Cheap labor or doing it for the exercise?

You know how some people get Postie jobs for the health benefits they get out of it? I have a friend who did it years ago so that she could get her walking exercise everyday. She's still fit, needless to say. It was a part time job that she liked and then just stopped cold turkey.

We are clumsy about lawn maintenance once fall temperature starts dropping. The grass goes on growing until end of winter. It scares me to walk through roughly 2 feet high grass afraid that a snake would sneak on me. Of course that's silly cos there are no snakes in this country. There is hardly a chance to mow with the soil almost always damp. Crazy Wellington weather you see.

So, one day a month ago we contacted this guy who lives 10 houses away after picking up his flyer from the mailbox. He quoted us $100 for our front and back yards. I thought he was crazy! I really did. We asked him to really take a good look and he still held on to his $100 quote firmly.

I just found out a few days ago that the first wave of the yard clean up easily took him 7-8 hours just to get it ready for his 2nd wave 2 weeks later. He didn't accept the $20 tip we offered. I mean he did not only mow the entire 700sqm lawn area, he took out the rubbish too.

He has a full time job and he said that he only does lawn services on the side. But still I think what he did could have easily cost us $500 professionally. There's a catch: Jobs he does for more than $50 needs to be paid in cash so that he can evade tax. I knew something was up with these cheap services! He is a grandfather but he looks so fit and so young. That must be his secret! :)

Here are photos of the beautiful Wellington waterfront that I so love. Even on wet and cold and windy days, there are glorious days (such as in the photos) to look forward to.

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia