I used to be the "handyman" so to speak as I traded my wrenching abilities for parking my bus on peoples properties. I always knew the people beforehand as we are all bikers. I started out by building my bus and eventually moving into it while living with 2 other bikers. They drank alot and this allowed us to remain friends when I didn't want to hear them all night. Living with other guys keeps things easiest all round. It's when one landed a permanent girlfriend that things got to more ground rules.

I was called a rolling stone by many so most expected it to be a short term thing anyways. I often felt that the other got a far better shake as my work far outmatched the rent I'd have owed otherwise. No one ever offered me more than the agreed amount as most usually didn't have it to offer anyways.

The thing that usually made me decide to move on was when I could sense I overstayed my welcome. Likely this was usually due to using their washer/dryer or shower and it was the wife/girlfriend that I always felt I had to walk around the most right from the start. I always had a rottweiler and this also was likely another factor in the inevitable tension. Never did a friend have to ask me to vacate as I could see things wind up and never let it get to the point they had to ask. Guys always have that way of showing their cornered without ever saying a word. Women always smile and blame the guy... 😆

Things always start great at the first. They get their share of work as it is usually that priority as to why they wanted me there. They often acted like they stole me from my last place and with this too I smiled. It's when all the priority work is completed that rules often changed slightly. The discussion of my doing other work is mentioned and then that since it requires less skill, I should maybe give more hours than the initial agreement. This redefining was always broached by the women I noted as a constant routine(seems men never want to be known as the one reneging a deal). I always agreed with a smile and immediately started the ball rolling for a new location. I always left on good terms and never said a bad word of any previous deals gone wrong as our community is small that way and all would eventually hear. This aspect also kept me in demand I think.

I still seem to know the game of when to leave even today. My rules are simple as they are just doing what I would like others to do. Stay 3 days max at any friends as any longer and they want their house back. Living in your own home outside gives them more privacy and therefore you can stay longer. You know when your still welcome by the hosts saying such as "come back anytime" when your leaving. If not, you outstayed your welcome!

Seems your handyman is lucky and wants you to know it too. Maybe he too had folks lose interest before like those I made deals with. I never held grudges and expected change as variety seems a trait of all mankind. And I figure it's the female making him feel welcome that keeps him there now. Seems I took my time before settling down as I too had a itch I couldn't scratch when spring came round and riding season started. And it's hard not to miss the freedom youth offered in those days as it only took a tank full of gas to make a man wear a grin all day long! Seems the women of my youth were just someone you wrestled with to make another itch stop for awhile... 😎

I am very thankful that we had our guy as long as we did. I would happily give him a really good job reference any day, as he has earned or respect. We will miss him a lot, when he is gone. I couldn't quite figure out why he was avoiding me the last couple of weeks. He'd be outside doing his thing, and I'd head out to check on the place I'm house sitting, he'd hustle in behind his unit, or go inside. He wouldn't give any kind of eye contact. I am thinking, now, that he really didn't know how to tell me that he was leaving. Maybe, and this is just a maybe, he figured that I would be upset or something. I think that I saw this coming and didn't realize it!
He is a biker, and we were bikers, before DH's disability kicked him in the ass, so know the score there.
One winter, before I met my DH, I saw this motorcycle parked near an industrial building. The bike had about 5 inches of fresh snow on it. I wondered who the nut case was that would be riding his bike to work in December, in all that snow. About 6 months later, I met, and fell for this same nut case. Got married , and am still with this same nut case....35 years next week.
Anyway, until later
KK

Dang, the more scooter trash the merrier... 😆

You must have fit the bill or you both wouldn't have stuck it out 35 years. I've made it past 27 years now married but the wife had to watch me ride away a few times due to those itches before I stuck around. We first met while I was living in my first bus and still says she thought I was really just a bum with a nice bike and no address. 😎

Now that itch to move comes on suddenly, but especially in the spring. Yet at this time, it is at least predictable as many of my other biker friends seemed to acquire it right around then too. The ol' joke when young was we spent 1/2 the time trying to put a girl on the back seat and the other 1/2 trying to get them off so we could ride solo again. 😕 Seems commitment was sorta like a heavy pair of comfortable boots ...we'd try them on from time to time but soon found we just couldn't get around as easy with them slowing us down. But If we jettisoned some cargo, it seemed the weight of commitment somehow set us free again until we again felt the need for comfort instead.

In other words, maybe your handyman isn't ready for slowing down yet ... as much as part of him might want to stay, another part is looking for that which he fears he won't find if he gets too comfortable.... does that make any sense to you? I'm betting he now has an itch he can't scratch and guilt is likely the reason he can't face ya...he knows good people are hard to find and no one wants to leave another in a lurch....you've likely become a responsibility that he really didn't want. Hope you can find a way of breaking down the wall that he is presently building to let him know it's okay cause it really is something he still has to do in his own mind.

Just maybe mention the door is still open if the grass ain't so green up the next road after all...

I hear ya loud and clear, Knuckle, and know exactly what you mean. I mentioned to him last night that he can always come back if he wants to, and he said, very emphatically, No thanks, I'll be gone by the end of the month. SOOOOO, I guess that means end of story. I certainly will not loose any sleep over it.

It is hard to close doors it this case. I don't bother pulling peoples heads out of the sand as far as prepping is concerned. I do talk about world events that can impact "life as we know it", and that helps them to at least understand. I often bring the discussion to a closing on "the supermarket shelves depletion in a matter of just a few hours" when an ice storm type situation is announced on the news. I never let anyone know what I've prepped. Better safe than sorry.