Well I must be doing something wrong as I'm out in Saudi working again as my little bit of commercial enterprise when the journey in 2009 all down to not charging most of the time for those little jobs ....................but I would never change a thing.
I had one like Tony. A guy I know from the local knew I was a sparks and asked if I could look at a job in his neighbours house, the guys wife use to go in to help out the old lad and noticed he was .....well a little unkept, it seemd he could not get in and out of the bath anymore.
They tried to get a company in to remove the bath and fit a walk in shower unit. They wanted thousands for this, but fair do they said that if the got the electrics done by a sparks it would bring the price down. Would I take a look.
Well no problems went to see the guys wife who took me in, and this old lad was a real pain, until he found out I'd worked at the pit. Anyway I said I would do the job, and looking around thought this old lad as not got much. I said I would do it on a Saturday morning, I have some spare bits and bobs knocking about and would keep costs down. So we agreed on 150 pounds the lot.
Up in the loft on the Saturday moving bits about I saw an old local newspaper from 1st world war in mint condition. It had about 4 or 5 pages of pictures of troops leaving for France. When I finished I made us a cuppa and was chatting and asked him about the paper, it was kept by his mum as there was a picture of his dad in it, who never came back, the old lad was born in 1912 and never knew his dad, so I said why is it up there then. His mum was never the same and they just could not throw it away so they left it in the loft.
He ask me to get it down so he could show me his dad, by this time I was a mess lol. Anyway he said he needed to get money out of the bank on monday to pay me would that be ok. With this paper was a copy of an 1886 Times and it was in mint and i love thing like this. So I said if he would let me have this we could sort out a discount on the work, ok.
So that was my payment for that Saturday morning and material, an 1886 times. It cost me another 100 odd pounds to get that picture of his dad framed for him, but he gave me the others to frame for myself, god only knows how many meals from my lass, who is now great friends with the next door neighbours wife, or how much it cost me with some little bits and piece my lass would get him while doing our shopping.
My middle daughter became his un-official housekeeper for 3 years before going to Uni...and you know it was perhaps one of the most satisfying jobs I ever did, and the most rewarding knowing this great old lad ...........
