Hello everyone,
Today, I want to look at the topic of help from family, friends, and acquaintances from a different perspective.
A good friend and teammate from our football team recently bought a house and is now renovating most of it himself. Although I work in an office job, I consider myself a fairly skilled craftsman, so I have offered my help to him several times.
Recently, he accepted my offer and asked me and another friend to help with the drywall work. The task was simply to finish the newly built dormers in two rooms with drywall panels and prepare them for wallpapering.
Here is how it went:
After two weeks of work, only one room will be finished.
Conclusion / Self-reflection:
I have offered my help multiple times and am glad to assist when I can. Still, as a helper, I can’t drop everything; I have hobbies, family, and a job, too. Therefore, I can’t always help and – even though I’m a skilled craftsman – I need much more time than a professional, who probably would have finished filling and sanding all the rooms in three days.
What I want to say is:
Don’t overestimate the help you get from family, friends, and acquaintances. After work, progress is much slower, even when skilled people are involved. Also, helpers won’t keep doing it forever.
I hope my post helps some of you better understand this topic.
Today, I want to look at the topic of help from family, friends, and acquaintances from a different perspective.
A good friend and teammate from our football team recently bought a house and is now renovating most of it himself. Although I work in an office job, I consider myself a fairly skilled craftsman, so I have offered my help to him several times.
Recently, he accepted my offer and asked me and another friend to help with the drywall work. The task was simply to finish the newly built dormers in two rooms with drywall panels and prepare them for wallpapering.
Here is how it went:
- Saturday 12:30 PM - 6:30 PM: We were there for the first time on Saturday. Unfortunately, the carpenters hadn’t done a good job, so we first had to build a complete substructure. Everything took a bit longer because we didn’t have all the necessary tools with us, and the delicious refreshments took up quite a bit of time.
- Sunday: Football
- Monday 5:15 PM - 8:00 PM: First, we went to the local building materials supplier to get the needed materials. Afterwards, we managed to finish one side wall.
- Tuesday: It’s not worth starting between the end of work and football training. Besides, my wife also wants to see me sometimes.
- Wednesday: Unfortunately, I’m away on work until late at night.
- Thursday: We will probably manage the other side wall and the front wall.
- Friday: It’s not worth starting between the end of work and football training. Also ...
- Saturday: In the morning, we hope to finish the ceiling and be able to do the first filling. If the weather is dry, I will probably have to cancel and go chopping wood with my father (which I promised some time ago). In the afternoon, there are football and a birthday planned.
- Sunday: Rest day ... my wife is happy about that.
- Monday: The plan is sanding and filling again (unless I still need to catch up on Saturday’s work).
- ...
After two weeks of work, only one room will be finished.
Conclusion / Self-reflection:
I have offered my help multiple times and am glad to assist when I can. Still, as a helper, I can’t drop everything; I have hobbies, family, and a job, too. Therefore, I can’t always help and – even though I’m a skilled craftsman – I need much more time than a professional, who probably would have finished filling and sanding all the rooms in three days.
What I want to say is:
Don’t overestimate the help you get from family, friends, and acquaintances. After work, progress is much slower, even when skilled people are involved. Also, helpers won’t keep doing it forever.
I hope my post helps some of you better understand this topic.
Zaba12 schrieb:
So your description isn’t that off-topic after all. Without interest and support from family, it’s impossible to contribute your own work.
On my wife’s side, there is no interest; even when discussing the schedule, no one listens, and nobody is willing to help. Strangely, it worked differently two years ago with her sisters. They took weekends off, etc. But with us, it's just "you’ll manage." Unfortunately, this attitude also applies to the children. And then, rudely, they ask if we are even planning a guest room. My wife suffers from this unfairness and sees that my parents really want to help and would even be willing to live with us for several weeks (at least my father) to act as the "site manager, painter, wallpaper hanger, and floor layer."
P.S. We planned without a guest room. It’s the same for us. Usually little to no interest in the house. And sometimes the kids are similar. So we plan everything alone and through companies and tradespeople. But I have to say, I do sometimes wish for help, especially when we have to take all five kids to important appointments, or when the crying baby provides musical accompaniment to bank visits [emoji85].
Arifas schrieb:
the paying baby Sticker on the house: "Sponsored by Baby"
Musketier schrieb:
Sticker on the house: "Sponsored by Baby" [emoji23] great!!The teething baby should go there [emoji28]