Every body has got to eat

I guess I should share a little about me and what I do for a living, or more precise how I get money to eat and live like the rest of the herd. I have worked in a couple of different areas, when in high school, victim of catholic school ( not catholic, that's a whole other trip in it self) I worked for my self and a telephone company, I cleaned the place where I worked, ran vacuum, cleaned windows, dusted, cleaned the bathrooms you know janitor stuff. I got the job because I knew the head office girl who hired contractors I was my own contractor under cut bids, and made good money for my age of fourteen. I was working part time in the company running telephone wires and stripping and rewiring switches, making up cables, kind of grunt and trainable labor. So I had money in my pocket and things to do that kept me out of a certain amount of trouble. I ended up graduating with my class but had attended a couple of quarters junior college, while my class mates (H.S.) where at Disney land on grad night I has studying for finals the next day at college. The story of my life never in the right place, at the right time. These were the character building years and anyone who knows me could attest that I am a character.

I had done well on SATs , and had gotten into UCSD, worked as an ice cream scooper in La Jolla at Swenson's ice cream parlor, while freshmen in college, great place to work if your going to get baked, back to the dorms with all the ice cream and chocolate, that had to be cleaned out, it was a whole in the wall . I ended hooking up with a girl, who brought me to UCSB, for a “great full dead” concert, decided I wanted to be an Eco science geology type of person rather then a doctor, I couldn't be a doctor, really don't like the condescension that goes with that territory. Santa Barbara was pretty much an earth first kind of town ,at least that was an impression they were trying to convey at the time. I worked for a bank, first in data operations, then as a swing shift computer operator, sorted checks ran reports for distribution from a center, (off site of bank), it was above a night club called “Peppers” , needless to say I had a fake I.D, but still staid out of trouble; hard to work full time, attend school full time and still find time for trouble , but you can guess I tried hard. I wound up working for a large computer operation center, printed MSL listings, I ended up leaving right at graduation. It was the first time I had not had a job lined up, and I just wanted to kick back and enjoy Santa Barbara. My room mate worked as a carpenter and drywaller, he dragged me to a few jobs, I'm pretty handy and soon I was working as a laborer pretty much full time, I learn damn fast and soon I was working with the big boys doing commercial work, and drinking like a fish, use to come with the trades. With in five years I was pretty much either a trouble shooter or foreman on the job, one of my old bosses (owner of big company) asked me why I always seemed to get the most interesting tasks. If it was different, I was doing it, usually by my self with support when required. I learned how to build, everything from houses to five story buildings , tilt ups , barns, manufacturing plants, schools, public works projects, parking lots , block buildings ,bridges, elevator shafts, banks just about everything found in the area, anything concrete wood or steel, all trades from plumbing and electrical HVAC, painting, if its in a building or involves construction or moving large objects I've done it , or something close to it, and can figure out what I need to get it done. I'm pretty competent and confident in my abilities most who know me , know I can do the most outrages things without really , any assistance , so I can make a living working with my hands, it's kind of an art form and I had twenty years of real life experience before I took my current position, an advanced janitor so to speak in a continuing performance art setting.

Yep I work for a performance art endeavor, and it allows me to make contact with very interesting folks indeed. I see a lot of different kinds of things where I work, some are simply amazing. The group I work for or with, has nation wide and global, partners so to speak, we share a lot of attributes that many never notice, and very few are even aware of, if you end up working in a place like I do, you have to remember , that reality means nothing and performance or how the performance is accepted is of prime importance. This group seems to have unlimited resources, it can't really make mistakes, and there is no credibly accepted method of evaluating the value of the performance. Really our only real concern is that no one gets hurt during the performance and this includes the actors, those behind the scenes and the public because by the very nature of performance art it involves the public as viewers and some times interactive participants. I can't tell you exactly who I work for, it is one of the largest businesses in the area, if I told you I wouldn't be able to blog, I don't think my employer would like it, and I'm sure they are very aware of my thoughts and blogging activities, I get all kinds of little subtle warnings. I have a tendency to speak my mind it gets me in trouble allot of the time, but who cares, I have a right to my thoughts, and I have a pretty good union, other wise they would have canned me long ago. As a matter of fact they have all ready taken a pretty good shot at it but, we managed to come to a sort of understanding, I don't really bother them, just do my job, and try not to laugh out loud during most of the performances, however I do tend to speak up during sharing moments, if they ask for comments, and on occasions when they don't want comments. Oh well that's just my nature, there are others who share this nature they tend to remain quiet, they are more concerned with keeping the performance alive, don't rock the boat so to speak, we are all floating in sewer water. Allot of really great individuals that I have much respect for, have run from our little group screaming, because if you let it get to you it will hurt your head. I stay out of morbid curiosity, plus I've got a very short commute on bike, and my job does have a certain amount of satisfaction, because it involves safety issues and my repair abilities. I also get a kick out of watching the users absorb the performance ,and not really understand the true nature of the art.

There are small rewards involved in my work mostly it is in seeing the public enjoy the art work and make use of the performance that is offered, the best sub group of users is the future travelers that are just learning about the performances, Today I had to repair a spring that is very popular with this sub time traveler group, it is not really designed for people like me, but it is a big hit with a certain crowd. I was happy that another in our group had caught the problem before it couldn't be (fairly) easily repaired. In the past I have had to remove the spring and it seems to never return once it is removed , I think the art counselors have to approve it and its very hard for them to act. When I first started working for the group, we had more people involved in the art now we have many more art counselors and can't really afford the people who really make the performance happen, this is a national and global trend. You can't have art just happening with out a group of counselors, it kind of reminds me of our health care system, it keeps getting bigger and more expensive with fewer and lessened expectations. Today was a good day because I know tomorrow some users will be enjoying their spring. Yesterday was a trip indeed because some one vandalized one of our art pieces, a Christmas symbol, and it had to be dealt with and of course the counselors had to get involved , but you know our motto , “we shall not cut and run in our war on Christmas”, quick call Bill Oreilly the war continues http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=df360c49de8c2ceb95020e38609203a4.601990

http://www.sweetjesusihatebilloreilly.com/

and this ones worth paying attention to also it involves another piece of what I consider local competition in performance art. You'll really have to be sharp and pay attention to spot this performance piece
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1871474731549370979&q=santa+barbara+city&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5900590930716087940&hl=en