r/amherst

Hey everyone, I just moved back to the Valley after living in Texas for a bit.

I'm posting this because I'm working on getting my handyman and painting business started back up.

To get my name out there and get some bookings on the schedule, I am offering "pay-what-you-want" handyman services, for a limited time, probably for the next month or so, or until my schedule fills up.

Obviously, you will still need to pay for materials, and I will turn down any offers that don't make sense (ie "Will you paint my house for $100 a room?"). I also don't do landscaping or gutters.

However, if you need trim or drywall fixed, have a small painting project, or have a to-do list you can't get to, give me a call and we can figure something out.

I want to help people with repairs they need but don't have the money for, or can't do themselves. And if you have the budget to pay my going rate and you want to support a local contractor who loves this town, by all means!

I especially love to help seniors, people who are disabled, and people who just need a hand.

Also, I know money is tight for a lot of folks right now, so this is my way of giving back, and providing an affordable service to the various communities here in the Valley.

I live in Easthampton, and I'm reallt happy to be back. I've only been back for a few weeks now and I am continually meeting kind and friendly people here. I'm really happy to be back here and look forward to being active in the community.

So, to summarize, I can't take every job, but if I can help you and I'm not losing money by taking the job, I will make every effort to help you.

Thanks for reading.

You can reach me via dm or call/text me at ‪(413) 282- 8637‬.

- Alex

I've lived here most my life, so I'm not looking for bar recommendations or anything like that. More like what have you found to do that you genuinely were like, wow I had no idea this existed!

Doesn't have to be Amherst. Doesn't have to be Northampton. Just has be to be drivable.

Could be safe for kids, or adults only.

For instance, there is Prodigy Mini Golf.

There's Demented FX in Holyoke.

There's Mass MOCA (whom I more or less forgot about for the longest while)

We're getting near the time of corn mazes.

What other ideas are out there? Or destinations?

My mom's an amazing world renowned storyteller. She's been telling for over 30 years and it's been so cool growing up watching her capture peoples hearts, snatch their souls in seconds and move hundreds of people with nothing but a microphone. She's really a griot keeping the oral tradition alive. She moved here during the pandemic to be closer to me (I was super sick and pregnant at the time). She misses California but has been building her art career over the years here in the area and I'm so proud of her. She just did a radio interview today (Fabulous 413) and has been making so many connections and her last show last year sold out (it was her first time doing this show and something self-produced). I'm hoping this one will do the same (it's hard cause it's summer and lots of folks are out of town). Anyways, I just came across this group, on this day, the night before her show and I figured I'd share. Idk if this is promo or me just saying how proud I am of her. She's taken such a leap of faith, betting on herself, going into early retirement to be an artist and grandma full time, moving across the country. I'm a web designer (and millennial daughter so default tech support, haha) but I do everything I can to help her follow her dreams (programs, reels, flyers, website, just all the tech stuff that artists need these days, things she actually never needed before because everyone knew her back home). Anyways, the show is called Fredella Mae's Daughter is a Storyteller: Folk Stories From The Black American South and Beyond. She weaves together folk tales from the diaspora and personal narratives in between about my grand/great grandparents. It's beautiful, sentimental, just brilliant and will make you laugh and cry and be on the edge of your seat and just FEEL. Cheers to the oral tradition. Cheers to my mommy. If you're looking for something to do you won't regret going. I'm so excited for her and am genuinely looking forward to going again myself.