Back in 2005 I had a week that nearly broke me

It was a cold February in Buffalo and I had three flue relinings back to back. The first one was an old farmhouse with a liner so rusted I spent 4 hours just getting the old one out. Then the next day a customer tried to haggle me down from $800 because "it's just a pipe." By Friday my back was shot and I was eating gas station sandwiches in my truck wondering why I got into this trade. Anyone else have a stretch of jobs that made you question everything?

2 comments

2 Comments

wyatt_green3124d ago

Man that's a brutal stretch right there. Had a similar run in 2019 where I did three chimney rebuilds in eight days during a July heatwave. By the third one I was running on coffee and spite. The crew kept busting my chops but I swear my hammer felt like it weighed 50 pounds by Friday. Best advice I got from an old timer was keep a clean change of clothes in the truck and force yourself to eat a real meal even if you're dead tired. It sounds stupid but it keeps you from completely losing it when the work piles up. What finally turned it around for you?

blakem1324d ago

The quiet moments in traffic afterwards make you realize how much we ignore our own limits.