When I grow up

* For more information on "When I grow up" please read the post dated 8/14/08.

For my first "When I grow up" Friday, I shadowed Mike who is an estimator for ServiceMaster. Mike works on the estimates for insurance companies after a disaster which includes but is not limited to water damage, odor removal, smoke and soot removal, and others. I wasn't sure what time to be at work, but luckily Mike sent me a text that I should arrive at noon. I brought slurpees expecting to watch Youtube videos all afternoon, but that was not the case. We(and by we I mean that Mike worked on the estimate and I smiled and nodded when appropriate) worked for what felt like days and then finally took a break. Wait. Let me start at the beginning. I walked in and Mike said that he had been waiting. I sat down and he asked me to get out my paper and pen.

'Uh Mike, since when do you actually do work that requires pen and paper?'

I grabbed a sticky note and a pen and I started taking notes. Being an estimator is more difficult than I imagined. Mike explained the process for doing estimates as he worked and it was interesting. Tedious, but interesting.
Let's go back to when we took a break from working. We were listening to music on Pandora and Mike decided to see the music video on Youtube. That led to watching more videos and reading news about Bigfoot and the Olympics. The next thing I knew it was time to go.
Here is a list of the important things I learned as assistant estimator:
1) Always tear out non-salvageable laminate floor
2) Have a window open to Youtube for easy access during down time
3) Good headphones are a must
4) Save as you go so you don't lose information entered for the estimate
5) When in doubt, ask Chris. He knows everything about everything-including Bigfoot