I’ve been working in construction for the past 11 years at this point with a few years before that in a part time role. I’m more than happy to lend whatever knowledge or insights I may have about work, life, or whatever.
I will be checking in sporadically to see if there are questions.
EDITED WELL AFTER QUESTIONS STOPPED: I’m still active-ish on Lemmy, so if you happen to find this and have a question, I will likely still get back to you.
Do you think carpentry is a worthy skill to invest in learning for purely utility (repairing your own house or building the occasional shack).
I’ve been thinking about learning carpentry to be able to fix and modify my own house due to issues with contractors and the cost. Additionally it’s a nice back up in case I get laid off or my current trade is somehow replaced/obsolete.
Being handy in general is a wonderful skill to have. From doing simple household tasks like changing out a light fixture to doing minor (or even somewhat major) plumbing work and just being involved in all the bits and pieces of working on buildings really opens up opportunities to save a ton of money on random little things that would otherwise be quite expensive.
Being able to assess whether if a job is worth investing in a tool or hiring a contractor to do it is good too.
I hired a handyman for $50 to cut a big tabletop in half longways when I could have just bought the same tool for the same price.
In some places there are even things called ‘Tool Libraries’ where you can rent out whatever kind of tool you’d need for a job. Which can save even more over just buying it.
Though if you wanted a perfectly straight cut, there are specialized tools for doing just that which cost quite a lot more than just $50.
The contrast to this is knowing how to use the tool well and the difference between a $50 and $500 tool. Sometimes the cheapest version of a tool wielded badly is a lot more expensive than a pro with the high end version. Not to mention filling up a garage with things used only once years ago!
It sort of sounds like a joke but I have already encountered being “too useful”. I work and specialize in computer repair. I work on the hardware and electronics which also apply to many other things so I find myself fixing remotes, mice, coffee machines and even the dishwasher. Additionally I am capable of doing IT work on the software side too. I can also cook pretty well too.
What all of this has cumulated to so far is being bugged for absolutely EVERYTHING. My mom has nagged me about things from, logging into email, 2 factor authentication, cracked screen, broken remote, stuck espresso machine, hanging a painting, cooking something, building her computer, setting up her desktop short cuts and managing all the passwords for her different accounts. It drives me crazy but also I want to avoid the hassle of getting a contractor to come over and charge 200$ for a 20 minute job. Or some hack from geek squad charging 100$ to set up some icons on the desktop.
Unrelated note but geek squad ALWAYS upsells you on everything. A setting accidentally disabled in windows? Well now they’ve got to install McAfee or Norton and probably a VPN too, oh and throw in an arbitrary password manager to squeeze another 500$ out of you. Now this is a fairly rare and egregious scenario but it’s always stuff like this that makes me avoid getting work done by others. It’s rarely as simple as “fix my cabinet hinge” and often the problem is exaggerated. Instead of replacing a 10$ hinge they’ve convinced you for a full remodel, cause “those are all on their way out anyways, might as well go for a full makeover”.
I know I’m ranting at this point but this sort of attitude has convinced my mom to pay for so much random work she doesn’t need. She almost paid like $10,000 for a new garage door, motor, and install because the little rubber installation was breaking down. I begged on my hand and knees that she didn’t need this and that the 20 year old garage is fine, just replace the rubber trim and thankfully she listened. Another contractor we had could do it and it was only 100$, including materials. Another time she bought this $1400 laptop because she was convinced she needed the best one and the one she had was 4 years old (it was HD IPS screen, touch screen Thinkpad with SSD and built in pen). She got it but barely notices any difference because it has the same features and the loaded quad core i7 doesn’t friggin do anything cause she just uses the damn thing for email. It’s literally my fucking career to work on and build computers and she doesn’t listen to me 🤦.
There are a lot of predatory types out there who are all too willing to go way above and beyond anything that’s needed to pad the bill. It’s really frustrating to hear stories like that from all of the various specialists. Whether its mechanics, handyfolk, or IT repairs… there are way too many who will happily overcharge for a simple fix because they can see a chance to get paid.