JFife

This was a sad story I saw on O'Reilly last night. A suburban house wife in either NY/NJ was brutally raped and murdered in here home by a guy that was pwashing her deck. The reason O'Reilly was discussing it was because the man was an illegal alien, and the story hadn't been getting much pub. Besides the fact it is very sad anytime a mother loses her life, much less in a brutal way, I was very disturbed and saddened that it was someone doing what I do for a living. I don't want to trivialize the event by discussing whether or not this would be bad for our biz, but these circumstances just really made it feel like it was hitting close to home.

Oh Celeste, I am so so sorry.

Yes Dan, there are. But just like normal chics in the real world, they don't want to date any Dago guys because they are such emotional basketcases.......if they wanted someone that can go from loving to sad to excited to angry to 'sad crying" to 'happy crying' in a matter of minutes, they'd just become lesbians. :D

Hahahahahaha.....best post so far this December!!!:D

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I find things like that highly addictive. Like, not in a good way. Like, I dropped out of college one semester because I was hooked on a game. Seriously. I see the ads for those games during Southpark all the time, and I literally have to turn the channel...that sort of thing would wreak havoc on my life. I've even become obsessed with playing WordMole on my Blackberry.

Wait JohnT---that is a christmas present for everyone else!! You are supposed to say what YOU want for christmas!!:D J/K man, enjoy your holidays, FIFE

When you have a $1,000,000 salary, I don't think buying a 50K truck at the end of the year is going to help all that much:D

You only want 14K for an '07 Ford? I was looking at a lot the other day, a Ford Lariat diesel was sticker'd at 60K. Crazy. I bought an '06 last year (same truck....lariat, diesel, 4x4, 4door) with 40K miles for 25K when diesel fuel was through the roof. Are you set on getting new?

Nah, I'm cool for a while with the current avatar:D Ya Dan, you come up with some wild, interesting stuff at times, but at least your threads fun and interesting.

That is interesting (major hijack coming). If you think back to '84, look at baseball: guys stealing 120 bases a year, home run leaders hitting 22 home runs per year. Now the numbers are almost reversed. Personally I think balls are harder, and that has caused the game to change.

LOL:lolsign: As I said earlier, greatest thread in the history of this BBS!:D

......I guess the rain must not have been THAT bad this year!!:D

What kind of truck are you getting?

Cool Beth! What all are you guys doing? Got any pics? I love remodeling!

Hahahaha:D I agree Dan, no way to know unless you try. 100 of your signs strategically placed in your town is honestly about the most awesome thing I could ever imagine. Are you two in the same town?

Okay, just read this. But I'm assuming you do believe large comm/industrial, etc. is better. Why? Aside from larger jobs, what other benefits?

Hello NEPS, Is this a correct statement as to your opinion, or is Dan off? I'm curious---not offended in the least bit. Would love to hear move if that is indeed your opinion. I've heard others say that of different trades....always intrigued by it. BTW, what is "Bluebook?"

A very good synopsis by Sir Diamond James. This is what I keep saying to you Dan.....Wall Street numbers don't reflect our ECONOMY. They reflect the stockmarket. If you disagree, then please get Obama to take credit for crashing our market down to 6400. The fact is, it is private industry and they are actually smart. They've hedged global. Things will continue to be sluggish until we get another Stimulus Package. Like, one that actually stimulates. As in, TAX CUTS for businesses. Otherwise, we'll continue downward, and the only stimulation we'll get is that which comes from the French Tickler that Obama and his power-hungry cronies (both sides) are wearing as they ream us.

Since there are some new painter guys on here, I wanted to ask a random question. Can you guys point me to some good info--"biz in a box" type stuff? Not looking to buy a franchise or anything, just looking for start-up info kits, etc. I seem to remember from another board (PainterTalk or something) that the sort of thing was available. Do you guys know of any info packages I should look in to? Thanks,

Who knew that Dan's threads on vehicle logos, percentage improvements, and high quality yard signage was actually his most intelligent material:D Messin' with you Dan----stop trying to change the subject on the other stuff though!! Get back to the other thread---maybe if you actually start paying some taxes some of these other retarded views will change!:D

POSITIVES: Dan, I always enjoy your posts, you know that. You can take more shots to the ballbag than anyone I know without taking one ounce of it personally. Commendable. You do great/thorough analysis. I don't always agree with your perception of your results, but at least you have your head in the game and know your numbers---you know your profitability or lack thereof. Tactically, you have good ideas and concepts. NEGATIVES: Many of your arguments are absurd! I don't care how much "percentage improvement" you've made. That alone does not mean IN ANY WAY that what you are doing is working. What if I went up to Tiger Woods and said, "Hey adulterer, my golf scores have improved by TEN STROKES this year!! How much have YOURS improved??" And then I go on to lecture him about things I'm doing to improve my game by 10%, and then tell him that the only thing that matters is improving my score again next year by a percentage amount, and that will make me successful. You have to look at the big picture. So you sell 60% of your jobs! Great!! How much did you gross, and of that gross, how much profit did you make? And how satisfied were your clients? And is your business sustainable? And are you happy? And do you have a growth plan? Etc, etc. etc. You can't pull one measure out of this "success list" and say that it is the only one from now on that care about. I care LESS if you sell 60%! I could come and crush you! I could sell 100%!! I'd do jobs for $1! Am I successful? Again, I don't care what your margins are either. So what if you make 80% margin if you are only doing 20K worth of work. Just like I'm not impressed by a guy doing 3Mil in work if he is only making 100K for himself. You've gotta see the whole picture. Lastly, if you've got something to say about Fenway Park, I'm all ears. If you can offer any type of proof that a low-class image is the path to riches, I'm all ears. Otherwise, to prove you wrong I'll challenge you to show me one *successful* biz of any kind that does not parlay a professional image. And no, I don't mean some painter guy that does 100K in biz a year. Show me companies over 1m. Or anything coorperate. And for the record, I'm not bashing your image. While I don't think the black rape van is the best thing, the most important thing BY FAR is to do the best with what you've got. If you waxed/buffed the rape van, polished the wheels/tires, put on some PROFESSIONAL looking logos, and kept it clean at all times.....I'd think that was admirable. You don't have to have the best---you just need to make the best of what you've got. For instance, your yard sign.:D I fully expected to read "PressurePros, Inc" and you can imagine my surprise to read the words, "Just Plain Painting":D Holy cow, that made my day. Seriously Dan, if you have some anedotal (or otherwise) proof to support that kind of an image, I'm longing to hear it.

LOL, this IMO is the greatest thread ever!!! :) Like Topcoat, I never cease being amazed/amused with Dan. Dan, I think you decide on an opinion (like the appearance of your van doesn't matter) then work to try and prove that it holds true. The idea that you don't think your van appearance has any impact on your biz is lunacy. It might not be the *biggest* issue, but it IS affecting your sales.

Dan---- But would the pole sanding be good enough if the wall is textured? That is the thing that always bothers me about a flat sanding---if you have texture, it won't abraid/clean into the low spots of the texture. As well, seems it would "roll" the edges on the texture. (Sidebar: my spell check is showing that "abraid" is not a word? I thought it was?) JohnD-----IMO, this is the most important step in painting: If you do prime, MAKE SURE to tint your primer to the same color as your paint!! Otherwise, you'll paint 2-3 coats to cover the white primer. Dan---what do you think about Aura? I can't imagine anything going on to bare drywall and covering in one coat. So IMO, you are still left with two coats.....might as well just prime and do one coat of SuperSpec or something. Thoughts? Lastly (to all painters) have you ever seen a high-end paint that truly imparted a better IMMEDIATE appearance that a lesser paint? For instance, I painted my house last year.....some rooms have SuperSpec, and some have Regal. My parents built a new home last year and painted with SuperCraft. I honestly can't tell much difference in immediate appearance. I thought I could with the Regal....not sure though....so technically, I guess that means I can't tell any difference. Just curious what you guys look at visually to tell the difference between a high-end paint and low-end.

Rick, Readyseal's brightener is nothing short of amazing. No clue how they do it.