On Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:58:38 -0400, Marissa Payton
wrote:

Ignoramus6369 wrote:

On Sat, 12 May 2007 20:29:58 GMT, Mike Dobony wrote:

"Ignoramus6369" wrote in message
...
It happened yesterday. A truck cruised in our neighborhood and I saw
them stop by our neighbor's house (we have a concrete driveway, his is
asphalt) and they talked. Then I went to do something else, the next
thing I know is that my neighbor's asphalt driveway was sprayed with
some tar like substance. So I went to talk to see what happened.

He said that he was scammed: they first agreed on a certain price
($175), they took the money, sprayed half of his driveway, then acted
all surprised and said that "it takes a lot more coating than they
expected" and demanded $50 more for finishing the work. I guess with
the implication that if he did not pay, they would drive off with his
driveway half sprayed looking really stupid. So, he said he paid extra
$50 and they finished the work.

So. I am aware that the general wisdom says do not give work to any
"drive by" people. But I would like to know, let's say that due to
poor judgment, it happened to me and these artists demand extra $50 to
finish. What would be a sensible thing to do in these lousy
circumstances?

i

Exhibit some starch.

I had some travellers pass thru, offer to do some tree work that I
really did want done. We struck a deal, up they went. Same ****,
they tried to jack the price when the limb in question was half-sawn
and ready to fall on my roof oh **** oh dear.

We negotiated a bit.

They finished the job and hauled away all detritus at the
previously-agreed price. They did a good job of it. Nice work. They
may be crooks but they're competent crooks. I do respect competence.
They did seem eager to accept my cash and get the hell out of town.
Worked fer me. Funny how things work some days.

On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:02:23 -0500, Don Foreman
wrote:

On Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:58:38 -0400, Marissa Payton
wrote:

Ignoramus6369 wrote:

On Sat, 12 May 2007 20:29:58 GMT, Mike Dobony wrote:

"Ignoramus6369" wrote in message
...
It happened yesterday. A truck cruised in our neighborhood and I saw
them stop by our neighbor's house (we have a concrete driveway, his is
asphalt) and they talked. Then I went to do something else, the next
thing I know is that my neighbor's asphalt driveway was sprayed with
some tar like substance. So I went to talk to see what happened.

He said that he was scammed: they first agreed on a certain price
($175), they took the money, sprayed half of his driveway, then acted
all surprised and said that "it takes a lot more coating than they
expected" and demanded $50 more for finishing the work. I guess with
the implication that if he did not pay, they would drive off with his
driveway half sprayed looking really stupid. So, he said he paid extra
$50 and they finished the work.

So. I am aware that the general wisdom says do not give work to any
"drive by" people. But I would like to know, let's say that due to
poor judgment, it happened to me and these artists demand extra $50 to
finish. What would be a sensible thing to do in these lousy
circumstances?

i

Exhibit some starch.

I had some travellers pass thru, offer to do some tree work that I
really did want done. We struck a deal, up they went. Same ****,
they tried to jack the price when the limb in question was half-sawn
and ready to fall on my roof oh **** oh dear.

We negotiated a bit.

They finished the job and hauled away all detritus at the
previously-agreed price. They did a good job of it. Nice work. They
may be crooks but they're competent crooks. I do respect competence.
They did seem eager to accept my cash and get the hell out of town.
Worked fer me. Funny how things work some days.


What caliber was the weapon you were cleaning while they were working?

Gunner


"[L]iberals are afraid to state what they truly believe in, for to do so
would result in even less votes than they currently receive. Their
methodology is to lie about their real agenda in the hopes of regaining
power, at which point they will do whatever they damn well please. The
problem is they have concealed and obfuscated for so long that, as a group,
they themselves are no longer sure of their goals. They are a collection of
wild-eyed splinter groups, all holding a grab-bag of dreams and wishes. Some
want a Socialist, secular-humanist state, others the repeal of the Second
Amendment. Some want same sex/different species marriage, others want voting
rights for trees, fish, coal and bugs. Some want cradle to grave care and
complete subservience to the government nanny state, others want a culture
that walks in lockstep and speaks only with intonations of political
correctness. I view the American liberals in much the same way I view the
competing factions of Islamic
fundamentalists. The latter hate each other to the core, and only join
forces to attack the US or Israel. The former hate themselves to the core,
and only join forces to attack George Bush and conservatives." --Ron Marr

In article ,
Gunner Asch wrote:

What caliber was the weapon you were cleaning while they were working?

All calibers seem to work wonders

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:02:23 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, Don
Foreman quickly quoth:

Exhibit some starch.

I had some travellers pass thru, offer to do some tree work that I
really did want done. We struck a deal, up they went. Same ****,
they tried to jack the price when the limb in question was half-sawn
and ready to fall on my roof oh **** oh dear.

We negotiated a bit.

Does that include their seeing your back as you bent over to pick up a
dropped paper, accidentally exposing your carry weapon, Don?
Or were you even starchier than that?


They finished the job and hauled away all detritus at the
previously-agreed price. They did a good job of it. Nice work. They
may be crooks but they're competent crooks. I do respect competence.
They did seem eager to accept my cash and get the hell out of town.
Worked fer me. Funny how things work some days.

Goodonya, mate.

--
It's a sad day when you find out that it's not accident or time
or fortune, but just yourself that kept things from you.
-- Lillian Hellman

On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:44:12 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:02:23 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, Don
Foreman quickly quoth:

Exhibit some starch.

I had some travellers pass thru, offer to do some tree work that I
really did want done. We struck a deal, up they went. Same ****,
they tried to jack the price when the limb in question was half-sawn
and ready to fall on my roof oh **** oh dear.

We negotiated a bit.

Does that include their seeing your back as you bent over to pick up a
dropped paper, accidentally exposing your carry weapon, Don?
Or were you even starchier than that?

It was all quite peaceable. They aren't violent folk, just crooks!

Don Foreman wrote:

We negotiated a bit.

They finished the job and hauled away all detritus at the
previously-agreed price. They did a good job of it. Nice work. They
may be crooks but they're competent crooks. I do respect competence.
They did seem eager to accept my cash and get the hell out of town.
Worked fer me. Funny how things work some days.

:-) What did you use as a "negotiating" instrument? :-)
...lew...

Gunner Asch wrote:

What caliber was the weapon you were cleaning while they were working?

Gunner


Aw shucks Gunner beat me to it. :-)
...lew...

On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:17:33 -0600, Lew Hartswick
wrote:

Don Foreman wrote:

We negotiated a bit.

They finished the job and hauled away all detritus at the
previously-agreed price. They did a good job of it. Nice work. They
may be crooks but they're competent crooks. I do respect competence.
They did seem eager to accept my cash and get the hell out of town.
Worked fer me. Funny how things work some days.

:-) What did you use as a "negotiating" instrument? :-)
...lew...

Psychology. One thing those guys do NOT want to do is stay in one
place for any length of time.

I'd casually photographed them as the job progressed. The Tarzan high
guy was quite a performer and a bit of a showoff as well. Good show!
Oh by the way, I also got good pix of their vehicle and plates. Then I
took the camera in the house and left it there.

When the guy presented me with his "wanna pay us more to finish?"
proposal, my cheerful reply to the leader (older guy who didn't seem
to do any real work) was that I expected them to finish the job with
the same skill they'd exhibited thus far, for the cash price they'd
quoted up front -- and up to that point I really didn't care whether
or not they had a city permit for door-to-door solicitation. A little
lightbulb seemed to go on for the lead dawg. Oh, crap, if a policeman
or city official shows up they'd be here for hours sorting things
out. We're maybe 3 minutes from city hall, the cop shop and the jail.
He sorta grinned at me and said, "no harm in askin', right?" I
grinned right back at him. "Nice try."

He turned around and barked at his crew to get their arses in gear.
Tawk about assholes and elbows! They were finished up, cleaned up,
packed up, paid up and headin' down the road in 15 minutes flat.
Didn't see them in the neighborhood the next day. Fancy that!

On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:06:31 -0500, Don Foreman
wrote:

On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:17:33 -0600, Lew Hartswick
wrote:

Don Foreman wrote:

We negotiated a bit.

They finished the job and hauled away all detritus at the
previously-agreed price. They did a good job of it. Nice work. They
may be crooks but they're competent crooks. I do respect competence.
They did seem eager to accept my cash and get the hell out of town.
Worked fer me. Funny how things work some days.

:-) What did you use as a "negotiating" instrument? :-)
...lew...

Psychology. One thing those guys do NOT want to do is stay in one
place for any length of time.

I'd casually photographed them as the job progressed. The Tarzan high
guy was quite a performer and a bit of a showoff as well. Good show!
Oh by the way, I also got good pix of their vehicle and plates. Then I
took the camera in the house and left it there.

When the guy presented me with his "wanna pay us more to finish?"
proposal, my cheerful reply to the leader (older guy who didn't seem
to do any real work) was that I expected them to finish the job with
the same skill they'd exhibited thus far, for the cash price they'd
quoted up front -- and up to that point I really didn't care whether
or not they had a city permit for door-to-door solicitation. A little
lightbulb seemed to go on for the lead dawg. Oh, crap, if a policeman
or city official shows up they'd be here for hours sorting things
out. We're maybe 3 minutes from city hall, the cop shop and the jail.
He sorta grinned at me and said, "no harm in askin', right?" I
grinned right back at him. "Nice try."

He turned around and barked at his crew to get their arses in gear.
Tawk about assholes and elbows! They were finished up, cleaned up,
packed up, paid up and headin' down the road in 15 minutes flat.
Didn't see them in the neighborhood the next day. Fancy that!


Well done Sir! Well done indeed!!

Gunner


"[L]iberals are afraid to state what they truly believe in, for to do so
would result in even less votes than they currently receive. Their
methodology is to lie about their real agenda in the hopes of regaining
power, at which point they will do whatever they damn well please. The
problem is they have concealed and obfuscated for so long that, as a group,
they themselves are no longer sure of their goals. They are a collection of
wild-eyed splinter groups, all holding a grab-bag of dreams and wishes. Some
want a Socialist, secular-humanist state, others the repeal of the Second
Amendment. Some want same sex/different species marriage, others want voting
rights for trees, fish, coal and bugs. Some want cradle to grave care and
complete subservience to the government nanny state, others want a culture
that walks in lockstep and speaks only with intonations of political
correctness. I view the American liberals in much the same way I view the
competing factions of Islamic
fundamentalists. The latter hate each other to the core, and only join
forces to attack the US or Israel. The former hate themselves to the core,
and only join forces to attack George Bush and conservatives." --Ron Marr