# kids do the stupidist things...



## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/fire-department-called-after-boy-gets-head-stuck-in-toilet-seat


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

I was looking a way to fit these in....

Last week I was organizing the van and this kid didn't want to go back after lunch break. He was hiding out very angrily and he got furiously mad when he saw me taking pictures. He stormed off and he was about to run away for good!

Then on the weekend at the supermarket this kid was hiding from his parents. People didn't see him until I heard a man chuckle.


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## ECH (Jul 27, 2018)

The father of the kid in the link should have his man card taken for not having any kind of tools to get the seat off his kids head. If he had a card to begin with.

Good God, are you telling me that the parents couldn't find SOMETHING around the house to use to cut a chinsey plastic toilet seat.

Pitiful. Humanity is doomed.


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## The Dane (Feb 19, 2015)

Why spend money on tools when you can just call the fire department and have the taxpayers pay for people to come do it for you for free. Why be a good parent/husband/man when facing the risk of becoming a social outcast. Should anyone see you with a tool they would quickly shame you for being a "man".

Sent from my BLN-L24 using Tapatalk


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

ECH said:


> The father of the kid in the link should have his man card taken for not having any kind of tools to get the seat off his kids head. If he had a card to begin with.
> 
> Good God, are you telling me that the parents couldn't find SOMETHING around the house to use to cut a chinsey plastic toilet seat.
> 
> Pitiful. Humanity is doomed.


Haven't you noticed when you go to a customer most men have absolutely no tools or knowledge how to use them? When I was a young adult I thought it was the norm to be knowledgeable to fix things and to have many tools. I realized I'm one of the very few who have so many tools I can compete with my local Princess Auto! I have a stackable tool chest beside my computer.

What happens is kids graduate college, buy a brand new house and a brand new car and get a job at the government. They don't have to fix anything at that point and when they do they call for services. They make a lot of money at work so it's not an issue. I see so many big houses and new cars it's crazy while I have an old house and buy my trucks when people usually think they are worthless and cost too much to repair.


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

The Dane said:


> Why spend money on tools when you can just call the fire department and have the taxpayers pay for people to come do it for you for free. Why be a good parent/husband/man when facing the risk of becoming a social outcast. Should anyone see you with a tool they would quickly shame you for being a "man".
> 
> Sent from my BLN-L24 using Tapatalk





What sort of horse schit do your neighbors believe? Who the heck is shaming you for being masculine? Who have you seen being shamed for being masculine?



Also yeah, my first thought was tin snips.




.


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## ECH (Jul 27, 2018)

The Dane said:


> Why spend money on tools when you can just call the fire department and have the taxpayers pay for people to come do it for you for free. Why be a good parent/husband/man when facing the risk of becoming a social outcast. Should anyone see you with a tool they would quickly shame you for being a "man".
> 
> Sent from my BLN-L24 using Tapatalk


I don't know, I bet they get charged for the FD to come out. You ever ride in an ambulance, not cheap.



Tango said:


> Haven't you noticed when you go to a customer most men have absolutely no tools or knowledge how to use them? When I was a young adult I thought it was the norm to be knowledgeable to fix things and to have many tools. I realized I'm one of the very few who have so many tools I can compete with my local Princess Auto! I have a stackable tool chest beside my computer.
> 
> What happens is kids graduate college, buy a brand new house and a brand new car and get a job at the government. They don't have to fix anything at that point and when they do they call for services. They make a lot of money at work so it's not an issue. I see so many big houses and new cars it's crazy while I have an old house and buy my trucks when people usually think they are worthless and cost too much to repair.


It begs the question, who made the better life choices? The guy who went to college and makes enough to pay somebody to fix stuff. Or the guy who fixes his own stuff.

Cause I gotta tell you, the guy that can afford to buy new or pay others to fix, but chooses to fix his own stuff is rare.

Usually the guy that fixes, does so because he can't afford new, or to pay someone to fix for him.

How many hours are lost fixing cars and stuff around the house that the college guy gets to spend with his kids, or wife, or on vacation, etc.

Take that with a grain of salt though, I'm in mid life, starting a whole different career, wondering if I screwed up somewhere along the line.


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## The Dane (Feb 19, 2015)

ECH said:


> I don't know, I bet they get charged for the FD to come out. You ever ride in an ambulance, not cheap.
> 
> .


Yes I have actually been in an ambulance as a patient and you know what? IT WAS FREE . I had the privilege of living most of my life in a country (Denmark) that is as GREAT as USA and many times also better but it evens out to equals in my mind, because in many other cases USA is better. I'm not hating so please don't hate me. 

I also have been in a fire truck as I'm actually a volunteer firefighter here in town. I guess being sick today had its benefits as we got 2 calls today and being sick meant I did not have to go out in the cold. As far as I understand people here do not get a bill for calling the fire department.

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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

ECH said:


> I don't know, I bet they get charged for the FD to come out. You ever ride in an ambulance, not cheap.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



you have it wrong...you only get called to the college guy that made it good, you dont get called to the majority of worthless college graduates that live home with mommy and daddy because they dont have a pot to piss in, and all the well todo fix it guys dont call you, cause they fix it themselves, so how do you know how many are out there?..Im guessing a whole lot more than you think...


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

ECH said:


> I don't know, I bet they get charged for the FD to come out. You ever ride in an ambulance, not cheap.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Awesome post!

One guy told me being able to work with your hands is worth gold. I have great pleasure in repairing and making things work. I got stuck on the side of the road one winter in the middle of nowhere and I was about 250 km from the next town. I was under the my trail truck in a foot of snow and a highway cop car pulled up and asked if I was okay. I said yep, I just changed out the head on my trail truck l a few days ago and it now leaks oil on the alternator and destroyed it while I was driving. No worries I have a spare and I'm changing it out right now!

I literally rebuilt differentials, transfer cases, replaced transmissions in the woods all by myself.

But anyway I think I made the right choice without realizing it. These guys who make a lot of money work 40 hours and are in rush hour traffic twice a day. I no longer work 40 hours a week and I go to work after rush hour ends and go home before it.

They however have money for vacations and a nice cushion when they retire.


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

ShtRnsdownhill said:


> you have it wrong...you only get called to the college guy that made it good, you dont get called to the majority of worthless college graduates that live home with mommy and daddy because they dont have a pot to piss in, and all the well todo fix it guys dont call you, cause they fix it themselves, so how do you know how many are out there?..Im guessing a whole lot more than you think...



To know that answer stay one hour in the plumbing isle of HD on a saturday morning. Even better when it a long holiday week-end you will be amazed at the amount of diy and also amazed at those who fail miserably to diy.


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

Tango said:


> To know that answer stay one hour in the plumbing isle of HD on a saturday morning. Even better when it a long holiday week-end you will be amazed at the amount of diy and also amazed at those who fail miserably to diy.


those are the wanna bees..lol and the next day they call you to fix the abortion of a job they did, or they put some more duct tape on it..


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

ShtRnsdownhill said:


> those are the wanna bees..lol and the next day they call you to fix the abortion of a job they did, or they put some more duct tape on it..


We have a thread dedicated to that! :biggrin: The winner's :biggrin:


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## ECH (Jul 27, 2018)

ShtRnsdownhill said:


> you have it wrong...you only get called to the college guy that made it good, you dont get called to the majority of worthless college graduates that live home with mommy and daddy because they dont have a pot to piss in, and all the well todo fix it guys dont call you, cause they fix it themselves, so how do you know how many are out there?..Im guessing a whole lot more than you think...


Maybe you are right, like I said, I'm in full midlife crisis mode right now :smile:

Like Tango, I see a ton of nice houses and cars around, and I know I cant afford that, so I naturally assume (I know I know) that others are doing something better than I.

There are a lot that are worse off, I know this as well.


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

ECH said:


> Maybe you are right, like I said, I'm in full midlife crisis mode right now :smile:
> 
> Like Tango, I see a ton of nice houses and cars around, and I know I cant afford that, so I naturally assume (I know I know) that others are doing something better than I.
> 
> There are a lot that are worse off, I know this as well.


how many years have you been in your own business?


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## ECH (Jul 27, 2018)

ShtRnsdownhill said:


> how many years have you been in your own business?


Lol, still considered an Apprentice. I have made decent money for a long time. But never 400,000+ dollar house and an Audi, with my kids in private school and wife stays at home kind of money.

That's what I see a lot of around here. The natives that I work with here tell me that the problem is people moving here from up north, New York, Jersey, New England etc, are selling their houses for top dollar, then coming down here and getting mini mansions in NC.

A half mill in DC or NY isn't sH*t, my brother in law has a half a mill colonial outside DC, he has had his car stolen twice, and the hood is a block away. But down here half a mill is 4000 sqft and acreage. And that's in the nicer areas. Half a mill in the country can get you 50 acres easy if you find somebody to sell to you.

And so builders are putting up tons of developments with $400 plus or more houses that are less than 10 feet between houses, and people are gobbling them up, because its better than living in a sardine can in NY, or doing a 2hr commute each way to work like my manager used to do when he lived in Long Island.

This is paradise to them. All about your perspective, this place.

But to answer your question, I'm not sure I am cut out to run my own gig. I have a hard time saying no to helping people, discounts, free flappers, stuff like that would probably do me in. I don't really have that shark mentality. and I imagine myself getting chewed up and spit out.

It's all good, I'm a worker bee :biggrin:


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

ECH said:


> But to answer your question, I'm not sure I am cut out to run my own gig. I have a hard time saying no to helping people, discounts, free flappers, stuff like that would probably do me in. I don't really have that shark mentality. and I imagine myself getting chewed up and spit out.
> 
> It's all good, I'm a worker bee :biggrin:


It's not easy to deal with people when some realize once it's time to pay the bill I'm the owner and they are cutting a check to me personally and not to a big company with employees, that's when they feel they are being over charged.


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

ECH said:


> Lol, still considered an Apprentice. I have made decent money for a long time. But never 400,000+ dollar house and an Audi, with my kids in private school and wife stays at home kind of money.
> 
> That's what I see a lot of around here. The natives that I work with here tell me that the problem is people moving here from up north, New York, Jersey, New England etc, are selling their houses for top dollar, then coming down here and getting mini mansions in NC.
> 
> ...


 well working for someone isnt going to get you rich or any thing close to having the money made in NY(that would be NYC and surrounding areas, not upstate or rural areas), ,you cant compare what someone has at the end of their career or built up over most of their life time to some one in their beginning( thats you)..thats like saying because you write software programs you should have what bill gates has now...doesnt add up and it wont...you have to compare apples to apples...what do locals in your area make doing other jobs compared to you, you cant compare people out of your area that move down and buy a nice big house, and you assume they have the money to afford it, dont be fooled, many of those people are living on credit cards and big dept, and many actually have the money...


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## ECH (Jul 27, 2018)

ShtRnsdownhill said:


> well working for someone isnt going to get you rich or any thing close to having the money made in NY(that would be NYC and surrounding areas, not upstate or rural areas), ,you cant compare what someone has at the end of their career or built up over most of their life time to some one in their beginning( thats you)..thats like saying because you write software programs you should have what bill gates has now...doesnt add up and it wont...you have to compare apples to apples...what do locals in your area make doing other jobs compared to you, you cant compare people out of your area that move down and buy a nice big house, and you assume they have the money to afford it, dont be fooled, many of those people are living on credit cards and big dept, and many actually have the money...


True, some may be over their head in debt, but probably not as many as we think. The rich breed the rich, and the poor breed the poor (generally speaking).

The vast majority of people moving down here are working for pharma, health research, or tech research. Or working from home because you can get more house for your money than the metro areas they came from.

This area (Research Triangle), is considered the silicon valley of the east coast. Everybody else is service industry. There is next to zero manufacturing.

Assuming you don't work in one of the professions I mentioned before, being in business for yourself is really the only way to get on the level that most of the people around here are on. And even then, some places are just way out of reach for blue collar.

One of our customers is the owner of Papa Johns. Another is the CEO of AutoZone.

Our company caters to a pretty upscale clientele. 

Here is a link to a place called "the Governors Club". Monster houses. These customers are always haggling price. They didn't get this wealthy handing out money. I generally always convert my calls here cause I own my prices. It is a game to them. Jack Nicholas designed the golf course on the grounds, lol.

https://www.governorsclub.com/

That probably factors into my thoughts on this subject, there are very few calls I go on that I can even come close to relating to the client on a real level as far as income level goes.

They are people too, so there is always something I can relate to, but station in life is certainly not one of them.


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## ECH (Jul 27, 2018)

I'm 40 this year, so hardly the beginning of life. Plumbing career, yes, but not life.


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

ECH said:


> I'm 40 this year, so hardly the beginning of life. Plumbing career, yes, but not life.



look thats the way the cookie crumbles, so yes if your looking to become a multi millionaire about the 10 million range..forget about plumbing unless you own a company with several hundred employees..thats just reality ....regardless of age, you are beginning a career..if you wanted to make that kind of money you should have figured out what those people did back in your 20s..thats not to say if you come up with some big wang biz idea you couldnt make a fortune now,,,do you live comfortably? can you buy what you want when you want? within reason..I worked on the north shore in my country, its known for the very wealthy, I looked at it they have alot of money to pay for my plumbing work..I didnt look at them with any hate per speak, as anyone with the right idea at the right time could be in their shoes, including me..but I never found that good idea yet..but that didnt stop me from making my $$ and living very comfortably ...the level of comfort differs form one to another from what one sees and experiences..
only you can decide whats gona make you happy, but I can tell you what will make you miserable..and thats doing the old , why cant I have all that money and think nothing but that all the time...
I like to take reality checks on a regular basis..like lucky not to be like all the veterans coming back from war missing limbs or not coming back at all, along with all the host of other mental and physical problems they have..
so I am very lucky for that and with all your limbs you can go out and make $$..how would you be feeling now if you were missing and arm or leg or both??


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## ECH (Jul 27, 2018)

ShtRnsdownhill said:


> look thats the way the cookie crumbles, so yes if your looking to become a multi millionaire about the 10 million range..forget about plumbing unless you own a company with several hundred employees..thats just reality ....regardless of age, you are beginning a career..if you wanted to make that kind of money you should have figured out what those people did back in your 20s..thats not to say if you come up with some big wang biz idea you couldnt make a fortune now,,,do you live comfortably? can you buy what you want when you want? within reason..I worked on the north shore in my country, its known for the very wealthy, I looked at it they have alot of money to pay for my plumbing work..I didnt look at them with any hate per speak, as anyone with the right idea at the right time could be in their shoes, including me..but I never found that good idea yet..but that didnt stop me from making my $$ and living very comfortably ...the level of comfort differs form one to another from what one sees and experiences..
> only you can decide whats gona make you happy, but I can tell you what will make you miserable..and thats doing the old , why cant I have all that money and think nothing but that all the time...
> I like to take reality checks on a regular basis..like lucky not to be like all the veterans coming back from war missing limbs or not coming back at all, along with all the host of other mental and physical problems they have..
> so I am very lucky for that and with all your limbs you can go out and make $$..how would you be feeling now if you were missing and arm or leg or both??


I am simply "venting"

You are absolutely right, and that is the mature way of looking at things. It's all about perspective. For every person in a better place than I/us, there is probably 2 that are worse off.

Human nature of course, makes it more challenging to see the good, vs the bad. And I personally, struggle with that a lot, comparing myself to the Joneses. It's a work in progress :smile:

It sounds like you have that feeling licked, that is awesome.

So, psychology sidebar aside, back to plumbing talk........:biggrin:


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