The Side Hustle Thread (split from Bees with AZD)

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May 3rd, 2015 at 2:33:28 AM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
Down Florida way, I spent some time on a canal about four inches above the water. Boaters going out fishing in the Gulf would pass one slip where if the pink umbrella was deployed they could help themselves to bait and leave money in a pouch. Of course it was the same worms the bait shops sold but it was quicker and easier and bait shops were not always open.

I don't know any real market for worms. Fish bait, composting of yard and kitchen wastes, that's about it.

Restaurants in the area might be in the market for farmed fish that might go well in the basement that's been described or in Face's aquarium.

Mushrooms however might need more space to be economically viable and you need PAPER bags to sell them in, not plastic. So I guess its a matter of yield and competition in the area. Expensive mushrooms usually require exploring woodlands and in the PNW the Orientals often go armed because of their reputations for denuding acreage rather than letting it remain viable.

Face has a stream so a gem polisher is a possible sideline.
May 3rd, 2015 at 4:03:45 AM permalink
odiousgambit
Member since: Oct 28, 2012
Threads: 153
Posts: 5030
I'm experiencing this odd thing of completely missing seeing this thread till now! what the?

Fascinating, let me catch up.
I'm Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [it's an old guy chant for me]
May 3rd, 2015 at 4:14:42 AM permalink
AZDuffman
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
Posts: 18136
Quote: Face


No dice in my parts, though. While in-town fetches damn near $0.50 a piece for them, the Amish ain't but a jaunt down the road. There, $0.70 will get you a full dozen+, all shit fed and twice the size of a grass snake.

I'm not sure it would be worth it without a large setup. A box, like your bees, ain't gonna cut it. You need like an entire wall of your basement loaded with the buggers to get enough worms and poop to make any real money. But it is easy, and you'll be down there anyways...

I don't know that I would do worms except to attract them to my garden. But I do like the discussion because it simply keeps my mind working and open for other hustle ideas I might like to do. A buddy complains that I never do much of what I talk about but I say I would rather try 5% of 100 things I talk about than 100% of one thing.

I read in a prison survival book once that selling worms was a good cover for a dope business. You put out the sign for worms and the neighbors do not worry about all the cars coming and going. It made me wonder if this really is the case in some places.
The President is a fink.
May 3rd, 2015 at 9:47:25 AM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
Upthread or unsplit somewhere....
some said "hire on a green money basis' meaning straight cash, no payroll or tax deductions no workers compensation.

Danger: Some states enforce it more than others but if you hire ONE person, you are an employer as far as workman's compensation goes. If you don't have it, they sue and they win. Friendships go out the window when a ladder falls and a spine gets shattered.

Often it takes three calls, three refusal letters and you automatically go into a high risk pool and the rates ain't that bad.

Not having workmans comp in Massachusetts is an automatic thirty days in the clink.

Do scientists buy worms by the truckload?
May 3rd, 2015 at 10:23:15 AM permalink
Face
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 61
Posts: 3941
Quote: Fleastiff

Do scientists buy worms by the truckload?


I have no idea on the market outside of bait and gardens. I imagine there are many places who would; after all, someone has got to supply all the high school biology classes. But I bet they get supplied by some enormous operation that measures sales by the ton.

And I do wonder, if you wanted the hustle, whether the setup would be worth the alternative. With my aquariums, getting worms is part of my routine. And going out of doors after midnight has always offered up more than I cared to have. With a spade and an LED light (no regular flashlight, they sense it somehow), I can pull 2 dozen foot and a half long buggers out of just the edge of my small garden in about 15 minutes. If I extended that to an hour over my whole yard, and took advantage of every rain storm and hit up all the driveways in the neighborhood, you're talking some pretty big numbers. All with no overhead. And I imagine the gross labor time is less with hunting than maintaining a breeding operation.

I guess it all comes down to size. Anything over a gross or two per week is probably too much to do by hunting.
Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it.
May 3rd, 2015 at 10:36:54 AM permalink
petroglyph
Member since: Aug 3, 2014
Threads: 25
Posts: 6227
Quote: Fleastiff
Upthread or unsplit somewhere....
some said "hire on a green money basis' meaning straight cash, no payroll or tax deductions no workers compensation.

Danger: Some states enforce it more than others but if you hire ONE person, you are an employer as far as workman's compensation goes. If you don't have it, they sue and they win. Friendships go out the window when a ladder falls and a spine gets shattered.

Often it takes three calls, three refusal letters and you automatically go into a high risk pool and the rates ain't that bad.

Not having workmans comp in Massachusetts is an automatic thirty days in the clink.

Do scientists buy worms by the truckload?


They don't call them employees out this way. They are all "private contractors" and those that are wise to what you speak have them all sign a one page form that they will cover their own WC. I'm sure they too are hustling and the premiums as well as most of the tax's go in the hip pocket national bank.
The last official act of any government is to loot the treasury. GW
May 3rd, 2015 at 11:40:41 AM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
Okay: Idea time:

cheese cakes ?

Cleaning products or cosmetics using old well know formulae readily available.

Plastic headlight restorer?

Marine diesel cleaning with ultra fine baking soda under moderate pressure.

Fresh Crawfish "direct from New Orleans" via Face's aquarium.

Fried turkey restaurants?
May 3rd, 2015 at 11:59:51 AM permalink
petroglyph
Member since: Aug 3, 2014
Threads: 25
Posts: 6227
Quote: Fleastiff
Plastic headlight restorer?


I tried a few things which promised [but didn't deliver] clear headlights. You got something that works, fairly easily?

My truck is old enough [and I just burned out a headlamp] I fantasized about just putting sealed beam back in. lol
The last official act of any government is to loot the treasury. GW
May 3rd, 2015 at 12:05:06 PM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
Many car wash places, mechanics and auto parts stores sell kits.... its basically some acid, some tooth paste and lots of elbow grease I think, I'm not really sure. Its sand and dirt covering the plastic that goes over the headlights that usually need cleaning, not the headlights themselves. As usual, Fleastiff knows not whereof he speaks.
May 3rd, 2015 at 2:55:19 PM permalink
Face
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 61
Posts: 3941
I am convinced that all products are nothing but snake oil.

I've done no research or experimenting, but my common sense is telling me they get dull for the same reason a paint gets dull - microscopic pits and damage from wear. Take a clear pane of plastic and nick it, that nick is the same cloudy color.

In my opinion, the only way to fix it is to polish it. Get rid of all the pits and make it perfectly smooth again. So, basically they need wet sanding, just like a paint job. 2,000 grit paper, polish, add elbow grease, boom. Like new.

But everyone wants it the easy way =p
Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it.
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