Just had a "can you do the job before Tuesday?" phonecall.

I said I could but it will have to this weekend over two afternoons.

Customer then said "Great, do you drink tea of coffee?". I just know I am
going to like this job. Did not even ask for a price.

--
Adam

On 2015-12-04, ARW wrote:

Just had a "can you do the job before Tuesday?" phonecall.

I said I could but it will have to this weekend over two afternoons.

Customer then said "Great, do you drink tea of coffee?". I just know I am
going to like this job. Did not even ask for a price.

I can't imagine failing to offer hot drinks to builders (etc.). It's
a win-win: they appreciate it & productivity goes up.

One section in _How to Live like a Lord without Really Trying_ (which
facetiously described itself (in the 1960s) as a secret manual for
Americans living in Britain) in which the American owner hears the
sound of a blowtorch & discovers the builders all sitting around a
kettle on a pile of bricks, making tea. The book advises making the
tea for them, & making it strong, in order to speed up the building
work. (It's a lot funnier in the book --- someone else has borrowed
my copy.)

In message , Adam Funk
writes
On 2015-12-04, ARW wrote:

Just had a "can you do the job before Tuesday?" phonecall.

I said I could but it will have to this weekend over two afternoons.

Customer then said "Great, do you drink tea of coffee?". I just know I am
going to like this job. Did not even ask for a price.

I can't imagine failing to offer hot drinks to builders (etc.). It's
a win-win: they appreciate it & productivity goes up.

One section in _How to Live like a Lord without Really Trying_ (which
facetiously described itself (in the 1960s) as a secret manual for
Americans living in Britain) in which the American owner hears the
sound of a blowtorch & discovers the builders all sitting around a
kettle on a pile of bricks, making tea. The book advises making the
tea for them, & making it strong, in order to speed up the building
work. (It's a lot funnier in the book --- someone else has borrowed
my copy.)

Strong tea? Not any builder I have met. They all put the tea bag in the
milk and then add hot water.

--
Tim Lamb

On 04/12/2015 19:49, ARW wrote:
Just had a "can you do the job before Tuesday?" phonecall.

I said I could but it will have to this weekend over two afternoons.

Customer then said "Great, do you drink tea of coffee?". I just know I
am going to like this job. Did not even ask for a price.

Give him my number :-)



--
Dave - The Medway Handyman

On 04/12/2015 23:35, David Lang wrote:
On 04/12/2015 19:49, ARW wrote:
Just had a "can you do the job before Tuesday?" phonecall.

I said I could but it will have to this weekend over two afternoons.

Customer then said "Great, do you drink tea of coffee?". I just know I
am going to like this job. Did not even ask for a price.

Give him my number :-)




I was told British bricklayers working in Germany used to keep a vat of
boiling water on the go with loads of tea bags floating in it. The
German foremen would shake their heads in disbelief

On 04/12/2015 21:35, Adam Funk wrote:

I can't imagine failing to offer hot drinks to builders (etc.). It's
a win-win: they appreciate it & productivity goes up.

We had builders in a few years ago to do a job that I couldn't manage at
the time and, at the end of the job, the boss had a moan about tea and
coffee. We had provided too much and the job had taken longer than he
had expected!

--
F

In article ,
Tim Lamb writes:
In message , Adam Funk
writes
On 2015-12-04, ARW wrote:

Just had a "can you do the job before Tuesday?" phonecall.

I said I could but it will have to this weekend over two afternoons.

Customer then said "Great, do you drink tea of coffee?". I just know I am
going to like this job. Did not even ask for a price.

I can't imagine failing to offer hot drinks to builders (etc.). It's
a win-win: they appreciate it & productivity goes up.

One section in _How to Live like a Lord without Really Trying_ (which
facetiously described itself (in the 1960s) as a secret manual for
Americans living in Britain) in which the American owner hears the
sound of a blowtorch & discovers the builders all sitting around a
kettle on a pile of bricks, making tea. The book advises making the
tea for them, & making it strong, in order to speed up the building
work. (It's a lot funnier in the book --- someone else has borrowed
my copy.)

Strong tea? Not any builder I have met. They all put the tea bag in the
milk and then add hot water.

IME, the biggest mistake you are likely to make is to seriously
underestimate the quantity of sugar you'll go through. Not using
sugar in tea myself, I only had a small bag in the cupboard, and
that lasted about 20 seconds. The replacement bought from the
corner shop up the road in an emergency only lasted until the
next morning. After that, it was a seriously large Costco sugar
pack. I'm surprised you can't buy it in 1 ton bags at the
builder's merchant, delivered by crane with the bags of sand.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

ARW wrote:
Just had a "can you do the job before Tuesday?" phonecall.

I said I could but it will have to this weekend over two afternoons.

Customer then said "Great, do you drink tea of coffee?". I just know
I am going to like this job. Did not even ask for a price.

You need to raise your sights. If really currying favour I'd have gone
on to "do you prefer milk or plain chocolate biscuits?"
--
Robin
reply to address is (meant to be) valid

On Fri, 04 Dec 2015 19:49:44 +0000, ARW wrote:

Just had a "can you do the job before Tuesday?" phonecall.

I said I could but it will have to this weekend over two afternoons.

Customer then said "Great, do you drink tea of coffee?". I just know I
am going to like this job. Did not even ask for a price.

But were you also asked if you liked an egg on your bacon sandwich?

On 12/5/2015 9:08 AM, Robin wrote:
ARW wrote:
Just had a "can you do the job before Tuesday?" phonecall.

I said I could but it will have to this weekend over two afternoons.

Customer then said "Great, do you drink tea of coffee?". I just know
I am going to like this job. Did not even ask for a price.

You need to raise your sights. If really currying favour I'd have gone
on to "do you prefer milk or plain chocolate biscuits?"

I provide home baked goods, biscuits, and a choice of tea or coffee.

"Robin" wrote in message
...
ARW wrote:
Just had a "can you do the job before Tuesday?" phonecall.

I said I could but it will have to this weekend over two afternoons.

Customer then said "Great, do you drink tea of coffee?". I just know
I am going to like this job. Did not even ask for a price.

You need to raise your sights. If really currying favour I'd have gone on
to "do you prefer milk or plain chocolate biscuits?"


TBH I phoned him to say I would be at his for 12 and he said "I'll not be
there till quarter past do you want fish and chips fetching?"

--
Adam

"pamela" wrote in message
...
On 19:49 4 Dec 2015, ARW wrote:

Just had a "can you do the job before Tuesday?" phonecall.

I said I could but it will have to this weekend over two afternoons.

Customer then said "Great, do you drink tea of coffee?". I just know I
am going to like this job. Did not even ask for a price.


On the othe rhand, maybe the customer uses different knock out drops in
tea and coffee and needed to be sure which ones to prepare! :-)



How very prophetic. He did not need knock out drops!!!

Turned out he is a famous hypnotist.

All I knew was a bloke called Chris called me yesterday evening, told me
roughly what work he wanted doing, said I was highly recommended and to just
asked me to do the job.



--
Adam

On Saturday, 5 December 2015 18:26:17 UTC, ARW wrote:
How very prophetic. He did not need knock out drops!!!
Turned out he is a famous hypnotist.

"You are doing this work for free. You are doing this work for free."

Owain

On 2015-12-05, F wrote:

On 04/12/2015 21:35, Adam Funk wrote:

I can't imagine failing to offer hot drinks to builders (etc.). It's
a win-win: they appreciate it & productivity goes up.

We had builders in a few years ago to do a job that I couldn't manage at
the time and, at the end of the job, the boss had a moan about tea and
coffee. We had provided too much and the job had taken longer than he
had expected!

That's an interesting twist.

On Saturday, 5 December 2015 20:11:29 UTC+1, wrote:
On Saturday, 5 December 2015 18:26:17 UTC, ARW wrote:
How very prophetic. He did not need knock out drops!!!
Turned out he is a famous hypnotist.

"You are doing this work for free. You are doing this work for free."

He said "famous hypnotist", not "bloody miracle worker"!

In article , Adam Funk
writes
On 2015-12-05, F wrote:

On 04/12/2015 21:35, Adam Funk wrote:

I can't imagine failing to offer hot drinks to builders (etc.). It's
a win-win: they appreciate it & productivity goes up.

We had builders in a few years ago to do a job that I couldn't manage at
the time and, at the end of the job, the boss had a moan about tea and
coffee. We had provided too much and the job had taken longer than he
had expected!

That's an interesting twist.
When we had the extension done we gave the builders a kettle jar of
coffee tea bags and milk. They said they much preferred it that way so
they could have a brew as and when it suited.
--
bert