I left a job almost 4 years ago now, excellent pay/benefits but i went home miserable everyday. After almost 10 years I had enough.
Making much less but much happier.
Making much less but much happier.
Steps towards a simpler life
- Thread starter Jampy00
- Start date
My loss last summer changed everything.
Been self-employed since '07 but now consider myself semi-retired. Will work on what comes my way, but don't hustle.
Long overdue, as a now single dad, I got a full health work up (found a great dr), and at 55, all good.
Scottish ancestry so always had a 'rainy day fund' approach to life. I'm good.
Been self-employed since '07 but now consider myself semi-retired. Will work on what comes my way, but don't hustle.
Long overdue, as a now single dad, I got a full health work up (found a great dr), and at 55, all good.
Scottish ancestry so always had a 'rainy day fund' approach to life. I'm good.
No kids negates that issue!
For a happy life you have to be happy with who you are with
Happy with where you are
Then a bit further down that list is happy with work.
Work to live, not the other way round.
Edit: doh. a bit slow on the uptake- we just see mousaka as a Greek lasagna for people that ran out of pasta and have eggplant in season.
Agreed, meal time can be stressful when you're short on time.
Our goal is just to try to make better food choices.
Hard to have a good day/night without the proper fuel.
Yes, both my wife and I have been there.
Now commutes around 15 minutes and we're both home much happier.
Learning to say no was a big one for me . That and being a lifelong sales weasel I ate in restaurants seven or eight times a week . I take way less clients out , my check liver light stopped flashing and I just feel better . Cutting alcohol down was huge , not out , just less .
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Cheers to that *pours another scotch*
Residential work is as good as the client. I've met some really nice people, bringing me coffee on cold days and cold water on hot days. When you're on service calls all day access to a washroom is nice.
Conversely, I'm wearing safety boots not shoes. I'm not offended if you put down some old carpet or cheap floor protection from Home Depot.
I'm not a millwright so I'm not moving the grand piano. If holes have to be made I'm not a drywaller or painter.
I was doing a repair on a butcher job and the client was complaining about the electrician he used. The more he talked the angrier he got. Then he asked me if I knew a good electrician.
I mentioned one that I really liked. He washed his hands after handling BX so he wouldn't leave smudge marks everywhere.
"What does he charge?"
Never mind. You want good and cheap.
I told myself I need to drink less.
But on the other hand, who wants to listen to advice given by a drunk weirdo who talks to himself...?
My good friend is a master electrician, he also avoids residential unless you`re a referral. Too many 'why is this taking so long' 'aren't you supposed to use that tool' 'can i ask you walk me through how you did that' situations.
Learning is fun, even if you suck at the results. If you have the right attitude, you don't usually suck. You've got to keep your head above water but if money is the goal instead the end result, you'll probably suck.
"I saw something on YouTube...."
A friend liked to chat with the trades as they worked. While engrossed with the conversation the guy installing the tub surround cut the holes in the wrong end and had to buy a new panel. STFU when I'm working.
AllistonGT
Well-known member
They don't stop to think they want the work done but at the same time slow us down.
I'm not an easy client. I watch. If they are taking shortcuts that will screw me in the future, I give them crap. I hired you to do a good job not the fastest hack job you can pull off. Thankfully, there aren't a lot of things I need to hire out.
EDIT:
On a related note, since we have a bunch of smart people here, ftth was installed a while ago and the coil is dropped outside the wall. I assume they will do a shite job routing the fibre from it's current location to the router. The easiest path is up the outside wall and through stucco. Hell no. For unknown reasons, that wall has a header that is about 8" tall and a prick to snake through. I plan on installing a conduit run so they can penetrate the wall just above the ground and pull the fibre to the router. Obviously fill isn't going to be an issue but I have no idea about radius required for fibre. Is installing my own path making my life simpler or not? More work for me now, less annoyance and repairs for me in the future.
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The installer is likely told some easy rule like 20 times cable diameter or a certain min radius. There is loss due to bending but also the type of drop cable (it may be very stiff). For SMF (single mode...) just for loss I would make any bend no tighter than 30mm radius/60mm diameter but bigger is generally better. So for your install, if you are using PVC conduit with a sweeping elbow I expect you will be fine. A pull elbow may be too tight?? When installing add a fish line (string) to pull the fibre through but the rub may also be they refuse to use it as it is unknown...I'm not an easy client. I watch. If they are taking shortcuts that will screw me in the future, I give them crap. I hired you to do a good job not the fastest hack job you can pull off. Thankfully, there aren't a lot of things I need to hire out.
EDIT:
On a related note, since we have a bunch of smart people here, ftth was installed a while ago and the coil is dropped outside the wall. I assume they will do a shite job routing the fibre from it's current location to the router. The easiest path is up the outside wall and through stucco. Hell no. For unknown reasons, that wall has a header that is about 8" tall and a prick to snake through. I plan on installing a conduit run so they can penetrate the wall just above the ground and pull the fibre to the router. Obviously fill isn't going to be an issue but I have no idea about radius required for fibre. Is installing my own path making my life simpler or not? More work for me now, less annoyance and repairs for me in the future.
The SMF drop will not like a bend radius that is too small as it will cause optical loss (aka macro bending, light is lost in the cladding...). For example, in a pinch in the lab or "temporarily" in a CO we would wrap the fibre around a pencil and tape it as an attenuator to drop the dBm at the receiver if the loss was insufficient for the tx rx pair. Back in the day someone wrote a paper on dB loss per pencil wrap. They also make plastic attenuators you place the fibre in that zigzag it for this same purpose, just more formal. Technically minimum bend radius is also wavelength depedant but long story short, pencil radius is too small....
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Whenever someone asks me if I know a good electrician to work on their house my standard answere is “Yeah but I can’t even afford him”.
I have NO issue paying people for work done . Show up when you say , or call. Do the job like you have to use it or look at it for years . Then do leave too much mess . If Sparky tells me he’s XX an hour that’s fine , nobody should work for free. But please don’t blow a 
” hole in a wall because the 
/
” saw was in the other truck . ( not kidding here )
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” hole in a wall because the 
/
” saw was in the other truck . ( not kidding here ) Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
I think maybe it helps to live the simple life it you've already experienced it. I grew up with minimal toys, around minimal people out in the countryside, and no silver spoon. I have experienced the more extravagant life but I have no desire for it.
It’s not so much getting paid enough that’s the problem. Sometimes you just go to do a simple job at someone’s house and you quickly realize that the homeowner or some “handyman” has been doing the electrical work there for the last 50 years. I’ve seen some pretty horrific stuff. It blows my mind that people will pay a million dollars plus for a house in Toronto with the original 60 amp 12 circuit fuse panel yet not want to spend $2000-$3000 to upgrade their service. They’ll spend $10,000 on a fridge or sofa but not a nickel on their electrical because at the end of the day “it works”. If you had a car that was worth a million dollars would you do your own brake job or let the drywall guy do it? Just because something “works” doesn’t mean that it’s safe. If someone doesn’t heed my advice I tell them to make sure their smoke detectors all work and then I turn around and run. Always , always, always get a licenced electrician to do the work and get it inspected. I know a lot of you will say “the white wire goes to the white wire and black to black, I’m not paying someone to do that”. The problem is if you look at the wire your using, there’s a date stamped on it, if your house burns down and there is no record of a permit or inspection after that date of your premises, you may have voided your insurance and they may not pay out. Insurance companies are not your friend, ask anyone that has made a claim in the last few yearsI have NO issue paying people for work done . Show up when you say , or call. Do the job like you have to use it or look at it for years . Then do leave too much mess . If Sparky tells me he’s XX an hour that’s fine , nobody should work for free. But please don’t blow a
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