Next week I start a paint-job in Temple City Ca. The clients, Clyde and Judy, have given me more employment over twenty years than any other single customer. They had five houses in all, I think. Three rentals, their own place, and Clydes moms house. I have done all of their painting work since the early nineties. I had a friend who lived in one of the rentals, and I bid the exterior and got the job. Judy retired from her job at a beverage distributor in Alhambra a few years back, and since then theyve been selling off the properties. So I have been painting each place for the final time (except for their own house, which might need it again before we all go belly-up). I have painted several of their houses twice, done trim-jobs, and partial jobs when switching tenants, and generally done whatever they needed that was within my bailiwick. You get to know people when you work for them periodically over a couple of decades. These are top-notch folks. Smart, capable middle-class folks, who worked hard and played fair their whole lives, and live good modest lives. Theyre fun too. Judy is a real hoot, Clyde would tell you the same thing. I was the guy who came in and painted out all of the idiosyncrasies when Clydes mom passed on - making the house neutral and nice for whichever buyer would make it their new home. I have done that same duty with the house I raised kids in, and also the house where I was raised. Its a poignant job. Somebody has to do it, though. This house in Temple City is the last of the income properties. And it is the one that I painted first. I had been there socially a few times, even attending a wedding in the back yard, before I became involved professionally. I have painted the outside of the place at least twice, though it could possibly be three times. (when you have painted several hundred exteriors, the exact numbers get a little blurry) I cant remember if Ive painted the inside before, but I probably did seventeen years ago before the most recent tenant moved in. Its winding down - my relationship with Judy and Clyde. And its kind of sad. But it is always a pleasure to work for people who are as much friends as customers after so much history has gathered. I dont really have to bid these jobs anymore. Ill tack up an hours-sheet somewhere and clock my time, and when Im finished, hand them a bill. They wont question it. And I would never give them cause to. It might have been pretty great to have made a living in music. But I chose the life of a tradesman, and evolved into a craftsman. And truthfully, I think I did alright. A couple of years before my dad died, he told me that he was proud of me for taking on a tough job and sticking with it. It was my pop who woke me one morning in early 1984 to tell me Id been offered a job on a painting crew. I was crashing on my moms office-floor after losing my house in Long Beach when I hit the bottom of the cocaine spiral. That I took the job surprised him. That I stuck it out astonished him. :) Its really just these two constants in my life. My music and my trade. Everything else has either arrived since these two jobs began, or left before they were completed. Completed is the wrong word. Neither the music or the painting will ever be finished. At some point I will wake up unable to answer the bell, but the work is never done. Yall have a sweet Friday, and a lovely restful weekend. Okay?
Posted on: Fri, 06 Jun 2014 14:19:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015