S*** happens.
It’s expected no-one has a perfect life, it’s how you deal with it that matters.
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My late father once gave me a pice of good advice which has stayed with me:
“The man who doesn’t know but asks is a fool for a minute, the man who doesn’t know and doesn’t ask is a fool for life”
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The man who refuses to ask for directions is…well, a man 
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Every job always takes longer. Sometimes much longer.
Every job always costs more. Sometimes much more.
eg Concorde, Chunnel, Elizabeth Line, HS2, etc
I used to pad my project quotes by +50% on man-hours and costs after building in +33% hidden contingency. Management would try and beat me down pointing out typical quotes from other project leaders. I’d say ‘then ask them to do the project.’
Eventually they would continue to negotiate and we’d compromise with me losing some of the padding on condition of no later changes unless they met the extra man-hours and costs. I never compromised on the hidden contingency.
Surplus padding was then used for planning the basics for the next project(s) to make sure the eventual quote(s) would be realistic.
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This has been one of the best threads I have seen for some time. All so true, and left me smiling afterwards.
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Oi. Don’t tar us all……
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Haha, hey I agreed with the woman comments too 
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Assume anyone selling you anything is a lying toad until proven innocent.
He looks as I do when I’m in a really good mood.
That’s the expression I give salespeople…if I think I like them…slightly.
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- A backup isn’t a backup until you’re restored it somewhere and verified it works.
- Not all USB cables carry data - some are power only.
- Therapy is easier (it’s still not easy) than what happens if you don’t go
- If you find a rare cross-patch network cable don’t hang on it it because it’ll be useful, cut that thing in half so you don’t accidentally use it and spent hours/day debugging network problems
- Don’t kid yourself that working lots of hours is a badge of pride, unless there’s no other way to get the job done
- Compound interest is very powerful, for good and bad
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(thread hijack - at the moment I can’t create a new post because the button is greyed out, in every forum, so I can’t even post asking for help, if anybody can help that would be great - got stuff to post for sale and stuck!)
Hard learnt lesson: even with 25+ years in the industry, computers find ways to make you feel like an idiot every day.
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The person who never made a mistake never made anything
An expert is someone brought in at the last minute to take the blame
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An extension to that is (Douglas) Hofstadter’s law which states . . .
A job will always take longer than you think, even when Hofstadter’s law is taken into consideration.
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As you work your way through life two rules will never bend.
Never whittle towards yourself or pi55 against the wind.
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Work to live but not live to work
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I’ve learned that even with the medical and technical advancements we have made as a race, nobody has yet invented a bag of sugar that doesn’t spray sugar everywhere when you open it .
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Just as I was about to get married the first advice that I got from my father in law to be was, pay your bills, keep a roof over your head and food in your belly. He went on, everything else will come to you eventually.
Sound advice which I’ve always passed on to my youngsters.
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Something I’ve learned through 20 years of working in charcoal- mistakes can’t often be completely removed but they can be altered to create something beautiful
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From my experience I would qualify that with the word “Sometimes”, viz. “can sometimes be altered”.
I’ll qualify my own statements when I feel the need to TYVM. I did say I was going by my own experience. I’ve made mistakes in every single portrait I’ve ever done but I’ve ALWAYS managed to work with them
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That’s fine Mel, if I got it wrong I apologise. Anyway I did say “From my experience” which I would have thought made it clear that I appreciate that our experiences differ.