# Work rituals you refuse to break



## asevereid (Jan 30, 2012)

Bringing code book to site. Not a lot of experience under this belt, so I want to make sure I do things right.


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## Brutus (May 29, 2007)

Coffee before I start. I am sure that this is the same with many guys here.


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## A&E Exteriors (Aug 14, 2009)

thom said:


> I have known guys who insist on following the ritual,
> 
> show up late
> drink coffee
> ...


I worked for that guy...he would make a 2 day job go 2 -3 weeks.

Learned framing from a crew that never ever started a house on a Friday


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## dkillianjr (Aug 28, 2006)

I like to always sit in the truck for 5-10 minutes or so when I get to a job, sip some coffee and get my game plan together for the day. I also make any calls that I have to so I'm not juggling the phone during the day too much.


And I always start the day with atleast a minimum of 20oz of coffee! and a lot of times I will sip on one all day. A little weak compared to lone, I know:laughing:




Dave


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

The smell of my baking in the mornings.


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## Oconomowoc (Oct 13, 2011)

Kent Whitten said:


> I refuse to wrap myself in plastic before entering the home.


Not sure where to go with this. 

Punt


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## Carpenter eyes (Jan 10, 2012)

Green hitachi hose has to be used connected to my gun. I dont care what kind or color attached to compressor. Never clean the handles on my spackle knives. Bad mojo if you break these


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## Big Shoe (Jun 16, 2008)

SEA-BEAR said:


> Thought it might be interesting to hear if others have any work rituals they refuse to break. For example, I will only start new projects on Mondays; whenever I start jobs at the end of the week things always seem to go sideways. Whats yours ??



I on the other hand, ''will not'' start a job on a Monday. I always leave that day open for the ''unexpected''.


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## Brutus (May 29, 2007)

loneframer said:


> Two 12 oz. cups of coffee at the house, 20 oz. on the way to the job and another 20 at roughly 10 AM.






dkillianjr said:


> And I always start the day with atleast a minimum of 20oz of coffee! and a lot of times I will sip on one all day. A little weak compared to lone, I know:laughing:
> 
> Dave




20 oz coffee?! Wow, I have a 14 in the morning, but I rarely finish that, usually only about half. Then a 10 or 14 at 930. 14 oz is too much almost.

I don't know how you yanks drink those huge drinks you can get down there.


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## carolinahandyma (Jan 6, 2006)

Caffeine! Caffeine! Caffeine!


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## Denny Rossi (Oct 16, 2012)

Reefuse to be late, #1 Rule, we have gotten many jobs by neighbors just because we are on time (nothing to do with us being good looking)

Denny Rossi
www.artisianconstruction.com www.sealitgreen.com


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## Ohio painter (Dec 4, 2011)

I too don't start a job on a Friday, I picked that up when I was a teenager working on a farm, boss always said "if you start something on a Friday you never get done."

I always clean my tools as soon as I get home, its the first thing I do. 

Haven't we all seen that guy Thom mentions, amazing he gets anything done.


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## tedanderson (May 19, 2010)

Kent Whitten said:


> I refuse to wrap myself in plastic before entering the home.


For all of the people who expect their house to be a sterile bubble, I'll always try to schedule the job a day or two before their cleaning lady is scheduled to come.


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## Cole82 (Nov 22, 2008)

I all ways sign my name and who ever else is working with me, put the year too. Every thing from a simple door replacement to new home.

I do that so when the next guy say what a$$hole built this place. They will know it was me that made there life miserable using glue screws nails lags overbuilding things for the next guy.

Cole


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## dkillianjr (Aug 28, 2006)

Brutus said:


> 20 oz coffee?! Wow, I have a 14 in the morning, but I rarely finish that, usually only about half. Then a 10 or 14 at 930. 14 oz is too much almost.
> 
> I don't know how you yanks drink those huge drinks you can get down there.




Hey I got to get rid of the buzz from the night before some how!:laughing:



Dave


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## chris klee (Feb 5, 2008)

wake up in the morning, check my email on my phone. then i get up.
its not a good habit as lately it starts my mind too early.

i take my tools with me every night. its been easy the past couple months while being an office jockey, no tools to take.


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## mk5065 (May 25, 2009)

480sparky said:


> You forgot about driving to the gas station to take a shyt.


That's so true. I understand if you got to go the you got to go. When I built new homes the guys I worked for very rarely had a potty on the job. Since I don't like going in gas stations or buckets I learned to go in the morning before I go to work. Now I do mostly additions and remodels and I have a guy that has no problem blowing up the clients bathroom no matter who's around. Not to mention that he never goes on his lunch. He says its the coffee. So now none of my crew ever buys him a cup of coffee.


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## Blkhilconst (Jul 26, 2012)

Each morning, every tool I may need for the entire day gets set up before my bags go on. No wasting time going back to the truck.


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## 480sparky (Feb 1, 2009)

Blkhilconst said:


> Each morning, every tool I may need for the entire day gets set up before my bags go on. No wasting time going back to the truck.



Unless you need a tool all day, you actually waste trips doing this.

If I need tools A - H for the day, I take tools A - D in to get started. When I need tool E, I'll take tool A out to the truck with me since I'm done with it.

By the time I need tools F - G I'm done with tools B - C. One trip covers both.

Same principle applies to material.


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## Rockmonster (Nov 15, 2007)

Never work for a GC who I think is an a§§hole........sadly, it's not a hard and fast rule, as I broke it last week.........


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## Zewlander (Dec 18, 2012)

Brutus said:


> show them who's boss.


That's funny, but are you sure it wasn't just tobacco?


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## CJKarl (Nov 21, 2006)

When ever we do a small slab for a set of steps or something similar, we place a coin face up in the mud. Closest year to the current year we can find in our pockets.


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## 5starbuilders (Jan 22, 2011)

Bunited2 said:


> Then there was the ugly incident in another stall
> one time, when I didn't know the toilet was plugged
> up, I didn't know until the auto flusher made the
> water come up to the top of the bowl.
> ...


Lol I can hear them SOB


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## 5starbuilders (Jan 22, 2011)

dom-mas said:


> Don't know if it's a ritual but I don't leave the house until I've sat on porcelain. I don't like go huts.
> 
> A weird ritual that a former boss of mine had was that first day on a new job as soon as the HO left he would use the toilet (if there was one) with the door open and shout out his plan for the day/week/job. took some getting used to.


That guy was trying to pull a LBJ on you guys


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## littlefred811 (Dec 16, 2012)

If it's anything beyond a simple screen and coat, I haul the "rolling warehouse" to the job. 16' enclosed trailer with two of everything I use in Hardwood Flooring. I used to work in production and nothing wrecked a day more than going out to do a specific job tasking, and finding there was at least two additional taskings, requiring some additional tools that I didn't bring.

Oh, I make my wife a vanilla latte as soon as I get up.


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