On the Road again.

Here we go again.
I got laid off from my so called "steady" job a couple of weeks ago.
Apparently 18 years of knowledge and experience aren't quite as valuable as the ability to say "yessirrrr!!!!" while enjoying the taste of supervisory gonads.

So last week I was off to Vicksburg Ms. for a couple of days, this week it's Gibson Ms. for a couple three more. Then off to Wiggins Ms. to work 4 days on/4 days off for a while. (Damn that's a lot of Mississippi.)

Who knows where the wind will blow me then.......

You better do what WE say....or else.....No,wait, we meant Him, not You.

Honestly,
The Double standards that our wonderful "justice system" seems to apply never ceases to amaze me. Your average person, (or at least a stupid Millwright from Saline, La.) would tend to think that when something was "court-ordered" it meant just that, either do what the law says or get held in contempt of court and face the consequences....after all, I shell out roughly $1200 a month because I am court ordered to,I just spent 6 months on probation because I got behind, they made it very very clear that if I didn't pay up they would put me in jail.

That really isn't what if means for everyone though.

Lil's mom seems to have a problem with me being her Father. Even though I worked my ass off to provide, nurtured, comforted,taught and tried to be Super Daddy to Her through all the years we were married, somehow our divorce voided all of that and I became a twice removed uncle who is deserving of hatred and meanness at every turn. (She has no problem taking the money that my blood and sweat earn though.)

As I have said before, I am supposed to have specific custody rights with my Daughter, "court ordered"......these have been violated time and time again over the last few years. From months being completely denied any and all access to holidays and weeks or weekends blown off. Countless hours have been spent agonizing over time lost. Literally reading hundreds of studies and opinions about the importance of a child, (especially a girl) having regular and frequent contact with their DADDY. I have talked to three lawyers, a judge, and a district attorney about the denial of my right to be a Father to my Daughter.
The lawyers just want your money, $3000.00 with only a 50/50 chance of success is laughable, the others just tell you that you need a lawyer....LOL.

None of them ever told me I could try and remedy all of it on my own.
Thanks to Google and rat-terrier like determination I found this though....(the link takes you to the text of the law) La. R.S. 9:346 - ACTION FOR FAILURE TO EXERCISE OR TO ALLOW
VISITATION, CUSTODY OR TIME RIGHTS PURSUANT TO COURT ORDERED SCHEDULE; JUDGMENT AND AWARDS.
It seems that I could file a "Motion to show cause", various giggles of glee and dancing ensued.
I have argued a thousand times that while I am forced to obey she has never been accountable for anything.....finally "they" would see to it that time with my Daughter wasn't subject to the whims and miasmas of her mother.

BOY WAS I WRONG AGAIN.

When we went to court the judge "went off the record" in order to listen to what I had to say, Evan then proceeded with a complete and total pack of lies about all of it. (We were off the record and not sworn in so I guess that made lying ok)

The judge then proceeded to go back on the record and completely ignore what the law says.
He didn't hold her in Contempt.
He didn't make any provisions for make up visitation.
He sure as hell never even contemplated my request for a change of "domiciliary custody" to protect my rights.....even though the law clearly states he should have granted it.
He pretty much just told her to obey it from now on. Just the faintest of brushings on the wrist.

I truly believe that if she had filed the motion he would have keelhauled me.
Evidently though, in Bienville Parish the law only applies if they want it to.

Awesomesauce part 2 or "How the system is broken"

I am fortunate enough to have gotten a second chance.

I met and married a wonderful woman, she makes each day happier than the next.
She came with two boys that are both awesome in their own way. I'm not their Daddy, but I honestly strive to be the Father that they both deserve. Richy is bound and determined to work with his hands and his brain like I do, (Even though he knows how bad it can suck sometimes), mark my words, he will be runnin shit for somebody before he is 30.
Who knows what the future will hold for Nick, but I'm willing to bet it is brighter than the sun, that boy amazes me everyday with his ability to just "figure out stuff."
I have a very good job, I get to do something that I love and get paid better than probably 90% than most of Mayberry.

Pretty much a perfect life, I don't get to see Lil as much as I would like, but overall I wouldn't have it any different.

I have often wondered if this happiness angers some people, because they honestly seem to try and make my life hell every chance they get.

I pay Lil's mom $200.00 each and every week. It was my understanding that the money was to provide Lil with "The same standard of living she would have if she lived with me." That's fine with me, all I have ever asked for in return was to be involved in my Daughter's life and spend as much time with her as possible. (In reality attempts have been made to totally eliminate me from her life.)

For some reason, the state of Louisiana has a double standard when it comes to family law.
I am court ordered to pay child support, if I don't play by these rules they will put me in JAIL.
In the same court order, I have clear cut custody rights....but if Lil's mom chooses to ignore them the law doesn't seem to apply. "It's a civil matter, you need to hire a lawyer"
To a stupid Millwright contempt of court works both ways.....to a highly educated judge it really doesn't though.

Well, I don't know about where you live, but in Saline,Louisiana 800-1000 bucks a month is pretty hard to swallow,especially when no account of where it goes is ever made.

Lil moves to LSMSA in August. She will alternate weekends between here and her mom's house, with the summer spent equally as well. This might lead a person to believe that the "custodial" parent's expenses in relation to her would go down, what with her living at the school and all.
Less groceries to buy, even things like electricity and water usage would be reduced.
(I bring this up because it was explained to me that child support pays for those things.)

When Lil got accepted my teeny tiny Millwright brain reasoned all of this out. I called her mom and proposed this.

Lil's room and board split between us 50/50 and that we would open her up a bank account and give her a debit card, with each of us putting in $50.00 per week. Surely Lil can buy everything she could want or need with $400.00 a month?
This earned me a cussing and several days of denial of custody.
So, I filed a motion for reduction with our wonderful court system.

I figured surely they would see the logic of my reasoning.

BOY, WAS I WRONG.

I went to court yesterday,
right off the bat it seemed that the woman from the child support office was mad at me for having the gall to ask for a reduction.
I explained my reasoning and proposal to them.......they looked at me like I was suggesting clubbing baby seals for fun.

They proceeded to RAISE my obligation.

Evan said she needed more money because of "extra education expenses."
For the life of me I can't fathom how this reasoning works.
Somehow it seems I got the idea that I needed to provide for my Daughter's needs,
They showed me that in reality I will provide for her Mother's wants as well.

Awesomesauce, With a side of bile and hatred, Part one.

I love my Daughter....
with all of my heart and soul,the sun in my life quite literally rises and sets on her.
I am truly sorry that me and her Mother can't seem to get along.

Which brings us to the latest in these demented rants.

Lil is smart, like "smartest kid in the whole school smart"
Back when she was little (about 7 or 8 I guess) she remarked to me that she was bored with school.
"Daddy" she says to me "How come the teacher keeps teaching me stuff that I already know?"

Well, I could honestly relate, I got bored with school at about that same age, figured out how to make barely passing grades with no effort whatsoever. All I wanted was to be left alone to read.....
still ended up with a full-paid college scholarship that I proceeded to waste because I had no idea how to apply myself and study.

One nice sunny day, not long after Lil was born,facing a 16 hour shift with the temp on the paper machine floor hovering around 140 degrees I vowed to myself that I would never let that happen to my Daughter.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with the career that I have, but a man tends to wonder about what "might have been" when the "physical" side of the Millwright world comes to call.

Anyhoo, I started explaining to Lil about LSMSA and everything that they could offer a smart,beautiful child like her. "Lil", I said "Daddy really wanted to go there when he was a kid, but he was lazy and his grades weren't good enough, so you'll have to try really hard if you want to go there"

Little did I know that this would inspire a dream in Lil to do just that. She had to submit an essay about "Why I want to go to LSMSA"when she first started the application process. It literally brought tears to my eyes when I read it, her opening paragraph recounted that long ago conversation.

Of course she got accepted.
Lil is truly her Father's daughter, from her left handedness to her love of reading, her taste in music,her love of computers, even proving that Girls CAN rock at Warcraft... we were best friends for 11 years.
I did my best to teach her that the world was hers for the taking. That she was the smartest,coolest,prettiest little girl in the whole wide world. (Because she was and is)

If 15 years ago I had called up God and custom ordered everything a man could want in a Child, she is exactly what He would have sent.

I am truly grateful and extremely full of pride that she worked so hard and earned this opportunity.

It's a damn shame that it has to be tempered by hatefulness and bile.

See part 2 for the story.

Honestly, how DUMB can the Thugs managing all of the money that the government steals from us really be??

I'm just a stupid Millwright from Saline,Louisiana, but even I know that you can't get out of debt by borrowing money. Especially money that you know Dang well you have no hope of earning in the future.

Everyone talks about how bad the economy is, how it is going to recover, blah,blah,blah.
In truth, it can't and it won't until WE admit what is wrong in the first place.
That is the one thing you never hear anyone talking about.......the real reason it is all falling apart.

It's not the "housing bubble", or the stock market, or any of the Myriad of reasons they give us while they lie about fixing it when what they are really doing is ruining our children's future.

We used to make stuff......tangible goods that were traded for money. People got up every morning and went to WORK, because if they didn't then they couldn't eat. If you tried harder than the next guy, eventually you probably had it better than he did. At the end of the week you got paid,saved some if you could and spent the rest. No one cared about "stimulating the economy" because it was self sustaining.

Remember when "made in china" was equal to JUNK?
How about when Wal-Mart had "Sam's AMERICAN Choice?"
It seems to me that two things have happened,

1. People stopped caring where things are made, all they want is CHEAPER CHEAPER CHEAPER. I tend to blame Wal-Mart for a lot of this, click the link and read some of the stories about how they treat people who supply goods to them.

2. Companies have become increasingly profit drive..it seems that anything is ok as long as we make a few people RICH, no one in control gives a hoot in hell about the people actually out there actually converting manual labor into tangible goods and services that allow the Company itself to exist, let alone make a profit. When the CEO makes millions but won't even pay the people at the bottom a wage they can live on......that set's off alarm bells to me.

One last thing.
We really need to stop teaching our children that traditional blue collar jobs equal failure.
Everyone isn't cut out to go to college and there are still several very lucrative careers that actually involve hot,dirty, dangerous work. (Particularly in the Skilled Trades, they are shrinking but they are still out there.)

Epic FAIL.....

I was stumbling this morning and I came upon Mike Rowe's website. Unbeknownst to me Mike has been trying to raise awareness about the decline of the skilled trades. You should really visit his sight and spend some time poking around, there really seems to be a lot more to this guy than the goofy guy on Dirty Jobs.

I have known for years that the skilled trades are going to Hell in a Handbasket. Society has decided that success for young adults is based on going to college, that a degree is the only road to a good paying job.

I beg to differ.

Not one single person ever suggested learning a trade while I was in high school.
The Industrial Arts/Shop class was for the Special Ed kids. We did small engines and welding in Ag for 6 weeks, but no one EVER suggested making a living at it.

I never intended to go to college, I hated school and only wanted it to be over with.
I took the ACT on a whim (with a hangover no less), because there was cute brunette with a penchant for wickedly short mini-skirts that was sure to ride with me and Brad.......
Scored higher than anyone else in the whole school. (Twice actually because of one teachers smart ass remark)

So I was college bound....
1.7 GPA, Full paid free ride to USL....in the Honor's Program no less.

No study skills, totally unprepared, with a total lack of respect for authority.
Didn't quite pan out.

Well, I needed a Job and Construction always needs helpers.

Fast forward 18 years and here I am.
A highly skilled Millwright. Not even the smartest of the bunch.
Happy, Successful......just generally content.

But....most of the time it is Filthy,Greasy,Physically Demanding work. The hours are long, the conditions are brutal.....and I get my hands dirty.......all the while dealing with some of the most detail oriented tediously technical work that there is.

Because of the above symptoms society says I'm a failure.
Here are a few of the symptoms........
As a whole, we are well Respected, Very well paid, and enjoy more freedom than should be allowed at work..
My Craft will never be outsourced or shipped overseas....someone has to know how to keep this stuff running, since Millwrights are pretty much responsible for everything that has moving parts and turns,stirs,shakes or makes something, the sheer amount of knowledge we are expected to possess prohibits this.

Generally speaking...Skilled Craftsman are retiring faster than new guys are learning, so wages have literally doubled in the last 10 years. I look for them to go up another 25% in the next 5.

I'll bet there are lots of College Grads that would like to Fail that Epically.
(Maybe more-so when their Student loan payments are due)

This is another good site, their view of the lack of respect for those of us who get our hands dirty is more eloquent......

Kelly Walker, Decorative Painter and documentary interview subject of the film, The Tradesmen: Making an Art of Work, summarizes art as “anything done without haste”. That is a description that coincides with the pride in ones work philosophy–a philosophy that is pervasive in modern society, but is sadly ignored for its artistic underpinning. When an individual immerses him or herself into the moment and focuses on achieving the highest possible value of the action or work being performed, this is, at its core, true art. We are teleological creatures with the fortunate ability to create purpose and meaning in our work, hobbies, and relationships. As long as there is pride and genuine enjoyment in the processes of one’s actions, that individual is involved in an act of artistry.

I am lucky, I love what I do, and more and more everyday, I'm proud of the choices I made.
Words can't explain the pride you feel when you can show your children the things that DAD builds with his brain,back,and hands........

Anyone can buy a diploma, If you can check the right ethnic box,Uncle Obama will GIVE you one for free. Those of us that keep the gears turning and the lights burning EARN ours, except we pay for it with sweat and blood.

Monkey See,Monkey Do.....

As long as I can remember I've seemed to have lots and lots of problems with "Authority".
I was well into my adult years before I figured this out, even though it has literally shaped the person that I am today.

Which brings us to today's post.

Ahhhhh, the "permanent" Job.
It has been the holy grail for lots and lots of people like me as long as I can remember.
As if somehow selling our hard-earned knowledge and skills to the highest bidder for a short amount of time just wasn't good enough.
Even though some of us were very successful had a freedom almost unheard of to most people.

With life being what it is, (mostly only getting to see Lil 4 days a month if im lucky) I decided to give up on Construction/Shutdowns for a while and "settle down".

Normally on a short term job, there is no time for any political bullshit, or just plain old suck-assing to take place.
We come in, get started, it doesn't take long for the best of us to stand out, we generally end up doing the majority of the work while the rest of them either a.) watch, or b.) do what we tell them to/fetch tools. When we are done, supervision takes note of this and remembers to call us for the next job.
I like the way this works, I am intelligent and knowledgeable about my craft, I've spent 18 years learning how to do this, I also have a VERY strong work ethic. This all adds up to EARNED RESPECT.

Literally all we need is someone to tell us a few simple things.
A.) What the customer wants done.
B.) Where the parts/prints we need are located.
C.) How much time have we got to do it in.
We can take it from there, if we need anything else we will let you know,otherwise get out of our way and we will make it happen.

Fast forward to the world of the permanent job.

A lot of the guys you work with in these scenarios can be intimidated by the attitude that we tend to develop......a lot of us have a total lack of respect for Authority, because we don't need any supervision, we have craftsmanship and knowledge.
Then a supervisor with no idea enters the picture and instantly gets offended/abraded by some of us, especially if his ignorance shows a time or two. (How can you expect us to listen to you if we know more about it than you do??)
Add to that the moronic helper that he "likes" and it can make days pretty miserable.

I literally have to chew the end of my tongue off several times a just to keep from speaking my mind.

When the Monkey's run the Zoo, the Tigers had better play nice if they want to eat..........