Monday, April 05, 2004
Death and ...
Doing the tax thing today. I'm using Turbo Tax for the first time. It's like the Home Depot of taxes. I can't believe those H&R Block jerks get so much money for what they do. They probably have turbo tax running in the back room. Actually, I saw a version of the same type of software for sale by H&R Block at CompUSA. I guess Turbo is eaten' into their action pretty bad.
I think most service businesses make money by convincing the public that they can't do something. "No ma'am, there is no way an untrained woman like yourself could possibly change a spark plug. Fortunately for you, we are having a sale and it will only cost you $1000 to have one of our experts do the job" I am learning this as I work on our house. If the public really understood how houses are built, they wouldn't be willing to pay nearly as much as they do. A good 2x4 costs about $2.80. I am going to build our carport into a garage in the next month or so and I estimate the material costs at about $2000. And that includes a 16x7 garage door, insulation and two 4x4 double paned windows. It would cost over $10,000 to get some yahoo contractor to do it and he would most likely half-ass the whole thing. Of course I may kill myself with my nail gun but that is beside the point.
I got a framing nail gun a few months back that will drive a 3 1/2" nail in one pop. The first time I fired it I didn't have hearing protection on. That was the last time I fired it without hearing protection on. The thing is a small cannon. It is driven by compressed air which is vented out the back by an adjustable port. And if you don't have the port pointing in the right direction, look out. I switched hands once to drive a nail from the other direction and my head was right in the way of the exhaust. The blast hit me in the forehead and blew my hat half way across the room. And, if you understand the concept of adiabatic cooling, you know that when a compressed gas is decompressed, it cools rapidly. So, the net result of my mishap was an ultra-violent brain freeze without the mind numbing pleasure of a margarita. Of Course...I'm much smarter now! I remember that old quote "What doesn't kill me makes me stronger" If that's true, I am gonna' be the Incredible Hulk when this house is done!
Doing the tax thing today. I'm using Turbo Tax for the first time. It's like the Home Depot of taxes. I can't believe those H&R Block jerks get so much money for what they do. They probably have turbo tax running in the back room. Actually, I saw a version of the same type of software for sale by H&R Block at CompUSA. I guess Turbo is eaten' into their action pretty bad.
I think most service businesses make money by convincing the public that they can't do something. "No ma'am, there is no way an untrained woman like yourself could possibly change a spark plug. Fortunately for you, we are having a sale and it will only cost you $1000 to have one of our experts do the job" I am learning this as I work on our house. If the public really understood how houses are built, they wouldn't be willing to pay nearly as much as they do. A good 2x4 costs about $2.80. I am going to build our carport into a garage in the next month or so and I estimate the material costs at about $2000. And that includes a 16x7 garage door, insulation and two 4x4 double paned windows. It would cost over $10,000 to get some yahoo contractor to do it and he would most likely half-ass the whole thing. Of course I may kill myself with my nail gun but that is beside the point.
I got a framing nail gun a few months back that will drive a 3 1/2" nail in one pop. The first time I fired it I didn't have hearing protection on. That was the last time I fired it without hearing protection on. The thing is a small cannon. It is driven by compressed air which is vented out the back by an adjustable port. And if you don't have the port pointing in the right direction, look out. I switched hands once to drive a nail from the other direction and my head was right in the way of the exhaust. The blast hit me in the forehead and blew my hat half way across the room. And, if you understand the concept of adiabatic cooling, you know that when a compressed gas is decompressed, it cools rapidly. So, the net result of my mishap was an ultra-violent brain freeze without the mind numbing pleasure of a margarita. Of Course...I'm much smarter now! I remember that old quote "What doesn't kill me makes me stronger" If that's true, I am gonna' be the Incredible Hulk when this house is done!
// posted by Chris @ Monday, April 05, 2004
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