Troll’s Hole

Happenings so far this month….

I made a temporary escape from To-HELL-u-ride by taking some vacation time. Vacation time is a good thing. It is good to recharge the emotional batteries and get a different view about life.

I used this vacation time to take the lovely and talented Mrs. Troll to the city of Lost Wages. We had a very good time. She gambled quite a bit but did not lose much at all.

I can’t seem to wrap my brain around slot machines. Watching that $20 bill get sucked into the machine makes my butthole flutter. I know that I will never see that money again, and in my case I never will. She can win occasionally, making things fun for her, but I am not comfortable with the money swallowing thieves with the flashing lights and happy noises.

We stayed in the downtown area of Lost Wages, and I was quite taken with the area; that is where all the freaks hang out. This is the place where you take your children in order to point out all the kinds of people you do not want them to grow up to become. Drunks and homeless people scattered in the crowd make people watching a sporting event. Don’t make eye contact or you will have to go on the defensive. You can’t run, they know the area better than you.

I also really liked the fire-and-brimstone-you-are-all-going-to-hell-people that go there just to confront strangers. They stand in the middle of all that is going on and yell their opinion of you to all that are within listening distance. I wanted to get about three drinks drunk and go play with some of them, but decided that it might not be a good idea. I do not want to meet a friendly policeman in a strange town, and have found that calling someone a ‘green seeping vaginal drip’ can often offend enough to warrant intervention.

Being a huckster there is a fine art, and I used their skills to practice one of my own; blowing people off. The Mrs. and I both became quite astute and choosing the blow off that was best suited to a particular huckster. I enjoy look of shock on a huckster’s face when you just way “NO!” and keep on walking. Like a dog with her nose in the trash, his eyes get big and he recoils a bit before looking down and slinking away.

After all the fun, it will be hard to go back To-HELL-u-ride, but I must. Work calls, and we need to get out of that project before the building starts to decay and fall down.

It has been about a month since I last posted and I figure I had better post again before they call out the search dogs for me.

This is the first time I have been at home since the last time I posted. I was lucky enough to get the Mrs. to come up and visit for Valentine’s Day, but besides that I have been working and being sick.

I can’t believe how many people on this project are sick. I would estimate that at any one time 50% of the people working there are coughing and snorking up lung junk. The place is filthy and the dust in the air is visible. Imagine working in a white sand storm with no wind. It’s kinda like that only with obstacles under foot and people marching through yelling that we need to hurry up and be quiet.

The project is open to the public, yet we are not even close to being finished. The other trades are behind schedule and we are forced to wait on them. What work we can do we have to do while the people that are on vacation are away from the rooms, making work hours and conditions difficult.

We are not supposed to wear our protective equipment and are allowed to use only outhouses. No flush toilets for the people that wear plastic hats! We are forced to use the service entrances and can only use one stairway in order to not make contact with the public.

The general contractor has not been paying for any of the extras that we have done, so now we are in the position of no longer being able to finish a lot of things because they require extras, and we are no longer providing extras until they pay for what they already have.

And to add insult to injury, I heard that most of the other trades contracts are up as of yesterday. That means that the other trades may not be working until they get assurances that they will be paid extra, something that I am sure the general contractor does not want to do.

All in all I think that this project is just about the biggest clusterfuck that I have ever been part of. If I had to choose my worst project ever, this would be it.

On the positive side, the overtime has been good, and I am hoping that my next project will get going soon. I do not think I will be in Telluride until the end, but will be shipped back to NM whenever the general contractor there gets things ready. Perhaps then I will not be working 60 – 70 hour weeks and having to share a house with a man with the social skills of a rock.

I can’t wait.