in another way...
Today we were talking with Charley, a guy who'd shown up at the side of our
boat a few days ago, looking for fiberglass work, having had 37 years of
experience in boat layup and repair. As Lydia was off the boat at the time
he knocked on the hull, I deferred speaking with him at length until she got
back.
Fast forward, as he's now working on a large boat which had been very poorly
sanded by the yard, leaving lots of divots at the same time as taking off an
inordinate amount of fiberglass.
A friend in the yard who I'd met on the internet during the very early
stages of our boat searching, predating seeing any boats at all, yet, comes
over yesterday asking if I'd met Charley, saying that he was WAY
overqualified to be in this yard, and, better yet, was putting on the same
fairing compound as we were going to be using.
Off we go to see what's up, and get an idea of how this stuff works. This
morning, we chat him up and ask him to come over and look at our boat, sort
of to look over our shoulder. I noticed that our guy who has been helping
us was at the boat, and preparing for work.
While we're showing Charley, the one who's applying AdTech, the epoxy
fairing compound we'll use, to the other boat, what we'll be doing to our
boat in the course of the repairs, our helper walks (well, sort of
half-runs) by and says, "Do you want me to leave now?"
WTF??? I say, "Of course not - what do you mean?" No comment, but instead
he hustles to the bow where he always puts his tool bin, hoists it and
nearly runs back to the car where his wife is still sitting, as she usually
does when she drops him off. Another quick trip to fetch his lunch and
drinks cooler, announcing loudly that he's leaving.
Protestations to the contrary from the three of us under the boat while this
is giong on have no effect, and he's gone.
A short while later, while I'm off doing something else related to our
goings-on, he shows up again, to fetch something he's forgotten, and blows
up at Lydia, who's cutting fiberglass patches in prep for our work today -
an activity he had been participating in each morning - when she,
short-fused as she is, yells at him for leaving that way.
"You owe me for two days' work (we paid him in full on Monday for all the
work he'd done to that date, and all the materials he'd bought), so I'm
keeping the grinder/buffer and the (10 bottles of $15) wax!"
He went on to say, "Good Luck! Cuz you're sure as Hell going to need it!"
as he stomped off. WTF???
Phone calls to his home, his and his wife's cells go unanswered. So far, 10
hours later, there's been no response to the email I sent to his wife (who
was as baffled by his behavior as we, according to Lydia, who was talking to
her during all that going on).
So, as he seems to have unceremoniously resigned, we seem likely to take
advantage of Charley, who came back later today for further consultation as
to what we should be doing before he arrived in full gear.
From watching him on the other boat, while he's more expensive than our
prior helper, he's also VERY much more qualified to do what he does, not to
mention a great deal faster, and may well end up costing less - never mind
the boo-boos we won't have to address :{))
For the morbidly curious, I append the letter I sent to his wife's email
addess after all this was under way...
L8R
Skip
--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at
www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
Hi, Lidia,
As John's currently avoiding us, please pass this on to him:
Hi, John,
I don't know what happened today, but there are some things we should talk
about - without shouting, of course, something I do better than Lydia
First order of business is that Lydia tells me you've left the job,
permanently. I'm disappointed in you that it happened the way it did, as it
wasn't professional. The reason you were working with us in the first place
is that we thought you were a professional, and, in so many ways, you've
demonstrated that you ARE a professional.
However, your leaving today wasn't professional. A professional, if there
were issues which needed examining, would have brought them to our
attention. Your initial grab-your-stuff-and-stomp-off departure was what
made Lydia angry. Me, I just scratched my head, wondering what that was all
about
I'm sorry that Lydia's anger came out when you returned to get
something you'd left the first time. I'm sure that didn't help. However...
If there were issues which needed discussion, we should have had that
discussion. If the end of that discussion wasn't satisfactory to you, you
could have said, simply, "I can't do this any more." A professional
resignation or quitting or whatever other label the end of our business
relationship might have would have had us settle accounts and go our
separate ways.
I would point out that appropriating tools and materials of ours, simply
because the last time your wages were paid up was two days ago is not only
inappropriate, it's theft. NOT PROFESSIONAL AT ALL...
Meanwhile, I believe you've jumped to some inappropriate conclusions.
When you walked up on our conversation with Charley, we were talking about
what WE - that's you, me and Lydia - were doing about our job. Not someone
else - US. With all due respect to your admittedly extensive experience,
Charley has had a similar level of experience but specifically on the type
of boat we are working with.
Two heads are better than one - and, as I surely don't know everything, I
look for informed opinions everywhere I can. That's what I was doing.
Getting confirmation that our course of action was appropriate from someone
who has been doing this SPECIFIC type of work all his working life. For what
it's worth, I've been doing that outside this yard as well. I have an
extensive network of cruising friends - people who have faced the same sort
of issues as we are - that I know from the internet. Would you stomp off
the job because I'd been speaking with one of them to gain some of their
hard-earned experience?
Secondly, I'm sure you've noticed that this is a very big job. More hands -
experienced hands - make it go a great deal faster, let alone that it makes
lighter work. Having another experienced hand aboard doesn't diminish your
skills.
So, as you've said to me so countless many times under the boat in
determining how to handle a given situation, "It's up to you. You do what
you want." If you want to have seen the last of us, then I expect our
supplies which we bought for your work - wax, polishing cloths,
sander/buffer and my vapors mask - to be returned to us, immediately.
We, in turn, will pay you for the work you've done, and, if in the last
check Lydia wrote to you, supplies you've bought were not included, we'll of
course pay you for that.
On the other hand, the reason you've been here all this time is that we
value your skills. If you can live with the fact that there may be others
involved in our project as it comes to completion, I believe you could
continue to be an asset here.
"You decide. It's up to you." - John Thomas, countless times, to Skip
Gundlach. Now it's your turn to decide...
Skip and Lydia
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at
www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog
and/or
http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain