Also do trades. People seem to have no perception that quality varies. They assume it's busy work, it's either done or not done, works or don't work. All as if you flip a couple magical switches and everything's finished.

Always frustrating to explain how the electrician that's 15$ an hour is gonna get you killed, and that wiring isn't just snaking cords through a conduit.

Just show them some of my work as an amateur just sticking metal together and surely they'll pay for your work.

Like I try to at least measure, do some math, clean it up, and be steady but anybody looking at can know its my day job lol

A huge, HUGE amount of a welder’s value - nay, almost any skilled worker’s value - is in the years you’ve spent gettin’ good.

Yeah I don’t hire tradesfolk thinking I’m getting something cheap. I hire tradesfolk thinking I’m getting something that’s gonna fucking work when I need it to for as long as it can be expected to. That weld ain’t the cheapest part of the bridge by any means but it cannot unexpected fail without catastrophe, so if trained and reputable welders are expensive then welds on that bridge is expensive.

I can run my own wires when the wife lets me. But I won’t because that expensive electrician will do it safely and in a way that doesn’t cause even more expensive problems in the future

Good labor isn’t cheap and cheap labor is rarely good.