GLOAT!!

[Robatoy]

[snipperized for brevity]

The Dutch have a saying: "met je neus in de boter vallen." Literally translated: "falling with your nose in the butter."

That doesn't translate very well, but you get the picture, right? Congratulations. Nothing better than a gig that flexes your skill-sets; variety is a spice indeed. You'll learn something new every day. Then, just when you think you've gathered a lot of know-how...SURPRISE!!!

I hope that 30 years down the road, when you are interviewing some wide-eyed kid, you remember this opportunity given to you.

Good luck, bro'.

[Profit From Wood.com]

Prometheus,

Congratulations!

It's always great to see another woodworker join the ranks of full time professional.

Best of luck with the new position, Ed

[Yobosaeyo]

Congratulations on the new job. Best of luck.

[evodawg]

I had a cable contracting constuction company. He was an employee of the Cable Provider. Charter Cable. I went to management and it was told to me there was nothing they could do about it. Believe me this had been boiling for sometime, other problems but this one just pushed me over the edge. I had made plenty of bucks in the business for the last 25 years and was ready to give it up. It was fun for about 15 but the last 10 was misery. Besides in Southern California cable contracting is done by illegal aliens, and you get what you pay for.

Rich

[mac davis]

that's GREAT news!! Hope the job is and stays as advertised and you enjoy it for however long you choose to do it...

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[mac davis]

Let me jump in here on Lou's post and suggest taking a few business courses while you're building your reputation... Very frequently, good craftsman doing good work lose their ass financially because they just aren't business folks... and not everyone is..

My wife works for a large local contractor that needed his business organized and made more profitable... after a few weeks she realized that he was losing money on almost every job he did... (some were gross bids of over 500k)

He basically was the best metal stud and texture guy in the area and bought the company that he worked for when the owner retired... no background in management, no business training.. hell, his wife even had to balance his personal check book for him..

Fortunately, he has enough employees and jobs scheduled that he can afford "middle management" and my wife can pull him out of debt in about 2 years..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[Prometheus]

Thanks for all the congrats, guys. Figured I'd follow up on it, as it's the end of my first day. For once, it turns out the job is just like I hoped it'd be... We were working on expanding a garage on a house that looked like an old Engish Manor (must of had at least 7 bedrooms) and the emphesis was consistantly on doing things correctly- not just wacking them out as quickly as possible. Tools were top-notch, materials were top-notch, and the guy I work for is a nice fella. Asked about the attached shop at home base a little, and it turns out that it's not only possible but likely that there'll be times where my job is building cabinetry and custom furniture for months straight, where the job needs it. Busted out concrete for a good hunk of the day today, but tomorrow it sounds Iike I'm going to be refabricating old custom woodwork in a kitchen at another site. From the way it sounds, this company is sort of the unofficial caretaker of the old lumber barons' mansions in the old money part of town.

Excellent stuff- there's always a bit of disbelief on my part when someone describes a new job to me, but it looks like these guys were right on the level.

(And it pays better than steel work!)

[Prometheus]

Greets all,

I've got the mother of all gloats today-

I was looking to get back into construction, and things were looking ok as far as finding a job went, but I was finding that a whole lot of the guys doing it were (to put it very bluntly) sort of hacks. You know the deal if you've ever seen it- wet pine timbers nailed together in the quickest half-assed manner possible, with clumsily hacked sheets of OSB sorta stapled on the frame, and the whole deal wrapped in Tyvec to hide the shoddy workmanship. Lots of caulk and shims- anyhow, you get the picture.

But, I did find one contractor that looked like he was worth working for- an older fella whose crew specializes in renovation of historical properties, and the job included not just your standard hack and nail framing for the lowest bidder, but historical research, fabrication of historically accurate mouldings and fixtures, nice classic wooden staircases, masonry work, you name it- they do it for a premium, and do it right. It was the only place I saw that had a wood shop- a fully stocked cabinet maker's style shop, no less, and not much of an office (that's a bonus in my book- it means they're working out of the shop, and that's always a good situation for the guys on the ground!)

Having been doing renovations on nights and weekends for myself for a long time, I didn't think I had a chance- most of them are looking for someone who has gotten a paycheck from company XYZ for X number of years. But I figured the worst he could do was tell me no- so what the heck.

But today, I got the call- looks like I'm starting Monday, and I'm even making more money than my crappy steelworking job. Words can't even describe it- looks like all the time I put into my hobby is finally paying off in spades! (80% of my resume was "additional qualifications" related to woodworking)

And, the day job is now going to actually be helping me reach my goal of making furniture for a living someday, instead of putting me at risk of being crippled just to pay the bills... Guess I can join JOAT now in saying that life is basically good! :)

[Prometheus]

Nah, I don't mind- I'm 26. Young enough to still be a framer if I had to, but with 15 years of manual labor under my belt already, I'm starting to feel the faint echoes of what it'd be like in 20 years if I tried to keep doing the bull work as a long-term career. This way (with the finer, more involved work) is actually sustainable, and it makes for a much more satisfying career in the long run. Been doing construction since I was 19, and that's pretty much all I actually like to do- I was only a steel worker because the morgage companies seem to like jobs like that better (read, one constant location and year-round work guaranteed) when they're deciding whether or not you get a home loan. But now I've got my house, and I can return to what I like!

FWIW, I know a lot of retired engineers and computer programmers seem to enjoy plumbing (for whatever reason, that seems to be the big one) as well. It's not as rare as you may think for a guy to go into the buidling trades a little later in life, and they often do better work. It's especially worthwhile if you're retired- then you can really take the time to pick and choose who you work for, or just do cash work for homeowners by putting a little ad in the paper.

[larry's lair]

[Prometheus]

Always make my weekly sacrifice each weekend. Wouldn't want to offend the big guys!

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Did you start the new job? Details?

[Unquestionably Confused]

You missed it. He responded last night. After the second day, he's probably too high to answer you now. Looks like he found that "perfect slot"

[Prometheus]

Yep. It's going great- Looks like most my work is going to be high-end trim and cabinet fabrication, though the last three days have been slightly heavier framing because the other guy that does the detail work has been having back problems. Of course, I'm finding that it's *all* detail work there- learned quite a bit already that I had never even considered when working for myself, like pouring foundation footings, crowning studs to get a perfectly flat wall, and a bunch of other neat little tricks. It's like working at home, only I get paid for it. Co-workers and the boss are all nice guys, too. Never had a job where I even considered hanging around off the clock before, but I do at this one- good stuff!

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Great. When you like your job, life is basically good. JOAT know his stuff.