Cold Wind

                

Well I finally have rejoined the “Productive” society our great nation holds so dear, and I must say its not too bad.  As much as I miss the freedom and friendships that was the last year it is nice knowing that I have a place to sleep and plenty to eat (that I don’t carry on my back).  Last Friday I picked up my first real paycheck in over a year, and it was a good day indeed. 

So far work has been incredibly interesting, both in my coworkers and in all I have learned.  If Wind is clean energy then I would sure hate to see dirty energy.  I have been working on some of the oldest turbines in North America (hence the world) and surprised to find that it is more mechanical (engines and gears) than electrical work.  Changing oil, greasing gears and general upkeep fills up most of the day and I am catching on quick.  On simple fixes I am sent up alone and my tutor only comes up with me on more significant faults (of which I am quickly learning) With all the climbing and working on old equipment comes heaps of safety procedures and paperwork though, which is harder to deal with than the turbines but they say the paychecks stop if the paperwork stops.  I found two things unexpected in working in wind energy: the first being how much oil and grease the turbines require and excrete and the second is how hard it actually is to climb.  After the last year I had thought myself to be in pretty good shape, but climbing, 120ft, 160ft even 220ft straight up a ladder at 8200ft above sea level proved to be far more an endeavor than I previously perceived.  That and with the added weight of a 40lb safety harness and the occasional 2.5 gallon jug of oil makes it quite the challenge, one my coworkers are glad to pass off to me as the new guy, and one I gladly accept as I do any chance I can (yes they think I am crazy)  

On to my coworkers…  I wont give any details but I must say they are a fine bunch of felons.  The stories are only surpassed by the bullet scars and prison tattoos.  (ok, I think I am kidding about the tattoos.) But all being said, they have treated and taught me well and I will gladly work with them hundreds feet above the ground and trust them not to endanger me in potentially dangerous situations.  I enjoy every day of work and it is the perfect transition from being gloriously unemployed to earning a paycheck.  It is interesting working from the ground up, and hearing my seniors complain about management (they are very jealous of the soft toilet paper in the “executive” shitter)  

A bit on that, senior management in America’s corporations..  Coming back stateside I was greeted by a set of bills that I had been promised would be taken care of.  Ranging from a letter from a collections agency on the behalf of Verizon when I had not received any bill, any email, any correspondence what so ever in the last year concerning one last bill AFTER they had refunded me money on my last bill to a (#(*#$& dentist who wouldn’t submit any paperwork to my old insurance company I had spent many hours on the phone trying to take care of it.  Needless to say it made me miss Australia where the corporations are actually run FOR the customer, instead of being run by policies and hidden fees.  America’s business has gone so far away from where it began that it has hidden its own identify from itself, refusing to recognize the gluttonous voracious being it has become.  Maybe the same could be said for the society that fed, supported and subsidized such companies too…

So anyways here I am back to being a working member of America’s working class.  Not sure I would ever come back to this.  It honestly came down to a flip of a coin.  But I believe I made the right choice.  I am far happier than my social standing dictates (living in a horse trailer 50 miles from anywhere) instead of working and traveling the world, a professional hobo of sorts.  Hard to say goodbye to that life, and maybe I never will, but I have traded gaining friends and character for the chance to work on something bigger than me and myself.  In my travels I have been amazed at America’s voracious consumerism and how we can create commodities of the most amazing and precious things in life, and how people cheapen their lives and self worth to have a 46” TV that only shows show’s about other peoples fictional pathetic lives.  We have traded our self-esteem for shiny things that distract us from our lack of, prioritizing the things we own over the things that we owe ourselves.  Granted this a broad generalization, a few sentences characterizing a society, but it hits the mark when looking at our whole society and its actions.

And so I endeavor to re-establish myself for some good reasons in a society I left behind for all the right reasons and venture not to forget all the lessons I have learned over the last year.  I continue living on a meager existence (not much choice yet) but continue finding joy in the simple things in life.  Happiness does not cost money, and happiness does not come from other people.  If you really need more advice on being happy, you should really go read a Dr Seuss book.