Nobody showed up to help with the building project when you didn’t ask, but everyone showed up to the weddings when you did? That says something. I think the saying “unspoken expectations are premeditated resentments” fits perfectly here.

As for growing apart - that’s just part of life. It happens to everyone. You’re not the same people you were when you first met. There’s also this idea of a “lonely chapter” in personal growth, where you’ve changed enough that you no longer fit in with your old friend group, but you’re not yet fully aligned with the new one.

I relate to this strongly. I haven’t spoken to my best friend in two years. Last time, I invited them out on my boat - they said no, so I figured I’d wait for them to suggest something next. But they never did. Now it’s been so long that I’d feel awkward asking again… and probably so do they.

Does this have something to do with the maggoty cum farts?

It’s extremely rare that I turn down a cup of coffee.

Yeah, I’d imagine it’s pretty much the same here in Finland. People tend to DIY it when ever possible. I even encourage them to give it a shot and will give free tips when ever possible.

Most of my customers are either elderly or busy career people. Plumbing is the only exception where even handy people tend to leave it for a professional.

Since I didn’t have anyone to model from, I just went with what felt intuitive: I ordered a ton of flyers from an online print service (Vistaprint) and started stuffing mailboxes around the nearby homes. It was pretty slow at first, but the occasional call here and there kept me going. Whenever things quiet down, I just go out and drop off more flyers. I think of it like blowing on an ember - you do it a few times, and eventually the fire catches and starts sustaining itself.

Other than that, I haven’t really done much marketing. I do have Facebook and Instagram pages for my business, which I think are important - especially Facebook. I also made a website. I’m not sure how much that helps directly, but it does get some traffic, and if nothing else, it adds to my credibility.

Also, I played with the idea for nearly a decade, but I should’ve done it sooner. Starting a business is absolutely terrifying, and he’ll lose sleep over it - but it has the potential to be one of the greatest and most life - changing decisions he’ll ever make. Better to regret having tried than to regret never having even tried at all.

I charge 50€/h including VAT. It’s true that small jobs like this don’t really pay much - but it’s also true that they sometimes lead to bigger jobs. One of the customers I’ve charged the most over time originally just had me come over to install a washing machine.

If my schedule is full, then obviously jobs like this get put on the back burner, and bigger jobs always take priority. Still, there are days when I’ve got nothing else to do, so I might as well go hang a shelf and chat with some granny.

Corn flakes with milk and a ton of sugar.

Finland had a solution for this long before smartphones even existed. Pedestrian traffic lights here play different tones depending on whether it’s red or green, allowing blind or visually impaired people to safely navigate the city.

Nothing in particular. Mostly, it’s for early retirement and partly just for “fuck-you money.” I pretty much own everything I’ve ever wanted, and anything I don’t have, I could buy if I really wanted to. I make a decent living and live below my means. I invest a good portion of my income into ETF index funds every month, and I’m at a point where my passive income matches - or even exceeds - what I’m able to save from wages.

I’m self-employed nowadays, and whenever business is slow, I don’t have to stress about it because of my savings. Time is my most valuable asset, and anytime I get to do something other than work counts as a positive in my book. That said, I don’t really mind working anymore either, because what I do for a living is pretty much what I’d be doing anyway.

I guess you could say I save so that I don’t have to stress about finances.