Jobsite Radios

mdshunk

Just when I thought I'd seen it all...

I have a policy with respect to jobsite radios that I think most will agree with. If you're on a service call at a customer's home or business... no radios. If you're on a long term project at a customer's home or business, a radio is okay if you have their permission and the volume is kept at a very conservative level. If you're on new construction, a radio is fine as long as it's not played so loudly that it bothers other trades or the neighbors. If you're on new construction by yourself and there are no neighbors, I don't care how loudly you play it unless another crew or the GC arrives on the job, then tone it down.

...now on to what I saw on Thursday:
A siding crew working on a building next to my job hauled actual outdoor concert type speakers out of their job trailer. They were the big square type that sat on top of a 6 or 7 foot tripod. They hauled two of these bad boys out and connected them to some stereo equipment inside their tool trailer. Luckily for me, their music selections were my taste- and man was it ever loud. I'm all for guys doing little things to make their jobsites more comfortable to work in (ie. setting up a microwave or coffee pot) but this was a little over the top. There were no neighbors to disturb in this particular area, but heaven help the other tradespeople who didn't like the music selections. I'm not sure whether to be proud of these siding guys and their monster speakers or ashamed of them.

PipeGuy

I'm kind of a stereo nut. Growing up the big thing was who had the most powerful 'power booster' or who had Jensen triaxials instead of coaxials. Any of you guys ever have a pioneer KP500?
I've often thought of how cool it would be to put some Peavey loudspeakers on the roof of one of my excavators - it's just that I know my customers would seriously frown on it.
Most of the earth moving equipment now comes with AM/FM if not CD players. Hooda thunk it?

mdshunk

Was that the original "supertuner" with the one gigantic tuning knob? FM only and casette (or was it 8 track?). Came out in the mid-70's I think. I'm sure that with a KP500, CB with big azz antenna, and fog lights you were the super pimp.

Teetorbilt

I listen to talk radio, the same old tunes get boring, especially after 30 yrs.+. Stairway to Heaven forever. Wrong.
Last year, I had a client pass on a BOOMbox. This joker is 3' long and has jacks for guitars and mics, mixing pallet, drum pad and one of the record scratchy thingies if you're into ghetto music. I like the look on peoples faces when I walk on site with this thing.
Then I settle down to the 'Love Doc's', talk.

__________________
You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

6stringmason

I just use my Old Milwaukee radio. It's loud enough when I need it to be and very portable. I always have it at a reasonable volume though so I dont have to shout at everyone. Otherwise noone knows if Im shoutin cuz I'm pissed or cuz the radio is too loud. I cant stand it though when a crew shows up and tries to take over the airwaves with whatever thier listening too. I noticed some sheetrockers in my neck of the woods like to do that.

ProWallGuy

Ditto that, pretty much applies here too. I don't allow political talk radio though, just because it spawns arguments and crap. Even had customers come over to sit and debate politics from talk radio. Nope, not anymore. Keep your political affiliation back in your truck. Not much democracy going on at my jobsites, it's a complete autocracy.

And Teetor's right, Stairway To Heaven was sooooooo lame back in 6th grade.

__________________
Wallpaper Hanger St. Louis
Digital Murals Installation

Sheetrock26

I like my music and I like it loud. While building my own home I had an Amish crew of three doing my siding...they'll do anything for 12 bucks an hour, and they were good too, I asked around. I thought I would tone it down a bit while they were there though so I closed the windows hoping they wouldn't be offended and walk off. For lunch we ran a few miles down the road to grab a sub. When we returned the windows to the front of the house were wide open and the music was turned up.

mdshunk

I grew up Mennonite and I'm in the middle of Amish territory. They ain't nothing special. Just the other day I saw a whole herd of Amish boys waiting outside the liquor store to pay a man who was inside buying their booze. Don't let 'em fool ya.

PipeGuy

Your dead on the mark (except for the pimp thing). Hell, I had forgotten about the 'supertuner' label. I can still picture how those big bohemoths hung under the dash with their big round dials and tuner arms glowing in the dark. They were the first units I remember that had a Munson loudness circuit and an FM 'mute' feature. They came in both 8-track or cassette. I'm sure we wore out at least two 'Boston' eight tracks over the summer of '77.

ConcreteGuy

Whether it is personal tastes in music or talk radio, it's personal, and doesn't belong in the professional world. Whistle while you work, if you must, but save your music and other lifestyle accoutrements for when you are on your own time, and spare the rest.

I have yet to be on a job where everybody shares the same tastes. However, most who crank up their "music" and "talk" to be heard by the unsoliciting are insensitive to that, which is unprofessional and inconsiderate.

How about saving your lifestyle choices for your personal life, and be a professional while someone is paying you for it?

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______________________________________________

A reasonable expectation becomes an assumption when it goes wrong.

Teetorbilt

GC, you sound like an old boss of mine. Excellent businessman but no tact when it came to dealing with employees.
We manufactured subsurface hydrofoils using fiberglass and the glass shop was the absolute worst place to be and almost everybody started there to learn the business from the ground up. It took me about a year to renovate the shop and get some morale going. One day I'm called to his office and he's peeved because he went in there and there was music and the guys were having a pretty good time. His rationale was that working people should not be happy. I told him to scan the production numbers. He did and shut up.

__________________
You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

Mike Finley

I find that whole scenario rather funny, it would have given me quite a chuckle to witness it.

I always bring the Dewalt radio/charger along and listen to talk radio, super conservative as I can get, Rush, Oreily, ect... some times I listen to Air America just to keep track of the enemy. I always give the homeowner a heads up with a simple "You don't mind if we plug in the radio do you?" Never had one yet object. If they are of my mindset we bash the liberals together sometimes, if they are in the other camp and they comment negatively in regard to some Republican on the radio or ask me what I think and it is obvious they are a bleeding lib, I just tell them it's all just noise to me I really don't even hear what they are saying most of the time. I'm not about to get into a political discussion with a paying customer if we are on different sides of the fence. Around here you can pretty much change the subject to "how bout them Broncos?" and a customer will go on for 30 minutes letting you know their feelings and what needs to be done or what needs to be fixed...

Teetorbilt

I was on a site this week, all new homes on a cul-de-sac. The salsa music was not loud but it was everywhere, same station.

__________________
You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

old27

I say no radios, no shorts, no coffee, no lunch, no talking (only sign language), and no power tools or air tools on a job. Oh yeah, no electricity either.

Now here is a good question for you guys:

How do you deal with an employee that has a cell phone addiction?

Later,

old

mdshunk

Warn him once, sit down with him once in the office, then time off to think about life, then fire him. Simple as that.

I've been pretty lucky in that regard, but I've seen other tradespeople with the phone almost permanently stuck in their ear.

I don't care if the wife or whoever calls with a genuine emergency or even a quickie question a couple of times a week for just a minute. I do mind guys that seem like they want to conduct most of their personal business over the phone on my time. I've told a couple of guys that if they have to make a phonecall for whatever stupid reason, do it on break or while they're sitting on the john.

Teetorbilt

I had a friend in the remodeling biz. who gave a salesman a cell. The guy was having some problems with his wife and started calling 900 numbers, psychics. The guy was racking up $1,200 phone bills and it took 3 mos. to catch him.
The really funny part is that with what this guy was generating, I would have eaten the whole thing. That dude could really sell, the guy was making from 50-100% profit margins in very high class areas.

__________________
You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

Shawn

= No Work.
I wear shorts, have coffee, lunch, talk (yell) with sign laguage, radio very loud, and earplugs in. It's nice no distractions.
[/QUOTE]


Ask the employee:
If work is interfering with his social life?
If it is then you can change that.

__________________
Shawn
www.sdcarpentry.com

GMW

I was painting today with a couple of guys today , listening to the radio when Stairway to Heaven came on. Couldn't help to laugh and think of Teetor, although I only heard it once today.

Teetorbilt

The catch phrase here is, "Music radio sucks!". If you're lucky, a station may have 40 songs in rotation. This makes for repeats every few hours, that makes it repetitive and boring.
BTW you can catch variations of 'Stairway to Heaven' at KMart and the grocery store. Just in case you haven't gotten enough of it. Caddie commercials can provide some extra Led Zep too.

__________________
You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

jewerl35

XM WOULD CHANGE YOUR MIND REAL FAST