Typical Day
Rob, owner of Rob's Roofing and Contracting, is up early—but not as early as he used to be this time of year. Having run his own roofing business for fifteen years, Rob now spends his days checking on jobs, meeting with potential clients, and submitting project bids.
There's no telling how many miles he'll travel around town on any given day. After a quick breakfast and an even quicker shower, it's time to hit the pavement at 8:00AM.
First on Rob's list today is checking on the roofing job that his foreman, Bud, is supervising. Bud's crew includes some new guys—teenagers who Rob is letting work with the crew over the summer so they can get a feel for the job. Rob's confident in Bud's ability to keep everything under control, but he still wants to get a read on how the kids are doing.
It's a short five-mile trip to the Sisson's home, which has a twenty-year-old roof in desperate need of repair. Rob parks by the curb and walks around back, where he hears lots of hammering. Hoity-toity folks with their "high culture" might prefer symphonies and Broadway musicals, but for Rob the most beautiful music comes from hammers and saws doing their work.
Rob grins as he sees Bud climbing a ladder like a squirrel. Bud is a classic workaholic who moves at warp speed all the time. Rob's glad to have hired him—partly because he's a huge asset to the company, and partly because competing with Bud for jobs would be a nightmare. The man just runs circles around everyone, Rob included.
"Morning, Bud," Rob calls out. "How's it going?"
Bud doesn't even turn his head. "Pretty well. Another day or two and we'll be finished."
"That's great. Can you spare a minute?"
Rob is sure he hears Bud grumbling under his breath, but when Bud actually responds to him, all he says is, "Yeah, I guess so. Hang tight."
A couple of minutes later, Bud and Rob are huddling over in the corner of the yard. It's nice to work outside, but private offices don't travel well from site to site.
"Tell me how the kids are doing," Rob says. "Are they giving you any trouble?"
Bud huffs. "Well, they're good kids and they're trying, but one of them nearly stepped off the side of the roof this morning. He scares me."
Rob frowns. "We can't have that. I'll come back in a little while and take the kids to lunch and have a talk with them."
Rob climbs up to the roof to check on the progress. He tells the teens he'll be back later to take them to lunch. One of Bud's longtime crew members, Reggie, starts to pout. "Oh, I see how it is. Us old workers are played out. I can't even remember the last time you sent me flowers."
Rob laughs. "I know how important it is to your self-esteem to feel loved and pampered, Reggie. Don't worry, we'll go out to lunch someday soon."
Rob leaves the crew laughing and teasing Reggie. It's too bad Rob can't clone him. Safety's the most important thing, but laughter and happy workers are close behind.
The next stop for Rob is a property management company, where he drops off a bid on a project he's hoping to get. He sticks around for a few minutes to chat and see if there are more projects in the works that he might like to bid on. Networking is never a bad idea.
At about 10:45AM, Rob visits some potential clients in need of a new roof. He takes a few pictures, gets some information from the homeowners, and promises to call them with a bid tomorrow. He could give them a good ballpark bid now, but it's smart to double-check all the numbers.
One more stop to check on another crew working on a new home roofing project—it's going well—then Rob is back at the Sisson home around 12:00PM to get the teens for lunch.
Soon, Rob and the boys are at a local pizza shop, having some soda and waiting on a deluxe pepperoni. One of the kids, James, really impresses Rob with his knowledge. He seems really serious about learning the trade. Weirdly, he's also the one Bud's worried about. There's something Rob's just not getting about this.
Returning after lunch, Rob pulls Bud aside again. "Did I understand you earlier? James is the kid you're not sure about?"
Bud nods, so Rob calls James over to talk.
James looks really nervous. "Am I in trouble? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, we just want to talk. We're a little worried because you almost fell off the roof earlier. You understand what we do is dangerous and we have to be careful, right?"
"Yeah, of course." James offers an embarrassed smile. "We were getting ready to put flashing around the chimney and I caught a glare from the sunlight hitting the metal. It sounds lame, but that's what happened. I'll be more careful next time."
You have to admire that kind of eager-to-learn attitude. Rob feels okay about sending James back up on the roof and going off to check on some other business.
He stops by two houses to check on his other work crews and makes a quick trip to the building supply store for one of them. They can tease him about being "just an errand boy" all they want. He's still the one signing their paychecks.
Rob stops in at the city buildings department to check the permit status on a project, then takes a breather in his truck to check his work email and voicemail on his phone.
He decides to end the day with Bud's crew and heads back to the Sisson's home, but first stops to pick something up at Bed Bath & Beyond. Most of the family is home now, and they're quick to tell Rob how happy they are with the progress. Another couple of days and the new roof will be complete.
Rob shares the family's compliments with Bud's crew and notices Reggie is still pretending to be mad about lunch. He goes back to the truck to retrieve the "gift" he just bought on the way over. "Here Reggie, I stopped and picked up a little gift basket for you—some scented soaps, bath towels, and hand lotion. I know you need a little pampering every once in a while."
The rest of the crew doubles over in laughter while Reggie scrambles for a comeback. Looks like the boss man gets the last laugh today.