Signs you don’t need to be working construction

[AndyG]

To be successful in construction have to be so accomplished that you can do what you’re doing right now without thinking about it so that you can actually be looking ahead at the next step.

In addition to that you will be confronted with endless challenges that require the right decision to be made…

This worker is leaving the company tomorrow and absolutely no one is allowed to stand in his way-

Sometimes I get really frustrated with these questions, but you should see what happens when they don’t ask questions.

 

[taylormade73]

Some have FITFO, others don’t.

 

[Chris]

You seem to attract the same sort of help that @mrblaine does.

 

[ColoJeep]

Just be glad he didn't mount it at a 37 degree angle to fit the space . Unreal .

 

[sab]

Man, AndyG, you are cold. I can't believe you'd fire a poor feller just because he does not know the difference between and adverb and a preposition...

 

[speeding_infraction]

To be successful in construction have to be so accomplished that you can do what you’re doing right now without thinking about it so that you can actually be looking ahead at the next step.

In addition to that you will be confronted with endless challenges that require the right decision to be made…

This worker is leaving the company tomorrow and absolutely no one is allowed to stand in his way-

View attachment 653670

Sometimes I get really frustrated with these questions, but you should see what happens when they don’t ask questions.

For what it's worth, I really get a chuckle out of these stories.
So what did he say after that? Imo how fast he gets fired depends on how long he's been working. When I started working I definitely didn't have FITFO engrained. Glad I had an employer that gave me some grace lol.

 

[B1Toad]

Just be glad he didn't mount it at a 37 degree angle to fit the space . Unreal .

Or notched it into the door casing.

 

[KennethS]

Just be glad he didn't mount it at a 37 degree angle to fit the space . Unreal .

Or above the light switch.

 

[lBasket]

Or above the light switch.

That was my first thought why not just put it higher where it fits?

 

[B1Toad]

Wish I had pics of some of the stuff I saw. Some of the highlights were tile guys tiling a backsplash without removing the outlets or wall plates, just tiled up to the wall plates and grouted them in!

Cabinet plans would often change mid-job with nobody telling us, had the dishwasher outlet right smack where the sink base joined the next cabinet, instead of calling us the cabinet guy just went ahead and installed them and buried the outlet with no way to get to it without carving up the cabinets.

Cabinet and counter top layouts where a 2 or 3 gang switch boxes at the end of the counters ended up halfway over the countertop so the tile guys just tiled around that half and left the other half out in the drywall.

Jacuzzi tub installed in a plaster bed with the cord and plug still coiled up underneath and completely embedded in the plaster out of reach. Had to cut an access hole in the side of the house for that one. I wanted to leave it for the plumber to fix but the contractor talked us into doing it.

During a remodel, a small window drywalled over, textured and painted, nobody noticed it till the home owner said something.

There's plenty more

 

[B1Toad]

I'm guessing the blue tape is where the studs are. I'm a believer in installing lots of 2x6 lumber flat along walls where towel bars, grab bars and TVs are going to be installed. Some high end homes they would shear entire interior walls for hanging artwork.

 

[ColoJeep]

Wish I had pics of some of the stuff I saw. Some of the highlights were tile guys tiling a backsplash without removing the outlets or wall plates, just tiled up to the wall plates and grouted them in!

Cabinet plans would often change mid-job with nobody telling us, had the dishwasher outlet right smack where the sink base joined the next cabinet, instead of calling us the cabinet guy just went ahead and installed them and buried the outlet with no way to get to it without carving up the cabinets.

Cabinet and counter top layouts where a 2 or 3 gang switch boxes at the end of the counters ended up halfway over the countertop so the tile guys just tiled around that half and left the other half out in the drywall.

Jacuzzi tub installed in a plaster bed with the cord and plug still coiled up underneath and completely embedded in the plaster out of reach. Had to cut an access hole in the side of the house for that one. I wanted to leave it for the plumber to fix but the contractor talked us into doing it.

During a remodel, a small window drywalled over, textured and painted, nobody noticed it till the home owner said something.

There's plenty more

I worked for an inspection company , we inspected multiple homes in a new subdivision . The buildings had one thing in common , every one of them had the half bath HVAC floor register removed and tiled over . Really saves tile saw time !!!

 

[lBasket]

I worked for an inspection company , we inspected multiple homes in a new subdivision . The buildings had one thing in common , every one of them had the half bath HVAC floor register removed and tiled over . Really saves tile saw time !!!

Heated floors are all the rage nowadays

 

[freedom_in_4low]

It's not much different in HVAC tech world. I'm glad I at least have a few engineers and other professionals because the techs I started with make it feel like an adult day care.

In the last couple months I've had:
White guy ask black guy (new) for permission to use the N word and refuse to drop the topic when asked
3 Guys make separate complaints about one guy drinking too much after hours and not turning over the keys to the work truck, making them walk or Uber back to hotel
Gay girl compliment straight girls...anatomy...and talk about wanting to touch them, then unable to return to job site because she got drunk
Alcohol purchased for 19 year old tech at a company-paid dinner but no one will admit to doing it or rat on whoever did.
New guy disappears after 3 weeks ,find out through his emergency contact that he's bipolar and missed his meds due to the insurance laps between jobs, and is currently in an emergency psych hold and can't contact us, and only texted a peer (not his manager) before he checked himself in at the ER.
Audio recording of a conversation between two managers joking about the hypothetical motorcycle death of a subordinate in the presence of other subordinates. They are now former managers.

On Monday I had to stand up and remind a room full of legal adults that they are representatives of the company when they are traveling, how a coworker you've known for a week isn't someone you can say the same things to that you can to a friend that you hang out with outside of work on purpose, that the company vehicles GPS trackers tell me which one of them are wannabe Ricky Bobby's and that they need to tell their supervisor if they're gonna miss work.

We had 9 techs when I took over in May and now have 17... only 4 of them are left that the former mgr had hired. I think I'm finally getting to a good crew of pros that won't require so much babysitting.

 

[speeding_infraction]

It's not much different in HVAC tech world. I'm glad I at least have a few engineers and other professionals because the techs I started with make it feel like an adult day care.

In the last couple months I've had:
White guy ask black guy (new) for permission to use the N word and refuse to drop the topic when asked
3 Guys make separate complaints about one guy drinking too much after hours and not turning over the keys to the work truck, making them walk or Uber back to hotel
Gay girl compliment straight girls...anatomy...and talk about wanting to touch them, then unable to return to job site because she got drunk
Alcohol purchased for 19 year old tech at a company-paid dinner but no one will admit to doing it or rat on whoever did.
New guy disappears after 3 weeks ,find out through his emergency contact that he's bipolar and missed his meds due to the insurance laps between jobs, and is currently in an emergency psych hold and can't contact us, and only texted a peer (not his manager) before he checked himself in at the ER.
Audio recording of a conversation between two managers joking about the hypothetical motorcycle death of a subordinate in the presence of other subordinates. They are now former managers.

On Monday I had to stand up and remind a room full of legal adults that they are representatives of the company when they are traveling, how a coworker you've known for a week isn't someone you can say the same things to that you can to a friend that you hang out with outside of work on purpose, that the company vehicles GPS trackers tell me which one of them are wannabe Ricky Bobby's and that they need to tell their supervisor if they're gonna miss work.

We had 9 techs when I took over in May and now have 17... only 4 of them are left that the former mgr had hired. I think I'm finally getting to a good crew of pros that won't require so much babysitting.

Holy shit.... @AndyG I don't think you have much to complain about after reading this lol. Where tf did they find those people???

 

[AndyG]

Man, AndyG, you are cold. I can't believe you'd fire a poor feller just because he does not know the difference between and adverb and a preposition...

….. It was the use of pronouns. I got really disturbed about that.

He actually voluntarily sought work that suited him better and we’re very happy for him.

He has five children - I had been letting him stay with the company, hoping to see enough improvement to make it mutually beneficial. Originally he was the helper of another worker that I had terminated, and I was really upset when I realized how little he had learned correctly working with the other guy.

I’m going to say something else that I think is true- many many trades are very hard physically and mentally, and if you don’t gain a certain level of mastery, you’re really really not going to enjoy the work most likely. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen somebody struggle and the main reason was they set the job up incorrectly.

Another reason is, they don’t build an arsenal of techniques- stand there and get their fingers trying to hang a door, not realizing all you have to do is put it in the hinges and close the door and it will stay in place while you insert the hinge pins.

 

[AndyG]

It's not much different in HVAC tech world. I'm glad I at least have a few engineers and other professionals because the techs I started with make it feel like an adult day care.

In the last couple months I've had:
White guy ask black guy (new) for permission to use the N word and refuse to drop the topic when asked
3 Guys make separate complaints about one guy drinking too much after hours and not turning over the keys to the work truck, making them walk or Uber back to hotel
Gay girl compliment straight girls...anatomy...and talk about wanting to touch them, then unable to return to job site because she got drunk
Alcohol purchased for 19 year old tech at a company-paid dinner but no one will admit to doing it or rat on whoever did.
New guy disappears after 3 weeks ,find out through his emergency contact that he's bipolar and missed his meds due to the insurance laps between jobs, and is currently in an emergency psych hold and can't contact us, and only texted a peer (not his manager) before he checked himself in at the ER.
Audio recording of a conversation between two managers joking about the hypothetical motorcycle death of a subordinate in the presence of other subordinates. They are now former managers.

On Monday I had to stand up and remind a room full of legal adults that they are representatives of the company when they are traveling, how a coworker you've known for a week isn't someone you can say the same things to that you can to a friend that you hang out with outside of work on purpose, that the company vehicles GPS trackers tell me which one of them are wannabe Ricky Bobby's and that they need to tell their supervisor if they're gonna miss work.

We had 9 techs when I took over in May and now have 17... only 4 of them are left that the former mgr had hired. I think I'm finally getting to a good crew of pros that won't require so much babysitting.

This post is 100% reality.

Any of you guys outside the trades notice this - and keep in mind all this garbage he’s talking about is beyond the fact that he has to install and maintain mechanical systems safely and keep them working…. that’s what he’s really trying to do.

The next time you start to complain to someone that owns a service business really be careful- you’re talking to someone who lives in a world where he doesn’t even know who’s going to be there tomorrow, if any of the trucks are going to be totaled, tools pawned, you name it.

I’ve had so many clowns over the years, I don’t know how many circuses I could’ve started.

One time my wife was asking me about the drug use that I was complaining about and I had to tell her baby, I can’t say a word these guys have prescriptions.

I’m pretty sure I had one guy that’s been about a year and a half looking for a tape measure.

His name was Danny. I should’ve called him…. DaNax.

He ended up dead, stuffed in a drainage pipe.

The police would not even investigate because it was a revenge murder for sexually assaulting a juvenile.

Me, and many others on here could write a book. Just not sure if it would be comedy or horror.

 

[AndyG]

I'm guessing the blue tape is where the studs are. I'm a believer in installing lots of 2x6 lumber flat along walls where towel bars, grab bars and TVs are going to be installed. Some high end homes they would shear entire interior walls for hanging artwork.

Total blocking in place for every accessory, all photographed with dimensions and documented and printed - along with a post a note telling trades no tools on the toilet seat.

Earlier this week he said “I can’t cut this clothes rod, I have no cut off wheel on my grinder”.

Me- use a sawzall.

 

[AndyG]

Holy shit.... @AndyG I don't think you have much to complain about after reading this lol. Where tf did they find those people???
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Really it is all just a natural consequence of the young people our society is producing.

 

[AndyG]

That was my first thought why not just put it higher where it fits?

The client had specs- name of the game is find a way.

I’d say any given day I spend 25% of the day telling adult people how to do something they should know how to do or telling them to do something that they should not have to be told.