[TowerTalk] Follow-up: Tower climbing costs
Jeff Singer
k2kv@reallybig.com
Fri, 7 May 1999 22:50:10 -0400
Y'know, Barry,
With all due respect (and I mean this most sincerely), I have been reading
the mail regarding this thread, and I think you are missing the point
completely. I am one who would be quite comfortable saying this face to
face, and I would relate this to you as friend, never foe.
I truly do sympathize with you, as I'm sure much effort has been invested.
However, he is YOUR employee; if you know that he is incapable of doing the
job, but you have nevertheless decided to keep him employed (for whatever
reason), then it is really your own fault that things are getting wrecked.
Rather than suffer continued consequences which you are unable to tolerate,
why not try doing it yourself until you find a suitable replacement? It is
totally unrealistic to believe that domestic workers will take better care
of your home or property than you!
You have asked a question of your peers, a rather philosophically lucid and
pragmatic group, to say the least. If you didn't want to hear more than
"just tell me what I WANT to know!" you should have asked elsewhere. Perhaps
you could have called one of the maintenance companies in your area, or
looked in the phone book for tips. But since you've asked, and we've
accommodated you in our own way by voicing our thoughts, I believe your
harshness in closing is somewhat unwarranted.
I'm sure you have no idea how your message was perceived by the group;
sometimes - and I am guilty of this, too - we write things and never bother
to read them as if we are on the other side. Sometimes we are so
self-indulgent that we forget how other folks will interpret our written
words. These words are not, after all, our feelings. We write to express
ourselves, and some do it better than others. Luckily, most of us usually
get close enough to the INTENDED message so that others are generally able
to understand what we're trying to relate. But, not always.
There are very few of us who would think of charging our landscapers for
damage to our inexpensive wire antennas, no matter how complex. That's just
the simple fact. These wires tend to run all over the place, and if your
man does two-hundred mowings a month, yours is surely the only one with
these booby traps. Crashing into and damaging a ten- or
fifteen-thousand-dollar tower is another matter, of course, and we have
insurance for that.
Are you wrapped so tightly that you cannot chalk it up to an accident? Maybe
he was having a bad day (this actually happens!). A "six-inch gash" in one
tree and a "branch broken off" from another is unfortunate, indeed. But -
hey - that's life. You're lucky to still have them after the winter, anyway.
I hope we don't all believe that we must "expect to receive compensation for
the negligence" whenever life presents itself in the way it does. Sometimes
we become better humans by letting it all go, forgiving (or at least,
forgetting) and accepting the chore ourselves.
The reason so many have told you, "it's only a hobby," is because hobby time
is supposed to be therapeutic, distracting, relaxing and rewarding all at
once. Hobbies are leisure pursuits, affordable to all who are willing to
invest the passion.
No flames please, it's already hot down here!
Sincerely/73
Jeff K2KV
k2kv@reallybig.com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
> [mailto:owner-towertalk@contesting.com]On Behalf Of Barry Kutner
> Sent: Friday, May 07, 1999 8:17 PM
> To: towertalk@contesting.com
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Follow-up: Tower climbing costs
>
>
>
> Earlier today I posted what I thought was a simple question: the
> going rate for tower climbing. Tnx to K1VR for the only answer out
> of 15 or so replies ($60/hour in his parts).
>
> At least 10 of the others took it upon themselves to use my post
> as the basis for their Editorial, some direct to me, some to the
> Reflector. Most thought I was out of line for trying to charge the
> errant landscaper for trashing my antenna.
>
> As usually is the case, there's more to the story than a simple,
> trashed sloper. There's a 6 inch gash down to bare wood on the
> trunk of a pear tree. There's a major branch broken off an apple
> tree. There's shoddy work. There's the missed 4 o'clock
> appointment yesterday with no call. For all I know, he was drunk
> when he was here. As some suggested, I should fire him. I intend
> to, when I find a replacement.
>
> Yes, it's just a hobby, as a few of you philosophers so astutely
> pointed out. But, it's a hobby in which I've invested my time and
> money - both of which have value. If my property is damaged by
> negligence (home, hobby property, or business property), I expect
> to be compensated for the negligence.
>
> Also, there's more to fixing it than a 10 minute splice as KA1CLX
> suggested. I used a stranded copperweld, and I find it impossible
> to solder to this stuff after it's been out in the elements. I just can't
> get all the oxidation off the strands the way they wrap around each
> other. So, I am replacing the whole thing, from insulator to insulator
> with solid copperweld - no more of that stranded stuff for me!
>
> The antenna is not one simple sloper. It's several slopers with
> some active and some parasitic elements, with relays to switch
> between them, and relays to switch the resonance from 3500 to
> 3800. One response I received sympathized with me, as he
> understood how much time it took to trim the wires to get the
> tuning just right to switch directions without needing to retune.
>
> Bottom line, before opening your mouth through your keyboard,
> pause - Ask yourself if you would reply in a similar manner in a
> face to face conversation.
>
> Barry W2UP
> --
> Barry Kutner, W2UP Internet: w2up@mindspring.com
> Newtown, PA FRC alternate: barry@w2up.wells.com
>
> --
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