Excited..

OK, I don't have anyone to vent my excitement on right now, so you guys will have to do.

I went in to the groomer's several days ago, because Buster needed his nails trimmed, and wound up spending a good hour in there talking to the 'head groomer' who owns the shop. Well, long story short, she and I got to talking, and she (Along with another groomer, who is also VERY good) would be willing to train me to groom, and give me a job working alongside her and 2 other groomers in her "Pooch Parlor"

The big thing holding me back from starting immediately is that I need to learn to drive this year, so I could reliably get to work next year.. My parents don't want me driving with insurance under their name, for many reasons (The main one being that their main source of income now that they are retired, is their 4-5 apartment buildings, and those can't be protected if I wind up getting in a wreck and someone sues us) so I would have to research and talk to a lawyer and the insurance company, to figure out how to get around that.. If I can't, well, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Things are still a bit vague, along with the driving thing, Pam and I haven't sat down and discussed the entire thing. but if I can sort a couple of things out, then this year I will be training for a job I will absolutely LOVE.

Anyway, sorry for the random post, I just needed to share my excitement.


Edit: I just realized I posted this in the wrong forum. D'oh!!

Rip's girl,
Congratulation, that is very exciting, to be trained to do something that you know you will love! The grooming world needs people such as yourself, that love dogs and know how to treat them!

As for your driving situation, would it be possible for you to obtain your own car and own insurance? I know its expensive but the reason I bring it up is my kids both did that and it did not effect my insurance at all. I'm in Michigan, so maybe laws are different where you are. But, here if a person has the title of the vehicle and their own insurance, the parents are completely out of it. You can maybe get an older/cheaper vehicle and then just have the basic minimal coverage? That would at least get you back and forth to work. Well, good luck and congrats again!

Hey Rip, I'm happy for you! I hope everything works out. It's so much better to get a job you enjoy doing.

As for the insurance, do your parents own commercial multi-family houses, or do they own one that they reside in? I'm only asking because if they reside in the home, they can get a Homestead Act. Which means, that they are covered up to 100,000.00 if in case an accident may happen, nobody can take away their house up to that amount.

I'm so happy for you finding the opportunity to learn to be a groomer. Keep us updated.

Thanks.

Irish - I can obtain my own car, but I am unsure of whether or not I could get my own insurance because I am under 18. I will definitely look into it, perhaps different insurance companies have different policies that can apply to people under 18. (Now, I suppose it is just a matter of whether or not I can afford to pay for it, I know insurance for minors is usually very expensive.)

Avenlee - Unfortunately, they don't reside in their apartment complexes. They would most likely get a Homestead Act on our current home, but the apartments would still be unprotected.

Grace - that's great news! I'm excited for you

Now, you're probably right on the money on the insurance problem, as a minor cannot legally enter into a binding contract. The simple solution, of course, might just be to take out an obscene amount of liability coverage - enough to make sure the insurance company would defend you to the death rather than pay out to limits. Under most statutes, personally property isn't attachable until after the insurance coverage is exhausted.

Rip this is so exciting! You will be choosing a wonderfully rewarding line if work if you do this! I wish you all the best

Renee, good point. I'll bring that up with my parents. I'm a little cautious of how much more it would cost, though, especially considering that our insurance costs would go WAY up as soon as I get my license/permit, even if I wasn't driving yet. It's still something worth looking into, perhaps I could pay the extra charges that result from my obtaining a license.

Thanks for the tips. I'm still learning about stuff like this. I'm just so happy that I could actually have a shot at a job working hands-on with dogs, and according to Pam (And many other groomers that I have talked to) It's a lot of fun and very rewarding.

That sounds like it would be sooo neat if you could learn that trade and get to work. Congrats. You must have made a great impression on those groomers.

There's another idea your folks could ask about which has it's pros and cons. And that is that they create a corporation rather than a sole proprietorship with this "business" of real estate management. A corporation is a seperate entity from their own personal property. If the insurance is not connected in any way to their business, then that cannot be gone after. (I think I have this right. But they could check with a lawyer.)

ahh shoot gurl, you just come over here and i will teach ya how to drive, so far i have taught 6 people, i can even teach you how to parallel park in one easy lesson. My friend Kelly..everyone had tried to teach her, mother, father, husband..but she panicked so i took her to the graveyard (where i start everyone because they have nice curvey roads to practice) and told her she couldn't hurt anyone here because they were already dead..long story short, she is a good driver..came back from hartford Conn. so i could teach her how to drive a stick..( i am pretty sure she did a little damage to my 65 early mustang but oh well..she got to learn in a realllly cool car. Congrates on the job..don't let them make you anal gland gurl like the did Aaron's girlfriend..that is what she is learning to do, and pet smart is paying for her to go to groomers school after the baby is born..right now she dog washes..

ROFLMAO!!!

You'd have to check with an attorney to be sure on that Dober. It works the opposite direction (if the corporation is sued it protects you personally), but not necessarily in the other direction. A corporation is a unique entity, but the individual stocks can be attached as the personal property of a person being sued, which could, in the wrong circumstances, result in the forced liquidation of the stockholders' assets.

And in some states, personal injuries negate all sorts of protections, so often the only real protection you have is excessive liability insurance.

Bet you never thought you'd read a post like that on the dog forum!

Carrie, I will ask my folks about that. I talked to them this evening and they said they would talk to their attorney about these things (they want me to make a list.) the next time they call her.
Smkie, I wish you could teach me! I've driven before, but it wasn't on a public road. (just on our property) As for driving a stick, my friend has tried her best to teach me and I just can't get it. I've heard it's better to learn on a stick first, is there any truth to that statement?

Oh, and as for being anal gland girl (rofl.) I sure hope I don't wind up doing -all- the dirty work. If that's the worst part of the job, though, I'll be thrilled.

Lots of truth to the stick theory, Grace. The best way to learn to drive a stick shift is to sit in the parked car with the ignition off and just mindlessly punch the clutch and shift through the gears, up and down, over and over and over again until it really is mindless and your foot and your arm move together automatically. Once you've got that down you can start adding things like movement, lol! An empty parking lot is a good place to start with that if you can find one. What you're looking for is a place that's nice and flat and has room for you to go through at least two forward gears, stop and start and practice backing up. If you can find a place that's got a driveway with an incline that's a good place to practice starting out on a hill; that can get a bit stressful the first few times you do it.

And fully expect to kill the motor several times, lol!

Thanks for the tips, Renee! Currently, both of my parents' cars are automatics, but my friend has an old truck with a stick, and I'm going to see if he will let me practice with that. (Although I do wonder what the neighbors would think, me just sitting there in his driveway, with the A/C on, "playing" in the truck like I used to when I was around 5. Perhaps I should add my own motor sounds, just to scare them a bit. LOL.)

Yes, Rene, I definitely know there are pros and cons and a lawyer would need to be asked. I just had sort of a fleeting glimpse of a partial idea. You're right. There could be difficulties either way.

Rip,

My Dad made us kids learn on a stick first thing. (a Volkswagon) He said, "If you can drive a stick, you can drive anything." I'm glad he did. When I was in college, a boyfriend of a friend of mine had a really cool Austin Heely sportscar...convertible. My friend couldn't drive a stick and we were to be lent the car all day for a fun drive to the beach and all over the place. He said, that only Carrie is allowed to drive the car because he had me drive it first with him. I was glad I knew how to drive it. We had a blast rip roaring all over Whidby Island, from the navy base (where this guy was and all kinds of other cute guys) to the beach. And if ever there's someone in need of a driver, whatever the vehicle, you're able to drive it.

I followed suit and made my kids learn first on a stick. Now they're capable too. LOL. Go for it. It doesn't take long to get the feel.

I've had to do a bit of work in that direction lately, Dober . . . NOT the kind of legal work I find interesting - it's terribly tedious - but that's the only reason I'm up on it at all. Corporate stuff just bores me past tears.

Rip's, adding the motor noises might be a nice touch, lol! Your friend might not appreciate you running the AC though. It's kind of hard on one to run it like that, or so I've been told. Whatever you do, though, DON'T practice like that with the motor running because it's going to take some practice before you're smooth at it, and not only will it use a TON of gas, when you get your timing off between your foot and your hand - which WILL happen, lol - if the motor is running it will die, and when it does that it's going to jump forward. Not only will it freak you out, it just might jump into a wall or something And I'll let you figure out how I know this