I enjoy the program, The Rehab Addict. I love old houses and that's all the host, Nichole Curtis, works on. She's a quirky little blonde woman who seems pretty capable. She'll wear sandals on the job and refuses to wear a tool belt so, she has little choice but to work for herself because no one in their right mind would let an employee work like that. Well, no one that provides and pays for Workman's Compensation, that is. The tool belt isn't a job requirement- officially- but, unless you're the boss you are not going to get away with borrowing tools from your co-workers for very long. There's a reason carpenters wear tool belts. That's where the tools are!
It's a TV show though and, you have to suspend reality a bit because of that. One thing I have admired about her program is that she doesn't pretend to do an entire kitchen in a weekend like some shows do. Evidently, even if her show had the budget to throw an army of paid pros at a job, she wouldn't do it.
She prefers squads of unpaid amateurs. On her Facebook page she'll put out a call for volunteers in the area to stop by and paint, or clean up, maybe rake leaves. She's even asked for paint that people might have lying around that they don't need....
Not a lot of shows do that. Actually, I don't know of any shows that do that. It's not Habitat For Humanity. It's her job. She buys, rehabs and sells houses. For a living...
Free labor is a republican wet dream. Nothing keeps labor costs down like not paying people. Payroll eats into profits! That's why the American worker has been on a diet since Reagan. The bigger the spread on the table for the wealthy, the better the crumbs for us. That's Reaganomics.
She makes a living at this. How good of a living, I don't know. She claims that it's all her money involved in the construction aspect of the show and that this gives her creative control. I'm assuming that she could get a pretty nice operating budget and the kind of support that other hosts on HGTV/DIY get, if she wanted it. She doesn't want it.
Most of the people you see working on her show are getting paid, by her. I'm thinking not at their usual rate but at a special 'I'M ON TV!!!' rate. I don't see the usual suspects from job to job on her show. Maybe most contractors quickly tire of the demands of television. I read that, because of those demands, the PBS show, Hometime pays extra for contractors to indulge them. I don't think Nichole pays extra for anything....
But, this is her living. Other people have to make a living too. We are all interconnected in this aspect. She claims that, since she's doing these homes in shaky neighborhoods she's helping to revitalize them and working with a very thin profit margin because of those same shaky neighborhoods. She may not be buying the worst house on the block like real estate experts advise but she is selling the best house on the block when she's done. Those other houses must appreciate that.
So, it's bargain-basement remodeling, I guess. Try doing that the next time you buy a house to fix up and make a few bucks off of or just want to remodel your own. Ask folks from the neighborhood to donate materials and labor because you're not gonna make a lot on this but you are "improving the neighborhood". Unless you're a cute blonde with a spankable bottom and a TV show, you're probably not going to get a lot of help.
6 comments:
The Wichita lying man is still on the lyin'.
OK, I am dying to know, who the heck is Wichita Lying Man?
I like this show. The kids got spunk. She also has some imagination when she hits the second had shops and figures out ways to reuse salvage items. I know what you mean about flip flops. I remember a woman I was working with show up with high heeled sandals at a construction site. Live and learn if you don't want to break an ankle or get yourself a case of lock jaw (but you'll look cuter) and everybody likes polished toe nails
Very nice post. You definitely have some LOL moments going on here
I like the show too and she's good on it. I agree with a lot of what she does. Having grown up in old houses, I like how she retains the character of a house by retaining the original windows. A lot of old houses are poorly insulated so, unless you address that, new windows are a waste of money. She does have a real good eye for fixing and reusing stuff. She can do some stuff!
I worked with guys who were always trying to get away with wearing gym shoes on commercial sites. They whined and tried to argue like little children, trying to negotiate with the general. It amazes me that she does that but that she also allows others to do that. I doubt she's paying Workman's Comp or any insurance. Maybe she'll learn the hard way.
But, the FB page being such a fanpage surprised me and disappointed me. She's wrapped a little tighter than I had thought....
byline: Deer Whisperer/Luke
"I'm sayin' No, No, No" My daughters got a chuckle out of me not knowing the name of Amy Winehouse's song "Rehab". I called it the "No, No, No" song.
I can't watch this show, but enjoyed your critique and input. I pretty much go with This Old House and Hometime on a sporadic basis, and more often than not see re-runs on PBS's sub-channel Create TV. OH?! Does that gal on Hometime wear a tool belt? I'm not remembering.
But I digress, really. You say that the best revenge is posting well. I say you fit in to "the best revenge is writing well". That's been said already.
I heard an interview with an author of a fairly new book. The book is based on, and named for a blog. That blog is hosted by this very site. It's called Hyperbole And A Half. Google if you want some outside thoughts about either/both.
Now, what a revenge that would be?! Your creativity could put you on a level of the satirist/humorist Jean Shepherd. (shoot your eye out/Ralphie Parker). What a trove of material you have to work with.
I will declare forthwith that you may use variations of "Luke" and/or "Deer Whisperer" as you deem necessary.
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If you haven't seen it, Google "Guns & Ammo" to find an article on Yahoo! about the editorial of the latest issue. It's got readership hoppin' mad and wanting the writer's head on a pike. As seen on Yahoo! comments, anyway.
Thank you for the kind words, Luke.
I like to look at the PBS shows still. They are the ones that started it all. And, unlike most of the HGTV/DIY shows, they don't give themselves the false deadlines of, "IT'S GOT TO BE DONE IN TWO DAYS OR EVERYONE DIES!!" Commercial construction was like that at times. It's called greed and/or poor planning in real life.
I saw that stuff about the Guns & Ammo guy. There's a crowd you don't wanna cross! Sheesh, the guy was calling for common sense and they refused to listen. Imagine that!
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