how are we supposed to survive

[spymoocow]

On only ten hours a week? or less. I mean. what the hell is going on with the weather and the economy? I'm wondering if I should start looking for another job or another field to work in.

[73Stingray]

There are definitely a lot of ppl laid off right now in my area.

[Gunnery Sergeant Hartman]

I was laid off the beginning of 2008 for 6 months.

About 2 months into my layoff i woke up and signed up for online classes to get my business management degree.

You can never stop learning and making yourself more valuable!

[fcs]

I agree Stg. it a good use of time.

I joke that this is a good time to be laid out sick, Heck there's no work out there right now anyway

And from what I hear there not much work in anything.

Good luck.

[rob in lvnev]

I was laid off last week and no work at the hall its starting to get bad, Im currently taking an up date course as to keep my elect card and a welding class and signed up to get my pool operators card and of course looking for a job at the same time

[timebuilder]

It's always a good idea in these times to do a skills assessment so you can maximize your earnings.

Do you have stuff you don't need that you can sell online?

Can you take a course that makes you more valuable over the long haul?

Have a degree that enables you to do some substitute teaching?

If you have a second income in your family, maybe you can do some volunteer work.

Be creative, and things will get better.

[fcs]

If you have a second income in your family, maybe you can do some volunteer work.
.

Volunteer work is alway good and often can lead to valuable leads for jobs>

[limbach123]

I work in wash.dc and a few of us only got 12 last week

[hvochead]

There is no work in PA

[Dowadudda]

hang in there you guys. before you know it, all that equipment not getting repaired will come in and you will be overwhelmed. May take a few months. You could not be in a better field when things start to get better economically.

[DjPolar]

or when they are sreaming for it to be repaired as cheaply as possible, with no maintance done on it for the last 6 - 12 months.....good times for all!

[clintkennon]

I saw thing slowing down about July and picked up a weekend job. Then things went down the Shi!er and I only had my weekend job. So then in November I got back into service and work both jobs just to make what I used to make at one. But right now Im just glad to have any job. You may need to just take anything right now, ride it out if you can and hope for the best.

[timebuilder]

hang in there you guys. before you know it, all that equipment not getting repaired will come in and you will be overwhelmed. May take a few months. You could not be in a better field when things start to get better economically.

I agree. I'm taking my vacation days now, so I can work all seven days this summer.

[Dowadudda]

Yep. People have to eat and they need heat. Most need A/C. Were recession proof. If were in the soup line, it will be close to the end of the world.

It is slow. For now. Let em let it get fugged up. All the more cash I will make next year.

We see our customers using much cheaper people, who don't have the experience to work on the equipment. This winter alone I have had week long service calls straightening out things other people have screwed up cause they were "cheaper".

I think it's funny.

A year from now you'll be so busy you wish you were sitting home taking it easy.

[jlw1980]

Before I know I'll get my second 6 month raise and be up to about $17/hr... now if I can only get some friggin hours!

[kim]

Thats why I got into refrigeration. Tired of starving in heating season

I used to use my overtime pay to pay off winter payments

I've seen more than one guy bringing home $1000/week in the summer and have a hard time keeping up the truck payment in the winter

[HeyBob]

You have to get out there and dig very hard, right now I have 5 guys that are tired of all the overtime and would love a day off, it's not in sight for at least another two weeks when it might start to slow down.

Be creative, be thorough on every call you go on, it's surprising what you will dig up and sell.

[Bubbleheadski]

Thats why I got into refrigeration. Tired of starving in heating season

I used to use my overtime pay to pay off winter payments

I've seen more than one guy bringing home $1000/week in the summer and have a hard time keeping up the truck payment in the winter

Thats the way it is here too. However its not just the truck payment... its the rent.... the groceries... the money kids need for school trips and odds and ends. Its for the electric bill, the cable bill and the water bill. it never ends.... rob Peter to pay Paul. I just need to find a traveling job cause my wife doesnt want to move and I have 2 left in high school!

[SBEC]

There are some contractors doing well and some not so well. I do electrical, HVAC and just started doing commercial refrigeration again after an 8 year absence from it (only market I've seen any action in without price gougers). I have signed contracts for 2- 100k projects but who knows when they will start and I have to fund it so they may not happen. We haven't been real busy this winter at all, the economy is the worst I've seen in 25 years. I had to start running service calls myself and at my age it gets tough to plow through them some times. We just have to ride the wipeout and struggle to reach the surface to get some air, once we get dumped on the beach wipe the sand off and get back to work. Just do what you can to survive , take training courses to improve your skills and when the economy breaks be prepared to ride the wave to prosperity. As a business owner its important to work on your business development skills to maximize your cash flow and profit during these down times. Remember we don't usually make bad decisions in bad times. We make the bad decisions during the good times and when the economy goes sour those decisions come home to roost. Overall this will be good for us in the long run we are all running leaner and trimming credit so in the future when the economy rebounds our cash flow will improve and we can give our techs the hours they have been missing.

[MichaelPaladin]

Well I'm considering myself lucky, I work for a small family owned company. Its been a little slow at times, but usually while I may go home early one day, I'm working past normal quitting time the next. So its been balancing out over the pay period.

Plus we just got a large renovation job, which involves taking out all the old steam radiators and boiler, with installing a new radiant floor heat system along with two geo-thermal systems.