Littlefield

These run 5k or so, will get 60mph, and will haul more than a Gator. They also are built by Honda, Suzuki, etc. so there are many more miles laft onthe motors. One of the Suzukis I looked at has 4 low, locking differentials, and locking transaxles, giving a real 4 wheel drive, not just two opposing wheels as most vehicles have now.

www.best-used-tractors.com/mini_truck.html Jeff, I thoght of you today when I saw some of these cool little trucks for sale here locally. They have great little flat beds mounted on them, and you can put wide flat golf course tires on them and mount a pW and tank on them. If you have a flatbed trailer, you could haul one from course to course, unload, and drive to each bride/building, etc. I'm just dying to get onte here and figure out a way to use it in my business. Unfortunately, I drive on road everywhere, and we have NO subdivisions where I would need to drive off road or anything... Oh well.

Mike, the pipettes are 3 ml. Go one ml at a time into a five from what Russell told me, and you'll see the difference. As far as making up exact recipes, thats fine, but surely you know to prep the homeowner that the wood will be different everywhere, etc. Really, if you offer more than 1 or 2 choices, you're going to be getting into a lot of time waswting as uncertain customers waffle back and forth over tiny shade variations, only to find it doesn't matter when the job is all done. I would go with just the Warm Honey Gold, (base color) The western red cedar,(red tint) and the other with black tint, call it what you want...;)

Freehang PWing, always fun. You know, if you're far enough down the building, a water hose can push you off??? I would have two or three guys holding my ropes in to the building to be able to PW. Didn't do this often at all, just "emergency" jobs, usually a big wig coming in and theres a really dirty sign or something really obvious. All my work was in ATL, or NO, La.

Swinging in the wind is why I always preferred to clean glass and PW off my bosuns chair....;) "Stages are for wimps!" JK, Jeff. I'have been on a 40' stage and been blown 10' or 15' out from the building, talk about a scare coming back in!!

Jeff, lots of ATV's have little trailers you can haul over golf course grass, or ask the maint. guys what they use. Instead of fighting the wear from the golf carts on the bridges, I would recommend something that can be reapplied very easy by you or the maint guys, that wouln't look bad as multiple coats are done. For my money, I still would recommend Readyseal for this app. The more you apply, the longer it seems to last, and you wouldn't have anyone screwing up a bridge with lap marks. Russell may also have something to throw in about WTW, I don't know how his abrasion test work, or come out, but its the main thing I would consider...

Please don't try this with almost any other stain or a cob blaster;)

Hey, you know what they say about begging and flattery, "it will get you nowhere, but don't stop." I did sign a lot of confidentiality stuff, mostly to prevent people from trying to swing by and see the prgect un announced, I think. I can say this, the name would mean nothing to you, but you could find almost an exact style log home on this website, http://www.loghomescanada.com/gallery.php, look down on the right at "the Blue Ridge". Now picture 6-8 of those together in one project.

Jim, is that bleach you wrote that with, or stain? Hope no rookies try that with bleach, thinking they'll be able to blend it later....;)

http://www.thegrimescene.com/gallery/files/5/0/Celestespics001webresize.jpg This is my wife and son last year on top of Mauna Loa, on the big Island of Hawaii, up the hill several miles from the site of my biggest job ever. It also holds the record for the furthest I've ever travelled for work, 5500+ miles. We blasted, sanded, borated, and stained over 50k feet of wood....Only took us 3 months.

First, estimate the actual sqft. Half of a mile is 2500 + feet long, x the height. Is the height standard all the way down, or does it vary? Then, figure your price per sqft for concrete walls up to 8 ft or so. Figure your price per sqft fro above 8 ft, ie ladder work, pole work, or lift work.

Ask the PM company if they have a standard exemption form their lawyer has put together, or if they would accept that. If not, then tell them no problem, I'll get it right away. I've had big const companies bend over backwards to help me work with them, when they really needed me to....

CD would be great, Carlos. I'll stay posted on if you can get this up on the board. I wonder if Russell would be able to make use of this or something like this thru Wrapi too?

I was there also, my first "roundtable" meeting, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I too was late, I apologize, I tried to squeeze some work in before driving down, duh. I had the dark brown baseball hat on with "Bear Creek Restoration on it. I guess next time we should all meet each other before we break up at the end. Phillip and Cujo, I enjoyed meeting you both, hope we can do it again some time. And thanks Russell, the mad chemist, and Pete for providing the concrete floor to stand on, thanks, Pete, you know you're the greatest!!!

Since its based on payroll, have you considered a less cash, more perks type of compensation plan?

Jeff, is that per month or quarter?

Certifications can be good and bad. I think certifications from product manufacturers can be great because they show a certain competency level. HOWEVER, this has to be made known to the consumer, so that they can see what knowledge is required to gain certification. Some are obvously a joke, just an open book test anyone could pass if they read the website. Others are just to certify that you attended a "class". WHeather you learned anything or not is besides the point, its an "attendance" certificate! I really think they are worthless to me from a training perspective, unless I get some real hands on with a pro from the company. From a marketing perspective, well one of my local competitors advertises certification from three major co"s, only one of which actually has an "attencance" certification program, the other don't even have one. I've been distancing myself from certs for that reason recently.

Or get a gas powered pressure pump that has viton seals and will put out 2-4 gpm of any liquid you want, only thing is you have to have a mixing barrel. This allows you precision chem application and mixing, and lots of power for getting the chems where, and only where you want them. Best part for me, no math....:)

Beth, can we get a copy of these put in the Library? I'd hate for some one to miss these later. Ken, very insightful. Looking forward to chapter 2!

phones, truck, gas for truck only, paper, ink, liability ins, ummmm, no advertising, thats a line item by itself, ummm, I think thats it for now..

Ken, isnt't the x jet downstreaming, too, or are you just referring to a better method of DS? I thought chems introduced after the pump, IE high pressure side = DS and intorduced on the intake side, IE low pressure = Upstreaming..? Am I confused?

I just realized that much of my control comes in with what I don't do. I don't have a shop, though I'd love one. Haven't upgraded my truck, althugh I'd love to, and only buy new stuff now, when I need, not want it. No more justification for why I can have a new toy, its will this pay for itself today....

Easiest place for me to lose money? Labor. Keeping a grip on extra hours spent having someone with me just driving while getting supplies, balanced with not driving out of my way to drop someone off and get them working. Between labor and materials as far as COGS, labor gets me much more than materials. On to overhead...I try to keep office overhead down to 12% or so, checking monthly. Equipment repair and purchases, small ones, less than 5% of gross.

Jon, I respectfully disagree about (monetary) incentives. I think people are self motivated from within, and then only expect to be rewarded for waht they are already motivated to do oon their own. Are we saying the same thing? The reason I bring this up is that I've tried to motivate with money and it just cost me money. On the other hand, I've hired some at very low wages, they stayed motivated, but thru my own stupidity or rigidity, I let them get away instead of not rewarding them properly. Sorry for the thread hijack, Wesley. I would not take on a partner to grow geographically, I think I would franchise out or lease the business, to limit my exposure in the branch that I was not present at.

3-4 movies a week @ 3-4$ =12-16 a week, or 48-60 a month. For that amount, you could get two of the 7 at a time plans, have them keeping you with 14 movies at a time, and pay less than $45 buck a month. Just a thought, I've noticed that many many people seem to hate the idea of having the movies sent to them, and I guess a lot of others love it. Isn't it weird how different people view convenience? I hate going to the video store with a passion, and yet many seem to love it....