One Summer, my friend T and I painted houses. After doing what had been my other job that Summer – selling encyclopedias door to door (and these weren’t Encarta discs, kids) – sweltering under the eaves wasn’t such a big deal. The woman whose house we were painting turned out to be a real pain – switching shades after we had done quite a bit, finding invisible missed spots, and, at the end, demanding we paint the foundation even though that hadn’t been part of the original job quote. It wasn’t so much the additional labor – only an extra day or so – but the fact that to do it right we had to rent a power washer to clean off the foundation so it could be painted as well as buy a lot of extra paint. Goodbye profits! Honest young men that we were, we bought what amounted to white-wash, threw it on to a foundation we had cleaned off with a hose, and prayed it wouldn’t rain until the check cleared. I’m still bothered by it 35+ years later. Continue reading
Category Archives: Growing up
Posts of The Year – 4
This was probably the most fun post of them all this past year and it comes with an update. It was the story of a film four friends made in junior high which was somehow lost and found again. That’s the update – the film (without the original soundtrack which, sadly, remains gone) is now online. You can view the Treasure of Ralph Moneybags here and you can read the post below. Have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve! Continue reading
Filed under Growing up, Reality checks
Posts Of The Year – 1
Here is the post that got the most reads this year and I’m happy it did so because the topic is very personal. It was written on the passing of one of my mentors in business. The best thing to come of his passing has been the reconnecting I’ve been able to do with a number of former co-workers who took the time to write.
Lots of businesses position themselves as “a family.” I don’t need to tell you that they really aren’t but I’ve been fortunate enough to get close to that familial feeling twice. The people who reached out after Mark’s passing were part of the first time. This was published last July. Continue reading
Filed under Growing up, Helpful Hints, Reality checks
Consult Keith 