Envy is a disease
I thought before that banksters are cool. I used to think that all motor sports are cool. I used to think that if you’re working for a large corporation with a big salary, you’re cool. I never actually thought that I, who renovate houses for a loving, would be cool.
Renovating houses in the 1980’s wasn’t really the way to go. There were so many cool things around that one was able to do and then I went and chose renovating (in Finnish: remontti) houses. I started off with small apartments and saw the opportunity to make some money quite fast. I realized however that I would need a bit of starting capital for the business really to kick off. I never got any capital.
What I did was that I bought a small apartment, went to the local K-Rauta, browsed around, searched for inspiration and then took everything I needed and started working. It usually took me from one to two months to get an apartment renovated. During these months I didn’t go out much nor did I have any kind of social life. It was fun though – can’t even imagine all the things that run through your head when you’re alone, renovating your next paycheck.
The banksters who we envied were the ones buying the freshly renovated apartments. This was good for me but even better for them because they weren’t short of money nor were they then short of a great apartment either. These days the setting has gone upside down though. We don’t envy banksters anymore, we don’t want to work for a large corporation nor do we want to watch every damn motor sport on TV. We want to create things. We want to experience and live life as it. We don’t want to be hectic all the time and we demand quality in our lives. We respect the ones who do their honest job and we eat the meat from the local butcher. What I am trying to say is that renovating apartments today means more to the other people than it used to but it is all the same for me. I love it and I have always loved it. Renovating your next paycheck, not talking to anyone for a few months – that is life.
