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Recently, I have found myself in need of more and more money to keep up with all the problematic "acts of God" that seem to come up in groups. Unfortunately, not everyone is willing to pay to have you mow their lawn, wash their car or bang their daughter, so what do you do? Rob people and steal cars,
that's what. At least that's what you did before the internet.
With a site devoted strictly to people looking for a few extra bucks (and the people willing to pay them), users can browse by area/city a list of odd jobs (such as mowing the lawn or delivering unmarked packages that "don't contain illegal stuff") available to them. Maybe you just need gas money till the end of the week, or money for a new fuel pump because your car is a piece of shit, but either way you could raise the funds necessary by scrubbing a few toilets, moving a few dressers, or breaking in to your neighbor's house and stealing his Rolex while he's vacationing in Hawaii.
Wait, ignore that last one.
www.woik101.com
http://www.halfbake...www_2ework101_2ecom
Shameless plug; a related idea. [polartomato, Aug 01 2002, last modified Oct 17 2004]
craigslist - default is "San Francisco"
http://www.craigslist.org
Not in your area, bro' - perhaps someone on a discussion board (or even 1% after a few connections are made) there can point you in the right direction for listings (Areas are on the right) - very amiable group - this is a really good way to find inexpensive items, cars, places, jobs that pay, etc. - I've turned quite a number of Angeleno's onto this site for those very porpoises [thumbwax, Aug 01 2002, last modified Oct 17 2004]
Cringeley's take on eBay
http://www.pbs.org/...pulpit20020725.html
How the scalability of the Internet leads to new markets [sam, Aug 01 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]
Odd Jobs Marketplace
http://oddj.com
Very similar idea, except people who need someone to do odd jobs can also search for people offering these services in their area. You can sort service providers by rate, ratings (feedback), etc. Has a "Help Wanted" section as well where you can post an odd job that you need done. [oddj, Oct 17 2004]
[link]
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have the modelling jobs dried up then? |
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Clearly you need to recast yourself not as an odd-job man, but as a consultant. Plenty of web sites for those. |
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Let's see: Hygiene Consultant, Feng Shui Consultant, Security Consultant, to take just your examples. (Speaking, as I do, as a Bullshit and Obfuscation Consultant.) (And that will be $275, please.) |
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BO consultant? you have to be kidding. Afro and I, both swear by the mum roll-on deodorant. well, he swears more than I do but you know what I mean. |
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Launch the OJD here, in the Bay Area, and you'd hit the big time fast. There are so many people out of work, so many of them able-bodied, presentable and polite ... you'd get takers for sure. Whether there would be enough odd-job offers to go around, that's another question. |
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I have a full-time job, but among the odd jobs I'd take: house- or sign-painter; laundry-doer; shouter at cars that cut off pedestrians crossing the street legally; present-wrapper; emergency childcare provider; and packer of fragile items for shipping. |
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I love that bubble wrap ... |
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I'd surely quit my current job if I could make a good living off of doing things to make people happy; as I find that in my current job I mainly piss them off and then have to listen to a stream of poorly-thought-out insults. (The happy-people requirement would preclude robbing/car thievery as well.) Have you checked your local bulletin boards? I think something like this might exist. |
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I try never to miss an opportunity to utter the phrase, "chick sexer." |
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our university had one of these sites with listings of one time odd jobs for students. i planted shrubbery one satuday for some money. |
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Cringeley (linked to) mentions that eBay is transforming the economy, and this is mostly because you can post a small ad to *the world*. If you had a similar website that advertised odd jobs, you could do well. And you could screen people in the same way: weirdos would be marked down by people who employed them, competent people marked up. |
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Hell: AfroAssault, mail me at halfbakery@illuminated.co.uk because I think we can do something interesting about this. |
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Seen on a t-shirt: Will Program .asp for Food! |
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¯sam: I am
so glad to say
that link
of yours just
made my day! |
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BTW: links, e.g. http://hell.com/gate <Justin's Site> or mailto:halfbakery@illuminated.co.uk can be put on your profile page or in blatent self-promotion can be put in the link section you already used. |
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These jobs are already being done by day laborers, who stand on various street corners waiting to be picked. What you propose will take money out of their hands and give it to those who can afford an internet connection. |
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Not all towns have day laborers on streetcorners, and some odd-job employers would not be comfortable picking a stranger off a streetcorner to do their odd job, racism aside. (MUCH safer picking a stranger off the web...wait, no...) The eBay rating system analogy could give the employer some comfort level, maybe giving you an idea of what the jobber is good at. Sounds like a sound new-economy idea. + |
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This would probably work hyothetically but consider all the things that can go wrong from both ends, i mean you have people looking people to do their "odd job" and then you have people that can't manage themselves and their money and are desperate enough to do these "odd jobs". |
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//What you propose will take money out of their hands and give it to those who can afford an internet connection.//
No, actually, it won't, for several reasons:
-If someone on a streetcorner is willing to do it for cheaper, then that person will be hired. Problem solved.
-By having it convenient and easy to post jobs online, there will be a flood of extra jobs that otherwise wouldn't be up for hire. Problem solved.
-Most public libraries have internet access. Problem solved.
//i mean you have people looking people to do their "odd job" and then you have people that can't manage themselves and their money and are desperate enough to do these "odd jobs".//
Nothing personal, but I'm gonna assume that English is your second language, and that you're implying that the users are too irresponsible to make this work?
Good point, but it's basically like this:
Employer posts job (i.e. "attic needs reorganization") and amount willing to pay, along with a description of the duties expected to be performed.
Job Seeker contacts employer, a deal is worked out, job is taken off site. And, as sam mentioned on Aug 01 2002, poor users could be rated poorly and good users could be rated favorably, helping to weed out the shitheads, to use the scientific term. |
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It's a great idea, and bun for you, but wait till the IRS, OSHA, SSA, and other Alphabet agency pencil pushers get hold of this. Red tape all over.<P> |
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Most of these jobs are going to be paid in cash, and we can't have cash being distributed without government permission, i.e. W-4 tax forms being filled out on all employees and SSNs being recorded. We need to make sure that the hiring parties are hiring the correct quota of minorities and women, so we need an EEO consultant. The lawyers ruin everything.<P> |
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