HNT - I found a smaller towel edition

You asked for it, you got it, Toyota.

Umm, I mean washcloth.

Happy HNT y'all!

Y'all ain't gonna believe this....

I'm happy to say

I'm proud to report
I'm gonna take
A vacation of sorts

It's way past time
And long overdue
For a few days on the beach
And some buckets of brew

It'll be a fine time
A pleasure I'm sure
A room on the beach
With a view of azure

Okay, that was a stretch, but yeah, I'm going. Ya see, the 11th is my birthday so that weekend we're headed to Anna Maria Island again. Maybe y'all remember this post when we booked for a night in April. The manager offered us a deal for the summer if we wanted to come back - I just made the reservations. 4 days, 3 nights, room with a balcony on the gulf, the beach just steps away. Hell yeah!

And now, I'd like to invite y'all to Billy's Birthday Bash. Last year was a party at the house, remember? I had to throw people out at 4 am, drunks... It was great. This year is a little smaller, and more contained. No bouncehouse. But, still, a pool and plenty of booze. And the BEACH. I know, I know, you're saying, "but Billy, how can I join you? I live in (fill in the blank, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Michigan, the UK, Kansas, etc.) and I can't get there." Well, remember my post from a couple weeks ago? "Don't tell me what you can't do" make it happen. Or at least send me a nice gift, you've got exactly 21 shopping days left. Better yet, just click the link and make a reservation at Club Bamboo. Join the Pirate for his birthday!

Who knows, I may even buy a book to read. Gonna take the bikes so we can ride as well, should be a good time. Hell, who am I kidding, it's gonna be a great time. And if anybody deserves it, besides you guys for putting up with my whiney ass lately, well, it's me.

Have a great Friday peoples and a good weekend too. I get to sleep in before I go to work tomorrow, lucky me...

HNT - yeah he finally did one edition

Been awhile, actually longer than I had thought.
Probably should have looked for a smaller towel.

Suggestions for next week? If ya got em, maybe I'll do a request edition. Tell me, is there anything you'd like to see?

Happy HNT y'all.

d'ja ever wonder?

Ya know, what's with people? How many of you ever took a job, worked for a couple of months and just never went back? Any hands up? I can't see from here....

Back in the hiring frenzy I picked up a guy we'll call Dick, for conversations sake anyway. Now Dick was a superstar in his own mind, a thirtysomething year old man, with a wife and a couple of kids, and a resume as long as your arm. My first thought was why does this guy want this job? With his skills and equipment he's much better suited for a higher position, why is he coming here. Add to that, he lives a good hour from our corporate offices (makes me feel good to say that).

After 3 days of working he came to me needing gas money, seems he had enough gas to get to work, but, as it turns out, he didn't have enough to get home. Okay, here's a little and some more to get you here tomorrow. (yeah, I never learn) When I was on the jobs he seemed to be taking the lead with the other guys, pushing them, teaching them some carpentry tricks, etc. and being a decent guy.

As time went on I took a dislike to him, all flash and no substance was my take on this dude. My superintendant thought differently so I let it slide, thought maybe he was falling into line. The man had a definite problem with being on time, which he was spoken to about on a number of occasions, by my super. Never seemed to solve the problem though. We had enough work going on, so we put him on a project by himself, didn't matter when he got there, we were paying him by how much work he did, piecework. This was working out, then last week I moved him back to hourly because he was doing something new and had to have a helper to do it.

Turns out for two days he didn't do much of anything... Started Thursday with me on the job, teaching him how to do what needed to be done, I worked with them for a couple of hours going through the particulars and thought he had it down, so I left. Friday he suffered some problems, first he put a screw through a water pipe, flooded the room they were working in. Actually not a big deal, it happens with what we do. Then had a problem with something else so he calls me and says that he's gonna call it a day and come back Saturday, he'll knock it out then and we'll make our inspection on Tuesday no problem.

Come Saturday, the other guys I have on site call me and tell me no Dick. He's not there. I call his cell and get voice mail, leave a message, then another a half hour later, then two more calls no message. No calls back. After another hour or so, I call from my super secret cell phone, a number nobody has and his wife answers, seems he stepped out. I asked her why he didn't come to work but she didn't know. I asked her to have him call me but I have never heard form him.

So why does a grown man just walk away from his job? He knew this was time sensitive, he knew of the upcoming inspection, he knew if he didn't do the work I'd have to. Dick. So, I spent all day Saturday and a good portion of Sunday on the job completing it. Another thing was the quality of the work he did do, it was missing, not so much the work but the quality. He's a fucking hack. Spent three hours correcting what he had done and then had to finish the fucking project myself. It's done, it's done well, and it's over - so is Dick's job. I guess the best part of the whole thing is that I didn't get the chance to fire him, if I had fired his worthless ass he'd been eligible for unemployment at my expense, this way he's just fucked. Gee, I hope he lists me as a reference.

The worst part of it all was that I missed Green Eyes, she was in town Friday and Saturday and I didn't get to see her cuz of all this shit. Wanted to, planned to, but didn't get to. Why do I have to suffer? I was looking forward to beers on the beach with a babe and I spend my time sweating in a building with some ugly guys - life is NOT FAIR. Next time GE I promise, I'll be there.

Sometimes I wonder if it's all worth it... Working my ass off for what? I mean I've not gotten anything out of this yet. Ya'd think by now, a little over a year later it should start paying off. Then again, I've heard most business's fail in the first three years. So, maybe, I'm doing okay? I am still here, I am still solvent, yeah, maybe so. Sometime's I'm just too stubborn to quit.

Unlike Dick.

I'm not dead yet.

(that should have been said with an english accent to reflect one of my favourite movies, who can name it?)

I've just gone missing.

Summer is always the hardest time. Most of our projects are schools, this is the time of the year that all the new ones MUST BE DONE as well as the remodels. Deadlines fly fast and furious, inspections abound and everything must be perfect. We're spread from one end of the state to the other, in June alone we used $2900. worth of gas between three trucks, we be doing some driving.

I am still here, I do check in, and I try to visit y'all. It's just tough to do. Thanks for coming by and I will endeavor to have an HNT up next week worthy of all my friends.

For now, I'm off again.

The Pirate