Previous Life?

[southside]

I know this topic has come up some time ago,<br>but seeing we have a whole heap of new guys <br>come in,what did you all do before you entered this industry??<br>I bought my business of my old boss,who wanted out.Before that I drove tow trucks,<br>chasing smash.Before that I was a commercial cleaner.Also 5 years<br>Army,3 years Infantry,2 years in<br>transport.<p>What about you guys?<p>Karl<p><br><p><font size="1">Edited by: southside

[scottlawns]

i was a sheet rocker for 5 years and i built car motors for 10 and a half years...than last year i was a scrub and quit my job and worked with a buddy in the lawn buisness and in the fall i bought a 97 one ton ford a boss plow...a great dane a 36in toro and a lawn boy and a 12 foot trailer 2 weed eaters a blower a quik vac and now im a full time scrub making 2,000 a week...and im so happy with what im doing...the money is good but i really love my job even if i wasnt making good money.and all my stuff is paid for ...i must say i was lucky..i had some money to get started and my wife has a great job,

[bdemir]

I used to be a jeweler and a doamond setter. Pretty prestegious and pays ok but nothing beats lawncare. I had to sit in one place for hours trying to stick a stone into a little hole and then trying to make it stay there for ever. Its an art but it takes too much patience.

[GrassRoots Lawn Care]

Immediately before this I was on my way to earning a Master's degree in Pyschology, quit after I earned my Bachelor's when I realized life was too short to work inside a building 45 hours a week. Before that I delivered Pizza, tutored students at a local community college, and was a research assistant for a Professor studying Irritable Bowel Syndrome (yeah I know). Makes me glad happy thinking about what I do now.<p>----------<br>Mike Reynolds,<br>GrassRoots Lawn Care, Florida

[thelawnguy]

In no particular order, made dentures and crowns at a dental lab, ran a autobody shop, worked at a toro dealer repairing mowers, sales manager at a Pontiac-Cadillac dealer, now this.<p>I kinda miss the new Caddy demo I took home every night, thats about all I miss. I think the lawn business is my forte, 8 years now and counting.<p>Bill

[Eric ELM]

I grew up on a farm, then to a factory, 2 years Army, Carpenter, Sales, and then the Lawn Business. :)

[geogunn]

YO BEDMEIR! can you still get any good deals on really nice diamonds? after 14 years I think it's time I came up with a really nice one!:) thanks!<p>GEO

[John DiMartino]

My dad owned an auto repaair shop when I was a kid,by 11 I was fixing small engines,doing tires,oil changes etc.I worked as a mechanic full time intil I was 21,then I went to work at a golf course running all maintance from grounds to equipment on a little 9 hole course,I do lawn care PT and id love to go FT,but there are to many lowballers here.<p>----------<br>John D<br>

[Hardy Enterprises]

Mechanical Engineer - Wrote software and did computer modelling for the Corp of Engineers. Interesting work, good pay but sitting at a computer all day made 8 hours seem like forever.<p>Jay<br><p><font size="1">Edited by: Hardy Enterprises

[TGCummings]

Started working for a Scrub at the age of 15 and became Head Scrub by 18. Left the business to pursue life in Southern California, where I got into sales, then came back by 20. Went back to work for same Scrub and worked myself back up to head Scrub.<p>Bought his business at the age of 26.<p>Continued to improve my Scrub business in every way I knew how. Made Golden Scrub ... even Platinum Scrub.<p>Leaving Scrub-ness behind at the ripe young age of 32...<p>Late bloomer. :)<p>Pretty much done this my whole life. Looking forward to finally doing it right... ;)<p>-TGC<br><p><font size="1">Edited by: TGCummings

[southside]

Wow! We are all scrubs here??<br>We should start a scrub club. :)<p>Karl<p>

[HOMER]

Me wuz jus a danged ol scrub always was always will bee a scrub love bein a scrub and alway will luv scrubbin around i know that some of yall are smart scrubs but i am knot a smart scrub because i stihl weedeat my yards wif one o dem weedeeeeter that has a chain on it bit one day i will be a diamond scrub yup i want to be top scrubber and mabee i will to if all these scrubs go out of bizness cause they just charg a lot more than me.............

[Charles]

Hmmm. What did i do in a previous life? I think I helped build the pyramids. It was a hard life. But the lawn service business was kinda slow in that area. So I had to do something on the side. I would cut on of the shieks back yards then the sand would shift and cover the front yard before I could get to it. He tried to stiff me for half the payments. So I took one of his concumbines in trade...........

[Prime Seasons]

I've been in the lawn care biz full time for three years now. Before that I was a corporate engineer-- working for the man. I was involved with everything from new manufacturing floor layouts, to time studies, justifying new capital equipment, rebuilding old machine tools and identifying best vendors, etc. It was alot of fun, but the lawn care stuff was always on my mind. So I took a chance and am happier now than ever before.

[Toroguy]

busboy, cook, loss prevention investigator, wokers comp investigator, alcoholic, production lead, shipping lead, baggage handler, level I scrub, level II scrub, sole proprietor.<p>I will try and come up with a industry scale of levels of scrubdom in a separate post.

[Toddppm]

Well i'll start from about 20 cause i can't remember much before that! Realtor,property manager, mason tender, pizza man, microfishe tech.,tree climber,property manager again and now this.

[HOMER]

Hey Todd, better watch out letting people know you were a property manager! They have made the discussions a time or two and I'm sorry to say it wasn't all good!<p>Just messin' with ya, <p>Welcome aboard,<br>Homer

[grasscapeinc]

In my previous life, I think I was camera film

[Bobby]

U.S.Army mechanic.Ran heavy dirt equiptment for six months. (fun). Got in trouble for working to hard. Dirt forman said I was working the other brothers out of a job. Brown-noseing the big boss was more important than how you worked. So I started cutting grass.We did'nt even have a blower. Used bromes. That was twenty years ago. Time for another change.My next truck will be a Freightliner. <p>----------<br>Yesteryear L/S<br>Hollywood Fla