Wait—you mean my wife isn't the only one who volunteers me for free work for other people?

One time she volunteered me to build a fence for her parents the day after coming home from a big weekend of gigging in Eastern Washington. I wasn't too happy about that one.

 

i used to do side work..i am starting to pull away. at first it was good for some spare cash...now i get asked for all sorts of things and the pay rate is way down. one guy i know wanted me to drop the axle on his lincoln, remove the stock air ride and swap it to coils. i also was expected to pick up the parts....all for pizza and some beer. now if he were a close friend...sure...but he is a friend of a friend...and a moocher. turned that down. it is not worth it sometimes....plus if anything else goes wrong on the job, they assume you broke it...cause nothing ever wears out.

 

I always tell them, sure, I'll work on it, but it will be this weekend, at the earliest. I have school after work, and without a garage, it's pretty hard to work on cars in the dark.

I find I would almost rather work on other peoples cars than my own. If I'm working on mine, it means something broke, and now i'm down a car. If it's someone elses, then mine are intact and drivable!

 

I just started telling people if I am going to work on any car, its going to be modding or fixing something on my own.

 

yeah, today i got a call from a friends dad (65 yrs old)..said he broke a tie rod...the one i swapped last fall. first thought was not likely. so i get there and he broke the lower ball joint and trashed the upper. so that was my afternoon. i inspected the rest of his front end...its all pretty much on the way out. i can see him calling me soon for that. i dont mind so much but he had it towed to his home garage and called me...didnt even bother calling a shop, mind you its his only car...so he assumed i would just drop everything and come over...that is the part that pissed me off...i have nothing better to do on my day off in his mind i guess.

 

I dont like being volunteered. Last time I did brakes for a friends wife, she cheaped out on the parts I said it needs and didnt want to do the lines and brake flush... A month later she blew a brake line and had to have it towed. The tow costed more than the brake lines and fluid would have... I dont like half-doing a job, so its all the parts I say it needs, or do it yourself.

As for voluntolding by the wife, thats grounds for forced-**** and a bad mood from me for a few days.

 

Between my work, my family, and my own volunteer scouting work, I don't get a whole lot of "spare" time. My wife knows better than to try and volunteer me for something without asking first. As for side jobs my policy is I always quote my overtime rate from work plus 25%. When I was younger and had more spare time it wasn't a big deal, but now my time is way more valuable to me.