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.........