You Might Be A Trunkslammer If....

As mentioned in the thread that prompted this, one sign is selling products that are available from a mail order catalog, in today's terms non-name or relabeled cameras from an online store.

You own and use a 1992 Black & Decker non-reversable drill with the 8 inch long orange electrical cord...

HA! John you need to add a "like" button a la Facebook... So I can thumbs up Marty's & Michael's comments. Michael, sounds like you still own one of those drills. :)

You might be a trunkslammer if...

-you've ever said "well, it'll hold until the check clears, I guess".

-you regularly offer to be paid "in kind", either in merchandise or business services.

-you give a significant discount for customers paying in cash.

-you still use your Blackberry Nextel Edition.

-most of your tools are from Black & Decker.

-you comparison shop cable.

-you price match cable.

-you haggle over cable prices.

-you've maxed out your credit at every equipment distributor in town, and are eyeing equipment distributors a few towns over.

-you've ever asked your customer to make a check out directly to your distributor.

-you've ever agreed to install equipment a customer picked up from eBay.

-some counterperson at a distributor ever pitched HDcctv to you using the sentence "it's like HD video, except you don't have to learn networking!"

-you bought a copy of Networking for Dummies, and are probably going to get around to reading it any day now, promise.

-you bring extra bags to ISC East in order to have room for all the swag you're planning on getting.

-the only test equipment you own is a tone generator, a battery tester, and your awesome sense of intuition.

-you've ever added 50 feet or more to a cable run becasue you decided to detour rather than move boxes or face a scary spider.

-you'v ever "accidentally" forgotten to implement a feature until a check clears.

-you've ever responded to a customer inquiry with "well, I've never done one of those before, but, hey, how hard could it be?"

-you've ever succesfully challenged a "no commercial vehicles" ticket.

-you've ever used the police blotter in your local paper for sales leads.

-you've ever given a talk on security at a church, PTA conference, or fundraising picnic in order to generate sales leads.

-you've ever stuck your business cards in every mailbox in a neighborhood to generate sales leads.

-you get a little giggly when the paper starts talking about "a wave of break-ins".

-you've ever repaired your car with electric tape.

-you've ever repaired your plumbing with electric tape.

-you've ever made a splice with packing tape.

-you've ever walked into a service call with nothing more than the tools and supplies you could fit in your pockets... and you'ce successfully diagnosed and repaired the problem.

-you've ever rented a car to complete a service call.

-you've ever taken public transportation to a service call.

-you still aren't sure how you got a Little Giant ladder on the subway but aren't eager to repeat the experience.

-instead of buying new drill bits, you sharpen your bits.

-yes, even spade bits.

-not using a Drill Doctor, either. If you could afford a Drill Doctor, you wouldn't be sitting here, sharpening bits.

-you inventory your car a couple times a year.

-you have a selection of rolls of spare cable ranging from a few inches to 20 feet.

-you get excited when you get a job in an old house being refurbished because you might be able to find old copper pipes or doorknobs to resell at the junkyard.

-you are really good at diagnosing installation errors because you've made and corrected most of those errors yourself in the past.

-you have no idea how one goes about filing plans with the AHJ.

-you've ever agreed to install a surveillance system "to catch the ghosts who keep rearranging my kitchen".

-you would love to wear protective gear on the job but are afraid your boss or coworkers would make fun of you for being a wimp.

Please note: I'm only putting things down that I've personally done or seen in my long career working for a viariety of trunk slammers.

you tell your customers to submit invoice payments to directly to your bank rather than to your company...

Notice the phone number on the signs. This particular business is also a 'mail mart'. The cameras are hanging on the backside of the business.

.... (in the US) None of your product manuals has an English version.

.... Qoutes are done in Office 97.

... Your phone number changes on average of once every 6 months.

... Your business name changes on average of once every 6 months.

... You have "CEO" as job title in your 1 to 3 man operation.

... You ....... I give up. Ari's were just too good.

You've bought a 30' extension ladder at Home Depot, with explicit instructions to your crew to 'not scuff it up' because you intend on returning it tomorrow.

if you are a company of any size that installs systems of any size and then don't provide any service. Even if you produce the best shop drawings and install a reputable product. If you have more salespeople than installers or service techs in a specific area. Anyone who sales a product they cannot or do not support.

"You've ever used reclaimed scrap wood to build a mount for a camera, a shelf for rack mounted equipment (racks are expensive!) or an equipment enclosure."

To be fair, I have a rack in my garage; I just didn't want to drag a 42U into my basement. I swear I'll get around to cable management some day....

Edit for one a coworker had:

...you've ever been paid in a brown paper bag full of cash.

A door-to-door salesman for a national alarm company just offered me a 'cash for clunkers' (his exact pitch) deal.

According to him, for every old panel I give him, he will give me $200 cash today and a new premium alarm system monitored by his company.

Guys, thread over. I just found this.

You are proud of the fact that two teeth on the right side of your mouth create a 'natural' 22 gauge gap, which enables you to strip insulation off wire, sans tools, with ease.

You brag about your 'free throw' percentage at sinking waste-can baskets of insulation shells ejected from your mouth at great distances, averaging more than Steve Nash at the line.

You always purchase your gear in 'kits', and that is what you use.

Half your income is bartering.

you can't afford to install a $30 patch panel for a $13,000 installation.

Here's the after shot.
BTW, the previous install was from a famous big box store, they seem to be the mother of trunk slamming.

Tie wraps and duck tape are your idea of integration...