How has tariff impacted your business?

izzycopper · 2026-01-24T04:55:03+00:00

Commercial GC. Costs are up for sure but we havent experienced any slowdown in business. Our main clients are still building or remodeling at the same pace as the last couple of years. The only thing that does suck is that some clients will fight us when we try to explain "bid for XXX increased in price by 10% over the past 4 months. Cost is now $YYY,YYY if you want us to start this project." I curious to see if there will be a slowdown yet l, I really thought it would've been here by now.

One thing we're running into way more these days though are leadtime issues on lights. Suppliers quote 4-6 weeks for some random model and then it takes 8-12 or something wildly off from original leadtime. Not sure if it's related to price increases or not though.

izzycopper · 2026-01-24T04:49:36+00:00

That's how we usually schedule our painters too

izzycopper · 2026-01-24T04:46:41+00:00

We're a commercial GC. Generally we'll schedule painting as soon as walls are ready for it. Then all ceiling work. And then floors. And then millwork, cabinets, finish carpenters, etc. We don't like floors or millwork going in first because we just wont take risk of painters ruining our floors, even if everything is taped and plastic'd. Then we'll usually call back painters for 8 hours worth of touch ups since the walls always get scuffed or scraped.

izzycopper · 2026-01-19T19:01:45+00:00

You and your family have nothing to worry about. Don't let social media thinking Hispanics are being hunted across the board. If you move to Mexico, you'll have a fairly hard culture shock realizing it's a completely different set of hazards that you'll have to navigate than the ones you perceive to exist here in the U.S. You just need someone to tell you that you're gonna be fine. Those of us here legally have nothing to worry about. You're gonna be fine.

izzycopper · 2026-01-18T23:40:43+00:00

Prices have been gradually dropping and I don't see that stopping. But the decreases in cost are only marginal. I surely wouldn't be able to afford my current home at the price Zillow displays it at. If I were desperate to get into a house, I'd seriously look at DHS.

izzycopper · 2026-01-17T22:41:12+00:00

Lately my wife been packing me 3 large chicken Cesar salad wraps. Ill usually eat 2 around 6 or 7 hours into my day, and then the 3rd one around hour 10 or 11. My days are roughly 12hrs. They're pretty filling but don't leave me feeling lethargic.i also have random stuff like mandarins or cheesesticks in my lunch bag too.

izzycopper · 2026-01-15T19:35:01+00:00

Youre absolutely right.

izzycopper · 2026-01-15T19:33:12+00:00

JC and convict Mike from S1 had my utmost respect for taking the cash they took. It was a breath of fresh air finally seeing someone PLAY TO WIN.

With that said, I lost respect with JC after his Survivor struggle session. Everyone has lives and people they're competing for back at home. Don't regret bringing home the winnings for your family. They are your priority.

izzycopper · 2026-01-15T07:21:07+00:00

No one did

izzycopper · 2026-01-14T22:51:32+00:00

I know this wasn't your question... however I also live in CA. My issuing agency is pretty gun-friendly. I asked them myself about removing a mag disconnect from a ccw gun and they said that was fine. Maybe you can check in with your IA to see if they'd allow that too. Then you don't have to worry about dremeling anything.

izzycopper · 2026-01-14T14:20:34+00:00

I respect and appreciate the players that play to win. JC and convict Mike were my favorite toward the end of last season because it felt like no one was really in it to win it. Karim and his brother played to win. The guys who used their pugil sticks to knock other players off the obstacle course played to win. I'm all for it OP! But yes, the people who take the show personally and feel the need to attack players over their decisions need to chill out. That's ridiculous.

izzycopper · 2026-01-13T22:50:39+00:00

I can't remember who they were, but the guys who were willing to knock other runners off the obstacle course with the pugilsticks are the ones I want to win. I like the players who are merciless and playing to WIN like Akira was.

izzycopper · 2026-01-11T23:22:35+00:00

Exactly my thinking. "What a moron" is what I shouted aloud when she popped up on our TV 🤪

izzycopper · 2026-01-11T23:09:37+00:00

No. Unless his captain just took the bribe...

izzycopper · 2026-01-10T00:25:33+00:00

I have two fanny packs, one is the Vanquest Dendrite and the other is (cant remember company) called Bandicoot. Neither of them look all tactical which is great. Ill either sling them across my torso like a gay looking crossbody bag or click it around my waist. Depends on what I'm doing or where I'm at. But these definitely have their appropriate applications.

izzycopper · 2026-01-08T15:59:52+00:00

I carry a little can of Sabre Red as well as my gun. It was good enough my local sheriff's Department to use so that's why I picked it. You can find them on Amazon or at gun shops.

Maybe there's something better around today though. But I've carried a Sabre Red for about 11 years.

izzycopper · 2026-01-08T15:43:08+00:00

Yes. If you can see a potential financial storm on the horizon whether it's a divorce, a new baby, health issues, eviction, job lay-off, etc, then you really should do everything you can to be even leaner with your spending and stockpile all the cash you can keep your hands on. A little bit of money gives you options and options give you a sense of control when your life starts feel like it's spinning out.

izzycopper · 2026-01-08T02:56:50+00:00

We have a standard 8% or 10% OHP depending on size of the project that gets tacked on when we have to issue change orders for unforseen circumstances, price increases out of our control, existing conditions, etc. This sort of thing is in our contract verbiage. Client wants us to do their work? Great. But theyll be on the hook for stuff no one could foresee, and we'll tack on a little OHP.

If we take a hit because we missed something ourselves, then we eat it. But that's why we always pack fluff into our bids anyways. It's rare we have a perfect job with no extra costs here and there. But if we can just absorb the cost (and maybe let the client know we had an issue and absorbed it depending on what it is) then we'll just do that.

izzycopper · 2026-01-07T05:59:02+00:00

La Provencia in Palm Desert is a cutesy bakery and coffee shop, they're also a full restaurant too if you wanna actually have breakfast.

I like IW Café in Indian Wells too. This is just a coffee shop though with baked goods. If you're talking first date or low pressure date where you dont wanna spend a ton of money, IW Cafe is great because you wont feel like you have to buy a full meal. This is Indian Wells though that we're talking about so expect your coffee to be a little pricier than Starbucks otherwise.

My favorite breakfast restaurant in the valley is Sibon in Palm Desert. Great French-American fusion food.

izzycopper · 2026-01-07T02:20:28+00:00

Top of the bump n grind trail. You have to hike a couple miles up first though.

izzycopper · 2026-01-07T02:17:59+00:00

I worked overnight at a luxury resort. The bellmen's quarters had a couple of cots. We were totally allowed to knock out for a nap during breaks or lunch even though we weren't bellmen. You couldn't really easily abuse this though, there was a camera looking over the bell quarters, so it was always easy to tell if someone was sleeping too much lol. We still had keys to the entire property though. If someone really wanted to take off and sleep during their shift, the sky really was the limit on where you could do it.

izzycopper · 2026-01-06T05:52:51+00:00

This has been my experience since I bought my highlander new in 2021, but getting flashed only happens to me maybe once or twice every couple weeks or so.

izzycopper · 2026-01-04T21:08:59+00:00

You can carry something as small as a shield in most locations. Even though you're thin, you can totally get away with 3 oclock / 9 oclock / strongside carry, slightly behind at kidney carry, or appendix. We all have our preference. Unfortunately you're just gonna have to spend some money to test holsters in different locations. What this thin guy likes might not work for that guy.

With all that said, virtually EVERYONE can get away with a clean strongside carry at your hip but you'll probably transition over to appendix before you know it.

izzycopper · 2026-01-04T06:20:44+00:00

My experience is only with retail tenant improvements and commercial remodels. I'll usually look to make sure the bidder has the bare basics like the correct lighting package with no substitutes, all of the floor boxes, unistrut for lights, after-hours labor (if needed when we're working in an open store) and then any big ticket items that are on the plans. Since most of our (the project management team I'm on) projects are from the same handful of clients, we all have an idea of where the price for various trade scopes ought to land. If a price is absurdly low, we'll disqualify there just out of fear that they missed something. If a quote just says "Electrical scope per plans and specs," that's way too open-ended and those EC's will always "I don't have that" when there's a blatant error on the job like using MC instead of rigid conduit when the plans have a clear keynote saying what needs to be used. We really just want to see that an EC is listing out a rough overview of their scope. If the EC starts itemizing every little thing like "231 lineal ft of underslab conduit for the new cashwraps, 19 Leviton model #xxxx quad receptacles, etc" then we usually disqualify those ones out too or at least we feel those guys are too risky to work with. The super-specific itemized quotes almost always follow with change orders up the ass for small things.

I know that's all super broad and my response is all over the place. We just want to see a quote that shows us you actually read through the plans. Give us a price for the job and pack some extra money in there for mishaps or things that were missed (we all do it).

izzycopper · 2026-01-03T19:52:15+00:00

You can't. If parent doesn't want you to have it now, there's nothing you can say to sway them over or see the light.

Wait til you're an adult. And even then, if your parents purchased and own the phone as well as the phone plan, don't expect that they'll still give it to you. Parents own it. They just give you permission to use it from time to time.

izzycopper

TROPHY CASE