It has been a long time.

The pandemic has changed all the 'normal' things in our lives. Even before the pandemic and quarantine, I had not been a 'regular' writer here. There had been too many thing happening in my life. You can read all about it in Projections, another blog. Dull and boring. It's just the reminisces of an old man as he grows older. 

I am that old man, and very often now, I will have vivid memories of some events in my past life. Just a moment ago I remembered Trini. Trini worked for Solari, just as I did. He was a foreman as I was, but he had worked for Solari much longer than I. Trini was also very large; a lot of that size was muscle, but more of it was alcohol generated fat. He was quite proud of his size and strength; he was also a bully. I rarely interacted with him, which was a good thing. Trini and I had to build the elevator machine room at the Sahara hotel/casino. (I wrote about this previously) At the time, I simply ignored his boasting and went to work on the project, which stood about 260' above Lake Street and very close to the edge. Soon enough, we finished and I went to another job, one at Harrah’s Sports Book. I was building the tour bus drive-through on the north end of the building. I was enjoying it and would only see Trini on an occasional Friday afternoon when a lot us went to the small Sports Book bar. We rarely spoke. Then one day at bar we heard the news; Trini was in the hospital in serious condition. What happened? A few nights ago, Trini had let ‘his mouth overload his ass’ as was commonly said. The subjects of Trini’s big mouth objected to what he had said and retaliated when Trini stepped out of the bar. Three of them attacked him in the nearby alley and beat him severely, using their fists, a baseball bat and their boots. I’m sure that Trini had provoked the assault, though that was not what he told the police. I soon forgot about him as I was having too good of a time on my complicated ‘Tour Bus’ project. And, since I have ASD, or Autism Spectrum Disorder, my empathy is very limited and I had none for him.      

After some time, I learned that Trini was working at the big warehouse, our panel plant. He was going to be the guy in charge of building the panels and then arranging the transportation of them. Trini was never going to be working in the field again. He needed a cane, as his right knee had been shattered and had been repaired as best they could. I would run across Trini now and then, but it wasn’t till I was building the complex 13 story office building on the corner of 7th and L, in Sacramento, and it was covered in oddly shaped panels. We had found a storage yard for the panels and we had moved the big Link-Belt crane over from Reno. Then Al Solari showed up one day and said we needed to find a 40’ trailer to move the panels from the the storage yard to the job site. He already had an idea as to where we could find one. He got in my little S10 pickup, a company pickup, and off we went. We found the trailer and Al quizzed the owner about it before agreeing to buy it. It was a ‘low boy’ and Al thought it would be great to use around the Washoe Valley once we finished the Sacramento job. It needed a few modifications and Al called Trini and told him to send a tractor over to pull it too Reno so it could be modified and licensed.   

Once the trailer was gone, I went back to normal operations on the job. But I wasn’t through with Trini. About 3 weeks later he called and told me how stupid I was for buying that trailer, and all about the trouble they were having, adapting it to work with the tractors. I explained as best I could that it was a joint decision on buying the trailer with Al Solari having the final say. He calmed down for a moment, then he started up again. It was then that I realized that I would have an enemy for life. Trini never forgot!!!

I'm so embarrassed...

Why am I embarrassed? Because I just looked at the comments made during the life of this blog. Where was I? It looks like I never bothered to check for comments and continued on my merry way.  If I have offended, I am very sorry. I know it was rude of me.

It's been a while

It is now the second month of the most important years in history, In November, we as a nation would vote for a new President or keep the old one. Our democracy depends on our choice. Trump and his family, have been destroying the fabric of our society day by day. I really shouldn't turn this blog into a political one.

On the second front, the personal one, optimism has returned. No, the COPD did not go away, but I have a much better handle on it. Please excuse my previous statements about death and dying. I was very sick a few weeks ago. There was talk of my going to the hospital. But...Dr. Verma, my pulmonologist came through with a sulfa based antibiotic and steroids. I took the last steroid tablet this morning. The results were amazing. I can breathe!

Now, what about my career? What have I missed? In my mind I am dividing the state into squares and looking for a trace of a job I had done. State by state, I look for them.

I probably wrote about the splitting of single screen Mann Theaters into 3 and 4 screen theaters. I remember how nervous I was when I was up in the ceiling space above the theaters. I had to go up there and add some things we could use to secure the new walls. It was all lath and plaster, hanging from #8 wires and I had no idea as to how secure it was.

The majority of my construction work experience included stories of nervousness in high places. Sometimes fear. I learned early on that fear was the enemy. Being nervous would keep you safe. I remember that I was afraid when faced with that high wall at STL. I decided, after much mental argument, that I must go up the wall on that narrow plank, all the way to the top. First, I went up to the attic space,  via a construction elevator and then walking on a floor of loose planks over to a spot where we would attach the cables that would hold the Sky Climber. I helped to install those hangers. My hand on the wrench. Then back down and onto the Sky Climber. We were attached a great distance apart, so the Climber would push away from the wall very easily. As we climbed, it became harder and harder to push away from the wall. That I liked. My first day on the Climber I was afraid. I told Alex that I wanted to continue, so he let me do it. Each day was easier. Soon I was just nervous. I think I mentioned how my toes and feet ached every day because I was trying to hold on to that plank. I don't know if it's still there, but, I'm proud of that wall. I should mention that I thought about my Dad every day. I know that he used to build those tall power transmission towers that made their way across the desert from Boulder Dam to Los Angeles. That inspired me.

Another one was the ride on top of the elevator in Harrah's South Tower. I didn't have to do it. The Otis Elevator mechanic had simply asked if I would. They wanted to know if the drywall seal around the shaft was acceptable. I remember 3 of us standing there on the roof of the elevator and here was absolutely nothing to hold onto.in the center of the roof was the cable & pulley assembly that connect us to large electric motor, some 200+ feet above us. Do not touch the cable! was the warning. It was right there in front of me and the temptation was there...but that cable was moving. We traveled slowly at Inspection Speed. On both sides of us were active elevators and they were moving very fast. You couldn't hear them until they were passing you. You could see a trace of light from inside of them and if there were passengers, they had no idea that we were just 3' away.  It's obvious that we made it to the top. I thanked them for the ride and s e impressed that I had made it all the way.