You Said What!?......You're A Bonehead....

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For many years!!!! I would listen to a radio show that had a business report on the way to work - during said radio show they would play one of two songs in one way or another - both very catchy. Many different versions of that song to go around too....

When the stock market was down - they play "Stormy Weather"
When it is up - they play "We're in the Money"

2-3 times a week I would walk on to the job whistling one or the other tune.... I get a call on my Nextel one day, and the boss tells me to come see him right away, and to get off the job - fast! I get to his office and he rips me a new one about something I said..... (Not that he even knew what had happened in the first place. He didn't know what it was, and wasn't even looking to find out...) Apparently, the customer he had just handed a $30k change order to thought I was whistling about her change order.... Got offended and had a full on hissy fit about me whistling "We're in the Money".... :rolleyes: I only found this out several years later after leaving that company and ran into her on the street.... She started whining about the guy who finished the job for me - as I was no longer allowed on site.....Which she didn't even know.... So I told her bluntly - "Apparently I pissed you off somehow and it nearly got me fired..." - "Oh yes it was that day you were whistling 'we're in the money'.... That got me mad..." - "Yeah, me too...." :rolleyes: :mad:

Oh - and I told one GC to "f" himself, to speak to me with professionalism and respect, and that I was calling the cops if you made a single move toward me.... Best I could do with some restraint from breaking his arm or hitting him in the head with a hammer that was in my hand.... I asked when the site would be clear for me to work - which he saw as no problem - working in a knee deep pile of demo debris with boards loaded in nails... When I refused, he started into a tactic I have watched often with his OWN employees many times on the job. Getting 3" form your face and screaming while he taps his finger on your chest - like a steroid junky or a drill instructor - NO WAY I was letting that fly! Said what I said, most of which can not be typed here - boy did he find that a shocker - no one ever stood up to him before.... Even though he opologized to both me and my boss at the time in writing - I refused to work with him ever again....
 
Freudian Slip

Freudian Slip

e57 said:
....on to the job whistling one or the other tune....
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I once caught myself whistling "If I Only Had A Brain", from the Wizard of Oz. A subconcuios response to what I was thinking and feeling about a contractor.......oops. :grin:
 
The guy I was working with had a really bad day once, and the homeowner kept on him for this or that. Nothing that I thought was out of line, but it sure bugged him. So when the husband commented on how the carlon box for a receptacle looked like it might be sticking out too far, the guy just kicked that box with his foot, the box went flying through the drywall in the back, shattered to pieces obviously, and the guy says, "Is that deep enough for you?" Needless to say that was the last day he worked on that house.
 
yursparky said:
The guy I was working with had a really bad day once, and the homeowner kept on him for this or that. Nothing that I thought was out of line, but it sure bugged him. So when the husband commented on how the carlon box for a receptacle looked like it might be sticking out too far, the guy just kicked that box with his foot, the box went flying through the drywall in the back, shattered to pieces obviously, and the guy says, "Is that deep enough for you?" Needless to say that was the last day he worked on that house.
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LMAO I love that story!:D
 
e57 said:
Oh - and I told one GC to "f" himself, to speak to me with professionalism and respect,....
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Now where's the irony in that. :roll:


I was once to talking to a GC about a house my wife and I had looked at, thinking about buying, but decided against it because of "terrible layout, etc..." after a while he interrupted me to inform me he built that house. Somehow I managed to get a few houses out of him shortly after I got my license.
 
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You all have had me rolling. . .

You all have had me rolling. . .

all over the floor. These are some really great stories.

Worst I can think of was one time I gave a home owner an estimate on a ton of little pick up items he wanted dones. His jaw literally hit the floor. I could not stop laughing because of the look on his face. We just walked out. The wife called five minutes later and told us we had the job. I actually have done several other projects for the couple since.
 
360Youth said:
Now where's the irony in that. :roll:
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There isn't any... Unlike the rules of creative writing and drama - 'irony' has nothing to do with real life and heated situations near violence. IMO - if the client ceases to play 'client' and slips into 'thug' the rules change. Imagine yourself in the same situation....
 
fisbn said:
I was driving,calling a homeowner once,he didn't answer and just as it went to voice-mail i got cut-off and the message he got was "you f***ing moron!!!"I called back and left a nicer message.
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:grin: :D :D My buddy did that once to his wife when she was pregnant with their first,

I believe the words he used were "I hate pregnant b*****s".

I also believe he spent a couple night sleeping somewhere else...


.
 
e57 said:
There isn't any... Unlike the rules of creative writing and drama - 'irony' has nothing to do with real life and heated situations near violence. IMO - if the client ceases to play 'client' and slips into 'thug' the rules change. Imagine yourself in the same situation....
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I've been in those situations and it is rarely productive to exchange professionalism and decency for someone who has none, or at the very least who refuses to show it at any given time.
 
I once worked on a PLC program that was so poorly structured that it was nearly impossible to decipher. A guy came by and asked me what I thought of the program, and I told him. I later found out he had written it. He never said anything about it though.
 
Ohhhhhh no,.......

Ohhhhhh no,.......

petersonra said:
I once worked on a PLC program that was so poorly structured that it was nearly impossible to decipher. A guy came by and asked me what I thought of the program, and I told him. I later found out he had written it. He never said anything about it though.
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Ha-ha-ha, he-he-he:grin: Been there Peter. "This is a complete crock of sh*t!!!" The head of the instrumentation team was squatting next to me, he wrote it. He had a good 20+ more years into the field than I. He asked why I felt the way I did. Could you word that politely Peter?????:rolleyes:
 
i was on a pull at a hospital, i was at one end on the tugger and another jw and two helpers were feeding the other end. you have to keep in mind i was on the roof and they were in the boiler room, well away from everyone. so anyway i got the head and we needed 20' more. i got on the radio and said i need some help this is tighter than a nuns c**t on sunday. a very short time later one of our helpers came up beet red. he was walking past the nurses station when i said that. and of course he had his radio full blast.:grin:
 
This is how I lost my last job....... lol.......... My apprentice and I went to a nightmare of a job, but instead of being down, I was being the humorous one of the group and cracking jokes to lighten the mood. When it came to going over charges before we started the work, he claimed that he didn't do the finances in the house, and didn't know how to write out the check. Knowing very well that he was full of crap, I told him, and I quote, "Well I would suggest going upstairs and getting some practice writing out a check, because when I am done, I am going to need one." :D I thought it was funny, and I assured him that I was kidding, but apparently him and my manager didn't care for it. Oh well, if that day never happened, I wouldn't be out on my own now, living life to the fullest.
 
After spending two evenings going over a set of plans, adding all extras in I came up with what I thought was a fair price on a new construction house around 13K, I gave estimate to HO's. Wife speaks up and says "That much? The painter is only going to charge 7K" ( why did she push my pissed off button?) I smile and ask her if she had ever heard of a house burning because it had a bad paint job? In truck and away I go.
 
Was wiring a new motel, and we (myself & boss) had met with the building inspector on a fire code issue. He gave us permission to do what we wanted to do, in short, allowed us to 'cheat' a bit.

Three weeks later, with half the building roughed in, the same inspector was on-site talking to the plumber (same fire code issues). The inspector turned to me and said what we've installed isn't going to fly.

I reposonded, "But that's why we had that meeting a month ago, so we could get your blessing." He stood is ground, and said we must have misunderstood. So I call the boss on the radio (no cell phone in those days) and tell him the inspector is going to red-tag the entire job.

The bosses reply was "Well, if he wants to pay us to change it, that's fine. But that's why we met with him last month, so there wouldn't be any problems like this. So if he's not going to approve what he said he was going to, I guess I wouldn't have wasted my time meeting with that big, fat, greasy, *(#&$&@@) (#*%)@][^? slob if he wasn't going to approve it!"

I replied, "He's standing right here, I'll let you talk to him......"
 
other side of the coin

other side of the coin

there have been a few times over the years when an electrician/contractor has asked to meet me on a job to discuss a problem. Sometimes my clothing identifies me as an inspector, sometimes not. On more than one occasion, the gc/builder/homowner will show up, overhear the discussion, and let loose profound verbage about what he things abouts rules/inspectors. Aftervthe rant, I will politely introduce myself :)
 
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