Working in the Catholic Church, I have the opportunity of working with a lot of Hispanics. They are hard, dedicated workers, and they always go the extra mile to be sure that the job is done right.

At one of the parishes I was stationed at, a Hispanic was the maintenance engineer. He also did all of the decorating for the church seasons, did all the cleaning, maintenance work, snow plowing ... you name it, he did it. And he was always so happy, and just a wonderful guy to be around.

I was happy to hear of your positive experience!

-Michael

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+AMDG+
2005 W203
Running as fast as I can to stay behind!!

the thing for me about mexican workers is the laqngauge barrier. Like here today at work i am having to spell it out slowly and calmly so the housekeeper can understand about what to do for her locker. I just don't like not being able to communicate accross what it is exactly i am asking or explaining. Yes they work had, yes they do jobs others would not, and i appriciate that. But what i would like is for these people if they really want to work and live here they need to come through the right channels. And get a little education in language an about how to be proud of your country with out saying f off to all others. So good on you for saving some money, and happy tideings for the future. I know if i were to hire day workers standing by home depot i will always take care of them give them a decent amount of money for services provided and usually some food too.

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81' 300SD AKA "Big Helga"
84' 300D Euro spec (Veronika)
85' 300D NonCalifornia (Heidi)

"We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire...Give us the tools and we will finish the job."
-Winston Churchill, 1941

"I'll have a Chinchilla!"

A bit of a story; although right now, construction is so hot that there are some huge excesses. I use guys after their regular hours or on their days off and generally get a break of about 1/3. That's getting harder as everybody's getting fatter.

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89 300E
79 240D
72 Westy
63 Bug sunroof
85 Jeep CJ7
86 Chevy 6.2l diesel PU

"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
Marcus Aurelius

What, if any, were the quotes from other licensed, bonded contractors? You have to compare apples to apples . . . not apples to mangoes.

What is the point of requiring a business license?

B

Buisness license? Compliance with the law. In particular, tax laws and the consumer protection laws governing merchants and service providers.

A contractor's license provides for a certification process monitored by the state. In addition it provides a means of compliance with regulations governing the industry. It also usually provides the consumer with access to a recovery fund.

It is about becoming a blip on the taxation radar. Some say it is to protect the consumer from unskilled labor. Years ago, in another life, I was a licensed trade contractor. The test material was so antiquated, it gave me a chuckle. My specific field had moved light years ahead of the techno-snapshot demonstrated by the test content. The safety aspects were cursory. Meanwhile, the taxation/pecuniary obligation section was razor sharp and current.

Ultimately, it was obvious that the purpose was for the State to identify whom to tax. I left the industry in an economic evolution.

From my experience I have found that people from Hispanic backgound have a work ethic that is second to none. They work extremely hard, do the job right and are very thankful that they have work to do. I am not going to start mentioning other backgrounds, but from my experince there are other large groups of people that are lazy, do not care about the quality, hate others who have educated themseves or learned a trade and have become sucessful at and to top it off they will blame everyone else for thier lack of success and do nothing to make a change.
PS-When I hire anyone for outside work I do make sure they are licensed, bonded, etc.

My experience is that there are lazy people in all cultures and geographic zones. However, when immigrants uproot themselves and their families to foreign shores, they do tend to be a bit more focused on survival and not worrying about what kind of oil to use in their Mercedes.

Now I am getting some tiles put in the bathrooms, and kitchen and in front of my front entrance. Againg I got an estimate for almost $20,000. So I called up my trusty Mexican workers and they agreed to do it for $3150, TILES INCLUDED!!!
How can these people do the same job for so less? Could they be hiring illegals to come help them or just not making such a big profit. Who knows? Who cares? Right?

I always thought Canada was cooler than that...

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Same tile? Sounds to me like the contractor has too much work. Laying tiles isn't easy, but if you've done it a few times, just about anybody can get good at it. If the Mexicans are making some amount of money, which I am sure they are, the contractor simply can not claim it is because of taxes, insurance, oevrhead, etc. $16,850 is a lot of overhead.

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Thank You!
Fred
2009 ML350
2004 SL600
2004 SL500
1996 SL600
2002 SLK32
2005 CLK320 cabrio
2003 ML350
1997 C280 Sport