I wish I could say I was Mr. Holmes because then I wouldn't probably be here. But in all honesty I take his show differently then you guys do. I take the way his show is portrayed as a challenge to learn everything and anything I can in my trade to help myself be more of a professional, and to help convey confidence to the homeowner, who in turn instill their trust in me. Because I think Mike is a pretty knowledgeable guy who I know if I was a home owner and he was on my project I would trust him.
While the pay is great, I also get a kick out of getting paid to do quality work for people. I always look for ways to improve my installations, make them last longer, be more durable, and overall look great. To know not just where the pipes go but why they are arranged in that fashion. An to be able to understand not just what codes govern me but also why they govern what I'm doing.
That is why I use resources such as this discussion board - to get better, and learn more. And guys like Mr. Holmes have in a sense created a challenge not just to home owners to do their research, but to other tradesman to try and be the guys these researchers find. To be one of the "good" and not "the bad" or "the ugly."
Tradesmen are often perceived as people who smoke, drink, and do drugs and who do dirty, stinky hard work, and I think his show, attaches more prestige to trades than is commonly believed. It shows a bunch of guys who care not just about their work but about the customer.
I find it ironic that people on here are so threatened by him and his apparent "cawky" attitude, when in reality he is encouraging people to find ways to look for good, hard working, honest tradesman out there. The only people I could see being threatened by him are hacks - are you a hack?