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Transcript

A Thousand Pounds Lighter · UNLOADED

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'd like to welcome everyone to our podcast unloaded.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: This is Michael Seahorn.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_02: Shannon Morrow.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: And here we are once again in the studio.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, I'm so excited for today.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_02: This is a studio, man.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: You start studio.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: One day.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_02: One day.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_02: Because here we go.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_02: I'm really excited about today.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_02: So just fill in the listeners really quick.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_02: Most of our recording sessions begin with as Mike and I are getting everything set up.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_02: We're catching up.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: He's filming you in on a lot of the details and what's going on and everything.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: Because a lot of it in the past has not been appropriate.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: He couldn't talk about it on the air just yet.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_02: And um, so we did all that before the session, before we hit record.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_02: And yet today, now big, big, big changes in Mike's scene.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: He when and we just dove right in.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_02: He's like, let's save it for the podcast.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, what?
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_02: We can talk about all this stuff.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: We don't have to be up here abstract, well, you know, leaving out all the details and stuff.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_02: Because finally, yeah, we're we're live right now and able to chat like we often have in the past without hitting record.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: And now we can get more real, more detailed.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_02: It's we're kind of just entering this new, not only new big uh stage in Michael's life, but in the podcast as well, because now we're free to talk about things.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's been it's been uh it's been a long road.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we've talked about it you know over the last she's numerous episodes, but uh today I'm uh very pleased to say that uh my eight-year journey ended last week.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Last Thursday to be exact, and I started a uh new adventure on Monday beside the transport company, which we talked about in our last podcast.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: This isn't the transport company, that's a that's a just a side gig.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, going.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: But uh and when Michael says his eight-year journey ended last Thursday, that's with the company he formerly worked for when he initially was hired as a safety officer and worked his way up the ranks and was eventually given the vice president position, which he pretty much created and developed and brought the company a long way.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: And then, like most, like all good things, quote unquote, you know, there's there's a time and a season, and that had um wound down, and it was time for Michael to resign from that company, quit as the vice president, and he found new employment, which I'm dying to hear about now.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, how's your new job?
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we haven't been able to talk about it.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: So um yeah, so so my last journey ended, and uh, we'll just leave that where it's at.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, there are plenty of podcasts that people can go back and listen, and you can all put two and two together.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it was a very toxic environment, uh, to say the least, and uh things were just uh getting worse and worse.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, I just I finally pulled the trigger per se and um just decided it was time to move on.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: And like always, the universe just has an amazing way of opening doors at the exact time that you need them opened, man.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: So um so yeah, so Monday I started a uh a brand new job.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm uh um going back into the safety world, but um this company it's local and we don't need to get into the name, I don't think it's important, but um they basically wrote a job title for me when I presented my uh credentials and resume, um, the ownership, the staff, amazing people, man.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: Just I I can't tell you how freaking happy I am, dude.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: Thank goodness, man, you needed that.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate it.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um but they uh funny enough, they they looked at all my stuff and they're like, Man, we need you, we're just not sure where.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Well, I'll I'll do anything, man.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I just I just want to add value because that's kind of my thing, right?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: So they literally wrote me a um job description and created a role for me in the company, and that role is now a uh they're calling me a safety and operations systems manager.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: So duality, yeah, yeah.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: From the higher level.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: Correct.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, just wow.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: So right now I'm I'm I'm uh head in on the safety side and just trying to get their their program up to speed where they want it.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: And um it's been I just can't tell you, man.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's I am so blessed to work with so many professionals in this company, man.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: What a difference, what a contrast.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: That's what drove you out of your previous position was the leadership on topwood, did not have that professional and so now to suddenly, as you just described, great people.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my goodness, what a change.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_02: What a yeah.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: It you know, and it's kind of odd, you know, um, because they uh so I think it was Monday.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh my first day was Monday, uh set me up with a pretty big meeting with uh a lot of the um operational in the company, and we had a good meeting just to bring me up the speed at my request.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, hey, I I need to know where we're at, right?
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: So we had a great meeting, and then my boss um said, Hey, let's uh I'm gonna take you out to lunch today.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_02: And first day.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, first day.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: And uh some of the staff came came as well.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: So who's your boss?
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he's the vice president.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, thank you.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, I I report to the VP now.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so we went and I think there's about six of us.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: We had a great lunch and just you know, just hanging out, yeah, getting to know each other.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: And uh he said, Well, how how you feel, man?
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: I said, I feel great.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: 100% I feel great.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'm super excited to be here.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: I said, but it's it it feels weird because I'm I'm on the other side now.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not the top, I'm not the bottom, I'm upper middle, but just being an employee again feels weird.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: Less responsibility.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, 100%.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: You still have plenty of responsibility.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: Tons.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: Tons.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: And yet you're no longer the VP.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_02: You're actually answering to the VP.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, so they could they all chuckled.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they they know my background, you know, and I didn't mean it in any disrespect.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: I was just like, it I just forgot how it feels.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: I forgot how that feels to be not only the FNG, and for those of you who don't know what that means, just look it up.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but not only just being the new guy, but being that employee where you report to an immediate you know, vice president for your uh leadership.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: But uh I I don't have enough I have so many good things um that this week has brought.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: And um you know, I I got home for my first day and my wife's like I see it.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: But you don't have to say a word, she could tell.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah just seeing it.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: Just just walking in the door.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, Man, you look about a thousand pounds lighter compared to when you used to walk through the door.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, just completely drugged out, man, and just you know, out of gas all the way around.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: So it was a good it was a great start.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um one of the things that um I had to do for this role is I had to go get a safety certification.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's called a CHST.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's a big certification in the safety world, and um, you know, it's quite extensive.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: You have to apply for it through the Board of Certified Safety Professionals, they approve your app.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: Then you gotta go take this test.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's like 200 questions, you have 200 and 220 minutes, 222 minutes to complete your 200 exam questions.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's at one of the uh uh Parsons, you know, uh exam facilities where you sit in the little room and all.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: So um they're like, hey, can you we'd like to get this in your first six months?
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Well, okay, yeah, I can do that.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: Now, at the time I didn't know a whole lot about how it worked.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but they also attach that to an incentive, and I'm not gonna tell what the incentive is because that's between me and the company, but it was a very good incentive to get it done.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, nice.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: So already Shannon probably knows where the story's going.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I log up, I submit my app.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, I had no issue getting my app approved for the safety side of the house, and they say, Yeah, you're approved.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: So jumped in, started taking these random hunter question practice tests practice tests.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: Scored pretty high on most of them.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um didn't get a lot of studying it, man.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: I maybe cumulatively, maybe two full days.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's pushing it, right?
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: But you're talking about this past week.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_02: When they said, Hey, you got six months and you because you just started five days ago, your first day in the job, and they're like, six months.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so the so the week before I started, uh, because I accepted my offer.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: I accepted my offer three weeks ago.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: And in the offer, it said, Hey, we want you to get this cert.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I already knew it was coming.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: So in that two weeks while I was transitioning from one company into the new one, that's when I went, signed up.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: Got it.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: Got got everything kind of I got the ball rolling.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: That didn't all happen this week.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: But don't tell me you took the test this week.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: So man, come on, man.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_02: They gave me six months.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: Come on.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I I was uh I think it was like uh last I can't remember, dude.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, I think it was last Friday.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was last Friday, maybe, or Saturday.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I'm in the office, I was doing some studying, and I was like, you know what, I'll I'll at least get I want to see when I can get the exam on the calendar because they did say that those tests are hard to get, so make sure you make sure to get it.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, get logged in.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Put a date on the calendar.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: So, and if for all those of you who don't know, I I'm a big believer when you put shit on the calendar and you sign up for something, it kind of has that driving force, right?
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm in my office and I'm looking and like, nothing, dude.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: There ain't nothing until like the end of December.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, oh wait, the end of this December.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: Or just a couple months out.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, a couple months out.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_02: That's well within the window they gave you.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm I was like, or if they got any other testing centers close by.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um dude.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I expand my search, and lo and behold, in Roseville, uh, they had a test for yesterday on Thursday.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_02: So okay, like when you begin, as you said, Shannon knows where this is going.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: Oh man.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: Alright, so so I'm like, I I'm a real big firm believer is uh you can study, but there's no real thing unless you take a test, right?
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: You can study all the theory and you just don't know.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I thought, well, if I just take the test, see what's on it.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: There's no penalty for not passing.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: Six weeks.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's it.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: And that's it.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_02: Then you retake.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: Might as well just see what's it about, yeah, what it's about.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: And then it'll put me in December regardless, right?
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: Easy.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I tell my boss, I'm like, hey, uh, yeah, I'm taking my test.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: And he's like, what?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: He's uh he's like, seriously.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, yeah, I said I'm I'm taking it Thursday if it's okay with you.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: I don't have anything on the calendar.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's scheduled noon, Roseville, Thursday.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna head over, take the test.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: All right, cool.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: This is your new employee.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, he's getting the full force right out of the week.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: So yesterday morning I wake up, I feel pretty good.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh my back's been a little screwed up this week, but we're getting kind of getting through that.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I tell the wife, hey, I'm gonna leave pretty early because you just never know what the traffic was raining yesterday.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: So jump in the truck, hit 80, get to the first message board down there in Fernley, and it says, Hey, 80 is currently closed at Clark.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, son of a alright.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: So for my listeners out there, uh the testing center for my location was pegging about 240, 2 hours and 40, 2 hour and 45 minutes, somewhere in that ballpark.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I grabbed the phone real quick, look at the highway 80, and lo and behold, as all of our local listeners now know, a freaking plane crashed on the highway yesterday.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: It shut up for more than three hours.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_02: My wife was caught in that.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I may have created my own exit ramp uh to turn around.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: Ah shoot.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: I was in the big dooley.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I created my own exit ramp, um, turned around, came back down the highway, and got off at Nixon, which is the Pyramid Lake exit.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then for the out-of-town listeners, it's just a secondary route, but it takes you all the way around Pyramid Lake, and it adds a significant amount of time onto the commute.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: So as soon as I turned, got on my exit, my map updates.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, anticipated arrival time, 1152.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: Does it what time does test start?
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: 12.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like starts at what time are you supposed to be there?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: 12.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, okay.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_02: So you got eight minutes to spare.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_02: Easy.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: Between here, California, the mountain, the weather.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: You're not gonna have construction.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: Not that you ever have to stop and pee or anything either.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: Correct.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: So long story short, um, I pull into Roseville at like 11 30.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: So jamming.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: Shaved.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: I was I was mobbing once I once I was able to.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: So get into town, man, and I'm just like, okay, take a break, get some caffeine, kind of wake myself up.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's a two and a half hour test now that you have to sit down and do after driving like mad for the last three hours.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I called the wife, let her know I'm safe, let her know everything's good.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I go in for this test.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I in my career I've I've experienced these tests on um anytime you take a uh insurance exam, um, you have to go through these testing centers, which I've done quite a few of those.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh my remote drone pilot license was the same.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: You had to go through that same testing center.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I was kind of familiar with how this works, okay?
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I I come into the lobby area, I had my ID.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: Very nice people over there, by the way.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: The two ladies work there.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: Kudos to you guys.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: They get me all signed in, and she says, Okay, just go have a seat, Mike, and we'll come get we'll call you.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: So the other lady calls me up and uh kind of just runs me through how this is going to work.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: And she says, Okay, I need you to take your glasses off.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: I need you to put your glasses on this special plate.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, Yeah, okay.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they're scanning my glasses to make sure they're not smart glasses, is what they were doing, right?
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: No cameras, no hidden devices.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: Then I got a complete wand.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: They wanded me three times, front and back.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: You're not cheating on this test.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: Because they found people were cheating.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh so I'm like, man, I was like, I've taken some pretty high-level tests, especially in the military days, dude.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: I've like never went through a shakedown.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, Yeah, well, she's like, it's stupid, but people were cheating, so now this is what we do.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: Strip down, bend over.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: Pretty much.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's pretty close, dude.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: So she's like, Oh, you're from Nevada?
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, she's like, You drove here today?
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, Yeah, it's been a heck of a morning.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh she's like, You you want to take a minute?
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: Or I know we're good.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: Let's just get this thing on, man.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: So you take you in there, and she's like, Here's some earplugs if you don't want to listen to the people coming in and out, or you can put the big muffs on.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: I go, I can't, dude.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: My ringing, my ears are so bad, it'll drive me nuts.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: So we sit down at the computer station.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, All right, you have two hours, 20 minutes.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: If you need anything, raise your hand, we'll come get you.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, pee break, whatever.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if that, good luck.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: Here we go.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: Here we go, man.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: So start the test.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: First, like eight questions, man.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: Half of them, I'm like, I don't know what the fuck these are, dude.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: I've never I've never even heard of some of these shit.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_02: You're taking a practice test.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I took like eight, the first like eight, there's like three or four of them in there, man.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, got a minute per question.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_02: You gotta keep moving though.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I flagged them.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, moved on.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: Took a small break, and I just told myself, hey, it's a government style test.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: They try to trick you a little bit, so just read it, go through your answers, see what that gut feeling check is, move on.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_02: So you're a good test too.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you're gonna be able to do that.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: So up in the right hand corner, they got a clock.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: For your countdown.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: Tells you how many questions you're on.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm just clicking through, man.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: Just burning through 'em.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I look up and I'm like, oh, I'm over halfway.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: So keep keep mobbing through 'em.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I get to the end.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: I got like an hour and twenty some minutes left, dude.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_02: What?
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_02: You knew that many questions.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, a lot of them that were coming up, I I knew some of the answers.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_02: Just the first few were just to throw you off out of the gate.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: But then after that, you you were like, oh yeah, ding, ding, ding.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, just kind of, you know.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not a new guy in the safety room.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, okay.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: I blew through them, man.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: Then when I seen the time, I was like, oh shit.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's a lot of time left, man.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I reviewed the ones I flagged.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: Left the answers.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't change them.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, I'm gonna go with what I thought was correct.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't want to just sit here and double guess everything, right?
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_02: So you had already answered those, even though you flagged him, you had chosen.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they won't let you pass the without hitting an answer yet.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I hit submit, lady comes in, she's like, that was fast.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, really fast?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: And she's like, you you you might have set a record.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, uh, this is all we do.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, this is a long exam.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, most people gets down to about 30 minutes left in the exam.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of normal.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, I can't believe you got like an hour.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: How it was 120 minutes.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: So out of 220 minutes, right?
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I cut what did I cut?
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: Half?
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't have the time.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, no, whatever.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: So she collects me, I get up, and I am super stiff, dude.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: My fucking back is toast, right?
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I get up, she's like, You alright?
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, Yeah, it's just uh I got an injury thing, but no biggie.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: So we go out to the lobby, and she's like, Man, she's like, she's like, Well, good luck.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, come up to the counter.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: She gives me an ID back.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um she says, Hey, drive safe back to Nevada.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's you know, been a pleasure meeting you.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: Good luck.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: She hits the print button, hands me a piece of paper.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: Now you know if you passed or failed that day.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's on the paper.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: It tells you.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: I took the paper, didn't look at it.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_02: Whoa! Ha ha! Oh, didn't look at it.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_02: Wait, did you when did Okay, I'll let you finish the story.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I I'm like I'm not I in my head for some weird reason I'm not gonna look at the paper right now.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: My back was hurting, I'm tired, and now I'm I'm just starving, right?
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I go out of the room, I go down the lobby, I go down to the main lobby, I go outside, I'm like, oh man, it was like overcast and cloudy, it was total mic day yesterday.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: It was beautiful.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: I get to the truck, I open the door, I put the paper on the driver's seat, and then I just hang on the truck bed, man.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just trying to stretch out my back, right?
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, okay, whatever's on the damn paper, I don't care.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: I really don't.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's a pastrophil.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: So I I go back to the truck.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: It was like I was I mean, I didn't care a little.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: Hang on.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: You'd I mean, it'd be nice to not have to retake it.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: It'd be nice to tell your boss, like, hey, you know how I wasn't at work yesterday?
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_02: I pass.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: I got in the hundred percent agree.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_02: So but no big deal if you didn't pass.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_02: Preferably.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: No expectation there.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_02: No expectation, but preferably it'd be nice to not have to redo it.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, for sure, dude.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: Next thing you know, I don't know, a blimp falls out of the sky or something the next trip.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, okay, so I stretch out a little bit, I go back to the truck, man.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: Paper's laying upside down on the seat, so I just flip the paper over.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: The first word says, Congrats.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: You have successfully passed your CHST test.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I was in the parking lot, by the way.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if people are watching or not, but I didn't really give two shits, man.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm fucking fist pumping myself.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: I was so excited, dude.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, done.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: Done, dude.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: It's a big box you checked in your first week of work.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_02: Your your VP's gonna be like, what the so I call I call my wife and she's like, Oh, she's oh my god, I'm so nervous.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: I what what what happened?
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, um, well, you know, it's just you know, she's like, hey, you know, you'll you'll get to take it again.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: You love app with people.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes I do, man.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I pass, and she, you know, she was so excited, man.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: So uh congrats, man.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_02: Big day.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, big first week.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_02: Holy moly.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_02: Very first day, lunch with the six of you, and just getting acclimated, meeting people, getting in a did you got a little office there they they gave you?
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh temporarily.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm right now, I'm really in the field a lot.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, right.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: Of course.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right, right.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: You don't you don't get your big VP digs anymore.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they they got a bunch of remod going on.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they gave you a truck though.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: Gave me a truck, and I'll I'll get my own office to.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Doing some remodeling and stuff, but um temporarily they have me stationed with another individual, but uh you know they know that I'm not gonna be there very much.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: So that you don't need much I've got my laptop, my iPad.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um Where where is your office located?
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's right here in Reno.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: Oh good.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: Oh sorry.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: Sparks.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: It is in Sparks, yeah.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's good though.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and it'll be easier now for all the stuff.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: You you used to always have to every time run into Reno, that was a mu you know, but now that you'll be here in the area more.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, most of our big projects are up at USA, obviously up at the big data centers.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, right.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I'm up there and I can come around the back way, so it's not too bad.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: So my wife's like, Are you gonna let your boss know?
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: I go, yeah, I'll let him know.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: I told him I would.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: He knows your test.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I call him and he didn't answer, left a message.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: And then um we have a third party um safety individual.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: He's been in the business for 30 plus years.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: He's in currently in Maui, him and I have been talking.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: We're super good, super cool dude, man.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna work out real well together.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's good.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, I call him, he didn't answer, leave him a message, but not big deal.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: Mob back to Reno.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: Just getting into like probably right before the nug.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: Somewhere around that area, my phone rings, and I see it's the third party guy.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: Hey man, what's going on?
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, Are you fucking kidding me?
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: I I go, what do you mean?
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, dude.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, let me just I heard your message.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: I heard your message, because I left the message, right?
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, just an easy message.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, first of all, he's like, how in the hell do you come up in here for the first week?
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: You ain't been here three days.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: You go all the way down there and you pass your test on the first go.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: He goes, I've got people in this industry right now that are all safety people for months and months, and most of them continually keep putting it off.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: Readest, read.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: He was laughing on the phone, dude.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, bro, you and I are gonna get along good.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: He he's like you know, he was just very excited for me.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: But he was he was taken back a little bit, man.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, three days, you've been here three freaking days, dude.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_02: They could have expected this a little bit, because they recognized even when they're that recruiter out of nowhere, pinged you, and then they started talking with you, and they started like, Whoa, who is this guy?
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: Wait, what is he doing?
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: Wait, oh, we let's create a position for him because we know they they just recognize the value because well, as you started in today's podcast, that is so important to you to bring a lot of value to whatever you're doing.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_02: They recognize that in you, and you have already proven it.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I was my boss was ecstatic.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: He finally called me back, and he's like he was laughing too.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, he's like, I don't even know what to say, Mike.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: He's other than just congrats, I'm super excited.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_02: He's like, I just he's like, I don't even have the people there, man.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my god.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, I just he's like, how so many of the people have come through the doors and the ones that you know it's been a long list.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, and here you are four days in, you blow over to freaking Sacramento, take a test, and knock it out the park.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so he's really excited, you know, that I think I think that their program has been um I'll just say it, their program has lacked any person that has taken a hold of that program and put some value in it.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: Who really cares, who really brings that professional work ethic that just yeah, that just yeah.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm I'm I feel like we're not at ground zero.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: We're at like ground one.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like the the foundation's built.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_02: They they have a safety program.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_02: They're a construction company.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's there.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: The bones and the you know the structure's there.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um they just need somebody to pick that up, champion that program, and they got jobs, man.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: Then here you go.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: New job, new position, and new program that you can champion.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it's it's been real good.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: I met I met a few of the members of the staff up up in on the job side, so I met some of the crews and just you know, just getting to know people.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know me, I'm a I'm a boots on ground guy.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like I I want to hear from the people out there, you know.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, even as a VP, you'd go out regularly just to know everyone, see what's going on and stuff.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_02: So uh it's been an exciting week.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: Say the least.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_02: Oh man, yeah.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_02: I hope.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean, you're done with the work week, it seems now.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_02: And then you got the weekend ahead of you, a couple days off, and before likely returning on Monday.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I hope this weekend is a little more restful for you given how this week has gone.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, what you got you'd be able to just kind of chill.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's the plan.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: I got the uh my kids and uh their wives are coming over today.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna do the birthday dinner at the house.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: We're not gonna go out.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: Oh.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_02: And then um what birthday dinner are you talking about?
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: Be mine.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'm all I'm an old dude, man.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_02: Wait, it's your birthday today?
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, today's the big B day, man.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: So my kids are gonna come over and we're all gonna have dinner at the house.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm just gonna chill.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um not trying to do much tomorrow.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: Watch my Ravens play Sunday.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm really just gonna focus on trying to get my back squared away.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_02: B more, yeah, Ravens.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, okay, good.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_02: And thank you.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_02: Health, man.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: There it is, man.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: And being in that much pain, you know, from driving all those hours to, you know, now you're this big new position and how you're really hitting it.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you're you're gonna want to be able to focus on what's in front of you without being too distracted by being in too much pain.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_02: So good, taking it easy.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_02: It's not I know you would, like those, you know, whether it's in your shop or your one plus acres of land.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_02: There's plenty of projects pulling to your attention, and I it's probably fairly difficult for you to uh say no.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_02: Just watch a football game.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_02: Just like I have to rest my back, let my body heal up.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_02: I got a lot ahead of me, so just those projects can wait.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna get after it.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's gotta wait this weekend, man, because uh, you know, I need to get back, I need to get back on Monday halfway decent, you know.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: So and there's a lot of there's a lot of walking involved, and you know, we're I just can't be, you know, limpy McGee all day up there, man.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I gotta get my back squared away this weekend.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_02: They give you a cool little company polo or something, company hat.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: No, no jacket or I'm gonna wear some other gear and see if somebody's like, dude, you can't wear that stuff.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, well, I don't have anything else to wear.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna wear what?
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'll wear some other gear.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_02: I've got I've got tons of yeah.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: You'll show up in your boots.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'll rep everyone else, and then at some point they'll be like, okay, dude, you can't be reping those people.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: You need to rep us.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, well, you gotta give me some swag so I can wear it.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, like the other construction company.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: You see how that works?
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, no, no, no.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, easy there.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, no.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: Just put on a car hard shirt or some shit.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: No, we're good, man.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's good.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: It feels good to be out in the field again, man.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_02: Good.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_02: Way less time in front of the screen, way less time on the phone.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_02: It's been good, man.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: Man, you've needed this change bad in a lot of ways.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: More than you know, man.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: More than the listeners.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: We're not gonna go into the past and start, you know.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's past.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_02: That's you made it out of there.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: That's behind you now.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_02: You don't have to deal with all of that anymore.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: And now, whoo! Free, light, happy, new chapter in your life.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: Congrats.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, man.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: Appreciate it.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we ripped through 30 minutes like that, bro.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: Quick, but it was good.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it was good just feels good about just being able to freely speak again.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: And and finally tell a story, man.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's fun just to like, what did you do yesterday?
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: And just almost kind of relive that, be there, see you in that testing center, you know.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: For all those out there that have never experienced it, good luck.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: Those are not, I don't I do it.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_01: I anyway, we'll talk about that another time.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, it's been a good time today.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate you, Shannon.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate our listeners out there, and um uh we're gonna wrap it up.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: So if anybody out there needs someone to talk to, you can call our message 988.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: By the way, they gave me one of their stickers.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_02: If you're in crisis, 988 is not just for someone to talk to, but if you're in crisis, like you need someone real, for real.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_02: Like 24 hours a day, English, Spanish, you can text, call.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's it's that lifeline.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: It is, and uh, if you if you need it, use it.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then like always, you know, search your local area for a provider out there and uh book an appointment.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um but that's for me.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_01: This is Mike Seahorn.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: Shannon Mora.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_01: We'll catch you on the next episode.