Rob Blaire

What? Not even a snicker?

Oh Hell ..... alright ..................... snicker!

Happy now?

No, not at all. SNERK!

January 1st I will be thrilled though. You know I only had a plan to be in the business for five years when I started...

I presume that you'll be doing something else though.

If you sit for too long you get fat, grow roots and your brain turns into a turnip.

I've been doing something else for a while. CNC machining custom molds and other stuff. I think its been 8-10 years since I started tinkering with it in my spare time. At the moment I have two CNC mills producing work on a daily basis, and I am supposed to have two more on Friday, God willing and the creeks don't rise. I just got a new 14x40 manual lathe last week. I also have three hybrid CNC machines I am building, and a CNC router that helps out from time to time.

CNC Molds N Stuff:

Everyday I learn something new. I enjoy it like I used to enjoy being a technician. The big differences are all my jobs are prepaid and my customer base is literally world wide. From Austraila to Europe to North America to South America and even South Africa. Almost every job is custom so its challenging, and my customers don't mind (except for some understandable impatience) that I have a back log of work and theirs will get done when its their turn. I won't get rich doing it, but its bringing in enough to pay its own bills. I've even taken a paycheck from time to time. Not just a draw, but an actual paycheck. LOL.

The thing is my contracting customers are starting to realize how valuable I was. Some have literally begged me not to quit contracting. I feel for them, but they will have to find somebody else. I'm still getting job requests that are hard to turn down too. If they insist I price it stupid high. I am still getting them.

I'm kinda in that mode now too. (Price it stupid)

The job list is two pages long and I do the ones that I like to do and make the most money with the least amount of work. CCTV seems to be the latest thing. They're real easy to install now, along with DVR setup. No RMR but . .... the income is pretty good. As always, I'm so diversified (Alarms, Aud io, Video, TV's Surround sound. whole house audio (Sonos) CCTV, Pool audio, automated Lighting, residential and small commercial Ethernet wiring and W iFi network enhancement.)etc, etc. I don't get bored. Every day is a new a dventure.

I'm kinda in that mode now too. (Price it stupid)

The job list is two pages long and I do the ones that I like to do and make the most money with the least amount of work. CCTV seems to be the latest thing. They're real easy to install now, along with DVR setup. No RMR but ..... the income is pretty good. As always, I'm so diversified (Alarms, Audio, Video, TV's Surround sound. whole house audio (Sonos) CCTV, Pool audio, automated Lighting, residential and small commercial Ethernet wiring and WiFi network enhancement.)etc, etc. I don't get bored. Every day is a new adventure. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You know I do most of that stuff too, but I don't really find it challenging anymore. Its not much fun at all. I used to get a big kick out of fixing things or finding ways to do what other contractors couldn't or wouldn't. Most of the time the second hardest thing I have to do is just read up on the product. Then I look around to see if the MFG is honest or not. Its not really challenging.

The most difficult thing is dealing with certain customers. Most of which fortunately I have managed to send elsewhere. Sometimes charging them a stupid amount of money isn't enough. Sometimes I actually have to tell them why I am charging them a stupid amount of money.

I also do access control, paging and background music, commercial phone systems (certified on a couple large systems), and sometimes design (black box mostly, but not always) special control and monitoring systems. Some of my special systems are still working after more than 20 years. At one time I was big into satellite. I was still in high school (graduated in 82) when I first started installing satellite systems. Finally gave them up as not worth the headache anymore around 2002-2003. Currently I am leaning more about the theory side of electronics as my "hobby" and I am working on some ideas for medical monitoring and diagnostic hardware. I've got three projects working in that area. That's where its nice to have my shop next to my house. When I have a burst of inspiration I just put on my slippers and wander out to the shop. Now if the owner of this stupid f'in contracting company would his damned inventory the H377 out of my way I'd have some elbow room to work.

Back in the day (and even recently) I have customers who are (were) thrilled to have somebody who could just fix or install all of their special systems. Often I would get a call for the alarm system and wind up doing everything. Phones, network, access, video, intercom, and sound. Its nice for my good customers. They tell me what they need and I take care of it, but it can be a pain for difficult customers who keep trying to manipulate stuff in on top of the job. Its pretty bad though for buck passing assholes in supplemental trades. I just document the whole situation and give it to the customer. The customer may not understand it, but they know I found and pinpointed the problem when the buck passing sleazoids (like some copper line providers) don't even try.

I stayed in the contracting business I'd dump alarms and change the name to "Special Systems."

I don't seem to have the difficult customers that I used to have but that' s mostly due to the fact that I don't deal with it as diplomatically as I u sed to have to do. Also, on any given job, I work a little and then get pai d a little. then I work a little more and get paid etc, etc. This way, if i t gets to be a problem dealing with them, I'm not forced to stay and take a ny s__t because they owe me a lot of money. I guess they call it experience or wisdom or something like that, but eventually I reached a point that it was more important to be comfortable and interested in doing the job than in the money. And that the money usually comes anyway. And although you can 't do that when you're first starting out .... it's certainly gratifying wh en you finally attain that level of confidence, expertise and income to be able to pick and choose what you want to do with your life. Like they say, I'll never be rich but I'm comfortable enough to be able to call my own sho ts at this point in my life. Sometimes when I look around me at other peopl e I think that maybe I am rich .... but not so much because of what I do or did but because most of the others who complain all the time, didn't do en ough. Some people just never get it.

Any way, good luck and keep your head going. If you keep using your head yo ur body will keep working lots longer.

Just the other day I discovered my CAD software would do a type of push/pull modeling that I had been looking at other software to do. Its nice because I don't have to relearn all the other stuff I already learned to use it.

I also had two CAD designs I thought were going to be horrific challenges just sort of work. I might actually be learning how to be a designer. One of them has already been cut and the customer says they love it. The other I'll do CAM on tomorrow and hopefully put on the machine on Tuesday.

Right now I am doing my old trade though. I decided to add an airconditioned machine room to the office inside the shop. Of course I just have to have cameras monitoring every machine, and a couple in ceiling 70V line speakers, and some phones, and the option to run either HD over copper or 3MP IP depending on what cameras I have handy, and some network drops on the assembly bench, and some monitors so I can see what's going on outside when I am in the machine rom, and, and, and...

One more camera cable and I think I am done with the low voltage. Electrical for allt eh machines is in, but the mains run to the sub panel in that room still needs to be done, and everything needs to be tied in at the panel.

The curse of being able to do stuff. I had hoped to insulate the room two weeks ago. I might insulate by the end of the week. LOL. After I insulate the rest should go fast, and then I can open the air vent into that area so its not so miserable to work.