Dirtbox Venom Texas build!

[mysteryboy28]

the welder was a money pit. the tip broke, and any effort i tried to make it continue working fell apart after a few minutes of welding. a new hose and handle was $110. the big thing was the gas cost was crazy expensive. even with the level set to as low as reasonably possible, i was going through a $35 tank every week or sooner - completely eating up the $20 savings over flux core wire. sure it penetrated a little better, and the welds were cleaner and there was less grinding and clean-up. but without having a giant tank that was more cost effective, it was just totally burning through the little profit i had. for the previous buggy i had been heating the garage in the winter with 2 kerosene forced-air heaters, at a cost of $20 every 2 days. ouch!

 

[Poboy kartman]

hoping that a new money making venture starts paying off in the next few weeks...

Care to elaborate?

 

[mysteryboy28]

DJing! Buddy and I have the band gear, lights, and laptop (mostly his), so might as well put 'em to good use. Going to do a few free parties and get our name out there (suggested by a few DJs). We have our first gig this weekend, a birthday party. Here's to hoping we don't suck... lol.

 

[Poboy kartman]

In my best Columbo imitation: "Uh-sir.....just one more thing, I couldn't help but notice sir....that the question was asked at 4:12 ......and you didn't respond until 4:37......can you account for your whereabouts at 4:20?"

 

[mysteryboy28]

i was pooping. the cat was my witness.

 

[Poboy kartman]

So- just to make sure I got this straight- your next big money making endeavour is to borrow your buddies equipment and play birthday parties?

 

[exenos]

I cant really say much because I'm just a University student but maybe you should find a day job and pursue your money making hobbies after hours until they prove profitable. Just an honest suggestion.

 

[mysteryboy28]

Yeah, my buddy and I are doing the DJ gig together. Knock it all you want, but I'm willing to bust my butt and hopefully turn it into a good business. I busted my butt on the buggies, but the market just wasn't there. So far I have gotten several replies to the little bit of marketing I've done, just need to spend some time building up some experience and references first. Looks like I have a wedding booked for July already...

 

[Poboy kartman]

What if your buddy won't loan you his equipment?

 

[firemanjim]

My buddy does karaoke 5 or 6 nights a week, 4 hours a night. He makes a really good income. He mostly does the bars, but private gigs too...
And by good, I mean he has a 4 bedroom house, a wife 25+ years his junior, a 1 y/O, . One on the way, and is making payments on his wife's new car. (she don't work) all his equipment is top notch, and he even hires one of us (his buddies) to pick up extra gigs soley for advertising..... He makes nothing on those ventures, the guest dj brings it all home, minus his $25 equipment rental fee.... A single night can bring in $200+ ..... And free BEER...... ( too bad I don't drink.... )

 

[mysteryboy28]

It's a joint venture, we are business partners. If one of us is sick or unavailable, then the other does the gig and keeps 100% of the pay. Once we build up enough business that we can't keep up working together, then we will start flying solo.

I know there's no guarantee it'll be profitable, but it seems like a fun way to make money. Crossing my fingers and toes!

 

[firemanjim]

Once equipment is paid for, it's all profit..... Look into the karaoke thing....

 

[mysteryboy28]

We are offering full Karaoke service too. Currently have about 23,000 Karaoke songs.

 

[Poboy kartman]

This is what I'm wondering- what's your day job?

 

[mysteryboy28]

computer refurbishing, repair and sales (and scrapping). used to pay pretty decent, but it's dried up since everybody and their brother decided to get into it. so i ventured into buggies to suppliment it. but then the buggies took up most of my time (and money). took a break to get back into the refurbishing, but it's really been crappy lately. a day job you say? i've managed a computer store and was treated like crap by the owners, and i did internet tech support, and was treated like the main character in the movie "office space". did you get the memo? lol. i always did great work, but business owners like that only care about the bottom line, and there's always a line of people waiting to get your job, and they know it.

 

[Poboy kartman]

computer refurbishing, repair and sales (and scrapping). used to pay pretty decent, but it's dried up since everybody and their brother decided to get into it. so i ventured into buggies to suppliment it. but then the buggies took up most of my time (and money). took a break to get back into the refurbishing, but it's really been crappy lately. a day job you say? i've managed a computer store and was treated like crap by the owners, and i did internet tech support, and was treated like the main character in the movie "office space". did you get the memo? lol. i always did great work, but business owners like that only care about the bottom line, and there's always a line of people waiting to get your job, and they know it.

Man- Stop....You are just breaking my heart here... and you have said quite enough......So what it really boils down to is you don't want to work unless it doesn't make you uncomfortable. .....

You have a lot of growing up to do.....and at the moment- going about it in all the wrong ways.....

To twist around a quote from 'Animal House'- don't be a POS your whole life- just the part you've already lived.

Now - assuming you can do simple math.....take the amount of days between now and your world famous gig.....multiply by 8....multiply by $5 (ridiculously low) and compare that to the earth shattering gig pay......

Put down the hash pipe, roll up your sleeves, and go to WORK!

 

[mysteryboy28]

Can't grow up, I'm a toys r us kid. Sorry. I do good work, I take pride in my work, and I'm not gonna let any butthead boss treat me like poop for chump change.

Now if you'd like to continue talking crap about me, when you haven't been in my shoes...

People have asked for an update and details, and I've opened up and shared. Time to play nice.

 

[itsid]

Now I feel sorry that I asked...
this has gone in a direction I haven't foreseen

Doing good work is not enough Dave, sorry to let you know;
but you have to do excellent work, and still have to swallow your pride every now and then.

No that's not fair, but that's the way it goes.

Again, I wish you the best of luck, and a well paid job, I honestly do;
but when in doubt, just do the job and leave your pride at home
It's hard, but necessary.

Think about it this way:
You got payed to do your job (building a buggy) and your client is still waiting for the final product you promised.
How much pride did he swallow until today?
How long had he to work to afford the kind of money you asked,
effectively having NOTHING in return yet.

And getting slowly back to topic...

do you still think you can get the buggy done by spring?
And what's still on your todo list to get it done?

Have you saved your chump change and locked it away the last months to get
whatever is needed,
or are you just hoping for a miracle to send you some money?


'sid

 

[mysteryboy28]

not a miracle, just a decent chunk of change to get 'er done. hopefully getting the deposit for the july wedding DJ gig this weekend, then it's off to harbor freight i go to pick up their cheap flux-core welder and a 10 lb spool of wire.

weather.com says upwards of 55 degrees coming up later this week... we're getting there! slowly...

as mentioned earlier, the drive system is the next big project on the buggy. i have some ideas, but finding the right parts to get it done right will be the challenge.

 

[OzFab]

Dave, all respect to you for keeping your cool

I can see where your coming from; I was in the auto industry for 20 years (I can't do that any more due to injuries), I tried the computer thing & I've done a few other things &, at 43, I still don't know what I wanna do when I grow up...

I'm gonna mention two old sayings:
Only a bad tradesman blames his tools: I'm not really trying to say anything there, it just seemed relavent somehow...

Be careful who's toes you step on because, one day, they may be connected to the a$$ you have to kiss...

Life is tough. It's ok to say "I'm not gonna take crap from an idiot boss" but, the fact of the matter is, HE'S the boss, he decides whether you get a paycheck or not...

I'm pretty sure we'd all prefer to work for ourselves but, in reality, most of us can't for whatever reason. I've been there, I owned & operated my own business so, take it from me, it's not as easy as it sounds; work doesn't stop when you leave or even when you get home &, if your business has an off week, so does your pocket... but the bills don't stop...

Another thing, when you operate your own business, you still have someone to answer to, your customers & believe me, they can be dumber, more arrogant & more demanding than any boss I've ever worked for...

The bottom line is, at least you're trying, don't let it get you down...

Oh, here's another cliche: Boys don't grow up, they just get bigger & their toys get more expensive