{"id":1077,"date":"2025-05-29T19:32:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T19:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pintura-adelante.es\/?p=1077"},"modified":"2025-05-30T12:31:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T12:31:40","slug":"housepainter-work-history-2-1987-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pintura-adelante.es\/es\/housepainter-work-history-2-1987-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"Housepainter work history 2 \u2013 1987-2009"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video controls src=\"https:\/\/v.nostr.build\/MqOrExJ0AxohwfsD.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Within 7 months I went from Sudan, to UK painting council houses, to Silicone Valley. Next 20 years was a series of work and travel adventures, expanding my product knowledge and honing my decorating skills. From Barbados to California to Mexico to Spain and back again, thankful for a trade and skills that seem to be valued everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Aid in Africa 1986<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is a long report on the <a href=\"https:\/\/reliefweb.int\/report\/sudan\/sudan-droughtinsecuritypest-infestation-aug-1986-undro-situation-reports-1-6\">international aid effort in Sudan<\/a>. I&#8217;m not going to belittle the efforts of many good people with the best of intentions. However, counterbalance their efforts with the cynical use of \u00abtied aid\u00bb by governments and their agencies. Fiat trucks, Toyota landcruisers, Landrover to name but three multinationals that benefited from opportune purchase orders from NGO&#8217;s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The emergency food was known as <em>Reagan grain<\/em>. It was past its sell by date and the Sudanese fed it to their animals. Also there is a mention in the report about pest infestations: locusts and grasshoppers. However, I can&#8217;t see mention of the bounties that agencies like the Red Cross paid to local kids, to deal with the infestation of rats that came off the Reagan grain container ships. There were also plenty of first hand stories from unnerved truckers crushing their way along rivers of fur and shiny bloodshot eyes in Darfur. And one night at a hostel we were staying at in Darfur, we were awoken by screaming. Running into the next room we expected to see an assailant. Instead, the guy in bed was beside himself, having woken up with a rat on his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Benefits of a trade<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As an apprentice you have to think of the future, because the initial earnings opportunities are very limited. But with a trade behind you, and especially if you are enterprising, with a specialism, there is a good living to be made as a painter and decorator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is a current synopsis of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.checkatrade.com\/blog\/trade\/grow-business\/how-much-does-a-painter-and-decorator-earn\/\">decorator earnings in the UK<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the earnings percentiles in the UK, the kitchen painters I was working with were in the top 5%. Not a bank manager in sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To the best of my knowledge the highest paid painters and decorators are in Switzerland. I knew a painter who had trained there and he was worth every penny. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary>Swiss cleanliness<\/summary>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Imagine in the mid 2000&#8217;s Swiss painters could not wash their brushes out in a sink &#8211; no paint down the plughole! They developed self-contained mobile washing stations for decorators&#8217; vans. I seem to recall 8000\u20ac as the average price. That provoked an Australian designer to come up with an alternative. A very good step in the right direction to keep our water supplies clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"EnviroWash System\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wCdZQtDTS1M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">AI and painting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I hold the view that any economic activity that relies on the human touch will be done by humans, not machines. And any task that involves number crunching will be replaced by machines, much like the typing pools were eradicated by the word processor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Will robots learn how to paint? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They already can. This is a <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/2mzbMO3h5aY\">plastering and painting robot<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And in car factories, obviously robots are rife. However, they still rely on humans:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For all of their procedural and efficiency-related advantages, robots can\u2019t operate without the support of workers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every robot on the floor needs to be <a href=\"https:\/\/arminstitute.org\/robotic-career-paths-technician\/\">controlled and programmed<\/a>. They need to be maintained regularly and fixed when there\u2019s a problem. They have to be <a href=\"https:\/\/arminstitute.org\/robotic-career-paths-specialist\/\">designed and installed<\/a> and improved. And when the manufacturing line is reconfigured for a new product, they need to be reprogrammed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As robots take over repetitive and dangerous tasks in the car manufacturing industry, the need for trained robotics workers continues to grow.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.roboticscareer.org\/news-and-events\/news\/23035\">robotics careers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most skilled painters still rule in body shops ie remedial and custom painting is still the preserve of humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m open to the idea of progress and being blind-sided by a sea-change invention, such as the plastering-painting bot above, but that will be an opportunity for painters to retrain to operate those robots. And such a profound shift as robot-applied wallpapering and automated property repairs on old properties is decades in the making. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My AI views are based on the fact I am old! And I am biased against accountants and lawyers, brought up to believe the fewer of them the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Early adopter not inventor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I was lucky to find most of the products now in daily use in the UK many years before they went mainstream. I saw acrylic trim paint in the 80&#8217;s, twenty years before early adopters in the UK. Having said that, I was still twenty years later than early adopters in the US who themselves were behind Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This highlights the varying rates of adoption across different countries and regions. The US, for instance, adopted airless spray equipment broadly in the 80&#8217;s, whereas it took another 20 years plus for it to hit the UK mainstream. This disparity can be attributed to tradition and the existing practices within the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The UK has a history of protectionist practices grounded in the days of the craft guilds. The whole indentured apprenticeship concept and the hierarchy of journeyman and masters, it is about control and creating barriers to entry. Decorators pretty much used what they were given, with limited autonomy to explore new products or techniques. This culture was also evident in the supply chain, where corporate paint companies and government training boards may have had a significant influence on the products and methods used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The link between corporate paint companies and government training boards raises questions about the potential for a loose oligopoly. It is possible that the network of influence extended to suppliers as well, further limiting the adoption of new technologies. However, the closed attitude within the industry was never going to change from within. It took external factors, such as EU regulations, to force a change towards more user-friendly paints. The internet also played a significant role in opening up choice and enabling the trade to change from the bottom up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In contrast, the German trade has a long history of prioritizing worker well-being and training. In the late 1800&#8217;s, German companies introduced mandatory health insurance tied to high levels of training and product knowledge. This approach created a culture of innovation and continuous learning, where workers were empowered to make informed decisions about the products and techniques they used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By leaving the UK, I was able to build a broad perspective of what was possible. This exposure to new ideas and technologies allowed me to stay ahead of the curve and adopt new products and methods before they became mainstream. It is no exaggeration to say that you can gain a five-year advantage over the mainstream simply by being open to change and willing to adopt new technologies. As more tradesmen become exposed to these new ideas and technologies, they too can gain an advantage and drive progress within the industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What did you find early?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Share a good product that you came by before it was famous. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you&#8217;re on Nostr, I&#8217;m <a href=\"https:\/\/yakihonne.com\/users\/housepainter@nostrcheck.me\">housepainter<\/a> @nostrcheck.me. Or leave a comment below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ll kick off with a Mexican paint called Durex, which made me chuckle in 1987. It never took off as a brand name for paint outside the Spanish-speaking world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Within 7 months I went from Sudan, to UK painting council houses, to Silicone Valley. Next 20 years was a series of work and travel adventures, expanding my product knowledge and honing my decorating skills. From Barbados to California to Mexico to Spain and back again, thankful for a trade and skills that seem to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-housepainter-nostr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintura-adelante.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintura-adelante.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintura-adelante.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintura-adelante.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintura-adelante.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1077"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pintura-adelante.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1083,"href":"https:\/\/pintura-adelante.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1077\/revisions\/1083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintura-adelante.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintura-adelante.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintura-adelante.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintura-adelante.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}