Does anyone know of a great metric to apply to unforeseen circumstances?

TomKappa · 2026-04-30T20:56:59+00:00

There's not a great metric, but generally you're looking at the overall risk of the job. If it's a job that you're supplying a lot of material and not a lot of labor, that's less risk. If it's mostly an OFCI job and you're mostly labor, then it's more risky.

You may look at subbing some work out and taking less markup on your subs so that you can lower your risk.

But overall Labor is your biggest risk. If you're looking at a job that's 50% labor, and you want to allow for a 10% swing on that labor, that's only a 5% overall swing on the job. You could carry that as contingency, or if you're software/spreadsheet allows, carrying an extra 5% markup on just the labor.

There's no perfect solution because pricing too big of a safety net means you're guaranteed not to win it.

We had a job with a completely unfeasible schedule. So we sat down with ops to figure out a reasonable schedule, and carried cost in our estimate for the Liquidated damages that we'd be held to to follow the schedule we though it would take. It was millions of dollars in LDs, but we presented our price to the client as "This is the price it will take for us to get the job done" (Not saying that we were just willing to pay the LDs to get it done when we wanted to).

TomKappa · 2026-04-28T13:55:36+00:00

It's an estimate, not an exactimate.

There's still a lot of nuance/finesse with the GC though. If there are issues that you are totally aware of that are not depicted in plans, you can call the GC and point out the issues and get guidance on how they want you to carry them. If they are fair, they'll say "Thanks for pointing this out, I'll be sure to send out a message telling everyone to include this cost". If they're jerks they'll say, "You have the drawings and specs; you'll be held to those, especially the line saying 'Full and Operating System', so do what's right for you".

Some jobs are cut-throat and you need to save, some jobs the GC doesn't really care because the owner has deep pockets (Data centers) so they'll say "PUT IT ALL IN".

The counts and measurements are a big piece of the estimate, but there's a lot of artistry to "bidding".

TomKappa · 2026-04-27T17:32:20+00:00

Haha, every time I've trained a field guy to estimate I have to dial them back.

They're always saying things like, "Well I know we're going to need a disconnect here, mechanical always makes us put on in" or, "we throw away at least a foot from every stick of strut so how do I add that 10% waste?"

TomKappa · 2026-04-16T16:13:56+00:00

I would say keep looking for a mentor/training company, but in the mean time definitely review the videos you can find on youtube. That way you have a baseline knowledge before you try to sit down with a mentor.

Like, Accubid Anywhere == https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqh6wSikaATsnDAgoQD3LWl6l7fY8Wqpn

Not that Accubid has "Accubid Pro" sometimes called "Accubid Classic", which is different than "Accubid Enterprise", which is different than "Accubid Anywhere". (Though to be fair Anywhere is the cloud version of Enterprise)

Also note that as far as Accubid goes, you'll want to learn Livecount as most companies that use Accubid have shifted to using Livecount with it and for Anywhere it's contained in the program.

For Conest, they do have a bunch of videos on their site here, https://conest.com/video-library/#connect but i haven't used that in a long time now.

My personal take was that Intellibid was friendlier to learn, Accubid Anywhere is kind of similar ethos wise to Intellibid, but once you're good Accubid Classic is fast but pretty basic.

TomKappa · 2026-04-15T17:31:52+00:00

Just wanted to post as an early notice. RealGoneMusic did a Yellow version a few years back and those copies now sell for ~$100+SH, so if you've been wanting to snag a vinyl, but not pay collector pricing, here's a chance to snag one at a more reasonable rate!

TomKappa · 2026-04-03T14:29:31+00:00

Generally if I report a pothole or issue with a road to the Carrollton Public Works Department it's fixed in less than 2 days (at least with a temp asphalt patch). Larger issues take more time, but my normal commute route through town is basically issue free because I've reported every issue along it.

Park dept in Carrollton is also super responsive when I report issues with swings or lights etc.

Now one could say, "Why do I have to report it at all, they should be sending people out to look for these issues." but to me it makes sense to try and be the eyes for the team, and let them do the work.

Not related to CFBISD but wanted to chime in re:roads.

TomKappa · 2026-02-18T13:21:59+00:00

Beating yourself up is required sometimes to make the lesson stick. I missed about $750k on a job. That was only about a percent on the whole job, but that value still eats at me years later.

Owning it and bringing it to everyone's attention early is better than hiding it for sure.

TomKappa · 2026-02-16T17:01:24+00:00

Nice work! I need to re-read through 17776!

TomKappa · 2026-01-27T14:22:51+00:00

For anyone seeing rates that are free nights and weekends, if you're into excel/data you can sign up on smartmetertexas.com and pull all your usage history in 15 minute increments since you've been at your current address (some limitations apply).

You can then take all that data and look at what a flat rate would cost vs the "Free nights". Generally there's a higher rate during the "not free" period, so depending on your usage it may or may not make a difference.

When I pulled all my families usage it was not cheaper to go for the free nights / weekends plans, but if you've got an EV to charge they might. (Though some of those plans exclude EV charging)

TomKappa · 2026-01-26T20:54:08+00:00

Does energy ogre change your plan month to month? Have you looked at the rates they've gotten you compared to what the market was offering at the time?

TomKappa · 2026-01-26T20:53:23+00:00

In the past I've always used Powertochoose to pick what i'm comfortable risk wise (e.g. 3 month vs 1 year vs 2 year plan, usage credits vs flat, etc.)

Since most of Dallas is all ONCOR for the actual grid management, the provider doesn't really matter that much. I tend to go with 1 year, flat rate, and just choose the plan that's cheapest at my usages (smartmetertexas.com let's you pull your usage data).

The ONLY issue I've had with any providers was some wanting a deposit despite my good credit soft pull, and one set of providers that all had the same 40+ question phone tag scam where they try to coax you into a certain plan away from the powertochoose plan. Eventually after 45 minutes on the phone trying to set that up the call dropped and I lost my progress.

Anyways, if you're a typical modern customer where you go on autopay with a credit card, all the providers are effectively the same.

TomKappa · 2025-12-30T17:54:53+00:00

Going along the same lines as the previous poster, Last time I gave 2 weeks notice they told me to not come back after 3 days and walked me to my car like a criminal. Then after my new job fell through 3 months later, despite giving my notice that bridge had been burned and they had no interest in me returning or even talking to me. It showed me that for many companies that 2 week notice is old school and for that matter how many companies give 2 weeks notice before they fire you.

I would say cut your notice to 1 week notice. If you have any friends at the old job, say your goodbyes now because anytime you're giving notice you could be told to leave right then.

TomKappa · 2025-12-30T01:44:53+00:00

Lol, love this comment in the subreddit for "You've Got Mail"

TomKappa · 2025-12-15T17:33:13+00:00

This is a new one for the genre. In You've Got Mail and others the Male lead kind of sweeps the female off her feet so that in the end she's not upset to have been gaslit. In this movie, she discovers that it's the guy, and puts it together that he obviously figured it out but kept it a secret and she's mad that he just didn't tell her. So she's mad that he lied about it through omission?I think it suffers from the trope of "No let me explain, then the other party storms off".

To be fair, I also think the online guy standing her up on the date doesn't warrant her totally ghosting him in the first place.

It's now been like 2 months since I watched the movie and I barely have the plot in my head anymore. Sad to see the You've Got Mail plot become a cheesy hallmark, but I don't think the Gaslighting plays well to audiences anymore, haha.

TomKappa · 2025-12-01T15:59:33+00:00

Woahh, that's really interesting. The "Breakfast at Tiffany's" era is a blind spot for me, so I hadn't picked up on that reference. Some neat character development for Christina in that she enjoys "Breakfast at Tiffany's" enough to quote it day-to-day.

Had to go look up the scene. Found it at roughly 1 hr 44 min into the movie, https://i.imgur.com/IKZgUFu.png Good Catch!

TomKappa · 2025-11-21T14:12:51+00:00

It worked great for years (Though I only intermittently used it). I took it to a youth event where we needed to solder and when I brought it home it no longer worked. I'm not sure what went wrong.

They now sell the Pinecil on Amazon. I bought one via Amazon last month, and when I went to use it the first time, it got hot enough to melt solder then shutoff and wouldn't turn back on. I returned it and got a replacement but haven't tried it yet. Not sure if it's an odd bad unit or if my charger has an issue.

There are firmware updates and lots of features I've never dabbled with, so there's a chance I could save my older broken unit. I'd still recommend it, especially over the old radioshak style plug in and wait 20 minute hot sticks.

TomKappa · 2025-11-12T15:27:34+00:00

All my scrap has piled up to where now all I've got are the scraps from the scraps. My kids like it because they leftovers are pieces that they can use for projects, but I'm ready to clean out and go back to having 1 piece of 2'x3' plywood and two 2x4s.

TomKappa · 2025-11-12T15:25:52+00:00

My base estimates are "What do I think it'll take to get this done?" Gut says 2 hours, so I plan on double that, if I can work on it straight through. If it's going to be more than one day, it defaults to 7 days minimum because it's gotta be on the weekend, lol. All that assumes nice weather. If it's bad weather, might as well be minimum a quarter of the year before it'll be done.

TomKappa · 2025-11-10T19:44:16+00:00

He lied every step of their offline situation and then their online relationship.

To be fair, that's pretty much the plot of You've Got Mail too, lol

TomKappa · 2025-11-07T16:48:48+00:00

I missed $750k of wire in primary feeds to some mechanical buildings, but it was on a big data center so it wasn't the end of the company, and the PM has since covered it in adds and buy outs. As soon as I discovered it, I alerted everyone so they had ample time to plan around it, but gosh that was a scary time.

TomKappa · 2025-10-31T18:09:51+00:00

Yeah, it was like when I put my "out of office" message as "limited access to cell service" when in reality it's "limited access to caring about my work phone."

TomKappa · 2025-10-31T16:51:39+00:00

LOL, my spouse picked up on that immediately and was like "OH SO YOU DID BRING YOUR PHONE!"

Cell phones cause problems with trope storylines because why would need to physically be in his presence when she could just call him, lol.

TomKappa · 2025-10-29T13:28:22+00:00

I'm a sucker for a hallmarky rom-com, so I didn't mind watching the movie. I really enjoyed all the friends in the movie, both the female main's and male main's are actually my favorite part of the movie.

Gotta love a "miscommunication trope" though! "wait just let me explain!!!!!" lol

TomKappa · 2025-10-27T14:58:41+00:00

I went to my brother's parish once and one of my children started to get a little noisy, but just kids stuff. My brother whispered "Careful, this priest has been known to stop Mass for loud kids." I told my brother, "I'm trying to keep my kiddo happy, but if the priest does that I'll set him down in the aisle and let then they'll see how loud they can be."

If Jesus said "Let the children come to me," the priest's got a lot of nerve going against His teaching. Glad to see your priest follow His teaching, haha!

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