This will be my very first newsletter issue. I am excited, but also terrified at the same time.

Don’t jump my shit if I don’t have it all figured out yet. To me, the best way to learn is to make mistake after mistake until you start to get it right. Nothing good in life ever came easy anyways.

The beginning

I’m sitting outside while i write this, listening to the birds chirp and Southwest Airlines preparing for a smooth landing. It’s been decades since I’ve decided to pick up a notebook and actually write down what haunts me.

Some of the greatest minds have suggested that i should lock myself up in a room with zero distractions and just write. Some would say sitting outside is a distraction. I think the opposite. It’s very calming to me.

After all, i spend most of my waking hours outside. Why, you ask? Well, I work in construction, that’s why.

About 8 years ago, I was sitting in an office with no windows and had a desk the size of a fuckin’ TV dinner tray. I had to cold call leads for an Insurance agent. Ew.

Long story short, i was bored out of my damn mind. I didn’t want to sit in a chair and waste my life away. So instead, i knew i had to get a job as a laborer to begin my career in construction. So i took the chance, and got a job at a landscaping company.

I enjoyed every bit of it. I lost weight, and i got to work with my hands. And the best part, I’ve planted trees that will be here long after I’m gone. But did i stop there?

The Middle

Nope. I decided i wanted to be a part of something bigger. Much bigger.

As a child, I always remembered seeing big yellow machines on the side of the road. Moving dirt. Kicking up dust.

Building cool ass shit.

There’s actually a large construction company based in the U.S. who’s slogan is literally, “Kick Ass People Building Cool Shit” or KAPBCS for short(I’m sure you know why). I did not work for this company directly, because i chose a different outfit instead.

My first machine? CAT 631 baby (some of my favorite photos below, I have hundreds more).

The 627, aka baby push pull.

The 637, aka the just right push pull

And last, but not least. The big daddy 657 (the tire is almost 13ft tall and costs about $15K per tire). Rides like a Cadillac. Moves Mountains, literally. the landfill scraper.

Some of you may think it’s just a steering wheel and some levers.

However, it takes serious skill (i had quite the learning curve, but I’ll save that for another Newsletter) to run these machines in the most efficient way possible without killing anyone(I’ve had some close encounters, on and off the machine) and without bleeding the budget.

It was rough at first. After all, running a scraper like a banshee feels like riding a bull with a seatbelt. Yes, a good bladehand(shown below) can smooth out our hall roads and cut and fill sections to make it a better ride.

Still, my time running heavy equipment was wild and unforgettable. Maybe a little unpredictable. I would not trade what i learned for anything. It has since made me a bit wild and unpredictable as well.

Then again, Life itself is wild and unpredictable.

Wild and Unpredictable

Forgive me if i was trailing off. I wanted to sum up that experience by saying that it was the best job I’ve ever had. I learned more about who I was and what i was capable of.

I’ve been a part of building some of the biggest neighborhoods in the state of Arizona. What started out as a giant field of Palo Verde trees and holes for burrowing else, has now sprouted into master planned communities with with families working, eating, sleeping, and playing.

I drive through them sometimes and I’m still amazed at how it comes out in real time. It made me see the world from a different perspective.

The fact that humans can build and create all of this from a thought, some math, a set of plans, and some elbow grease. it’s remarkable to say the least.

All it took was an idea and some elbow grease.

The point I’m making is this.

Keep Going

Life is, and will always be, wild and unpredictable. Life throws you curves, but you learn to swerve.

Like that one Rascal Flatts song.

You can have everything planned out. Yet, no matter what, something unexpected always happens when you least expect it. Positive, or negative.

Doesn’t matter. Shit happens. To put it in laments terms, what matters is how you handle it.

I’ve seen curveballs thrown at people, and they never recover. The ball hist their orbital bone(figuratively, of course) and blinds them forever. They live in resentment, misery, and victimhood. Completely stuck mentally.

I’ve seen others who see the curveball coming and decide to throw their shoulder into it. It might be painful at first, but they still have their eyesight intact.

Whether they strikeout, hit a homerun, base hit. Hell, even if they’re walked. the difference between the two?

They keep going no matter what.

Every human has a shelf life. Everyone passes on at some point. All that matters is that you keep going.

Don’t lose your eyesight and stay stuck forever.

Just keep going.

In the meantime. Be a sick-ass person and build some cool shit along the way. Make it your life’s mission to do so.

While you’re at it, have some fun.

Work hard, and play even harder. That’s what makes life wild and unpredictable.

Thank you for reading. Let me know what you think.

Sincerely,

Sheldon