http://blog.b92.net/blog/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/ Chris Farmer sr http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss rss@b92.net rss@b92.net Blog A-JE! RSS generator v0.3 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:13:44 +0000 http://blog.b92.net/user_stuff/avatars/mali/4/1004.jpg http://blog.b92.net/ 50 50 http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/#k659352 http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/#komentari Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:19:49 GMT demonus http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/ http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/#k658692
I think problem in amateur repairing things is that one never reach proficiency of a professional "guy". That is why almost all of those "fixes" don't hold very much and you end up going to a pro, no matter what.

I am not sure if it us, Serbs, only, but it is true that as soon as we learn some basic repairing skills, we honestly believe that we can do anything better then anybody who is living of it. I guess it is in mentality, certainly not in the fact that we don't have money. That is why we probably have biggest number of "experts for everything" per capita ;-). And I think, our wives are suffering a lot because of that

But let me tell you one thing, Chris, that attitude saved me and my company/lab on several occasions from missing a deadline and loosing some business. Most of managers love to have that kind of worker, one that doesn't mind sticking his nose into a problem, even if he is not really "properly trained" to do it. Thanks God we don't build nuclear plants...







]]> http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/#komentari Sat, 22 Aug 2009 19:51:23 GMT srdjan.pajic http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/ http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/#k658689 Best wishes! ]]> http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/#komentari Sat, 22 Aug 2009 19:46:13 GMT Vladimir Maričić http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/ http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/#k658591
A guy has a leaky faucet. He looks carefully at it and decided to change the washers or the rubber rings around the screws. This should do the trick. So he goes out to buy the appropriate parts and a wrench to fit his needs. He spends money.

Getting back, he tries to take apart the sink to find where he should put the new washers and finds that the screws are held fast by horse hair which should be replaced. If you are NOT me, you could use your own, but since I have none to spare, I have to go out again.

Out and back. Back to work. You finish the job and see that the bloody faucet is still leaking. And in the meantime a few hours have been flushed down the proverbial. So it seems you should replace the entire faucet. You go out to the plumbing shop (which you have to find by the way) and you see the choices in front of you. The cheapest looks ok but you figure you should pay a little more to get a better one. You get back home, install the new faucet (time factor ten). And once you are done you see that it drips. It drips. It drips.

Call the Guy.

The Guy comes and says

1) you spent too much money on the new faucet
2) your boiler under the sink will ALWAYS drip if it is on
3) the horse hair thing…. What???

And then, of course, you have to pay the Guy for coming to tell you what ass you make for a plumber.

My point, all economic considerations and exemptions made for Serbia – and by the way I was not just talking about here but everywhere there are men with tools, it is always more expensive and time-consuming to engage a job about which you know nothing than to pay the Guy.

(And in this case, Serbia’s “majstori” are less expensive than those I have called in Paris, London, and Rome).

QED.

This having been said, in your response I see that you want me to make allowances more for the mindset than for the actions. Agreed. But common sense will tell you that scratching your head and poking things of which you have never heard will not fix the sink. And by the way, did you remember to turn off the water in the flat?

Oh, says the Guy, you did not have to….


]]> http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/#komentari Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:47:01 GMT Chris Farmer http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/ http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/#k658486 ]]> http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/#komentari Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:03:50 GMT loader http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/ http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/#k658358 To cut the long story short, when serbian citizens, and I guess this post of your concerns them mostly, "go west" and live there far away from dad´s, uncle´s or friend´s tool box, very soon they start calling the "Guy" when they need it. See Strongman´s blog about his experience with a broken car in the USA. It is all question of the circumstances. ]]> http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/#komentari Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:21:00 GMT Piromanski http://blog.b92.net/text/11738/Calling%20the%20Guy/