Eric Hutchinson – Food Chain - Live
Boy & Bear – Milk & Sticks
Eric Hutchinson – Oh!
Well, I'm almost done my first week of my new job doing compaction grouting. I took the job because I need more financial stability than the day to day flow that remodeling afforded me. And the promise of $60/hr prevailing wage jobs put stars in my eyes.
The first day was a harsh call to reality. 45 degrees and raining. I was warned beforehand that the work is extremely grueling- and it proved to be. The work isn't so much what bothers me though. Rarely if ever had I found myself saying, "I deserve to be getting paid more." But $12/hr just isn't enough. I know that if I stick it out I'll pick up jobs where I'll be making 30-70/hr. But I just think the time in between is too great.
They told me during my interview that this work isn't for everyone. That not everyone can do it. I know I can do it, but I also know that it's not the smartest way to make 700/wk. The guys I work with talk about the overtime and the 30/day per diem. The per diem covers your food for the day, so these guys are kidding themselves when they talk about how great it is to get this tax free. The overtime is nice, but it should really be base pay. At least. When you hit 18/hr. It's almost like a slap in the face for the last 40 hours you worked for 12.
I've never minded hard work, but I think the most glaring realization that they're not paying us enough is the company I'm keeping in my coworkers- men driven largely by their id. Men, nihilists to the core. Not because they subscribe to nihilism, or even grasp the concept, but because they've long since written off their bodies in sacrifice to the day's work. The type of guys that rack up debt over cellphone ringtones and survive largely on chicken wings and dunkin donuts. While I try to maintain the belief that I'm not above any man, I have trouble relating to many of the guys I work with. And when you're spending a week away from home in a hotel with the guys you work with, these interactions matter. I'm fortunate that I have my laptop and internet to escape to, but smiling and nodding only lasts so long.
I find myself starting each work day borderline defeated at the prospect of another 10 hour day shoveling sand, moving 100 lb bags of cement, carrying 40 lb pipes 100 yds across a muddy path- all with wet feet and hands. In truth, the work isn't even the hardest part. It's the cold, and the wet, and the never ending finish line. Think deadliest catch without the payday. Think oil drillers, but we're pumping cement into the ground instead of pumping oil out.
It's the kind of work that forces you to find solace in the smallest reprieves. We can't take time for lunch- so a sip of coffee, a bite of a sandwich, a cigarette- are about all you have to look forward to. It kind of helps me understand why the guys I work behave the way I do. When you condition yourself to seek comfort in the smallest of dopamine dumps, this becomes a driving factor of your life. Why pay your child support or save for a car when you can buy a leather jacket or knock up a stripper?
I've already started looking for other jobs, but I think this job will forever shape me for the better in the end. I'll have this from now on to measure other jobs against. I'll know what it's like to work your hands to the bone, to be cold and wet and dead tired, and still have 6 hours to go. I think this job will drive me to appreciate what comes next, and to not take for granted what I have now. I also know now what my body can do- what it's really like to work for a living.
Let's just hope I can stick it out until something better comes along. And let's hope it comes quickly.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Behind the 8 ball
Joe Purdy – I Love The Rain The Most
Boy & Bear – Milk & Sticks
As I become more and more entrenched in the blue collar workaday world I'm learning more and more about how things, people, and money work. The more I learn, I can't help but feel that I'm more than a bit behind the 8 ball.
For starters, I'm really just getting my foot on the bottom rung of the work ladder. As far as I can tell, there seem to be 3 tiers of this ladder- helper, skilled laborer, boss. 100/day, 200-300/day, 500+/day respectively. I think I've always thought of money in terms of yearly salary. I guess because I assumed that I would one day have a steady paycheck with a corporate logo on it, I would think in this term of currency. This isn't exactly how it works in the under-the-table world. There have been weeks of recent where I've made more money than I ever have in my life. A flat 500 from my role as a helper on a remodeling job, 50 for a couple hours of ceiling restoration with my uncle, another 200 for an hours' work closing a pool on my own.
As I make this money, I can't help but marvel at how much money you have to make money. At 500/wk I'm on track for a 25,000/yr. If I can work my way up to 1,000/wk I'll be on track for a 50,000 year. I'd have to make 400/day. 5 days a week. 50 weeks a year. Just to make $100k.
While in school, I always had a number close to $60k floating around in the back of my head. I figured I'd start off around there, and work my way up to the 200s within a decade or so. I guess I never really realized how much all of that money really is.
$800/day is A LOT of money. Money is a real thing. Not just a number. And working for 100/day really puts that into perspective.
While all of these thoughts of money dance like visions of sugarplums in my dome I feel like I'm learning some very important lessons that I failed to learn in all of my schooling.
SAVE. Save as much as you can while you can. I've been ever so fortunate enough that I've always had enough savings that I've had a safety net. Because I've gambled most of these savings on my business venture, I've come dangerously close to scraping the bottom.
Ask for more. Perhaps I'd have a larger safety net sitting in the bank right now if I'd been less hesitant to ask for more. The people I've done Abstract Concrete work for make a few hundred a day. They should be able to afford to pay someone else comparably to do the things they can't. Prices are going to have to go up this Spring.
Live well within your means. I'm fortunate that I have relatively low overhead, but even still 1,000/month in insurance/gas/truck payments is a heck of a lot when I'm lucky to make 2,000/month.
Make yourself invaluable. Having come close to the ledge, I realize how fortunate I am to have work- no matter how irregular it may be. Knowing this, I'm all too happy to work for every cent I get. Also, good help is hard to find- and if you can create value for yourself, people don't mind paying top dollar to get you to help them.
So. Could I have learned all of this 6 years ago had I gone straight into the workforce from high school? Or did I need 4 years of undergrad and 2 years of grad to figure out where I'm going and what I need to end up where I want?
Boy & Bear – Milk & Sticks
As I become more and more entrenched in the blue collar workaday world I'm learning more and more about how things, people, and money work. The more I learn, I can't help but feel that I'm more than a bit behind the 8 ball.
For starters, I'm really just getting my foot on the bottom rung of the work ladder. As far as I can tell, there seem to be 3 tiers of this ladder- helper, skilled laborer, boss. 100/day, 200-300/day, 500+/day respectively. I think I've always thought of money in terms of yearly salary. I guess because I assumed that I would one day have a steady paycheck with a corporate logo on it, I would think in this term of currency. This isn't exactly how it works in the under-the-table world. There have been weeks of recent where I've made more money than I ever have in my life. A flat 500 from my role as a helper on a remodeling job, 50 for a couple hours of ceiling restoration with my uncle, another 200 for an hours' work closing a pool on my own.
As I make this money, I can't help but marvel at how much money you have to make money. At 500/wk I'm on track for a 25,000/yr. If I can work my way up to 1,000/wk I'll be on track for a 50,000 year. I'd have to make 400/day. 5 days a week. 50 weeks a year. Just to make $100k.
While in school, I always had a number close to $60k floating around in the back of my head. I figured I'd start off around there, and work my way up to the 200s within a decade or so. I guess I never really realized how much all of that money really is.
$800/day is A LOT of money. Money is a real thing. Not just a number. And working for 100/day really puts that into perspective.
While all of these thoughts of money dance like visions of sugarplums in my dome I feel like I'm learning some very important lessons that I failed to learn in all of my schooling.
SAVE. Save as much as you can while you can. I've been ever so fortunate enough that I've always had enough savings that I've had a safety net. Because I've gambled most of these savings on my business venture, I've come dangerously close to scraping the bottom.
Ask for more. Perhaps I'd have a larger safety net sitting in the bank right now if I'd been less hesitant to ask for more. The people I've done Abstract Concrete work for make a few hundred a day. They should be able to afford to pay someone else comparably to do the things they can't. Prices are going to have to go up this Spring.
Live well within your means. I'm fortunate that I have relatively low overhead, but even still 1,000/month in insurance/gas/truck payments is a heck of a lot when I'm lucky to make 2,000/month.
Make yourself invaluable. Having come close to the ledge, I realize how fortunate I am to have work- no matter how irregular it may be. Knowing this, I'm all too happy to work for every cent I get. Also, good help is hard to find- and if you can create value for yourself, people don't mind paying top dollar to get you to help them.
So. Could I have learned all of this 6 years ago had I gone straight into the workforce from high school? Or did I need 4 years of undergrad and 2 years of grad to figure out where I'm going and what I need to end up where I want?
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