Aniety or is it dread

[Mike]

Today i have to go install some canvas windows and a full cover  the customers will not  be here.
If somthing is wrong i can fix it.  But i get this terible dread before i install everytime i get sick to my stomach feeling going to do a pattern is fine  but on install everytime and usualy all goes well on the install.  I dont inow what it is. Only sence i moved to florida and have to do patterns up north if a panel didnt fut rite i made a wiluick adjustment walking in the shop with the boat on site. And it only resl been latly i feel this way unless it was a big top and eindows on say a 40 flybridge.
Dven a small console cover bothers me some.  Well. Offee then off to work

[Mike]

I enjoy boat upholstery much more but i dont get alot
Younfinnish a seat on the table toyour satifaction and it looks good for install right there in the shop. Canvas is just a rag till its on the boat.

[Mojo]

Mike:

Like so many of us on here, you strive to turn out the highest quality, perfect fitting job you can. That alone creates anxiety. We all take great pride in our work and many of us are perfectionists of sorts.

I churn out dozens of toppers and awnings per month. I ship them throughout the USA and every time I send one out I worry about my measurements being exact and hoping they are a perfect fit.
If not then my customer is going to take a hit to the tune of $ 500 just on installation costs.

The anxiety I currently have is nothing as compared to the stress I created for myself in the past. I have learned to do the very best I can, cut, fabricate and sew exactly and then ship them out and not worry anymore. I try not to get worked up over all the things that could go wrong with each order and just do the best I can. My wife has also helped me by boosting my confidence in my abilities. I always felt my product sucked but after getting rave reviews from technicians and dealers and my wife I have learned that I am pretty decent at what I do and maybe I do not suck as bad as I thought I did.

I still worry about each order but also know that if I screw up, I will fix it. I am still not over my OCD/anal retensive ways of making these things but I am a whole lot better then I used to be. I am slowly finding my comfort zone. :)

Chris

[byhammerandhand]

I read in a book a few months ago, "A major cause of depression is the perfectionists who can't realize they live in an imperfect world."

http://woodshopnews.com/columns-blogs/finishing/498313-practice-doesnt-need-to-make-perfect

[kodydog]

With all problems come the ability to solve them.

I sometimes get that feeling when dealing with a difficult customer. I get solace knowing I can fix any problems that may arise.

[Peppy]

I know that feel Mike. I'm starting to get that way with the 40' searays. Seems like a third of our customers recently boughtv40' boats and want them to look like they came out of a magazine. And expect the canvas to be as impermeable as shingles and roofing tar and the windows to be as flat as glass. We're having a hell of a time adjusting to strata glass. It doesn't seem to behave like 30g roll vinyl. With 30g we know any wrinkles will 'steam' out in a season. Strata glass seems to look crappier over time. For wrinkles I mean. It's kind of got us running scared, dreading any front windows and doubting our system. I could make them mega tight and I know they'd look great, but what'll they say in the fall (or last night when it went down to 8c) when it's shrunk in the cold and it's pulled the snaps out of the window?

[gene]

When the phone rings right after I deliver a project I will sometimes jump and think "Oh no! What didn't I do right?" The fact is that if something is wrong, I will fix it. I'm not sure where this reaction comes from.

To add to Mojo's comments, I do feel that what I do is a reflection of myself. So maybe that's a part of why I can sometimes take my work so personally.

gene

[Mike]

Peppy on the biguns for the front einfows where it has to fit perfect no wrinkles around the curve i loke to use 60 guage strataglass much firmer and makes the  ur e nice and smooth
This was my bayliner 3218 on the two corners i used 60g n the. Enter with the roll up zip and the rest i used 40

Well the cover fit fine today. The gullwings i decided i beeded another strap to secure them that i will take back tomorow the owner wont be arounf till saturday so i got one more day.

[regalman190]

I'm with you Mike. My gut is knots on my way to install. Luckily I don't have far to go if a fix or adjustment is needed.

Peppy...as for the big boats, I've done a lot of them this year and I have more to go. Largest this year so far is 46'. But I have two 48's and a few 30 somethings to go. Boaters up here don't want to spend the money on Strataglas so we use mainly 30 ga. clear Aquaview. We have such a swing in temps (winter and the 4th of July), that it fits good when cold, but sags and wrinkles when hot. It's a battle!

[Peppy]

60g oh my! That's a special order around here. I think it just got offered this year.

Regal we're in the same boat up here. Most guys are understanding, we always say give it a season and if you still want us to tighten it up we will but it's not our problem when you can't do it up in the fall. The problem always goes away. But we know what happens with roll vinyl and what's acceptable. Strata is new to us. We don't know what it does. Wait yes I do, it pisses us off.

[Mike]

Peppy i loke it for the corners the fastners may. E alittle iffy but the flass is flat
http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/yy102/Mike8560/BLue%20Dolphin%201/100_1866.jpg

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/yy102/Mike8560/BLue%20Dolphin%201/photo3-14.jpg
She was a nice boat 
I miss her but not the fuel tanks

[bobbin]

I have the very same feeling, the one Gene voiced so perfectly!  It doesn't matter whether or not the job went well and was "easy".  I always worry that something was overlooked.  The fact that any oversight would be corrected doesn't mitigate the anxiety one jot. 

The husband says that is what "gives me my edge", setting me apart from "spare bedroom hacks" who do mediocre work.  When he was playing in bands he was always nervous before taking the stage... and it didn't matter how many times he'd played the tunes or the venue. 

[timtheboatguy]

I have been thinking of a way to bring a portable machine with me (without having to drive a huge gas guzzler) so I can make final adjsutments if needed and not have to run back and forth to the shop. I think this would ease some stress for me.

On what Gene said, I can relate to this too! Last week, got a text message from a customer after she picked up her pontoon boat for a complete reupholstery job, I freaked out when I saw a text from her on my phone but it was nothing but praise and man I needeed that! I most always think my work sucks and well sometimes it does but most of the time the customer is pleased so I keep up striving for perfection and trying to get better and faster too.

Mike, your canvas work is Top notch awesome! Just remember if man made it then man can fix it, and whats the worst that can happen anyway?  ;D Keep fighting the good fight!

[Mike]

Tim just keep trying to better yourself my first paying job the guy loved his new top  windows and and adt curtian but it was awfull he loked it so much thst he had his woodshop cmlass make me a new sign for the roof.