Re: Life Sucks, Then You Move On

[JoeRaisin <joeraisin2001@xxxxxxxxx>]

Effenpig1 wrote:
> On Dec 4, 9:22 pm, Jim <alarmi...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>> On Dec 4, 2:10 pm, JoeRaisin <joeraisin2...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>>> Oh yeah... My NICET Certification is good to 2012 but how do I go about
>>> getting and documenting recertification requirements? That used to be
>>> done by my supervisor and at the time I wasn't interested in the process
>>> - I just filled out what they told me to fill out and went back to work.
>> Someone else here will have to answer that, I don't have a clue.
>>
>>
>>
>>> Did I mention that I'm one of those guys who has never really wanted to
>>> work for myself 'cause it scares the shit out of me...-
>> You know what that reminds me of? A long time ago I hired a kid as a
>> helper to run wires for me in this residential job that had some
>> pretty tight attic crawl spaces. He had no experience but he was built
>> slim and wanted the $10.00 an hour that I was offering. We get to the
>> job and I take him up to the attic and show him what I want him to do.
>> He's up in the attic on his belly and I'm down below snaking up. After
>> about 15 20 minutes he's coming down the attic hatch all upset and
>> really distressed. I ask him what's the matter. Almost in tears, he
>> says ... I can't do this job. I gotta go home right now. I said,
>> what's the matter. He says, I must be allergic to the insulation, I'm
>> itching all over. I gotta go home!  I told him get the hell back up
>> there EVERYBODY itches from insulation. I took some and rubbed it on
>> my arm and said Wow, that shit itches like crazy. See how I ignore it?
>> Now get back to work. You'll get over it in time.
>>
>> The moral of the story is ...... WHAT? do you think your the only one
>> who'd ever been scared shitless to start their own business?
>> EVERYBODY is afraid of what could happen if they fail. Just like war
>> heros. They're no differen't than anyone else. They're afraid too.
>> It's just that they get past the fear and do what has to be done,
>> regardless of the possible consequences.
>>
>> I started my business when I had a chance to move ahead in the company
>> I was working for at the time. I knew that if I stayed with them I'd
>> probably be with them for a long, long time because I wouldn't be able
>> to make the same money working for someone else and I'd be stuck
>> working for them, whether I wanted to or not. . I was always the one
>> who wanted to do things my way and did, much to the distress of my
>> employers. But it turned out I was right more times than they liked to
>> admit. Since no one in my family ever ran their own business, I had no
>> idea that my attitude was one of the attributes that an entrepreneur
>> needed, but I  decided to turn them down, quit and set the goal of
>> getting 100 monitored accounts in one year. (actually I already had
>> 35). I did it with a few to spare.  I often say that when I started on
>> my own, so many years ago, that's when I learned to live on 4 or 5
>> hours of sleep a night. Even if I was in bed for 8 hours, half the
>> time my mind was racing 100 miles an hour trying to cover all the
>> things I should be doing or didn't do and the possibility of failure
>> and what the consequences would mean for me and my family and where
>> was the money going to come from.............. I was just too damn
>> stubborn to quit a let everyone see that I had failed at something. I
>> worked hard, day and night, had a good work ethic, used common sense
>> and picked and chose who to listen to and who not. It worked, and here
>> I still am, 40 years later and still loving it .... every day.
>>
>> Once you're past the start up hurdles and you meet another
>> entrepreneur, you begin to sense that feeling of camaraderie that we
>> have. It's a great club to belong to. Put's you in a special category
>> of people. Certainly, not everyone is cut out for it. You have to have
>> some special attributes to do it. And by the way, keep in mind that
>> when one door closes, another one has to open somewhere else. How you
>> look at it is important. It's an opportunity to change your whole life
>> but you have to commit to it and have the backing of your family too.
>> Thanks to my wife who worked and also took care of and raised the kids
>> during that time, it all turned out ok. Today I work only because I
>> want to. I could have retired years ago, but this is mine. Something
>> that I created, nurtured and made grow all by my will to succeed. I'm
>> not the richest guy you know but you'd be hard put to find someone who
>> enjoys what they do, more than me.
>>
>> By the way, I think that saying is true. Find what you like to do, do
>> it and you'll never work a day in your life.
>>
>> Hope it works out for you too.
>
> Also, I would use a lawyer to find out exactly what the non-compete
> entails in your area, so you can get as close to the edge as possible
> without getting in trouble. Make good use of all the insider info you
> have. I'm not encouraging anything illegal, I'm just saying do what
> you have to do to get your foothold in the market.

To be honest I really don't want to compete with them in the area of alarms.

Over the years I've heard a lot of electricians griping about pulling
the low voltage stuff - mainly cat-5 & RG-6.  I'm hoping they hate it
enough to sub it out.  I already did it on and off for one guy but at
the time I didn't really NEED the money (it was basically a hobby that
put a few bucks in my pocket) and most of his jobs were an hour away or
more so I stopped.

I should probably give him a call...

The main hurdle for me is going to be money.  There were a lot of money
related issues after my son died (dying is expensive - but some of it, I
must confess due to my own inattention) and I'm still trying to repair
my credit.

So I'm still gonna spread around my resume and beat the bricks, but jobs
are pretty scarce in Michigan these days - gotta make that mortgage...

Say, Jim...  You wouldn't happen to be looking for a consultant or
subcontractor up north would you?