Words of wisdom right there Piper

Wish you the best Evo, good luck!

Congrats on the positive life change.

As far as "building houses" goes, unless you're the builder/developer you are going nowhere, unless you're a disciplined money-saver/investor.

Another way to go is to join the apprenticeship program.
The program ids designed to take a "kid off street" and turn him into a journeyman carpenter in 4 years.
There are 8 levels....you move through 2 levels per years and you pay scale goes up accordingly.
If you have previous carpenter experience they will test you and plug you into one of the levels, depending on your score.

You don't have to drag around a bunch of power tools like the scabs do.
The carpenters fought and won a battle over that years ago and are only responsible for personal hand tools.
The employers supply all power tools.

If you're in your 30's there is still time to start building your pension.
For transportation, you just have to make that happen...that cannot be a barrier.
It takes discipline, hard work and a lot balls to become a journeyman carpenter.

Do this now, keep your mouth shut and do what you're told and you will thank me down the road.
http://www.carpentertraining.org/locations.lasso

PS
Work your way up to foreman or superintendent and you tell the weed puller what to do and when to do it.
They're a notch above the cleaning ladies that do the final clean, so it's not that big of a deal.

DD, ive already completed 3 years at CITC (Construction Industry Training Council) which is a program through WSU.. i was doing it for 3 years straight before my dad died, and have done alot during my life helping, i did have a job when i jumped school with my dad at 16 doing the same thing... did a framing job a few years before i went to work for Charter too... 1 more year in that class, and i will become a journey...

the situation of why i quit was a bad decision, but it was almost forced upon me by the idiot HR guy that has been gone for years... if i were still there, i would be making around 30 dollars an hour, same wage as my brother... but im not, i think tho, that i may be able to get the President to let me come back on the team tho, hes always liked me, and theres a ton of Supe's there that like me too so i should be able to get this done sooner than later...

also, im not just a "scab" that has bags and a cats paw, hammer, and tape... im way past that.. and no i wouldnt need compressors, guns, saws, ect if i go to work for a big company, but some of the little ones out here state specifically you need tools like that, or atleast buy them shortly after starting... i already have everything i could ever need, levels, planes, chisels, ect...

building houses is just something that i really enjoy, and thats what keeps people happy in their jobs, is if they enjoy doing it... im just trying to pick up where i left off, i havent lost any knowledge infact i have gained more with my brother doing window installs and what not, but i was already doing some of that before i left...

im not what you would call foreman material at this point, all foreman i know know more than i do so... im right below them tho, and learn quickly, work my ass off, and get sh!t done the right way, the first time...

i just wish i could do that with everything in life, but thats easier said than done....

we are hopefully getting the ball rolling this weekend, i have a few things to take care of the rest of the week, and then me and Katie are taking off for a night i think and getting it all figured out...


and after a year or so, we will move out of this sh!t hole... you fellers that hate me should come see this, come see what i do for the rest of the people here and how im thanked for it... living here has kept me in this rut, it has caused fights, it has hurt me, and i have hurt others because of that...

and im not letting that happen anymore...

poor possums...

nate,

The key is starting now. It sounds like you've been spinning your wheels a little, and you need to gain some traction and start moving forward.

Congratulations on your proposal. It sounds like your gal is a hard worker with a goal in mind. Keep that in mind, and do the same. It sounds you have some skills, but lack focus.

The weed may or may not be a problem. I work with plenty of people who don't smoke weed and are as dumb as a sack of fuckin' hammers, and at my previous job we had some high-performers I know smoked weed. The thing is, many employers (like mine) won't allow it and test. You don't want your career choices dictated by weed. Phil Jackson and his 11 NBA titles laugh at fuckwads like 43-8 who demonize weed and make it sound like you can't perform if you smoke dope. That's bullsh!t, just like most of his posts - but it won't help you get or hold a job, either. I'm pretty sure that prior to winning 4 or 5 championships, Jackson wouldn't have talked about smoking weed, either, because employers frown on that sh!t, and that's a good enough reason not to do it.

One more thing you might want to do is get some skills in Excel, Word, and other common business applications. In my company, no matter what your position is, you are expected to have at least basic skills at your typical office suite software, and being good at them assures you'll be upwardly mobile.

I recommend moving away from labor, and toward using your brain to stay employed. Right now, my brain probably works better, business-wise at least, than it ever did. My body, however, is a heap of sh!t compared to when I was 25. I wouldn't want to have to rely on it to keep making money, that's for sure.

Now, let me give you some tips on how to stay married..............

Kidding! I've been married 24 years, but I think what we do only works for us. But I guess that's all that matters.

Best of luck to you and Katie. I'd think it was pretty cool if you reported back somewhere down the road with pics of your own place, and your new ride, giving KK a big half a peace sign.

I bet KK would even think that was cool................if he wasn;t such a asshole.

You just set the little $hit back 5 years with that one...



god forbid KK kicks the bucket poor little Fu(ker wouldn't have any reason to go back to work

"The weed may or may not be a problem. I work with plenty of people who don't smoke weed and are as dumb as a sack of fuckin' hammers, and at my previous job we had some high-performers I know smoked weed. The thing is, many employers (like mine) won't allow it and test. You don't want your career choices dictated by weed. Phil Jackson and his 11 NBA titles laugh at fuckwads like 43-8 who demonize weed and make it sound like you can't perform if you smoke dope. That's bullsh!t, just like most of his posts - but it won't help you get or hold a job, either. I'm pretty sure that prior to winning 4 or 5 championships, Jackson wouldn't have talked about smoking weed, either, because employers frown on that sh!t, and that's a good enough reason not to do it."

Yeah because we know the exception makes the rule and Nate and Phil are comparable? How many high performers do you know that toke a gram a day? That's what I thought , You make my point very well Napoleon. Nothing wrong with weed or a drink if the rest of your life is healthy .

Good luck Nate. Despite what was said above, UNION carpenters are a joke. I would hire a cleaning lady, or a weed picker as a carpenter before hiring one of those clowns!!!

I've never found it to be the exception, I've found it to be the rule. High performers perform whether they smoke weed or not.

Weed isn't the deciding factor. Weed is the excuse used when low-performers have to blame something.

I know a few high-performing weed-smokers. I've never been able to identify smoking weed as a determining factor in someone's success. Perhaps you do - but I bet some high-performers you know smoke weed and you're just unaware of it.

In any case, I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to Nate, so go find a match and a gas can and...................well, you know.

Why did you answer me then ? short term memory problems?

its not the weed, it was my mindset... i didnt just start smoking after my dad died, ive been smoking it since i was 16, and before my dad died, i was making good money even while doing it... i dont smoke at work, or before, or any of that... that is my preference... i do however know people that do smoke at work and are quite good at what they do...

pot is not what makes people lazy or not be good at anything... they were already that way before they smoked weed, its who they are...

im not lazy, or not good at anything, i just made some wrong choices and kinda took things the way that i shouldnt have... but isnt that called the lessons of life? making mistakes and learning from them to become a better person?


i made the wrong, and bad choices, and now i have to reverse that.. but its all good, i like it when people say i cant do something... it drives me even more to say i can, and hold my weed and watch this (<<< Joke)

also Joad, i said under a gram, if you knew anything about Cannabis, Marijuana, Weed, Dank, Indo, or in your case if you ever smoked it, Schwag, you would know weight measurements and know that 1 gram aint sh!t, most people who smoke "blunts", smoke 2-8 grams in 1 sitting, and thats not all they will smoke...

sh!t, since its legal, i should post a picture of what .5 even looks like (again, joke)

thanks everyone, and even the haters for the motivational support, because the bad ssay you cant support is the best when it comes to people that figure pretty much anything they want out...

its the game of life, and im gonna win this bitch some day...

oh yeah Jake, no union for me, i would be at like 28-30 if i stuck with it, non union, no bullsh!t, none of that hack crap... i need to get back on that path... my dad felt the same way as you about unions, they are pretty much a joke...

but they are right for some people i suppose... im not one of them..

No - I answered to tell you to shut the fu.ck up.

Pay attention, stoner.

Stoner cage match.. Performance on an intellectual, physical, and emotional level is not effected by dope! The last two pages are testament to that statement

Easy nancy you might blow your tampon out.

You don't know schitt if you actually took the time to type that.

When I was young and stupid that's what I thought as well.
That's OK, I was a scab at one time and didn't know schitt...you can recover from it.

If you want to build shacks and nip at the edges of commercial, be a rat carpenter.
And then try to live on Social Security when you're old and broken.

The skilled workforce in the Pacific Northwest is union.
It is not the type of union where slackers can hide....if you fuk up you are gone instantly. Many people don't know that about construction unions in the PNW.

Most all large structures, bridges, etc. in the PNW were built by this workforce.
There is no other skilled labor pool that can handle such jobs.

I've been in both groups in leadership positions.

Congratulations Nate. Really, I mean that. You realize however, that a person, who is a better woman than you are a man, has made a significant commitment to you. If you're even half a man, you'll bust your ass to be as good a man as she is a woman. Otherwise, as one of the posts above wrote, you'll just be a married deadbeat instead of a single deadbeat.

You think I'm a hater, but I'm not. I just don't respect deadbeats. I'd like very much for you to be successful. To that end I recommend a long engagement. The time to get married is not while you're telling Katie and us that you're going to "get this figure out," whatever "this" is. The time to get married is after you have figured it out and are already beginning to amount to something. If you really care about her, wouldn't you want her to marry someone who has accomplished something with his life, rather than someone who says he will "figure this out?"

Good luck, and I honestly hope you don't need it.

Sg

Nate, for you instead of what would Jesus do, it will be what would my Dad have done.

i know JG, good point...

BU....that's some funny chit right there!