On Thu, 7 Aug 2008 22:29:34 -0500, "Swingman" <kac@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>On the other foot, I periodically go through "3rd party inspections"
prior
>to closing on houses we build. While I welcome them for the most part, I
>still find it about as _personal_ as a term final/paper in college, where
no
>matter what you did good going in, the results of the one shot deal, and
for
>all the world to see, is all that counts.
I actually liken it to a prostate exam - done by a retired plumber.
>
>Sad thing is that most of the inspectors know less about good building
>practices than I do, but _I_ must still defend/justify every "issue" they
>come up with, right or wrong ( and all too often these days, the latter
...
>you won't believe some of the crap these "licensed professionals" are
>capable of) ... IOW, it ends up being a matter of personal pride and damn
>hard not to take it any other way.
It used to be the case around here that when builders (carpenters)
retired they would go into the inspection game. That worked pretty
well and I learned a lot from those old boys when I was growing up.
Nowadays we get pissants who have studied up the UBC and think they
know jack**** about building. They ain't worth a damn.
What's funny is, we have about four town****ps around here that I work
in on a regular basis. Most of the inspectors I know by name and
sight. I also know that each of them have certain hardons. One guy
is a killer on the height between the first stair tread and the
ceiling line that is vertical to it. Another guy is all about
firestops (volunteer fireman). A third just wants to make sure that
all the air passages have been sealed (anal retentive). The last guy
is a shooting buddy of mine and just wishes that accountants would not
try to design buildings.
>
>If I could build a house by myself, the way I work in my own shop, fine
...
>but you can only "supervise" so much and the culture that builds today
>doesn't give a warm bucket of spit about pride of workman****p, meaning
you
>constantly have to accept things you personally cringe at to get anything
>accomplished ... to do otherwise is financial suicide, won't help you,
your
>family, your kid in college, or even the folks buying the product (who,
>these days, mostly don't know the difference, or even give a ****).
>
>About the only relief I get from this constant barrage of crappy
workman****p
>is in _my_ shop, on _my_ projects, where I have control over the amount
of
>"pride of workman****p" that goes into it.
I feel your pain, brother. When we throw the system into reverse for
a minute and understand that a young man who wants to spend his life
working with his hands is not to be treated as a retard, or someone
not worthy of the same level of respect as a white collar office
drone, we will begin to have something again.
>
>Which is one reason why I have such a great deal of respect for guys like
>Leon and Tom, who have reached a level where they can carefully pick and
>choose jobs where the exercise of that option is a given.
Thank You. I appreciate being included in the same breath with Leon.
I have great respect for he and thou and wish that we could all work
together someday.
>
>One of these days ...
Regards, Tom.
Thos. J. Watson - Cabinetmaker
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/
tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet
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