4/04 Energy not found

"Brian, The Life of" (familycar) 04/04/2016 at 11:25 • Filed to: None

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Welp, we moved back into my house this weekend. I should say, we mostly moved back in. We’re about 90% there and I was never so happy to have a weekend end and go back to work. My wife is hiring a specialist from in front of Home Depot to help finish. My God, there simply isn’t enough Advil in the world right now. The only thing that doesn’t hurt is my left hand ... and that’s because I’ve lost most of the feeling in it. I’m never doing this again. The next time I move out of my house, they will be carrying me out feet first.

It was great living in the house we rented for two years. I mean, the view was breathtaking. When I was working from home our first year there, I got into !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! since we could see everything coming into and out of San Diego Bay from the place. Even though I’ll miss the view, and to a lesser extent, all the extra room the huge place afforded, I am really glad to be back in our house. It’s home to me and I love the fact that we can walk to Liberty Station and all the awesomeness that is there, especially all the cool restaurants like Stone Brewing’s place. I guess that’s the difference between a house and a home.

How was you weekend?

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > Brian, The Life of 04/04/2016 at 11:31

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I’ve lived in 5 different apartments in 7 years.

Pay for movers, real ones. I prefer 2 Men and a Truck. It's so completely worth it.

HammerheadFistpunch > Brian, The Life of 04/04/2016 at 11:33

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What were you doing with the house? sounds like a full remodel.

Xyl0c41n3 > Brian, The Life of 04/04/2016 at 11:34

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My wife is hiring a specialist from in front of Home Depot to help finish.

You mean a day laborer?

Why not just say “day laborer”?

CB > Brian, The Life of 04/04/2016 at 11:40

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I’ve moved a bunch since I’m a university student. I’m getting real sick of it, to be honest, and can’t wait to finally get a forever place.

And my weekend wasn’t the best, but here’s to things going up from here.

Brian, The Life of > HammerheadFistpunch 04/04/2016 at 11:47

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We rented the big house so we could move my in laws in with us for a couple years. They've since moved into an apartment and the kids have mostly left for school so no more need for the 5,000sqft monster.

RyanFrew > Brian, The Life of 04/04/2016 at 11:49

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Heh, good title.

Brian, The Life of > Xyl0c41n3 04/04/2016 at 11:49

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Because they are my words and I get to choose the them. And they are the best words.

Brian, The Life of > CB 04/04/2016 at 11:51

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Moving a lot when you're young is normal. I'm 50 now and am supposed to be done with shit like this ;)

HammerheadFistpunch > Brian, The Life of 04/04/2016 at 11:56

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were you just renting your old place in the meantime?

TheHondaBro > Brian, The Life of 04/04/2016 at 11:58

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I’ll take it if you don’t want it.

Brian, The Life of > HammerheadFistpunch 04/04/2016 at 11:59

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Yeah, I rented it to a Navy doctor and his family. Got super lucky, awesome tenants.

Xyl0c41n3 > Brian, The Life of 04/04/2016 at 12:02

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I wasn’t asking my question with any snark involved, but I’m kind of glad you responded defensively because it confirmed an assumption I had hoped was incorrect.

Being euphemistic about the laborers y’all are providing work for is more offensive than the use of the term that actually describes those laborers. With your city’s proximity to Mexico, it’s not hard to figure out what kind of people these day laborers are likely to be. Don’t worry, La Migra isn’t going to read your Oppo post to see if you asked them for a proper employment Social Security number.

There’s no shame in giving honest work to people looking for honest work. If they’re good enough to hire to enter your home, then they’re good enough to be afforded the respect of being spoken about directly.

HammerheadFistpunch > Brian, The Life of 04/04/2016 at 12:04

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Yeah, that’s the way to do it; My wife’s family is almost all navy/air force/army docs and they take great care of their rentals.

macanamera > Xyl0c41n3 04/04/2016 at 12:07

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I work with many, many day laborers and I consider quite a few to be specialists to the extreme. To date, the best electrician I’ve ever worked with is a “day laborer”, and that goes for drywall too. I see no problem with calling someone a specialist if they are a damn specialist in what they do.

Xyl0c41n3 > macanamera 04/04/2016 at 12:14

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I’m not disagreeing that some day laborers are kick ass people who know their shit backwards and forwards and can (and should) be considered specialists.

Which is why I asked my question with no commentary attached to it.

You responded straight-forwardly, giving examples of your own experiences. Brian responded defensively, which says more about his use of the term “specialist” than not.

Maybe my assumption is wrong. I’m willing to entertain that, but I’m wary of when people get euphemistic about talking about lower-class people (who are often POC). In my experience, it’s never a good thing when people talk around POC instead of as directly as possible.

macanamera > Xyl0c41n3 04/04/2016 at 12:25

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Dude- totally forgot paint. I’ve got two guys that generally work together and are absolute WIZARDS when it comes to paint. And let me tell you, I’m not sure they should be called lower class people. Idk if money is how you judge that, but I’ve paid these guys about 80 thousand dollars in the last three months.

The thing is, these day laborers are generally doing landscape or construction (framing, paint, drywall), and to a lesser degree, plumbing. And the money can be really good. So they keep doing it, and they get super good at it, so I’d say calling them “specialists” as a general term isn’t even inaccurate. It might be more accurate than calling them “day laborers”. Sure, you might run into a 19 y/o kid that has no idea what he’s doing, but that’s generally what specialists are until they get good.

Brian, The Life of > Xyl0c41n3 04/04/2016 at 12:33

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You were looking for a reason to find something offensive. I’m starting to believe that’s a hobby of yours. My response was in no way defensive; that was you projecting. We hired four DAY LABORERS on Saturday; two Marines and two from Home Depot. The two from Home Depot had us sign their log because they fill out a 1099 form so the gummit doesn’t hound them at tax time. They were also both American Citizens.

Brian, The Life of > TheHondaBro 04/04/2016 at 12:35

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Well, the owners are going to sell it. It’ll probably go for at least $3.5MM if you’ve got the scratch ;)

TheHondaBro > Brian, The Life of 04/04/2016 at 12:36

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:0

Gamecat235 > Xyl0c41n3 04/04/2016 at 12:41

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A wild gamecat appears.

I actually don’t think that Brian was being defensive, more than just, well, that’s pretty much Brian as I know him. He’s humorous, not quick to offend, and shoots pretty straight.

Living in San Diego, just like living in Southern Arizona, just like living in Southern Texas, gives people a pretty unique outlook on day laborers in these parts, and citizen or not, a vast majority of us know that these regions thrive and get by on their hard work (or they have their heads buried in the sand, or have never set foot in the ‘real world’).

When I read the post, I read it as Brian phrasing it the way he would, not to offend or obfuscate unnecessarily. But you know I tend to look at the world through a filter of hoping to see the best in people.

Just my $.02.

Xyl0c41n3 > Brian, The Life of 04/04/2016 at 12:53

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I wasn’t looking for a reason to be offended. As I told macanamera , that’s why I asked my initial question without any added commentary. And like I also told him, I’m willing to entertain being wrong.

I was wrong. I apologize. Sincerely.

Our two states have very similar population demographics (with the exception being that our border towns are nowhere near as large as yours, and they also have higher percentages of Latinos, in general, than California border towns).

My dad wasn’t a day laborer, but he was a migrant farm worker for decades. He’s already morenito (dark-skinned) to begin with, and was much more so when he worked outside in the fields all day long. I’m not. I’m very light-skinned (as someone on Oppo pointed out earlier today thanks to a photo I posted). I’m light-skinned (and well-spoken) enough to pass for white, even among other Latinos.

Being güera means I’m often considered to be “one of the good ones.” It also means I got to see first hand how people would talk about dark-skinned or non-passing Latinos like my dad, assuming that I either agreed with them, or that folks like my dad were too stupid to know any better.

A lot of that talk came in the form of coded language.

So, no. I wasn’t looking for a reason to be offended (but thanks for jumping on that particular Oppo bandwagon, too, as if it isn’t a tired enough one already), but I did think I was seeing an instance of coded language.

Given my experience with such, and the difficulties with sussing out tone in a purely text-driven form of communication, is that so hard to believe?

I’ve made my apologies, but I’m also of the belief that apologies are mostly made to assuage the person who offers them, not to placate those who receive them, so don’t feel pressured to accept them.

Xyl0c41n3 > Gamecat235 04/04/2016 at 12:59

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Hi, Gamecat. Long time no talk, which is unfortunate. How’s things? Well, I hope.

Here’s the response I just sent Brian:

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/i-wasn-t-looki…

Also, I’d offer a minor disagreement with something you just said. Day laborers, citizens or not, make far larger stretches of the country thrive than simply those within a certain radius of the border.

Estamos everywhere, carnal !

Gamecat235 > Xyl0c41n3 04/04/2016 at 13:36

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Things are quite good, busy, and recovering from combo of my daughter’s birthday party and having to cancel it a week prior because she was sick when it was originally scheduled. Couple that with my never ending work schedule, and my free time is close to non-existent. Thanks for asking. I hope things have been well for you.

And yes, living in Chicago, and traveling to North Carolina and other areas, I am very aware of the impact of this population on the country as a whole, but it is more “open” in the border states, from what I have personally seen / encountered.

Cheers!

Xyl0c41n3 > Gamecat235 04/04/2016 at 13:41

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Happy birthday to your little one! I hope she had a great day.

Also, what is free time? Heh.