Well, I got TMC out of my system real quick...

LOL! No kidding! That's some serious training. I've seen obese cops--both male and female, but I've never seen a fat firefighter.

 

Here's an example of where the industry has gone, at least in my area: I used to price my cabinets at 55% of list price. The home centers couldn't touch me. Fast-forward 15 years, I've been stuck at 41% of list price ever since the 2008 recession. I sometimes have to go as low as 39% of list price to get the cabinets sold.

My cost is 34% of list price.

 

I assume "picking up and carrying your pass-out drunk girlfriend" isn't the right method.

 

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I recently took up blacksmithing. That's how done I am with woodworking. No, I've made some beautiful things out of wood myself over the years. Cabinet making is kind of basic. My magnum opus is a birdseye maple Les Paul electric guitar, with snakewood pickup rings and ebony headstock. It started as a log with bark still on it and a big slab of mahogany. It is truly a sight to behold. I can't play it now because of arthritis. Playing barre chords burns like crazy. If I can't play them, I don't want to build them.

I try to make my wife something special every Christmas, and usually in a burst of energy and creativity, I'll knock out something great in a day or two, all hold up in my shop. But the rest of the year, meh, it's work.