Getting to know the great Nate

Mikey P

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Your turn dude..


From what I gather you were born in the back of a rug shop on Oahu..

-Have you worked anywhere else?
-Is your Dad's passion, yours?
-Also, from what I gather, you clean rugs in plant, you clean wtw, your mom is involved somehow, your dad provides flooring inspections on all the islands and who else works there and what am I missing or messing up?
-How often do you go to the beach to eat exotic fruit, play the ukulele and hit on da kine heinas?
-How long did your dad work on getting all those certifications?
-Are you aiming to do the same?
-Does he stay busy all year long doing inspection or does he work on rugs as well?
-If you had to live on the mainland, where would it be?
-Do your BFFs understand your MB addiction or do they think you're on FB?
-Does your company do much tourist related work (condos, hotels) or more local residential, high end I'd assume?
-What are the marketing trends on the islands these days? What works, what doesn't?
-Please describe your ultimate Truckmount/van set up..
-and your ultimate high rise cleaning system?
-Does your shop use centrifuges, tumblers, whackers and fancy hoist racks? If so what color are they?
-Every ran a girlfriend through the machines to loosen her up?
-How can you call yourself an Hawaiian if you don't crave poi?
 

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Joined
Mar 29, 2008
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Hawaii
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Nate W.
Your turn dude.. Fk me, all for a free dukguard...... lol


From what I gather you were born in the back of a rug shop on Oahu.. Pretty much..

-Have you worked anywhere else? Yes, I was a bellman at 2 hotels working part time on-call, the whole lowest man on the totem pole (last hired gets the shitty shifts)... The last hotel was in the process of being sold and I knew I was going to be the first let go, so I gave my 2 week notice... I know how to read between the lines.... Some guys who was there 20 years left as the hotel went to half condo, half hotel.... The went to T-mobile to sell phones.... My parents asked to come back and work with them in the business...

-Is your Dad's passion, yours? Passion as in work? My pops started the business the year I was born... I believe he paid $75k back in 1984 for a Rainbow International franchise... Didn't even have 2 nickels to rub together.... He started off cleaning and dyeing carpets and grew from there... He quickly realized that he was giving up the hard earned money he was making at $30 whole houses... Then dropped the franchise and changed the name...
As for my passion in the business, I see the need for quality work and niche services... We refuse to clean rugs on-location other than the throw rug/house carpet... Rather not take the liability plus you really can't do a great job on-location...


-Also, from what I gather, you clean rugs in plant, you clean wtw, your mom is involved somehow, your dad provides flooring inspections on all the islands and who else works there and what am I missing or messing up? Yes, I clean rugs inplant, WTW, Upholstery, some tile... My mom is considered the best "Spot Dyer" in the islands, she also likes to clean upholstery and takes care of the office... My pops does flooring inspections for all the islands, concrete moisture testing, sells flooring and installations, ect.... Ma, pa, and I right now, a few part timers on call as needed... We used to do flood and fire cleanups and at 1 point had over 200 people working for us back in the early 1990's... Family is everything to me and I'm blessed to see both my parents everyday..... Don't get me wrong, we all have our moments, but family is forever.... I have 2 older sisters that I also see from time to time....

-How often do you go to the beach to eat exotic fruit, play the ukulele and hit on da kine heinas? Hardly ever go to the beach, I'm a picky eater, can't play the ukulele, and I don't hit on the ladies, they hit on me.... :dejection:

-How long did your dad work on getting all those certifications? Pops began back in the late 80's/early 90's.... Grew from there... He was a IICRC instructor too... Ed York was one of his mentors... My pops knows all the old timers... My pops loves to teach ( I think he loves to hear himself speak).............But don't tell him that.... :hopeless: As I've grown up, I've had some A'ha moments when it finally clicked with what my pops would tell me... But in the name of being his son, he's not always right......:lol: I'm never too proud to say I was wrong or apologize when I fk'ed up...

-Are you aiming to do the same? I've been very privileged to see first hand and have access to knowledge on flooring failures, from installation related to manufacturing related, to poor maintenance related problems... As for being a flooring inspector, I have no desire to do that type of work... Someone will always be mad at you... MY dad jokes about being a tall white guy in Hawaii, someone is always mad at him so why not get paid for it.... People who actually know the real Hawaii, knows what I'm talking about... Being "White" aka "Haole" has some disadvantages here, but it's gotten a lot better over time.... I'm "Hapa" (Meaning half of) Haole, which means I get less crap from some people.... The actual word Haole means foreigner, but the way it's used here means "White"... The locals say the White man stole the land, yet the Hawaiian's sold/traded it...

-Does he stay busy all year long doing inspection or does he work on rugs as well? Pops does his own thing, the flooring side keeps him busy.... He'll help me with large rugs, if need be... I can carry up to a 10'x13' 90line Chinese rug (dry of course)... Anything over that I need help with.... Helps load then on the poles too... I'm certified in concrete moisture testing as well and will help his on larger projects or if he's off island...
He'll also help out when we need to correct "spin finish" problems for manufactures.... "Spin Finish" is when there is too much residue on new carpet that attracts soil and foams up...It's caused from the rinsing machine not being calibrated or out of whack when the carpet is made... Mostly seen on outdoor corridors/hallways...

-If you had to live on the mainland, where would it be? I've been thinking more about that lately... Hawaii is getting aweebit crowded and traffic is only getting worse... 22 new condos going up and they're all sold out.... 50,000 more homes being built on the west side too.... Don't forget about the stupid Rail Transit System that's being built too.... A billion dollar project that already ran out of money.... I'd probably choose Oregon or Washington, but I hate the rain... I don't like being cold or having to wear a lot of clothing... And I'm ignorant to frozen pipes, black ice, tornado's, snakes, mountain lions, hyenas, coyotes, alligators, ect....... I also don't like to sit in a car for more then 2 hours unless I'm sleeping......

-Do your BFFs understand your MB addiction or do they think you're on FB? They think I'm crazy but understand my passion of what I do... I've cleaned everyday since I was 13years old... I was homeschool from the 8th grade on... If I stayed in school, I probably wouldn't be here today... FB had too much drama and I had to close mine... Instagram too....

-Does your company do much tourist related work (condos, hotels) or more local residential, high end I'd assume? We don't do tourist too much.... We have a few property management companies that give us a lot of work... A mix of residential and commercial accounts as well... We are problem solvers... We'll get called in to fix what others have messed up or lack of....

-What are the marketing trends on the islands these days? What works, what doesn't? We don't really do any marketing, haven't for a long time... We had a web page but when we didn't renew with the YP, they pulled the site... I'm more focused on cleaning more rugs and getting back into flood work...
I do know we need to have a internet presence up... And I'm working on getting it going...

-Please describe your ultimate Truckmount/van set up.. I have my heart set on a 10' Spartan type box van single rear wheel with a SS870 in it, but after the trouble I've been reading about, it's a toss up... I grew up with Little giant heaters, so I lean more towards simplicity.... I know how to turn a wrench and if I don't know I have friends who do... I would really like true dual wand capable machine...

-and your ultimate high rise cleaning system? Shit, the amount of cleaning equipment I take up to a condo job, people trip out... They're always like, you need all this to clean carpet? I tell them that's the way I clean carpet... I'd have to say the Dwellpro2 looks pretty promising, but more heat... I'll use a #2 LG where I can... I'm a pro at doing porty work, knowing which sockets to plug into, and setting it up so I almost never have to move the equipment.... 35' 2" hose with 10' extra 2" hose seems to get most of the condos... I'll setup in the kitchen or bathroom and carry the equipment off the carpet... I tend to work harder than I have too... My friend gave a extractor 2 3stage with 500psi pump and heat almost brand new, I changed out the vacuums and also use the Mytee hotbox with it, does a pretty good job when filling with hot tap water...

-Does our shop use centrifuges, tumblers, whackers and fancy hoist racks? If so what color are they? No centrifuge yet, but will get one soon than later I hope... Got my heart set on Centrum force's wringer... We've had the cement style tumble duster before but it took up too much space and the building my parents bought didn't have 3phase power... My dad ended up scrape metaling it only to find out he could have used a rotary phase converter... I got the red beater duster, 2 commercial dyers to tumble dust smaller rugs (without the heat hooked up of course), and a 13 18' length pole drying tower that sits 23' in the air... Vacuums, pile lifters, dusting grids (which hardly get used), a 12x16 inflatable wash pit, which we will be cutting a perimeter drain in our floor as it has a natural 1" slope already... My best friend is a certified welder and can make anything I want, I just need to give him my ideas and material then he'll build it for free... We like to tinker on stuff...

-Every ran a girlfriend through the machines to loosen her up? Nah, but we did swim in the wash pit a few times.... :shifty:

-How can you call yourself an Hawaiian if you don't crave poi? I am part hawaiian, but I'm the Haole'est japanese/hawaiian you'll find.... I'm surrounded by sea water and I don't eat seafood.... I also don't eat pork, I get sick...
 
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Joined
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Nate W.
Great job Nate!!!

When are you getting married?

I'm a peacock, you gotta let me fly..... Lol.... When the timing is right but this isn't Utah........:shifty:

I forgot to ask...

Getting supplies over there..

Tell us more, what is readily available and what is worth the added shipping costs?

MasterBlend just came back, Some of BridgePoint products but Flex w/citrus has to be flown over as baggage from Maui to be the most cost effective, Chemspec was available not sure if another distributor picked them up, CTI and a few other products are available at distributor we don't do business with... If the juice is worth the squeeze I'll ship it in, other than that I use what's local...
John and Laura Olson from Superior Cleaning Solutions is the one I go to if I can't get things local, he's been a life saver in the few times I needed it quick... There standard shipping is faster than UPS or FedEx.... Shipping a case of 4 gallons is around $70 depending on who you go through up to $125ish...

As for getting parts, I'll do preventative planning and have it shipped in if they don't have it locally... We have a graveyard of tools which could probably put 5 guys in business...........:dejection:
 

Papa John

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John Stewart
Thanks Nate-- It was an enjoyable Read--- being on an Island has its unique challenges I'm sure.
Has the Red Dirt caused any problems.. I bought a Red Dirt shirt and it made a mess for many washings.
 
Joined
Mar 29, 2008
Messages
9,562
Location
Hawaii
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Nate W.
Thanks Nate-- It was an enjoyable Read--- being on an Island has its unique challenges I'm sure.
Has the Red Dirt caused any problems.. I bought a Red Dirt shirt and it made a mess for many washings.

The red dirt isn't too bad, it's located only on certain parts of the island...

Yea, the cost of living is high but San Francisco is ridiculous with all the regulations.... Our median housing is $750,ooo for about a 3 bedroom house about 2,000sf... Condo's are $4-450,000 for a 2 bedroom.... Those are the more desirable places but not high end... We've got luxury condo's selling anywhere from 3million to 50 million........IShitYouNot..........
 

Mark Saiger

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Grand Rapids, MN
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Mark Saiger
Nate, I have taken my High School marching bands over there a number of times. Missed my first band trip with the group and since leaving teaching 2 years ago when they were there....was really bummed that I missed it.....

They going back this coming April 2016 for their band trip, and me and the wife have been thinking we need to tag a long again with the group....My former assistant director and former student is in charge of the band program now....he also comes and cleans carpets with us sometimes....

http://www.grbands.org/#!hawaii-2016/cag8

If we do...will want to look you up :)

A local guy over there (David Millwood) is a friend and travel guy for large groups like this.

https://www.facebook.com/HawaiiStateTours

He is our "Wild Hawaiian" or I also call him "Uncle Davey".

Been some time now since I have been over there....will really have to consider going this next time again :)....or just coming over for some fun ourselves!
 
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