Is Rural Living a Hobby?

[lman]

I get one cutting, about 300-400 small bales of hay off my land. The guy that bales it keeps the other 2 or 3 cuttings. I guess you could say I am getting some financial compensation since I don't have to buy my hay.

 

[JethroB]

I rent out 20 acres to a nearby farmer/neighbor who grows cotton or peanuts on it. That covers my property taxes and maybe a couple of happy meals. He recently picked the cotton so it will be quieter until spring.

 

[cpy911]

It is a hobby for me. Any excuse to get outside to do “work” is good to go. Woods, mowing, feeding animals, fencing, bridges, cleanup, mending, repairing, cutting, etc. I’ve lost 20 lbs walking/working around the 18 acres since moving here after two years. Best lifestyle I can imagine.

 

[PuffyC]

Nah, this isn't settling, it was built crooked. Doors/windows aren't even square to the walls/ceiling. Actually the doors and windows are reasonably level & plumb. Walls and floors, not so much.

What I always say is it doesn’t need to be level, it just needs to look level

 

[beowulf]

It is a hobby for me. Any excuse to get outside to do “work” is good to go. Woods, mowing, feeding animals, fencing, bridges, cleanup, mending, repairing, cutting, etc. I’ve lost 20 lbs walking/working around the 18 acres since moving here after two years. Best lifestyle I can imagine.

cpy911, could not agree more. A couple of days ago after working with my wife and daughter on a project we had just finished, I said, well, one more memory in the basket. We reminisced a bit on all we had done. Got me to thinking about the kind of memories we have from living here for 35 years versus the kind of memories we would have had if we had continued to live in L.A. A bit scary to think about it.

 

[Oaktree]

What I always say is it doesn’t need to be level, it just needs to look level

Which is, of course the challenge during any remodeling...building cabinetry, built-ins, etc. crooked so it looks square when it's done. Over the years I've gotten pretty good at it.
Off the shelf cabinets don't cut it, nor do bold patterns (wallpaper, flooring).

 

[JethroB]

I just had a porch addition built by a fellow that was highly recommended. It seems
both level and square are still eluding some to this day.

 

[arto98607]

I have hired contractors three times in my life and hope never again!

Shortcuts etc. whenever they think they can get away with it.

 

[beowulf]

I have hired contractors three times in my life and hope never again!

Shortcuts etc. whenever they think they can get away with it.

I've had great contractors and really bad ones. Still, if it is something I can do myself that is the way to go.

 

[chinawall]

A while back a friend from the city came to visit. As we sat enjoying the bucolic setting with an adult beverage, he said “Man, I could really go for this”. I pointed out that, well, this is half of it, but if you want this lifestyle there is also the work half – you need to enjoy that part as well. He went on to discuss his hobby of collecting stuff with his metal detector. Then he asked if I had any hobbies. I thought for a very brief moment and then told him “You’re looking at it”.

Anyway, this made me realize that living rurally, having never ending projects, caring for animals, tractor tasks with seat time, figuring out solutions to unexpected events, repairing and maintaining things, and such, was in fact my hobby. And, as a hobby, it is a pretty good one – keeps you mentally and physically active, a lot of satisfaction, enjoyable, you are outside and not watching TV, you are doing things together with the family, and though you are spending money on things, you are likely increasing the value of your property by constantly improving it. Overall, maybe the best of hobbies. I need no other.

Love the rural life, but it has challenges and expenses.

 

[JasperFrank]

Always had to have the "talk" with contractors. Which goes "This job is time and materials. I expect your best work." if I see people cutting corners and not doing things right, they get paid up till that time and fired. Any good contractor will be willing to switch to time and materials instead of bid.

 

[JethroB]

I have hired contractors three times in my life and hope never again!

Shortcuts etc. whenever they think they can get away with it.

Yes to the shortcuts. I caught him a few times and pointed it out. He hemmed and hawed but came around. I wrongly assumed he understood ‘level’ when putting in floor joists.

 

[Solitary Man]

Yes to the shortcuts. I caught him a few times and pointed it out. He hemmed and hawed but came around. I wrongly assumed he understood ‘level’ when putting in floor joists.

You hired the wrong guy. We are professional builders, and always chuckle seeing what people get when they go cheap.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

Scares the heck out of me. She's one of those who only drives A few feet ahead of herself. Lots of unnecessary, abrupt braking.

My ex drove like that too. She would approach a stop light or stop sign and brake at the last minute. It was cured when we changed insurance companies and I plugged in one of those monitoring devices for three months. Every time she would hard brake it would beep and it was posted online for the insured to see. After the device was removed her driving habits had changed foe the better, and they never did revert back.

 

[JethroB]

You hired the wrong guy. We are professional builders, and always chuckle seeing what people get when they go cheap.

^^^. What tradesmen, dealer, salesman, etc. would claim otherwise? They wouldn’t be in business long if they didn’t rate themselves highly. Big turnoff when I hear one putting down the competition. Never indicated it was cheap.

 

[Solitary Man]

^^^. What tradesmen, dealer, salesman, etc. would claim otherwise? They wouldn’t be in business long if they didn’t rate themselves highly. Big turnoff when I hear one putting down the competition. Never indicated it was cheap.

Ok. Then it was your fault for not using due diligence to discover his knowledge of what "level" is before he started the project. In this business, one is only as good as one's last job; no need to disparage the competition, word gets around.

 

[California]

Last contractor I hired was a plumber, recommended by neighbors, to replace the underground water mains from the well to the barn, house, garden. Time & materials. Not a large project. He seemed attentive as we walked this simple project.

Then the contractor's employee arrived without the contractor, and without the materials needed. He said the single instruction he got was to "follow me around and do what I said".

I asked where is the DitchWitch I thought had been agreed on, he said he was told to dig the ditches by hand. We got an hour into digging and gave up. The route was all tree roots and I couldn't get my backhoe into most of where the trenching was needed. I went and rented the DitchWitch and we did within the 4-hour rental, what could have taken him days by hand.

He told me he was being paid $25/hour. While the contractor, who I thought would plan and lead the project, was charging me $75/hour for this guy.

I don't expect to use that contractor again.

 

[ultrarunner]

Happens often… the guys doing the work given little support.

 

[Oaktree]

^^^. What tradesmen, dealer, salesman, etc. would claim otherwise? They wouldn’t be in business long if they didn’t rate themselves highly. Big turnoff when I hear one putting down the competition. Never indicated it was cheap.

Tough to find good tradespeople in rural America, lots of hacks who own a paintbrush and know where they can borrow a ladder who call themselves painters. Feel free to substitute the equivalent for a different trade.
The good ones are generally quite busy, but are still at the mercy of finding good help.

Then add in the customers who are either cheap, micro-manage or keep changing their mind as to what they want.

 

[jjp8182]

Then add in the customers who are either cheap, micro-manage or keep changing their mind as to what they want.

...and add in how many also don't know a thing about the trades so pass on referrals based upon feelings rather than knowledge of the quality of work..... (or lack thereof)