tracing a sewage line

I have a small business, large companies get GREEDY, my competitor GBC raised its labor rate to 300 bucks for the first hour. I charge 100 bucks a hour.

Of course they used to have 3 service techs for the pittsburgh area, now ONE TECH for the entire state of pennsylvania.. thats a big area.

A new machine sells for 1500 bucks so a 500 buck repair is far too much...

if anyone here wants to get into servicing roll laminators let me know bob

i will check with some contacts and see if laminator repair is needed in your area, most likely it is.

the only problem with laminating machines. you get a call and do whatever to get it running. so now it runs but customer wants estimate, so you heat it up.

and give estimate but its around 300 degrees and you cant work on it, too hot.

so extra trip:( plus when schools reopen in fall everyone calls at one time.9 years ago 7 calls in 3 days. impossible.

most of my customers are under maintence because of these issues. they pay 250 bucks to 350 bucks each per year and i fix whatever breaks. plus do a preventive maintence call once a year, clean machines run far better:)

its nice being my own boss. as long as i keep up with calls i can screw off occasionally

When you're your own boss, you often have no backup unless you have good friends you work with who won't stab you in the back. When things go wrong there is only one person to blame but the absolute freedom makes is worth it most of the time. I may actually get some sleep tonight and be able to make some money tomorrow. :-)

TDD

I don't mind paying for hard work. I've hired a lot of born in the USA types to help. But I'm not going to spend a huge amount of money so some roofing company owner can drive around in a new truck. I have no objection to you doing that. In fact I encourage you to since you feel so strongly about it. As for myself, I would have done the job myself, but for them. The born in the USA helper I had wore out.

The boys walked in this morning because their truck broke down, but they knew I needed them. It sure isn't an easy life they are leading and I must say I've never been so impressed with a such a ragged looking bunch of characters before. There is a lot of integrity there, and they flat out know their business.

They aren't taking jobs from anybody. In the state I live in, there are a butt load of s*it jobs, like poultry processing, that simply wouldn't get done except for them.

I'm not buying your cup of tea.

Jeff

I'll do it.

And I'll try the dousing (sp?) bit too. Both fit right in my budget!

Jeff

Agreed, and I admire people who can successfully run a back-pocket company. There is one downside, however. Ya gotta deal with the public. I have no problem with clueless people (and everyone is clueless on at least some things), as long as they know they are clueless. But people who THINK they know and don't, and get pissy with you, not so much. That, and I have a genetic predisposition to being a soft touch- it runs in my family. I would have trouble consistently charging prices high enough to meet expenses, much less get ahead.

Rock salt is a viable solution if and only if the line is basically sound, but has joints the roots get into. Most commonly, the short sections of clay tile or cast iron, where they didn't pack the joints properly. But if frost heave or ground slump has actually caused a joint to open and the ends no longer line up, or if you have that orangeberg crap, or thin plastic, that has collapsed into a narrow oval, or has numerous cracks, physical replacement with modern thick-wall plastic and only a few joints, is the best cure. If you have a middle-age or older house and don't have the as-built records, only way to know for sure what is going on, is to have somebody open the cleanout and run a camera down it.

I'll throw in that if you ever plan on selling the house, 'fresh sewer line all the way to street line or septic tank', is a real big selling feature to any buyer that has ever had to deal with a main-line failure.

well I did the camera thing and hhave a videotape of the roots.theres a slight dip in the line but it appears no problem

But really lets say you know you have a tree root problem most likely you have had the line snaked and roots cut in the past. Or even if this is your VERY FIRST PROBLEM.

rock sallt might fix it, and in any case its not hazardous, and can do no harm..

so whats the downside of trying salt?

in my case 8 to 10 grand is average house to street replacement cost, more for under garage basement floor. plus restoration. my dip in the line prevents use of interior line coating that sock thing.

Dowsing is fun to play with. You don't need the tubes, cans, whatever, Bend the rod in an "L", balance them on you little finger and make a loose tube with the rest of the fingers. Hold them with long leg horizontal and walk slowly. If they work for you, they will cross when you cross a wire or pipe. For some people they swing "out", for me they swing "in". I can stand over a pipe, sway back and forth and the rods cross and uncross as it do it.

Harry K

I bend over backwards to help people out but when they expect me to place my lips on their hindquarters, create a vacuum and pull away smartly, I suddenly develop a backbone. When my health was better and I could work around the clock, I would fire at least two customers a year. I would demonstrate my skill as a magician, all they had to do was say the magic words "I'm not gonna pay...." and POOF! I would vanish and they would never see me again. I especially get irritated when someone tells me what it takes to do a job and how much they're going to pay me for it. POOF! :-)

TDD

I think you mean index finger, let me know if not.

I'm ready to try it, but I've been running around getting stuff for the roof. It looks fabulous!

I got to drive their truck down to pick up 5 more square and although I've had many driving experiences, this was a new one. Just turn the key, touch the wires together and it starts right up. No third gear and

I find this all great fun and superbly entertaining. You can't buy this! I'm getting absolutely top notch work, and doing a good deed to boot. You know how that works out.

Jeff

No. The end of the short leg of the "L" rests on your little finger. The other 3 fingers and thumb form the "tube". You _can_ use jars, cans or whatever but it isn't needed. Just hold the rods _loosely_.

Harry K

OK.

Jeff

Jeff, et al. I will video myself dowsing and post it to youtube. Might not be tomorrow, as it is windy, and I have to go out of town, but will be one day real soon. It's something very easy to show, but kinda difficult to describe.

I will make some little pvc holders and see if that works. I've always used bare hands, and don't know if having anything but flesh on the wires affects it or not. Will see.

Steve

Thanks, that's very nice.

Might not

It'll be days before I can do anything. On today's list is changing the lifters in my girlfriends Mustang, trimming in the front door, and getting the rest of the roof finished. Then there is more house painting. At least I am almost done working (web developer) on this:

It's something very easy to show, but kinda difficult to

I guess we will. I like "the direct" approach.

Jeff

"Jeff Thies" wrote

It's the principle of the riding lawn mower. The riding lawnmower was not so we could mow the yard, then go have a beer, take a nap, go fishing, go ________ (fill in the blank.)

The purpose of the riding lawn mower is so we can have a bigger yard.

All our labor saving devices just let us do more work. Which brings us to multitasking - The ability to do more than one thing at once, but none of them very good.

Steve

Heart surgery pending? Read up and prepare. Learn how to care for a friend. Download the book.