bobgaggle
Well-Known Member
Maybe this goes in off-topic, but it involves labor and money so maybe it stays in facility operations...
Been thinking a lot about when things are "cheaper to just buy it" rather than build. I suppose the answer to that really depends on how the company is structured. High schools know its very cheap to build stuff in-house; their labor is free. But even they can't build a laminated floating shelf cheaper than Ikea can sell one. I've worked in a small producing theater, with a shop of 2 salaried people, and they were far more concerned with keeping labor costs predictable and stable. They had us for 40 hours a week (when not in tech) and would rather we build stuff than buy something we could build and increase the materials budget. It was a very low material waste shop. But now I work in a union shop and we're very aware when its far more economical to buy a shelf, rather than pay union rate to build one.
Then I hear neighbors or friends saying things about their personal lives, "I'm just going to hire a plumber to replace the toilet, my time is more valuable than doing that". But I'm thinking maybe that's not true unless you're actually working and earning money at the same time as the plumber swapping the toilet, AND you're earning more than he's charging you in that time slot. If that's not the case, you're valuing your non-working hours (when you would be swapping the toilet yourself) MORE than what you earn in the same time during working hours. Recipe for bankruptcy if you apply that logic to every aspect of your life.
I don't really have a point here, just musings on how we say "time is money", yet money is fungible but time isn't...
Been thinking a lot about when things are "cheaper to just buy it" rather than build. I suppose the answer to that really depends on how the company is structured. High schools know its very cheap to build stuff in-house; their labor is free. But even they can't build a laminated floating shelf cheaper than Ikea can sell one. I've worked in a small producing theater, with a shop of 2 salaried people, and they were far more concerned with keeping labor costs predictable and stable. They had us for 40 hours a week (when not in tech) and would rather we build stuff than buy something we could build and increase the materials budget. It was a very low material waste shop. But now I work in a union shop and we're very aware when its far more economical to buy a shelf, rather than pay union rate to build one.
Then I hear neighbors or friends saying things about their personal lives, "I'm just going to hire a plumber to replace the toilet, my time is more valuable than doing that". But I'm thinking maybe that's not true unless you're actually working and earning money at the same time as the plumber swapping the toilet, AND you're earning more than he's charging you in that time slot. If that's not the case, you're valuing your non-working hours (when you would be swapping the toilet yourself) MORE than what you earn in the same time during working hours. Recipe for bankruptcy if you apply that logic to every aspect of your life.
I don't really have a point here, just musings on how we say "time is money", yet money is fungible but time isn't...