The Dishonest Jeweler..... Part 1

There will always be dishonest people....I'm sure of that!

Nice Roman coins found on  the Shores of Italy!
nudge nudge..wink wink (hint)

Over the years not only have I run into them on a personal basis, but I've also had my encounters with them in my business. Luckily, there were only a few and in my business I only got burnt by one. This individual which I would LOVE to name, but I don't want any legal troubles, was by far one of the most Dishonorable, Dishonest, Despicable, and Deranged persons I ever met, who I will call "The Jeweler". This man owns a jewelry store at the local mall, and a couple other stores in the area. He used to run a commercial on the local cable channel and his daughter says (even though it's obviously a sales pitch)......... 

"I will never forget the day he sat me on his lap and asked me if I knew the three most important things about being a jeweler.  Well, I was guessing all kinds of things, but all my answers were wrong.  He said, “I will tell you what my father taught me at your age: To be a jeweler, you need to know three things; be honest, honest, and more honest."

Now if that isn't a bunch of malarkey, I don't know what is! This is a man who proudly told me (after I started working on his house) that he went bankrupt seven times! Now if that's honest, then BERNIE MADOFF is a good businessman. 

So the story begins..........

The Jeweler!

It was several years ago I got a call from an architect that I had become friends with after doing several jobs together with him. He asked me if I wanted to do work on a 4 million dollar home in Flemington NJ. This was a good thing for me, as it was winter and here in New Jersey the winter can be harsh, therefore work can be hard to come by. I went to meet with the man who was a jeweler, but somehow now he was a builder.

He was a slightly overweight man with a heavy Russian accent...

He was on his cell phone when I arrived, and signaled for me to go ahead of him up the steep winding driveway to the house, which I did.  The massive building had already been started, and it seemed to be deserted. I parked my truck and walked around the house. I was so impressed at the size of this mansion. The front entryway was actually bigger than MY house!, maybe even double the size! I guess you kind of gain respect for a man who can afford such a Grand undertaking, and I began to wonder what must a man do to afford such a luxury.

I took notice that there was no one working on this house, even tough it was a weekday. The home had been framed, sheathed, the windows were in and roof was on.....but that seemed to be all. I went inside and took notice that there was very little plumbing work done and the electric had just been started. I started to fantasize that I could live in the attic, and no one would ever notice that I was there! I went back outside to look around, and the Jeweler drove up.

Not the house, but shown here for size!

We discussed pricing for me to do the massive amount of brickwork and the multilevel fireplace. He tried to tell me that he could get a "Mexican" crew to do the job for almost half of what I was asking, but I stood my ground and he agreed to my price, and we got started there the following week.

We started on the fireplace in the basement building the base. A fireplace is built in stages, and requires multiple inspections. That first day I noticed that the area that the fireplace was to be built in seemed very small and I told him of my concerns.

His reply was "Dominick...I'm engineer in Russia, don't tell me this...it is plenty big for you to build this fireplace!" I explained to him that he was now in the US of A and we probably do things much different here. I emphasized that I didn't think there was enough room required by the township. "Dominick....just go ahead and build fireplace...I will worry about how big space is."

I prepped for and got my first inspection.

 The first inspection was for the hearth and once we got our passing sticker we went onto the next stage. The next stage was to build the firebox which is where you build the fire. I personally made sure that the measurements were exact. I had the firebox about half way built, when the jeweler came in and asked me if I would move the fireplace over about three inches.

Firebox being built....A second time!

"Dominick, I'm not happy with the way the fireplace does not line up with the stairs across the room, could you move it over?" I wasn't happy because this part of the fireplace took a whole day, and I replied "It's exactly where it should be according to the blueprint, but if you want me to take it down and rebuild it, no problem but you have to pay me for that" He became a bit indignant and replied "Is everything about money? The fireplace is not center to the stairs, and you should have realized that!" I reiterated that it was an exact measurement as shown on the prints. I took out my tape measure and began to show that the fireplace was measured properly and the jeweler said,


"I don't care what the print says.....just move it and we will discuss payment later" He walked away and left the building. I went ahead and as per the jewelers wishes, took the firebox down and cleaned up all of the cement off of the firebrick. By now it was 4:00 pm. and it was starting to get dark, so we called it a day and cleaned up to go home.

That night it had snowed and we got about 14" of snow. 

 

We arrived at the property a little late due to the traffic, and we found that the very long and winding driveway had not been plowed. I parked my truck at the bottom of the hill and we carried our tools and a huge kerosene heater up that driveway, in the snow, which took us about an hour.


I got started on the new (moved two inches) firebox right away. I called the jeweler and asked him when the driveway was going to be plowed, and he assured me that he would have someone there by mid afternoon. Unfortunately no one ever came to plow the driveway. I worked hard all morning to try to make up the time lost because of the jewelers request. It was around 2:00 in the afternoon and the jeweler shows up. I greeted him in my usual upbeat way, and he complimented me in how nice the work was coming along.

Firebox with Herringbone Design.

He sat across the room just watching for a while. He tilted his head like a confused puppy would and in a matter of fact way he asked "Dominick, do you know how to do a herringbone design?" I replied that yes, in fact I did. "Is there any way that you would make the firebox in a herringbone design?" I became a bit frustrated by his comment and I reminded him that the firebox was almost completed AGAIN. "But it would look so nice to have the herringbone here." I told him he would have to pay for me to rebuild it yet again...."Always about money, you Americans are so spoiled!! Just do it...we will discuss later"

Needless to say I took it down a second time, and rebuilt it in the herringbone design.

There was too many things that went on with this job to put here, so I will try to condense the events.

• Because he never plowed the driveway, I ended up blowing my transmission on my truck while attempting to deliver my equipment to his job.  
• The third framer that worked on this house, and never got paid, came by and attempted to burn the house down.......he was talked out of it.
• I found out that almost every trade got ripped off after they worked on this house because when it was time to get paid, the jeweler would fire them for one reason or another.
• I found out that the area for the fireplace was not for a masonry fireplace but a gas fireplace, so, I had to take apart the exterior wall (behind the fireplace) and move (never got paid for this) it so it would pass inspection.
• During my third inspection, the inspector noticed that there would be no room for the fireplace to pass through the attic, and there was no hole cut into the roof.  

I phoned the jeweler and told him that the roof rafters needed to be moved, and that the attic window was too close to the fireplace, and needed to be moved and lastly the hole needed to be cut into the roof for the fireplace chimney to pass through. He started yelling, and said that I should do all of this work. I explained to him that I was not going to be responsible for cutting out the roof rafters, and he needed to get the architect or engineer involved. And also that I was absolutely not going to cut the hole in the roof, because one square foot of the roofing material was worth more than my truck. We argued back and forth about this, and I stood firm on my decision.


He tells me if I won't do what he asks, then I should pack up my equipment and leave his job. I tried to reason with him by telling him that I was hired as a mason, not a framer, or roofer, or engineer. He insisted that if I didn't do his bidding that I should leave. I was really upset at this because I had completed about seven eighths of the fireplace which took me almost two weeks, but at the same time I was relieved, and because of all the ridiculous requests and situations, I was almost happy to be out of there. I told him that would be fine, but he owed me 3/4 of the total price, and I would like to be paid asap. He told me that he would mail me a check, and that was all that I needed to hear. We left that job in a hurry, and myself and all of my men were happy to be leaving.


Four weeks went by, and yet no check arrived from the jeweler. I called him several times but he was never around. I finally decided to stop by his place of business, and when he walked into the store the look on his face was priceless, and he had the nerve to ask me what I was doing there! I told him that I wanted to be paid that day, and I wasn't going to leave without a check in my hand. He told me that he was NOT going to pay me, and he turned to pick up the phone behind the counter...."I'm calling the police"


I don't know how I stayed calm at this point, but I went almost nose to nose with him and said, "Go ahead, call the police, they'll arrest you, because you're the thief! And just to give you a heads up, I'll see you in court"

Come back tomorrow for Part 2: The Court Case And The Jeweler

 

See you next time......from beyond.........

It's a Bird, It's a Plane...Nope...It's a tire!!

The construction field puts us in some pretty precarious positions sometimes.....

I have been in this business long enough to have seen many dangerous situations that arise from neglect or just plain and simple stupidity. Before I owned my own business....going on 26 years...I worked for a few other contractors, including my Dad.

My Dad was notorious for using equipment that really wouldn't meet today's safety standards. 

There were plenty of times that being on one of his scaffolds was not only a miracle of engineering, but it was also a challenge for every person on them not to soil their pants....except my Dad, who would call us "names" if we complained (while trying to keep our balance). I must admit that he was a very resourceful man. He would be able to build a scaffold with pallets and two by fours. I have not only seen these works of wonder go down, but I have been on a couple. It got to be a "normal" thing around there.

This is a monster fork lift!

One time he had purchased a very big construction site fork loader. It was a really beautiful machine, that could carry literally tons of material up to the highest sections of the scaffold. The machine was in great condition when he first bought it, but after about a years worth of use, and not too much upkeep, the brakes


were starting to go. It must have looked like a comedy show, because every time someone would approach the scaffold with the forklift, ALL the men on the scaffold would stop work and hang onto the wall or a window for dear life. That was until one day the forklift didn't stop, and smashed into the scaffold. Luckily no one was hurt, but the crew wholeheartedly agreed that no one was going to work on the scaffold until my Dad got the machine back in safe working condition.

He had plenty of equipment that was in need of dire repair.

The Orion P3...I was in VP 27...the Batmen

!

This one incident happened while I was working for him, as an adult. I was just out of the Navy, and I was determined to get a job that had pertained to my training, which was an aviation electrician. I worked on the guidance systems of the Orion P3, sort of like the commercial DC 10. I tried a few of the airports in the area, but during that period of time we were in a pretty bad recession, and I kept hearing...."Maybe in a year or two kid" So in the meantime I worked for my Dad, and he repeatedly reminded me how lucky I was to have a job, and I admit that he was right. I guess he wanted me to feel important so he took me aside one day and told me he was going to be giving me my own crew!


Sadly for me the crew included a pickup truck that was branded "the death trap" by anyone who ever drove it, because if you let go of the steering wheel, even for a second, it would automatically make a U turn. And I was the laborer for two masons.....realistically, not "my own" crew.....but I had a job. The cement mixer we used was also a death trap. first off, it was way oversized for our needs, as a matter of fact I remember one time I was "dumping" a batch of cement into the large holding tub, and one of the paddles inside the machine got a rock stuck between itself and the barrel. When this happens the best advice is to let go, and fast! Because the first time this happened I didn't let go, and the barrel flew back to the upright position and took me with it and smashed me into the sand pile. This same machine was run into by one of my Dad's helpers who was backing up one of the trucks, and ran into one of the wheels on the mixer. This bent the axle on the cement mixer and it was a site when that machine was being towed on the job site form one lot to another. The wheel would sway back and forth, and we would place bets that the wheel would fall off before we got to the next lot.....it never did.


One summer day my Dad pulled up on this particular jobsite because he had purchased a brand spankin new cement mixer!  I was like a little kid, because I knew that somehow that old monster of a machine was gonna kill me someday, and now it was finally being retired!!. My Dad told my Uncle to take the old machine back to the shop, and he was VERY clear telling him to

"Take it slow Paul, I don't care how long it takes. I'll pay you for the ride. PLEASE BE CAREFUL!!"
The ride from that job to the shop was normally about a forty five minute drive, and with the crippled machine in tow, my Dad figured it would take us around two hours, which was why he let us go around two thirty.

So, we got into the "Death Trap" towing the other death trap and started our journey home. Right before we left, my Dad reminded Uncle Paul again "Please Paul, don't go over 25 miles an hour, and Dominick, keep an eye on the machine" We both assured him that we would obey his wishes and headed down the highway.

The first half hour went well, as the windows were open and we were listening to the radio.

 I could see the speedometer from where I was sitting and I would glance over every once in a while just to "see". I would occasionally look back at the crippled machine that seemed that it was not happy being pulled, as it was bouncing, and not rolling down the highway.


Then Uncle Paul opens up his lunch pail and pulled out a "funny cigarette", lit it up and smoked the whole thing! I'm not going to say that this didn't affect me, because all of a sudden the music sounded really good, and the cement mixer was the last thing on my mind. We were both singing a song that was on the radio, I think it was "Let it Be" by the Beatles, which was when I realized that the wind in the cabin of the truck was more like a wind tunnel than the light breeze that we were getting while driving at 25 miles an hour. I looked over at the speedometer, and saw that Uncle had hit the 55 mark!......I said to him..
"HEY, you better slow down, you're doing 55!" I looked back at the machine and it was in the air more than it was on the highway...I said to him, "Uncle Paul, you better slow down, that machine is gonna flip!" He looked over at me in his cool dark sunglasses and said "F that....it isn't going anywhere. I want to get home early today and take Aunt Fran out for dinner" I knew I couldn't argue with him, although I tried but he turned up the radio to drown me out.


So now were doing 55 mph, the machine is bouncing uncontrollably, the wind is howling in the cab of the truck, and Uncle Paul was singing "Low Rider" at the top of his lungs. I became a bit paranoid, slumped down into the seat, and looked at the machine from the trucks back up mirror. This went on for about ten minutes......THEN...........

There was a LOUD bang!....The machine spun around two times (like an alligator does when eating it's prey) with pieces of itself flying all over the highway, and in a "I told you so" tone, I yelled at my Uncle "Oh shit, my Dad is gonna kill you!" As I was saying these words, and my Uncle was slamming on the brakes, I see the tire of the cement mixer, which is about the size of the tires on today's small cars, FLY past my window!!

Rollin down the highway....

This whole episode was running in slow motion....

As we stopped, somewhat due to the machine digging a trench in the middle of the highway like an anchor, we watched in amazement as the tire flew through the air, and as luck would have it, there was a young man sitting on the curb next to his ten-speed bicycle. I yelled for him to move, but I'm sure he didn't hear me. Luckily he was aware of what was happening, because he jumped up and started to run. Then BANG.....the tire hit the curb, exactly where that guy was sitting...Bounced back towards the highway, and hit a car, which totally smashed the passenger door and caused him to slam on his brakes, and then SMASH...another car slammed into the rear of the car that got hit with the tire!


We sat there in total disbelief, and I'm pretty sure my Uncle was praying, because I know that I would be. With all that was going on all around us, I noticed that the tire was still rolling down the highway like it was determined to make it back to the shop with or without us! Within minutes the police arrived, and we had the whole highway shut down and blocked off. That was kind of a good thing because my Dad was a few miles behind us and got detoured onto another road and he had no idea what had happened until he got home, because the police were there to tell him of the day's events.

Here lies the tire....BUT WHERE??!!

Needless to say, Uncle Paul did not take Aunt Fran out to dinner that night, and my Dad freaked out at me for not controlling the situation. And he swore that we were going to pay for all of the damage. Uncle Paul stood by his "I swear....I was only doing 25 mph!" story, but that story got shot down by the owner of the car that got hit by the tire. My Dad got a bill from the state to repair the gash in the middle of the highway, and it took them something like three weeks to repair it....and one final thing....we NEVER found that tire...and we did look for it!

    TIP OF THE DAY:

MIXING CEMENT:

This is good mortar..I use it in a pinch!

In this economy, I find that many people are trying to do their own home improvements. After all, with all of the DYI home improvement shows, who can blame them?

The problem is.....it may look easy, but unless you do these things often enough you could end up making more of a mess than you might think. 

I've seen the PBS NOVA show on how to repair a bad knee.....I've seen that one about five times....I think I can do it, but in reality, no one has agreed to let me try on them.

So, I'm going to help you on how to mix cement. The best and easiest way is to purchase the pre-mixed kind that you can find at your local home improvement center.

Put the desired amount in a wheelbarrow, or a mortar tub, add water a little at a time making sure that you keep the dry material on one end, and slowly bring the dry mix into the water with a hoe, or shovel.  Add the water, a little at a time as need to get the consistency of a thick pudding.  Mix only what you can use in a twenty-minute period, as it will begin to harden and ultimately be weak. 

On the other hand you  could rent a cement mixer,...... just make sure that the tires are in good shape!

See you next time......from beyond.........

Calling all Footings??? (A True Story About How A Cell Phone Got Encased In Time)

It's ten thousand years in the future.....Life in the future is FAR different than what we are used to today.

Right before the "Meltdown"

It's a bright sunny day in what used to be called New Jersey. Lindy, an archeologist, Tam and I, her assistants are rummaging through some curious artifacts that were found due to a recent excavation. This being such an important find, it actually halted all work on the new town being built exclusively for the "Visitors."  It's important because there is so little known about the previous inhabitants of this world due to the "Meltdown."

The Meltdown, as we call it, was caused by a meteor the size of what's left of our moon. It seems the moon was about four times the size it is now, due to the meteor glancing the side and splitting it. On a clear night, and if you look hard enough, you can see parts of what used to be the moon flying around its Mother, as if to say, "Can we come home now?" When the devastation hit, most of the then civilization was wiped out, mostly from fires...hence the name. Only a few groups of humans were left to repopulate what was left of the Earth. Most of the ancient civilizations were completely destroyed by the Meltdown and then after, the already battered few million humans that were left had to contend with and survive the mini ice age that lasted almost two thousand years.

This is known because the "Visitors" tried to stop the meteor, but it was too big even for them. They watched over the humans (like they did before the Meltdown, unbeknownst to our ancestors) and helped them to survive and repopulate. We did not learn of the Visitors until about five hundred years ago, and since then they have been helping humankind "get back on their feet."  We are now 50 million strong and growing, and we are more technologically advanced then our predecessors ever were....thanks to the Visitors. 

We only know this area was a New Jersey because the visitors had some records which they are sharing with us. We were very lucky to have stumbled on this archeological find, because there is so little known of our ancestors, and......well it's just one of the rarest, most well preserved finds ever!   

Tam, who is a Visitor himself, was sent to us to help with the excavation.

 

This is Tam...handsome fellow!

He installed a force field around the 50 foot deep hole to keep it from collapsing in on us. We are sifting through what seemed to be some sort of ancestral habitat. At first I found it hard to control the digging robots, but once I got the hang of it, I could pick up a half ton of dirt and fly it out without dropping a grain of sand. We hit what must have been some sort of base for the habitat. It seems it was a mixture of crushed stone or aggregate, and mixed with water....wow, they were so primitive! The structure was still amazingly intact, and was around two feet wide by one foot thick.

Just then Tam detected something that didn't belong.....some sort of ancient electronic device...in the MIDDLE of this aggregate structure! We knew it didn't belong because while scanning the area of the structure there was nothing else like this! Lindy called back to our base for an extractor. It arrived within minutes and was placed on top of this hardened structure. It took about two hours to complete the extraction, and much to our surprise it was completely whole. Tam looked it over and guessed that it was some sort of communication device. It was a small metallic device that flipped open to reveal numbers and symbols on the bottom and on the top, a piece of what looked like glass. The device was in such perfect condition that Tam thought we could get "the memory" from it! Getting the memory from something meant that a machine that the visitors had could read the signature of  said device and project it....sometimes just a few minutes, but that was enough for us! Lindy and I were almost in tears to hear this, because this was a piece of OUR history calling us!

The memory machine was delivered to our site, and Tam put the device inside the machine. At first the image was shaky and a bit blurry and we worried that we would not get to see anything, but it cleared up to near perfect and we watched in disbelief as our ancestors worked on this structure....almost TEN THOUSAND YEARS AGO..............  Here's what we saw.........

The place is Lambertville, New Jersey. 

 

Dominick, the Owner from a construction company, was in charge of building the structure. We could see a large red transport device in the background that had a sign on it saying D & J Construction. There was a large oddly shaped truck in the street with some sort of turning barrel on the back of it. It seems that the material that this truck was delivering was called "concrete," which we could just make out from the lettering on the side of the truck  Two of the men were operating some sort of motorized riding machine with large buckets in the front of them. They would pull up to the odd truck, and the truck dumped a sort of thick liquid into the buckets, which we assumed was the concrete. They would ride off down the narrow stone path that Tam called a "driveway" and they were being directed by Dominick to stop just at the right time.  He would give some sort of hand signal, and the machine would dump this mixture into a long smooth metal device that would deliver the concrete into the forms, while the two men inside the hole would move and place this concrete.

The memory was near-perfect, but those machines were so very noisy that we could hardly hear the men. Lindy was in tears, and I reached over and held her hand as we continued our ride to the past.....

Dominick was a great leader, as we saw. He directed the men and had the job running like a well oiled machine. We watched in amazement as one after another one of those big riding machines that carried the concrete would dump the concrete, at Dominick's direction, into the hole.

Concrete buggy dumping concrete...

Then one of the men pulled up to the edge of the hole and Dominick gave the hand signal to stop, as we had seen so many times before during this memory playback.  But this man, who he called "John," wasn't paying attention. The man John apparently pulled the lever that dumped the concrete, and he hit Dominick's side, almost knocking him into the hole!

The video of this memory started spinning and it was hard to tell what was happening but we heard what we believe was Dominick yelling...

"Jesus (we thought his name was John....maybe a nickname), are you trying to kill me?"

Then we heard him scream.. "Somebody grab my phone! (THAT'S WHAT THE DEVICE WAS CALLED!)   John knocked it off when he hit me!"  The video was getting blurry and we could see what we thought were grasping hands..but we couldn't really be sure.

Now there was no video at all and as much as Tam, Lindy, and I were extremely disappointed by this,  we were relieved that we could still hear voices, a bit muffled, but they were voices of our ancestors nonetheless!!.

"Can you see it?"

Another voice said, "No, it's in the footing!"

I think one of the men was named "Shit" because we could make out Dominick's voice, and he kept calling , "Shit! I can't believe you did that!" and "Shit, I think it's gone!"

He mentioned him twice more before we lost the memory...

"Holy Shit, try to call it!  If you dial my number and we listen to the footing, maybe we will find it."

And the last thing that we heard was, "Shit.....it's gone". That was the end of the memory.


We stood there in pure disbelief that we were the very first people to actually see a glimpse of our past. And I just can't wait to get home as Tam gave Lindy and I a copy of the memory to take with us!! This event had such an impact on me that I'm going to name my first born child Dominick and my second born....Shit, after one of the more important people on Dominick's crew!

 TIP OF THE DAY:

 CELL PHONES:
Quick tip here, since were on the subject of cell phones.
If you happen to get your phone knocked off of your side, or maybe someone throws you in a pool while still carrying your cell phone, or maybe you drop it in concrete....here's what to do...

I did this once and it worked!!

• 1. Don't panic, do not to turn it on....that will probably kill it.
• 2. Open the phone and "pull" the battery.
•  3. If you have a phone with an internal battery....don't do anything to it (skip to #6)
• 4. Dry your phone and removed parts with an absorbent cloth. Be careful not to damage any internal components, just gently pat everything dry.
• 5. Blast your cell phone, battery and SIM card with a can of compressed air to remove any remaining water the cloth did not absorb.
• 6. Fill a large bowl or plastic bag full of white rice.
• 7. Submerge the cell phone, battery and SIM card (if removed) into the rice until completely covered.
• 8. Leave the cell phone, battery and SIM card in the rice overnight, but preferably for 36 to 72 hours.
• 9. Remove the cell phone and its parts from the rice after the allotted time period.
• 10. Blast the rice dust off of each part with the can of compressed air.
• 11. Reassemble your cell phone and turn it on to see if it is working.

  

See you next time......from beyond.........

Don't be a Patsy......finale`?

Okay....where was I.......

Oh yeah....The medicine thing.

Read Part 1 here:

We went back into the house, and my helper was just finishing up "paint trimming" all around the walls. Patsy came in and started nagging my helper about how she was seeing some imperfections around the patch in the ceiling. She demanded that he "hit" it again, because she was paying a lot of money ($85.00) to have a professional job. He told her in a firm but respectful voice that he wasn't finish with it yet.....she replied...."you better not be!"

I was just about finished in the bathroom, repairing the toilet and Patsy appeared at the doorway and exclaimed to me,

"I hope your man is going to do a good job on that ceiling because I'm seeing some spots that need to be touched up"

I looked up at her and said "Patsy, please don't worry so much. The job will be perfect and you will love everything, I promise." she replied "I hope so" And then she continued her assault "You know that ceiling in the basement is damaged and I know that you are going to paint the whole ceiling, because it wasn't like that before you came here" I stopped her and said kinda firmly "Again, I wasn't the one who closed the shut off valve, but I will go look at it. I will paint around the area of the stain, but I will not paint the whole ceiling" and with that she stammered away.

I was off to the Kitchen to install the new Kitchen faucet. Patsy followed in my footsteps which reminded me of my yellow Lab, Roxy who is not happy unless she is under my feet when I'm home. I showed Patsy the faucet that she agreed upon and she questioned if it was the same one, and that she wanted "the best" and not any cheap junk. I smiled at her and told her it was the one she picked and it was a good one.

While I was in the Kitchen, she went into the bathroom to check the newly repaired toilet, and she yelled out to me "I hope this toilet is really fixed now, I don't want to be up all night listening to it running" I was at the point now that Patsy's voice became "background noise" and as much as I was trying not to listen, I heard every word. I finished the Kitchen faucet and started my way upstairs to the second floor bathroom....the one with the clear shower handles that she hated so much.

Patsy was in my path in a flash...."Where are you going?" I explained to her that I was going to start the repairs in the other bathroom. "Well, your not going upstairs without "booties" on your feet are you? I don't want my carpet stained" I calmly explained that my shoes were clean, but I would go see if I had any in my truck. I ended up having to go buy box of "booties" so I could work upstairs.

When I got back, I checked on my helper who was still painting the Kitchen walls, all while Patsy was there watching him like a hawk and making sure to tell him if and when he might have missed a spot. He looked like he was going to cry. I was kind of happy that Patsy didn't follow me upstairs but worried that my helper might do or say something to Patsy that I would regret.

I put on my booties and quietly  headed up the steps to continue my work. 

The first thing I had to do was to replace the old faucet which Patsy told me was installed in the late 80's. I took off the door to the vanity cabinet, to give myself more room and to avoid any more unwanted  issues with Patsy. I was having a really hard time getting the nuts off from under the vanity top because they had rusted themselves to the bottom of the old marble. Then I heard a voice....

"Are you going to finish everything today?" I pulled myself out just enough to see Patsy in the doorway of the bathroom. I told her that I was having trouble getting the old faucet off, and I would be back tomorrow as planned anyway. "Oh really??, I was really looking forward to taking a shower, and I thought you would be finished today" I explained to her that the work on the bathtub was not a small job and I didn't want to start it late or she would not be able to shower for sure.

I started picking up my tools, and I figured that I would try some "small talk" to let her know that I was in fact on her side. I had noticed that there were a lot of pictures around the house of who I assumed was her husband. And in all of my dealings with Patsy, I never saw him......So in a low, concerned voice I asked her
"How long has it been since your husband passed?" She looked at me with a smile and said "Oh he's not dead, but I wish he was, the Bastard. You see I had to take my Dad here to care for him and he was so demanding of my time that my husband came to me and said it was either him or my Dad.....I of course chose my Dad, and the son of a bitch moved out....that was fifteen years ago. He lives with his crazy daughter, as a matter of fact all three of my daughters moved away and every one of them are just as crazy as their father." I apologized profusely for my mistaken assumption, and she laughed and said that it didn't bother her, and again wished him dead.

The next morning we arrived at Patsy's and although it had drizzled a little overnight, there was a warm wind blowing and everything was almost completely dry. Patsy met us at the side door and told us that we should wear our "booties" because it had rained and she didn't want to ruin her marble Kitchen floor. We obliged.
My helper got right to work on painting the kitchen ceiling, and I was going over a few things with Patsy who reminded me not to forget to "fix" her kitchen table, and don't forget to paint the basement ceiling, and then she took a piece of paper off of the Dining room table and she wanted me to sign it.

"Since I didn't get your insurance yet, I want you to sign this and get it notarized before I pay you. Because if your not insured, we are going to have a problem." I was really not in the mood for this kind of BS this early in the morning, so I just turned away, took off my "booties" and drove off to my office to get my copy of the insurance certificate, so to put an end to the question.

I returned right away, and handed my insurance certificate to Patsy 

and jokingly told her she should frame it and hang it on the wall. With that I went upstairs to finish up.....I just wanted to be out of there. I took my position under the sink (laying on my back) and started again on my mission to release the nuts from the bottom of the faucet. That's when Patsy walked in and started asking me questions about the shower faucet and she hoped that I got the best one for her and (again) not cheap junk. I explained to her that I actually upgraded the faucet for her and although it cost me more money, she wasn't going to pay another dime.
"Well you BETTER not charge me more, after all I didn't hit the lottery...(NOT AGAIN!!)

I had to use a metal cutting tool to cut off the rusted nut (not Patsy) and I was startled by a light kick to my leg.

Patsy's true form....

"Oh my God, Dominick, did you crack my vanity top??" without getting out of my extremely uncomfortable position, I replied " How would I do that? I came in here and went right under the vanity, I haven't even touched the top yet" But she insisted "Well I washed this vanity just last night and that crack wasn't there!" I now pulled myself out from under the cabinet to get a look at what she was talking about. She pointed to the supposedly new crack and said,

"You see here, here it is. That wasn't there before and I would know because I clean this vanity every day!" There was in fact a small hairline crack, almost invisible, but there. Upon closer inspection I noticed that inside the crack it was grimy.  I pointed this out to her and she scoffed at my observation and replied "Well I've never seen this before, but if you say that you didn't do it, then what can I say, I guess that I'm just gonna have to live with it." Then much to my relief she stormed out and went back downstairs. I was so offended that she would accuse me of something that was obviously there before. I though that maybe she had a bad night and was taking it out on me, and I didn't like it.

I finally got the old faucet removed and I was just finishing up installing the new faucet when my helper came upstairs to ask me to come down and get Patsy off of his back. I told him to go outside and take a break and when I finished I would go downstairs to see what the problem was now. I went downstairs and patsy was in the Kitchen and standing crossed armed asked me if I thought that my man did a good job painting. I looked at the job, and I must admit, he did a beautiful job. I told her that there was nothing wrong with the job. She started to raise her voice and insisted that we put another coat of paint on the ceiling.

Now I'm beginning to lose my cool. "Patsy, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the ceiling." 

and she replied "I want two coats of paint on the ceiling because that's what the man at home depot said should be done. See over here....there is a spot that your man missed!" I strained to see a spot, but I saw nothing and I told her "C'mon Patsy, now your taking advantage of me and I don't like it. The ceiling is perfect." "But I WANT a second coat, if your not gonna put a second coat on, I'm not gonna pay you!"

Okay, this is when I lost it..... I looked over at my helper and started yelling "PLEASE just put another coat on the damn ceiling!! no wait....Paint ALL of the (GD) ceilings, because I'm sure that's next!!" I turned my attention to Patsy, and yelled. "Geez Patsy, I could see if you paid $1,000.00....you would have every right to nit pick every little thing, but YOU PAID NOTHING!!....and still got a great job!!" I told my man to just paint the ceiling again as I took off my "booties" and stormed out of her house while saying..."Patsy, you are ridiculous! and DON'T call me ever again!!"

I got into my truck and drove away, because if I stayed any longer I was afraid of what else I might say. I called my plumber and begged him to go over and install the bathtub faucet and spout. I told him I didn't care what he charged me, I just wasn't going back in that house. He was happy to save me from further emotional scarring and he got there within five minutes. As I drove to order the material for the next job, I realized that what I did was just a bit unprofessional and I started to feel bad that I yelled at her.

Nice Patsy again...Oh wait I mean Joanna

I got back just as my plumber was packing up his tools. I asked him how everything went, and he told me that Patsy was there the whole time and she had asked him a number of times of my whereabouts. I went in to give Patsy my bill and when our eyes met, she started to tear up and she apologized for being a "crazy bitch"....her words. I also apologized for losing my temper. and assured her that I have never done this to a homeowner before, and she was my first. She reached over and with tears in her eyes, gave me a big hug and a kiss on my cheek.

So, this is what a "love in" is....

Patsy handed me the check and told me how happy she was with all of the work and that I was such a good contractor. As we were standing next to the repaired dining room table, she pointed to a picture on the wall and said to me...

"That's my husband. You see HIS name is PATSY....and actually my name is Joanna. I just like his name so much I tell people that MY name is Patsy".....I almost fell to the floor in disbelief.....

Looks like I was the PATSY all along!!

 

Because of the long post there will be NO tip of the day :

OMG...It's Patsy calling again!

 BUT.....there is an update......Patsy....oh wait, I mean Joanna called my office and left a kinda nasty message that she wanted the clear handles to the shower......(the kind she despised). The following morning 6:30 am. she called again. I answered, and she first asked me why I hadn't called her back. Then she started insisting that she wanted the clear handles that came with the new bathtub faucet....I told her that I had thrown them away, as I had no need for them....She insisted that I still had them and she wanted them......the saga continues.......

See you next time......from beyond.........

Don't be a "Patsy" ! Part 1

I'm still reeling emotionally from my experience in the last couple of days.

In a post that I wrote last week about unscrupulous customers I mentioned a woman that I ran into at Home Depot. For those who haven't read it (click the link above) I'll give a quick run down of the events of that day............

As I was walking past the appliance department, I slowed to acknowledge the salesman that I recently purchased my washer and dryer from. He was talking to a woman who was telling him about three contractors that she had a horrible experience with. I, being the outspoken person that I am, decided to input my opinion. I felt really bad for this woman, who was a 60ish, small-built Italian woman. She was very outspoken herself....must have something to do with Italians....and we hit it off right from the start. I was going to prove to her that not all contractors are untrustworthy, so I gave her my card and told her that she finally met an honest person who wasn't going to beef up her bill with made-up items.
She called the following night, and I set up an appointment to meet with her on the following Saturday. Saturday came, I went to see her.....and that's where my story begins.......

Her name is Patsy....but she said that I could call her Pat.

 

I listened to my GPS, and turned into the house marked #70, Patsy's driveway. I stepped out of my truck and went to the front door and rang the doorbell. I was anxious to meet with Patsy because I was on a mission to redeem the construction industry. I rang the doorbell again, and I hear a voice calling me to the door on the driveway side. I turned to go towards the driveway, with a bit of a spring in my step, and there at the side door was Patsy.

This is NOT Patsy....just kinda looks like her...

She smiled and said to me in a somewhat high pitched voice....."Oh, I see you showed up on time....that's a good start. Can you move your truck to the spot in the front of my yard, where the stone is?"

The funny thing is that I did notice the stone driveway, but I also noticed a BIG sign that said NO PARKING....so I replied, "Do you mean the parking area that has a no parking sign?"
 
"Yes, Mister funny man, I don't want your truck damaging my driveway"

I thought this was a bit weird, but I got in my pickup truck, and moved it. I greeted her at the door on the side of the house and she seemed genuinely happy to see me. She started by telling me how lucky she felt because the nice man at Home Depot said I was a really good and trustworthy contractor. This was a good start, and I was feeling confident that we were going to make Patsy really happy.

Like all Italians do, she went off subject a number of times, telling me about her four daughters, and how many grandchildren she had, and the town she was born in. I was being polite, and encouraged her even more by asking questions. I think that having a good dialog with a potential customer is a good thing because they get a feel for the kind of person that I am.

She showed me around the house and explained to me the things that she wanted. 

 

It was a nice list, with things like: repair the hole in the kitchen ceiling that the last contractor left her, and fix a running toilet and a leaky shut off valve, replace the faucet and handles in the shower (and she absolutely did not want "clear" handles because you can see all the crud through them), spread 12 tons of stone that she was going to have delivered, and a few other things. After looking at all the things that she wanted, that's when she started to tell me about how hard it is to live alone on a fixed income and she is supporting her daughter who can't find a job and who has a three-year old child, and how the father of the child doesn't want to acknowledge him...

...and her most frequently spoken words..."You know, I didn't hit the lottery."

I do understand how hard it is to survive in the great state of New Jersey, and I assured Patsy that I would be completely fair and I was planning on giving her really affordable prices to help her out. She smiled at me and made sure to let me know one more time that she had not hit the lottery. When I got back to my office, I got started immediately on figuring out Patsy's proposal.

I figured out all of the pricing and since I wanted to help Patsy out, I shaved a nice 10% off of the final price. On the following Monday I hand-delivered the proposal to Patsy's house and I made sure not to park in the driveway. There was no answer at the door, and I left the proposal in the door.

That night I get a call from Patsy who was happy to get the proposal so fast, but there were things that she wanted to remove from the list as she explained to me that she hadn't hit the lottery over the weekend. I tried to explain to her that I had given her the best possible price and there was nothing else I could do before I started losing money.

Patsy is a shrewd person and she kept trying to get me to give her a break on the prices.  For example, I charged her $350.00 to spread and level the 12 tons of stone in the driveway.....she was willing to pay $50.00 and after I listened to her (over and over) how she could get one of the neighborhood kids to do it for $25.00....I told her to go ahead and get the neighbor's kid to do it.

Then, in a concerned tone she asked "You DO have insurance, because I'm looking at your card and I don't see that you have insurance?" I assured her that I did in fact have insurance. She went on about the insurance for twenty minutes.

We agreed on about half the list, and I set up a time the following week to get started. 

 

A few nights before we were to start, Patsy called me to ask if I would paint the walls in the kitchen.  I told her that was fine, and she told me that she would be buying the paint herself.
I was about to tell her how much that would be, and she said "well, since you'll already have the stuff there, you could do it for me?"

I was a bit surprised and replied, " C'mon Patsy, I'm gonna have to charge you.  After all you got me to paint the ceiling for nothing and I need to make money to pay for my men." She replied, "Geez, you're gonna be there anyway, and what's the big deal?" She went on about this for another fifteen minutes until I finally agreed to paint the entire kitchen for $125.00 SUPER DISCOUNT!

We showed up on the day that was promised and got to work right away. Patsy met us outside and was glad to see that I parked in my designated parking area. She informed me that I could carry all of my equipment and materials over to the house......so I would have them all there......it was a two hundred foot walk to the house.

We finished carrying all of the needed supplies across the yard and to the house,

Long walk to Patsy's house

while Patsy  was right behind us going over all of the things that we had agreed upon. She even tried to get me to drop my prices again, saying that if I gave her a break she would be calling me back for other things in the near future. After I declined to give her yet another discount, she asked me if I could fix her kitchen table which would shake from side to side......I finally agreed to look at it.

She reminded me that she didn't receive my insurance certificate and I again assured her that it was sent out and she should have it by the following day. I explained to her (again) that because of state laws I had to have insurance to be licensed. I was surprised that she hadn't received it because my insurance company mails me a copy, and I had received that two days prior.

She then informed me that when I came to look at the work the first time, that I didn't shut off the valve to the toilet hard enough and the valve leaked into the basement and left a spot on the ceiling.
"What are you going to do about that?" she asked with her hands on her hips. I explained to her that it was SHE that had not only turned it on, but also turned it off! She insisted that she had not shut it off, and that I should paint the ceiling in the basement. I told her I would look at it.

I set up my worker in the kitchen. I explained to him that I wanted the work to be perfect. I went to the bathroom to repair the leaky toilet and I could hear Patsy giving my man, who is not a patient person, instructions on how to do his job. I chuckled because I could tell he was becoming flustered by Patsy's instructions and demands.  "Make sure you don't get any paint on my cabinets" and "What kind of brushes are you using?" and "Make sure that you cover everything" and "I want the whole floor covered with plastic" and "Make sure that when your finished, the ceiling is perfect, I don't want to be able to see that it was patched."

I had to go to my truck for a drill and my helper ran out and asked me to tell her to leave him alone, and that if she kept nagging him, he was going to lose his temper. I explained to him that she was just "that kind" of person and compared it to taking a spoonful of nasty tasting medicine.....it's bad at first, but after it goes down, you realize that it wasn't so bad after all. I also told him to be patient and absolutely DO NOT lose your temper........End of part one.......tune in tomorrow for the unbelievably stunning climax....  

TIP OF THE DAY:

FIX A LEAKY TOILET:

Your toilet flushes just fine, and doesn't know when to quit. Sometimes it stops running and then starts up again suddenly or you notice a constant stream into the bowl. Either way, it's wasting a lot of water and making that noise that keeps you up at night. Fortunately, it's usually not difficult or expensive to fix.

Mechanisms vary, but they all work on the same principles. Flush a couple of times while you watch in the tank with the tank lid off and notice the process.

• When you push the handle, the chain lifts a flapper, letting a tankful of water fall through the opening in the bottom, into the bowl. As the water level drops, the flapper drops and closes the opening.
• A plastic float drops as the water drains. The float is connected to a valve that lets water into the tank when the float is down and stops (or should stop) when the float is up.
• In the middle, there's also an overflow tube that drains water out into the bowl if it gets too high.

  If the tank is not full and it is not filling, chances are that the flapper is stuck open.

Reach in and close it with your hand. If it sticks repeatedly, look for the cause. Make any necessary adjustments.

• Is the chain catching on something or is the flapper catching on the chain? Try threading the flapper chain through a plastic soda straw to prevent a long chain from getting stuck on things and preventing the flapper from seating properly. Or, replace the chain completely with a loop made from dental floss that is the same length as the chain.
• Is the flapper wedged open on its hinge?
• Is the flapper aligned with the opening?
• If you have a ball seal instead of a flapper, is the wire that lifts the ball straight and does it move freely?

Don't forget to shut off the water

• The most common cause of slow leaks is a leaky flapper. Over time, this inexpensive rubber part may decay or get old and stiff to the point that it needs replacing, or minerals may build up on it and/or the rim of the flush valve where it seats.
• If the flapper is still in good shape, sometimes all it takes to make it work is to clean it &/or the rim where it seats.
  • Run a finger carefully around the underside of the flapper and the rim where it seats. Remove any uneven buildup of minerals that might cause a leak. Use a sponge with bleach or steel wool or #500 wet-or-dry abrasive paper.
• Cleaning may work to remove mineral buildup, but it's usually best just to replace the whole part. There are a few standard kinds, so take your old one with you to the hardware store for comparison (to ensure you get the right kind). To perform a replacement: 
• Close the water valve and flush the toilet. If the valve is completely closed, the tank will not refill and you will not hear water running after the tank empties.
• Pop the old flapper off its hinges, disconnect it from the chain, and pop the new one into place.
• Don't forget to open the valve all the way when you're ready for water again.

  

  Just one kind of flapper

• Try flushing a few times to make sure the chain is the right length for the new flapper. It should open when you push the handle and then drop closed all the way when the tank empties. You may have to trim and adjust the chain by trial and error. Also, make sure that the flapper aligns properly with the opening.
•  This SHOULD fix your leaky toilet.....and now you can come and help me over at Patsy's house....just DON'T PARK IN THE DRIVEWAY!
  
  

Death of a Builder.....not a salesman!

This post is not about Willy Loman of the Death of a Salesman fame, 

but it is a short true story of how one man followed the American Dream, but died too early in life to truly enjoy it. His name was Ron (I'll leave out his last name out of respect) and Ron was a bit of a perfectionist. Ron was the builder on the home I worked on in Kingwood, NJ. The house where I had the run in with the bull. 
Ron wasn't a big man, physically, and I always wondered if he had a wooden leg due to his exaggerated limp. I often found myself wondering how he never fell down as he navigated the hilly, uneven landscape of the  jobsite. He was not a handsome man either, although beauty IS in the eyes of the beholder as the saying goes. He was always on the job if ever needed, and mostly stayed out of our way. When I asked him about if he enjoyed doing what he did, he replied that he never had time to enjoy his life, because "for now" he worked night and day so he could build his dream to become wealthy.
 One thing that always impressed me was that just as we were finishing up a job, Ron would be right there with his check book (OH.... the good old days!) asking me "How much do I owe you?"

This is one of Ron's houses!

As a builder he wasn't one of the big guys, he was just a spot builder who built a house here and there. They weren't the McMansions, but he did build a decent home, albeit a modular home. I liked this kind of work, because it was considered a "fill in" job, and they always seemed to come at the right time. One day Ron informs me that he will be building three houses in a row, and wanted to make sure that I could handle them. I  told him to just bring them on because at the time I had four crews and three houses was a walk in the park. I was also doing a major housing development at the time, and I not only had plenty of men on my crew, but I also had several Subcontractor crews.

At the time I employed a few of my family members...

Some of them had their own businesses and crews. One of them was my Dad. He had one of the best crews on the job because he knew how to pump out the work. But that came with a price....You see first I have to say that I totally respect my Dad for who and what he is. He was always a really hard worker and it would amaze me how much work his crew could do.....but the quality suffered. There always seemed to be some sort of problem because he pushed so hard that he would overlook some of the most important things, and I won't go into detail, but sometimes this would cause Chaos, but on my job he was more careful and problems were few.
So....I asked him if he could handle doing a foundation for me at Ron's site, and he didn't hesitate to acknowledge. I went with him to the site to show him where the site was and to see if he wanted to mark out the footing that my crew had put in. He was in a bit of a hurry, and we agreed to mark it out first thing in the morning as the block was to be delivered around 9am.
The next I was running a bit late, and phoned my Dad to let him know that I would be there as soon a s I could. I arrived at the site around 9:30, and noticed that the material had arrived and the crew were laying block like a bunch of madmen. I offered to help with the markout because I noticed that it was not previously done which it should have been. I warned my Dad that Ron was CRAZY about the square and level of the foundations, which really offended him. I explained that I wasn't trying to offend him, it was just that Ron WAS going to check, and he would freak if the foundation was a tiny bit out. He told me that it would be good, and Ron was going to be happy.

For illustration purposes....but close!

On the third day, which was a Friday, I visited the site to take Dad for lunch. As I walked around the foundation I tried not to make it obvious that I was looking at the work, I noticed that one wall just didn't look right! I brought this to the attention of my Dad, and we began measuring the foundation. The foundation was 5 inches out of square! I was upset and I told them to fix it and if they had to knock down the wall, then that's what they had to do! My Dad promised me that he would take care of it before Ron caught wind of the problem.

It started raining that night, and continued until Monday the following week. 

We were back to work on Tuesday, and I was anxious to see the repair (or preferably) the rebuild of the problem spot. I went to the site in the afternoon, and my Dad asked me if I had seen Ron. I hadn't, but I did remember that Ron had mentioned something about going away for the weekend and figured he hadn't got back yet. He mentioned that Ron's car was on the site, but he was no where to be found. I figured that he may have gone with someone else, and he just left his car there..... I continued to go and look at the problem spot, and much to my dismay the "repair" was not Ron approved....I told my Dad that he had better get his guys on the problem area before Ron got back, and he agreed and honored my request.
The following day I saw my Dad for lunch and he told me that one of his men went to the local gas station, and the attendant asked his man if they were working on the site that the builder had passed away on????
And he was pretty sure that it was Ron because of his still abandoned car. I was starting to suspect the same, as Ron was ALWAYS on the job. After some of my own research, I found that Ron had a major heart attack and the electrician found him next to the foundation RIGHT next to the problem spot on the foundation!
I could see what happened in my mind.............Ron took out his tape measure and started measuring the foundation and he gets to the problem spot.....freaked out....his blood pressure raised.....he fell.

That's not Ron under the sign...

I teased my Dad that he killed Ron, because Ron was such a fanatic about the work...but who knows, he could have tripped due to his bum leg....We never saw a dime of the money that Ron owed us, and till this day my Dad denies any wrong doing....
I guess the whole point of this story is that even though we strive to achieve the American Dream (as hard as it is in this economy) whether it be for the money or the self gratitude of having achieved it, there is nothing like living in the moment and enjoying the things that bring us joy. Because as I saw in Ron's case, he worked night and day and almost did achieve his "dream" but he didn't get to enjoy it. When I hear people that I know stressing over things in their life, like not being able to afford that certain car, or going on a diet, or wishing that they could be financially independent,  I tell them this story, and my advice to them is Enjoy what you have now, and mostly enjoy the people who love you, because no one knows what tomorrow will bring!

TIP OF THE DAY:

SAFETY!!

This is going to be a short but important tip, and it is important because I was injured yesterday, by not following proper safety rules that I stress upon my own employees.

SAFETY GLASSES!!!!!!!

I was cutting off a nut on a bathroom vanity faucet yesterday. This faucet was originally installed in the eighties, as claimed by the homeowner. The nut that held the faucet in place was so rusted that I couldn't get a wrench on it. I called for one of my men to bring me my metal cutting saw and a pair of safety glasses, as I was going to be laying under the vanity top. My helper came back with the saw but "forgot" the safety glasses. I was anxious to get this rusted nut off because I wasted enough time on it already, so I told him to forget about it as it was "just one" little cut.

Cool looking safety glasses!

I apparently got a sliver of the rusted metal in my eye, and suffered all night long in pain. I lost half a day today to visit my eye doctor. My kids are now calling me a pirate because of the eye patch that I have to wear for a few days....they think it's cool, but this is the perfect example of "Safety First"  No matter how small or quick a job may be, do the right thing and go out of your way to make yourself and those around you safe....

See you next time......from beyond.........

OMG.....Did I kill him??

Through the years, I've hired a few guys that were down on their luck....

This post was inspired by my brother Chris, who also has his own business. He had recently hired a kid (23) who it turns out is the son of an acquaintance from years ago, which he found out after he had hired him. This kid is a train wreck and is on the verge of becoming a total loss as a productive Human Being. My brother called me today to tell me that after he dropped this kid off last night, we was immediately pulled over by a policeman who wanted to know why this kid was in his truck with him. The policeman told him that "If I was you, I would keep my distance from him. You'll be sorry if you continue to employ him."

PULL OVER!!

This kid is a product of a broken home, and growing up in a bad part of town, eventually fell in with the wrong crowd. He has or had a drinking problem, a drug problem, a fighting problem, and is the father of FOUR children, of which two are living with his mother, and the other two are living with him at a friend's house. In my opinion, there isn't much hope for his children either....very sad. My brother asked me what I would do, because he didn't pick him up today for fear that he would be a victim if the kid was carrying drugs on him, and he got pulled over again today.


 I have a bit of a soft spot for people that are in trouble, and I replied to him that I would give the kid a chance. Maybe that ONE time someone showed compassion would enlighten them, but also reminded him that there are also some that just cannot be reached. I explained to him that I once had a young man work for me and his life was without a doubt...upside down, and almost landed himself in jail because he was just a stupid kid. I used to talk to him every day on the way to the job, and try to reach him kinda like a big brother. About six years after he left, he visited me at my home to thank me for all that I did. He claimed that because I took an interest in him, he turned his life around and went to school to become a computer tech and now he is happily married with two kids. This made me feel so incredibly proud and I never forgot that day! My brother is going to pick him up on Monday...

Which brings me to my story today....

 A few years back I had hired this guy....Mike. Mike would come to my house in the morning for work with his station wagon and his pregnant wife. I noticed that the back of the car was loaded with his belongings, but I hesitated to ask why. Mike was a really good worker although he had a tendency to stare into space every once in a while, and he was also very dependable. One morning, after about a month of being in my employ, I overheard his wife ask him where was she going to park the car for the day. She also said that because the cops were on to them, she couldn't park where she does every day. I went over to the car and told her that she could stay at my house during the day and that I was going to go ask my wife if she had a problem with that. My wife was very accommodating, and let this pregnant woman stay with her during the day.


I was heart stricken....these people were homeless and living in their car!! I was determined to help them. I immediately gave Mike a nice raise, and I gave him extra hours to work every week, even if it meant having him work at my home. I was seeing an improvement in him, and he was now renting a two room efficiency apartment....better than his car!


This one time I got a job to rebuild a fireplace chimney. It was on a really nice home, and the Owners were super nice people. The chimney was in the middle of the home, and was very difficult to get to. We had built a scaffold at the end of the house to get to the roof, but we had to "shimmy" along the ridge of the roof to get to the chimney. The Owner saw this and offered his extension ladder for us to use so that we could access the second story deck, and then another from the deck to the roof. This made the job a million times easier and a lot less scary!


We all (myself, Mike and Jay who was an awesome kid!) worked very hard on this job and after about a week we were finished and cleaning up.First we cleaned up the roof, and we were working our way down. Jay and I would fill up 5 gallon buckets with the debris, and hand them to Mike who would take them down the ladder and dump them in my truck. We now had the second floor deck all cleaned up, and handed the ladder we were using from the deck to the roof to Mike.


He proceeded to put the ladder back where the Owner kept it. He brought it over to the shed, which was about 75 ft away, in the back yard. Jay and I were sweeping up the deck when I noticed that Mike was doing his staring thing. He was just standing there looking at the shed. Me and Jay watched him for a few minutes, and I told Jay to hand me a little chunk of the block that was left behind. I said to Jay..."Watch this I'm gonna scare the stare out of him." I was confident in my aim, and I threw this walnut sized piece of block as hard as I could, aiming directly and expecting to hit the roof of the shed.

 

I watched as the chunk of debris flew through the air...but something was wrong...

Not Mike....but this is what he looked like!

it was headed straight for Mike. Things like this go in slow motion while they're happening and a million things go through your mind, but in real time there is very little time to do anything about the outcome. THUD!!.......I cringed.....Mike went limp, and fell to the ground like a rag doll. I was in shock and screamed to Jay...Oh My God...I think I killed Mike! I flew down the ladder and was beside Mike in a few seconds.....He was moaning...Thank God!! I knelt down next to him, with Jay was right behind me. I called his name....

"Mike, are you okay?"

He stood right up looked at me with a grin and said "Sorry Dominick, I was just standing here and then I heard this load pop! Next thing I know you're standing over me."

I was about to tell him what happened but then he adds, "This happened to me about three times before, I think it might be high blood pressure"

I was embarrassed to tell him what I had done, and figured that what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. That is until he got home and saw that nice red mark on the side of his head! Mike worked for me for about a year after that and by the time he left had a really nice two bedroom apartment and a Beautiful baby boy. He was treated for his high blood pressure by the doctor that I insisted to pay for!

   TIP OF THE DAY:

Today I'm going off subject. I usually like to tie in the tip with the story, but it would be something like don't throw pieces of block at people's heads....obviously a good tip, but.....

INSTALLING LAMINATE FLOORING:

PREP:

• Step 1. Remove any existing wall base or trim. 
• Step 2. Ensure that the subfloor is clean, dry and level before proceeding.
• Step 3. Roll out foam underlayment, which will provide soundproofing and make the floor more comfortable for walking. Don't overlap at the edges. Cut to fit the room, and install according to the manufacturer's instructions. 

• 

  Nice!!

  Step 4. If the flooring won't slide under the door casing, mark the casing 1/16 inch above the flooring. Cut the door casing at the mark with a coping saw or back saw.
  
  INSTALLATION:

• Step 1.Inspect each piece of flooring prior to installation. Remove any damaged pieces.
• Step 2.Cut the tongue off of the first row of flooring.
• Step 3.Starting along one wall, lay out the first row of flooring with the tongue side against the guideline.
• Step 4.Install 1/4-inch spacers between the flooring strip and the wall. The spacers establish the expansion area to allow for floor movement. This gap will be covered later with wall base moulding.
• If the starting wall is crooked, scribe the contour of the wall on the flooring. Cut along this line to produce a board that conforms to the wall contour.
• Step 5.Working from left to right, begin to lay the flooring pieces. Slide each piece to the left, and lock the short end into place. Carefully tap the short ends of the boards to connect them.
• Step 6.When you reach the wall, cut the last piece long enough to fit, while maintaining a 1/4-inch expansion area at each side wall. As the floor is installed, maintain the 1/4-inch expansion area around the entire perimeter of the floor.
• If you're using a hand saw, cut the flooring with the finish side up. If you're using a power saw, cut the flooring with the finish side down. This technique should minimize the possibility of damaging the finish during the cut.
• Step 7.Put the last piece in place with a pry bar, with 1/4-inch spacers at each end of the row.
  Step 8.Leave a 12-inch-minimum overlap between end joints. If the piece left is over 12 inches long, it may be used to begin the next row of flooring. If it's less than 12 inches long, cut a full board in half and use it to start the next row. Always keep a minimum of 12 inches of overlap between the end joints in adjoining rows of boards. Use the pry bar to tighten up the joints.
  Step 9.Continue laying boards one row at a time, locking them into place as you go.
  Step 10.Use spacers to maintain your 1/4-inch expansion space along the walls.

  Step 10. ENJOY!!!

See you next time......from beyond.........