with "stick tools" - shovels, rakes etc., and can operate equipment.)

I get involved in some pretty big projects, and the biggest PITA is lifting/positioning heavy things. I've made an investment in equipment to save my back and reduce the chance of hospital/medical bills. I have a 9000 lb. 2 post lift, a 3 ton gantry crane, a tractor with a front loader, a used backhoe, and a skid steer with bucket, pallet forks, and boom. I also have a dump truck and 10 ton trailer to haul stuff around. No, I'm not in the construction business, although I probably could be.

Of all this equipment, the skid steer has saved my bacon more than any other. It's maneuverable, can lift 3000 lbs, and will reach 12 ft with pallet forks, or 16 ft with the boom. Given the choice, I would rather work alone with the skid steer than have half a dozen inexperienced "helpers". It's safer, faster, and a lot less frustrating.

If there's any work I am uncomfortable doing myself, I hire it done rather than depend on friends/relatives. I would not want a friend/relative get hurt on one of my projects, nor would I want them to run the other way every time they see me coming to help out on another project.

Dale

 

[rburke65]

Ah.....how did I miss the pictures? I don't see any pictures!

 

[jdub63]

I typically work alone and don't mind it. But there are a few "unskilled" jobs I would like to get some help with, mainly, moving dirt around the yard, setting up some flower beds, moving sprinkler head, etc. Does anyone have experience with the "drive by" employment office? I'm not sure what the going rate is...but I would be willing to pay $100 a day. That seems like a good cash payment for a days work in the DFW area. Is it?

 

[OccupantRJ]

Ah.....how did I miss the pictures? I don't see any pictures!

No pictures yet. I'll post some eventually. You didn't miss any. ddawg16 came to my house here in NC this weekend, and I gave him "tours" of my shop and a couple more special places, but I swore him to secrecy on one of them. It's killing him, too. lol

 

[OccupantRJ]

I typically work alone and don't mind it. But there are a few "unskilled" jobs I would like to get some help with, mainly, moving dirt around the yard, setting up some flower beds, moving sprinkler head, etc. Does anyone have experience with the "drive by" employment office? I'm not sure what the going rate is...but I would be willing to pay $100 a day. That seems like a good cash payment for a days work in the DFW area. Is it?

Here in NC, I've been paying $9 an hour cash for general help, painting, yard, and cleanup work, and $12 for someone who can drive a nail and use a saw and has some judgement and handyman skills. I use only people I know and trust around my house, usually a fellow employee trying to make ends meet. Also, since they have to drive 45 minutes to an hour to get to my jobs, I pay them a trip fee to help with gas and drive time, and also buy them lunch.

 

[rburke65]

Thanks......I thought I was loosing it!

 

[BigE]

I work alone a lot. In most cases, I prefer to work alone. I'd like to have someone there to chat with, but usually the work suffers. When I work alone, I know EVERYTHING that was done and how it was done - my way. But when you have a project that requires heavy lifting or a process is just too cumbersome to do by yourself, it sure is nice to have help. Just last weekend, I was replacing fascia boards on my house that were 16' long. The previous weekend, I had replaced a few on my own. It was a royal PITA to do myself and I ended up wasting a board, because I couldn't line up both ends at once and cut it too short. Called a buddy/former neighbor and we knocked out several of them in short order. Honestly, I had helped him countless times over the 15 years we've known each other, but I always felt he wasn't that good a friend until I needed help. He dropped everything and came running. I certainly re-evaluated our friendship at that point. I became even more grateful when I started thinking of people I could call. He's probably the only friend I've got who has enough mechanical sense and dexterity to be of help. Of course, he let me know how good a friend he was to come running like that, but I couldn't argue with him. That being said, I think my father is the only person I can work with and not look after everything he does. If he says it's done, it's done and I move on to the next thing. However, he is getting up in age so the fascia boards really weren't something I wanted to call him for. Auto work is another story.

 

[61scout80]

I have the opposite situation. I have about 5 people who consistently ask when i'll be working, and if they can help. I really appreciate it, but often turn them down for a few reasons.
First, it's my hobby. Sometimes I'm really into it and will be in the garage for 18-20 hours. I don't want them to feel compelled to stay. There are other days, like this weekend, that I just don't want to work on anything. Unfortunately I felt kinda rude when I had arranged for someone to come over, then didn't want to work. I gave it a try, things weren't going right so I called it a day only 2 hours after he had arrived. I also dislike when something doesn't go right with someone around. I get antsy, cranky and irritable. If I'm alone I can easy call it a day and research my problem, but what do I do when someone is volunteering their time to help me? I end up feeling like **** for wasting their day and having a poor attitude.
I have a friend that lives on the next street over, we both feel the same way about working alone. If one of us gets in a jam we will send a text asking if the other is around. Usually we are, and are happy to assist when extra hands are needed. My wife also helps out when I get stuck.

I keep thinking I should just have a "wrench party" and let my generous friends stop by, but I just don't. I guess I just prefer to be alone.

 

[OccupantRJ]

This has turned out to be an interesting thread I've started. It's interesting to see how many of us garage/workshop guys prefer to work alone, unless it's something that really punishes us in trying to perform. Another question I'll ask, is how many of you don't really care for sports in general? Myself, I could give a rat's *** who's playing who, or for that matter what game they're playing. Most of my garage friends feel the same way. I think it's a case of why watch someone else doing something, when we have things interesting to do ourselves. Motorsports are about the only thing of that nature I might watch when I'm bored, which is not often. Anyone?

 

[Art From De Leon]

This has turned out to be an interesting thread I've started. It's interesting to see how many of us garage/workshop guys prefer to work alone, unless it's something that really punishes us in trying to perform. Another question I'll ask, is how many of you don't really care for sports in general? Myself, I could give a rat's *** who's playing who, or for that matter what game they're playing. Most of my garage friends feel the same way. I think it's a case of why watch someone else doing something, when we have things interesting to do ourselves. Motorsports are about the only thing of that nature I might watch when I'm bored, which is not often. Anyone?

The only sport that I even halfway care about is baseball. At least the majority of the players are intelligent enough to carry on a conversation.

The most idiotic sport ever devised has to be football, yet these semi-literate, bred for purpose buffoons are held up as role models and heroes, when most of the players or coaches can NOT utter more than two single syllable words without a 'Duh' or 'you know' thrown in, or a few 'errrrrs', if they are exceptionally 'intelligent', and have a double digit IQ.

Down here, win or lose, the Cocaine Cowboys are front page 'news', EXCEPT for the fact that their criminal acts, or how the ******* jones keeps them out of jail is NEVER mentioned. It would be muy interesting to learn how much the ******* jones spends on drugs each year to keep his team up and running. The typical football 'fan' must have a very small pee-pee, and lead a very pathetic life, to even consider 'worshipping' these buffoons, much less watching the criminals in tight pants play grab *** with each other. All the pre-game 'tough talk' and puffed up chests is NO different from the put on show of 'professional' wrestling, and it would NOT surprise me in the least that the IQ, and social status of the typical fan of either are very, very similar.

I would love to see the entire Dallas Drug Monkey organization, from the ******* jones down to the lowliest janitor, investigated under the RICO statutes, and the display of the Cowboys logo treated as if it were a gang symbol.

 

[61scout80]

i like hockey. can't stand baseball or basketball and only watch football because i'm in a fantasy league at work...

The sports part would have made a decent separate thread

 

[onewaydave]

Ah.....how did I miss the pictures? I don't see any pictures!

They are pictures of all the help we get.

Dave.

 

[STClurker]

The only sport that I even halfway care about is baseball. At least the majority of the players are intelligent enough to carry on a conversation.

The most idiotic sport ever devised has to be football, yet these semi-literate, bred for purpose buffoons are held up as role models and heroes, when most of the players or coaches can NOT utter more than two single syllable words without a 'Duh' or 'you know' thrown in, or a few 'errrrrs', if they are exceptionally 'intelligent', and have a double digit IQ.

I would love to see the entire Dallas Drug Monkey organization, from the ******* jones down to the lowliest janitor, investigated under the RICO statutes, and the display of the Cowboys logo treated as if it were a gang symbol.