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Please tell me an inspiring tale of a young person who has the ability to solve problems with no one spoon feeding them the solution, follow instruction, execute work in a timely manner, refuses to be outworked by a 43 year old, and doesn't feel entitled to a paycheck for piss-poor performance. My other company depends on having subcontractors do much of the work and at times I am terrified that the health and reputation of that company depends on people other than myself, usually younger people. I am getting older, have another business to run, and I can't do it all. I am hoping for a resurgence of skilled and intelligent craftsmen, but there are no indicators outside of my imagination that would indicate that thought is anything more than a pipe dream. I need some hope and obama didn't deliver.

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I'm not trying to brag, but I do darn good work and I'm proud of it. My co-workers don't always like me because I berate them for sloppy work since I'm the one who has to go back and fix it. However our company workforce is getting older and not many young people are coming in. It can be depressing.

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Personal observations.  May be wrong ...

 

Yep ... father time marches on.  Sometimes the newer younger generation DO SHOW HOPE.  Recently we framed a house using old fashioned framing hammers and 16 penny green sinker nails.  No power on site.  No gen.  No air.  Armstrong tools only.

 

Long story.  Rural site.  SW OR USA.

 

Amazingly when the three young men arrived EARLY on the job it was explained to them the construction method.  They even had brought their own personal nail aprons and tools.  Worked very hard.  Almost harder than us old coots?  Amazing indeed.  Wow!

 

The nice home to be of the thousand hand cuts and hand driven nails.

 

But it cuts both ways.  I recently, (kinda) made a homecoming to my old Fire Department where years ago I drove a fire engine.  The job has completely changed.  Too much reliance upon modern technology.  The new guys driving/pumping can not even steer the rigs.

 

They do not even pull routine maintenance or inspections.  The corporation yard now does it all.

 

Totally dependent upon the computer chip.  They now have power steering, automatic transmissions, enclosed cabs, air conditioning and fully assisted street signals.  Automated fire pump controls.  They are NOT being taught the old manual ways.  Very sad to see.

 

They can NOT even drive a manual transmission older fire apparatus.  Never learned how.  Wow!

 

If faced with a situation outside their knowledge or wisdom base they just lock up and fall out of the loop.  The promotion process is too fast.  Not enough fire experience.  Too many computers and personal gadgets.  Not enough sweat or bumps and dings and lumps.

 

Unless they get their instant hot shower, they feel grubby.  Well hell!  We never showered.  But we stank good!

 

I suppose it is this way all over.  We regress to the old days.  Were the old ways better or not?  I feel they were because we had default positions taught to us.  Sweat and manual labor.  Time marches on?  The problem is that most new guys are too soft and do not care?

 

Rant complete.  Just me.  Respectfully.

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Personal observations.  May be wrong ...

 

Yep ... father time marches on.  Sometimes the newer younger generation DO SHOW HOPE.  Recently we framed a house using old fashioned framing hammers and 16 penny green sinker nails.  No power on site.  No gen.  No air.  Armstrong tools only.

 

Long story.  Rural site.  SW OR USA.

 

Amazingly when the three young men arrived EARLY on the job it was explained to them the construction method.  They even had brought their own personal nail aprons and tools.  Worked very hard.  Almost harder than us old coots?  Amazing indeed.  Wow!

 

The nice home to be of the thousand hand cuts and hand driven nails.

 

Snip

 

I have sunk a good many lacquered or vinyl clad sinkers over the years.. And while the old ways are good to remember, it is hard to beat the holding power of modern ring shanks from a nail gun.

One thing that has changed is the number of fasteners required in a home has gone up significantly.. One we did not that long ago had something like 250 lbs of metal clips and straps that had to be nailed in.. Sure you can slug all those nails in with a hammer, but I'd rather just use the palm nailer or a positive placement nail gun and be done with the job.. Having your shoulder joint lock up from repetitive motion sucks.. Also hand driving ring shank nails into souther yellow pine is likely something done in the inner circle of hell to torment the worst of politicians, it is miserable beyond description. 

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I'm not trying to brag, but I do darn good work and I'm proud of it. My co-workers don't always like me because I berate them for sloppy work since I'm the one who has to go back and fix it. However our company workforce is getting older and not many young people are coming in. It can be depressing.

You must be my long lost brother. I am trying to drop the berating because these people are so easily offended and sensitive. I had some pout and pull off of a job because I chewed their asses for not showing up with a plan. News Bulletin! $140k swimming pool and there is some detail there that might warrant bringing the plan. Seems like it would be common sense. Whatever, I did the work myself. If they don't want the money I'll keep it.

 

Dude, I'm 48 and had given up hope on the younglings until I started my current job. I work with two young men, 24 and 27 and I have to say that they are OUTSTANDING. They give me hope.

Give them a big warm hug from uncle evl wink.png I'd pay big bucks to some guys that could outwork me and not goof things up for stupid reasons.

 

Personal observations.  May be wrong ...

 

Yep ... father time marches on.  Sometimes the newer younger generation DO SHOW HOPE.  Recently we framed a house using old fashioned framing hammers and 16 penny green sinker nails.  No power on site.  No gen.  No air.  Armstrong tools only.

 

Long story.  Rural site.  SW OR USA.

 

Amazingly when the three young men arrived EARLY on the job it was explained to them the construction method.  They even had brought their own personal nail aprons and tools.  Worked very hard.  Almost harder than us old coots?  Amazing indeed.  Wow!

 

The nice home to be of the thousand hand cuts and hand driven nails.

 

But it cuts both ways.  I recently, (kinda) made a homecoming to my old Fire Department where years ago I drove a fire engine.  The job has completely changed.  Too much reliance upon modern technology.  The new guys driving/pumping can not even steer the rigs.

 

They do not even pull routine maintenance or inspections.  The corporation yard now does it all.

 

Totally dependent upon the computer chip.  They now have power steering, automatic transmissions, enclosed cabs, air conditioning and fully assisted street signals.  Automated fire pump controls.  They are NOT being taught the old manual ways.  Very sad to see.

 

They can NOT even drive a manual transmission older fire apparatus.  Never learned how.  Wow!

 

If faced with a situation outside their knowledge or wisdom base they just lock up and fall out of the loop.  The promotion process is too fast.  Not enough fire experience.  Too many computers and personal gadgets.  Not enough sweat or bumps and dings and lumps.

 

Unless they get their instant hot shower, they feel grubby.  Well hell!  We never showered.  But we stank good!

 

I suppose it is this way all over.  We regress to the old days.  Were the old ways better or not?  I feel they were because we had default positions taught to us.  Sweat and manual labor.  Time marches on?  The problem is that most new guys are too soft and do not care?

 

Rant complete.  Just me.  Respectfully.

Funny you would mention how things are so easy these days vs older ways. With my new hire, I just built a large vanishing edge pool shell and we did some of it the old hard way. He did match me on some of that labor and I was very surprised that he did not give up. I told him next time around I would show him the easy modern way to do it. He asked why and I told him that I wanted him to know the way it is done when there is no available power. He didn't complain, which was mindblowing. He is a millennial, but kind of a hybrid, lol.

 

 

Personal observations.  May be wrong ...

 

Yep ... father time marches on.  Sometimes the newer younger generation DO SHOW HOPE.  Recently we framed a house using old fashioned framing hammers and 16 penny green sinker nails.  No power on site.  No gen.  No air.  Armstrong tools only.

 

Long story.  Rural site.  SW OR USA.

 

Amazingly when the three young men arrived EARLY on the job it was explained to them the construction method.  They even had brought their own personal nail aprons and tools.  Worked very hard.  Almost harder than us old coots?  Amazing indeed.  Wow!

 

The nice home to be of the thousand hand cuts and hand driven nails.

 

Snip

 

I have sunk a good many lacquered or vinyl clad sinkers over the years.. And while the old ways are good to remember, it is hard to beat the holding power of modern ring shanks from a nail gun.

One thing that has changed is the number of fasteners required in a home has gone up significantly.. One we did not that long ago had something like 250 lbs of metal clips and straps that had to be nailed in.. Sure you can slug all those nails in with a hammer, but I'd rather just use the palm nailer or a positive placement nail gun and be done with the job.. Having your shoulder joint lock up from repetitive motion sucks.. Also hand driving ring shank nails into souther yellow pine is likely something done in the inner circle of hell to torment the worst of politicians, it is miserable beyond description. 

 

Yes, inspiring to hear of some young bucks who can make something happen. Around here, I think a major part of the problem is pills. It is epidemic and it seems like all they want to do is halfway loaf around until time to go home and get a pill. They move fast to the truck, lol.

 

Production can be so much better when tools are in good working order and there is power on site. Sadly, we have projects going on at multi-million dollar homes that have one 15 amp breaker for everyone to run all of their tools off of. The day is spent resetting the breaker and cursing when the breaker trips. Ridiculous.

 

Shovel sand into a sluice, haul water in buckets, haul tailings for 13 hours from sunup to get this much gold.

 

$3.00

 

attachicon.gifIMG_2922.JPG

Well, you certainly earned that keep. I feel much better about the penance I pay myself now.

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Ahh: ... the smell of green fir.  The forgotten memory smell of kiln dried premium studs.  The joy of hand cutting wood so wet it drips.  The welcome purr of that big Honda power plant!  The ease and speed of power equipment?  The annoying fact the young guys not only can keep up but give YOU glances!   Yikes!

 

Ben Gay.  Tylenol.  YOUR long hot shower.  You know you are going to be sore in the morning.

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Ahh: ... the smell of green fir.  The forgotten memory smell of kiln dried premium studs.  The joy of hand cutting wood so wet it drips.  The welcome purr of that big Honda power plant!  The ease and speed of power equipment?  The annoying fact the young guys not only can keep up but give YOU glances!   Yikes!

 

Ben Gay.  Tylenol.  YOUR long hot shower.  You know you are going to be sore in the morning.

I work a lot harder and longer than I probably should, but soreness is a rarity. I am scared to stop though as getting back on the horse later may be brutal.

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In my field (IT), I have lost hope on younger co-workers.  Of course, some of this is because of the lackadaisical attitude of my company, but in the end, it falls on the individual.  I work for a 29 or 30 (would think 14) year old 'man' that is probably one of the most intelligent people I have ever known. Unfortunately this young man couldn't lead his dick to a pisser, is extremely immature, and hasn't a clue about life, but thinks he does.  MOF, working for this putz, has convinced me to go back to school...yeah, and I'm 54.  Straight to your face lies, going back on agreements, focusing only on what is important to him and not the big picture, and trampling on anyone that gets in his way of promotion is pretty much the standard day. 

 

But, when you are the sole bread winner for your family, it's amazing what you will take and walk away.  Oh, don't get me wrong, I would LOVE TO CHOKE THE SHIT out of his punk ass, but I need my job...or at least until I find another one. 

Edited by sjgusmc21
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But, when you are the sole bread winner for your family, it's amazing what you will take and walk away.  Oh, don't get me wrong, I would LOVE TO CHOKE THE SHIT out of his punk ass, but I need my job...or at least until I find another one. 

That's called stress!

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Nothing new about young people who are very smart but can not see the big picture. My Father used to talk about the young wizz kids at the Naval gun Factory in WWII. He said that some of them "were so smart that they were shit simple!".

When i did the elevators at NASA Greenbelt, they had a few of those working there!!! FORTUNATELY there are some brilliant people there who DO have some common sense.


 

 

 

But, when you are the sole bread winner for your family, it's amazing what you will take and walk away.  Oh, don't get me wrong, I would LOVE TO CHOKE THE SHIT out of his punk ass, but I need my job...or at least until I find another one. 

That's called stress!

 

STRESS is the pressure that develops in your brain, when you prevent yourself from strangling some asshole that richly deserves it! Sometime it just HURTS to "act civilized".

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In my field (IT), I have lost hope on younger co-workers.  Of course, some of this is because of the lackadaisical attitude of my company, but in the end, it falls on the individual.  I work for a 29 or 30 (would think 14) year old 'man' that is probably one of the most intelligent people I have ever known. Unfortunately this young man couldn't lead his dick to a pisser, is extremely immature, and hasn't a clue about life, but thinks he does.  MOF, working for this putz, has convinced me to go back to school...yeah, and I'm 54.  Straight to your face lies, going back on agreements, focusing only on what is important to him and not the big picture, and trampling on anyone that gets in his way of promotion is pretty much the standard day. 

 

But, when you are the sole bread winner for your family, it's amazing what you will take and walk away.  Oh, don't get me wrong, I would LOVE TO CHOKE THE SHIT out of his punk ass, but I need my job...or at least until I find another one. 

Sounds like my old boss in everything but age before he retired. Now it's happy days. Good luck, ....and patience. When he learns a little more, he just may begin to realize how little he knows.

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Yeah, well, the purpose of this thread was to give hope, but I have none.  POS called our ex-partner company, in front of me and my co-workers, and offered one of them my job.  Of course, they said no immediately, and he hung up.  His immature antics will be his down fall.  I have already prepped HR, and the 'shots across the bow' already engaged.  Young man is in for a very rude awakening very soon.  Depends on him how far I take this.  I took Friday and Monday off as I rarely take vacation time.  Will be interesting on Tuesday when I go to work.

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Keep a log of everything that happens, and store it off the company network, preferably at home. Events, dates, times, places, witnesses. It may be very useful.

Edited by patriot
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Yeah, well, the purpose of this thread was to give hope, but I have none.  POS called our ex-partner company, in front of me and my co-workers, and offered one of them my job.  Of course, they said no immediately, and he hung up.  His immature antics will be his down fall.  I have already prepped HR, and the 'shots across the bow' already engaged.  Young man is in for a very rude awakening very soon.  Depends on him how far I take this.  I took Friday and Monday off as I rarely take vacation time.  Will be interesting on Tuesday when I go to work.

 

Just never forget that HR is not there to protect you, they are there to protect the company.

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Netpackrat....YOU are correct, 100%. I learned that the hard way....lesson learned though. The position is nothing more then a tool to me...and I will use it accordingly so, with extreme caution.

 

Thank you all for your advice....I got this one. If this young turd tries to take me down, he will go down as well.

 

I wish I could talk to him like a man....but that isn't going to happen. I tried that once. So let's the games continue...damn shame.

Edited by sjgusmc21
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Yeah, well, the purpose of this thread was to give hope, but I have none.  POS called our ex-partner company, in front of me and my co-workers, and offered one of them my job.  Of course, they said no immediately, and he hung up.  His immature antics will be his down fall.  I have already prepped HR, and the 'shots across the bow' already engaged.  Young man is in for a very rude awakening very soon.  Depends on him how far I take this.  I took Friday and Monday off as I rarely take vacation time.  Will be interesting on Tuesday when I go to work.

 

Just never forget that HR is not there to protect you, they are there to protect the company.

 

+1 "go talk to HR" is code for bolster our case against you.

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+1 on HR as a weapon to use against you!

Cell phones record sound too. If you can play back their own words to prove their mendacity, then you may have a chance.

Good luck on the recording their comments...If you can't wait until he is fired (hopefully). Might consider looking for employment elsewhere. During the exit interview give the information to HR... Didn't make a difference when a person quit a couple of weeks ago where I work. The boss continues to be a complete ass...

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Look for another job?  Hell yes I am.  Hard.  But the SOB isn't going to get away that easily.  I have busted my ass to get where I am at, and I sure as hell will not go away quietly.  I wanted to make this my last company to work for, but guess not.  Benefits are generally good, and I just hate to start all over again. 

 

I completely understand the 'HR' thing.  Treading thru that very, very carefully. 

 

He is very, very disliked.  Despised is probably a better term.  But, he is the key holder to the new project and he hasn't let go of that information....very smart on his part, but very dumb on the company to let it happen.  It is what it is.

 

He has made enough open derogatory comments to me as to bury himself, and bury himself deeply. And yes, my co-workers will state the truth if and when asked.  Next week will be probably be the end point of it all, and I am looking forward to it, one way or another. 

 

But in the meantime, I am raping the job postings.....

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I know lots of them. 

 

Work with young people in a way that let's the cream rise and the rest leave and your picture looks very different.

 

I know a 26 year old who has 1.5 jobs and now 2 houses that allow him to live and rent 3 units. His wife is a nurse. They own both their vehicles. He bought his first house while working as a bank teller at $14/hr. It's pure hustle.

 

Another that is in virtually the same boat.

 

One of guy #1's former tenants is now manager of a new branch of a yard maint company. He has a new kid, and an old house, also working to make the house pay for itself.

 

Guy#4 is about to move to Colorado, for a promotion. 

 

#5 is my brother. He got tired of working for low pay and low appreciation, showed his employers that he was saving them about 5x what they payed him. Got a raise. After a bit, the employers started reverting, so he went to a local aircraft company, showed them what he could do with maintanance and CAD. They made a job for him and are about to give him a raise. He's a superb fit there.

 

For one thing, he does more than the bare minimum of maintanance to their machines and documents what he did, and preschedules the next interval. Their prior guy did whatever he felt like and fixed things when they broke, paying hot freight, while machinists found other things to do without their equipment. They love him there.

 

#6 shows up to work installing windows and doors, and is already worth more to his boss than the guys who trained him. Why? He works hard and gives a crap. He isn't a technical marvel, but he does more than the least required, and he doesn't hide shoddy work under trim.

 

I'm trying to convince him to go work at the place my brother works, because I think he could get paid a third more and learn even more valuable skills.

 

 

 

I could go on, but I gotta earn my own keep.

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Don't doubt it for a second....We are under attack.

Lying, calling us fascists, bigots and racists when THEY are the real fascists, bigots and racists. Hating Freedom, and everything America stands for, all for a twisted world view where the .gov is all, and everything is "free".

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Let me tell ya something man. I will be 45 next week. I returned to skilled trade work as an ASSISTANT recently, and forgot about my own business adventure, simply for money.
The only thing that matters even to me, is the quality of my team;'s work and the end result. I dont make enough money, but i take pride in the result of when I walk away and leave people's homes with alll new doors or windowds in them, or whatever else i did there.

 

It is INTEGRAL to my work that I enjoy the day with my coworkers and customers, and that neither they nor I have to backcheck anyone's work.

 

Im not sure if this helps you any, but you SHOULD NOT have to backcheck anyone;'s work at the end of the day. fuck that, im just an assistant, and i know damn well that I dont have to check my mechanic's work, and he knows that when we leave someone;s home, that he doesnt have to check mine. theres none of this screw you, scew this, blame them bullshit now in my life.

 

sometimes its worth the paycut in the end. I dont have to question anything "oh you sold blah blah blah for blah blah and i only got this much when i should get this blah blah" no, its pay me for the hours im there, and i do what i came there to do today, and i know i made you thousands today, thats fine. pay me on monday.

 

point is, you gotta get along with your crew, boss, and people that pay you, or its all a giant waste of time. The managers at the stores I take work out of thank me and my mechanic for the work that we do, and I look at them and think "yeh well you get more that i do for doing nothing" but its ok, because at the end of the week, my bills are paid, and im not wondering which way from hell im being fucked this week....

 

food for thought man

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additionally, I am not all mad about making people lots of money and not being paid for it. one friend of mine here takes care of me. one guy here, a few guys here, "oh why should i pay you for a ten minutes phone call" when they drop tens of tousands of dollars on what i say. I mean seriously? I mean seriously, its taken me almost a decade to be able to make a ten minute phone call to make YOU tens of thousands of dollars from...thats worth NOTHING to you? owe kay. I should be able to replentish my gunsafe right now for nothing based on what ive done for all these people, no names, but do you think they will give ME any credit or peice? FUUUCK no.

 

take pride in your work, and stand behind it. thats all you got, everyone is out to fuck you and win for themselves......

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