Nobody wants our product …

Once upon a time one of the big advantages of being a self employed landscaper was the possibility of leaving a message on the mobile phone at this time of year saying ‘you’ve reached Mark of Sanctuary Landscapes/Synthetics, I’m currently abroad but will be back in action around mid February so please leave a message and I’ll get back to you on my return’.

For a few years I’d manage to disappear at Christmas time and go off somewhere far away, warm and preferably poor so the money would go further. Ha, ha, yes, mobile phones were invented back then. I found about 6 weeks did the trick in recharging the batteries.

Boy, have things changed now. With family commitments and a bigger show to keep on the road – wages to pay, snow or no snow – I’m stuck here now. As, in all likelihood are you. I’d urge any younger readers to do likewise. You’ll see much to inspire.

Not that I’m complaining of course. Having young children forced me to work shorter hours and make more cash. I had to use more brain than brawn. Being more than 50% office bound certainly has its compensations when its cold, wet and windy out. Thanks to the geniuses that brought us daylight saving time – originally brought in I understand, by the British during World War One to help the war effort, saving fuel and maximising munitions factory operations – we must be up and out in the pitch black dark. And home again in the same gloom. Strong willpower is required to get out of bed these mornings. Thank God there’s a stretch to the evenings evident already.

Do you know what I hate? An obvious one this time. Feckin speed traps. I’m all for responsible driving and got most of my crashes/ write offs out of the way in my late teens. But now they’re taking the piss. Instead of having the (privately owned and run) Gatso vans focus on black spots as sincerely promised, they instead concentrate on nice straight safe roads where the turkey shoot yields maximum revenues and points get handed out left, right and centre. Unless of course you are a Garda, or play golf with a senior one. One day there last week, just knocking around the locality, between Naas, Newbridge and Kilcullen, I passed 3 such vans. Thankfully the camaraderie of the past is coming back a bit and twice I got a warning flash by on-coming traffic.

A sure sign, if ever there was one, that people know its downright unfair. All complaints and objections to Joe Duffy Liveline please.

Speaking of driving I’ve a question… When you drive through the electronic toll on the M50, or through any motorway toll barriers for that matter, and your tag beeper yoke doesn’t beep – mine sometimes does, sometimes doesn’t, do you get charged?

I’ll leave you with this one today, dunno who said it but it sure rings true so bear it in mind when dealing with clients – Nobody wants our product… They want the product of our product.

Slan
Mark 🙂