My dad is making me quit scrapping because he hates all of my hobbies for some reason, now i dont know what to do with all my metal. I just don;t want to throw i all away
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My dad is making me quit scrapping because he hates all of my hobbies for some reason, now i dont know what to do with all my metal. I just don;t want to throw i all away
I went rounds with my dad over scrapping once also so I know where you're coming from. I have my guesses why he doesn't want you scrapping anymore but I would talk to him about it. It might take bringing him to the yard with you to convince him what you're doing is worth it and not hoarding. Just my two cents.
-Matt
Simple solution.
Hey dad.
You won't let me make a few bucks with my scrapping anymore.
Can I borrow a few bucks>:)
I'll tell you.. if you love doing this.. find a way to communicate with your dad.. it will be good practice some day with your wife.
I own my home...
I have a detached garage...
I still catch crap from the Mrs....
Figure it out now.. this will be good practice for later in life!
;)
I talked to him, he is only going to let me collect recycables (cans, plastic & glass bottles). That is at least some money.
An easy to hide/store item. Maybe he's tired of looking at all the "junk" laying around. After all this time that's still what my wife calls it.Quote:
Originally Posted by philshark2
She says it's all junk till it's cashed in.
Did you explain to him (in a very nice way) that the scrap yard buys metal and recycles it.:)
Metal isn't recyclable any more???
It seems simple to me. Get metal. Take metal to yard. Get money. If that's a hobby, it's a good one! Most hobbies cost money.
The "looking at junk" thing is probably the issue. I'm looking at getting a larger truck. If I get it, the first thing that I'll do is take stuff to the yard. It cleans up the place, and I get more money.
I don't know your scenario or your father so I can't be certain, but showing cleanliness and a check will usually solve most issues.
start paying rent money usually is a good bribe lol
It may simply require you to wait until you have your own home. This will seem to be a long time into the future and an extreme answer to your problem but it is one that would be acceptable to your father.
I don't recall your age but I seem to recall you are too young to drive. So go do acceptable(by your father) activities, shovel snow for neighbors, mow lawns. Save your money, finish high school, think what type of post high school education you might want. There are many education options and I highly recommend you avoid any loans to pay for college. Also the military is a real education. It may take years longer to go to college(if you choose college) if you pay as you go, if you get a loan it can take 20 and more years to pay the education loans back.
Why am I talking about something entirely different than your current problem? Well you are a bright, industrious young man who takes time to do some study outside of school Compared to me you lack maturity, but I am a 62 year old, who has owned a couple businesses, served 20 years in the U. S. Marines, had a kidney transplant, married twice(current marriage 32 years, two kids, 4 step kids.
You will gain the maturity, I expect far sooner than you others your age.
You need to follow the rules at your home, no one else needs to understand or agree with your ideas and desires. You just need to work toward your goals.
Random advise on how you might make money in acceptable ways(again in your father's eyes). State a goal to him. "I want to save up enough money to buy a safe, inexpensive car within the next two years. Can you help me find a way to do this?" (example of how you might speak to him)
"I want to save up to pay for a year of college. Can you suggest what I can do to start making money working now?"
Best of luck, Mike
Preach on Preacher man.. Yup my wife says the same "Can you move out all this junk?" We go to the yard together with all that "Junk" and she'll say "How much did WE make?"Quote:
Originally Posted by Mechanic688
Two things come to mind:
1. Where do you store your metal? Is it in backyard somewhere? Could it be that you dad does not like it because it looks like a dump? I ran into a similar problem: my neighbor even built a tall fence to not have to look at my scrap. So I started storing my scrap in large wheeled garbage bins and bought a couple of large tarps to cover them. Now people who don't know I scrap have no idea what is under those tarps)
2. Switch to escrap maybe? It might be hard if you can't drive but from my own experience, assuming you can get a steady stream of computers and other ewaste, a dollar I get from ewaste requires less space than a dollar from alum, copper etc.
For some reason I am having trouble uploading photos directly to this post, but anyway here are a couple of photos of what it looks like now. The brown tarp covers bins:Quote:
Originally Posted by ilyaz
http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps5e14613e.jpg
The blue one coves a small workbench that I made to process stuff outside:
http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/a...psc1388ef1.jpg
Good news: I talked to him some more and I can collect the big 5: copper , stainless, aluminum, brass, copper wire.
That's good - ilyaz posted a good idea: get wheeled bins or those recycle bins the city gives for recycling so everything looks neat and tidy.
There is another advantage of having it sorted and covered like this: less chance that someone from the city/county/state knocking on your door saying that you are violating some EPA regulation/polluting/storing hazardous waste/etc. You could be doing the right thing and disposing of hazardous stuff like tubes from TVs properly, but proving it to a local bureaucrat might be hard. This might actually be another reason why your dad did not want you to do it.
Glad your dad came around a little. Eyesores tend to grate on people's nerves. Scrappers see a treasure pile full of potential, while other's just see trash. And we all know it's no easy task keeping it tidy. I keep my fenced yard immaculate except for one corner in the back, where nothing will ever grow again...except profit. (and callouses)
His house his rules. Honor your dads wishes. Don't sulk,don't argue. Make the best of what he will allow and become proficient at it. Stay here on the forum and continue to learn. You'll have your own place one day to do what you want.
Because you're in Cali, even if he only lets you keep the CRV cans & bottles, that would be some cash flow. Take it from someone who wished they would have learned to be more tidy when younger and struggles now, keep things clean and organized. And PUT TOOLS AWAY WHERE THEY BELONG (note to myself...). I salute you for your efforts at a young age!!!
Here's a good way to solve the problem:
[B]Shower them with Money[B]
When my wife (B*tches) "Complains", I just throw some cash her way, or buy something nice for them. I say " You know that pile of metal and wire, that's how I paid for this"
Most people don't understand scrapping. You either have the mindset or you don't.
It's the ability to take nothing and turn it into something
I have a garage full of stuff, I called it my retirement.
Fight the Fight.
My wife never complains when we are cashing out so I tend to remind her from time to time when we aren't cashing out where the money comes from.