Friggen HOT out!

[CHEESE2009]

So yesterday & today were days that just sucked the energy out of me. It's at the point everyone has their sprinklers out, all the grass has become yellow already. Almost Grey looking, kinda beautiful in a way - but BAD! The A/C in my truck is messed up, it just blows out hot air no matter what. Either way I don't care, I'm a windows down kinda guy - not an old lady. Every time I sit on the zero turn, I feel as if my arse has been torched. Ruins the day man! Hahaha!! Anyway, interesting story: I have this customer who's backyard hasn't been touched all season (so far) it was a damn jungle back there. The customer saw me doing the front yard & insisted that she get started on the back. Right away I'm puzzled. She seemed eager & extremely excited to use the trimmer & hack down her lawn, so I let her. She went crazy, in a good way. I believe she must have had someone special coming over & didn't want her yard to look disgusting. It was fun to watch, she's probably the fastest person I've ever seen with a trimmer. She looked like a warrior waving the trimmer around. Anyway, I couldn't get the trimmer out of her hands to actually make her lawn look decent & clean - so she handed it to me minutes later & said it's good enough you can go! Which was good enough for me, standing around watching her was just about all the energy I had left in me at the end of the day. She said, "next time let me know when your here & I'll come out & help you!" In my head I believed she was crazy, but she seemed to have a great time. The only downside is that I had to re-string my trimmer because she messed it up. (no problem though) I had to re-string the trimmer 4 times today because of my new worker who just enjoys wasting fuel & doing a half arsed job. Enjoys bashing the trimmer on pavement to get the string to come out, I want to bash it on his head. Nothing annoys me more then to see the trimmer loaded up after a job without any trimmer cord - & TO SEE THE DAMN JOB NOT EVEN HALF DECENT! I HATE IT!!! Why can't people trim? Why???? I just don't get it!!! You show them how it's done, the way to hold it, how to maneuver with it.. Next thing you know there trimming air & my time! GOOD NEWS: My customer came up to me today & before he could open his mouth I said, "let me guess, my guys on the trimmer & missing spots?" I was right. I then said, "When I remind him, my words go in one ear & out the other - if you want to do me a favor - you can yell at him for me, maybe that outta work! My customer said, "You'd let me do that? I'll take care of his attitude for you!" with a huge smile on his face, hahaha! Next thing you know I see my worker with a stiff/angry face. Silent for the rest of the day... What can I say? If you can't take criticism, how are you going to manage a job? Do what you are supposed to do, & there wont be a problem! EASY! No point in having a 2 man crew if only one person does all the work. I'm just surprised he hasn't quit yet, that's a plus considering no one wants to do this kind of work. So I'm debating if I should keep him on board a little while longer to see if he can adapt, or fire him. It's a tough call... He's pretty useless now & a big whiner. I really just need someone who can use a trimmer & make straight lines with a mower. That's it. I use the tractor so I finish before him while he uses the walk behind, then I can get on the trimmer. When he's done mowing, he'll be blowing debris & we'd be finished. It's more like... I finish with the tractor... I trim... I grab the blower... he finally loads up the mower & just stands there. There is no excuse. He's slow & lazy. he gives me this, "my job is harder than yours look" but I showed him good. Last Thursday I said, "were not using the tractor" Lawns that took him 20 minutes to just mow, I did in maybe 5-7 minutes... In total with trimming & blowing, I took 15 minutes. That aggravated him big time, I could see it in his face. "That's how we're going to stay in business" I said. Goodnight!

__________________
Keeper of Peace
Security Officer Cheese2009
Gopher Security Central (G.S.C)
4th Floor, office 112

[jklawncare]

Lawn care business tips

i hate 2 person crews..one person does all the work and the other just flutters around the yard acting like hes busy.. and i dont wanna hear you complaining about the heat on your zero turn..put a fan on the side and have it blow on you..thats my plan.. atleast its not 95 degrees and your not using a push mower god i need more money..i need a stand on or zero turn..SO BADLY anyone have an extra i can have for free? ill mow your lawn for free...ahahah

__________________
Just Kut Lawn and Landscape
"Where Service is Always in Season"
Reach for the stars so if you fall you land on a cloud.

[kdexpd]

Lord I know exactly what you're talking about! 89 degrees with 80% humidity the past three days. I don't mind the heat but the humidity will kick your arse right to the curb. I finally let my trimmer go. I posted it in another thread, but I'm still pissed about the whole situation. He did exactly what you are saying yours does. I mainly had him with another guy doing our 26 apartments and he was even worse with him...because the boss wasn't around I guess. He'd load the trimmer up after the end of the day without string, couldn't trim or edge no matter how many times I showed him, sat in the truck and played with that stupid damn cell phone, wouldn't help unload or load at each stop, missing spots all over the freggin place to the point that my customers were starting to complain, and would just stand by the truck when there was still blowing to do like a damn dog ready to get in the truck and leave. DRIVES ME F&#@$^& NUTS!!! The only thing holding me back from wrapping that trimmer around his scronny little damn head was he's a good friend's son. My friend keeps telling me oh he'll get the hang of it...you can't expect him to be perfect, he's only 19. 19??!!! That's not a freggin excuse!! He needs to grow the hell up and take some responsibility! Anyways, enough of the ranting..HA! I know exactly how you feel. I interviewed a guy last night and I think he's gonna work out great. 21 and just out of the Air Force. Good kid, doesn't smoke (unlike me) which means he should have a good stamina for bustin' nuts on some of these jobs, and a good attitude. I'm quizzin' him last night and he's like all I am is a trimmer, right? I'm like yeah, why? He says, well this isn't rocket science. I almost fell over! I was like THANK YOU! This is a no-brainer job man, you show up do your job well and get paid and go home. Trimming takes no brain power..hell a monkey can do it and do it well. You're hired!

Gotta get to work..another hot and humid day today.

[CHEESE2009]

I lost my temper today.

Alone, I hardly ever find myself restringing the trimmer, I could go weeks! But now because of this fool, I'm doing it every few lawns... SEVERAL times a day.

The scenario:

Last lawns of the day - same street.


1 big lawn
1 small lawn

I dropped him off with the walk behind at the small lawn.

I tackled the big lawn with the tractor, trimmed, & blew the debris...

I drive a few feet to the next lawn... my guys sitting down, the back yard is done... the front isn't... HE WAS WAITING FOR ME to come & mow the front with the tractor. Not very convenient.

So I'm silent at this point just ignoring him, I couldn't take it anymore.

I got on the tractor & did the front lawn...

As I'm finishing... He decides to grab the trimmer... doesn't get it started... starts banging it around the wrong way... again...

I load up my tractor.. grab the trimmer from him... no cord...

what did I do?

From the customers front steps, I threw the trimmer across the street into the trailer... told him to get into the truck.

I drove him home.

Went back right after to finish the job.

I hate to say that it was wrong of me to abuse my equipment, but it's better than beating the living snot out of this useless idiot.

On some lawns, I start trimming & right away he starts up the blower... like... let me get half way done before you start the damn blower.

He'll follow me around with the blower wasting gas, instead of waiting a few minutes & actually having a need for the blower.

It's frustrating, the humidity is getting the best of me.

[Steve's Lawn Care]

i cut 31 accounts by myself most of them being somewhere between 1-2 acers a few of them bigger and a few smaller. A helping hand with the triming and mowing would make my days go so much easier but i dunno even where to start with finding a helper. I dont think i could handle watching someone abusing the 15 thousand dollars worth of equiptment i carry along to each job. Ive talked to a few other lawn companies in my area and hiring good help sounds like a nightmare. Seems like the only ppl id trust own a rival company lol

[kdexpd]

I put an ad on Craigslist...now granted, you will get several spammers, but they are pretty easy to spot and my junk folder catches them most of the time. I get a few replies within a day or so and interviewed one yesterday. He seems like a good kid and we're gonna give him a shot tomorrow. From my earlier experiences in management, let me advise you not to hire the first guy that comes along, no matter how desperate you are. Atleast get two guys and interview them(separately of course). Do what I do, don't tell them they have the job right off. Tell them you will try them out for a day or so and then you will make your decision. Make them work for it. My best advice is not to hire someone you know and DEFINITELY DO NOT hire family members . It makes it much, much more difficult to reprimand them or even fire them. Tell your candidates that at the end of the day or so you will see if they can make the cut, and also that you're giving them the opportunity to see if it's something they're gonna like. One of my first questions is always "is this something you want to do, or something you have to do because you need the money" If it's B, move on to the next guy. His work ethic will show he's only doing this because he has to.

[Steve]

I'm quizzin' him last night

One of my first questions is always "is this something you want to do, or something you have to do because you need the money" If it's B, move on to the next guy. His work ethic will show he's only doing this because he has to.

This is really interesting! What other things do you ask new potential employees?

[stevef1201]

Let me tell about hot, 91 degrees, 8AM, in the shade. Guess what NO SHADE, Temp in the sun 102, Humidity 95 percent. Sweating my A off and just got out of the truck. Got a hedge to trim, 10 ft high down to 6 feet, 18 inches off the front, clean up, and haul away debris. My Helper quit for another job, can't blame him I could only use him 2 days a week, his new job is full time. Great guy, hard worker. (next door neighbor).

Trying to find any help is hard, finding good help takes a freaking miracle.
Work 8-10 hours every day, absolutely hate working, but truly love taking a jungle and taming it. would love to find helper that feels the same way.