If I could live in any place in the USA Southeast, I'd move to ....

[Scott9999]

3 hours ago, Hosstage said:

You could always hire out some of that heavy lifting....

Lol, only if I sold the RT.  My wife had certain "value" expectations when I conned her into convinced her to allow me to buy the RT.  

 

Besides, I don't know if you realize, you can't find qualified, skilled labor to hire in America.   

 

The neighbor had his 16 year old grandson helping him work on his house nearby, a couple of years ago, and I talked in passing about how good the kid was.  The neighbor said he had hired half his grandson's wrestling team to help him clear some trees on his other property, by donating supplies for the team, quid pro quo.  Idaho kids know what they're doing around construction.   I spoke about hiring his grandson for this (pending) project.  Well, six months later, the grandson had bought his own truck, and was hiring it out at $25 or $30 an hour, plus gas, for moving, odd jobs, etc..  Lol, he has his own business.  Today, I probably couldn't afford him. 

 

EVERY YOUNG MAN in Northern Idaho who is capable of doing manual labor, of holding a job, is fully engaged.  When I built my house in 2016, I hired an experienced guy from Oregon who happened to be visiting his kids, plus a couple of local young men of limited experience to help out, and got my paver driveway installed.  (I have done that sort of work on my own, but I was acting as my own GC on the house, and didn't have time.)    If it was very tough finding skilled or unskilled trades in 2016; it's flat out impossible today.  I recently tried to find an electrician to test some breakers in my panel that are behaving suspiciously, i.e. I think I may have a bad one.  Can't find an electrician available.  I can do just about any routine electrical, but won't touch an electrical supply panel.  So, maybe in some other year.   

 

Even if I can find someone that knows stone veneer installation (i.e. subpar work seems to be the norm, today), it'll cost me $75 to $100 per hour, and chances are he won't be qualified.  (Otherwise, he'd be booked 3 years in advance.)  It would take an experienced crew of three to do this in two to three weeks, i.e. about $30K in labor.  That's not in my budget.   I started preparation last fall, after my stone failed to arrive on schedule, and got going too late.  (I should have started prep early summer rather than waiting until the stone arrived.)  I figure it'll take me anywhere from 6 weeks to a pessimistic 3 months for me to get this done.  I do quality work, only 4x slower than the trades. 🙄😁)

[Lowndes]

Sounds like you'll NEED a break by then.

[taylor1]

4 hours ago, Scott9999 said:

EVERY YOUNG MAN in Northern Idaho who is capable of doing manual labor, of holding a job, is fully engaged.

Thats funny because where I live, all the young men are too lazy or think it is below them to work any trade that involves physical labor. The area was screaming for tradesman in every field of construction. Any kid, with any amount of go getter in them could easily start a small business and make a very good living. For the locals, it looks like time is running out , as the South Americans have seized the opportunity and are thriving.

[Rougarou]

I'm don't get around enough to know "every" young person, but the ones I see at the local restaurants, coming off their day jobs, look purty rough in their carharts and ariat work boots,.....kinda like they been working hard, I dunno, mebbee they just rolled in the yuck before they came to the local slop chute.

 

Venture back to when you were "young",.....then ask an old person if the "young you" generation works as hard,........betcha they'll say "nope".

 

If I need someone to do specific work that I'm not skilled at, I can find them quite easily.  America does still have manual labor types and skilled manual trade types.

[wbw6cos]

10 hours ago, Scott9999 said:

Dang, now ya gone and done it.   You just HAD to do it, didn't ya?   Ya had to offer all that kind of hospitality AND a bike to ride, to boot.  😯😫

 

So, I have no excuse whatsoever.   Nothing stopping me from hopping on the plane.  This is a real opportunity.  Saying "no" would be nothing but flakey. 

 

Nothing stopping me, except the 6 tons of stone in my garage and on my front driveway, waiting for me to install, beginning when evening temps rise above freezing.  Like, April to May.  And at the end of April, I'll be hip deep in concrete and stone, no matter how fast I work. 😭  But, maybe I'll need a mid-spring break from the rock pile ....  🤔

 

I really need to see the area.  Will think about this and get back to you by PM.   

 

 

........and, he will have Cardo comms and a few cameras to capture the rides.  I think.  Just need to remind him to turn them on.  

[taylor1]

57 minutes ago, Rougarou said:

America does still have manual labor types and skilled manual trade types

I'm sure that is very true as I have 2 sons that work their butt's off. I just know that it is conducive to the area I live in.

[Scott9999]

6 hours ago, taylor1 said:

Thats funny because where I live, all the young men are too lazy or think it is below them to work any trade that involves physical labor. The area was screaming for tradesman in every field of construction. Any kid, with any amount of go getter in them could easily start a small business and make a very good living. For the locals, it looks like time is running out , as the South Americans have seized the opportunity and are thriving.

Example of a typical young man.  My wife and I stopped at an Arby's one evening in Coeur d'Alene (we live about 1/2 hour from there, and usually go there, and occasionally to neighboring Spokane, WA, for supplies).   The guy taking the order was telling me he was a bit tired, just trying to make it through the shift.   By day, he's a concrete laborer, digging foundations for new buildings.  It was sub-freezing weather that day.  So, after working that day (usually, construction gets going around 6AM here), he was pulling his second shift.  Now, rents have gone sky high,  so I know this young man's expenses have, too, but he's making $16 per hour or better at the fast food place, and as I said, probably $25 an hour on the construction job.  (I know I had to pay $20 an hour in 2016 to attract anyone who was worth a nickel.)  He's banking cash.  He's very typical of who I found on the Idaho side, when I was building my house.

 

Almost every young man I hired from Washington state, and I did find a few good ones, was stoned half the time.  I'd hear their life's stories, and the kids in WA were somehow diminished by the WA drug culture. Heck, I just helped pull a young man from a snow bank the other day (it wasn't his fault, the road down the hill in back, where they were working new house construction, had iced over while they worked, and the construction company's snow and ice removal guys didn't show up).   I talked to he and his friend for a half hour while he taped up his front fender to make the vehicle drivable.  In their conversation?  When they were going to get loaded again.  Where did they live?  Across the border, in Washington. 

 

I hired an experienced "master carpenter" and "occasional plumber journeyman" with his own tools.  He talked a good game.  I was busy, and it took me four days plus a whisper from another tradesman to realize the guy had screwed up every task he was assigned.  I had to walk up my hillside to his parked van, strapped, where he was smoking dope and juicing up with meth or some other drug, to pay him off, fire his a***, and tell him never to return.  

 

Every young man I hired in Idaho was a kid going to college and working full time, or working two jobs, etc..  Idaho becomes a beehive of activity about now.  Actually, they've worked throughout last winter, which wasn't the norm in 2016.  They've been pouring commercial new foundations in sub-freezing weather, adding heat blankets to cure, and framing buildings overnight.  They've shut down on very wet, snowy, or cold (10F) days, but otherwise, it's been full speed ahead in building this year.  Heck, I've seen roofers out on a roofs I wouldn't walk on dry, installing roofing through rain and snow.  It's just nuts.

 

Lol, stories I have.

 

I saw a masonry crew working on a new $million house down the street two weeks ago, which included a stone accent strip.  The temps had just cracked slightly above freezing.  I was curious, since concrete and mortar needs temps above freezing, and generally, above 40F to properly cure.   At first, I thought "Man, maybe I can get a head start early".   After that:  "Hmmm, I wonder if they need some work."   I immediately had those visions of three pro's finishing MY work in record time.  They weren't covering their work in plastic, or attaching heaters, or using any of the other normal precautions, so I stopped by to ask about their procedures.   The head of their crew said that they used an concrete accelerant to speed the cure.  I looked at their work, which was O.K., thought about what I knew about stone work, and said "No way!  There's a 50/50% chance that there will be stones popping off this wall within the next 18 months.  Not hiring these guys."  

 

Yeah, I can hire it out, and then I can hire it out again, to get it right.  Or, I can just do it myself, and it'll be done correctly ONE time.   (I can't tell you how much re-work I had to do on my house.  LONG story.)

 

[roadscholar]

On 3/4/2022 at 3:54 PM, John Ranalletta said:

Got anything on an evacuation route?

 

Should I go or should I stay always presents a quandry. Anything less than a cat 4 or 5 and most just stay put, having a generator is good. Forecasters try to overestimate especially since Andrew hit Homestead at the last hour as a 5 but it's still not an exact science. Evacuating has it's own problems, there are just 2 N-S interstates and 2 E-W and have been known to become parking lots when everyone tries to go at once. If evacuation is the choice I'd suggest leaving early, make sure you can get across any bridges because they close them when winds reach 70mph, and carry a map or pre-plan secondary roads that wouldn't likely be as crowded. 

[John Ranalletta]

4 hours ago, roadscholar said:

 

Should I go or should I stay always presents a quandry. Anything less than a cat 4 or 5 and most just stay put, having a generator is good. Forecasters try to overestimate especially since Andrew hit Homestead at the last hour as a 5 but it's still not an exact science. Evacuating has it's own problems, there are just 2 N-S interstates and 2 E-W and have been known to become parking lots when everyone tries to go at once. If evacuation is the choice I'd suggest leaving early, make sure you can get across any bridges because they close them when winds reach 70mph, and carry a map or pre-plan secondary roads that wouldn't likely be as crowded. 

I have family in Naples.  A nephew lives on a canal with a 30' boat at his back door.  His is an old house built on a slab.  When they forecast 12-15' tidal surges, he knew his house would be washed away.  Luckily, it didn't happen though much damage was done in the area. 

 

 

During the same hurricane, the storm veered inland where my sister stayed with her daughter in Ave Maria, about 30 miles east of Naples.  Winds there approached 130mph I'm told.  My niece's husband, Randy, slashed all the lanai screens to save the structure.  Their ranch was an early model in the development built with poured concrete walls; so, they felt somewhat secure.  My sister got a bit panicky when Randy started writing each person's SSN on an arm in large black magic marker.  Talking with him later, he said he's not sitting out the next one.  He's taking the first flight out of town.

[roadscholar]

That’s pretty scary, I’ve been in 6 or 8 but none close to 130mph,. About 30 years ago a big one came ashore in Charleston, 80 miles inland big pine trees were sheared off halfway up, it was a sober reminder of how devastating they can be.