More Barter Deals

I'm a pretty bad businessman as my skills are rarely for sale. On the other hand, I'm often willing to make barter deals. There's no paper trail and no money exchanges hands. Sometimes I'll do a little project for someone just to have a few favors in the bank, so to speak.

The other day my lovely wife bartered my skills. Great deal for her. She gets the benefits and I get the job. Good thing this one is interesting. Someone needs to install 3 electric tankless water heaters. That looks like fun as it combines both plumbing and electrical skills. It would not surprise me if my carpenter skills come into play too.

One neat thing about this job is that it comes with an assistant. That person is willing to do all the crawling around in tight spaces hauling pipe and wire. That's great as I don't even fit into some of those spaces. All I have to do is plan the job and do the final connections. Should be fun.

Of course, If I was licensed I'd probably be doing that sort of thing for real money. It's much more fun to do things as a talented amateur. I once tackled a project that professionals wouldn't touch, and did a mighty fine job too. Since I didn't have a license the owner claimed that the 240 outlet had always been there when the inspector came. When I tied it into the box I copied the style of the previous electrician. At the end of the day I made sure every scrap of wire and trimmed insulation had been cleaned up. The inspection went off without a hitch.

Most of what I do is at least sorta legal. People only know about me through word of mouth and I don't take every little project that comes my way. Often it's just helping people in a tight spot. Barter works for me too as when I need something done it's not too hard to line up help.

-Sixbears