8/ Newly Elevated Farm Hand stopped by this morning for 30 minutes to catch up, talk about this season's work. We spent 5 minutes talking about tasks and 25 minutes bitching about Deposed Farm Hand.
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19/ Yes. So now I've got decking screws holding structural members together, and nails (which pull out) holding barn siding down, which WILL try to cup as it ages, and which will pull nails out. FFFFFFFFFFFF https://twitter.com/plzbepatient/status/983413273167933440 …
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20/ I have literally (no, LITERALLY) used hobo labor at certain points. (Paid a guy $100 one evening, had to front him $5 for breakfast the next day bc he "got pretty wet" at the bar in between).https://twitter.com/horsewithnonick/status/983413617319178240 …
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21/ He has never hit on MY farm wife. He made a joke about it once, and I told him that the nearest AR-15 was in a closet 6 feet from me, and if he looked at her cross eyed no one would find his body. He knew I was dead serious; has been polite to her. https://twitter.com/AuldenGhostley/status/983413812803063808 …
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22/ This is EXACTLY right. Newly Elevated Farm Hand tells me that Deposed Farm Hand bad mouths me bc I'm "an a-hole who always wants things to go my way". Imagine that - me, the property owner paying cash, wanting things my way. https://twitter.com/KennethCullen14/status/983414177724280832 …
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23/ "use it for 'the job'" are we talking building structures, or disposing of farm hands? https://twitter.com/plzbepatient/status/983414332821094400 …
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24/ if for framing, I've got a variety of Bostitch nail guns. Have had some of them (e.g. the coil framing gun) for almost 20 years. Old enough that the rubber gaskets are starting to go and I have an opinion on rebuild kits.
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25/ Yeah, Deposed Farm Hand is ALWAYS pushing boundaries, and pushing them hard. I offered him soda once, found him in my kitchen pouring himself soda the next day. etc. Raised by a single mother, no father figure, lots of other issues. https://twitter.com/AuldenGhostley/status/983415261897347072 …
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26/ I UNDERSTAND why he is terrible, but I do not TOLERATE it. Most people are not remotely as good about steady forceful pushback as I am, so they get victimized, then they explode at him, and he perceives this as "out of nowhere, they flipped out".
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27/ This is why he considers me a huge a-hole: I calmly succeed in stopping him from doing 90% of the bad crap he wants to do at me; this unprecedented push back strikes him as entirely bizarre and unreasonable. (No, you may NOT host a bonfire party for your friends on my land)
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28/ No, you may NOT deposit construction debris from your house on my burn pile. No, not even if I gave you permission for the last load - WAIT, WHAT? WHEN DID I DO THAT? GOD DAMN IT...
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29/ No, you may not take a shower in my master bath. Yes, if that means that you will be sweaty at the group dinner you're going to in 15 minutes, that IS, IN FACT, ok with me.
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30/ No, you may not park your Airstream project trailer here. No, not even if you pay $20 per month. No, not even if I have 56 acres.
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31/ No, we are not going to change the pay scale, which is $10/hr with a $60 bonus if you work 30+ hours per week, to $12/hr. Why not? Well, my system incentivizes you to show up. What does your proposed system incentivize?
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32/ Concur. I've got a female friend who was VERY creeped out by him. He came to her house for some reason, then wouldn't leave. Other women are very upset with his advances. https://twitter.com/DarkShamashAran/status/983417276199088128 …
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33/ Anyway, to people who ask "why not sever ties?", please note that I 95% HAVE. I'm bringing him in for maybe 2 days to work with / teach Newly Elevated Hand.
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34/ Maybe two years ago he and I had a Come To Jesus moment. I explained that he could enter the house and go no further than the tile entrance, to access the bathroom. https://twitter.com/AuldenGhostley/status/983417729670635522 …
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35/ He also turned a courtesy on my part (giving him and his guys a pitcher full of lemonaid) into a power dynamic, where he would TELL me that the pitcher was empty, and EXPLAIN that he would just go into the kitchen and get glasses. This also fed into the Come to Jesus moment
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36/ The New Policy made things tolerable... ish... for the last two years, but even with that improvement....no, I'm done. A few days here and there to train others, but our time together is almost entirely over.
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37/ I told him back in February "hey, you're overloaded with work, and this year is pretty slow at the farm; I'm having XXX do weekly lawn mowning etc; maybe just 1 or 2 big projects for you: X and Y for a few days each" >>> https://twitter.com/SnekeanRemoval/status/983441398828601344 …
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38/ You can see that his response is... not fully engaging in my statement "I've got another guy; there may be ~ 4 days of work for you this year". Notice how he tells me that he's looking to recruit more guys for his crew. Why? Because he's ignoring the facts on the ground.pic.twitter.com/QNQ0ImGmns
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39/ He's gonna show up for the 1 day of work, and then tell - not ask me - what he's going to do when he's back, and explain that ACTUALLY I probably want to do project XYZ and he'll start it tomorrow. And I'll tell him "finish this task today or tomorrow, then leave".
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40/ I get lots of advice like this. And I understand where it's coming from. Life is trade offs. e.g.: you've got 4 paddocks but you need 5 bc pigs arrive in ~5 weeks, so you need to subdivide. X has run fences before. Y hasn't. It's a 2 man job. What to do? https://twitter.com/B30wu1f2/status/983446118498435072 …
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41/ One answer is "work along side good farm hand". OK, valid...but my hourly rate >>>> $10/hr, so that costs me hundreds if not thousands of dollars in opportunity cost. Another is "hire someone new". OK, who?
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42/ Yes, I can put up a flyer at the local hardware store. Asking for help. ...for one day. Maybe two. Then I can be interrupted by phone calls, have to check references, have to deal w someone new...and someone not fully trusted.
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43/ Yes, I'd love to live in a world where everything is c̶o̶v̶e̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶s̶e̶m̶e̶n̶ has low transaction costs. But sadly, that's not the world we're in.pic.twitter.com/M1pS3aOOOV
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44/ I absolutely agree with this framing. For a lot of the farm chores, I could find a pro firm - "Farm Fencing of New England", or whatever. Price tradeoff isn't worth it tho (less hassle, but 10x price) Also: pro firms move QUICKLY; less opportunity to see work, tweak deetshttps://twitter.com/jerephil/status/983466157628833792 …
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45/ Another astute observation. Markets always clear; doesn't mean they clear at the price you want them to. Clearing price for "40 hours of crap labor" is not "write one big check". The ONLY price it clears at is "write a small check & micromanage"https://twitter.com/jerephil/status/983467503769739264 …
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46/ A fine idea, but even when I was running a 10-15 person software firm, I found that a manager was more trouble than it's worth. I think the ROI is even lower when I'm dealing w ~2 man-days / week for 6 months out of the year. https://twitter.com/fche/status/983470693277814784 …
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47/ In this case, the work is glorified yard work. * spread the compost on the garden beds * muck that stall * put the much in the compost bin * mow the law * pick up branches * cut down these 5 trees I've marked no real cash value https://twitter.com/padre35/status/983471509699223552 …
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