Some of you have emailed me to ask about “Carpenter” and how he (yes, he is a “he”) can be helped (he has not found any worth in many months, is is risking losing his home and he has no savings at all).
I emailed him and here is what I can share with you:
“Carpenter” is actually both a framing carpenter and a mason. He has done stonework and carpentry both for many years now. He is 56 now. He comes from a large family of tradesmen and he is a loyal and hard worker, raised on a dairy farm. He and his bother built his home by themselves. He live in central Virginia, near Unionville, about 35 miles from Fredericksburg and 45 miles north of Charlottsville.
As for what Carpenter has in his mind and soul, you can read it for yourself in his letter.
If somebody could help him find a job and, thereby, save his house, I would be forever grateful and absolutely filled with joy.
Friends, please, if you can – help. This community has tremendously helped me many times already, let’s see if we can help one of our own “other westerners”!
Email me with any offer and I will forward it to Carpenter. Deal?
Many thanks and kind regards,
The Saker
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A thought on jobs. I don’t have anything in particular in mind, but the San Francisco Bay area – particularly – San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara Counties are flush with wealthy people, who are both building new homes and remodelling. Carpenters and to a lesser extent masons are hard to find. Living here is prohibitively expensive, but RV’s and boats are a budget possibility. I bought a boat with that in mind, a number of years ago which is berthed here in Half Moon Bay..In terms of jobs, if you were looking here (or anywhere), I would call or email high end architects and ask them for contact info of Contractors they are working with. Also directly search out general and masonry contractors. A high percentage of construction work is done by Mexican workers – I think they tend to be more aligned with concrete and possibly masonry – The carpenters I’ve seen do not see particularly skilled in general. I am now a real estate broker, but after graduating from UC Berkeley in 1973, I went to work as a carpenter, then a contractor doing framing and foundations, then, custom work for architects, then engineering construction, designed and built a lot of projects, ending with my own home. I expect the economy (and construction work) to stagnate or crumble in lower priced (affordable) areas. The Cheapest houses (1b-1ba) are over $700K..in our neighborhood – and they need a lot of work.