Scotty Jackson

another episode of Out on the Road Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Linker. Today's episode is brought to you by Slitman Well in the Pearl, Nate Montez, Welder, Pop Liner, done it for years. The power, the people about as well, is the people that's keeping them from having to go back to Wellton, which is great with, you know, his wife and his kids, or quality time that Emma's wife will never see. You know, you're not, you know, just buying from random person you're getting, you know, you buy from a guy that used gloves every day, so, you know, 10 or 12 years. So, Slitmanwell in the Pearl.com, Nate Montez on TikTok, no nasty Nate on TikTok, Instagram, it's Nate the Great, it's kind of stuff going kind of weird. But Slitmanwell in the Pearl, you can find it everywhere now, Pobros. Wellrose.us, Americans still in sex, I think, I feel it's great, guys, just released a podcast with Grills, or by the time this comes out, it'd be a couple weeks old, but, you know, the guy is an entrepreneur, he grew and grew, he saw it out something, made something of it, not much, I mean, not much, I can't say about the guy, he's a genuine good dude. He's helped me with some of my technical difficulties. We got Rod Shield, Benardo Sanchez, a lot of y'all know him. From the beginning of the podcast, he was like the six, maybe it's him. The great dude, served our country, we're always thankful to that, you know, he's a welder, proven, welder. He has a lot of great, you know, he has a lot of great, he has the welders, the Rod Shield, the Rod cans, great product to use, you find it, RodShield.com, Benardo's TikTok, he's got the link in the link tree there, his Instagram, but more, more so, RodShield.com, you can find all of their weld and stuff that he carries. And also RodShield by Tina and Weldon Squad, Towsom, Miss Mary, visited him with him early last week, went bought a set of weld leads, got a heck of a deal. I mean, I don't, I'm not made a phone call to where they're under $1,000, I bought my new 250 foot of number one ultra flex, I think it is $900, almost $1,000, I mean, which I was picking up there wasn't literally. I was curious everything for the pop line, from space and wedges to, you know, your windies, your sardges, pancakes, your original pancake, Atlas Roll Out Wheels, which I use every day, Atlas, if you ever listen, I love the Roll Out Wheels. He carries pretty much every single thing to get a pop line a day and a day out. He'll make a deal with some dive stands, I can't remember the exact dollar amount that I give, I know, I think it's like $10 off the deck stand, if you buy four, if you buy six, it's a different dollar amount. But that's TNWELVESPLIDE, TNM.com, TNWELVESPLIDE.com, Big Springs, Texas, Towsom, Miss Mary, great, do you want a people Towsom and it welded for decades, great people to do business with. Also brought to you by Pearl Snap Pints in Johnny Rivera. It's a weld in the Pearl Company, love the shirts, great fabric. It's more lean towards the plan side, but he's getting more, I mean, he's got to lean hand to the problem line shirts, if mine wasn't in the wash machine I would show you now. I don't worry about the deck, it's not every day, but any day that I'm not welding, I've been wearing it, it's great to you shirt. Also, you can get your out on the road, a merchandise, did the link to real my TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, all that business. And now let's get to what we're really here today, just got a deck, can you air me in this, you got it? Yes. Okay, okay. He's in the southeast United States and we're happy to have him on today. Thank you, man. Okay, you can still it. I know, I'm thrilled to talk to you, really thrilled to talk to everybody, and let I know my career and the move that I made 26 years ago has paid off a whole lot. Yes, and many of us at several conversations leading up to this point, some timelines didn't get hit. You know, it's mostly my fault because sometimes I'm very punctual on things and then sometimes I'm, you know, I push it off to another day, but I'm very thankful for you to give out your time. I know you're in retirement, you know, you know, you're always banning, hey, and doing your thing down on the farm, so I don't want to. I'm glad that you took the time out to speak to me. I'll give the world your story or my listeners your story, so what got you into the world as a whole? What, what, what click for you to decide that you're going to go be a well? I was in high school, I had a trade school, three hours, a trade school, three hours of regular high school, you know, and when in my grade we had egg, you know, and they wanted you to go in there and scratch it, or, you know, I drew a B, you know, and that guy walked over there and he said, "Man, you did that?" I said, "Yeah." I said, "I don't need to scratch no or." You know, and kind of figured that I was a natural added. But I went to three years of finished out 10th, leaventh, twelfth grade, trade school, all uphill did not know what downhill was until I went out on the pipeline and I said, "Man, what they doing?" You know, and it was a different world. But they did have some pipelines that lived down my road, always had dirt bikes, they didn't have three wilderness in them days, but they had dirt bikes and new jeeps and they always had new ship, you know, excuse my French, but I always had new stuff, you know, and always, whenever they left the goal and a job, some of them would be dragging the travel trailer and the wilderness rig, and I said, "Man, that's cool." You know, I'm going to do that one day and but my really, my career started on a late barge in the Gulf. Do you have, your father was in the wilderness, right? Your grandpa and your father? Never. I'm first generation welder, my family. My brother, I had a brother that was older than me. He worked in all field, he was a rough neck and he passed away when he was 20, but he always wanted to be a welder, you know, and that probably was the most, that gave me the enthusiasm to be a welder, you know, my brother passed and he was older than me, he was five years older than me, and that's kind of, I'm just saying that's what probably got me started, you know, that I wanted to be a welder because that's what he wanted, you know, and that's where I went with it and had a lot of friends, that was a late barge, that's where we all got started. There was probably 80 or 90% of them out there were union, union welders. They didn't have much work in them days, you know, for us union work, whenever they didn't have a job on the bank, that's where they would be, they would be on a late barge, you know, so I met a whole lot of them, a lot of the old hands, a lot of great hands, a lot of super stars, you know, really record jack welders, you know, all the best, that's where they would go, and I'd hang right in there with them, you know, and then we would, we would pick up fabrication jobs, and they would, they would harness welding rigs in the yard whenever we would build the fabrication, and that's where I learned that my fabrication skills was on the back of a welding tree with the union welders. I had a question I asked, you know, when I was really, really interested in blueprints, you know, and I'd always ask what that was, what this emblem is, you know, and they did, and took it all in, and it paid off very, very well, got very, very good with fabrication, used to be an artist of a welder, I used to not have a ripple out of place, you know, old age set in, and then they, you know, how that goes. I just had a birthday working on my, but, but the back tried just a little bit here, a lot of people, a lot of these younger guys that listen to most of, they don't even know what a lay bar is, so can you dive into that just a little bit about, about the your lay bar experience, because a lot of, lay bar is pipe, pipe laying barges, they, they have stalls on them, and they have a roller system, they'll have a pipe rack, and then you'll have some helpers up there, cleaning both ends, you know, and then it rolls, and down this, it's like a big assembly line, it rolls up to the front, you know, and then they'll, they'll, they'll actually pull the out and underneath the pipe, and they'll pull it 40 or whatever the joint is 40 foot at a time. I'm gonna say 40 foot. The barge that I broke out on had three well installed. I remember right, a bead stall, beaten hot past all, a fill install, and a cap of stall, and then an x-ray stall. And then I have worked on some with McDermott and Brown & Root that had six well installed. That was very huge, Barges. Laybarge 22, I think it was, for McDermott. I think that's the biggest laybar I've ever been on. I think it has six or seven well installed. It was ginormous. We laid up to 24 inch on it, I believe. And everything out there, over 12 inch, had to have concrete on it to make it sink, you know. To hold it down under the water. - What's the code when you go out, when you go out on a laybarge like that out to the, out to the Gulf, what is that B31? - I'm up to like 500 foot away from my platform. You would have B31, three code, you know. And then after you get past that, then this goes to regular 1104. But back in them days, you know, most of your pipe, it was just grade B pipe. Man, you could, you could a 16 inch, y'all could run a one rod in a side, you know, or run in a bead, but it was so soft, you know. And then learn, you get to different gas companies had different grades of pipe, you know. I'm listening to these old welders, you know. Hey, Tennessee gas, they use X-52 pipe, it's different. You know, it's not the same. You can't, you can't carry it like a grade B, you know. And they've got always was a hot welder in a house. I run hot, or filling, capping, hot past, whatever. I was a hot welder. I can't even recall ever having a slag. - That's the, I mean, heat your friend and welding pipe together. I don't care what, what an X or whatever grade a pipe you're welding on it. Heat's off your friend, pre-heat, you know, the temperature on the day, how hot it is. Like, I'm in West Texas, it's 160 degrees today. We're welding 16 inch, 375, well, I think it's X-52. I mean, when you walk up the joints already hot, but we like to add a little bit more just 'cause it's that much easier just to get a bead in it. - Right. - Well, I mean, it just makes that much easier the process just easier, you know. But I'm also welding with my weld balls which takes that procedure super, you know, literal. And we don't do anything else out of the boat, which is great, I mean, it teaches like, I'm still learning every, I learn from them every day, you know, we're doing five, I mean, doing these weld board sections and I get to weld with them one. Not gonna say his name, but anybody that knows me knows where I went and I've been. He's a great dude to work, he's an awesome weld ball, so he's a great guy to work for. But back to the, back to the laborers in the early stages of career. So, you know, there's a lot of union guys, y'all, you know, you're, you're together and popped weld on it back at the pickup period. Are these, let me, I should have done a better job of this. - Mr. Scotty is a 26 year, 27 year, 798 motor, that's retired. I guess I should have went in with this at the end of the podcast. Still learning how to title things, right? So, that's where we're going to with this. - So, I got my book in 1998, September of 1998. So, I started, I broke out in 1979. I was, I was very young. There was a shortage of welders in the first of the '80s there. '79, '78, '79, '80. There was a shortage of welders, they didn't have none. They just, I went out on a late barge as a helper in 1978 and helped for one year. But I had all this welding under my belt, a trade school and what have you know. And every chance I got when I was out there helping, I grabbed me a coupon and I learned that downhill and it didn't take me long. And then, my day came, you know, there was a shortage of welders in that well-afformant look that he said, "Son, you think you can make a welding test?" Yes, sir, I can. And I did. I made $54,000 with one test. And I was rich. That was a lot of, that's a lot of money in 1979. Sure, for sure. You know, we're always more in check from being rich or poor. That's plant welders, that's top-on welders, that's non-union union, that's everybody. We're always more in check, sure to be in, you know. But we're gonna get further into talking about, you know, what the '78 offers and what these other unions offer, you've been around a lot of them, you know, a lot of them got, you know, any welder has the opportunity to invest in themselves, you know, like, I just invested in New Pickup. 'Cause I know that, you know, well, I tried not to, but my mom talked me into the new truck. But the, you know, it's an investment in my future. I wanted to just buy a cash truck. I wouldn't be back in debt. I didn't want to be like debt and all that. But the benefits is out there, and some of these opportunities is just different than some of the other opportunities that's presented to you guys. You know, like, I rely on a guy in weather for Texas to make my investments. My CPA's done a great job, you know. Only lost about $26,000 between Trump and Joe Biden. It was a, it was a kick in the Gahoney's for sure. - I lost $250,000. - Yeah, so mine, mine's not as good as yours. - I bet. - It was in pleasant, the day that it, what happened over like four or five days and it was pretty hard to take, but-- - No. - No. - All right, so to get back to your career here, 'cause I've done a terrible job, sometimes I'm terrible, I live out catching the story, and that's, that was the biggest reason I wanted to view is to get your stories. - So your practice, and at the back of these hands trucks, you know, these union guys that's out there, I gotta say this quick, okay, I'm gonna ask this question right now. I gotta know, was these 798 voters or was this just, what's the other union that you think-- - Back in that day, it was local 106. - Okay. - That was just jurisdiction, this area of Louisiana, they had a pipeline jurisdiction, it was local 106. Okay, and then, I forget what year it was, they lost the jurisdiction and 798 took it over. And a lot of these welders just moved their book, 2, 798, 'cause they was pipelineers. They was not, 106 was actually a steam fitter local or a pipe fitter local, you know, the area of the chemical plants around here and what have you, but they all had a pipeline side. And all of them moved their books, most of them moved their books to 798, whatever it was over. - Let me ask you this, Mr. Dale, that I spoke to you on the phone, what is his union, what is his local? - He's 798. - Okay, okay, that's what I thought, I just wanted to make sure, great guy, all I'm talking to him too. - But this, at one time, this jurisdiction here was 106. You know, a long time ago in the 80s, early 80s, even 198, Baton Rouge had a jurisdiction, you know, and they all had areas that they covered because of the people that lived in that area. And then it got bigger and what have you? Something happened that 798 took over this jurisdiction. I can't remember what year it was. I want to say it was 80. It had to be before 86 because I was invited in 1986 to get a book through 798 and I turned it down. I was just too big into a contractor and couldn't get away from them, really. But that was stupid on my part, believe me. - Yeah, I mean, I should have made my move then. I probably would have 40 plus years now, you know, if I would have, but like all of my buddies that I work with at our union, they're all 40 plus year members or drawing over 40 years, you know what? And there's a difference in calling 40 years and working 40 years. - You don't, you don't. have to, you do not, you can, you can actually get two credit years in one year. In other words, you can work, if you're, if you're lucky enough or get hooked up enough, you actually can get 20 years and 10 years. Now you can, but they still have it in effect, you can get two credits a year. So happens, I know some boys that they're billing trade, they're going after some of them getting two credits, just don't build and trade. You know, and that's awesome. For sure. That's a. I don't they have it moved up yet, but I'm thinking the credits is fixing to go up here. I'm here and they're going to go to 250. Before long, that's a two credits is a. What's that 500 book that we don't know the day when we spoke about the 250 and the matter. I mean, it's a it's a bunch of money that you're going to acquire, you know, and half the time if you could stay hooked up, you know, right. And like we spoke, I like I spoke to chat about and spoke to to Joe about I spoke to Joe games. And you know, like it's, I mean, it's, it's no, there's, there's two populations that's like the non union side and the union side, you know, if you get what's right contractor, you know, you're right well balls, and he likes your work and are the right superhuman, you know, and as we'll pull with the well balls, you know, you can kind of stay hooked up on that thing is what I'm under, I mean, I'm not a lot of Philly Eddie, but is what I'm understanding with it. The, you know, like we talked about, you get to hire what was it 49 or 51% 50% on on a high scale job I can hire 50% and some of it I hadn't pushed welders now for some of that stuff changed. I hadn't pushed welders for four or five years now. But a lot of some of that's changed used to like on what do we call a market recovery job. It was 7525 that they changed it it went back to 50, 50, you know, on the market recovery, it was 7525 and they moved it back to 50, 50, some of your low scale jobs or whatever, you know, like your, I think your station agreement, I think the well reformer gets the first five, you know, if you was to make that kind of hanging, you could continue on or, you know, not to throw out the buddy buddy system, but like if, if the ball's like what you're doing, then you, you would give you the word. You're going to get known, believe me, I've worked both sides of the fence, this is it was the same way back, you know, on the non union side, you know, all the well reformers knew me, they wanted me, you know, it's the same thing on the union side, everybody gets to know your name on the union side, believe me, they're going to hire you, they'll use you, they're not. It's the same thing. I know you, I'll recommend you, you better be a top hand, you know, and they'll use you. We're just rolling ahead here a little bit, but I want to go back and catch, you know, it's so easy to get to just take off, you know, you go back at the back side of these welders pickups, you know, it, it honestly don't really matter at this point, union, non union, these men was taking time out of their day because they seen something you let you use their equipment practice. Let's let's talk about that. I'm going to speak volumes because I don't, I don't, you know, really go out of my way for help until I really just see his quality and what he can be in himself. So at this time, we had to see something with you that's got you on the back of the truck. My, my practice come off of the laybars back on the laybars, we didn't have well and rig on the barges. We used welding rigs to fabricate in the yard or whatever, but whenever we was off shore in the go, my, my 12 hours off, I'd go find me a coupon somewhere and I'd get that spare welder machine and I'd make my, I'd make a welder too before I went to bed. For sure. I wanted it that bad. Just like sure that even if you're in West Texas and you worked your 10 hour day, you know, maybe you've cut some pubs or whatever you swam by the yard. There's always some sort of scraps that around the practice. It's the same thing out there as it is here. I guess one of the questions I would ask is when you was on the labor, you know, like this is an extended amount of time away from your family, like you're helping. It's not like it's not like being in West Texas where you're from Louisiana, you know, you can, you can decide like you're done with it or whatever. Just jump in the pickup and all I have some, you know, it's a little bit different process when you're, you know, out in the gold and they, you get pissed off or whatever. Would you say you kind of have to sit on it, like how you, if you got mad, like you're a helper in your order for a welder, and you got mad in this situation, then I guess you would kind of sit on it or, you know, like when you done it, it's, it's like in the 70s to where feelings are 100% left at the house. This is a 100% grown landlord at this point. I looked at the money that the welders was making. And at the time, I want to say it was $16 an hour. I think it was $16 an hour, about that 15 or 15 50 or $16 an hour, you know, and that's 84 hours a week guaranteed. So, you know, I was looking at the money they was making, you know, and I, man, I wanted that. And that, we actually did some jobs that when we first started, it was crazy. We would work six on my, we was laying tight. We would work six on and six off. And you wouldn't sleep one of them six hours. But they would actually pay us 18 hours, you know, for doing that. That all got changed later on. You know, then it went to a 12 of our ships with, but you still have spell offs, you know, what have you. But I just, I seen what them welders was making, you know, and I had it, I did, that's what I wanted. I stuck with it, you know, I never was one to drag up. As a matter of fact, I don't, I can't remember ever, ever. I think I drug up one job was a safety. And it wasn't a union job. It was a non-union job, lo and behold, two weeks later, a man lost his life on it. But I did quit him and I, I seen it unsafe, you know, that's the only, that's the only reason I've ever left the job. Never, I always started something I finished it. Sure. Okay, I can't say the same, because I, I drug up several jobs. And in the early, early days of my career, I, I just, you know, which I would say that I was started for it, but I'm not because, you know, it's just part of the journey of a few now. It's, it's, there's been some I wanted to, my boss might be watching me right now. I don't know, but I still love him. He and I, whenever we lock horns, it's like a caviar quail or everybody leaves around there. What you want to do, we both going to drag up or what, you know, we going to finish it, we hashed it out or whatever. And we got the irons worked out and we finished it, you know, he made it right, and I made it right, you know, that's, you know, that's most of it, just meeting in the middle, right? Like, you know, you know, well, I'm not going to, I'm not going to skip, we'll, we'll come that question in a little bit, or that statement a little bit. So you, you're practicing in the fad yard, you know, you get these guys going your way, you know, they like, they like what you're doing. And then, you know, you are at, at this point, you're still a helper, right? Yeah. Okay. And then you, you know, you're back and forth from lay barges to the fad yard. And what, and then I know there's a shortage, but on welders, but they, I mean, obviously speaks that, you know, whether it's, I don't know if it's the well boss or whatever they call them out there, super tendon. It was okay. So they, what was your test? Okay, this, this year, like art, like, you know, no problem, my first test was a Columbia gas 30 degree, 16 inch, both sides, bad side and a good degree, that's, so I never, I've never heard that. That's a 30 degree, a 30 degree for Columbia gas. Well, he may be dead. Now he got to be dead. His name was George Jamison. And then after that, I took a I took a horizontal for the tie-ins on the risers on the jackets. Each job we went on out there, you had to take a regular bell hoe and the horizontal, or if you could take it on, I figured a 30 degree would take care of the, but it didn't. We also had to take a horizontal. The dip did, it depended too, like back in that day, Tennessee gas, you had to lay out your branch. You didn't get a cut branch, you had to lay it out yourself, and well, you had so much time to lay it out, cut it out, and then weld it, it gave you so much time, that was your fabrication test. Yeah, let's talk about that the other day, there was this old, older inspector I was testing, and he was like, yeah, we would, you got to lay it out, like we used to do it until we had to lay it out. And I said straight up to him, I said, if I go to my pick-up and pull out the perceived paper and put it on the five, and do all measurements and stuff, well, it's no different than me walking that pick-up and getting that dog on the tip of it out of the truck. It's the same cut. You know, I'm burned out on that whole concept by laying it out in templates, it makes no difference to me, it's the same cut, it's the same, okay, I got to use an, you know, I'm using a face shield to mark out the lines, but it's, it's no, it's no different when you're preparing for the situation. Right. In using the template, it's just a way to come like, are you ready to have dinner in it? You know, let's eat lunch instead of eating at five o'clock, you know. I see your point, it is a fabricated thing in your mind to lay one out without a book. You know, so there's got a lot of people that can't do it, you know, without a book. It's just part of, it's part of the things that I learned, you know, back in the day with the old hands, that's the way we did it, you know, and then now today, hell, you got a damn machine, you strap up there and cut them out. And I worked for Holleman for like two years, and we would test for these gas companies that you never had to deal with the brand, because it was already cut out, sit there, that little saddle cutter, it was sitting right there on the ground, all we got to do is make that well and you know, it was home free, but I, another thing that I don't like about that though is that they, you know, it cuts the ears to a bevel and everything is to a bevel. That's a lot of will in the wind, somebody says, "Mania, will this 375 roll out all the way?" You know, I don't like to do that either. I know. I'd rather just have it straight, you know, just the normal edge. But at the same time, I'm not going to say that I ain't supposed to roll this, and I think I busted that test on the branch because that my ear was straight, it was more like, you know, it was more like this instead of being like this, you know what I mean? Yeah. It's a down and not enough flattening. I heard the code change, they're laying them over and I heard you can't stand them up and the more you can, they're laying them over on the side. Yeah, it's a, I heard something about that, the code change. The 22nd edition is fixing to be a hard lesson for a lot of guys, it's a, I say, I say, you know, we used to always get an 8th on a well and test, right? You got an 8th, you had a little shit or stuff on it, it would be a well and well coverage or good to go. So that's not, when all these gas companies take on that 20 seconds, that's a done deal. It's fixing to be a new ball game for a lot of welders and I learned, I learned that lesson a couple weeks ago and it's going to be a, you know, it's not, they're not getting strict on themselves per se, the gas company's not getting strict on, they're not getting strict on their inspectors and not getting strict on their code, with they're getting strict on the man doing the job and it's, there's some hard lessons coming for a lot of folks in the next couple months and it's, I've seen it in a month and a month, I've seen it with my own two eyes, the new AWI that's coming to us and a lot of gas companies because insurance purchases is going to take that, is going to take it a lot quicker than a lot of people think because insurance is, it's a racket and it's a gimmick that they're going to tell these gas companies to insure this line, this is the code you got to follow because this is what being told to them and it's going to be a new ball game for a lot of welders right here not directly, you know, these companies that took a lot of government money, they're already doing it and it's only going to get worse from there, these companies that's been self-funded for a long time, the last four years crippled and they're taking that government money and they're going to tell them it's got to be buy that code and so the 19 edition, or what was it, model the 25, the 22nd, the 22nd's coming and it's, you're going to be treated on a lot of welders so if you're even, if you're in your first or second or third year and you're welding, you better start practicing harder because it's fixing to get rougher on you. Back to, back to Mr. Scotty here, so it's a depressing thing to think about what's coming for our future. I agree, I agree with you. It's a whole 'nother podcast and it's whole stuff, I got an inspector coming on in a couple weeks and we're going to have that or not a couple weeks a week now and we're going to have that discussion but it's a scary thing even for, you know, I mean you take your, you know, 40 year career and if you, you know, we, you know, you talked about it, if you come back out and you had to take a weld test but it's different than you did five years ago. It's going to be different, you know, than once you get 10 years together, it's just, the government, all that crap is just retorted anyway. I've witnessed, in my time, the grades of pipe has changed, you know, from grade B, all the way to X-80, I actually did a 24 inch that was X-80, you know, and it's changed tremendously. Even, you know, the welding rods, you know, we actually, I did a job, it was a downhill, hydrogen job, I thought it was unheard of but it's done, we done it, you know, but things have changed and like the automatic world, the automatic world here is staying. Yeah, they're not getting rid of that. Well, excuse me, but one thing that kills me about the automatic world is that repair rate can be at 25 to 35%, nobody screaming, nobody's hollering about it. You go to another job where if it jumps to 10% with manual welders, everybody's in a frisk, you know, we got a fire welder, we got a fire weld balls, blah, blah, blah, everything's going crazy. But I've heard and seen on some of our automatic job, well, I hadn't seen because I refused to be part of it, but I have heard so when the story ends like the repair rate, I understand that it's no quicker because of the fixin that comes with it, you know, it's not. Well, our rates is all the same, our rates don't change for the automatic, but whatever that job, pre-job for, that rate is for if it's a high scale, it's high scale or if it's marker recovery, whatever, that's the rate of that job. It's not different because of just an automatic job. I don't talk about the wages, I'm talking about the repair rate on the, on the, right. They get away with the higher repair rate because of the hardness of the wire. Some of them machines just goes, hey, why are you, you can't help it, you know, it's still a repair. Now, if you go to an arm job or, you know, a regular welding job and say, my 200 takes all from whatever, I got a brush, a skip or whatever, and I catch my repair and we're going to sell it against you. It's a double standard thing, it's like when you tell yourself you're not going to be on screen, but on a Wednesday or Sunday and you, you know, you eat it on a Tuesday and Thursday. It's just a, it's just BS and I can't get on board with it and that's just probably my next one. That's where, that is where a good well-afformant comes in to the picture. I've fought it, I've got a bunch of my friends that are well-afformant, you know, that you know all your welders pretty much, on for what they can do, whatever. But slag in my book, that's uncalled for, I just don't allow it, you know. on. It's unknown well, a weller that's unknown for it and then it shows up something's wrong and I start looking for something, you know, and I've seen it were a brush for stuff. You know, I've seen it several times. I tell them pull that machine off that truck now. Do not make another well with it and look at it. So make another well with it, guess what? You know, pull it off there and see and sure enough, I was right, you know, and some of them other well opponents, they was all right too. You know, you got something to go to the back with to the inspection or whatever to save your guys job. Also working for good balls, working for a genuine, you know, we have, we have a whole bunch of them, we have, we have some outstanding for them. You know, somebody that's going to stick up for you and they will fight for you, promise you. We kind of got a sprog off again here, but let's roll back here. All right, so when you let, so you broke out on lay barges and rolled through that, what made you decide to get into a well pick up? Or the land work picked up and the barge work started slack and all and kind of wanted to be home, you know, at night. And we had a lot of work around this area here, you know, and just actually, I took a kind of took a break off the pipeline and went into a maintenance deal for the water to build and work out there long enough to get this house built. And then I went back on the road of pipeline and I know that was 90, we moving this house, what, 97, 97, I'm moving this house. And I went back, I went back to pipeline and then 98. And there was a picket line up in Mississippi, Price Breggory had a job, Price had a job down there. Clifton Thornberry had a meeting down there and we went to that meeting and talked to them. Well, I made up my mind that I was going to get a book, you know, and they had, they was holding a ramp some on us. It was $2 an hour. I forget what I had, I had over $2,000 built up in that ransom deal that they had holding over our heads and we wouldn't leave. So, finally, I got, it's time. Sir. It's time, people think a $2,000 is nothing. Well, you know, $2 an hour, they was holding over our head, you know, it was a bonus deal. The British, the job would give you $2 an hour, you know, and I had talked to several people with $7,98 about it, you know, and told them, if any sportman was one of them, he'd come talk to me. And after I got laid off, I drove to Tulsa and tested my $2,000, that $2,000 paid for my book, you know, or it was over $2,000 then. See, I want to work this. What, what was the wages then? This is what, $9,98,97? It's all depends, all depends on who you work for. What, no, no, I'm talking about the $3,000,000. IMTC was very, very embarrassing. It was $9,99,99, so that $9 on the truck, $9 on the man, and $90 a day. This is 19. That was back probably in 96, 95, 96, somewhere in there. You know, and I looked at that man, I said, really, you're going to pay me $9 for my talent. I'm totally mad. He said, that's what they're paying, wow. What was the union scale at this time? I don't recall, I don't remember, I wasn't union then, you know, I didn't, I don't even remember what I started out at, in 98, or 97. I don't even remember what the scale was in. $30 something an hour, I think, $38, 34, 35, somewhere in there, I think. I'm going to see if I can find a real flat. I don't remember, really, honestly. I can remember the nine union scales, you know, they was all. This is a PDF from 1918, all the way through 90, or 2024, so let's see it. I remember, I remember our scale on the blade barges, they kept it a union scale, and like in 96, 98, I want to say it was 15 something maybe. And then 90, oh, 90, I'm saying 90, 70, 78, 79, 80, somewhere in there it went to $18 an hour, 82, 18 to it went to $18 an hour. And that's when Ronald Reagan coming there and shut down everything and then it crashed. It's not really good numbers, because don't say welder in there, so I'm not going to give up the numbers, but I'll have to ask, I'll find it for a later podcast, because there's a couple more 78 guys on talk to dudes. I'll try to find them statistics by then, but I'm sure it was better than nine and nine. So, yeah, I was embarrassing, you know, and obviously, that saved me $9 from a talent, you know. When I finally broke out, and I was talking to my mother-in-law, when I was unemployed, you know, it's. Winter time was coming, I'm unemployed, I didn't make a big bad welder, but that fall. And she said, "Why don't you get a job? There's plenty of places paying $15.9," and I said, "No." You know what I understand? I'm not putting on my pants. I'm not even putting on my socks, but $15.9 anymore. We're done with them days, and days are long gone, which, you know, this 2015, you know, it's not that long ago, but not 1979. But, you know, it's just different. I think you. Which, what. I think I was making like 65. 65 or 65. They was supplying everything, and we still got $100 a day for them. I mean, there's a lot of money, but now, if you ask me, if I would run my welding truck and take them the same wages, I wouldn't. Wow, it's a no, it's a no-go, but I've done dealt with the taxes and stuff off of it, and it's not the same. But it's also, you know, even now, the job that I have now, I'm making pretty close to the same wages, you know. But you say if it's contract versus, you know, W or 2, that's a whole different ball game. Right. I think I was just 22 now. I read. Everybody should be, you know. I think I was just 22. I got this. I was up in Minnesota, and I don't know that if he's the same as Chad, he was a 798 guy, and he ended up a free-speaker. And it was talking about the repaying stuff, and I wouldn't look it up, and reading about it. I mean, it's 100% not false, but, you know, the $20 or $23 is our money. It's not a. Somebody's pocketing that money, you know. Somebody's paying it, somebody's pocketing it. You know, it's. I know as these podcasts come out, I'm gonna get a lot of backlash from some of the contractions I worked for, and some of the boss stuff I know, because they're getting. they're getting kickbacks, and the guy that's well-nated for a single day is not getting that kickback, you know. It's an area where, well, if you work hard, if you show up every day, and if you make all your great will, you're gonna do it. And it's not. I mean, I've seen people that don't have any business, and I'm not talking any kind of smack, but I've seen them try to run jobs, and it's gonna shit show. So, from start to finish, I'd rather be in West Texas, I just not as far as I'll say this on the podcast, but I'd rather be in West Texas, for the wages I am now, and then go to work for somebody that don't. then it's just a shit show, start to finish, it's just. I don't want a part of it. I don't want to work for. sorry people, I don't want to work for. and I understand that the companies, you know, understand the superintendents don't cut the well bosses later, you won't inform it, you don't cut time-formments later, you don't cut it. You're following informments later, you don't cut everybody's like, you know, because he's trying to make himself. you know, he's gonna say, "We'll get under and say New York today, you know, and everybody's gonna do that, I understand that." You know, the well boss, he says, "I got 40 of the best wellers. Everybody's gonna do all this, not cutting that day." But, I understand when he tells that office, and when he tells you, when he called you on the phone, he comes to the job, "What did he say then?" You know, and that's the values that I want, and I master if I want. I come and tell him, "I'm gonna come do the best job I can do for him, that's what I want." You know, like he tells me what the job is, I want to come and that be what the job is, whether it's a week long, whether it's six months, whether it's whatever. I don't understand how we got so far away from me and being me and and shaking hands and saying this is what's going to happen. And you know, it'd be in close to doing that. That's why I do work for the world boss. And I'm working for now is because 9/10 times when it tells you something, it's written in stone, that's what it is. And I'm sure you've dealt with way, way more than I have in my career because my career is a quarter of what your career is, but get back to the Scotty Jackson story, not straight so far away here. Not 1998, you decide you're going to tell us it gets you booked, which the process then maybe a little bit different than what it is now, you know, maybe not. You took the 500 roll 24. Is that the same thing? Yes, sir. Yes. So you played you do, you done the application, played you do, you won't take the world test. Now you're a 798 book over how long did it take? Well, the work was probably better than it is now for everybody, but how long did it take you to get to your first job? It was, it was a couple of months. I went to work on the Northern border for a Clark Eastwood. My first story, they put me out on the fire line, but I guess somebody, somebody there knew me from, I guess, my labor days or whatever and they got what the tight man kept. He said, there's some talent right there. You know, there's a lot of talent. You kept looking at me, you know, and then they come got me one day and put me on the front and I walk from one side of Illinois to the other. Not to not to go in reverse again, but there when you was on the labarges, there was an old welder that kind of took you on it. No, or yeah, Dan Bruce was his name. He's dead. He was, Dan Bruce was, he probably one of the greatest 798 welders at Walt. He was my idol. He taught me a lot, you know, mentally how to talk to people. I never ever heard that man cook or holler at anybody. He always asked, you know, would you go do this or come help me do this or he just a slow talking country boy, you know, and great man and a bunch of them, not just him, all of them. For the Anderson's, even Tim Gantz, you'd probably heard of his name. He was out there, the Montsoes, great bead running Montsoes. They was there pretty much all the, there was a lot, a lot of great welders from this area. With the Williams, the Conrads, all of them, you know, there's all this all the Chapmans, they from this area, you know. I know a Michael David Chapman, you know that boy that makes that crawler a Chapman boy. Yeah, I got one of his crew. Yeah, his daddy and him and I have been welding together since 1979. His daddy's a union 798 brother longer head for free. But there's, that's where I met all the union people was out there, you know, and I guess my name was known from out there, you know, whenever I moved to the bank or whatever, you know, in the talent or the talent that I had or whatever and then they wanted me, you know, and it just, it didn't stop there, it went from there to, from Illinois to Colorado, Colorado to Maine and then Maine to North Dakota, it was just one after another. You know, it just never did stop, you know, and it just got better and better and actually started pushing work for Murphy Brothers a little bit. You know, met a, met a high up guy that, that did a lot of station work with Murphy Brothers and Murphy Brothers went out and then we moved the Michaels for one year and then went to work for US pipeline. And then that's whenever I met Dana Bradchard in 2003 or 2004, I think it was. And I become his welder form and then stayed with him from then on pretty much off and on whenever we didn't have nothing I'd go to work for somebody else or whatever. You, you spent your career, once you joined the 798, you never, you never crossed the fence. I salted the, whatever you call it, they, we salted a couple of jobs that never did nothing, you know, that's what Scott North was in. He was a business manager then and that salted a couple of jobs, trying to get non-union welders to join and what have you. And trying to don't know our job is not going to mess up the job. It's just, you know, going to have conversations about. Right. Just going to talk to him and what have you, you know, and see, you know, what the problem is, why not, you know, what. But I did, I did a couple of jobs at, you know, and that was it. And then, actually, the one I told you I drug up on, it was a salted job and we was changing some valves out. They wanted to do it different than not to let them do it. I don't care if it's a non-union or union or what have you. The most money I've ever spent on a job. No, maybe not the most money. But the person that makes the most money is the welder. I don't know how you, on a pipeline job, it starts and ends with welding. It's not a welder. Not a guy can't crawl off of a traco and go on the pipeline, start welding the pipe. But a guy in the ditch can get out and go on a traco and start running it. So I think that when it comes to tie-ins and stuff, when we have to lay it under this big heavy pipe and all that stuff. You know, you're in a ditch and it's, you know, it's six foot wide. You're in there with 24-inch pipelines. It's pulled pretty hard to once I get to fit up, maybe, you know, where you do a good quality job for, you know, a gasket. I think if it's unsafe, you should have that lead way to be like, "I don't know about this." You know, it's. Just make sure you got a bell hole and not a flat ditch. Always make sure you have a bell hole and not a flat ditch. That is very, very unsafe. Get down there making a tie-in weld and a flat ditch. You also place it on, for sure. You got, well, if that pipe falls, what's going to happen? It's going to smash it if you ain't got a bell hole. You know, if they got that hole in a sump right there, you know, and it's done, you ain't got nothing to worry about. Got that little trough for people who don't know it's talking about having a flat trough right here and a ditch. That's correct. That's called a bell hole. It's where your pipe, you got a hole that's deeper than your ditch. And if that pipe goes down, you should have 18-inch. And a lot of people don't know this neither. That 11-04-code, you have to have 18 inches under the pipe. That is code. What is the length of a weld rod 16 inches? It's 18 inches and 11-04-code. If you read it, you have 18 inches to make that well. That's legal. So if it ain't 18, it's out of code. To me, it's a quality issue. You know, nobody wants to go out there and not give the best world they can give. So if you don't have that line of sight, you know, you think about holding the weld rod, you know, 16-10-inch. But you got to get your head around there and build the sea, and you need that allowance. It's a quality issue overall. I like not to explain that. But anyways, the, I want to go up this now. All right. So when you, you know, as your career progressed in the 798, you wasn't a, you wasn't a noddle long over here, right? You know, you, you done the work, let your work speak for itself. And you made contacts just, you know, just as we do in the nodding inside. The, you know, I'm trying to work things the right way, but I just want to realize, you know, after five years, you're invested, right? Then you, then you really got, you know, you got yourself into into something, you know, but you can't. It's, it's like the nodding inside. If you just set back, like you ain't got to talk about it, you know, just be about, be about it. You know, I, I don't know how I was to put it. I feel like I'm the known unit inside. If you go to a job and you make a hand, like the well boss, I work for an hour, work for in 2018. And I work for him several times throughout, you know, from 2018 to 24. And it, I feel like it's because I went and done my job in 2018, even though I was still pretty green with like 110 miles five. But I feel like that job has kept me employed by him. >> You know, you know, to date, you know what I mean? >> Problem is, you have to have that same, you know, because we already discussed 50% comes from the dispatch, 50% comes from the world reformer superintendent, you know, his hands. So it's the same concept. You know, if you take the reformer on the non-unusine, he's going to try to hire 100% of his buddies. You know, or guys that work for him in the past, right? But you're not, you're probably going to get 100% of those guys. >> Yeah. >> So you're going to, I get 50% and 50% of referrals. Kind of the same thing. And it is what I've gathered and I'm like, you know, I straddle fence all the time. I'm not saying that one side is this and one side is that. I'm saying that us as welders are hands-in-general. If you look at the big picture, it's pretty similar. The biggest difference I could find in the whole thing is that these guys make 57 and we make 40 and we make $16 a truck and they make $22. >> Well. >> Losing money. That's the biggest stipulation I've been on for about it. But I'm also telling me that I could never make it in the 798 because I tend to speak my mind a little bit on things. >> Nothing wrong with that. >> You know, there's a time and a place for everything. Like we've talked about, as I've gotten older, I've gotten better about when to talk about things and when to just, you know, somebody to agree with necessarily that wasn't a safety issue. We're just letting it go, you know, or waiting till a better time to lay the truck. So it's pretty good. >> Right. >> Non-union side loses a lot of money. You know, a bunch of money. If you say that there's guys for the 798 and I've met some of our spoke to some of that haven't missed, you know, no more than I've missed for it. They've worked the same amount that I've worked. But they've made $56, $57 an hour and I've made $40, $42, $38 an hour. If you took to our same work schedule, look at how much money I left on the table within a year. >> That ain't all you making, really. That's your part. >> That's not counted. >> That's just your part. >> Yeah. >> That's not counted with contractors invested into you too. That's what I'm saying. If the union side, there's another $20 something package on top of that, that that contractor is paying for you and your insurance. You know, that insurance, I think our co-vernal is $800. If you had to pay for it, I think it's $800 for two people. You know, per month. >> Nothing in the graph scheme. >> If you got your hours up, it won't cost you nothing. You know, that's another big plus. You know, is it expensive? If you had to pay for it, yeah, it's expensive. You know, but you're going to work. It's going to stay up. Mine stayed up for -- I don't think I've ever had to pay for it. >> See, I don't want to -- how many credits did you have when you retired? >> I got 30. I had 35 now. I got an inch and a half last year, so what's that make me? 32 and a half or 33 last year. But now I'm 64. I took my retirement at 62 and a half. Now I have 35 credits. We still can build -- long as you work, you still can build it. >> And I don't want to -- like, you don't have to give a dollar amount by no means. But your monthly pension is not so security and Medicare. >> No. >> Yeah, substantial. >> No. >> But you still have to pay taxes. >> Right, right. But you can also, if you wanted to, you could go get your CWI and go work every day. You know, go work sometimes. You can draw that money in the same time. >> Correct. >> Yeah, security is not like -- or you're penalized to do that. >> No. You're not penalized at all. >> I go work pipeline. You know, 62 is the magic number for $7.98. And you'd be crazy not to take it at 62. You know, if you want to keep on -- or I plan on work until I'm 65. You know, I would love to have 40 credits. That was my goal. But there's a administration that came in and changed that a little bit. Or changed it dramatically. >> Yeah, for sure. And like you said, you know, you'd add some conversations about coming back out. World performance. If you -- all right, let me -- before I get to that question, let me drop back here. At the beginning of your career, you know, you're on the label. Or just what part of that? What experience in that you think was the most -- what would you learn the most? Like what piece of information would you say from your first year career that you would give to a kid at their first year career? >> That's a hard -- >> Like a helper coming in. The story is career. You got to have the desire number one. It's just something that you got to want. You got to want it. It's not a given thing to you. You're going to have to want it. You know, nobody's going to give you nothing. You got to work for it. But it's just something that I -- I was good at it, you know. And went on with it. That's the only thing -- I thought the thing I can tell you. You know, is when you're good at something, go with it and make the best of it. That's what I did. >> All right. In the -- which -- I don't know -- you have to have -- I've filled out the -- just such a word. The story of my career was like -- mine was a necessity. Without a wife and two kids to pay for. And then it would come with a desire and a warmth down the road. You know, it didn't -- it didn't start out as a desire and a warmth. It started out as something that I was decent at. I was hard working. And then it developed into, you know, like -- it's all I want to do now, kind of thing. It didn't start that way for me. But the -- the middle of your career. So you're -- you're straddling the fence between 9.9 and 9.0 and the 7.98. Well, that part of it, what do you think -- leave the way -- leave the benefits out of it, like the actual benefits in the wages. What -- talking to the -- talking to the guys that -- that you was 7.98 in your experience with the 7.98 guys. You know, because you didn't do it, the first time you was offered, what changed your mind the second time to join the 7.9? The first time, really -- oh, that was in 1986. Really, I turned it down twice. I didn't -- no, I didn't turn it down twice. '82, I tried to get a book out of 106 with all my test papers. And they just told me I was too young. But I had all the papers. And they wanted to sell me a helper's book. But I didn't -- I should have took that. And I didn't -- and should have kept on well and on the laborers. '86, they didn't have no work. There was hardly any work at all. Of course, we had all this rehab work here we was doing. You know, and I was hooked up new about all the rehab work we were going to do. That's more or less why I didn't -- I didn't -- really, I got out of the low pay and the different kinds of pays. And really, the $9 an hour to me was a slap in the face, you know, from my talent. I just wanted something different and wanted to be with the best. And that's where the way I went. I just heard today that when you go into the yard it's one thing. And when you go out of the yard after you take the test, there's a sign there. I can't remember how it went. It's not about the greatest welding or something. You talk about the pearly gate? Yeah, the pearly gate. Pearly gate up at the hall? Yeah, yeah. I just heard about all this day, you know. I don't know why this is just news to me, but I just heard about today. They got pearly gates up there that you go through. Some of the best welders in the world go through the pearly gate. I've been invited up to their to do a podcast, they're not. And I'm going to take advantage of it and go to the facility and stuff, you know. They are a lot of interested in a third because I know some guys. that old books that don't weld like don't pop out anymore and they still hold their book, pay the dues, and they talk about, you know, if they wanted to go weld to pop, they just mose you up there and weld to pop, you know, it's not a big deal. I'm super interested in the internship program for the simple fact that my listeners are from 18 to 25, right? And I interviewed a school, a welding school and I've read a lot with that, with he and he's a five-liner, he's great dude, he's an art soul lead tea burden man, I've written. I really love what he does and I think he's an honest engineer, he's one guy who wants to help the next generation of welders. I'm also interested in the 78 stuff because they're pretty shy. I think it's a little long and I think it's a little long-winded and I think that's what sheds a lot of people away from it. Man, to get paid what a helper gets paid in the 798 and still have them facilities to go and be able to go to and free charge of stuff is a hard nut because you think about pop liners is a spring, summer and fall industry and more. So you got all winter, most of its own campers and stuff, you stockpile some money, you can pull it and it's also, I know for a flag that there is an RV park about three and a half miles down the road from the hall up there. A helper can park there during the winter, mose in there every day and just weld, weld and when springtime comes around, you're ready to rock and roll. I think it's something that a lot of people overlook because of all of the, I'm not going to say missed conceptions. I think a lot of people are ignorant to it. They hear stories from people and that I think that deserves a lot of people. So while I decided that I had this platform, I would make everything unbiased and have 798 guys on it. I still want to go do, I'm going to go investigate myself and just see the operation. I want to go out all those down. I got buddies that they worked out for some of them and then worked out for other ones. I don't know if you've ever heard of anything often to preach. I had any other podcasts. These are four generations of 98 guys. Things didn't go ideal for him, you know. Not everything is for everybody. You know, you know what I mean? The 78 to me is a contractor. I look at him as a contractor and this may not, this may not be everybody's a big normal thing but I look at him as a contractor. Well, they're willing to pay benefits for you that nobody else is willing to pay. They also are paying way better than anybody else is going to pay. So you sit back and you look at it and you know, I'm 35 and it's a it's a tempting thing, you know, because like we talked about the other day and like I talked to several people like, I'm in the prime years of my career. No matter, you know, I'm part of the past of the month. So I'm not all these things but I'm consistent. You know, I'll show the work here. So I think I could go there and make it make a name for myself, you know, one way or another. I think I could do that. But I also have some old bags from like my buddies and like my my buddies ain't there. You know, I get to weld my buddies here and so that kind of holds me back. Am I going to be able to stay as busy with the $7.98? That's what I do nine years. It's a it's a lot of things to, you know, to take into. They have to be accepting welders at the same time. Like I guess you would say I was part of a campaign but not really because I wanted to leave that job. I didn't really it wasn't that involved in it. When they was doing their whole thing. It's a lot of things to take into. I don't I don't know but I'm definitely going to go out there and do some investigate some some talking to record a podcast like take a little chair and stuff. I know I know all of them up there fair and I know all of them. So they're great people and they'll hit them. I think the younger generation I'm not saying that West takes the same thing. It's like college, right? Colleges for some people and collagen for some people. You know, not everybody learns and develops at the same pace when you're when you come out here to be a welder. You know, some guys are going to help for two years or three years. They're not going to make it up in a year. You know, I've been real. I'm pretty fortunate to break them out for a year year year but I'm very selective on who I take is my helper and I'm pretty hard on to get the point down by how to handle their business. But I feel like that a good way to look at it for a young guy is some people go to college and some people go to the workforce and that's kind of like the apprenticeship program with 798 and being a helper on the pipeline. You know, don't set yourself up for failure as well. Look at it. I got to get a charger. My phone's about dead. Yeah, you've for sure dealt with way more younger people, young welders, young, young helpers and I probably ever thought about dealing with it. Let's talk about first impressions. I'll let you get settled down there. Hang on one second. Yes, but you buy slip and well in the world world rooms dot us. Just take advantage of the time that I have here T&M welds plot. Dousamist Mary Blitz brings Texas. T&M welds plot dot people. Also, what you bought of Roger, Maro Sanchez, Greg Gal, or if you have any needs, you have no one to fill in there. Until my phone's not charging. I got another second here. For all snap films. Uh, Johnny Guerrero. Very dude, uh, makes you very tall in the shirt, hats. All snap films on this ground. Take a talk. All right, we back home. I had a conversation with it with a with a younger welder than I know today. He sent me the text that he wrote a well boss. Well, the well boss responded. He started out with, hey, man, and I didn't agree with it. I didn't agree with how he worded it. I loved the kid. He's a good welder. He's a great kid all the way around. But I didn't agree with how he done the, uh, I was told how he presented himself out the gate with the guy, but you dealt with with a lot more young young guys, uh, contacting you for work whether they're help or welder. What's a first impression that's always stuff that you know, when somebody got well, probably like today, they just called you, but like if you, if you got a text or a call, you there, yeah, can you, can you send me again? Yeah, I can. If you, after that, turn my love on, that's so good. I forgot, turn on, do not disturb. Always messing up. Hey, what, what is an important first impression to you, Scotty? What Dylan was saying that you never met that they called him. I always watch him to watch if they're, uh, I call him a go-getter. Or somebody that, you know, somebody that has, that can stay one step ahead of you, you know, to me, that's a guy that's, he's interested in this job, you know, or, uh, just someone that pays attention a lot, that's the, and just, just, just, uh, go-getter, you know, somebody that, that I ain't scared of dirt, because we're gonna get. To say, hard to kind of put a bow on everything here, thing, like, I know you're interested in this, but the jump from non-union to union. You, you would say, it was probably one of the best investments of your world career. And you know, if, if, there's not a picture, but a seminar, so to speak, about, well, you're on the podcast. So about what, what would be your selling point on the Senate, on the 7.98? Are you getting it, Jim? What do you mean I'd be the 7.98? My selling point is the end. When I say the end, I mean, today, to draw, to draw what I work for, I had nothing on the non-union side, all I was really to look forward for, social security, social security ain't nothing no more. I mean, it's, it's gonna help, but, but I just, man, every day, I thank God that I made my move and I did, you know, because it's a blessing, and not, really, I don't have to go to work if I don't want to. You know, I can sit, uh, Twitter, put on my finger. But you're not even drawing social security yet, right? Yeah, that's what I want. I'm not, I'm not planning on that till after I'm 65. And that's, I mean, I don't, I don't know about you, which you have. Like, my dad has good health insurance. He's 70. I mean, I don't know how people make it, you know, like, I don't even know, like, there, my family comes from a modest, modest life. I don't know that my, I love my dad, and I appreciate that his work ethic filled me into who I am today, but like, I don't understand how they ever made it and through my whole dream of good and ethics and life. My dad, my dad and mother, or they, was on the Medicare, I just lost my mother here this spring, Medicare, it paid a lot with what I have right now and Medicare, once I get on social security, it's pretty much going to be pretty easy, but I'll have a double, but right now, I'm, you know, I'm still active through 798, so my insurance is still good through. And like, I want to stress this again, that, like, when you're talking about COVID, that's when you're not working, you know, you build up, you have so many hours, I want to say it's 100, don't quote me on it, I'm just going to use a number. I think it's 120 hours, that takes care of a month's insurance, one month for 120. And that's, that's two weeks of work, 60 hours, I mean, that's 20 hours, I think it's 120 hours, might be a little bit more, don't quote me on it, I'm not up to date on too much of that. And as long as you, I think it takes, if you go out of it, I think it takes 500 hours to kick it back in, and then you're good for another four months, I feel something like that. Let's say you went to the average pop-up job, say three months, well, then you got six months worth of insurance, why? You got to have to make 500 hours before it kicks in, which is, it's nothing, I mean, that's two, 40, that's two months, right at two months, two, I think it's what, 30 hours, 60 is 130, that's four, 60, four, 60 a month, a little over a month, yeah, and you're insurance good to go. And so, you know, like you said, it's the end goal, it's invested in yourself either way. Two months, I'm sorry, yeah, two months, I know what you mean, you know, like you're bailing hay at 60 years, 62 years old, you know, and I think about how many welders I know that's made it to their late 50s and early 60s, and they go to inspect in and, you know, or what I mean, but they're still tied to a seven to five, you know, or seven, seven because they know they're doing back work after work, you know, I think about all that stuff, and it's, you know, but I also say this about seven on the eight, in 1998, the house is sold for one thing, in 2024, the house is sold for another thing, so are you going to be able to, the biggest thing I think that, that whole lot of people black in the world about things is, how do you say that, okay, you say, I understand the building traits, right? There's a lot of guys that don't, that may, that have bills that are not building traits of money, you know, it's not the, and I understand that you're supposed to manage your money in certain kind of way. Unexpected sees happen in life, you know, you know, God forbid there, anything ever happens, but in I understand, Seminary has benefits for that, but, you know, if, if you bought a 400 dollar house tomorrow, you know, you use work for the seven on eight, and they run out of money, or run out of job, or whatever, and you went to building traits, and say, things just wouldn't click it over there, because not, it's two different locals, so I'm sure not everything's the same is what it is, at the seven on eight to, to a building traits local, I'm sure that's a, that's a different kind of thing, which I know the guys that go from pop onto the, to the building traits, love it, but, how does, how does a, how do they sit around and, and be like, you know, if, if a man, if a man didn't work for four, five months, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta get your bills set right, if you want to do that, remember one I can tell you, it took me to 2004 to get my, my, all my stuff paid for, you know, paid my house off, and what have you, to stay like that, it's hard, you know, and you're saying, I can tell you what this house here cost me in 1997, '90, I think it was $93,000, you know, and I got a nice house, you know, a vehicle today is $93,000, you know, a vehicle, that's crazy, but that's what it is, you know, and no, you know, the camper I sent in is $80,000,000, the, the truck is outside, 90 grand, you know, it's, and with a, with a $30,000,000,000,000,000 machine on the back of it, yes, sir, I know you're paying, I mean, luckily, I've been fortunate in occupying that much debt, you know, I'm only in debt now because of the dog on meck and my pick up and stuff. That's the way, that's the way the government wants to keep it. Yeah, for sure, for sure, to wrap it, I don't want to keep you much lighter, see the kind of light, but I want to make sure that I get these questions on point, you know, like, like, it's not as easy, like, I can call a, say I was young, a young guy, right? A young guy I want to get into the world world, you know, it's, it's a lot easier to hunt down an old man on the non-union side to, to get their thoughts and, you know, to get a little bit of boss than it is the union side, you know what, you know what I mean? Yes. Like, how, how does it get more available? Because, yeah, okay, let me, let me show you something out there at the hall, right? In a given day, you might run into a welder, but do you run into that, like, I, I love old men, like, I like guys that are 20 or 30 years older than me, I, I like to be around them kind of people, you know, you, like, like, I don't feel like it's as easy to make them contacts as it is for the non-union side. The older, the welder, I'm going to say nine times out of ten's got more knowledge. A thousand percent. That's why I like to hunt them down. Yeah, got way more, or I, and now don't get me wrong, they got some, they got some young boys that are, they're smart, you know, good, good, heck, we got some young well-afformers that are smart, you know, to answer your question, I just say it has to be for knowledge, you know. Like, y'all, y'all are retiring in such a young age, which people don't think it's young, but 62 is a young age to be retired at, you know, ride on tractor every day, you're doing whatever, you know. That's a, that's a young age. They, you know, but if a kid was at the hall, right, like, he just broke out, I don't know, two years ago, but he needs that, which I'm sure he's built a few contacts, but like, he needs that guy to the older welder talk to, you know, like, how convenient is that for y'all on the outside, you know, like, the people, the people, this phone is full, full of old welders that, that I've worked with and are still friends, you know, and we call each other or have some of them, some of them pass away, you know, and it's, that's a shame that we got to call each other when somebody passes away or whatever, you know, but we still, there's a, there's a whole lot of 40 year members, 50 year members that I know, you know, actually some of them still working 50 year members that I know is still working, it's got a phone for them. They, I'm taking their opinion on the wheel here, like, I've talked to guys in this, like, you're on the wheel, right? I'm on it now, 1056. You think about, you think about how many buddies you got that are inspectors right now, they're still on the wheel. You think about guys that are on the building traits, it's on the wheel. You know, that ain't coming back, that's not going to come back to the 708 because they like what they're doing and blah, blah, blah. So it's, you know, and then you think about the guys that's on the wheel that don't, that just don't want to work. You know, they're doing, or whatever, you know, I think it's a godly number for a lot of people that don't understand that number that number don't mean nothing really because when a job comes up it's put on line that actually you can bid on it you know and whoever the lowest number is just say I'm 10.56 right now and a job comes up and I call up there and I put my number on and I'm 10.56 and three other guys or four I got the guys bid on it that are higher than me they're calling me they're going I'm going to take that job that lowest number that bids that job is the one that goes there's there's a lot of wellers that I know that there's there in three and four hundred is working building trade right now I don't think they're going to leave they're going to stay where they're at so they're going to build that you know that I'm built that security and where they're at so what's us in I mean that's I do believe there's gonna be another boom I do believe that I hope and I pray to God that Trump gets in there you're gonna see something I think we'll see something like we never seen before I think you're gonna see you right you're gonna see something like you ain't never seen before I mean not only for the young men but for the old man that's still around I think there's something coming that we never seen before but if he if he does get back around to a term it's gonna be the gloves off when it comes to art to what Texas Louisiana New Mexico Oklahoma maybe not so much to Mexico but for sure our little triangle right here between Louisiana Texas and Oklahoma that's what we're founded on this natural gas incredible that's what this state is founded on that's what Texas is founded on you know and they want to they want to shut it down I don't know who they they don't know what they're talking about it ain't we're not ready for it's money it's money laundering to me is all it is you know we're not we're not ready for electric we don't we don't have the grid for we'll never be ready for it not all right no last time money not even it's a lot of times or we're gonna be ready for anything I don't I don't know if you ever heard the name Gerald W. Bristol you have heard of him he's an old he's an older gentleman from out in California he's traveled old world world and bought together you know after south south after all these places he man he's an economy and crude oil and natural gas is tough it's just you know like like I know that we're we we survive on natural gas and say Texas I mean it's like they keep building wind turbines and solar plants but that only jack crap like I was in Alabama my mom was like well there they're building this solar facility over here and I've said well you understand I work in natural gas right I don't give two crabs about them she's like what it's it's 700 jobs I said 700 jobs really get it built once it's built it's five guys you know out maintenance guys to walk around there it's nothing and then ten years it'll be an offshore and no it's just they don't understand that because they don't live in a place the word gas and oils King you know it's not the same which I don't know I just hope that trunk is elected so it approved so you know it's and I think we've got good shot now today we've promoted Kamala Harris to run against the night she getting they thought Joe Biden couldn't complete a whole sentence nothing she says ever makes sense I feel dumber by the second you know I think I feel like we covered a lot of things the majority of what I wanted to this is the part where I always come up the hardest questions so all right the tail end of your career you know you're riding off into the sunset here you know what is a bottle piece of information that you'll leave to the next generation here you know the next generations of welders what what's something buried or what that you feel is a sole core value of being a pop line voter I know somebody got to feel our shoes that's the main thing you know pride our pride is number one might know my pride I got a very very a lot of pride just keep keep our pride up you know keep keep our name up and somebody else gonna need them benefits one day you know and you got we got to keep going and you can't give you can't stop progress you know you just got to keep going don't think I can say you know if you stop then we're gonna lose I know I know we have members that are they get paid well you know through the hall but there you there I know I wouldn't want none of their job they there to fight for what we got now you know and if them guys them guys don't fight then y'all's money's gonna go down everybody's money's gonna go down if them guys don't keep fighting to keep our money up we're gonna lose so we have to have we have to have people like our business manager and our agents and whatever you they got to they got to keep fighting for it we don't have them we're gonna lose which them are elected official business agents business manager are they're elected official again you broke business agents and business managers and stuff they're elected officials for y'all representative no the only the only electric the only elected one is the business manager the business agents are appointed okay yeah they are appointed like a cabinet for a business manager you have to be voted who does the appointing when it comes to a business agent business manager itself yeah okay the business manager is the one that does their appointing for the for the the for is like the president and the election committee and all that other stuff that's all voted the whole votes they're all in the vice president president all down secretary e board member all that is that's elected by membership is there anything else you want to touch on about the 78 before you know what was the sound I just said welcome I I have thoroughly enjoyed it I've met a lot of great people they've got some hardworking people in there and it's got to keep up the good work you know keep it keep it going I like I don't even know how many retirees we got right now our our retirement is it's actually unheard of you don't really hear this no it's not something you hear every day it's like wow you know and it's it's for real Jack comers covered some of that in his podcast you know it's uh what's Jack deals in a lot of analytics you know being in his position really a really good guy you know kind of his jobs kind of adult and past you know to go up amongst a bunch of men you know when I'm at him in Eastland over there it's kind of I'm I'm getting a lot of respect for the man for walking up in a group of welders that may be reception may not be receptive for what he's got to say you know it it's a daunting task so whether he's you know it's seven or eight or you breaking up by maybe everybody's getting on there but I was talking about Chad going up to the you know his task kind of daunting to go up to a group of welders that may be receptive may not be receptive for what he's got to say right right I got I gained a lot of respect for the man just over that right there you know just just out of the courage to walk up and talk to a group of guys like that I thought it was I've been knowing Chad for probably 25 years matter fact he actually helped me on my the first union job his daddy was a great man he was he was a well-evolman stirred what have you his dad Chad Chad's good people and he knows how to talk yeah oh yeah he had it yeah I think he was yeah I think he was a superintendent for price one you know it's not it's not just about being a great talker it's about believing in what you're saying and what you're trying to sell people you know I think I think that's what makes Chad you know helps a big good guy and helps him you know accomplish the goals that he has is his his belief seven on eight you know yeah and you know I know he's a couple generation seven on eight he talks about on his podcast you know Him and his brothers they wouldn't have been available. You know, I guess that had all time this I don't want to forget it yet. He had some chronic disease and they And it was it was hard times for him with his with his stuff His father stuff. He was able to pay for all that these, you know It's I don't know. It's I just you know, I didn't want when I when I started really talking to semi-negative stuff I didn't want to be biased and just have the non-union side when I started the podcast You got to have I'm when there's two sides that we're going. I wanted to make sure that I give a fair pitch to both sides You know, I feel like like whether you're 798 or non-union, I feel like you're the same man every day, you know, and it's When I call and talk to you you've always been pleasant talk to That's kind of a met like I wanted people to understand it. There's good people. You know, it's it's the same man doing the same job It's big I've actually had a I've had a sturt's call me and ask me questions, you know, and I've had well-affulments call me and ask me question You know, what to do and different distributions, you know, and oh We help each other out a lot, you know Just there's there's a lot of great people in this talk local, you know, I hope you get to meet them We will see I'm hoping to scare some I got I got this little thing in the works that I'm trying to work on around now. It's gonna be It's an interesting concept and involve some welders and We don't have competition. It's a bit of competition, but it's I don't know. I'm Got a lot of things going on, but I'm trying to manage and still, you know, give it to my sister. We job Just first and foremost is, you know, I'm a welder. I told a man. I come to a job, but uh, I Got a lot of poker in the fire right now that I'm trying to manage Just just just put this in your mind. You're 30 what? 35 35 Those I'm gonna give you a number right now. There are credits is 235, you know, just figure out what you can have whenever you reach 62 And by time you're 62, I'm gonna say that they're gonna be way more than $250 a credit You know, but I always had a number in my head. I wanted 40 credits, you know, I was that was my goal Was to have 40 credits, of course, I didn't I didn't make it because That Biden regime, but Anyhow, it's still pretty good. That's seven. Okay. If you take 17, which would be 62 Yeah, 62 Times 235 would be 63 and 45 dollars a month. That's correct But now that don't mean that's just that's you can get two of them a year. Right. You can get you can you can You actually can make you can make 40 credits in 20 Yeah, yeah, if You're gonna have to go to work. I'm talking about you go out to stay busy, but it can be doing You know, but uh, I got 20 in 26 years. I got 35 credits. That's pretty good Yeah, for sure the benefits are there. It's just what what what do you want to do for yourself? You got it. You got to you got to make your mind up That's what you want with the end Always always always thought, you know Man all them non-union job of that. I ain't getting nothing off of them. Not at the end all I guess a check So when I turned union I was told so you know whenever you're doing whatever you get your retirement You're gonna get a piece of this job, and that's the fact you get a piece of What what age was you? Do you know? Do what now? What what age was you when you joined the That 38 and born in 1966, so then I don't know I tried I Don't know because I talked to my helpers that are wellers now. I'm like I think I would just go get a book go to helpers, but you know job and I turn it so well You know, there's no limit on saying if you join the apprenticeship program, that's one thing but if you go as a helper and then Become weller. That's there's no time on There's five five thousand Not like five years, you know, you got to have five thousand hours I don't think if you know the word you get a book and you got to have five thousand hours to go to school And it's really it's good because you need to really learn you need to learn go back there and watch them tie in You need to you need to get on the front end. You need to get on the everything. You need to learn at all You know, I've seen it some of them going there too soon. Don't know nothing, you know Or the rope or everything everything that they're doing on the pipeline, you know, not just not just one thing Need to learn it. I've been fortunate up the last two years to show The last two helpers I broke that was last two years. I've been fortunate to show them anomaly digs Tians the front end the fire and line fabrication I've done it all past two or three years here and been able to put them their hands on everything. So when they jump out there They're good. That's cool. I don't think you're ever like you're you're never prepared to just go do it to go do it You know, I think but if it's buried in the back of your mind someplace When the situation rises to you, you're not totally in the dark, you know, and Like them little parts call my phone so many times, but it's okay. I don't I don't care. I don't think If they're out making times in the middle of night, they call my home. So I wake up, you know, it's uh I want I want to see them succeed while we start the whole journey, you know, I want I'm big on making helpers in the welders. I don't I don't think that I Like I love the money of being a welder and stuff, but the most pride that I've ever had is seeing them, you know Getting to break out and do what it's It's part of my favorite thing about all of it, you know, I love the money But it's not the same as seeing them achieve their dreams, you know, I think If I was a football coach that would be the most rewarding to meet you, but Bro, Todd the pop line is oh, you know, I I just Overall want to see a family aspect. I think that's that's big to me You know, they talk about the brotherhood 798, you know, there's the non-union brotherhood. I Would like to see that it was just a Join effort on how to get back yet, you know Wilders or welders, you know, and I would I'll get there soon as I'll get back at Make our money, you know, somebody's getting rich in a day in pain us, you know, I don't care if you're union or non-union So much worries making that much if We turned US Pipeline That man that owns it. He's not a millionaire. He's a billionaire now And he's got it all off the pipeline and He got that money through union contract So imagine Just imagine what they're making and that man paid all our benefits, you know, that's a that's a that's a that's a serious amount of money Just imagine what the non-union is making. It's it's it's blow your mind Yeah, and he's playing like you said that that fellow Spain all these benefits and still making boocies the money He's still he's a billionaire today. Yeah, and not a Billionaire, yeah, and the guys it's you know, it's not all these pop not all the non-union Pipeline companies are owned by some corporation. It ain't quite a few that's owned by one man You know or two men and they're making a crack ton of them. Yes, sir they To wrap this up, Mr. Scotty I Appreciate your time and I'm like I appreciate that anytime I call your phone You know, you've been available or at least, you know calling me back, you know, I know you're enjoying your retirement bailing out But I appreciate this time. Yeah, I can't do nothing. Yeah I caught a heck of a rain shower come back from Alabama a couple weeks ago It's been here The last got over seven inches here in two weeks I appreciate your time and Look forward to you in the future of this. Got it. All right, man. It's good talking to you. Have a good night You bet thank you