Week Five Recap

Typically, I would not consider myself a fickle person. My emotions are pretty constant, and I am usually continuously confident regarding the decisions that I make. However, with that said, I must be honest and admit that my emotions have been a little bit up and down regarding my decision to go full time as a "handyman."

Most of the time I am pretty confident and very happy about my decision. But, let me go several days in a row with no work, and I start to doubt my decision. This is the situation I was in when my doubts reached a climax last Tuesday (July 20th). With the exception of a few small jobs, I had been almost eight days without any significant work. This situation would not have been so bad if it were not for the fact that I had just spent $80 to advertise in our local paper. The ad started on Sunday, and as of Tuesday, I had not received a single call. In addition to this, a guttering estimate I prepared was rejected that same day for being too high. Now, take these facts and add them to the fact that my wife's hours were being cut way back at her job, and you ended up with a man who was starting to be overcome with doubt. With the safety net of my wife's hours disappearing, and with the phone not ringing, I was starting to already consider the possibility that I might have to once again become an employee to someone else.

Fortunately, this season of doubt didn't last long. Though I sat in it for the better part of the day, I was eventually reminded of some important things (These "important things" were in regards to my faith. While I am in no way ashamed of this these things, I make a point not to mention them here. If you look at my profile, you will see another blog spot of mine that is devoted to the topic). And after this reminder, everything was once again well. While these "important things" didn't guarantee me success as a handyman, they did guarantee that everything would workout for our eventual good.

It was the following day (Wednesday, July 21st) that everything began to get busy. The day started with a call from a lady wanting me to paint her bathroom. However, before I could leave for that job, I got my first call and job from the newspaper ad. The job involved weed-eating a fence line. After returning home from these two jobs, I found an email from the guy I gave the gutter estimate to. He sent the email to let me know that he wanted me to do the guttering after all. He also mentioned that he needed me to move another load of books (I mentioned this guy in my last post). I moved the books on Thursday and bought the materials for the guttering job. When I returned home, I received my second call and job from the newspaper add. The call was from an 80 year old man who was frustrated because the area around his mail box was ugly. He didn't ask about rates, he only said "come fix it."

I left Friday morning to install the guttering. As I was installing the guttering, the man I was working for introduced me to his brother-in-law. His brother-in-law gave me his phone number and address and ask me to stop by at some point to look over some work he was needing done.

I finished the guttering a little after 1 pm. I then went to look at the mail box situation. The mail box was simply a little patch of ground, surrounded by a sidewalk and curb that was filled with lava rock and some kind of evergreen growth. It was also full of weeds. The customer simply let me know that he wanted it all cleaned out and that he wanted new sod laid down. Just as before, price seemed to be the least of his concern. Shortly after starting the mail box project, I received my 3rd call and job from the news paper add. This job involved repairing some doors at a rental property.

On Saturday, I finished the sod job. Having never once discussed price, I was a little nervous about presenting my bill. The total came to $220. Materials cost $45, and the other $175 was for five hours of labor. There was no need to be nervous. When I presented the bill, they only seemed to be concerned that all my expenses were covered. After writing the check, they took me out to show me a flower bed that the wife wanted cleared out at a later time. The husband also inquired as to whether or not I mowed lawns. He then let me know that if the "kid" taking care of their yard ever quit, I would be the first person he would call.

This is a picture during the project after the old stuff was cleaned out.

After

I left the "mail box" job to meet with the customer at the rental property. We agreed on a price, and I went back later that evening to complete that job. I then took Sunday off.

Today, I went to clear out the flower bed. While there, I got my fourth call and job from the newspaper add. This call was from a real estate company who had a rental that needed some junk cleared out of the back yard. After finishing the flowerbed, I went to look at the job. After agreeing on a price, I went home, cleaned out my truck and loaded up my family so that we could all work on the job together. The job paid $100, and with all of us working together, we had it finished in just over an hour.

While I'm sure I am likely to have seasons of doubt again, today I feel like the most blessed man alive. I am absolutely loving what I do, and I am getting paid to do it. I can get started early, or I can sleep in a little and get started late. If the job allows, I can take my family with me. This all seems too good to be true.

Week Five Total: $602.50 ($25 mowing, $80 painting, $100 fence-line clearing, $35 hauling, $122.50 gutter install, $175 sod job, $65 door repairs)