Happy February 2023,
I have not posted too much in the last few years. I have been so busy working that I have not been around much to post. 2.5 years ago, I went to work for a company. The work was endless, we could adjust and move for weather, we could move to a different state or sometimes just 3 hours away in another direction and we could keep working because sometime rain misses an area. So less down days waiting on site conditions. I was working out of town a lot. I was led to believe that I would be helping build up an existing company that had fallen to a one man show and I was told that at some point, I would be a part of it. So, I stopped almost all my building and clearing work and went on board full time sometimes logging 80 plus hours a week.
Then as the jobs went by and we started to grow, I figured out that he had other thoughts. He found two graders and I found us another grader and we started to pick up even more. To clarify I was a sub-contractor that could be used on an as needed basis getting nothing other than pay. I was an operator that works all the time and paid with profit split based on job value. I was paid a lot more than an hourly employee, which even if I could out work 2 other men at some point more men can out work 1 man. I never missed a job or called in sick or even let an equipment failure stop me. I would fix the machine myself or go get another machine if it was not fixable on-site. My job output probably went into the record books. I graded more than 10,000,000 sq ft. and I believe I can do it better than most others. I have a lot of experience looking at grade and making it to with in a 1/2" and depending on the material a 1/4".
I noticed that I was getting sent further away and the jobs were getting harder. All the easy jobs close to home went to others that were paid less. I began to realize that I could be replaced or worked less based on the companies needs or given jobs that no one else wanted. I also come to the realization that I would on be a sub-contractor that was not building my business and that I was not appreciated. My hard work was for nothing other than money, someone else was using my skill set to build their business and I was not going to have any rewards for that other than high pay. I was told that the company came first ...
I quit with a text message, with no notice and walked away. I quit the best paying job ever and I probably should have quit sooner, I saw it coming 6 months before hand. 2 years of hard long days of work. I did walk away with new ability, I am now an expert on proof rolls, material compaction, and bringing a site to final grade weather for a road, a building pad, loading dock or parking lot. I can grade horse arenas, tennis courts, and ball fields. I can grade using a CAD file and I can make my own grade file based on curbs, drains, or slab height. I know how to use site plans to build a project which before I was using a drawing on a napkin from lunch.
I have been attempting to fix so many things that I left un-done including special time I lost with my young kids and wife. My old track loaders have been basically sitting and waiting on me to get them going again. I have brought on a new machine and now I have machine control and I am fully equipped to handle even more types of work.
I am going at it fresh this year and looking forward to what it brings..