quoting a custom bookshelf job in rural Ohio and the client ghosts me after I drop $1500 estimate

Out here in rural Ohio, I just spent a whole Saturday measuring this old farmhouse for a custom oak bookshelf with adjustable shelves and a ladder track, only to email the guy a $1500 quote using Kreg pocket holes for the joinery and he vanishes. Thought we had a good rapport too, showed him some Festool Domino samples to excite him. Now I'm stuck with the takeoff sketches and no deposit. FML.

Goddamn homeowners, always backing out when they see the real numbers on fine woodwork like that. We're getting screwed by cheapskates who watch one YouTube vid and think they can DIY it themselves. Screw em, find the next one.

Happened to me twice last month on cabinet jobs, wasted hours on detailed plans just to get ignored. Pisses me off enough to start charging a $200 design fee upfront now.

Feel that, brother. Those ghost jobs eat up your time worse than a dull blade. Hang in there, rural gigs can be hit or miss but the good ones pay off big.