I bought a new wheelbarrow

[Greenman]

I think maybe it was the google search "how many hookers and how much coke can you fit in a motorised wheelbarrow when you need to bring semtex back from terrorists'r'us?"

That does seem a little suspicious. You should have added "asking for a friend" to throw them off.

 

[Muse]

I was really excited about this until all you naysayers came along. Talk about your buzz kill.
I think you guys are just jelly cause you don't have a cool wheelbarrow to push around in the hot sun while breathing small engine exhaust.
I might have to have this thread moved to the garage where hydraulics and tracked vehicles are given the respect they deserve. You girley men can stay here and talk about your air conditioning and power steering and where's the best place to get a pedicure.

I thought I really scored big time when I bought my 6 cu footer at Orchard Supply maybe 15 years ago. IIRC, maybe $30! I babied that sucker, put multiple coats of varnish on the wooden handles before assembling it.

Damn tire loses pressure seems to me way to easily. Every 6 months to a year I need to pump up that tire. I have thought of maybe replacing it but haven't looked into it. Figure maybe Harbor Freight sells a tire that would fit, but don't know the exact spec, so, feh. I don't use it a lot, sits in the garage.

I was really disappointed in the crap paint job they put on it (Union Made, IIRC), which has peeled off a ton in a lot of places and I've used the darn thing lightly. I've NEVER mixed concrete in it, no sir! I use it mostly to transport large amounts of plant debris to my compost pile, occasionally maybe moving some dirt or whatever. So handy to have a wheel barrow. But motorized? With a gasoline engine? You're not putting us on?

 

[Greenman]

I thought I really scored big time when I bought my 6 cu footer at Orchard Supply maybe 15 years ago. IIRC, maybe $30! I babied that sucker, put multiple coats of varnish on the wooden handles before assembling it.

Damn tire loses pressure seems to me way to easily. Every 6 months to a year I need to pump up that tire. I have thought of maybe replacing it but haven't looked into it. Figure maybe Harbor Freight sells a tire that would fit, but don't know the exact spec, so, feh. I don't use it a lot, sits in the garage.

I was really disappointed in the crap paint job they put on it (Union Made, IIRC), which has peeled off a ton in a lot of places and I've used the darn thing lightly. I've NEVER mixed concrete in it, no sir! I use it mostly to transport large amounts of plant debris to my compost pile, occasionally maybe moving some dirt or whatever. So handy to have a wheel barrow. But motorized? With a gasoline engine? You're not putting us on?

Nope, it's legit.
They make wheelbarrow tires that are foam filled, never go flat, never need air.

 

[Muse]

Don't you have "Day labor" services in Cali?
We just call them, tell them what we need, they provide and charge us by the hour per person, and they take care of EVERYTHING else (transport, paying the labor, ALL legalities, paperwork, workers comp, etc.)
They can provide either skilled or unskilled, a single day or months at a time.
No money EVER changes hands between the supplied labor and us, we pay the services directly (on a monthly basis).
Works great when added grunts are needed, and all "day labor" services are licensed and regulated by the state.
Here they can even provide labor for homeowners.

During the 1980's I worked exclusively for temporary agencies and had many of those jobs, really jobs of all kinds. A few were grunt jobs. I had one where we dug trenches for fiber network cabling (yeah, with shovels), that was when it was in its infancy.

Tough to make a living that way. The toughest thing about it was the job insecurity. I could call an agency, usually several, and usually the answer was that they didn't have anything, call back... There was AFAIK, no medical. Maybe some if you worked enough but I never had that level. There were basically no benefits at all. Just occasional checks. Paid the rent (I lived where the rent was about the cheapest in town!), could buy some groceries, a few basics, I was well below the poverty line. Didn't have a car, rode a bicycle, which, if needing repairs, I did them. Still, there's a positive side -- I got to see, experience some things other folks don't, for what it's worth. And you never knew where life would take you, which is kinda cool. Still, I wanted steadier work... constantly, but it seemed it wasn't my karma for one of those clients to pick me up full time. It was something I wanted, but it didn't happen. Guess I was a gypsy in the work force. Eventually I moved on from the temps.