A Construction Worker and his LifeA Short Story of some off-tilt personalitiesOff Tilt Personality
"Tilt” means someone is making decisions for emotional reasons that he would
not normally make. Wild aggression is just its most visible form.
Another form is to become so upset, frightened, or convinced you can’t win
at business or in your personal life that you make irratitic decisions.
Your decision base is so bad as to deteriorate your odds so much that the
“I can’t win” belief becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Now for our story Background
The Construction Workers Job - The setting
A worker is skilled in building offices or dwellings etc., building or assembly of any
infrastructure. Although this may be thought of as a single activity, in fact
construction is a feat of multitasking. Normally the job is managed by the construction
manager, supervised by the project manager, design engineer or project architect.
Journeymanjour·ney·man (jûrn-mn)
n.
1. One who has fully served an apprenticeship in a trade or craft and is a qualified
worker in another's employ.
2. An experienced and competent but undistinguished worker.
A Day at WorkA day at work - A short Fiction
Fiction has long been a medium of societal expression. Lets take a look at the
life of a construction worker and his impact on the world.
A day at work - This is a Short Story Fiction
The Construction Workers; Setting the scene: A Fictional Account
The workers that are common to the construction field are typically males
with not a lot of post graduate education. Most have graduated form high
school. They typically don't care to work with women because of the heavy
lifting involved. Some would rather see the women bare foot and pregnant
so to speak, rather than taking jobs away from the men.
This male dominated field consists of many non educated macho and strong types
who do not care for the week and passive. There is a lot of lifting and heavy
tools and machines around as well as long hours of labor intensive activities
in which not many can handle. Because of the extreme conditions the type of
worker is often different than the typical person you might meet on the street.
They are tweaked a little bit differently and this is the reason for our story.
Story Background and Setting
The Characters names and general background:Crent - Average build, hyper guy, he likes the go-go pills, age 39
would rather be building a boat than lifting back breaking crates.
Gim - Obese Journeyman, easy going to an extent, tired
and ready to retire after 22 years, age 46 - Enjoys the pharmaceutics.
Would like to retire in Costa Rica and enjoy the sunny days and
clear water.
Rob - Whining worker, doesn't work, average build, always looking for a way out.
age 50. Would be better of working in a library or bookstore which wouldn't
require to much lifting or hard work.
Billy - Known as dollar Bill, 5'11", slender, talks a lot and doesn't get much done,
age 43. Always looking for an angle, could easily set up at a flee market
swap meet type of shop to sell his wares, except he has not the money nor
the ability to stay away from the casino's.
Rolo - Obese, loves to eat, 5'6'', doesn't work much, and always takes it easy.
Dropped the go-go pills recently. Would enjoy a savory two hour meal. Age 46
Should be sent to Chef school for he loves to spend all his days off in the
kitchen working on his new recipes.
Myself - Back to work after a fall/injury. Self starter Leadman and Entrepeneur,
easy going, 5'8", starting over from scratch after a long term injury,
age 41. Always looking to make work interesting by learning something
each day.
Story Background Continued:
All of these workers have been in this high paying construction field for at
least 10 years and they generally will not be going anywhere else because
this job is the best they can do and could be very rewarding if it weren't
for a few of their personal challenges that face them daily. Lets take a look
at these challenges and explore the life of a construction worker.
Every worker eventually has to go "Back to Work"
Back to work after my back surgery and four and a half years later I needed to go
into the high paying field of Construction to pay off some bills. So here I go,
ready or not.
The characters you meet
Before we sign in, people start showing up that I haven't seen in five years.
Rolo says hello, and then tells me an antidote: "The doctor asked Rolo if he ate
a lot of limes because there was very little calcium in and around his teeth, and he
said, sure, not wanting to tell him he'd been on the go-go pills for 20 years which
had rotted them out." This is one of many stories from this genre yet to come from
Rolo.
Dollar Bill
Billy, is nicknamed Dollar Bill because he brings candy bars and cokes for everyone,
for the mere price of a dollar bill and besides that his first name is Bill which is
appropriate for his nickname. He says, "hi, long time no see", and I ask how business
is and he says it has been steady, the chocolates are going fast. Billy gets construction
work by supplying all of the workers with sweets, so they like to have him around
although he rarely breaks a sweat at work. Bringing carbohydrates to work is his angle
to getting on the work call.
Drinking Ahead - CautionTime for the safety speech:
We always get the safety speech in the beginning of the day and it is always about the
same. It goes something like this, "Be safe and don't use drugs because yesterday we
lost three more guys during lunch break because the cops were cruising our area and
caught them with some go-go pills and now we are short three guys! And stay away from
the heavy equipment because the old timers tend to drink like a fish and hit everything
in their way. Walk very fast away from any heavy equipment coming your way. Remember
that the blood vessel is only 1/8 of an inch deep in your hand so watch out how you
carry sharp tools. Stay away from the parking lot because the cops will be cruising
there again this lunch time, and be safe!"
We then go to our designated work areas and are assigned jobs and partners.
I was given a work partner named Crent, as we are all given partners so that we can
help each other on ladder work, etc. I'd rather be with him than with his buddy who
had a tattoo on each finger and toe reading f-u-c-k. Crent wasn't one to be bossed around and
had a real hatred for the women who were at times his lead. After his cussing and
groaning about the lead girl, he then switched and I ended up with him. My every order
was with hesitation on my part as he was wound up to tight. Every request I made
started with, please if you don't mind and if it is not out of your way would you
please . . .
Finally he began to relax so that we could have an enjoyable time at work.
Because you spend a lot of time with these guys you eventually start hearing all of
their stories, which always begins with; My such and such wife/girlfriend did this
and that and ends with, and I have had a drug problem that I am just now getting over.
Crent's wife and mother in-law live in one house and he lives in another. He can do no
right according to the mother in-law, even when he is trying his best. Then he ends
the story with the fact that he is quitting the go-go pill because he doesn't want
his son to see him that way. He does admit to me that he has a short fuse, and it
may be from all the go-go pills being plunged into his body for so long, in which he
suffers from huge highs and lows and can no longer drink a sip of coke or have any
stimulant because he says it gets him to up and he no longer wants to be under that
type of feeling.
Assigned a new work partner:
Gim has been doing this business for 22 years and he states that everything hurts. Too
much hard work for too long. His goal is to get some really good prescription pills,
called Oxi's to stop the pain in his legs and back. Being overweight is hard for
Gim because he is on his feet from 10 to 12 hours a day. He didn't work to much last
year because he was taking some go-go pills and slept through the next day rather than
going to work on a work call. This unreliability hurt his work call.
Construction Worker Prepares for workGim's Work Goals:
Gim's goal was to not work to hard and get paid for it anyway and because he has been
around longer than most, he has made it into a Leadman position and may be able to
delegate all of his work. He walked up to me, remembering me from the old days, which
I didn't really recall, and he told me to stick with him and I wouldn't have to work
to hard. He was right to his word and I basically followed him around and gave him
advice on projects he wanted confirmation with, and I was ready for any hard jobs
that could not be figured out by the rest of the group. I did work but not as hard as
usual.
Gim's boss saw me walking around with Gim and immediately told him that he didn't need
a lackey and told me to go to another section. There went my gravy job. After working
for 10+ hours I wasn't too interested in killing myself on hard labor, but the rule is
that nobody leaves until the job is done.
You can fall into the cracks somewhat on a huge job and this is what you really want
to do if your back, feet and head hurt. Gim told me to just disappear for a few minutes
and come back and everything would be ok. I was hoping I wouldn't get caught for
disappearing for a few minutes, but somehow I got away with it. I just wasn't in the
mood to kill myself on heavy labor. My thought was as long as I was working hard with
Gim, his boss would realize this and be happy.
Heavy Crates
Let the kids do the heavy lifting for long hours was my thinking (kids aged 25-30 never
seem to get tired.). We spent the rest of the night laboring at our own speed and not
killing ourselves. There was actually a foot massager we found and would go over to
during our breaks to get relief for our aching feet. It is hard to labor on your feet
for an excess of 12 hours and that little foot massager felt like heaven.
Nobody seems to have any tools or any car. It's like working with a bunch of guys who
were just released from a halfway house. I loaned out my most important tools to a
friend, and we exchanged phone numbers in case we got separated. I hope to see him
again as these are important tools, but was glad that he could use mine, so he could
get the big hours without having to go home early. Everybody has a family and they
are all in need of as much overtime as possible.
In the meantime, Rob, a worker who doesn't get much work because he doesn't work when
he is supposed to be working, came up to me to complain about how he didn't understand
the work. He'd been in this business for 12 years and the job is always the same but he
still didn't get it. After I explained his job to him three times, Gim got fed up with
him and sent him on a bogus errand to get rid of wining Rob. He just gets on your nerves,
Gim complained, ruining any type of good day you might have had.
Gim needed a ride home at the end of the night and I suspect that either his car was
broken down or he had too many DUI's or speeding tickets or they took his vehicle away
in a drug related mishap or he just doesn't like owning cars. This is wild speculation
on my part. Who really knows what it might of been, but he saved me from a day of heavy
lifting so I wanted to help him get home.
A good bottle of wine must breatheI have no time for idle whining
At this time, whining Rob came up to me and wanted a ride as well. Gim really hated this
guy so there is no way I could put both of these guys in the same car. I had to make
up a story that I couldn't possibly take everybody home who needed a ride, and whining
Rob would have to find his own way. He still wouldn't budge so I had to get a bit rude
and exclaim that it wasn't my job or my problem that he couldn't get home. (By the way,
a bus could take him home but he just didn't want to wait for one in the cold.) He
finally got the message and whined as he walked slowly walked away from my vehicle.
End of Day OneCheck Back Later For Day Two
I do not make allowances for the use of drugs/alcohol or any mind altering substances.
Life is what it is and the reality is that pills are very addictive and it is hard to
kick the habit once you start going down the wrong road in life.
I hope you enjoyed this tale, be sure and come back again sometime soon!
Day Two
The people you Meet
The Characters names and general background:John - Part time professional photographer, old tool and die maker
ready for retirement, now in construction, average build, age 60.
Chris - Good looking girl who is quite a bit more beautiful than she
actually knows. Blond, self directed, flirtatious and interested
in success.
Peter - New worker, interested in doing construction full time because
other jobs don't pay enough. Experienced Forklift driver.
Bill - Old timer who was a Geologist and is now good at the Highlift
and travels the country with this special skill.
Doy - Friendly worker who disappears for months at a time and then
reappears.
Chris is the Beautiful Girl who doesn't know she is Beautiful
It was wonderful to work with someone with a face of an angel.
The Day Begins
I first ran into John early in the morning and wanted to catch up with things
since I hadn't seen him in a long time. I found out that he is quite disturbed
with the "club"
which he says runs our country. These are the good old boys
who are both Democrats and Republicans who have never had to work a labor job
in their lives, yet they represent those very people's best interests. He explains
to me that this club sticks together and they don't let the general public know
that this club exists or that they live off of the fat of the taxpayer's tariffs
mostly paid by the laborers of the world, who don't have adequate health care,
retirement or income. This was not exactly 'soup' conversation for waking up
in the morning. Club or not, I sure am not invited so I decided it was time
to get to my designated job site.
As a pleasant surprise I was able to meet the new comer, Chris, a spontaneous
serious yet fun girl who I would try to teach the ropes too. She looked so young
in many ways and yet confident and worldly. She probably grew up to fast and
is paying that price yet nobody ever told her how great her brain is, which makes
it unnecessary to use her women's playful sensual nature. Of course, I won't mind
if she uses this bag of wares to get attention, however it is totally unnecessary,
and loses her chance of being treated as a potential lead person, as one cannot
follow a person who is flirty and non serious on the job site. Finding that she
has had the same exact injuries as me makes me feel a bit closer to her as we
have had a bit of a similar lot. What a joy it is to see a beautiful face on the
job site for a change.
San Andreas Fault
Bill is quite a surprise. An old guy, maybe 70 years old who acts and moves like
a 50 year old. He travelers for work where he'd like to be and enjoys every minute
of socializing with the other workers. Yet he says he hates hearing everyone's
stories, he sure likes telling his own. In his first career he was a Geologist
and would climb down five hundred foot drilled holes and try to guess when the
next quake would be with his sensitive instruments. Then one day while in a hole,
a quake began and he fell twenty feet, breaking his back. After years of rehab.
he was able to walk again and now he is in construction, and won't go back into
that deep dark hole as a Geologist. He will always be a Geologist at heart.
Staying close to the dirt and wearing comfortable flannel shirts and with his
many types of hammers. His SUV is for getting dirty and bumpy and is without
fancy tires with spinning rims. His goal is to have fun without worrying about
things like what other people think. One can learn a lot about living by watching
him in his seasoned years. As he was leaving, he told me to stay away from the
go-go pills and then grinned widely, showing a noticeable gap where his front teeth
should have been.
I ended up with Peter for most of the day. Peter is another new worker who appeared
to be in some sort of gang in his previous younger days. His name was in cursive
tattooed on his neck and he had a tattoo of a cross between his thumb and fore finger
which looked very rough edged like a prison tattoo that was prison made and done
without the use of an electric drill. Although his appearances were a bit rough,
he turned out to be a real nice guy. His main goal in life was to become a forklift
driver and so I pulled some strings to get him an appointment with my supervisor,
for it is a who you know business. I wish him well, as he seems very serious minded
and am hoping he fulfills his dream.
Forklift Operator
Just as he left to see the forklift supervisor, Doy walks up to me to say hello. I was
quite surprised, and even astonished because I was told a day before that he had
passed away from a go-go overdose. I said, Doy, your not dead? No, he said, give
me a few more years yet! I surely was glad to see Doy up from the grave and walking
around. Who knows where all the rumors come from?
On the way out I ran into another guy who I knew had left the business because
of back problems and was surprised to see him again. He did look alot different
than before, being that he now had a goatee that was a footling instead of the
usual clean cut look. Jib, I said, it's really good to see you, what have you
been up to. He told me that his punk band hit it big and he was out promoting
his new record and was going straight to the airport for a European Tour. Wow,
I thought, he really has hit the big time, and apparently he is able to hold
a job in the music business even with a bad back. Probably, no more mosh pits
for him because he shattered his lower vertebrae in a fall. We exchanged phone
numbers, and I thought, wow this has been a successful day running into all of
my old friends and they turned out to all be alive and well!
End of Day Two.
If you enjoy the reading, please check back for further updates!
Day Threedignitary
noun
An important, influential person: character, eminence, leader, lion, nabob,
notability, notable, personage. Informal big-timer, heavyweight, somebody,
someone, VIP. Slang big shot, big wheel, bigwig, muckamuck. See important.
A different way to start a day
Today was different than most. I end up working at the famous Hotel Bel-Air, which
was different than being on the docks. Since it opened in 1946 several
presidents have been through there doors. When Presidents Lyndon Johnson,
Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan or George Bush visited Los Angeles,
they often stayed at Hotel Bel-Air to find constituents and to build their
vast empires. This was considered the "Western White House" by some of the rich
and famous who went through their doors during the Reagan era.
Bell created Bel-Air Estates in 1922. Bell acquired over 600 acres west of the
city of Los Angeles, naming his new purchase "Bel-Air." Determined that the estates
would become an exclusive and upscale neighborhood, he enhanced the surrounding area
with new roads, utilities, a country club and lush, exotic vegetation. This would
surely bring in the rich and famous.
What is now Hotel Bel-Air's main mission-style building was originally built as Bell's
estate planning and sales offices at Stone Canyon Road. These offices were located
next to the Bel-Air Stables where residents could board their horses and enjoy the
miles of equestrian trails winding throughout the canyons. 92-room Bel-Air hotel,
is virtually the place where everybody who is anybody has stayed and enjoyed the
quality of perfection in this hotel.
Hotel Bel-Air quickly became a favorite of the rich and famous. Hollywood celebrities
and world dignitaries were frequent guests at the young and glamorous retreat.
If you wanted privacy, this was the place to be. This is how it came about that
I ran into some suspected Captains of Industry dispelling the myth that I thought
my friend and made up in his mind about their being an exclusive secret club
in which only the rich and powerful people knew about. By accident I was there,
and witnessed such an gathering.
There was a high amount of security when I showed up in the morning and couldn't
get to my job without sneaking around through the back. No Badge, No Entry.
As I wondered through the halls looking for my foreman a man with an ear piece
immediately stopped me and told me to leave the second floor immediately. This
seemed to be a complete surprise to me because usually security guards are much
friendlier in hotels. He then said, "second floor, clear" speaking into his
lapel.
Delegate's Conference
It was at this time that I noticed several more security people coming through the
building and many limousines pulling up. There were guards at every entrance
and a sign reading, for delegates only. All these delegates went into the
great room, called the Beverly Hills Room also known as the "Growler" and food entrées
such as lamb and Veal were brought in by staff accompanied by more security.
I thought this was quite strange because usually hotel guests are not guarded.
I found out
that the name of the meeting was called, "Real Deals, International" and
the only person who would talk to me told me that he flew up from Mexico
City and was here for the day, to make some important contacts regarding
Mexico/American business transactions and would be back home by 1:00am
the next morning. His country is very poor and needed this American
financing to build resorts.
I finally figured out what John was talking about with the good old boys
club which runs the world. I was here and it was happening today.
What does a deal maker look like and are they different than the rest
of us? You wouldn't be able to pick them out of a crowd because they
were not overly dressed or flashy. Some were actually looking quite
informal. The only way you could tell the difference is besides the large
amount of security and special palate with appetite, is in there way of speaking.
New members were introduced with this common phrasing, "He is a smart fellow,
one of us", and "He's trading hotels for commodities right now" I think
we can do some business with a good guy like that.
I'm no business major, but I am sure I would not be able to keep up with any
of there conversations, nor would I be able to speak with them without being
fired. A fellow employee had sticky fingers and a bag disappeared only to be
found in this employees possession and things got ugly. Unfortunately, my
sticky finger construction friends sometimes have a compulsion to take things
whether they have paid for them or not. This guy was immediately removed from
the facility by special staff and my foreman assured the head dignitary that this
particular employee would not work in our industry again. It is one thing to borrow
a knife or fork from a facility without asking and it is quite another to take a
Dignitaries attaché case. There are no second chances, and there is a good chance
of jail time, such being the life of many of the transient construction workers
that live for what they can get today regardless of the payment of tomorrow.
A lesson learned.
End of Day threeDay Four
Each day seems to have its particular peculiarities. In the early morning before
we are assigned work duties; there is much talk about sports, news and personal
lives which seems to be forever entertaining. A friend told me that his
week wasn't so great because he had to go to court for going three miles over the
speed limit in which the judge told him that he had never seen in all his years
of sitting on the bench. The judge said, "You must have pissed of the cop pretty bad
for him to write that ticket." So it is off to traffic school which he has to
fit in between his mandatory anger management classes. Luckily though, he has
a plan to get out of all of his problems. Also, he tells me his housekeeper
keeps unplugging his expensive satelite dish each week in order to plug in the
vacuum cleaner which messes up the programming. So he is now learning Spanish so
that he can tell her that unplugging his dish is a bad idea.
Bikini Girls - BarbershopWhy not have an Bikini Barbershop?
A barber (from the Latin barba, "beard") is someone whose occupation is to cut any
type of hair, give shaves and cut beards.
The barber's trade is an extremely ancient one. Razors have been found among relics
of the Bronze Age (circa 3500 BC) and barbering is mentioned in the Bible by Ezekiel
who said "And Thou, son of man, take thee a barber's razor and cause it to pass upon
thine head and upon thine beard."
My friend decided to save up enough money to open up a barber shop. He now rolls his
own cigarettes to save up for this dream. Saving about six dollars a day he should
be ready to open his shop in five or six years. The real success he says is in how
he will be running this cutting edge shop. His plan is to open it in a Mexican area
of town and have scantily clad bikini girls cut the hair for the Mexican men who are
far from home and family. He figures the lonely men will be getting hair cut trims
two or three times a week just to enjoy the scenery. These would be the best looking
workers in the area, he said. I did wish him luck on his new dream as I hope everyone
can succeed in their dreams, no matter how far fetched. For some reason, most of
my construction worker friends dreams end with a scantiliy clad women in the middle
of it all and who am I to rain on his parade?
Now back to work, and roll call. Soon after roll call I went to my assigned
location in which nobody seemed to know which department head I was to report
to. I signed in with three different bosses who would all send me to the
other boss. Apparently my name fell between the cracks and nobody actually
had any work assignments for me to do all day long. This was a strange
situation. I am here at work and no boss will give me a job, so as not be
sent home early I started working on jobs that I assigned myself because
I have been around so long I know what jobs are not being done correctly
or should be fixed. Nobody wanted to ask me what I was doing because they
were already supposed to know what everybody was doing and they didn't want
to look stupid so they just left me alone. So here I am doing work and
reporting to no one, like an independent contractor yet I am just labor.
Well, apparently, I was doing such a good job that I got a lot of overtime
that day. Everybody thought I was doing something important for the other
boss and doing such a good job.
I am sure there will not be another day like this one when I choose my own
work and choose to work or not to work for the day. I am sure tomorrow
I will have a real task and a real work load, but for one day I was actually
a non person, and not on anybodies task list. No requirements, no schedule,
no time limits. It was great to be my own boss for one day. For the first
day in my life I was a free man and didn't have to answer to anyone. My
indenturement
to my boss seemed to be lifted for the day. As we are all indentured
in one way or another to our work because without a check coming in the house
mortgage and insurance would not be paid and the car payments would not be made,
forcing us onto the streets with nothing but the shirts on our backs. So we labor
on and try to get ahead by working long hours in order to please our bosses, and
pay our mortgages. We agree to give a full days work for a paycheck which will help
to suffice our lifestyles and comfort level.
Indenturein·den·ture (in-den'ch?r)
n.
A contract binding one party into the service of another.
To bind into the service of another.
I'm hoping that one day we will all have our mortgages paid off and bills paid
in full so that we can do what ever we want but until then, back to work!
I have a feeling that day five will actually require some real hard work
since this day didn't seem to wipe me out. Each new day is a new mystery
yet to be discovered. And after all, you do have to pay the piper eventually,
so it looks like I owe some really hard work in the near future.
End of Day FourDay Five
Today I got to work with a guy I am nicknaming Cranium, do to the fact that
he feels he has all of the answers including where the terrorists secret cells
are and the real plot behind 911 as well as having a photographic memory. Because he
is so smart and knows to much, the FBI has deleted all of his school records and
made it look as if he has never existed. This was very hard for him because of his
many outstanding achievements including writing over 1000 songs that were number one
hit records that many top celebrities have used, which are played on the
radio constantly in which he did not get credit for. He states, "I haven't received
a dime from my 1000 hit songs!"
How did they take his songs which he had written? Mind control. Some Black
Rogue Agents had tapped into his mind while he was composing these hit songs,
and the next week those very same songs he had made up were now on the Radio and
TV has top hits be famous singers. As a matter of a fact, the first song that
was ripped off by a celebrity, Britney Spears, was just a trial to see if he
loved her or not. Britney still travels by his work place and drives by his
house just to tease him because she knows that he loves her. Has he met her
in person? No, but they communicate through numerology and through the music
that she sings on the radio which has hidden messages that only he can decipher.
As far as terrorists go, he seems to be bumping into them on a monthly basis. For
some reason they are always going in the same direction and same place as himself.
So he has to keep an eye out so he can tell the FBI there whereabouts. Has he
contacted the FBI, of course, this is his civic duty. After 131 emails to the
FBI, they have stopped responding to him, and for some reason they may not be
getting his emails because they have started to bounce back. Maybe this is another
Black Rogue operation which is continuing to disrupt his life. He's not sure,
but he can't tell me any more information because the situation is of a need
to know nature. As for his music, he is going to try one more time to write a
hit song, but knows it is hopeless because someone keeps on steeling his original
ideas and giving it to famous singers, changing the lyrics slightly so it appears
that these songs are different than his original. Cranium only wishes they would
leave him alone and let him lead his own life without following him around all
of the time because it is very annoying and he has a complete lack of privacy.
Well he fits in perfect in the Construction world and his story is one of many
that I hear at the work place. It doesn't matter if no one believes him, because
he knows the real truth. This is a dominant theme, which is that one guy knows
all the answers in the world but nobody will take him seriously so he his robbed
of his fame and of his freedom as well as his free will and his opportunity to
save the world. I do hope that one day he will be taken seriously and get the
attention that he seeks. As he seems like a nice guy underneath all of the
conspiracy talk.
End of Day FiveDay Six
Today I ran into a guy named Bob. Here is a guy who does two jobs at once.
Not only is a common construction worker doing grunt work but he is also
a scheduler for another company, so he is constantly on the phone making
contacts to fill calls on for this other company. This cuts into his productivity
time and he does get into trouble for this, so he gets back into good graces
by buying lunch for everybody and providing free tools to his friends, etc.
He is a good hustler and has made his way through many years the construction
field without getting injured, which is almost impossible to do, being the
nature of the heavy lifting work.
It only takes one twist to reck your back. Apparently, on the day that I was paired
up to him, this was not a good day for his back. After 20 years of being injury
free, he woke up with intense pain to his lower back. So here we are at work and
he can't lift anything, which makes everybody elses job harder because he cannot
help us. You'd think he'd take the day off work but in this profession, if you
leave for the day you may not be scheduled for another two weeks and you will
lose your medical benefits which have to be earned in hours each quarter. In other
words, you can't take medical leave or you will lose your medical coverage, that
is what I call a catch-22.
So, off he goes to see the local Go-Go pills guy, who is able to suddenly make all
of your pain vanish for the day. Yep, this did the trick and so Bob was feeling
real good when he got back from break.
Bob has seen both worlds, the world of being in labor and the world of being in
management as he was doing both at the same time. You'd think that being in
management would be easier because there is no lifting involved, but what you
don't think about is the enemies you may or may not make while being in management.
It is the managers job to hire and fire employees, and some of these construction
workers are already on their last dime and on their last thread when it is time
for layoffs. In this particular instance, a worker who had taken to many go-go
pills decided to help himself to all of the checks at Bobs office and hand them
out to all of the construction worker laborers. This got him fired by Bob. But
since this guy was so strung out he came looking for Bob, for a piece of revenge.
In his mind he thought that Bob had black listed him from the industry, which
never happened.
During lunch, this guy confronted Bob, with a child on his shoulders. He stated,
"Your taking food from my sons mouth by firing me and black listing me from
my chosen profession!" He then spit in Bob's food, and then spit in Bob's face.
Well, this was quite a surprise to me because I usually am not a witness to such
abrupt behavior. Then I remembered, this is the constuction field and anything
goes out here. It is like the Wild West O.K. Corral out here. Most of these guys
are coming from or going back into prison between construction jobs. Half the
guys have to take off early one day a week to meet with their probation officers.
This is a rough and tough business and no back ground checks are needed here.
The Last Word
Bob, being very well known in the industry, was able to kick this abrupt
spitting gentleman off the job and out of the work area. Now, he really was
black listed from the industry.
Lesson learned, if your going to spit on them make sure they are not a job
foreman with lots of power because you will be out of a job and out of the
industry in no time. I have fired plenty of times for no good reason and I
have felt like getting even, but something always pulls me back. There will
be more job opportunities in the future if you learn to walk away from a fight
and remember that it will get better in the future if you keep your nose clean
and work hard.
End of Day SixDay Seven
Today I had to break in a new guy to the construction field. Because this is
a who you know industry, I always eventually get around to asking, "how did
you get into this business" and that way I know who their friend is who
got them in the business and in most cases the friends you have are similar
to your own personality.
Bookie - Sports Betting
He beat me to the punch by telling me this long story about how he has a gambling
habit and in the end of the story he told me his bookie told him to take this
job or else, because he owed $1,500.00 to some very unscrupulous characters.
Needless to say, he worked quite hard and was eager to learn the trade. I guess,
for some, a certain amount of enthusiasm is created when they know a lot is
on the line. Having fingers and toes was a good idea, so this new guy worked very
hard to please the job foreman and the bookie, and that was just fine with me.
It is usually the opposite, in which the worker is more interested in dodging
work than in actually working. It is interesting how a good work ethic can be
prodded along with the right inputs, in this case the opportunity to learn
a profession or break a leg. The latter is a whole lot more painful.
Today, two people got the tap out, which goes something like this: A supervisor
watches you from afar and watches how many breaks you take and how long they
are as well as how effective you are in the work place. If you are not working
at the pace the "Corporate Spy" likes, he comes to you, taps you on the shoulder
and says, "make it out". That means you have been cut from your job and will
be sitting at home for two weeks. The bottom line is that you need to keep one
eye on your job and the other on that corporate guy who is watching your every
move.
Some employees have not learned this skill and they get, "tapped out" which means
that they are going to be sitting home and not able to pay their bills because
of this. You can be "tapped out" for being a minute early for a break or a minute
late back from lunch. The Corporate guy has no sympathy and does not care about
excuses. There is no second chance and so you need to know when you are being
watched as you better be working at three times the speed when this time keeper
is watching you. If you have water, make sure you put some on your face as it
looks like you are sweating, which the Corporate guys love. This is all informal
training that the older more experienced journeymen explain to the apprentice.
Know your surroundings and that means know who is watching you.
I usually tell the new guy, do what I do and you will make it through the day without
being "tapped out." As we are all in this business for one reason only, and that
is to make money in order to pay the mortgage and we don't want to get "tapped out."
My new found friend, the newbie as they call the first day guy, happened to be a
dare devil. He told me he made a skateboard which he can travel up to 50 miles
per hour on and wants to set a new skateboard world record. He figured out that
the bigger the wheels on the skateboard, that faster he can go and the faster he
goes, the better his chances of getting a sponsor to pay for all of his gear.
Speed Skateboard
This skateboard is special because it has six inch wheels and is long as a surfboard.
He finds the steepest hill he can find and actually races cars from a standstill and
usually wins because the cars let him go by as they are so surprised that some guy is
keeping up with their vehicle. Unfortunately, this newbie guy never learned to
wear protection for wipe outs so he has many titanium plates throughout his body,
holding him together, and early arthritis, but he says that's ok because he is
a hero to those young kids who cannot keep up to him.
He's quite the ladies man as many skateboard chicks want to get to know him
a lot better, and although he is married, he told me it is just to hard to push
them away, and is that considered cheating on his wife? Well, I sure didn't want
to get in the way of his illusion, and told them a quick kiss of hello or goodbye
is fine, just like the Brazilians do it as a gesture of friendship. Anything
more may be misconstrued along the way. Not that my advise mattered, people
generally do what they want regardless of consequences. If they have
the opportunity to have fun, 9 times out of 10, they will take it, regardless
of who they might be hurting in the long run. You can lead a horse
to water, but if it isn't thirsty, you are really wasting your time with
that horse! Some people just don't play by the rules of morality, etc. and
sometimes that is just the way it goes, especially in the constuction industry.
End of Day SevenDay EightThe Harley and a few bumps along the roadHarley Davidson Motorcycle
The usual suspects showed up for work again today, however our lead guy had
bruises and scars all over him. When I asked what had happened he said that
his wife ran over him with his own car when she found out he was having an
affair. He said that she sure loves me but she might be a little crazy! He
said that his Harley motorcycle had broken down on the street and his wife
saw him on the side of the road and then swerved at him, knocking him into
the bushes and totaling his Harley. That bike is going to cost a lot to
fix he had exclaimed. Our lead guy had to take leave after finding he could
not use his right arm in lifting until injuries heal. We lost another guy
after a half day because he had an appointment with the road crew picking
up trash as he needed 1200 hours of community service this year to stay out
of jail for a minor drug offense. During the night we also lost a few other
laborers because they needed to check in with Alcoholics and NA Anonymous
for their daily meetings and/or the probation officer had to speak with
them to make sure they were staying out of trouble. This is quite typical
for the construction business. The law is never too far behind the laborer
who can't walk a straight line.
The Harley
The above Harley story reminds me of last week when one of the very few female
construction workers showed up with scars completely covering both arms. She
had fallen from a Harley she had rented the day before and the brakes locked
on her while on the freeway, flinging her in front of the Harley. She was
lucky not to be run over by her own vehicle that day. She was tough though,
a few stitches and back to work, bloody and all.
Port O Potty for those on the Go!
A new guy showed up on the job and you really don't want to work with new
guys because they are green and can hurt both you and themselves while learning
the trade. After having him there for a few hours and him not doing a thing, it
was made clear to me that he didn't want to be there. He was probably sent over
by his probation officer and would rather be doing something else. Well, by
the second break he announced that he needed to use the restroom and the ones
at the facility were not good enough for him so he went home, never to return.
So much for job satisfaction. Definitely construction work is not for everyone
and especially not for those who want to stay clean and do nothing. You don't
get that opportunity until you have paid your dues and have moved up the ladder
to a higher supervisory level.
Boom Lift Certifcate
The rest of the day was uneventful, as I was on the hanging crew about 35 feet
in a condor crane boom lift putting on some final facades. I am glad for the harness
I was wearing especially since I am afraid of great heights.
Believe it or not, the President of this major corporation we were working for
walked by looking at our work and he was very impressed with our work. He stood
out quite a bit as he was short, only about 5 foot 4 with a perfectly fitted
Italian suit and a bright purple tie. His driver had pulled up in the Rolls Royce
moments before and his entourage walked through the site with the general foremen
and then off they went to their next board meeting. This is the closest I have
gotten to a multi million dollar man.
This goes to show you that you never know what will come through the door while
working in your chosen career. In this case the weakest looking guy is the most
powerful and had the biggest presence on our job site. Which definitively shows
you the brains are more important than bronze.
End of Day EightDay NineThe Leadman and the Tribulations
In most cases no worker wants to become a boss or leadman because of the stress
and responsibility of making everything happen on time and on schedule and having
to deal with workers who won't listen. You need to watch closely your boss because
if he/she gets sick, injurerd or otherwise obligated then you become the leadman,
and are in charge of anywhere from four to fourteen guys who need to be told what
job to do and in many cases, how to do that task properly. Some hold resentment for
the leadman because they just don't like anybody to tell them what to do as they
have character flaws which makes them unable to accept orders or responsibility for
themselves.
Shortly after arriving to work I found myself in the dreaded leadman position because
no less than the top three leadman did not show up for work. One transferred to another
job site, another stayed at the wharehouse and the third had a court date, making me
the next one down on the list, so now I am supposed to feel all three peoples position
on a job that has to get done. Management expected me to get things done right away
so I dug in with nine guys to lead.
Stress on the Job Site, You cannot avoid it!The best boss actually delegates the work load
I suppose am not as fast as the next guy so management starts coming down pretty hard
on me to get things done. So here come the lectures about how time is money and we can't
do things wrong because the labor is to expensive and on and on. One guy didn't
appreciate the way the management was talking to me and exclaimed that he would knock
the guy out if they were coming down on him that way. I guess that's why I was given
the leadman position, as I can take more heat than others who cannot management their
emotions. As a favor to my crew I arranged for some pizza for lunch which helps turn
moral around. Hot food is rare on the job site, and it is great to get free food that
tastes great on an otherwise mondane cold lunch meal.
Half the workers don't want to work and as I tell them to do jobs the excuses start
flying. They range from them not bringing any tools to that of not wishing to go up
ladders and it goes on and on. It is like having kids who are tryingto get out of
homework or such in which nobody wants to work. So the leadman needs to be quite stern
which is the part which is not fun being the bad guy asking others to work in a not
so nice matter when nothing is getting done. These lazy workers actually are telling
me to do the job myself if I want it done but luckily, not all workers are this way.
My job is to some how influence all the workers to get along and get the job done as
a team, and to delegrate the jobs to those who can handle them and to also make sure
nobody falls from the higher heights or are to incompetent to do the job so the leadman
is watching for several things at once in order to decide who does what and when and
the goal is to tell them enough so that they will be independent and able to carry out
the work without you micro managing them. Well, that is the goal, but almost an
impossible task, especially when there are a lot of new guys not used to the equipment
and old guys who barely work because they are super misfits.
Some how I got everybody to get along and work together and go up the ladder and use
the tools properly and safely, after much conjoling on my part. It wasn't fun as I
am responsible for the end result and the speed of that resolt as well as the attonomy
of the worker and the happinness of management on the job progress. You are basically
a working field lead middle man between management and labor. No extra pay, and a lot
of headaches as everybody tries to take little shortcuts, yet shortcuts endanger lives
or produce bad results so oversite is needed. Not good for me because I usually needed
to be in three places at once. Job done, day over, lots of stress and a great learning
experience yet not something I want to do every day. The leadman has a tough job and
most don't realize just how tough, and the bigger the job with the fewer responsible
workers, the harder it gets to get things done. Through all of the slowups from
forklifts not showing up to employees not getting along, it is amazing that anything
gets accomplished.
It is impossible not to rub some people wrong because as a leadman you have to get
others to work who do not wish to work and putting some pressure on them is not going
to make you their best friend, as we are not at a bar, we are at a workplace and some
do not realize this fact. On a side note, why is it that the girls who work in
construction are of one of two types, they either have not front teeth and have
bigger forecepts and me, or they are petite good looking workers who don't really
do much but look good. What a group.
End of Day NineUSA Military Might and SuperiorityDay Ten
Some times you end up in a place overhearing what might be considered as top
secret when working at Construction sites, especially when overhearing a
debriefing of a high ranking officer by an intelligence force.
As I was doing my normal duties I over heard an interesting conversation which
I wanted to ponder for a moment. The Subject: The Uncooled Ferroelectric Optical
Lense Receptor. Apparently, the military has some cool new toys which will help
save lives. In this instance there is a piece of equipment which can "see"
for three miles a nickle in your hand, and at the same time can tell within
a three mile radius any gun lens or other type of lense or electronics pointing
towards your position. This is great for recon. because you know if you are
being watched or sited and can make defensive plans against this visual
siting.
This guy, Evad was debriefing another gentlemen as to what new technology
we have today and the plans of America. Well, it turns out, that the internal
plan is to have an American Embassy in every Country around the world in
order to keep an eye on the various governments. This makes sense to me
but I don't think every country wants America in their back yard.
When asked about the Republican President losing is seat, Evad wasn't to
concerned about contract being cancalled as both Democrats and Republicans
keep the money flowing for new technology in the Private sector as they
are always wanting to be ahead of the competition when it comes to
National Defense.
Speaking of National Defense, there will be a new strong ordinance and
mandate as well as a new watch dog over every single plant that is involved
in chemicals. These plants will all have to have high security monitoring
who has access to these chemicals and there will be high security survellance
involved in order to maintain a safe America. This will cost Billions for
the private sector to secure these chemicals like it was a military base.
Where does all of new technology come from? I originally thought the military
had some inside top secret laboratories but that is not the case. There
ar brilliaint entepreneurs and scientists who are contacted by the military
and are told what they want and then there is money established to make
that new technology happen in the private sector, which is very cohesive
in over to make new technology that has never been done before. This explains
why you have the $900.00 toilet seat, and other high costs. That money
is actually being paid to outside private sector scientists in order to
get things done.
A story about Copyright and Patent Law. In order to keep technology
top secret, it does not go through patent law because patent law is public
domain and anybody can see how the new technology was created, however
in Copyright law you can keep the secret steps in technology away
from the public eye, and only have to report the final product, keeping
competition away who might copy the new technology.
For a Construction worker you can learn a lot of interesting tid bits
if you keep your ears and eyes open as life is a learning experience
that I'd like not to miss. Every location has a potential to learn
new things which make you wiser to the world.
End of Day TenDay ElevenHard Hat AreaThe Hard hat his your friend
Construction workers get hurt all of the time, it is part of the business.
Wearing a simple hard hat can be the difference between a near miss and a
life-changing accident. Construction hard hats are designed to absorb the impact
of a falling object.
Why do you need to wear a hard hat in a Construction area? Every day in the
U.S., five workers die in construction accidents becaue they are a dangerous
place to work at do to the various hazards that exist.
The hard hat is one of the most important pieces of personal protective equipment
(PPE) used on construction sites. Hart hats have saved many construction workers
from serious head injury or even death.
A hard hat is a (plastic or metal) helmet worn by construction workers, artisan,
journeyman, artificer, craftsman - a skilled worker who practices some trade or
handicraft to resist blows to the head. Inside the helmet is a suspension that
spreads the helmet's weight over the top of the head. It also provides a space
of approximately 30 mm (1.2 inch) between the helmet's shell and the wearer's head
so that if an object strikes the shell, the impact is less likely to be transmitted
directly to the skull. Sometimes the helmet shell has a midline reinforcement ridge,
which strengthens it against impact. In 1919 Bullard patented a "Hard-Boiled Hat". In
1933 construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco California. This
was the second construction site in history where construction workers were required
to wear hard hats (the first being the Hoover Dam project in 1931.) The yellow
hard hat helmet is most seen at Construction sites because it is color coded for laborers and
not the labor bosses. Blue-collar workers, especially union shop construction workers,
engaged in occupations that require protective equipment are sometimes metonymically
referred to as "hard hats". The The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved
hard hat oversees the development and use of standards regarding the performance strength
of the hard hat and the hard hat site.
You have heard stories of how people die or get injured by being in the wrong
place at the wrong time and not bothering to follow the rules, thus putting them
in harms way. There is a very good reason for obeying signs that say hard hat area,
Protective Clothing required or Safety Glasses are necessary and that is because this
stuff can save your life and limb and you only get one chance with your life so you
might as well protect it to the best of your ability.
A hard hat is a type of helmet predominantly used in workplace environments, such as
construction sites, to protect the head from injury by falling objects, impact with
other objects or debris. If something heavy happens to fall on your head, the rigid lining
of the rigid shell of the hard hat resists and deflects blows to the head and the
suspension system inside the hat that acts as a shock absorber protecting your brain
from injury.
Working in a Construction site there is always a chance of something falling on your
head by accident from somewhere above when things are not tied down properly or are
kicked/moved by accident causing this material to become falling objects landing
onto anyone who is below, giving a fatal blow or serious headache to those it that do not
have the required equipment to save them, which in this case is a hard hat protecting ones head.
Nobody likes a hard hat because they are heavy and hot and someone else wearing them may
have a sweaty head so there is nothing fun about wearing a hard hat but one mistake by
the guy above you can ruin your day or life if you are dicectly below them.
A hard hat won't leave you free of pain but I am glad my friend had one on when a very heavy
wood platform started to free fall down at him from the level above. His luck was over
and he was at the wrong place at the wrong time as were other fellow Contruction workers
under the flooring platform which gave way, but as luck would have it he had just put
on his hard hat before entering that area. The platform landed on two workers as a third
worker was able to grab the platform to slow the fall. Without any hard hat protection
my worker friends would of had head injury and concussion and a possible hostpital stay
and missed work.
Wear a Hard Hat Helmet for you Safety
Construction workers are tough. They just shook it off and went back to work as Construciton
workers are used to extreme conditions and pain at the worksite as it is common to have an injury
and to work through it because a claim's compensation is not enough to support them or their families
as well as the Construction black list which a worker is put on, making him the bad guy for
being hurt, labeling the hurt worker careless and a liability towards future lawsuits against
the company that worker was employed with at the time.
Moral of the story is if you are are in a hard hat area, don't be vein, wear the hard hat
or lose your life, it's your choice. Life is short and many things can take you out before
your time -- Luck runs out. Safety first. Back to work with a headache, neck pain and some whiplash,
you have to pay the bills so it is all about sucking it up and going forward at the job. Not
a good idea but a reality to keeping your job.
End of Day ElevenThank you.Spy Hunter
Off Tilt Personality
"Tilt” means someone is making decisions for emotional reasons that he would
not normally make. Wild aggression is just its most visible form.
Another form is to become so upset, frightened, or convinced you can’t win
at business or in your personal life that you make irratitic decisions.
Your decision base is so bad as to deteriorate your odds so much that the
“I can’t win” belief becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Now for our story Background
jour·ney·man (jûrn-mn)
n.
1. One who has fully served an apprenticeship in a trade or craft and is a qualified
worker in another's employ.
2. An experienced and competent but undistinguished worker.
A day at work - A short Fiction
Fiction has long been a medium of societal expression. Lets take a look at the
life of a construction worker and his impact on the world.
A day at work - This is a Short Story Fiction
Billy, is nicknamed Dollar Bill because he brings candy bars and cokes for everyone,
for the mere price of a dollar bill and besides that his first name is Bill which is
appropriate for his nickname. He says, "hi, long time no see", and I ask how business
is and he says it has been steady, the 
Gim's Work Goals:
Gim's goal was to not work to hard and get paid for it anyway and because he has been
around longer than most, he has made it into a Leadman position and may be able to
delegate all of his work. He walked up to me, remembering me from the old days, which
I didn't really recall, and he told me to stick with him and I wouldn't have to work
to hard. He was right to his word and I basically followed him around and gave him
advice on projects he wanted 
Let the kids do the 
It was wonderful to work with someone with a face of an angel.
The Day Begins
I first ran into John early in the morning and wanted to catch up with things
since I hadn't seen him in a long time. I found out that he is quite disturbed
with the "
Bill is quite a surprise. An old guy, maybe 70 years old who acts and moves like
a 50 year old. He travelers for work where he'd like to be and enjoys every minute
of socializing with the other workers. Yet he says he hates hearing everyone's
stories, he sure likes telling his own. In his first career he was a Geologist
and would climb down five hundred foot drilled holes and try to guess when the
next quake would be with his sensitive instruments. Then one day while in a hole,
a quake began and he fell twenty feet, breaking his back. After years of rehab.
he was able to walk again and now he is in construction, and won't go back into
that deep dark hole as a Geologist. He will always be a Geologist at heart.
Staying close to the dirt and wearing comfortable flannel shirts and with his
many types of hammers. His SUV is for getting dirty and bumpy and is without
fancy tires with spinning rims. His goal is to have fun without worrying about
things like what other people think. One can learn a lot about living by watching
him in his seasoned years. As he was leaving, he told me to stay away from the
go-go pills and then grinned widely, showing a noticeable 
Just as he left to see the forklift supervisor, Doy walks up to me to say hello. I was
quite surprised, and even astonished because I was told a day before that he had
passed away from a go-go overdose. I said, Doy, your not dead? No, he said, give
me a few more years yet! I surely was glad to see Doy up from the grave and walking
around. Who knows where all the rumors come from?
On the way out I ran into another guy who I knew had left the business because
of back problems and was surprised to see him again. He did look alot different
than before, being that he now had a 
It was at this time that I noticed several more security people coming through the
building and many limousines pulling up. There were guards at every entrance
and a sign reading, for delegates only. All these delegates went into the
Why not have an Bikini Barbershop?
A barber (from the Latin barba, "beard") is someone whose occupation is to cut any
type of hair, give shaves and cut beards.
The barber's trade is an extremely ancient one. Razors have been found among relics
of the Bronze Age (circa 3500 BC) and barbering is mentioned in the Bible by Ezekiel
who said "And Thou, son of man, take thee a barber's razor and cause it to pass upon
thine head and upon thine beard."
My friend decided to save up enough money to open up a 
in·den·ture (in-den'ch?r)
n.
A contract binding one party into the service of another.
To bind into the service of another.
I'm hoping that one day we will all have our mortgages paid off and bills paid
in full so that we can do what ever we want but until then, back to work!
I have a feeling that day five will actually require some real hard work
since this day didn't seem to wipe me out. Each new day is a new mystery
yet to be discovered. And after all, you do have to pay the piper eventually,
so it looks like I owe some really hard work in the near future.
End of Day Four
Day Five
Today I got to work with a guy I am nicknaming Cranium, do to the fact that
he feels he has all of the answers including where the terrorists secret cells
are and the real plot behind 911 as well as having a photographic memory. Because he
is so smart and knows to much, the FBI has deleted all of his school records and
made it look as if he has never existed. This was very hard for him because of his
many outstanding achievements including writing over 1000 songs that were number one
hit records that many top celebrities have used, which are played on the
radio constantly in which he did not get credit for. He states, "I haven't received
a dime from my 1000 hit songs!"
How did they take his songs which he had written? Mind control. Some Black
Rogue Agents had tapped into his mind while he was composing these hit songs,
and the next week those very same songs he had made up were now on the Radio and
TV has top hits be famous singers. As a matter of a fact, the first song that
was ripped off by a celebrity, Britney Spears, was just a trial to see if he
loved her or not. Britney still travels by his work place and drives by his
house just to tease him because she knows that he loves her. Has he met her
in person? No, but they communicate through numerology and through the music
that she sings on the radio which has hidden messages that only he can decipher.
As far as terrorists go, he seems to be bumping into them on a monthly basis. For
some reason they are always going in the same direction and same place as himself.
So he has to keep an eye out so he can tell the FBI there whereabouts. Has he
contacted the FBI, of course, this is his civic duty. After 131 emails to the
FBI, they have stopped responding to him, and for some reason they may not be
getting his emails because they have started to bounce back. Maybe this is another
Black Rogue operation which is continuing to disrupt his life. He's not sure,
but he can't tell me any more information because the situation is of a need
to know nature. As for his music, he is going to try one more time to write a
hit song, but knows it is hopeless because someone keeps on steeling his original
ideas and giving it to famous singers, changing the lyrics slightly so it appears
that these songs are different than his original. Cranium only wishes they would
leave him alone and let him lead his own life without following him around all
of the time because it is very annoying and he has a complete lack of privacy.
Well he fits in perfect in the Construction world and his story is one of many
that I hear at the work place. It doesn't matter if no one believes him, because
he knows the real truth. This is a dominant theme, which is that one guy knows
all the answers in the world but nobody will take him seriously so he his robbed
of his fame and of his freedom as well as his free will and his opportunity to
save the world. I do hope that one day he will be taken seriously and get the
attention that he seeks. As he seems like a nice guy underneath all of the
conspiracy talk.
End of Day Five
Day Six
Today I ran into a guy named Bob. Here is a guy who does two jobs at once.
Not only is a common construction worker doing grunt work but he is also
a scheduler for another company, so he is constantly on the phone making
contacts to fill calls on for this other company. This cuts into his productivity
time and he does get into trouble for this, so he gets back into good graces
by buying lunch for everybody and providing free tools to his friends, etc.
He is a good hustler and has made his way through many years the construction
field without getting injured, which is almost impossible to do, being the
nature of the heavy lifting work.
It only takes one twist to reck your back. Apparently, on the day that I was paired
up to him, this was not a good day for his back. After 20 years of being injury
free, he woke up with intense pain to his lower back. So here we are at work and
he can't lift anything, which makes everybody elses job harder because he cannot
help us. You'd think he'd take the day off work but in this profession, if you
leave for the day you may not be scheduled for another two weeks and you will
lose your medical benefits which have to be earned in hours each quarter. In other
words, you can't take medical leave or you will lose your medical coverage, that
is what I call a catch-22.
So, off he goes to see the local Go-Go pills guy, who is able to suddenly make all
of your pain vanish for the day. Yep, this did the trick and so Bob was feeling
real good when he got back from break.
Bob has seen both worlds, the world of being in labor and the world of being in
management as he was doing both at the same time. You'd think that being in
management would be easier because there is no lifting involved, but what you
don't think about is the enemies you may or may not make while being in management.
It is the managers job to hire and fire employees, and some of these construction
workers are already on their last dime and on their last thread when it is time
for layoffs. In this particular instance, a worker who had taken to many go-go
pills decided to help himself to all of the checks at Bobs office and hand them
out to all of the construction worker laborers. This got him fired by Bob. But
since this guy was so strung out he came looking for Bob, for a piece of revenge.
In his mind he thought that Bob had black listed him from the industry, which
never happened.
During lunch, this guy confronted Bob, with a child on his shoulders. He stated,
"Your taking food from my sons mouth by firing me and black listing me from
my chosen profession!" He then spit in Bob's food, and then spit in Bob's face.
Well, this was quite a surprise to me because I usually am not a witness to such
abrupt behavior. Then I remembered, this is the constuction field and anything
goes out here. It is like the Wild West O.K. Corral out here. Most of these guys
are coming from or going back into prison between construction jobs. Half the
guys have to take off early one day a week to meet with their probation officers.
This is a rough and tough business and no back ground checks are needed here.
The Last Word
Bob, being very well known in the industry, was able to kick this abrupt
spitting gentleman off the job and out of the work area. Now, he really was
black listed from the industry.
Lesson learned, if your going to spit on them make sure they are not a job
foreman with lots of power because you will be out of a job and out of the
industry in no time. I have fired plenty of times for no good reason and I
have felt like getting even, but something always pulls me back. There will
be more job opportunities in the future if you learn to walk away from a fight
and remember that it will get better in the future if you keep your nose clean
and work hard.
End of Day Six
Day Seven
Today I had to break in a new guy to the construction field. Because this is
a who you know industry, I always eventually get around to asking, "how did
you get into this business" and that way I know who their friend is who
got them in the business and in most cases the friends you have are similar
to your own personality.
Bookie - Sports Betting
He beat me to the punch by telling me this long story about how he has a gambling
habit and in the end of the story he told me his bookie told him to take this
job or else, because he owed $1,500.00 to some very unscrupulous characters.
Needless to say, he worked quite hard and was eager to learn the trade. I guess,
for some, a certain amount of enthusiasm is created when they know a lot is
on the line. Having fingers and toes was a good idea, so this new guy worked very
hard to please the job foreman and the bookie, and that was just fine with me.
It is usually the opposite, in which the worker is more interested in dodging
work than in actually working. It is interesting how a good work ethic can be
prodded along with the right inputs, in this case the opportunity to learn
a profession or break a leg. The latter is a whole lot more painful.
Today, two people got the tap out, which goes something like this: A supervisor
watches you from afar and watches how many breaks you take and how long they
are as well as how effective you are in the work place. If you are not working
at the pace the "Corporate Spy" likes, he comes to you, taps you on the shoulder
and says, "make it out". That means you have been cut from your job and will
be sitting at home for two weeks. The bottom line is that you need to keep one
eye on your job and the other on that corporate guy who is watching your every
move.
Some employees have not learned this skill and they get, "tapped out" which means
that they are going to be sitting home and not able to pay their bills because
of this. You can be "tapped out" for being a minute early for a break or a minute
late back from lunch. The Corporate guy has no sympathy and does not care about
excuses. There is no second chance and so you need to know when you are being
watched as you better be working at three times the speed when this time keeper
is watching you. If you have water, make sure you put some on your face as it
looks like you are sweating, which the Corporate guys love. This is all informal
training that the older more experienced journeymen explain to the apprentice.
Know your surroundings and that means know who is watching you.
I usually tell the new guy, do what I do and you will make it through the day without
being "tapped out." As we are all in this business for one reason only, and that
is to make money in order to pay the mortgage and we don't want to get "tapped out."
My new found friend, the newbie as they call the first day guy, happened to be a
dare devil. He told me he made a skateboard which he can travel up to 50 miles
per hour on and wants to set a new skateboard world record. He figured out that
the bigger the wheels on the skateboard, that faster he can go and the faster he
goes, the better his chances of getting a sponsor to pay for all of his gear.
Speed Skateboard
This skateboard is special because it has six inch wheels and is long as a surfboard.
He finds the steepest hill he can find and actually races cars from a standstill and
usually wins because the cars let him go by as they are so surprised that some guy is
keeping up with their vehicle. Unfortunately, this newbie guy never learned to
wear protection for wipe outs so he has many titanium plates throughout his body,
holding him together, and early arthritis, but he says that's ok because he is
a hero to those young kids who cannot keep up to him.
He's quite the ladies man as many skateboard chicks want to get to know him
a lot better, and although he is married, he told me it is just to hard to push
them away, and is that considered cheating on his wife? Well, I sure didn't want
to get in the way of his illusion, and told them a quick kiss of hello or goodbye
is fine, just like the Brazilians do it as a gesture of friendship. Anything
more may be misconstrued along the way. Not that my advise mattered, people
generally do what they want regardless of consequences. If they have
the opportunity to have fun, 9 times out of 10, they will take it, regardless
of who they might be hurting in the long run. You can lead a horse
to water, but if it isn't thirsty, you are really wasting your time with
that horse! Some people just don't play by the rules of morality, etc. and
sometimes that is just the way it goes, especially in the constuction industry.
End of Day Seven
Day Eight
The Harley and a few bumps along the road
Harley Davidson Motorcycle
The usual suspects showed up for work again today, however our lead guy had
bruises and scars all over him. When I asked what had happened he said that
his wife ran over him with his own car when she found out he was having an
affair. He said that she sure loves me but she might be a little crazy! He
said that his Harley motorcycle had broken down on the street and his wife
saw him on the side of the road and then swerved at him, knocking him into
the bushes and totaling his Harley. That bike is going to cost a lot to
fix he had exclaimed. Our lead guy had to take leave after finding he could
not use his right arm in lifting until injuries heal. We lost another guy
after a half day because he had an appointment with the road crew picking
up trash as he needed 1200 hours of community service this year to stay out
of jail for a minor drug offense. During the night we also lost a few other
laborers because they needed to check in with 
A new guy showed up on the job and you really don't want to work with new
guys because they are green and can hurt both you and themselves while learning
the trade. After having him there for a few hours and him not doing a thing, it
was made clear to me that he didn't want to be there. He was probably sent over
by his probation officer and would rather be doing something else. Well, by
the second break he announced that he needed to use the restroom and the ones
at the facility were not good enough for him so he went home, never to return.
So much for job satisfaction. Definitely construction work is not for everyone
and especially not for those who want to stay clean and do nothing. You don't
get that opportunity until you have paid your dues and have moved up the ladder
to a higher supervisory level.
Boom Lift Certifcate
The rest of the day was uneventful, as I was on the hanging crew about 35 feet
in a condor crane boom lift putting on some final facades. I am glad for the harness
I was wearing especially since I am afraid of great heights.
Believe it or not, the President of this major corporation we were working for
walked by looking at our work and he was very impressed with our work. He stood
out quite a bit as he was short, only about 5 foot 4 with a perfectly fitted
Italian suit and a bright purple tie. His driver had pulled up in the Rolls Royce
moments before and his entourage walked through the site with the general foremen
and then off they went to their next board meeting. This is the closest I have
gotten to a multi million dollar man.
This goes to show you that you never know what will come through the door while
working in your chosen career. In this case the weakest looking guy is the most
powerful and had the biggest presence on our job site. Which definitively shows
you the brains are more important than bronze.
End of Day Eight
Day Nine
The Leadman and the Tribulations
In most cases no worker wants to become a boss or leadman because of the stress
and responsibility of making everything happen on time and on schedule and having
to deal with workers who won't listen. You need to watch closely your boss because
if he/she gets sick, injurerd or otherwise obligated then you become the leadman,
and are in charge of anywhere from four to fourteen guys who need to be told what
job to do and in many cases, how to do that task properly. Some hold resentment for
the leadman because they just don't like anybody to tell them what to do as they
have character flaws which makes them unable to accept orders or responsibility for
themselves.
Shortly after arriving to work I found myself in the dreaded leadman position because
no less than the top three leadman did not show up for work. One transferred to another
job site, another stayed at the wharehouse and the third had a court date, making me
the next one down on the list, so now I am supposed to feel all three peoples position
on a job that has to get done. Management expected me to get things done right away
so I dug in with nine guys to lead.
Stress on the Job Site, You cannot avoid it!
The best boss actually delegates the work load
I suppose am not as fast as the next guy so management starts coming down pretty hard
on me to get things done. So here come the lectures about how time is money and we can't
do things wrong because the labor is to expensive and on and on. One guy didn't
appreciate the way the management was talking to me and exclaimed that he would knock
the guy out if they were coming down on him that way. I guess that's why I was given
the leadman position, as I can take more heat than others who cannot management their
emotions. As a favor to my crew I arranged for some pizza for lunch which helps turn
moral around. Hot food is rare on the job site, and it is great to get free food that
tastes great on an otherwise mondane cold lunch meal.
Half the workers don't want to work and as I tell them to do jobs the excuses start
flying. They range from them not bringing any tools to that of not wishing to go up
ladders and it goes on and on. It is like having kids who are tryingto get out of
homework or such in which nobody wants to work. So the leadman needs to be quite stern
which is the part which is not fun being the bad guy asking others to work in a not
so nice matter when nothing is getting done. These lazy workers actually are telling
me to do the job myself if I want it done but luckily, not all workers are this way.
My job is to some how influence all the workers to get along and get the job done as
a team, and to delegrate the jobs to those who can handle them and to also make sure
nobody falls from the higher heights or are to incompetent to do the job so the leadman
is watching for several things at once in order to decide who does what and when and
the goal is to tell them enough so that they will be independent and able to carry out
the work without you micro managing them. Well, that is the goal, but almost an
impossible task, especially when there are a lot of new guys not used to the equipment
and old guys who barely work because they are super misfits.
Some how I got everybody to get along and work together and go up the ladder and use
the tools properly and safely, after much conjoling on my part. It wasn't fun as I
am responsible for the end result and the speed of that resolt as well as the attonomy
of the worker and the happinness of management on the job progress. You are basically
a working field lead middle man between management and labor. No extra pay, and a lot
of headaches as everybody tries to take little shortcuts, yet shortcuts endanger lives
or produce bad results so oversite is needed. Not good for me because I usually needed
to be in three places at once. Job done, day over, lots of stress and a great learning
experience yet not something I want to do every day. The leadman has a tough job and
most don't realize just how tough, and the bigger the job with the fewer responsible
workers, the harder it gets to get things done. Through all of the slowups from
forklifts not showing up to employees not getting along, it is amazing that anything
gets accomplished.
It is impossible not to rub some people wrong because as a leadman you have to get
others to work who do not wish to work and putting some pressure on them is not going
to make you their best friend, as we are not at a bar, we are at a workplace and some
do not realize this fact. On a side note, why is it that the girls who work in
construction are of one of two types, they either have not front teeth and have
bigger forecepts and me, or they are petite good looking workers who don't really
do much but look good. What a group.
End of Day Nine
USA Military Might and Superiority
Day Ten
Some times you end up in a place overhearing what might be considered as top
secret when working at Construction sites, especially when overhearing a
debriefing of a high ranking officer by an intelligence force.
As I was doing my normal duties I over heard an interesting conversation which
I wanted to ponder for a moment. The Subject: The Uncooled Ferroelectric Optical
Lense Receptor. Apparently, the military has some cool new toys which will help
save lives. In this instance there is a piece of equipment which can "see"
for three miles a nickle in your hand, and at the same time can tell within
a three mile radius any gun lens or other type of lense or electronics pointing
towards your position. This is great for recon. because you know if you are
being watched or sited and can make defensive plans against this visual
siting.
This guy, Evad was debriefing another gentlemen as to what new technology
we have today and the plans of America. Well, it turns out, that the internal
plan is to have an American Embassy in every Country around the world in
order to keep an eye on the various governments. This makes sense to me
but I don't think every country wants America in their back yard.
When asked about the Republican President losing is seat, Evad wasn't to
concerned about contract being cancalled as both Democrats and Republicans
keep the money flowing for new technology in the Private sector as they
are always wanting to be ahead of the competition when it comes to
National Defense.
Speaking of National Defense, there will be a new strong ordinance and
mandate as well as a new watch dog over every single plant that is involved
in chemicals. These plants will all have to have high security monitoring
who has access to these chemicals and there will be high security survellance
involved in order to maintain a safe America. This will cost Billions for
the private sector to secure these chemicals like it was a military base.
Where does all of new technology come from? I originally thought the military
had some inside top secret laboratories but that is not the case. There
ar brilliaint entepreneurs and scientists who are contacted by the military
and are told what they want and then there is money established to make
that new technology happen in the private sector, which is very cohesive
in over to make new technology that has never been done before. This explains
why you have the $900.00 toilet seat, and other high costs. That money
is actually being paid to outside private sector scientists in order to
get things done.
A story about Copyright and Patent Law. In order to keep technology
top secret, it does not go through patent law because patent law is public
domain and anybody can see how the new technology was created, however
in Copyright law you can keep the secret steps in technology away
from the public eye, and only have to report the final product, keeping
competition away who might copy the new technology.
For a Construction worker you can learn a lot of interesting tid bits
if you keep your ears and eyes open as life is a learning experience
that I'd like not to miss. Every location has a potential to learn
new things which make you wiser to the world.
End of Day Ten
Day Eleven
Hard Hat Area
The Hard hat his your friend
Construction workers get hurt all of the time, it is part of the business.
Wearing a simple hard hat can be the difference between a near miss and a
life-changing accident. Construction hard hats are designed to absorb the impact
of a falling object.
Why do you need to wear a hard hat in a Construction area? Every day in the
U.S., five workers die in construction accidents becaue they are a dangerous
place to work at do to the various hazards that exist.
The hard hat is one of the most important pieces of personal protective equipment
(PPE) used on construction sites. Hart hats have saved many construction workers
from serious head injury or even death.
A hard hat is a (plastic or metal) helmet worn by construction workers, artisan,
journeyman, artificer, craftsman - a skilled worker who practices some trade or
handicraft to resist blows to the head. Inside the helmet is a suspension that
spreads the helmet's weight over the top of the head. It also provides a space
of approximately 30 mm (1.2 inch) between the helmet's shell and the wearer's head
so that if an object strikes the shell, the impact is less likely to be transmitted
directly to the skull. Sometimes the helmet shell has a midline reinforcement ridge,
which strengthens it against impact. In 1919 Bullard patented a "Hard-Boiled Hat". In
1933 construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco California. This
was the second construction site in history where construction workers were required
to wear hard hats (the first being the Hoover Dam project in 1931.) The yellow
Construction workers are tough. They just shook it off and went back to work as Construciton
workers are used to extreme conditions and pain at the worksite as it is common to have an injury
and to work through it because a claim's compensation is not enough to support them or their families
as well as the Construction black list which a worker is put on, making him the bad guy for
being hurt, labeling the hurt worker careless and a liability towards future lawsuits against
the company that worker was employed with at the time.
Moral of the story is if you are are in a hard hat area, don't be vein, wear the hard hat
or lose your life, it's your choice. Life is short and many things can take you out before
your time -- Luck runs out. Safety first. Back to work with a headache, neck pain and some whiplash,
you have to pay the bills so it is all about sucking it up and going forward at the job. Not
a good idea but a reality to keeping your job.
End of Day Eleven
Thank you.
Spy Hunter
