What's up guys...

What's up guys. :)>>>

Old School Said: We are still here...having at it!

LOL!

Man, it feels great since I got back to working for myself!

Everything that I've always dreamed about doing, I'm doing now.

Before, I felt like I was trying to put a square peg in a round hole.

I couldn't change the peg, so I changed the hole!

:laugh:

Greetings and Salutations Gents!

LOL I hear Ye, selling from a showroom is not me, managing from an office is not me, I had to slate in a boiler flue and had a ball, That's Me.

So I run to every Solar project I can because it gets me on the roof, when selling a system I was so against a tube system being mounted on a slate roof that the customer looked at me and said "Are you here about the roof or the Solar" LOL

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I feel so good. :D Saturday, I tore into a roof. Felt so "right".

Call it a curse or a blessing, @ 40 years old, it's finally sunk in... in the immortal words of Popeye...

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Miscreant Said: Whats up second Gen?

I still got a 87 Fisher Montare. Id like to get another one but cant justify it because this one is still hanging in. Time for another wheel set though.

I love Fishers.

I actually met Gary Fisher at a Trek Demo day. He was the coolest. He signed my Roscoe!

You have to try out the newer bikes. I'm keeping my Opie for life. I won't ever get rid of her. Fact is, I used her as part of my rehab last year when I ruptured my calf muscle.

Ride on Miscreant!>>>

What's up second Gen?

I still got a '87 Fisher Montare. I'd like to get another one but can't justify it because this one is still hanging in. Time for another wheel set though.>>>

Rozziroofer Said: 2ndgen In ur 1st post it sounded like u left out of politics or having to pass POOR work.

It was for both (and other) reasons.

Then you went on and mentioned you would not budge for nothin. Did you leave because ur conscience ?

No, because I couldn't control my decisions, so my conscience was clear. When I realized what was going on, I knew I was leaving and stopped after the first time I was told to let something go. I'd make a decision, it would get overruled. My responsibility ended there. If I had stayed, then I'd be responsible for contributing to what was going on.

Sounded as if you had a job that was better for ur future (body knee back pain)and in todays economy better financially. What was the real reason ?

I'm sorry if the truth isn't enough for you, but I wasn't desperate for work when I took the job. In fact, I had enough work to carry me through the winter (in December). And what's best for my future is that I do work I can be proud of where I don't have to give up my ethical standards.

Plus, I missed physically working. See, I actually love to climb roofs and hump shingles and bang out a few sqaures per hour with my gun. I'm a "Roofer". Roofing isn't just what I do, it's what I "am".

As far as money went, I live by this saying: "Do what you love and the money will follow." I was miserable. And the money was "less".

;)>>>

Vaa Fakaosifolau Said: Hey, one day Im coming your way to Mountain Bike out there Vaa! Hope we can get together for some Roast Pork!

:P Ha thats what we had for dinner last night, just after you posted. I lent my Mountain Bike to the Bird Sanctuary for the use of some exchange student from the US who is working there, the Summer is over now, thanks for reminding me I should go chase it up and get it back if they are finished with it. Either its wrecked or they fixed it ( it had some chain jumping issues :S )

You lent you bike out?

Do you lend out your wife and tools too?

LOL!

I have a 2007 Gary Fisher Opie now + a 2009 Gary Fisher Roscoe I I just bought (along with a 2009 Trek 1.5 Road Bike). Have to get ride of my vintage Giant RS900 Road bike and my '95 Kona Explosif MTB. I have to many bikes. :D

Well, at least it's good to know I'll have a riding buddy to go with. I'm going to take the Roscoe (of course) with me.

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2ndgen In ur 1st post it sounded like u left out of politics or having to pass POOR work. Then you went on and mentioned you would not budge for nothin. Did you leave because ur conscience ? Sounded as if you had a job that was better for ur future (body knee back pain)and in today's economy better financially. What was the real reason ?>>>

[size=5]And another reason...[/size]

Click on this link to see pic full size to read...well worth it!

http://www.gamingnexus.com/Images/Article/1938/fett.jpg

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Vaa Fakaosifolau Said: Glad you seen sense :laugh: (coming back on the roof)

Inspectors have a hard job, most of what they have to say is bad news and you have to be a special type of person to do that job. Sounds like you have very high morals 2nd Gen, it must be hard to let things slide when you know they aint right.

Im hoping the Inspector is going to let slide some heat warps and marks on the pvc gutters and skip the bleed out dusting with white granules on the job I have just finished, I know he is an ex-builder and knows nothing about Torchon, any tips on how to handle him ............. :P

Hey Vaa, yeah, a nice big "envelope" will blind him to those loose ends! :laugh:

Thanks for the compliments. :) Some things are "reasonable" to let go, but these guys are getting overpaid and their still not doing the job right while using the cheapest labor possible and putting their own kids in private school. That's why they don't care. I'll tell you this...I didn't let anything go. What I did was give them a fair extension so that they could "get it right". I've never had a contractor ask me for anything more than that because they knew I wouldn't budge.

The smart ones would fix the problems. But those that would try to get poor workmanship by, I'd all of a sudden couldn't inspect their work for 2 weeks (holding up their checks). This would induce miracles from them! LOL They'd call me within 24 hours telling me that they fixed everything. That's how you had to deal with these dicks.

Long story short, my jobs were starting to get ahead of schedule because of this and I got the speech that I had to "slow down". That ticked me off. That's when I figured some things out and knew I wouldn't last there anyway.

Hey, one day I'm coming your way to Mountain Bike out there Vaa! Hope we can get together for some Roast Pork!

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Hey Old School.

I always loved "roofers". You have to be a nut to be a roofer.

Who else want's to climb "off" of the safe ground then work against gravity in all kinds of weather. You know you're tough when you tell a construction worker what you do and they flinch and say "damn". Yep, you definitely have to be a certain "type" of person.

Every once in a while, I'll put my gun down and just bang out a square or two with my hatchet. Granted, I love my gun(s), but I also love the Zen of nailing with a hatchet too.

:)>>>

Just realized something...after a quick stint as a Roofing Inspector for a municipal organization, thinking that I'd found a "job" I could love, I came back to working for myself. I lasted about 2 months.

However, it was coming years before I got this job. I'd been thinking about getting out of working for myself for the longest and even looked at starting a whole new field of work (Framing/Carpentry). I just turned 40 on Valentine's Day and thought, ok, I need to secure myself now. Hence, the gig as an Inspector. While it was by far the easiest job I ever had and the money was incredible ($100K/year), there was just too much B.S. for me to deal with. There was "too much" I HAD TO let slide just to get jobs closed. It sucked. I just couldn't do it. It turned my stomach some of the work that I had to approve of (against my will). What they wanted was "good enough" and this was for schools! School for kids!

Anyway, it was a tough choice (especially in this economic time), but I walked away last Friday. Whatever. I know that the roofing gods (not RoofingGod! LOL! ) will bless me with work. Thing is, I spent all last year rebuillding myself and put my tools down for this job. The whole time I thought, "What am I doing?" But I did it. I did it out of fear. The fear that I couldn't bag any work (which is justifiable) or that I had to compete at super low prices.

But...as today is Easter (by the way, Happy Easter & Passover to you and your loved ones), I too feel ressurected. This time, I'm sure that I'm meant to work for myself "as" a Roofer. Not just because my old man is a Roofer, not just because I can't do anything else, not just because I'm desperate, but because I honestly love it (though I hated it when business sucked and I ran into some really dubious customers and employees).

So now what?

Get to work.

I can't wait to start my jobs (oh yeah, I wasn't stupid...I stacked the coin I was getting from my work and kept my jobs lined up "just in case" things didn't work out). I'm ready. I can't wait to put on my boots again and to strap on my belt and to fire up my compressor and to start banging away.

Let me just say this...over the past few years, I got screwed when I got offered a gig in Florida that turned out to be nothing leaving me homeless while I lived on my savings because they kept me there for months on hold, I suffered a couple of business deals that could've buried me (but I squared them away and handled those who tried to screw me) and I had a leg injury that I thought would cripple me for life. Not only that, we have GC's here using their roofing to keep their guys busy (i.e. charging just enough to pay their bills). The trade here got flooded with jacklegs (which is GREAT in a way because the quality of roofing here has gone downhill just as I predicted making my work stand out and giving me the right to get top dollar). There's just been this succession of crap (for lack of a better word) that kept me wishing my last name was Trump.

But, I have survived it all.

I never felt comfortable "not" working physically. I felt as I had this great easy job, like I "quit". I just wasn't happy. Fact is, I hated it.

I had to come back home to the roof. I am a truly fortunate man. I am ressurected. I am blessed.

I am a Roofer.

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