Scott Stone
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Posts posted by Scott Stone
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There are still parts out there for giant pumps. As long as it is seals and valves, you will probably be able to use stuff from other manufacturers. Many of these parts are interchangeable.
Scott Stone
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It looks like a Giant pump. The give away is the valve cap bolts. Generals are typically indented on the top. The trick would be finding the giant that has the same specifications as your machine, and I bet that you would have a ready source for your parts.
Scott Stone
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Do you have a picture? In all likelihood it is probably a rebadged General. There are a ton of other brands it could be. Sprak is a pretty old name.
Scott Stone
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I started out as part time. I will admit that I have used me being full time now to my advantage, usually that I can provide better service because this is all that I do. I do not have a problem wiht people doing this part time, unless they are low balling and screwing up the prime good paying accounts by the they do, but then I feel the same way about companies doing this full time.
Scott Stone
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I found this on the Delco board. Yeah it is not in your narrowly defined area, but if it is in any kind of shape, it is probably a good deal.
Scott Stone
I have a sensation hot water washer 3000psi 5 gpm, plus hanahay reel,100ft hose,several guns and wands,20extend a wand,various tips,xjet,and accessories.Washer is 2yrs old with less than 100hrs on it.Is mounted on a 5x10 older trailer wich is optional.asking 3500.00 with trailer.will sell for 3200.00 firm without trailer.Only serious calls please! 1-765-679-1596 in Indiana.Selling because I am out of business and needing to fix my truck desperately. Can provide a picture.
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I am a sub S corp. We did it on the recommendation of our accoutant, who is wonderful. The first year, it saved me $5000 in taxes, and it has done nothing but save us more every year.
My personal thought is that I want people to use me as a professional in my field. I have to respect that others are professionals in their respective fields. That being the case, for the most part, I let experts be experts, and am willing to pay for that knowledge. So following this theory, get an attorney to do the corporate charter, so that it does not have a mistake in it that will cost you later.
Scott Stone
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In Arizona we are both an at will and right to work state. That is probably part of the reason for the huge growth of Phoenix in the past 30 years.
According to the interpretation of the rules here, At will means that you can be excused by an employer anytime, anywhere without notice. It also means that you are not required by law to give an employer notice before walking off the job.
Right to work means that you do not have to join a union at any time, even in a union shop.
Scott Stone
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For years I suffered with Leather boots, finally I have found some rubber boots that are both comfortable and functional.
I bought them at Cabela's. I was looking for bunker boots when I found these and took a chance. THey are FANTASTIC>>>
Scott Stone
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MONEY!!!
Scott Stone
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I have always just used my home address. I have never had a problem with it.
any people realize that this is a perfect home business, so it is almost expected. I have never had a customer pounding on my door to meet with Mr. Ruger.
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Strange, I have a cox reel on my trailer, and there is no apparent rust on it. And it is black from teh factory(?) Since it was drop shipped to me, I am pretty sure that it came that way from the factory.
Scott
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That would be a good deal, especially if the body is straight. I had a 35 year old pickup for a while. It had advantages and disadvantages. The worst was the old Ford smell. They all have it, but still...
Anyway, a clean older pickup is not especially looked down on.
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I was a route supervisor for a milk company. Yes, I was the milkman. At the end I had 133 direct reports. I quit that and started doing this full time because of two things. 1. My Manager thought it would be smart to save teh company money by making me fill in on any drivers that did not show up, and do my own job, with 10,000 customers to take care of, and 2. when my then 1 year old started crying when I picked him up because he did not recognize me. Got a quick interim job that gave me freedom for a year, and then went full time. The plan was two years, but the company decided that they really did not want me to organize the new business arm and get it running the day I started.
I also sorted used bolts in an utility warehouse. ( can you say mentally stimulating)
Scott Stone
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IT all depends. You are buying used, so can you find a good used diesel?
Ideally, for maximum life of the truck, and ease of use, I would go with a 3/4 ton pickup. There are a lot of guys on here that use 1/2 tons, but I have tried that, and it did not work for me. Toasted the tranny too quick, and the stopping power wasn't there. I prefer my 3/4 tons for a loaded trailer.
If you can get a diesel, they have a lot more torque and pull easier. A gas engine, especially for someone just starting out, would probably be adequate. There are soem areas where you can get a cheap truck and you might want to look for them. Try Fleet auctions, and construction auctions. You can sometimes find really good deals there, but, you had better have your stuff together.
If it was me, in your situation, I would buy a good used truck, the best one I could find for the money. Patience will get you the best deal.
Scott Stone
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For me that is a very hard question. In October it was an average of 90 hours a week. This past couple of weeks, the college kids that work for me are out of school and hungry, so I have probably only worked 5 or 6 hours, if that. It is nice when they are trained and responsible.
Scott
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An entrepreneur recognizes that here is a task to be done, and capitalizes on what he sees and develops a system to get it done.
A Leader is someone that actualizes the plan and is able to direct and motivate himself and others to achieve the final goal.
Some things that I have noticed, and these are just my opinion. There are different types of leaders.
The Designated leader is someone that has been placed in charge and given the responsibility. A foreman or supervisor type person.
The informal leader is that individual in a crew or organization that everyone looks to for guidance. If you are lucky you have one and a good one. They are not necessarily the oldest person on the job or the most knowledgeable. They are usually pretty Charismatic.
A good leader is also able to recognize problems before they happenm. This can be important in a business environment because it can save you a bunch of money, and wasted effort.
A great Leader is able to take a bunch of strong personalities, work them into a cohesive unit, and make them all feel like they are contributing to the end result in a positive way. BTW, A great leader does not have to have a deep rooted knowledge of what needs to be done. He just needs to be able to recognize that there is a job to be done.
Just my humble little opinion.
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My guys are required to wear Shirts, long pants and close toed shoes. (even when it is 110 outside) I also do not let them use Radios, discmans, or walkmans, or anything like them. I found that, especially with my younger guys, that they spent a ton of time channel surfing to find the right tune for the moment. When it happens for a minute every ten, and slows everyone down, it is bad. I may have to reconsider now that my crew is older. I might start letting them use mp3 players, because there will not be a lot of channel surfing going on.
As for the clothes requirement, They are usually pretty good about it. It keeps them from getting a serious sunburn, and actually keeps them cooler. (you don't see people in Arabic countries with nothing but shorts on!!! And it is not entirely because of religion.) I also do a lot of government contracts, that if they do not follow these requirements, I could easily lose the contract.
Scott Stone
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I Have been using a Walkman radio a lot. For Christmas i just got an Ipod (Why Yes, my wife does rock!!!)
One thing that I use is noise cancelling headphones. It cuts out a lot of the machine noise and water rush noise, and just generally makes my life pleasant. They usually have about a 20 db noise reduction, and are pretty light. They run from around $30 on up.
Scott Stone
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Let me see, last years vacations.
January, Flagstaff for three days. Was supposed to be two, but the transmission on my wifes car went out at 52,000 miles.
June, Scout camp for three days
July, Washington D.C for a week
August, San Diego for a week.
We are starting to get the itch again. If ASU had not been robbed of the Hoiday Bowl by Texas campaigning for a higher BCS ranking, we would have hit San Diego again. So I don't know for sure when the next adventure will be.
All Vacations were done with wife and children, except Scout camp, I only went with one son.
Scott Stone
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I started out part time. When I started I was sorting used bolts in a warehouse at a utility company. It was a lousy job, but the pay was good for what I was doing. $16 an hour 15 years ago and incredible benefits. They came and said we will give you a bunch of cash to leave, and if you don't you are gone anyway because you are low man in seniority. Not a tough decision. I worked a little trying to build the business, but lacked the resolve at the time to make it work. I just piddled part time, averaging about $30,000 a year for the business.
I got another job as a milk man. Did that for five years, and by the end of my time, I was a supervisor over 115 drivers. They decided that I should fill in for any drivers that were sick, so after the 3rd 120 hour week in a row, and I picked up my youngest son at the time and he cried because he did not recognize me.
I quit the next day and got another job driving a truck. During that year I really worked at getting the business rocking and quit on my one year anniversary. They had also changed the parameters of the job the day I got hired. At the start I was to do a start up for a trucking compnay, and they decided on my first day that they did not want to go in that direction. I committed for a year, and made it.
I have been full time since I quit that job. It has been 9 years full time now.
Scott
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NOw I've got something to try.
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ArizonaHunting camels is prohibited.
Any misdemeanor committed while wearing a red mask is considered a felony. This goes back in the days of the Wild West.
There is a possible 25 years in prison for cutting down a cactus.
Donkeys cannot sleep in bathtubs.
It is unlawful to refuse a person a glass of water.
You may not have more than two dildos in a house
Just a couple of comments. The camel thing is real. In the 1880's the US military imported camels to work in the desert. The let them go free range, so they did not want people killing them because they did not know what kind of critter they were, so it was made illegal.
The Cactus law is an effort to stop Cactus poaching. There are people that will pay up to $25,000 for a large Saquaro cactus. The Cactus forests are really depleted from when I grew up. If you want to transplant a catus, you have to have a license and permit, and the tag has to stay with the cactus for the rest of it's life.
The water thing is due to the heat. Just like there are some roads in Montana that is illegal to not pick up a hitch hiker in winter. It is a necessity of living here.
I will not go anywhere near the ***** thing. (let's say we are pretty conservative out here)
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I have a max width trailer that is 12 feet long. It is something like 85" between teh fenders. It is also rated at 10,000 lbs. I had this trailer custom built. I have two water tanks on it, side by side at 225 gallons, each, the pressure washer sits in front then a pressure hose reel with 200 feet on it, and 300 feet of feed hose on the back. I also have a reel for a vacuum hose for recovery purposes. The way it is set up I still have room for a water jet on the back between the hose reels and the tanks.
This works for me. Anything unusual goes in the pick up bed.
The reason I went with a 12 foot versus a bigger one is because they fill up. Of course, I do ZERO residential. All government work.
Scott Stone
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This is really impossible for me to vote on. All of the things listed have a component that leads to professionalism. Some are kind of remote, but to me there are three or four of them that all Professionals have to have.
1. Knowledge. That is what education gets you, and even though many do not have a college degree in this field, many of hte experienced people in this field have endured years of on the job training.
2. Conduct. I think that a professional is differentiated from a non professional by the attitude on the job. If there is horse play, profanity, and general nonsense going on , it does not look like anyone knows what they are doing.
3. Type of business. I am surely going to be castigated for this comment, but it is really the way that I feel, especially for those that do work for commercial enterprises. If someone is owning and operating a business full time. Contractors that are doing it full time have a lot more riding on satisfying the customer then those that have the safety net of a regualr full time job. Most of us start part time, and I realize that, but you do not get a level of professionalism until you are totally dependent on the income from your business. FWIW, there are a few that I know of on the boards that could probably call themselves professionals, even though the have a full time outside job, but they have developped their busiiness sufficiently to provide for themselves from just their pressure washing income.
In my opinion, after these three, most areas listed are a function of experience and will.
Scott Stone
Be4 you approach that hottie acrossed the bar...
in The Club House
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That was insensitive, funny , but insensitive. Now I am not going to be able to sleep for a week. I thought it was just going to be because of work...
Scott