Joel Hawley

Derek, if you are taliking about cleaning the brick you might want to try bidding it by the thousand i.e $30 per 1000 brick cleaned. It will save you allot of time on big projects. Just get with the masons who laid the brick and ask them how many brick they got paid for on that particular job. They will know because they bid the laying of the brick by the 1000. They can also tell you who the manufacture of the brick are so you can call for any specific cleaning instructions. just my .02 I just re-read your post, you were not talking about cleaning the brick. My mistake :D

As allot of you know i am moving to Maryland from Tennessee. To make a long story short. Today i called the moving company to confirm theywould be here tomorrow morning. The lady on the phone said " Oh I am sorry sir we do not have a truck available in the morning" My first thought was OK they may be a few hours late. I asked when can you get a truck? she said " in a week to ten days" I immedialtley asked for my money back and my new plan is, I am leaving for Frostburg around 4:00 am in the morning and taking all of my equipment with me. Then flying back Sunday and loading up the good old U-Haul Monday. Do not ever use the services of A company called MOVEX they have left me in a real bind. I have been on contract with them since April 27 and they tell me the afternoon before they can't find a truck:mad: :confused:

My next door neighbor has the same thing and I couldnt touch it. I tried pressure, scrubbing, keeping i saturated for 45 minutes. The only way I could see was to cut the brick out and replace them but they didn't want to do that.

When unloading it and walking it up to my garage I thought about the fact that it has been 11 years since I have had to worry about any serious snow. Then I remembered all of the $$ I used to make back home in Northren Idaho shoveling roofs and clearing driveways and the thought of the cold just sort of melted away.

Thanks for all of the support folks, I appreciate it. Here is a couple of pictures of the going away present the dealership gave me. They bought it new a few years ago and only used it once. When I took it to the Honda dealership to have it serviced because it had been sitting for so long they all laughed because it was the only snow blower they have ever sold here in Nashville. I hope to be able to use it to supplement my income in the winter time.

Folks I can tell you, in Eads TN where Morgan lives you are not going to get top dollar for your service. I could get probably10 to 25% more for the same job in Nashville then Morgan can get in Eads. The folks there are good hard working people who are tight with a dollar and are by no means rich. If you want directions to Eads TN it goes something like " Drive till you get to the end of the earth, Eads is two more miles down the road" Morgan lives in the Country.

Derek, what I paln to do is like Ron said get to know the guy at the lumber yard, also if there is a brick yard in your area I would make a stop there. That is two fold, one they are probably selling the brick you plan on cleaning so they come in contact with all of the contractors+ once you start landing the job you will have a POC to call on the manufatures suggested cleaning on each diffent kind of brick. Also talk with as many of the masonry companies as you can, I know this works from expierience. When I was in the masonry business we were always looking for a dependable company to clean the brick when we were done. Thats how I got started doing new construction years ago the last time I was in this business. Another good source I used was masonry supplie houses, where the guys go and buy there equipment i.e trowes, scaffoling, pointers, masonry saws. They are talking to masons every day. And lastly the way I used to get the majority of my work was to just get in my truck get a pocket full of cards and head to the nearest new sub division being built, go to each house and ask the lead man who was going to clean the brick when they were done. I would usually land a couple of jobs that way.

Paul, how are you doing. I got the letter from you day before yeterday. I haven't had a chance to mess with it much though. As a matter of fact my wife may have packed it up already. I keep telling my daughter not to sit still for to long or her mom might put her in a box and put her in the garage.:D

The moving truck is going to be here on the 31st of this month and we are going to head north on the 1st. The only thing I will have to do when I get there, (besides the unpacking and moving in and all of that) is get my insurance squared away. I am hoping to have better luck with it talking face to face with people instead of over the phone. Having a hard time getting people to call me back. If I can't find a local agent to write me I will go through Joe Walters, Alls I have to do there is pay him.

Thursday was my last day at the Ford Dealership I have worked at for the last 9 years. Here is a pic of me and my boss at a going away party they had for me. Had a great time. On the way home I got to thinking Holly Chit, its all on me now. The only pay check I will be getting is the one I generate. Its all kind of starting to hit home :D

Its not my Birthday but my daughter turned 11 yesterday. Here is a pic of her and her Grandma (my mother in law) We are having a party at the skating rink for her today. Poor kid alls she got is a lap top for her birthday. Nothing like being an only child. My wife is who is A SR Accountant at a DOT COM co got it from her work it is a re-furbished machine, though only a year old.

Thank them both for me also Reed, it is because of men like them that we all have the opportunity to converse the way we do. I bet once they both get home you might even take a day off:D

Jon I promise ya that its not a doctored photo. Jackson TN

I have heard a hundred diffrent answers to this at various sales training classes/seminars and with working with and talking to 100's of very good and not so very good sales people. IMO the one most important never gonna get the sale without it elemnet is......... Ask for the sale!!!!!!!! If you never ask for it you will never get it i\

Here is an example of what we have been dealing with in TN since Sunday night. We have been under flash flood warnings and torando warnings/watches everyday and the first chance of sunshine is supposed to be Monday. I told my wife last night I will be glad to take the snow in MD instead of putting up with this every spring. This picture was in west TN but it is like this all over the state. Some people a have lost evrything to floods others to Tornados.