“so will I” (1 Viewer)

Uncle Gizmo · Jan 19, 2018

I happened upon some comments about a tenant on a forum. The gist of it is the tenant wants their toilet fixed, but insists the landlord arranges for the plumber to come outside of normal working hours. One of the replies in the thread was quite good I thought and I repeat it here:-

Adrian says

I am reminded about a very funny comment by our plumber (now retired) to a tenant some years ago when arranging access (I forget what the problem was).

Tenant: “I will be at home after work from 5.30pm onwards”

Plumber: “so will I”

Alc · Jan 24, 2018

It says quite a bit for how much work that plumber's getting if he can afford to just work 'office hours'.

We had a hardware store while I was growing up, so dealt with a lot of electricians, plumbers, and the like. The one thing they all had in common was a need and a willingness to work when the customer required it. If you can turn down jobs because they fall outside certain hours, you're doing pretty well for yourself.

Uncle Gizmo · Jan 24, 2018

There are two issues which are not apparent from what I've posted...

The first one is that the landlord will only want to pay the plumber his normal rate. By working outside of office hours the plumber is going to want a higher rate. The tenant wants the plumber to do the work in the evening, but does not want to pay the difference between the plumbers normal rate and out-of-hours rate.

The second, some people like to have good definition between work life and family life and will not work outside of office hours. It is possible to survive on a lower income, if you feel your family life is more important. It's just a decision you make...

jleach · Jan 24, 2018

Uncle Gizmo said:
some people like to have good definition between work life and family life and will not work outside of office hours. It is possible to survive on a lower income, if you feel your family life is more important. It's just a decision you make...

Right on. Sometimes you just have to draw the line somewhere. Money isn't everything.

Mark_ · Jan 24, 2018

Uncle Gizmo said:
The second, some people like to have good definition between work life and family life and will not work outside of office hours. It is possible to survive on a lower income, if you feel your family life is more important. It's just a decision you make...

I will second this. I stopped doing custom development because I could not have a "family life" while working 100+ hour weeks.

Money is useless if you have no time to use it.

The_Doc_Man · Jan 24, 2018

Amen to that, brother. Some years ago I became a certified workaholic. My social life was nil and I was heading towards a nervous breakdown. I had so much leave accumulated that it took me half a year to burn off the hours even taking a day or two each week. Like, over 400 hours. And because there were times when the company had asked us to postpone vacations due to "crunch" time and because I had responded, they couldn't just write it off. (Well, they could have, but they were actually pretty good about it.)

Events caused me to see help (which is where the "certified workaholic" status was confirmed.) I learned to seek balance in my life. It took a long time to break out of that mold but I did. Now (as my signature attests) I have family in the form of a wife and some stepkids and some grandkids.

Towards the end of my contractor career, whenever I got a couple of extra hours, I always took the time, not the money. I was comfortable. Not elegantly rich, not super affluent - but comfortable taking time to be with family.

Frothingslosh · Jan 26, 2018

I'm trying to explain that to a co-worker even now. His response to a bad review (for a year where he had all SORTS of personal life issues out of his control happen as well as a major project that went completely pear-shaped due to recalcitrant clients) has been to start working 100 hour weeks. He flat-out stated that he'd rather work himself into the hospital than get another bad review.

I'm considering introducing him to the concept of karōshi.

Mark_ · Jan 26, 2018

I'd introduce him to Karaoke instead....

Frothingslosh · Jan 26, 2018

You've obviously never heard me 'sing'.

Mark_ · Jan 26, 2018

Frothingslosh said:
You've obviously never heard me 'sing'.

Fortunately then the advice wasn't directed towards you...

More to the point, its not about the health of that poor audience that may have to sit through any rendition!

Frothingslosh · Jan 26, 2018

Mark_ said:
Fortunately then the advice wasn't directed towards you...

More to the point, its not about the health of that poor audience that may have to sit through any rendition!

Yeah, but when you take someone to karaoke, you are kind of obligated to sing. And I just don't react well to people screaming and bleeding from their ears.

The_Doc_Man · Jan 26, 2018

To be brutally honest, when it comes to singing, I can't carry a tune in a #5 washtub. (You have to be a bit "country" to understand the reference.) However, if I have an electronic organ, either a spinet or console, I might actually surprise you. My music is not in my voice but in my hands.

Mark_ · Jan 26, 2018

@Doc,
So your saying your singing goes into the circle 13 file?

Frothingslosh · Jan 26, 2018

I actually have perfect pitch.

What I don't have is the slightest bit of vocal control.

So that means that not only is my singing terrible, but I *KNOW* how terrible it sounds, and my attempts at getting on-pitch just make it that much worse. It's almost as painful for me to hear as it is for anyone listening.

Ironically, I was an all-state level trombone player in high school, and taught myself a bit of piano. Music as a career didn't interest me, though - I just couldn't make myself practice enough for that, which broke my music teacher's heart.

Mark_ · Jan 27, 2018

Trombone player, at least it kept you out of treble in school. Just stick to the Bassics and you'll be fine.

Frothingslosh · Jan 27, 2018

Okay, that's funny.

Mark_ · Jan 27, 2018

Frothingslosh said:
Okay, that's funny.

So my humor finally struck a chord with you? Hmmm... must take note of that. Now if we could just keep harmony in here everything would be well, but apparently I'm preaching to the choir.

The_Doc_Man · Jan 27, 2018

So your saying your singing goes into the circle 13 file?

I would be PLEASED if my notes would be that accurate. But they are all over the place. When I'm done singing, everyone else's lips will betray a quaver or two.

“so will I” (1 Viewer)

Uncle Gizmo

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Alc

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Uncle Gizmo

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jleach

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Mark_

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The_Doc_Man

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Frothingslosh

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Mark_

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The_Doc_Man

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Mark_

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Mark_

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The_Doc_Man

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