What Sh*thole are you from?

[devo_stevo]

^I can't really disagree with that. The way they have handled all this pandemic stuff hasn't been my favorite thing if I'm honest. We went to church last Sunday and it was sad, really. The sense of unity and community that I've always associated with it was gone. They only let a few people in at a time, you sit down (away from other people), you have your meeting, which is shortened and all meaning and significance has been removed from most of it, and you leave without any real contact with anyone else.

It sucked, and I can't see how this is going to help the church when it comes to retention of members after all this is over.

[Byron]

And this is why I haven't left Brigham City. There was a time when I craved a little more excitement and "stuff to do" in my life. Now, all I want is to live my life and enjoy the lack of traffic jams, some open spaces not far from home, and the (generally) friendly people. I don't think I could do the city thing. The crowds and traffic and mess gives me fits. Also, as a cyclist, I can't imagine trying to ride on those roads with all those cars trying to run you down.

Yeah, well stick with where you're at, let me tell ya. The "stuff to do" in the city involves being elbow to elbow with the riff raff. You have to lock everything up and grow eyes in the back of your head...that's the main reason I bailed out of Los Angeles nearly 30 years ago.

Now I'm in the same situation here in Denver, but the problem is that I've established a business here. As long as I live in or very close to this town I never have to worry about money...there are people lined up outside my front door at all times wanting nothing more than to throw $100 bills at me all day long. I swear this phone will be ringing long after I'm dead. I could get it going in another town, but "starting over" doesn't sound too appealing. I'd have to lower my rate initially and although I'd probably grind up a nice little fan base within a couple years...it's kinda like "been there, done that". Besides, I've gotten to the point where I"m a bit picky and choosy about which jobs I take on...I pass on the really hot, hard or nasty stuff. When starting, you kinda have to take on all that comes your way.

I've got plenty of money, but the problem is that I'm going to live into my 90s, at least...so having set everything up so nice and tidy and then having to bail seems contrary to the "smart move". Also, I travel a lot and am doing more and more of it...I'm on the cusp of only being here in town 6-8 months of the year and it would be nice to have easy cash just waiting for me to come back.

What a problem, huh? White privilege on display, boys and girls...a house painter with an 8th grade education. I do envy you guys that live in more rural areas. The grass is always greener, eh?

[devo_stevo]

I don't blame you for not wanting to start over. I wouldn't either. Sounds like you've got a good thing going for you there. That's what makes this a great time to be alive. Opportunities still exist for those who have the drive, ambition, and smarts to go get them. Good job.

[Byron]

This is really simple... Shitholes exist where they are tolerated.

This is why I've long said you guys might want to reconsider legalizing the weed. Things REALLY went downhill when we did that here. You can easily drive to a neighbor state to buy some if you feel the "need".

The "business" of marijuana is just as bad as the losers who spend so much of their money staying high all the time...no matter how fancy and hip they make their stores look. Pot and tattoos...great plan there, sport... that'll set you up for old age real nice.

[Byron]

I don't blame you for not wanting to start over. I wouldn't either. Sounds like you've got a good thing going for you there. That's what makes this a great time to be alive. Opportunities still exist for those who have the drive, ambition, and smarts to go get them. Good job.

You want to know the funny thing? It would be even EASIER to get your own business going in just about any "construction" type trade these days vs. years ago.

There is a serious lack of people like me...hence why I'm able to charge so much. Also, there aren't any young bucks coming into the supply stores (the owners tell me this)...it's all "old timers" like me and those that do subcontract work...which are mostly guys that lack ambition and a focus on detail.

People have learned over the years that it's better to hire a specialist over a group of monkeys. That sounds harsh, but it's true.

[devo_stevo]

You want to know the funny thing? It would be even EASIER to get your own business going in just about any "construction" type trade these days vs. years ago.

There is a serious lack of people like me...hence why I'm able to charge so much. Also, there aren't any young bucks coming into the supply stores (the owners tell me this)...it's all "old timers" like me and those that do subcontract work...which are mostly guys that lack ambition and a focus on detail.

People have learned over the years that it's better to hire a specialist over a group of monkeys. That sounds harsh, but it's true.

Absolutely. I'm also self employed. I'm a steel detailer. There's not a ton of us around, and we aren't getting younger either. The biggest problem we have here is that there are a lot of Indian, Chinese, and Romanian companies that market heavily to the fabricators here in the US. COVID has been good for American detailers though as all of the foreign guys were shut down and not allowed to go to work, so all of the fabricators had to hustle to find domestic guys that could help them out.

I've been in business for myself for 5 years now and like you, don't have to do much if anything for sales. I've got some good clients that pay me and keep me going. It's great.

The only difference between our jobs is that I can do this from anywhere that has a decent internet connection. So I've got options if I need to get out of here one day.

[rockgremlin]

What a problem, huh? White privilege on display, boys and girls...a house painter with an 8th grade education.

I've used your good example with my teenage boys several times in the past. The lecture goes something like this --

"If you want to do well in life and have a comfortable living with a decent amount of cash in your bank account, you can either: A. Go to college and major in something that will contribute to society , B. Get a degree from a trade school, or C. Work hard and have determination. Do something you like, and do it well. Become the best you can be at it and others will take notice. For example, a friend of mine who's a painter that lives in Colorado. He takes 4-week vacations in Hawaii every year......." They get all starry-eyed and incredulous when I tell them about your experience.

[Byron]

Wow...must be nice to "detail steel" with a keyboard, eh? Don't have to get your hands too dirty now, do ya?

Maybe the tip of your fingers. Rub the keyboard down with some rubbing alcohol every now and then and your good to go!

I come home so dirty sometimes that I have to scrub the bathtub down one a week, especially during the summer (exteriors)...but sometimes the winter interior work can be just as nasty. I'll leave in the morning with brand new white paints clothes and when I come back it's like "What the hell happened to you today?"

There's no paint on my clothes...all that grime was just moving furniture around! And crawling around on the floor, too.

Flooring man....carpet or hardwood, doesn't matter. That's where the dirt is.

[Byron]

I've used your good example with my teenage boys several times in the past. The lecture goes something like this --

"If you want to do well in life and have a comfortable living with a decent amount of cash in your bank account, you can either: A. Go to college and major in something that will contribute to society , B. Get a degree from a trade school, or C. Work hard and have determination. Do something you like, and do it well. Become the best you can be at it and others will take notice. For example, a friend of mine who's a painter that lives in Colorado. He takes 4-week vacations in Hawaii every year......." They get all starry-eyed and incredulous when I tell them about your experience.

I swear it was easy...but to a certain degree everything just kinda fell into place. I met the right people at the right time...like a string of beads.

Aside from that, I always say all you have to do is this...Show up on time and kick ass. EVERYONE sees that and they'll line up to do business with you.

[Byron]

Aside from that, I always say all you have to do is this...Show up on time and kick ass.

I'll add a little something to that...

Prior to becoming self-employed (at 28) I worked about a half dozen different jobs at larger/corporate type companies. Every singe person that hired me made a terrible mistake...I took their job.

They were hiring their replacement and didn't even know it. They were probably expecting just another clone to come in and do the bare minimum...instead the higher ups noticed me buzzing around and made the moves.

Drive, ambition and a strong work ethic...works every time.

[Iceaxe]

I've used your good example with my teenage boys several times in the past. The lecture goes something like this --

"If you want to do well in life and have a comfortable living with a decent amount of cash in your bank account, you can either: A. Go to college and major in something that will contribute to society , B. Get a degree from a trade school, or C. Work hard and have determination. Do something you like, and do it well. Become the best you can be at it and others will take notice. For example, a friend of mine who's a painter that lives in Colorado. He takes 4-week vacations in Hawaii every year......." They get all starry-eyed and incredulous when I tell them about your experience.

Yo Rockgremlin... you forgot to mention to your kids how the CO house painter never got married or had kids.... talk about the two largest money drains in any mans :-)

My hot young stripper wife came from the poorest, most uneducated and dysfunctional family you ever meet. Two of her brothers are in state prison and the 3rd is in federal prison. At the last family reunion her male cousins were all comparing gunshot wounds... I'm not shitting you... of the 10 cousins that came they had all been in prison and 8 were sporting gunshot scares... it's insane....

When I met the hot young stripper wife she had left that mess and was managing a 7-11 living on her own and doing well. She moved out when she was 16 because she said she just didn't want to live like that and wanted better. Her big dream was to one day own a house. She is one of the most honest and hardest working individuals I've ever met. She tells me what she has now is well beyond her wildest dreams growing up in the gutter, often homeless.

Hard work and a little intelligence will take you far in the US.

[dougrz]

There is a serious lack of people like me...hence why I'm able to charge so much. Also, there aren't any young bucks coming into the supply stores (the owners tell me this)...it's all "old timers" like me and those that do subcontract work

This is insightful and exactly what I see. I've been thinking the last many years, as the millenial culture became clear, the economy will grind to a halt in many areas since they can't do things. We can't have a society of all servers and artists. Someone has to drive trucks, or get dirty, or work in a hot building, etc. Yet they believe a fantasy. Their solution? Import foreigners to do real work while they sip lattes on their laptops and push some keys to make money.

[dougrz]

My hot young stripper wife came from the poorest, most uneducated and dysfunctional family you ever meet. Two of her brothers are in state prison and the 3rd is in federal prison. At the last family reunion her male cousins were all comparing gunshot wounds... I'm not shitting you... of the 10 cousins that came they had all been in prison and 8 were sporting gunshot scares... it's insane....

Wowza. Hats off to her escape. Good job.

Or maybe panties off, based on what ya'll do all day.

[devo_stevo]

Wow...must be nice to "detail steel" with a keyboard, eh? Don't have to get your hands too dirty now, do ya?

Maybe the tip of your fingers. Rub the keyboard down with some rubbing alcohol every now and then and your good to go!

Not sure what I said to be the butt of the insult here. Whatever dude. Work is work, and I'm grateful that you've got your thing and I've got mine.

I guess if you think that the amount of dirt and filth you crawl through during your work day are the only indicators of whether you put in a hard day's work or not, you win the internet today.

[dougrz]

Nah.....all I can do is speak to the reality that I've lived. For the better part of the last decade I've lived my life in rural-town Utah, where the overwhelming majority is conservative Republican. For whatever reason, homeless camps in those places are non-existent.....weird, huh?

Rock, I'd caution on this. We're seeing a Marxist movement afoot. They will not stop with LGBT lessons and urban-centers-only demolition.

They are going to land and wealth redistribution.

You can't have a movement believing we fundamentally have systemic racism not make that logical (and historically always occuring) next step. After all, how can these 3rd world immigrants and blacks compete with the entrenched white families sitting on the ill gotten gains from the last 200 years?

[Iceaxe]

Not sure what I said to be the butt of the insult here. Whatever dude. Work is work, and I'm grateful that you've got your thing and I've got mine.

I guess if you think that the amount of dirt and filth you crawl through during your work day are the only indicators of whether you put in a hard day's work or not, you win the internet today.

You can work hard or you can work smart, they both pay the same in the end. Working hard and smart pays double,

[devo_stevo]

You can work hard or you can work smart, they both pay the same in the end. Working hard and smart pays double,

I don't think I said anything to the contrary.

[Iceaxe]

Wowza. Hats off to her escape. Good job.

Or maybe panties off, based on what ya'll do all day.

The hot young stripper wife would have been successful in life with or without me.... the only thing I really helped her with that she didn't fully understand was how to manage money.

.....BUT....

....I always tell my daughter's you can marry more money in a minute then you can make in a lifetime.

[Byron]

Not sure what I said to be the butt of the insult here. Whatever dude. Work is work, and I'm grateful that you've got your thing and I've got mine.

I guess if you think that the amount of dirt and filth you crawl through during your work day are the only indicators of whether you put in a hard day's work or not, you win the internet today.

NO,no,no,no,no!!!! You misunderstood me. When you said "Steel detailer" I automatically assumed you were a fabricator (quite dirty work, indeed)...but then when you said you can work from anywhere with a keyboard I realized YOU'RE ACTUALLY DOING IT RIGHT!

Obviously, I should have worded my post differently. If we were talking face to face there would have been no misunderstanding. My humblest apologies.

[devo_stevo]

No sweat. It seemed out of character for you so I was confused.

Yeah I don’t do the shop work. I just do the drawings so they know what to build.