"Lol Well then I'll just get in my car and drive away then."

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They used solid hook-up wire and wrapped the transistor in electrical tape.  The radio was one of the newer ones with SMT components all over the board, and a lot of internal room for after-market add-ons like roger beeps, echo boxes, and other devices.Engineer: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Golden Screwdriver: "If it ain't broke, it don't have enough features yet!"

Golden screwdriver.


So this same contractor phoned me up and asked for a price to come and tape/bead a small extension on that same bathroom ceiling - I guess the tile spacing makes them stick out 1.5" and it looks stupid. He said he would frame and board it. Not sure if it was one straight bead, or if it would protrude and create a couple of outside corners (and also look stupid, but different stupid) either way, I told him $300 to make that paint ready. (You can have the entire bathroom finished for $600, far less when building the house at 40-50 cents/sf) He countered with $500 for both jobs, said he was blindsided by a $300 bill for the first one. I said no. $300 is the cost of me dropping what I'm doing for another client, buying $70 worth of material, being there in under an hour, doing the work, leaving 2 of my fans and a heater in place to ensure it's dry by morning & returning to pick them up - try calling a service plumber and seeing his charge.. he said he called one and it cost him $200 - yeah, but 1) He's on call. 2.) He didn't drop another client to accommodate you. 3) He didn't have to go there twice. 4) My skills on call Right Now are rarer. etc.

He said $300 for the next proposed bit seemed pretty steep. Ok, yeah, it's not a big job - but there's big money in small jobs because it becomes a trip charge thing. I have to go there three times to make this happen for you And you want it completed in 2 days for what's normally a 4 day process. I'm willing to make 3 trips over 2 days and use a combination of materials & equipment technology to reduce the time to less than 48 hours from the time I start, and do it after hours/late night etc. So, whether for 3 trips or one shorter one and one very long one while I wait for the polish coat to dry, my price is $300 for what you're asking me for. "Nah, I can't do that.. I have a guy that will do it for $170 tomorrow." (wtf are you asking me for then?) Ok, if you have a guy that will do it for $170 And you're happy with his work (if it's the guy that did the rest of the house, he's Ok, not Good) then have him do it - I won't be offended. I'm not interested in burning time gas & tires for $50/trip. I have other work and things to do - but do feel free to call me for a quote when you have 6 X 2' access panels that need to be patched up at once; you might like my price then. "Ok, just invoice me for the first job then, thx."

Dude is used to dealing with the lowest priced Craigslist contractors to build multi-million dollar mansions. He thinks this is good value. If I were his client I would be suing him if my $6M house looked like that; for depreciated value for having sh***y looking walls and paint - other finishing trades are beautiful there; carpentry, flooring etc.

Feels good to say No to low dough. Sorry bud, I'm way passed a point in work & life where I'm going to go chase after $50 at the expense of my evening or sleep. Even my friend who's working for him rn has a 2 hour minimum at $45/hr = $90/trip x 3 = $270 minimum labour charge. (As it should be, AT LEAST.) Like this guy just Does Not Get economics. Thinks working people should work for whatever the Lowest wage is someone is willing to do a thing for and that's it. Umm, no dude.. no one is coming after hours to bail your ass out for Less money than we make at our day jobs. You want something done, pay what it's worth. Don't want to pay? By all means, hire whoever - and risk that the work looks like garbage and pray that your client's eyes are.. not so good.

Of course! Electrical tape is efficient as the sticky side negates the need for thermal grease. Over time the tape can melt from the heat and form a lovely sludge across the surface mount components, removing it will be like getting the peanut butter and jam from a dropped sandwich out of a shag piled carpet.

There's nothing a mud duck likes more than echos and roger beeps, it complements the overmodulated signal caused by a cheap and nasty power mike that's turned up to max.

Lol my friend told me he paid some guy $170 and he started the job but never came back to do the next stage yet and it’s been a few days. For $300 I was willing to have a typically 4 day process completed in less than 48 hours.

I would rather pay $400 now for someone to show up today and do the job right with good materials, than spend $150 for someone to show up tomorrow and do a half-arsed job with cheap materials; because I will eventually end up paying someone else another $500 to come in, tear out the old work, and replace it all with what should have been installed in the first place.

I actually like the Quindar Tones from NASA's Apollo days when used by distant SSB stations, because they make it easier to know when the other person has unkeyed their mike, and the courtesy tones on FM repeaters are also useful for similar reasons.

But a random tone or donkey-fart at the end of every transmission no matter what the mode is just plain stupid.

The guy may have even used proper materials. Quality of installation/skill & ability with the tools is a big factor. He might have even been good at it. BUT, he only started the job, hasn't returned to complete it - and who knows, may never.. especially if the contractor paid him already. Or he did as some guys do and went and started the job and then went off to start a whole bunch more so he doesn't lose the sales and then when he's back in the area again some time at the of the week or next week or whatever he'll pop by to make progress. That's what you get for $170 vs. $300. *shrug* Guess he didn't really need it done in 2 days like he told me.

Finished another small job for my friend last night & got word that this one is still not done and will likely end up costing the guy a lot more than $300. Now it's been well over a week. The guy he paid $170 to put up the tapes & bead and a first coat and drove away. Now he's paying his painter by the hour to sand and polish it, and he'll probably have to do that more than once because it's not his trade, then prime it, then touch it up again etc. Total moron. He's going to end up paying $400 for worse quality work that spans 2 weeks for what I would have done properly inside of 48 hours.

Turns out this is only the 3rd house he's built. His own, the last one I saw him f**k up on, and now this one. He's a nice guy, but terrible contractor. If I were his client I'd withhold payment until he re-did finishing work until I was happy with it. Garage shop quality taping job, cheap cheap watered down paint through a sprayer no back-rolling paint job = they do not look like the walls of a $6M build.