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.........