swt61

Congrat Tom! Wayne, I know this is my chance to impart a little 'queer eye for the straight' guy wisdom here, but sadly I haven't a clue. Does that make me a complete failure?

That is truly freaky looking. Your hair matches your glasses frame perfectly though.

Al, I hope we'll get to see pics once the job is completed. Sounds fantastic!

Sounds like a great rig, that's going to get even greater in a few days. Nice work securing awesome gear.

This!

Just so you don't get the wrong idea, normally I'm all about letting people come out when they're comfortable doing so, but fuck it, I'm outing this guy! See the expression on the guy behind the rider? Where the other guy looks miffed, if not actually a bit stand offish, this guy is giving that come hither look. He's learned to accentuate those cheek bones, and give the pouty lip thing all at the same time. And if that's not enough, I submit the right hand. 'Nuff said!

Wow, some really good suggestions here! Now I'm busy researching. Al, thanks for the tip and that link! Dan, I've been a Junkies fan since '90 or '91. Got turned on to them while commercial fishing, by a busty blonde that would've knocked you off your feet. Skully, Tift Merritt is awesome! I'm her newest fan as of this moment. Will research all the other tips. Doug, I've seen that guy somewhere before, but forgot about him. Cool stuff!

Wow! A big, huge congrat Dad!

Oh don't freak out, I'm talking about music. As many seem to do as they get a bit older, I seem to be getting a bit stale as to new artists. I thought a thread where people could toss out some recommendations might be handy. As for my musical taste... as far as genres, nothing's really off the table. I'm not a big fan of Rap, but there are exceptions of coarse. I think the Bluegrass-Rap that opens up the series Justified is brilliant. I love, love, love great female vocalist. Alison Krauss, Nora Jones, Alison Moyet, Billie Holiday etc... I also love great male vocalist. Buble, Brian Ferry, Tony Hadley, Freddie Mercury, Ray Price etc... I like Jazz, Blues, Classic Rock, Alternative, Country (especially classic country, Cash etc...), even some Bluegrass. Classical music is on the table, but on a more limited basis for me, as I love lyrics, and a good story. Though Spanish guitar is always welcome. When I do sit down to listen to music I generally want to be soothed, so really Heavy Rock is not really my thing. Just to clarify, I don't put Zep., Priest, or Ozzy into that category.

Oh, I forgot to mention that one job I'm just wrapping up is a garage. It seems my neighbor went with a bid much lower than mine. The contractor was arrested in the middle of the job for fraudulent business practices, among other things. So he calls me to finish this guys handy work. Turns out nothing was done to code (no permit had ever been sought). No threaded rod embedded in the slab to hold down the bottom plates, no hurricane clips to secure the incorrectly stick framed rafters. No Simpson fastening systems of any kind, just nails, and smooth, brights at that. Ringshank galvies are minimum requirement for nails on this type of job. Not one stud was plumb, not one piece of exterior sheeting was plumb, or nailed to code. So the homeowner was less than thrilled when after $35,000 into said project the garage had to be dismantled and completely rebuilt. I did manage to salvage a lot of the lumber, since it was so poorly fastened together. During demolition, one of my guys dropped his hammer. The hammer broke right through the slab. It seems that said contractor decided to save himself a bunch of money by filling the forms with sand (after the homeowner left for work) and poring 1/2" - 3/8" of concrete on top. I think he now understands that the lowest bid might not actually be the best way to go.

OK, well I'm glad to hear that at least the work that has been accomplished seems to be to a high standard. Once all is finished that will be the most important thing for your piece of mind. It does sound like you have a contractor that's promising the moon as far as time schedule, and that's a common tactic (one which I do not subscribe to). Like I said before, I've lost bids because of my honesty of time schedules. But it works for me, as most of my jobs stay on track. Remodeling is trickier than new construction, because you never know what you may uncover regarding previous work, so I always address those possibilities too. If your contractor is doing good quality work, then chances are he wants to get finished too. As time is money. He's probably dealing with sub issues and maybe just bad at organization and time management. As frustrating as that can be, it's at least better than poor workmanship, or worse yet work that they're quite aware is sub-standard. In other words it sounds as though he at least wants to do a good job. I imagine that you have a payment schedule, where payments are in 3 or 4 large lumps, dependent on completion of phases? I have adopted the practice of not excepting final payment until the homeowner lives with the space for a month (much to my partners dismay), but it gives them time to relax and gain assurance that everything works as planned. Of coarse that's on top of a warranty. It also establishes a trust between us, and is just good for business, as about 35-40% of my business is repeat business. And a hell of a lot of my business is from referrals of past clients. I'd strongly recommend that you talk about doing the same, once work has been completed. I'd also start keeping a punch list right away. Sometimes things can slip your mind. And don't hesitate to call the city inspector yourself, if you feel something may not have been done to code. Again, it seems that most of your issues are schedule related, and I feel your pain, really! If you have any concerns that you want to get advice on, don't hesitate to call Al. And do not pay ahead of scheduled plan! But I know you're smarter than that!

Al I understand too well your anger. Even I've been responsible for that kind of anger (due to unforeseen problems). Today I tend to be as upfront as possible about things that can unexpectedly occur. I've actually lost a few jobs from that type of honesty, but I think it's saved a lot of bad feelings. Even great contractors run into things that they didn't anticipate. On the other hand, there are plenty of bad contractors who continually fuck things up. I hope your problems lie more with the former than latter. Glad you had a good time at your 30th reunion though! Didn't get back to Alaska for mine.

But you've recently decided to start wearing pants while cooking? Must've had a bad bacon incident eh?

Well work even faster, as I always look forward to seeing your final products!

I actually wish we had a better solution for anetode, as that's the same reason I found the other site. Which of coarse lead to this one.

Really, we just do it to drive Texans crazy!

Pffft! That's what we start our grade schoolers out on in my 'hood. When your festicals drop...

Tyler, if you ever decide to switch over to Fitz' and my team, it'll be an easy transition!

^ Nothing worse than a dirty festical.

Like you don't know perfectly well what buggery means.

So do the ticks apparently. Never knew NY was such haven for them.

You can say that twice! Oh wait...

I think the Monkey is pretty happy with his. I've not read a bad review of it.

Sorry to hear that Dinny! Hope you get better soon.

Congrat on the apartment Jacob!