Oh, it’s been such a while, where to do I start?  So much has happened in the last little while, the whole experience sits as an island in the otherwise mundane landscape that was my life only six weeks ago.

Since this fake “pandemic” agenda descended on the planet, I had been stuck in a sort of limbo, much like everyone else I guess, waiting for some sense or normalcy to return.   Just prior to that I was employed installing security cameras and access related equipment, which was enjoyable in itself, but problems with pay had me exit that job in search of local employment in the same field, without the amateur headaches.

That is when the hammer came down, local employment opportunities evaporated overnight, and I wasn’t eligible for any of the pacifying payoffs being handed out to others forced out of their jobs in order to keep them complacent.

In spite of the fact that I saw it coming, I just happened to quit a few weeks too early, but honestly, who could have possibly imagined the insanity that would envelope the entire world from that point.   I continued to look for work for a while, but got discouraged with the reality of my situation, and frankly gave up.  Last resorts wouldn’t even call me back to say “Sorry bud, I got nothing.”

I was rather hopeless, I have to say.  With no viable solution to in sight, it seemed I was set to be one of those middle class casualties the ‘plandemic’ was targeting in order to make all involved dependent upon government for their survival.  Bleak, I say.  Just bleak.

Have I set a mood for you yet?  I hope so, because it all got better from there.

Out of a simple conversation with a friend, he mentioned that he was looking again for a helper.  I had been secretly jealous of his helper, whom I knew, saying to myself “It must be nice…” and wishing I could find work through a friend that easily.  My problem seemed to be that no one would call me back to even find out what I was about.

ANYWAYS…  I mentioned to him that I was looking for work, and within a few days – bam – I has doing it.  I began doing HVAC – which stands for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning – six weeks ago, and haven’t looked back since.

I turns out I have a ton of transferable skills, my union experience (and timely exit) gave me a “do it right, do it once” work ethic, and the industry is filled with those that lack it, which equates to job security.  I don’t want to toot my own horn (too often), but I do give a shit about what I do, no matter what it is, and that seems to be rare out there.

For the most part, my partner and I put in A/C units right now, mixed in with furnace replacements, full tin jobs, and overhead garage heaters.  He’s been doing it forever, does a good job of teaching it top me, as well as passing on the nuggets of experience that come with time, and I’m finding it relatively easy to pick up.  Most trades are a general combination of a knowledge, a few trade specific skills, and time saving tricks.

Right now I’m still trying to train my brain in the use of the bender, which is required at each end of the copper lines that connect the two pieces (coil and compressor) inside and out to make the system.  My mind has never had to work that way doing carpentry, but it is coming.  Brazing is another skill that will take some “getting the feel for”, but that is coming too.

While tedious at times, I find the electrical work easy, with presentation being key.  It can look like crap and work perfectly, but “pretty” sells, and this I learned from scaffolding.  If you can have a client walk past and say “oohhh, ahhh, purdy…. who did that?” well, you stay working.  So, it doesn’t matter if it takes an extra hour, what matters to the client is how it looks.

This puts you up against the wall of piecework, but there is a saying… “First you get good, then you get fast”… so I allow myself the time to make my mistakes along the way knowing that much of it will become routine soon enough.

It will take some more time to decide it I want to go through with an apprenticeship for this.  The offer is already on the table, and another ticket is always a bonus in life, but I think I’ll wait until my three months are up and I have a better feel for the industry.

Until then, it’s just nice to be working again, feel productive in life, see a possible future, and know that this is recession proof work, as the trade is also one of those deemed essential.

One other nice note to ponder.  Only two customers have asked us to wear masks in their homes during the 6 weeks I’ve been doing this.  Everyone else acts as though this pandemic doesn’t exist, which it doesn’t, until you go out of the home to shop or do some sort of business.

For all of you who are discouraged about what you see out there, I suggest from this information that the vast majority are just putting on a mask because they don’t want to be bothered by the screaming ‘Karens’ out there, but the truth of how they feel and think about things lives in their homes.

None of them, save but two, believe any of it such that they have brought it home to roost, which proves out another suggestion.  The entire push for this is coming from the corporate sector, and when you consider that Blackrock and Vanguard are in the top ten owners of nearly every single public stock on the NYSE, you begin to see where the push is coming from.