As I sit here, I’m seething. When I posted a few weeks ago, I thought we were days away from painting and almost done. Well, the painters are not painting. The owner doesn’t return calls until I’ve called him 4 or 5 days in a row; the painters don’t show up when he tells me they will, which results in another round of unanswered phone calls. The beginning of last week they came on a Sunday and painted all day, but didn’t finish. The next day it rained and I had to practically threaten him on the phone to get them to come back and re-install my downspouts to handle the rainstorms. The weather didn’t cooperate for the next few days, but yesterday and today it’s been almost 60 degrees and they certainly could have finished the painting, but nothing’s been done. I’ve called and left messages with no response. I’m about finished with this guy. If they haven’t been out to paint today, and I get no phone call by tonight, tomorrow I’m going to call and fire him and we’ll just wait until spring and hire another contractor to paint.

I’m outraged at the total lack of concern or response and I wonder how in the world he manages to stay in business. I guess this is why his estimate was so low. I called his references and he got great reviews, so I just don’t understand.

By the way, the contractor’s name is Rick Ames and his company is Ames Custom Painting in Churchton, MD. If you’re in that area and thinking about hiring him, consider yourself warned.

Over on wurk.net, there’s an interesting article offering tips for job interviews, plus a run-down of what to expect if you happen to be applying for a job in the broadcast industry. Check it out here.

If you’re out of work and getting tired and frustrated at not finding a job, you’re a prime target for scammers. WTOP radio’s Call for Action director Shirley Rooker tells you what to look out for and how to avoid getting caught up in something that isn’t only a scam, but may get you arrested.

Read the whole story here.

We make decisions all day long. What to wear, what to eat, what time to go to bed. Why are so many of us reluctant to make decisions at work? It doesn’t help our workload, and it drives our staff crazy.

An article in the 8 Nov 2005 Wall Street Journal says that many managers are terrible decision-makers—mostly because large corporations reward decision avoiders. If you never make a decision, you can largly avoid blame. And isn’t that what it’s all about?

Well, no. This isn’t “The Apprentice“. Good managers look for responsibility and actively take it. Not only that, but they encourage their staff to seek out responsibility and to make decisions.

One of the many things I’ve tried to impart to my staffs over the years is that, most of the time, I don’t mind if they make mistakes. Mistakes mean they are trying and stretching and growing. I’d rather that they do something and make an error than never do anything at all. What I do mind is if they make stupid mistakes (i.e., not double-checking their figures in a budget submission, for example) or, if they make the same mistake over and over. That tells me that they aren’t learning.

If you’re not used to making decisions, start small. Next time asks where you want to meet for lunch, make a decision. Instead of letting them choose, speak up. “Let’s meet at the Double T Diner at 1 PM”. Don’t worry about what the other person wants. They’ll probably be relieved at getting off the hook of picking a lunch place and, if not, then next time they’ll speak up instead of passing the buck.

Don’t waste your time on decisions that don’t matter. If you spend 15 minutes dithering about which movie to see, that’s time you’ll never get back. Make a decision. Or let your partner pick one and go along with whatever he or she says.

You’ll never get anywhere by ducking the hard choices. Stand out. Step up to the plate and make the decision. It’ll get easier with practice, I promise. And you’ll be happier, too.

“Nowadays people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one’s mistakes.”—Oscar Wilde

We’re back in the waiting game again. The weather has been lousy, but this week it finally cleared up so the painters can start. I’ve made a number of calls to find out when they’re coming, etc. After leaving several non-returned messages, I finally got someone and was told they would power wash on Wed and start painting on Mon. Wed came and went and there was no power-washing. Two follow-up phone calls have gotten no response. On the plus side, the color sample chart was dropped off as promised, but that’s it.

I just don’t get it. What’s so hard about returning a phone call?

Wayne Kelly, on his blog, has a similiar rant about publicists who don’t return calls—even when he’s trying to send them clients. These people need some serious re-training in customer service.