Tractor Supply Co

[Dougster]

Wayne, a reliable source tells me Dougster has no less than eight coffee cans full of cash buried in his back yard! We know the rusty bomber, and the PB on stale bread are all a front !!

Oh man... ... Would that it were so!!!

Tell you what: You go and get laid-off at age 55 from your employer/job of 18-1/2 years (and your career of 33 years) and then spend the next full year sinking your insult of a severance package and every spare dime you can beg, borrow or steal into a brand new "compact tractor & backhoe services" business located in the pathetic, bankrupt, population-falling "State of Taxachusetts"! Then manage to make every business-related mistake in the book. Then tell me how much money you've got leftover after a year to go and spend on non-essentials like food!!!

Thank God every night when you go to bed with a full belly that you are not moi!!!

Dougster

 

[WayneB]

Oh man... ... Would that it were so!!!

Tell you what: You go and get laid-off at age 55 from your employer/job of 18-1/2 years (and your career of 33 years) and then spend the next full year sinking your insult of a severance package and every spare dime you can beg, borrow or steal into a brand new "compact tractor & backhoe services" business located in the pathetic, bankrupt, population-falling "State of Taxachusetts"! Then manage to make every business-related mistake in the book. Then tell me how much money you've got leftover after a year to go and spend on non-essentials like food!!!

Thank God every night when you go to bed with a full belly that you are not moi!!!

Dougster

This is almost on the serious side now. Feel for you Doug.

My business went from multiple people to one (me) after 9-11 and the crash of the fiber optic business. Must say without the payroll life is even better as I do not have the worry of making enough to pay the people and pay the tax boys.

 

[civesnedfield]

No matter i guess. I'll just have to go back to TSC again.... i'll figure out where i know him from.

Wayne, have you tried out your FF rotary cutter yet ? Did you like it? They have a 48" in stock i was thinking about takinghome with me. Its either that.... or i'm buying a new Jinma Chipper.

Dougster.... we've all had economizers. Wasn't that long ago i was driving my Kiatruck. At least thats what i called it. That poor little Sephia.... you should have seen me driving it home loaded with firewood. Glad the back seat folded down!

Don't tell me that you two are related to these people.

 

[Dougster]

This is almost on the serious side now. Feel for you Doug. My business went from multiple people to one (me) after 9-11 and the crash of the fiber optic business. Must say without the payroll life is even better as I do not have the worry of making enough to pay the people and pay the tax boys.

Yeah, like I tell folks: There *is* at least a little bit of truth in everything I say. But I am not looking for sympathy or charity. Hardly! This layoff/early forced retirement/struggling business situation is what it is and a LOT of folks have it MUCH worse. I just like to joke about it 'cause it helps me cope... and should make others better appreciate what they've got. In the bigger picture of life, things are not so bad and once I move to the land of "Live Free or Die" I'm confident I'll be much better off.

Dougster

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I got WAY behind on this thread. This morning is a little slow around the office, so I decided to catch up a bit.

I THOUGHT I'd walked in on a Monte Python sketch for a moment

Dougster, keep hammerin' away. You didn't lay down and quit like a lot of people do when things go bad. That gives you an advantage on a big portion of the population.

 

[WayneB]

Yeah, like I tell folks: There *is* at least a little bit of truth in everything I say. But I am not looking for sympathy or charity. Hardly! This layoff/early forced retirement/struggling business situation is what it is and a LOT of folks have it MUCH worse. I just like to joke about it 'cause it helps me cope... and should make others better appreciate what they've got. In the bigger picture of life, things are not so bad and once I move to the land of "Live Free or Die" I'm confident I'll be much better off.

Dougster

Doug I understand totally and there is room for you up here in "Live Free or Die" land. Please don't expect streetlights, mail to the door or garbage pickup! Just drives us nuts when people move out to the country and complain because it is so dark at night, or there is no sidewalks, all the things we all leave the cities for!

Not having a sales or income tax is okay with me. The people with lots of toys, like 4-wheelers, snowmobiles, boats and what have you pay a pretty good amount to register them and maybe that is fair. Vehicle registrations are a bit high, but when you figure there is no sales tax at the time you buy the vehicle I guess it all evens out.

Look forward to you coming up and joining us!

 

[Dougster]

I got WAY behind on this thread. This morning is a little slow around the office, so I decided to catch up a bit. I THOUGHT I'd walked in on a Monte Python sketch for a moment Dougster, keep hammerin' away. You didn't lay down and quit like a lot of people do when things go bad. That gives you an advantage on a big portion of the population.

A little humor around here goes a long way. And I'm not about to quit yet. In fact, September is shaping up as my busiest month yet. Several of those quotes I gave out last spring are suddenly reemerging as paying work now. The time gap... quote to actual work... has been both surprising at times and problematic as I've had to go back in some of these cases and actually reaquaint myself with the job.

If every month could be as busy as September, I might even be able to buy some of that jam for my peanut butter sandwiches!

Dougster

 

[Dougster]

Doug I understand totally and there is room for you up here in "Live Free or Die" land. Please don't expect streetlights, mail to the door or garbage pickup! Just drives us nuts when people move out to the country and complain because it is so dark at night, or there is no sidewalks, all the things we all leave the cities for!

I have no streetlight near my home, my mail is delivered to a box on the street... and they just ripped out my sidewalk as part of the town's "economy version" street reconstruction project. That particular aspect of the project is fine with me! We do have street side trash pick-up now that they closed the dump, but we pay through the nose for it. I'd LOVE to go back to a dump if it would save me money.

Look forward to you coming up and joining us!

Thanks Brother Wayne. Keep the border open long enough for one last "economic refugee" from Taxachusetts to make his escape!

Dougster

 

[Farmwithjunk]

A little humor around here goes a long way. And I'm not about to quit yet. In fact, September is shaping up as my busiest month yet. Several of those quotes I gave out last spring are suddenly reemerging as paying work now. The time gap... quote to actual work... has been both surprising at times and problematic as I've had to go back in some of these cases and actually reaquaint myself with the job.

If every month could be as busy as September, I might even be able to buy some of that jam for my peanut butter sandwiches!

Dougster

It takes a few ups and downs to get a business standing firmly upon both feet. With luck, each "up" is higher, and each down is less of a drop.

We've bid work (the contractor I work for) and filed away the bids for a couple YEARS and had them come back to ask if it was still a good price. I'm in the office today (SATURDAY HOURS. YUCK) re-working a quote that was submitted 16 months ago.

Who knows? By this time next year, you might be having caviar with that PB&J!

Any bids I send out for mowing work state prices good for 60 days. (Again, Who knows? Fuel prices may DROP suddenly and substancially and my prices may need to be adjusted down... YEAH RIGHT!)

 

[Dougster]

It takes a few ups and downs to get a business standing firmly upon both feet. With luck, each "up" is higher, and each down is less of a drop.

We've bid work (the contractor I work for) and filed away the bids for a couple YEARS and had them come back to ask if it was still a good price. I'm in the office today (SATURDAY HOURS. YUCK) re-working a quote that was submitted 16 months ago.

Who knows? By this time next year, you might be having caviar with that PB&J!

Any bids I send out for mowing work state prices good for 60 days. (Again, Who knows? Fuel prices may DROP suddenly and substancially and my prices may need to be adjusted down... YEAH RIGHT!)

I can't really set a time limit on my bids yet. There is so little work around here for a little start-up business like mine... I think it would come off as arrogant or pushy. I must also admit that part of September's sudden "backlog" is the result of my disabling August foot injury and pushing two jobs back into September. Lost one really good one... but managed to save two! Only one is a brand new job that I bid this month... very disappointing in that regard. The other two are spring jobs that I'd written off come back to life! Only current hang-up? Two of the pending jobs desperately need a toothed digging bucket that is on a truck somewhere between Maryland and here (no word on it yet! ) and one job could really benefit from my new hydraulic thumb if I can get the parts I'm still lacking before the client loses patience.

Dougster