smokey51

Hi Charlie, Yea, getting old (got another birthday Friday) and trying to slow down some. I want to sit in one of those chairs in my avatar with a cold one. Staying busy enough right now. Got bored during the winter so I actually went to work for Walgreens as a photo tech. Pay sucks, but boy do I have fun! Shoot me a private msg when you have the time to meet up. March is full but I don't have anything for April yet.

Can't wait to get started. Gave my first estimate last week. Bam! I barely got the price out of my mouth before they said do it. Damn, should have bid higher:). Now, if the weather will just break a little as I have to have it done by the end of the month. But March is usually pretty good here on the coast of NC.

Lucky for me, with Nextel I cannot even stand on my front porch and get a signal. So I have had no choice but to go to a different carrier. I vote for chirp and wait for a response. If I don't answer, I am busy or just don't want to talk to you. Get a life and use your time better. Terry

I often read this after I have a bad day, especially when I have done some stupid mistakes: “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” Teddy Roosevelt “Citizenship in a Republic,” Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910 Terry

Got pictures? What is the name of the cleaner? Cost?

Free food is good. Free referrals are better.

Talking to one of my potential customers the other day and somehow the subject got around to "how tough marriage is". He then made the statement "Heck, I have been married 30 years and OJ would have only gotten 20". I told him I would not use that against him to get the job. While listening to XM radio there was some songwriter, singer singing a few songs that he had written. The best one though was it was his wife's birthday and he had no idea what to get her. He finally gave up and asked her what she wanted. After thinking it over for awhile, scratching her head she finally said "I want a divorce". Unfazed, his quick retort was "Honey, I wasn't planning on spending that much". Got to love it. Terry

First I would make sure I had the right billfold. If it was, I would then invest it for my granddaugthers' education. Heck, by the time they get ready to go it will cost a million dollars, per year! Terry

Looks awesome! Gotta love the horzionals! I got a call the other day from a guy who wanted a dock estimate. No problem with $$$ in my eyes. Go there and it was an HOA community dock with 20 LARGE boat slips, not counting 120 x 6 feet of walkway, a 10 x 10 landing, and a 14 x 14 gazebo. I conservatively figured 70 gal of stain but padded the pricing just in case. Been about a week and I haven't heard from him yet. God I hate self-administered HOA's. Terry

The most important thing you must do is sit down and think about what it is you want to do. Define it in specific terms so you don't get side tracked down the road. Set realistic goals and bench marks. If you don't hit a bench mark, set back and reevaluate as to why. Maybe you set your goals too high or bench marks too soon, or you are going about things the wrong way. Always reevaluate and adjust or learn more if necessary. You must then educate yourself in business, marketing, powerwashing, people skills, etc. Just because you have a hammer doesn't mean you know how to use it. And just don't quit learning, you can learn something new everyday. If you find you have a question, come to this board and use the search function liberally. There are many professionals on this board who have probably experienced what ever question you may have. These are true professionals they don't mind sharing their expertise, especially if you have used the "search feature" and cannot find an answer. Invest in good equipment. It does not have to be the best, but make sure it is best you can afford. As your business grows, reinvest some of the monies in better equipment and more equipment. And don't cut corners on cleaning materials, stains, your time or whatever on any job. Do the job the best that you can because you want the customer to give you referrals and you can earn better money for the same investment. After you have been doing this for awhile, sit back and ask yourself if this is really what you want to do. Do you really enjoy all aspects of the work? Do you think you can make a living at it? Are you willing to keep learning and adapt to new ways of doing things? Do you enjoy working for yourself? If you answer yes to the questions, then keep on trucking because you will be successful. And don't worry about being discouraged at times. We have all gone thru that and still do. But we pick our heads up and get back at it. And if your truly want to do this and you want it badly enough, don't listen to the nay sayers including your family and friends. Go for it. Good Luck! Terry

Yes, we take them thru paypal on my website. Some people have to finance everything and some do it for the "rewards", be it air mile points, cash back, etc. We are in a service industry, so we need to service our customers. I am doing a small test right now. I have ran an ad in the local weekly paper without any credit card logos. For the next two weeks, I will add the cc logo and see what the response is. I don't know what it will really tell me, but I will see how the customers pay and maybe I can figure it out. Terry Terry

After she did the job herself, who would she call to straighten out her mess? Would her homeowner's insurance pay for all the damage she did? Does she have insurance to pay her when she got hurt and couldn't work? (sorry AFLAC) What she going to do with all the "tools of the trade" when she is finished? She can't rent everything. Can she pay if she breaks some kind of local environmental law? etc. Terry

What all the other have said plus, in talking with everyone, I may learn methods that may save me money, time, effort, produce a better product, save aggravation, solve a problem etc. Multiply that by the number of people attending, I would definitely be a better contractor. Terry

Could not resist: Republicans believe everyday is the 4th of July Democrats believe everyday is April 15th A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in an argument Soldiers are over there so they won't cut your head off here Animals...... its what for dinner! I would rather hunt with **** Cheney than ride with Ted Kennedy Liberalism - the haunting fear that someone, somewhere can help themselves Clinton '08 The Whitehouse needs its silverware back A taxpayer is one who works for the goverment but does not have to take a Civil Service exam Politically correctness means always having to say you're sorry Save the seals club a liberal Liberals of the world IGNITE Liberalism is a no-brainer Bigot: A conservative winning an argument with a liberal Live Better Work Fight global warming turn on the A/C I would rather be Right than Politically Correct If you aren't liberal at 18, you have no heart, If you aren't consertative by 35, you have no intelligence If Clinton is the answer, it must have been a stupid question Annoy a Liberal Work hard and smille Liberals: French for cowards If ignorance is bliss then Liberalism must be Nirvana You might be a socialist if you believe government should tell business what to pay people Being a liberal is easy Being responsible is hard Enouh already, Terry

Celeste, he lost his expert shot ribbon while he was in that China prison for 20 months! :) And can I get a cell phone like Jack has? Man that thing works everywhere! Terry