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Thad

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Posts posted by Thad

  6. Posted · Report reply

    You accidentally killed some baby birds. I saved two today. I'll loan you some of my good karma. Life evens out.

    :)

    I thought of this thread when I got ready to start shooting the back of today's house and noticed two fledglings scurrying around under the bushes.

    I stopped the job, *finally* caught them and put them in an empty cardboard box. I called my wife to see if she knew anything about baby birds and she reminded me that The Wild Bird Center was only a couple of miles away.

    I took them over there and they said that they would get them to an expert and make sure that they were OK!

    :lgangel:

  10. Posted · Report reply

    But When You See The Potential You Will Move Here

    Lots of potential- and I'm sick of Katrinaville- but I think I'm allergic to Central Florida. I had one of the worst sinus headaches of my life until I got back to the Panhandle on my way back to Louisiana.

    The water is unbelievably terrible, too. I can't believe that you even need chlorine in that stuff to destroy any organic matter that it comes into contact with. ;)

    The weather was nice, though. Beautiful, dry heat. It reminded me of the desert. Soooo much more comfortable than trying to breathe the humid gunk we have in LA.

  11. Posted · Report reply

    OK, wife says get off the Grime Scene because it's time to leave for vacation.

    We're going to Orlando and Tampa, so if any of you guys down there are spraying and a big homely-looking guy in a maroon minivan jumps out and starts helping don't be alarmed.

    It's just me!

  13. Posted · Report reply

    A guy that I know whose dance studio was destroyed decided to get in the roofing business to rake in some quick bucks after Katrina. No, he has no roofing experience- He's a dancer.

    But how hard can it be, right? You just get contracts, hire a bunch of illegal aliens to do the job, and collect big payola. It all worked fine until he pulled up at the first job and his guys had completely ripped off the roof of the house next door!

    He couldn't even blame it on his guys and say that they misunderstood because he grew up in Mexico and speakes Spanish better than English.

    He was really dancing when the homeowners got home!

    :lgsideway

  14. Posted · Report reply

    The sad truth is that I doubt the contractor cares at all. The building owner made him hire me because the building had to be gutted after Katrina and he wants the new tile protected.

    The retail chain that leases the building gets minimal maintenance from a lowballer that I know very well, so I won't be back.

    The good part of it is that the owner of the building likes me, likes my work, likes the fact that I *always* deliver when I say I will, and owns about 47 million properties. I want to keep him happy! :lgmoneyey

    Most of his buildings are in the NOLA area but this one was in Biloxi, MS. On the first little job I did for him we butted heads a little, but I stood my ground in a polite way and he has been sending me more and more work as time goes on.

    My wife says that he likes the fact that I stand up to him even though he's made of green paper. ;)

    When I talked to him he said to bill for the labor, cc him the invoice, and if the contractor balks he'll pay me directly. The amount that I'm charging for extra labor is very minimal compared to the overall cost of the renovation ($300K) but if you do something for free once you'll have to do it for free every time.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    9000 square feet of VCT.

    I may be relatively new to the PW game (2 years), but if anyone ever needs help with VCT, let me know.

    When I arrived there was a ton of stuff on the floor that the contractor's laborers were supposed to have moved. I thought briefly about leaving but decided to stay, move the stuff, and bill the heck out of him.

    You do *not* want to pay me for grunt work labor.

    :)

    Then I found out that there was only one working outlet in the very back of the whole 12000 s.f. building and no water.

    I thought briefly about leaving (again) but went to the convenience store across the parking lot and got permission to use their water.

    Then some anonymous jackleg electrician (guess who) rigged up 250 feet of Romex for an extension cord. Do NOT try this at home.

    But, all's well that ends well.

    The third pic is the finished product.

    Yes, it's dry.

    post-1711-137772158151_thumb.jpg

    post-1711-137772158159_thumb.jpg

    post-1711-137772158165_thumb.jpg

  18. Posted · Report reply

    It was just over the counter stuff.

    Mainly antihistamine (chlor-whatever) but I think that maybe the new PE decongestants don't agree with me.

    I think I'm going to have to hook up with a meth dealer. Not to buy meth but to score some good old fashioned pseudoephedrine before he cooks it.

    Only meth dealers can get it anymore it seems.

    :soapbox:

    I bought some Sudafed a while back at Target- well, I attempted to buy some Sudafed. They asked for my license and then refused to sell it to me.

    "I'm sorry, sir, but you bought some 3 weeks ago at our other store and you can only buy it once a month."

    I told her that I have 5 people at my house with allergies.

    She said, "Well, I don't want to tell you how to get around the law, but (whispers) you could get your wife to come in and get some."

    Ta-dah! Now I'm the criminal!

    With a runny nose and a sinus headache!

    :lgsick:

  19. Posted · Report reply

    It's 100% true.

    I clean a lot of windows and I have a lot of people who get really upset when I show them that the fog on their windows is in between the panes due to the jackleg that they let PRESSURE wash their house.

    Rinse the windows with a soap tip or a garden hose. It takes more time, but you won't have to buy any expensive thermal pane windows.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    Really.

    I hardly ever remember my dreams but last night I had the craziest dream. Maybe it was because I've had a bad case of summer flu and took a ton of medicine over the last four days, I don't know.

    Anyway, the dream was that I had a whole subdivision of houses to wash in one day. I had 8 or 10 guys on the job and we had to get it done or else. I don't know what 'else' was.

    The guys just happened to look like the cast of Band of Brothers.

    Note to self- don't watch more than 3 episodes of Band of Brothers before bedtime, either.

    Anyway, we washed and washed but could never get the first house finished. It was driving me crazy- this house just never ended.

    Then I woke up.

    Well, my wife woke me up.

    Why do women make such a big production of midnight bathroom calls?

    Note to self- remember to turn on the light, announce that I am going to the bathroom, and announce that I am back from the bathroom when I am done if I ever have to get up in the middle of the night. Which I don't.

    But I'm gonna just out of principle.

    OK, it's hard to keep me up, so I'm right back to sleep.

    Right back at the same house.

    With the guys from Easy Company.

    And we still can't get this house finished. We're washing and washing and I'm looking at all the other houses that have to be washed today. They guys are yelling, "What do we do? We can't get it all washed..." and I'm seriously stressing out.

    Thank GOD my wife has to go again!

    Respite from this nightmare!

    I tell myself, "Dude, this is one messed up dream. Dream about something else when you fall back asleep. Seriously."

    So I fall back asleep and *tah-da!* no more pressure washing, no more Band of Brothers. It was great!

    Until I realize that I'm back in high school except for some reason my mother is there with me and the halls are full of old ladies in nursing home beds yelling at me to change their Depends.

    I tear down the hall, knocking beds everywhere and my Mom is yelling, "Look, he wants to help! I'm so proud!" and I'm just trying to find any way out of there I can.

    I end up in sporting goods store with a killer saltwater fishing department, so everything turns out OK, but...

    I am *never* sleeping again.

    Seriously.

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