Testing Episode IV: A New Lament

[Big Orangutan]

Also we had a handful of pervs kicked out by con bouncers for harassing the professional female cosplayers (very attractive women in skimpy or skintight outfits).

[Gands]

Moral of the story: never stay at hostels ever.

Depends on the hostel. We always stay in hostels, and it's awesome.

[Big Orangutan]

Well the communal/bar area to the Arsenal Inn hostel was OK and it was an experience (but if I can avoid it I'd go to the Premier Inn for similar trips next time).

[Bounty]

Hostels can be pretty cool chill places for little money if the management know what the're doing.

[Big Orangutan]

To be fair the staff were professional and discreet enough in running the place, plus I wasn't harmed, and nothing was stolen, with the majority of guests being cool and going to the anime convention as well. I just didn't think much about the bathroom facilities and bedding.

[The Spartan]

So, I'm trying to move so that I can cut my commute down (2+ hours in my car every damn day). To do that I have to sell my house. To do that I have to get my house ready to sell. There's little things here and there that need fixing, most of the rooms needed to be repainted (because of tiny, nail holes in the wall where I had something hanging), a couple blinds needed to be replaced because the gears inside had stripped. Shit like that.

It's enough that I can't do it and need to hire someone to come out and do most of it. And I'm ready to just not even bother. First guy quotes a good price, gets a down payment, then tries to claim his tools were stolen and if I just gave him some more money he could get started (pull the other one). No, you agreed on a price, get to work. He gets a few things done. "Oh, I couldn't get in today so I didn't do anything." "Oh, I'll try to come down today and do this or that." He was supposed to be done a week and a half ago. I got fed up and fired him.

I try to hire someone else and he tries to gouge me on the price.

How the fuck do these guys stay in business? What does it take to get shit done?

[timmy]

I dunno about Houston, but in Australia for the last ten or so years it's been a seller's market when it comes to tradies.

[Stofsk]

Yep. Who knew by cutting funding to technical schools you see the supply side of the trades shrink which means they get to command higher prices because demand remains the same.

[Dude]

Look, just shut up and go to university ok.

Who cares if you get a PhD in English Literature and end up running a cat shelter?

[Ralin]

Yep. Who knew by cutting funding to technical schools you see the supply side of the trades shrink which means they get to command higher prices because demand remains the same.

When you put it that way, it actually did work out pretty well, so... maybe slashing education isn't such a bad thing after all?

[The Spartan]

Yeah... these guys aren't tradesman per se. They're licensed and bonded by the state, but they're "handymen" rather than a specific trade, i.e. they didn't go to trade school. So it's not like I'm hiring, say, an electrician to bring my house up to current code (or what have you). That, I can expect and understand to pay a certain premium for.

These guys... I mean, I don't expect it to be dirt cheap; I know they have to make a living, I'm not stupid, but when you bid me a price and I agree to it then that's what you work at, you don't drag your feet or make shit up or make excuses until I fire you. And the other guy, I think he was just assuming that I was stupid. He wanted twice what would would have been reasonable.

There's still no shortage of tradesmen and handymen around, though. Even with the emphasis on university and so on.

I've got a realtor I've spoken to about what I need to do to sell my house and I'm going to call him and see if he has someone that he uses.

[Stofsk]

Look, just shut up and go to university ok.

Who cares if you get a PhD in English Literature and end up running a cat shelter?

what have you got against lit majors

or cats

[Dude]

Its more like I feel sorry for my cousin.

[evilsoup]

running a cat shelter doesn't seem too bad tbh

[Dude]

It's probably less stress then escorting deportees, which was her previous gig. I just find it funny that for all the emphasis on university, the only family member actually working in her field is my sister, she's an archeologist. Even my mother switched careers.

Unfortunately my cousin has the family curse; depression.

[The Spartan]

So there's been a gay marriage in Texas. I haven't heard anyone talk about it, but reading the comments in the news from the wonderful men who were elected to run this state in response to the wedding makes me so proud to be a Texan.

And of course by proud I mean ashamed.

[Big Orangutan]

Jeez, the "Polish government reparations to unjustly imprisoned/roughed up terror suspects" thread over in SD.Net's N&P escalated into angry, pent up nonsense pretty fast....

[Darksi4190]

Thanas being smug, Flagg and coffee being hyper aggressive.

Must be Thursday.

[evilsoup]

its actually saturday?? it says it right there at the top of your post

[Big Orangutan]

Well it was started on Thursday the 19th.

Thanas being smug, Flagg and coffee being hyper aggressive.

The pseudo-intellectual pseudo-moralising asshole is good at pushing people's buttons.

[Ralin]

The pseudo-intellectual pseudo-moralising asshole is good at pushing people's buttons.

I suppose you would know!

[Big Orangutan]

The pseudo-intellectual pseudo-moralising asshole is good at pushing people's buttons.

I suppose you would know!

You should know (without the moralising, of course, because you seem to have none).

[RogueIce]

Days Without Sanity-Loss Drama Incident: 0

[Crazedwraith]

Sorry to hear it RI

[Oxymoron]

I'm actually unsure if he's talking about his personal life, or the series of posts above his.