Had a pretty decent week! It was my birthday during the week, so I had the day off with Mrs Blackn1ght, had some brunch, went for a nice walk and managed to get some Minecraft time in with my son, which is virtually impossible at the moment. Had a really nice overnight stay at a lovely pub in the Lake District on Saturday, had several hours to myself on Sunday to watch the F1, uninterrupted.
Happy Belated Birthday 🎉🥳
Thanks!
Been feeling uncertain about my life choices, in particular starting my own business with an old friend who has been completely absent while he deals with personal issues. He’s supposed to be the sales person and I’m delivery. I’ve been trying to being in clients myself but it’s not been easy for me. Felt Mitch better with a bit of sun earlier in the week but couldn’t make the most of it when working.
Is there a PlanB option for you?
It seems like you’re in their hands, so perhaps you need a safety net?
If I can figure out how to get the clients, do a good job (the bit I know I can do), and they then recommend by word of mouth, I think I’ll be able to do it without him in the long run. The real backup is going back into full time work which is quite possible as I’m in quite a niche industry where they have not trained enough people since 2008 so is in demand but the positions available always seem to be full time only. It wouldn’t be my first option to do back into the grind
If the industry’s desperate for your skills, then you hold the trump card.
Maybe applying with the proviso that it’s part-time / short-term would keep you going until the sales guy actually has some backlog for you to really start work on… putting the emphasis on him doing his part.
Anyway, not telling you how to do your job, just hoping a friendly idea might help 🙂
Good luck!
Thank you, yeah it is a good idea. I could even push for them harder knowing it won’t be the end of the world.
Yep.
And as this is the internet and you don’t know me and I won’t know if you did it or not, then you now have to go through with it. 😉
Very true! :-D
Work after a week off is always busier catching up with things. By Tuesday afternoon I felt in need of another break. By the end of the week things were back to normal and the brief break long forgotten. On with the grind it is.
How was your week?
Had a week of driving off to see clients and do career reviews of my team.
Weirdly, a day out of the office usually means 2 days to catchup, but not last week… or… I’m not aware of that disaster in my Inbox.
Also… having fun building Ikea Pax wardrobes. Saw a vid on yoochoob which implied that a nice plinth would improve the look and strength, so went down to the builder’s yard to find they don’t do the lengths of wood I need. Why’s it always so difficult…
Hoo boy. It was going great until Friday, woken at 3am by my vomiting child. Stayed home with him the next two days feeding him amoxicillin and nurofen. Missed his first swimming lesson at the new pool, an artillery demonstration… we had a whole weekend planned. Up until then, great week. I got past that boss in Armored Core VI, made a backup of my media server, and started downsizing the vids on it thanks to a post by obelisk_complex@piefed.ca.
My son was ill on Friday too. He wasn’t sick but he was extremely tired, complaining of a headache. Got back from school, had a shower an went straight to bed! Fortunately he felt better the next day. I hope your son is feeling better now!
He’s back to his usual piss and vinegar, yes. Irrepressible, that one - sometimes I wish he were slightly moreso. Today I finally heard back that after a years long road paved with money, he finally has an official diagnosis of “ADHD with autistic features”. Hopefully it makes life easier for him down the road, even if immediate relief continues to elude us.
Been alright. Lost a revenue stream, so am looking for some side work to make up for it.
Builder’s finally out of the house so I can reclaim the space again. I’m also noticing the many many faults, plus he damaged my bikes, plus the house is covered in dust[1] plus I owe him money. Hoping to negotiate a price reduction given that it’ll take another 1000 to fix the house still, something he promised would be the case once he finished… I hate having to play hard cop with seemingly friendly people, but you can’t live your life in fear wishing you had said something. It’ll be a tough talk.
On the plus side I’m getting excited about doing the other rooms myself. I’ve seen how the cowboys do it and it actually doesn’t seem that hard. Not relishing ripping out old lathe and render from the walls and ceilings, but I have[2] dust sheets and know how to hang them over doorways, so I don’t think it will be a huge problem
It can be really difficult to talk money with people, especially when they put up such a friendly, cheerful front. They make you feel like the bad guy for stuff they did wrong, and then you really feel like being a bastard about it now that you’re feeling resentful as well.
Ahh…Fuck all that, here’s my advice: I once had a career advisor teach me a non-confrontational way to raise money issues (and this works for asking for raises too): P.R.O.: Problem, Research, Options. In your case obviously the Problem is the extra costs you’re taking on to finish the job. Research is, just list them in absolute terms of man hours and/or a quote you’ve gotten from another builder. Options: either they give you a reduced price, or if they think the other guy is cheaper than the price reduction you’re asking, have the builder invoice them. Change the details as needed, you get the idea. Hope it helps.
Oof yeah, appreciate it. It happened this morning and it was my first rodeo and I was totally unprepared as I’d worken up late (dead phone) so whatever notes and planning I had planned to go over that morning just went out the window.
Still, I got 600 pounds less which is 400 pounds more than I wanted to negotiate, but I’ll take it. Took a few arrows too in the sense that quick fixes he would have happily done are now up to me to do, so I need to get up a ladder this weekend for some emergency grouting, and also need to fix the wonky electrics. Ah, whatever it’s done
Be safe! Not much good saving money if you get hurt. You sound like you know what you’re doing, though. I’d be a bad Uncle Fester cosplay in ten seconds flat if I screwed with the electric.
Yeah, my fuseboard is a weird one too – there’s technically two: one from the 80s and one from the 00s, and the master kill switch after the meter or before the meter simply doesn’t exist. No RCD breakers for killing sudden surges.
If there was a master switch, I’d feel less nervous - follow a youtube video on how to junction a circuit, switch it on / switch it off to test. Without… hmm, I might just get an electrician
Egad… Don’t die on me!
