Sometimes, Ya Know, Its Just Nice, Making Something With Your Hands!

It is nice, getting back to work, its been ten months, its Labor Day, 2009, I’m hoping I’ll get a few months steady. In these times, us Carpenters, have a bit of an advantage, lay off’s are part of our world, we’ve got the experience of weathering a storm. A lot of guys were put on, at this job, most of these guys, like me, have been out many months, everyone is feeling good about working again. I’m not the oldest guy on the job, its been a long time since that happened, no one will be calling me pops. I’m hoping, I’ll make the cut, you never know in this trade, I’ve got a week and a day on the job, I’m getting my work done. Lots of cabinet work came in, it took a day to unload the trailer, this is some good work. On the train, coming back, into LA, rising up from the San Gabriel’s, were billowing plumes, of black smoke, what was, when we left, a small Southern California brush fire, was now, in the course of just one day, a raging wildfire. From the window of the train, it looked as if, all the mountains were burning. A few years back, I had picked up a job, it was on the beach, nothing there to burn. Wild Fires broke out, my job shut down, my new job! The city wanted streets, clear of heavy truck traffic, no concrete. I couldn’t help thinking back, I wondered, deja vu, is this gonna be another one of lifes curves? I got back home, after reassuring Katie, I flipped on the tube, and saw Palos Verdes burning, my city, LA, was ringed by fire. It was hard to sleep, the excitement, and apprehension, that comes, with going on a new job, coupled with these fires burning, not knowing whether they could affect this job, in some odd way. Three guys started with me, did paperwork, went through a safety orientation, and got badged up. Two of them are left, the Boss Man, seemed tough at first, that first day he watched, he sat behind our work lights, now and then, you’d hear him saying something to someone, but you couldn’t see him, its hard not to feel like a deer, frozen in headlights. The learning curve was steep, the second day we did better. Boss Man has a lot on his plate, when he saw, we had our work under control, he went on to other things, over the week, he’d spend some time, telling us he liked the job were doing, thanking us for doing it. He seems to be an easy guy to work for, straight forward, no politics, just listen to what he tells you. I was told this job would go a couple months, September is the beginning of the Quarter, I need 250 hours to get my Medical back, at soon to be, 57, this is something, I shouldn’t be without.