Episode 3: Fernando Cortinas Sheetmetal Mechanic

SPEAKER_02 0:00

What's going on, y'all, and welcome to the Learnins and Missteps podcast, where we highlight the men and women that have made careers in the construction and maintenance industries. Hey Jesse, can you tell me a little bit about today's discussion? This episode is me and Fernando and Renee, our co-hosts, talking about hard lessons, collaboration. And it's a really special episode because Fernando gets very vulnerable and shares some really intimate details about his life and overcoming some hardships and working through that. What adds to the specialness of the episode is there's a call to action. And so that call was directed at me specifically. And I'd like to extend that call to action to our listeners as well.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

How did you get into this? What what uh what made you kind of go into this podcast type deal?

SPEAKER_02 0:58

That's a great question. You know, back when I was at TD, I was going to talk to the schools, right? I I got to go talk to students, and we started the internship program and all that. Yeah. Well, like I was kind of whining and complaining, like, chang, you know, with COVID and my new job, I travel a lot. I haven't really had a lot of opportunities to go speak at school. Um, so that was bugging me, you know. Like here I am doing, you know, having a great life, but not really giving back. So that was bugging me. And then uh Mati, a friend of mine, she uh she recommended that I watch the um the biography of Danny Trejo. You know Danny Trejo is, right? Oh dude, have you seen the bio? So I watched his biography, and dude, uh it just blew me away. Like, you know, it talked about all the movies he's been on and everything, and but what I took away from it was the only reason the reason he does those movies is so that he can have cash and he can go and share his story with people that are dealing with addiction, that are incarcerated, locked up, you know. And so he's like, Yeah, I do the movies, they pay me. But what I really want to do is go and help people learn understand that they can there's a way out, right? And so after I watched that video, I said, son of a bitch, like I have no excuse. You know what I mean? It's kind of his his means to his passion. You got it. You ooh, that was fancy, dog.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

I still know big words, I don't know how to spell them, motherfuckers, but I know I'm yeah, so yeah, so then I said, Okay, I gotta do, I gotta do it.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

And I had been interviewed on a podcast with another Tamara, Adam Gates, and so I called him up. I said, Hey dude, I need to I need to do this. Uh how how how hard is it, you know? And he showed me, he's like, dude, you know, I he spent he spent some money, he invested on some recording equipment. And he's like, Man, I had all this fancy stuff, but since the since the the COVID lockdown, now I'm just doing them over the computer. I don't even need all that equipment. And I was like, really? He's like, Yeah, dude, all you need is a laptop and a headset. And I said, Okay, well shit, there's really no excuse. And you know, back to the original question was or situation was that I I was whining that man, I don't really have access to students and people to talk about careers in the trades. And then it was like, well, man, make it make it happen. How can I make it happen? Put a podcast together. And then I so yeah, so then I told Renee, because Renee, I always check in with Renee because sometimes I get I don't know if you may know this or not, but sometimes I get some really stupid ideas.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Yes, yes, yes. Uh I I I remember, I remember, uh-huh. What do you remember, Way? Well, one of them was when you were trying to get the the weight that we had to get a certain weight on other ductwork, yeah. And we were at St. Philip's College and we had big ductwork in there. And I mean, we we it was me, Rudy, and some other guys, and we were slamming it, dude. But then when we started getting into the bathrooms and the smaller stuff, going from 30 by 30 ductwork double wall to six by six. I mean, the number just went down big time. I remember at first we were like, we're everybody was happy because man, this is gonna work out badass. And at the end of the day, it kind of like just faded away because you know, it depends where you're working at matter what you're doing to be able to come up with those numbers. But you're good, you're good at coming up with ideas like that. That was, you know, at the and at that same job, you had hired uh three three laborers to come in. Uh one was supposed to drive the the forklift. And when I got on there, you told me to tell them to go ahead and uh well, I need I needed a certification. So this dude's like, I got no certification. I don't know. I just drive a forklift. And I mean, it just turned to shit, man. But at the end of the day, we got it done, brother. We got it done. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

Good memories. Yeah, man. That I could not come up with some bad ideas.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

Hey, man, but it it's it's like uh like you know, uh Einstein or whatever, uh a thousand bad ideas to one good idea, man. You're gonna hit it. And I think you've hit it right now. It's just uh uh you know trial and error type thing. But don't like the good good the good thing about you is that you don't give up. You you keep on going, and everybody to get to where you gotta go. I told, as a matter of fact, I was telling my boy last night, nothing's gonna come easy, man. Because he's just cool and he's struggling with with this online uh doing, and and last night he was uh tearing up on me, telling me, I can't, I can't. I said, Well, there is no option. This is what we have right now, and we have to deal with it. You know, you just gotta keep on going, brother. What grade is uh what grade is your boy in? He just uh he just started uh high school, so he's a freshman. Well, as you know, it's a it's a quite a big leap from going to junior high to high school, and then on top of that, to do the the actual online just computer with nobody around, you know, he he tends to drift away pretty quick, you know. And uh he's just having a lot of problems. And I've heard that we had a we had like a 30-minute discussion with uh one of his teachers last night, as a matter of fact, that uh you know a lot of kids are having problems with uh they they just can't focus. And I mean he's teared up and tell me he tells me I need to go back to school, and we actually send them back to school for a week. Then we heard that at Edison a couple of people had gotten COVID. So my wife pulled them out, well, put both kids out again, and now they're back to online uh schooling. But you know, it's it's hard on everybody, man. So we just gotta deal with it, man. And that's what I'm telling them. You know, you gotta keep on going, you can't quit.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

Why did you accept the invitation to be on this episode?

SPEAKER_00 7:21

You know, I was kind of not uh Larry, but I was confused. Why me? I mean, I'm sure you know you know a lot more people that are a lot more interesting. Uh and basically I go back to I'm not a very educated person. You know, I lack a lot of uh skills when it comes to technical stuff. And uh I was honored that you even thought about me, to be honest with you. And I said, Well, you know, if if it's something that will help someone, especially young kids, I mean that's that's my passion, like you know, to help uh these young kids coming up to say, hey, there is a future out there for you. You know, you you're you don't have to be a doctor, you don't have to be a lawyer, but you can have a good job, you can have a good opportunity, and you know, you just have to be willing to to work for it. Again, with with my lack of uh experience in the computer field or or technical field, rather, you know, I felt that I couldn't do much, but you know, you can because there's a lot of people like myself that have difficulty, you know, with technology nowadays, but you can still get a good job and have a good uh life, provide for your family. So I guess that was one of the main things.

SPEAKER_02 8:39

What do you want the audience, the listeners, to know about you?

SPEAKER_00 8:43

Well, like everybody else, uh, you know, I'm I'm proud of what I do. Like my job, you know, uh it's provided for me and my family. I mean, we're not we're not rich, but you know, we don't lack, you know, we we have a we have a nice house, we you know, we have a loving house, and that's the main thing. But uh to just come from where you were at, kid from the barrio, and in my eyes, I've succeeded because uh I had a very hard uh uh growing up. So I just want them to know that you can do it, man. You can do it, and we've done it. And when I say we, I mean you, your brother, and uh honestly, you know, you're one of the people I I do admire because of the fact where you I've seen when you were young and what you're accomplishing right now, and you know that's that's badass in my in my book, man.

SPEAKER_02 9:39

So man, thank you, Fernando. Thank you. So when you say, you know, growing up in the barrio, when you were younger, when maybe you were your boy's age, can you tell us what that was like? And what were you thinking as a job or career back in them days? If you can remember, wait.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

That is a long time ago, but uh yeah, I I grew up in the neighborhood over there off by Fox Tech off of uh Florida's and and Euclid. That was uh that was a barrio back then, and and I mean we were uh barrio strong. Well, I mean, it's basically when you see these movies, there was 30, 40 uh young cats between the ages of 10 and 19, and we'd all hang out, and particularly around my house in that area, and it was a pretty bad neighborhood, which to us a bad neighborhood at that time meant it's a good neighborhood because you know nobody messes around with our neighborhood, you know, that type of deal.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:40

Well, I went to uh Twain, Mark Twain. After that, half of the well, more than half of the people went to Edison, and I went to tech. I uh graduated, yeah. La Tecla, number one. We always would be Lanier. No, that's not true, but we we say we did. But like I said, uh I went to tech. Uh I was very good at art. That wasn't my way out because uh I've been I've always had difficulty with uh writing, but I was very strong in art. So that that pulled me through high school, and I even graduated. I don't know how I graduated. After that, I became a um truck driver for a while. I was driving a linen uh truck that made pretty good money, but at the same time it got to the point where you just get you just get stalled and you can only go to a certain amount of money, and that's it. You know, you you're not gonna go any further. And I I did that for in several companies that I was a driver. I worked for another company uh delivering sheet rock, which uh I guess now I pay for it because that's a backbreaking job. Whoever's done that knows that it's uh it's hard work. Yeah, all these jobs are are hard work, but uh you know, luckily I've uh powered through it and stuff. And uh when you asked me what I wanted to do, what I really wanted to do when I was a youngster was I wanted to be a commercial artist. Uh-huh. Yeah, I've never told that to well my family. The secrets out, yeah. I wanted to be a commercial artist, but at that time I was young, and it was something I I did get a job in the office, and I started doing lettering and stuff, but uh it it was, you know, at that time, 19 years old, all your buddies are out hanging out and partying and stuff, and you're you're in an office with elevator music, you know, blaring all day long, and I could not handle it, man. And I said, I need something where I'm gonna be outside and where I can cuss and I can be cussed at, and you know, that type of deal.

SPEAKER_03 12:56

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

So yeah, I left that behind.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

So, what are you doing now? As far as what? Like work. What are you doing for work now?

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Oh, uh well, I work uh where Jesse used to work at I work at TD Industries. Uh, it's a good company. I've been here 18 years, as a matter of fact. Uh what's today's date? Uh the 13th, right? 17th. 17th. 17th. Okay, on the 28th, it's uh I have uh 18 years. I'm looking to retire from the company, and it's a good company, and I've met a lot of good people along the way that have uh helped me out, and you know, well, that's where I'm at. And you know, like with Jesse, one of my pastors is when young kids come in. I'm not that type that I'm afraid to teach them because they're gonna take my job, because that's evolution, man. You know, you you you go a boxer, whatever they need to realize, whoever, you know, that you're gonna be a point that they will take your position. And and in my eyes, it's better that I help them and then they say, Hey, this old dude helped me out, rather than man, this dude was a uh an asshole to me. And and he tried to just push me and push me and push me and and not teach me anything. And now it's now that I've seen it a lot with the uh times I've been in this company where um your helper becomes your boss 10 years from now. And if you've been, you know, not a good person to them, they will remember. And vice versa, if if you've taught them well, they'll they'll take care of you. I mean, that's my opinion. That's the way I see it. But different people saying I ain't gonna teach anybody anything, you know, because they're gonna take my job. Well, eventually they're still gonna take your job, sucker. So that's not yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:47

So, Fernando, what does it feel like when you get to see your helper advance in their career?

SPEAKER_00 14:52

To me, it it's it's badass. Uh, first of all, before I I I answer this question, I just have one thing to say that years back, 13 uh 14 years ago now, I guess, I had an aneurysm. And back when I had my aneurysm, uh I've lost a lot of I lost long-term memory. And I have uh I don't know how you describe it, but I have feelings or uh give me a second. Emotions just come towards me that I can't I can't stop, you know. And it might be anything, just like our conversation right now. Yeah. We talk about things and I get real emotional. Yeah, man. And that's part of uh where they operated on my brain. It well, it was a long-term memory loss, emotions. I I kind of like can't hold my emotions back sometimes. And I like I said again, I was bad at at uh at writing. I'm worse now because I yeah, no, seriously, I got to the point where something in my brain just not it just not click. It's kind of like uh what you see on TV that that you just see the letters all around, but you can't you can't put them in in words and paper. You know, and uh as a matter of fact, that that happened, I learned that from uh I was at a T D uh meeting one time, and this dude was doing the the presentation, and he was an ex football player. And I didn't know why I got even worse with all this. And he said that he used to be a football player, and with all the the concussions that he um took in his head, it messed up something in the head, and they operated on him too, and and he had that same problem. So that's why he started being more of a speaker because he had very a hard time trying to put something on paper, and now he had somebody that would edit the stuff for him because he couldn't write, and this had to do with something in the brain where they messed it up, and that click with me where the doctor had told me these things where they they actually because I have a stent, I have a titanium stent in my brain, and I just think they wired me a little bit messed up when they put it back together. I mean, I I was messed up to begin with, and they just they just short-circuit their wire somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Okay, uh, I was gonna ask, are and you're still going to work in this condition?

SPEAKER_00 17:29

Yeah, well, when it first happened to me, uh, like I said, it was 14 years ago, I was still young and strong. Oh, I'm still young, strong, and handsome, but I mean that's but uh at first they told me uh, you know, you're not gonna be able to go to work no more. You're uh you're you can file for total disability for what you have. And uh I said, no, man, I'm young enough to be able to power through this. And thank God I did, you know, and I started slowly, and I remembered uh T D. I was at working at T D, and uh that's that's a great company because uh they helped me with it. And I got I got paid, and uh I think I was out almost three months, and I don't know if you even remember Jesse, but uh a whole bunch of you uh got together, and I think the last two weeks I didn't have any more time left. Yeah, so they uh they gave me some of their time to be able to make it through.

SPEAKER_01 18:32

Wow, that's awesome!

SPEAKER_00 18:33

Yeah, man, you're a brother, baby.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

We had to take care of our people.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. And the reason I brought this up was uh because if I kind of hesitate when I'm talking or I get emotional, this is why, you know, because when you ask me, uh, how do you feel now when when these youngsters they're doing good, they're they're getting up there. And to me, it's it's badass. You know, and I come back to you, I come back to you because you were that young kid, too, that you had a big mouth. You had a big mouth. Well, you probably still do, man. So I'm not gonna you still do, but uh, but you you you were out there and you were always working, and you were a partier. We all were back then. You know that we all were. We all we are we were kind of crazy. But you would always show up to work, you would always do your work, and you would ask questions, and you would have a shitload of questions all the time. You were always this or that, or this is wrong, that's wrong, let's do it this way. Like I said, you had a lot of uh ideas, and some people I remember what was that dude's name that he uh he was your uh mechanic back in the day. What was his name? Uh he he lived close to me in the neighborhood on where that other house I had. Juano, como se llamaba? Oh, at Jack Lawrence? No, at at TD. At T D. Uh when you first started working with TD, older gentlemen, well, now he's a lot older, but uh I I cannot remember his name right now, but uh you and him would would have would have uh issues at times. But you would always keep on going, and you were always working, and I was working, and and look where you're at right now. And you're a prime example of someone that started as a helper, started as a and then became a mechanic, and then you kept on going more and more and more. And to see that, that our that because we basically were we didn't come from the same neighborhood, but we came we came up the same way, you know. You had your struggles and stuff, and I'm sure you had your little barrio and everything. But I mean you you kept on going. And to me, dude, that is that is badass when I see people like that. I mean, I there's another one that I can uh that uh I can mention, which is Rick Mendoza. I mean, me and him, we go back and we fight all the time and we argue, but he's someone that, and I'm probably gonna get blasted because ah my mourn or whatever, but you know how it is in in the construction industry that I'm too the age now, that I really does it doesn't matter to me what they think. I just I'm gonna say what I feel. And from his beginnings to where he's at, that that is a lot. And to see someone from from our culture advanced like that, to me, that's the ultimate, dude. And that's credit to all of y'all. And with these young guys, uh a lot of these guys that when they walked in there four years ago, I mean, they were puffs, dude. They they did not know how to hold a uh a pookie brush. And now I think in a couple of months, there's like six of them are going to uh to turn out uh as mechanics already. Right. And that's about that's about you see something like that, and yeah, every one of them can tell you hey, this guy helped me along the way. I'm not gonna say I I taught him everything because that would be lying. But you know, a little bit of of me, a little bit from whoever, and a little bit from whoever. And they're getting up there, and to see that that's our future, dude.

SPEAKER_02 22:04

So, Renee, you spent some time holding a pookie brush. Uh, can you describe what that was like?

SPEAKER_01 22:11

Okay, yeah, I remember it.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

I I remember you there, man. I do remember you there.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Yeah, man. I remember uh they would make fun of me because I got more pooky on my shirt than I did on the duck. Oh yeah. I couldn't, I I was that punk that you're talking about. Like I didn't know how to hold it right, and uh, you know, I would get more pooky on myself than where it needed to be. But uh it was uh for the for our audience, that pooky brush is um you put that little uh seal it.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

It's a sealing, it's just a regular brush, and you put it on there like uh well to seal, it's a it's a duck sealer, which uh seals uh the the air from coming out, stops the air from coming out of the of the ductwork. But I remember also Jesse at first when he would do it. I mean, he was like he was uh trying to paint a Mona Lisa or whatever, and like, hey, man, you gotta fill it in there. He was like, nah, nah, nah, that's not the way to do it. But and it's simple stuff, but it's stuff that and it was a good point you all just said right now. What is pooky? Because when I first went in there, they said, Here, here's a pookie brush, and here's a pookie, you're gonna pookie. And I thought they said cookies. I said, Hell yeah, I'm gonna be eating cookies. I love cookies. You know, and uh it's things that that if you're again, if you're not in the field, you don't know what you're talking about. But uh, you know, I I saw a lot of them at first, they were they were have problems because uh it's there's a lot of technical uh stuff involved in it. I mean, where you can get a piece of metal that's straight, and at the end of the day, you can make uh it go up, down, sideways, basically whatever way you want. That that says a lot, you know, and it it takes a lot of uh experience to get to that point, you know. Oh yeah. So, you know, like that that story about that dude that is he's in a boat, and uh they can't get that, it's a ship, and they can't get the ship to to run. And you got the the the best uh brains out there trying to figure it out. So they call this old dude and they tell him, can you come and look at this this problem? Because we we need to get the ship going. So he goes over there and he takes a little tube bag, and and you know, he does what he does, and at a certain spot, he just starts hammering it in. And then that ship just cranks up. And everybody's yeah, man, you're the best, you're great, and whatever. So then, you know, he sends them a bill a couple of weeks later, and it's for ten thousand dollars. And they say, 'Well, why are you charging us ten thousand dollars if you only use the hammer?' He goes, 'Yeah, the hammer is seven dollars,' but the experience is where I'm paying, I'm I'm uh charging you the ten thousand dollars. That experience has a lot to do with it. You know, it's that's part of the part of the game, and that's in any field, any field.

SPEAKER_02 25:08

Yeah. Too many employers, managers, leaders take that experience for granted. Yes, there's some that don't. There's some, there's a lot that don't, but there's a whole lot that do. Back to the pookie. Yes, I remember my artwork, Fernando. Thank you for reminding everybody. I was embarrassed. Like, what do you mean? I was trying to make it all look pretty and neat. Like, oh man, get it in there. What the hell are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 25:31

I I I think I think I even saw you once or twice kind of wet your finger and try to, you know, make clear lines on it.

SPEAKER_03 25:37

What the hell are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 25:40

Yeah, yeah. I also remember Renee kind of complaining, like, man, all they got me doing is pooking and it's just busy work. Kind of like he he didn't feel like it was real sexy or important work. So that's the question, right? Was that important work?

SPEAKER_00 25:57

It is, man. It is because that that's part of the the whole system. I mean, you need to do everything. If not, I mean, uh, think about it. They're putting an air system in your in your house. It's supposed to go into your bedrooms and your bathrooms and your kitchens. And without this sealant put on properly, you're you're leaking all this air and it's going into your your attic. In the long run, you're cooling your attic instead of uh where you want to to cool in your bedrooms, in your kitchens, whatever. So to answer your question, yeah, it's very important and and it should be done right. But a lot of people think that, oh, I I can do more than this.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

You know, I'm better than this. Yeah, that's that's exactly what I was thinking back then. You know, I was like, I don't, I felt like they were putting me there because you know, maybe I was too dumb to do the the real work, right? Like quote unquote real work, and I didn't know how important it was, you know, these little things that stack up to be a giant thing in the grand scheme of everything.

SPEAKER_00 27:01

Exactly. Exactly. And I mean, and you gotta go through these steps, man. Uh again, going with my son, I said you can't be at the top of the line when you just start. You know, you have to go through all these trials and tribulations and and you know you have to have all these scars where I'm sure Jesse got cut a couple of times. I'm I've been cut, I don't know how many times. Oh, yeah. Those are scars of uh they're they're learning scars. And then you know, you start, okay. Well, now I know why I do this. Now I know why. Then this is this is the first step. And then from there, I mean, even putting screws. I remember a little uh story I'm gonna tell you about when I was a helper, I had this, he was a real cool guy, my one of my mechanics at the time. He we would always play little uh pranks on each other. So he uh he got a handful of screws and he banged the tip of them. Where when you try to put the screw in, all it would do is it would just run, it would, it would not screw. So he made a little bed with me for lunch, and he says, I bet to every five screws that that you put in, I'll put one. And I said, You're on for lunch. He says, Yeah. So he handed me this uh little uh handful of screws that he had already messed up, right? So he says, Are you ready? So I said, Yeah. So I started putting them screws in, and every screw would be running. I would out of six screws, I would put one screw in. And he was laughing like he couldn't, he he was almost peeing in his pants. And I'm frustrated, I'm like, and I can't get him in. And then finally he told me what happened. And the thing was that you know he messed it up. But I mean, those are those are learning things that you do. There's another one where I don't know if you remember this one, Jesse, where you would get a uh 80-pound bag of cement. That was back in the day. Yeah, 80-pound bag of cement, and they will tell you, okay, carry it over your head. So you're strong and like, man, 80 pounds, that ain't nothing to me. So when you put it over your head, somebody gets a knife and cuts it right in the middle of the bag. So guess what? All that cement is right on your head. Yeah, you know, there are things that that you will do back then to to, I guess, to get your apprentices ready to, okay. Now you know not what to do again next time. So you know, if someone ever did that again to you, you know that hey, ah, I ain't playing this one. It's just part of the it's a part of the growing.

SPEAKER_02 29:19

Fernando, it's important. I don't know if you know this, but it I I I want you to know that you were a major contributor into the growth of my career. Um, I like without a doubt, 100%. And you know, kind of back to the very beginning why why I wanted to interview you when I when I had the idea, you your story was the story that immediately came to mind. You know, you've contributed, and a lot of a lot of young dudes out there, you've advised them and helped them and played pranks on them, but always to help help them advance. And and and I I remember many times where you were advising me along the way, like, hey, calm a lot, chill out, dude, like calm down. And I was like, no, no, no, right now, right now, right now. Or and then like back to the ideas, right? You were always very clear, very open with me to say, dude, that was a stupid ass idea. Or or after that, you started getting to where, like, man, uh, Jesse, you know, remember that forklift idea you had? I think this one is like that. Like, okay, well, no, okay, forget it, scratch it, let's do something else. But all of that, those lessons and that, though, those contributions that you that you imparted to me, I value tremendously.

SPEAKER_00 30:40

Uh well, I thank you for that, man. I mean, that that really does mean a lot to me because uh, you know, I on something like that, and I and I think one of the main things to do, and sometimes I tell the the higher-ups, that you have to have that that open communication with your workers so they they they know that you're you're you're you're the one in charge, but at the same time where they can literally get down to you and not be afraid to say, hey, Sasuke, I don't think this is gonna work, right? Or I mean it can't be a yes or yeser all the time. They know that you know, we all make mistakes, dude. We all make mistakes. And uh luckily, I guess that right now that has to do with the years that I've been there where I feel comfortable uh in telling people no, man, that's not right. Or or or or there's situations, even you know, we we've drawn a lot in safety, and and that is badass, man, where we would do dumb stuff back in the day where it it's a lot, but then there's times where even the safety guys need need that, hey, wait, man, I know this is safety, but we need to figure something out. Could I mean they got you trying to harness up and tie down in in areas where it won't work, and we just have to again uh have that open communication and tell them, well, you know what, sir? We need to really look at this to help each other and let's come up with an idea that that we can do where we can both agree to this is the way we have to do it. And I I believe highly in that that you need that open uh communication with your your your foremans, your superintendents, where uh you can do that because a lot of guys are like, oh well, well, or like what you were doing there, oh well, uh, I can't tell that to Jesse because he's Jesse, he's he's the boss. No, man, you need to have that that open communication. And y'all, as a a a higher up, need to say, hey, I need to back off and say, what do you guys think of this? Instead of saying, This is what we're gonna do, and this is how we're gonna do it. Yeah, you know, and then you walk away, and it's like everybody's like, oh pendejo, I think I mean, but nobody will say nothing, and then everybody, as the soon as you walk away, pendejo aquari, no, have enough to say right there and then no, man, that's not gonna work now.

SPEAKER_02 33:03

You're exactly right, man. And to me, that falls in the in the bucket of respect. Like you respected me enough to tell me that that idea was a pendejada.

SPEAKER_03 33:15

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_02 33:16

And the lesson I learned from that that I was able to take forward was a stupid present your idea and let the guys that are actually doing the work make the idea better. Right, instead of saying, This is my idea, this is how we're gonna do it. I learned from that lesson, oh shit, you know, maybe I have an idea, but like they're the guys are gonna make it better.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

And and and that's just it, man. You know, uh the idea, it always can be bettered, and you're not always gonna be right, you know, and you know, and you uh as one thing I I teach these young guys that when you become a lot of guys, once they have that that little authority that uh I'm the boss or I'm the foreman or I'm the lead man or whatever, they're like, we're gonna do it this way. No, man, it's gotta be, hey, listen, uh, this is what I thought. This is what this is what I'm thinking we're gonna do. And it's like, and you have to have that open mind to say, hey, uh, well, hey, what if we do it this way, or what if we do it that way? Well, you know what? Let's let's try it out both ways, and maybe we can both come into come to a agreement, okay, we'll do it this way, but then we'll we'll do it this way also to make it work. And a lot of them that there's uh, and I'm gonna mention names, but there's a couple of youngsters that are real, like, no, I'm in charge now, you're just gonna listen to me. And I tell them, no, man, you have to have that open mind and you have to have that communication with your workers to be able to do that. Because, you know, like any business, I mean, anywhere you work, there's there's where, okay, I'm gonna work for you, or I'm gonna do it because I just need you to shut up. And then there's the other ones, no, dude, this this dude's helping me out. So, you know, I'm gonna try to do it the best I can because he's backed me up and I'm gonna back him up. And to me, that's the best way to do where you can work as a brother to one another. I mean, and and brotherhood means a lot to me, you know where I'm coming from. Oh, yeah. That hey, you know what? Let's let's uh let's work together, then then just do it because this is what he told me, and I think it's wrong, but I'm gonna do it, and I'm not gonna say nothing.

SPEAKER_02 35:21

That doesn't help anybody.

SPEAKER_01 35:22

Where did you and Jesse meet?

SPEAKER_00 35:23

Uh oh. Well, like I said, this this goes back to uh uh sometimes I have uh long-term memory loss, and probably Jesse can can uh remember better than myself, but uh it was at T D and he was a youngster uh doing plumbing, and like I said, you know, he was very outgoing, very uh, you know, a good worker, like all of us. Uh, but as far as me saying where exactly I met him for the first time, I can't remember. I know I know we used to party together and and do pendejadas together back in the day. I think that would be a question more for you. Where was the first time we met, Jesse? Dude, we met at Jack Lawrence. Was it like I said, I had that long-term memory large Lawrence?

SPEAKER_02 36:09

It was Jack Lawrence.

SPEAKER_01 36:10

Uh what's Jack Lawrence? What's Jack Lawrence?

SPEAKER_02 36:12

Jack Lawrence, they're a mechanical contractor in San Antonio.

SPEAKER_01 36:16

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 36:17

Uh, and man, that was back in oh man, let's see, 96, like between 1996 and 1998, maybe 99. Yeah, yeah, around that time. And I was um man, I was like a first, second year apprentice at that time. And and Fernando's being gracious. He says that I I you know had a lot of fun. I was running wild and crazy. Um yeah, you know, I came, I did my job, I came to work. But man, once I got out of work, it was party time, and every day was a party. Uh yeah, let's get making bad decisions.

SPEAKER_00 36:59

It's also uh part of growing up, man. I mean, you know, some of us had it a little bit more. I mean, I I look at some of these guys, and they're like they're 20 years old, and they're already thinking about buying houses and stuff. And you and I at 20 years old, man. The only thing we could think of is where's the next bar we're gonna go to and who are we gonna discover? You know, and that's the way we were, man. That's the way we were, you know, and but uh after all these drunken nights and stuff and partying, and uh again, that that's just that's just telling nothing bad about you. That's just saying that you're like everybody else, man. Of course, now look at where you're at, you you grew out of it, and uh thank god for that. Yeah, but uh you know, we we all we've all made mistakes in life, dude. We've all made mistakes. It's what we do with those mistakes that counts, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_02 37:48

Ten, four. Yeah, I mean, that's you know, I've been taught the good lessons. You know, you learn, you go to class, you have mentors. But the lessons that really, really stick are those mistakes, the missteps. Uh you know, and we have a perfect, we've touched on it a couple of times, but that idea I had about the forklift, I thought it was a fantastic idea. What was the idea? So the the I was trying to save money, right? Believe it or not, I'm a penny pincher, cheap son of a gun, right? It was uh it was a wage scale job, and and we had limited man, we had limited resources. So, like Fernando, Rudy, I think Adolf was on the team. There was we didn't have a lot of mechanics, a lot of sheet metal mechanics. So I didn't want to tie them up on the forklift. So I said, Well, let me reach out to a staffing agency and get an operator. This way, our mechanics can receive the duck, stage it, and go to town and installing it, and these other dudes they can just load the material and fly it up to the second floor. And wage-wise, those guys were gonna be getting paid half as much as what Fernando and the other guys were getting paid. So most of it was me just being a cheap ass. But what I didn't take into account is that these guys didn't know how to operate the specific piece of equipment that we were using, and and so it just turned into a big giant damn mess. And for now, like I think in that situation, I didn't talk to anybody about the idea, I just did it. And then when I came the next day, later in the evening, whenever it was, Fernando was like, dude, what the hell were you thinking? These guys, like, whoa, what happened? I'm like, oh shit, I didn't think about all that. And he's like, Man, that was a stupid idea. And I'm like, and you know, it hurt my feelings at the moment, but when I reflected on it, it was like, you know what? I should have talked to the guys. Like, I wasn't, I was only thinking about how can I save money and maximize the manpower that we had. I wasn't thinking of all the practicality of the idea, and I know if I would have presented it to the guys and Fernando, like I said, I could always count on Fernando to be honest with me. It didn't matter what position I was in, what position he was in, he was gonna be honest with me. And I value that immensely. And and so that again, uh it was a painful mistake, it was an embarrassing mistake, but I learned from then, like, okay, just because you have this idea, dummy, that's in Jesse Land.

SPEAKER_00 40:32

You gotta let everybody else know because they're that's in a perfect world, in a perfect world, it'll work, but yeah, and that that just goes back to the type of work you're doing. I mean, because you know, people look at even a painter and you say, Man, that's an easy job. And you know, anybody can do that. But if you're painting all day long, dude, your arms are are are 10 times heavier at the end of the day. And and it to me to anyone that doesn't see that, it's like that's the easiest job around. And that's with anything, you have to have the experience, especially when you're dealing with equipment. You know, I remember that guy, you know, because we would uh in that particular situation, he wasn't even seeing where he was putting the material. Someone was giving him signals, which was Rudy. And when I he went up there, that guy telling me, this guy's giving me all these signals that, you know, hand gestures, and I don't know what the hell he's doing. I mean, right there, and then I stopped it. I said, No, man, this could you, I mean, you're talking about a piece of equipment that can easily uh main or kill someone, you know. So, you know, you have to have like, no, man, you need to get off of that thing right now. And you know, you they're little things, man, but you you gotta like like just saying, okay, let's talk about this, man. And is this the the right guy you really want for this position at the time? And you know, and even now when I say about positions, I'm a lot older now. These higher ups also need to think, okay, I have a young man like yourself, or like your brother, not yourself, because you're an old dude too, but like your brother, you put someone that's my age to say, okay, I need you to hump all this material up to the third floor, fifth floor. I'm like, okay, you come back 30 minutes later and I got two pieces up there. And I say, hey, man, I'll do it, but it's gonna take me damn all day to do it. Where your brother, by half of the day, he's got everything up in the on the third floor. And that just goes, you need to put the right people in the right positions to be able to do the work correctly.

SPEAKER_02 42:35

Absolutely. So I want to go back to to the commercial artist. You know, what I what I understood was you did it for a little bit and and like you were you were doing it, and then you discovered, oh man, I can't, I can't put up with this elevator music.

SPEAKER_00 42:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 42:53

Um, and so that that that triggered a career change, which I think I think a lot of people have that experience, right? They have an idea like, oh, this is what I want to do for a living. I've heard of nurses, right? They somebody wants to be a nurse and then they discover that they faint when they see blood. Oh guess what? Can't do that job anymore. But I I I want to know because I know that you you make these knives and the what are they, Damascus knives?

SPEAKER_00 43:19

Yeah, well, I actually I don't make them, but I I I get them from a wholesale dealer, and that's one of my passions now that uh that I I do that. Uh I say a knife like that costs uh somewhere between uh 130 to 150 at uh gun stores because that's where I first found out about Damascus knives. So luckily, you know, I've uh I've gotten I know a lot of people in a lot of different positions, they just say it like that, that I I can get them at a real good price, and then I just turn around and make a little bit of money, you know. And that's something that just I guess I'm looking more in the future where I can uh when I'm not gonna be able to do what I do. So something I fall back on.

SPEAKER_02 44:02

How do you deal with that the itch? Your artist, the artist within Fernando. How do you feed that itch?

SPEAKER_00 44:10

At times, right now, I mean, like even with my son, uh I try to teach him. Uh well, right now there's there's two of us left. Well, not two. There's I got two kids left. Me and my wife adopted five uh kids. All five of them are siblings. They all uh they're from a previous relationship that I was in. I was basically their grandfather from me being their grandfather. Just situations happen where they kind of like the mother and the father were incarcerated. And I mean, you've heard these stories many, many a times. Unfortunately, you know, that's part of growing up too. Yep. Uh but you know, they were basically from uncle to aunt for I'd say maybe two, two, three years, which I was always seeing them, but uh it wasn't the same. So one day I was at I was at a TD Huddle meeting. Yeah. And I got a call from the youngest, which at that time I think she was 11 years old, and she told me, Grandpa, uh, CPS is here, and they're gonna take us. And and at that time, I had just gotten married to my beautiful wife right now. Yeah. Uh, and I think we had just gotten, we were, I think, two months, something like that. We had just gotten married, and uh I got home and I said, well, of course, she knew my my my history and about these kids and stuff. I mean, it was not new to her, but as far as uh actually being around the kids 24-7, she wasn't there. And I mean, I I gotta give my my wife uh, you know, all the credit in the world for doing that. So I got home and I said, hey, I'm just gonna pick up these kids for a couple of days till this CPS thing settles down, and uh, and then they'll hopefully they'll go back to the mom. And uh she says, Well, yeah, sure. And I said, because if not, CPS is gonna take them and they are basically gonna split them up because there was five of them. So uh we brought them over to the house. Luckily, we had just bought a three-bedroom or four-bedroom house at the time, or three-bedroom house, and we got them all in here, and it started. Well, they were happy because like I said, they knew me. I'm grandpa from day one. Yeah, but uh my wife she knew them, but not to that extent. So from a week it went to two weeks, from two weeks it went from to three weeks, and then they said, Well, do you want to foster these kids? And well, my thought was, of course I do. I mean, yeah, I don't want to lose kids, but that was me, because uh, you know, they've always been in my life and I've always been in their lives. But with my wife, I I I was scared because I mean, to lay something like that on any person to say, hey, man, I mean, we've we've we're married, and Jesse, I'm gonna bring five kids over now. And you're like, wait, wait, wait, man, I didn't sign up for this, and I wouldn't blame her at all. Again, this is one of the emotionals said in sometimes. Yep. But um, she said, No, you bring them and they need a place to stay. Wow, and uh, and you know, and we started doing the fostering first. I mean, we had to go through the FBI, we had to go through classes, we had to, yeah. I mean, it's it's not like hey, here, yeah, Basaka, I won't know. You you have to have classes for all this stuff, and that's where I think uh the part of us, and I say us, my wife too, uh helping people because we saw all the the bad things.

SPEAKER_02 47:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:56

Excuse me. All the bad things that these kids go through. Not only mine, but I mean in general, we would we would hear horror stories of when we were in classes about how how these parents, parents, I mean, biological fathers and mothers were would abuse their kids, and they needed a home and to be fostered and to have a permanent home. And the more we looked into it, you know, the more we said, well, we can't let these kids go. Well, I mean, to me, it was there was no question about it. But again, I had to respect my wife's decision because it's it's it's a two-way thing. I cannot tell her, no, this is what's gonna happen, and you're gonna take care of me, Chakavot. Like back in the day when a man would tell a woman that that's it. Yeah, that don't happen no more. And we went to the uh all the the paperwork and stuff, and uh then uh uh I think uh two years after that, we we uh legally adopted all of them. Well, we had five, but one of them had very uh bad issues. She was bipolar and stuff, so I couldn't adopt her because uh CPS told us that she needed a lot of uh uh help financially to be able to go to all these counseling and this therapy. And they said, you know, at this time, I think uh it's better that she stays in CPS where we can give her that that financial assistance that she needs, where you can't give it because you've already you already have four right now with her. That would have been five. But nevertheless, I still never stopped seeing her. And to this day, she's already got a baby. Uh she still called me grandpa, and we see her on uh on a regular basis, and she comes to the house. So she's still part of the family. She never left us. The only thing with her, honestly, uh that one I could not legally adopt to put our name, but all the other four, they they grew up. Uh the two of them, the the oldest boy, he's already working at Coke right now, and he went through a bad time too. And I'm talking about because he was the oldest, one of the oldest, so he saw where his parents were doing, and he kind of was rebellious for a while as growing up, you know, as a from his 17s to his 19, you know, he was like, Well, I'm gonna do my thing, whatever. And uh, you know, we went through a lot of struggles, man. We went through a lot of struggles, and uh, he even got incarcerated at the time, but uh through God's uh God's will, he kind of he settled now and he got a job at Coke, and he's doing good. And and the oldest daughter, she's married, she's working on her second child. Unfortunately, her first child passed away. He had uh heart issues, and you know, it and it's just part of our life, man. You know, and but thank God we we have a family, you know, we have a big family now, and you know, I think we need a bigger house because every time that there's a family gathering, it it seems that the house is getting smaller and smaller because there's more people. Now there's boyfriends and there's husbands and you know, all this. But and now and my wife had a had a previous son from uh her other relationship, which is he's a badass son, too, to me. So he would be the oldest, and then the the other four. So I in total we got six, and then we got grandkids, and so we're blessed, man.

SPEAKER_02 51:28

We're blessed. You've always had a heart and a mind for for helping others. I know that people need to know is the the amount of commitment that you've put into to your your your motorcycle club, the and and what y'all do. So can you tell us tell us about that, the fundraisers you do, the annual events?

SPEAKER_00 51:52

I step down as far as the the the club concerned, but you know, where I don't wear my colors anymore, but I am still very involved with it. And my wife, she is uh with uh they're called Armor of God, and it's uh motorcycle ministry, which uh people don't know, it's it's the same thing. There's an MC and the MM, which MC is motorcycle club, and and MM is a motorcycle ministry. And what these organizations do, and they're nonprofit organizations, like the one that we've we've been helped out, we were helping out for years. And before that, I was in a I had my own club going. And uh that's where I learned that there is so much help out there uh for these kids that they they need all this help, especially like if you go to the courts and stuff. I mean, you have these these kids that even the parents apparently because the parents are struggling to to either to pay the rent, to buy groceries, or to buy a toy for the kids in in uh in Christmas and stuff. And a lot of these people don't have that money. And it's like, mijo, I need to pay the rent, and you know, I I can't buy you anything. And that kind of goes back when when I was a kid. That's that was my situation. It's like, hey, Tapa tiene que pa' la renta or la loser, he has to pay this, and what so I mean, if you would get a toy, that would be badass. And I've I've seen now where kids actually get toys and they kind of toss them away, and then they open another toy and they toss them away, and they they don't they they don't know uh uh how can I put this, man? Uh that uh some people don't have that that all that luxury that they have. I mean it might not be luxury, but it's that that all that opportunity where where maybe one toy, man, can make a difference for a kid. And that's where we to come in. And we before that, and in in uh November for Thanksgiving, what we would do, I don't think we're gonna be able to do it this year because of this COVID. You know, the COVID has stopped everything from everybody, but we would do, we would get families in need, and uh everybody, and you're talking about different clubs, man. I mean, at that time there was no, there's no no uh uh difference in the color. I mean, because everybody would wear their their different colors, but we would all get together and they say, okay, so your club, all these families would get together, or these clubs would get together and say, Okay, you got three families that are indeed, so let's buy the whole the whole turkey deal, the whole, the whole turkey deal, the whole uh uh size, everything. And and they were gonna deliver it to these houses, and a lot of them were were elderly, yeah, where uh they uh they couldn't even get out of the house. So you're talking about 20, 30, 40, 40 strong bikes riding together, going up to a neighborhood, like at this time of the morning, and you hear that thunder and that rolling, there's nothing like it, man. So then you get off and you go, of course, these people by this time already know, but you go knocking the house, and you got these 40 guys that that are you know wearing dark sunglasses with beards and tattoos and stuff, and and they're knocking at your door, and they deliver this this Thanksgiving dinner, yeah, and these people just they just appreciate that, and even in your heart, all these guys, like I said, the way they look, I mean, there's a lot of people that that say, oh man, you know, you see these biker clubs and or these people dressed up like that, and you think that they're there's some hardcore bad people, and then after that, at the end of the day, hey, you'll go sit in a bar and drink a couple of beers and talk about it. But you're helping out, and you help out all these different people and these elderly and these kids, and in Christmas, what we would do, at first it began it began as uh we had all these families, and again it was the same thing. We would ride up to the houses and knock on the door, and by that time, everybody knew okay, this house has uh has two kids, uh a daughter and a son that are 10 and the other one's 15. So we would buy gifts accordingly to to those age differences, and then you know there was a Santa Claus in a bike, and they would take pictures and stuff, and and I mean the families were man so grateful to us, and it just makes you feel good. Yeah, so it got it got so big that we we couldn't do that no more, so then they started doing that in places where uh we would do a whole thing to be able to get all these people involved, and then they would actually uh other people would come and they would bring food and they would have music. And this was last year. And I mean, we're talking about easy, over a thousand families would show up, man, and get their toys and they have free free meals and hear a little bit of of gospel music and stuff, and and I mean it was great. This year, honestly, I don't know what it's going to be, how it's going to be. They're too, they're still talking about it, but as a matter of fact, I talked to Valerie and uh I asked her if we can put a box up there at T D to try to collect toys. And I told her, even if it's nothing big, you know, these toys will go to a a uh you know a needy family. And right now, I'm gonna even put you on the line and say, I would like to see if you could talk to your people and maybe set up a box or two to try to whatever toys, even if it's five, six, ten, whatever, I mean, they're gonna go to a big uh uh, you know, needy family, and especially right now, you know that there is uh there's a lot of people that are not working and they're struggling, and to try to help them out as much as we can. So, again, I'm putting you on the line right now and saying if you know you can talk to your people and maybe get a couple of boxes going. Yeah, think that would be possible. I'm on it, brother. Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_02 57:49

Yeah, all right. I'll speak. So, how do we so if other people listening to this want to connect with you to join the cause, how would they connect with you?

SPEAKER_00 57:59

Uh, I can well, right now, me being at work, it's hard for me to uh to to connect, but I I can give you either right now or later on, because my wife, again, right now, her her her mom is uh she is uh going through some uh medical issues, so she's not there all the time, but she was a coordinator, and I'm sure I'm sure with uh something like that she can still uh coordinate with them, and I'll give you her number later or right now, whatever you want. And and she they call her Smiley, she's a coordinator. Yeah, uh I yeah, I think you've met my wife. She's yeah, she's five feet of nothing but hard, man. So uh oh, but I mean with me, she can she can throw me a sartanaso once in a while, too, to get my ass in line and stuff. But she's she's all hard, man. She's all hard, she's a great woman. I'll give you her number, and uh, and if anybody's interested, that that would be badass, man. The more people that know, the more gifts that would be collected, the more gifts that would be collected, the more kids that that would be held, man.

SPEAKER_02 59:04

So and I remember early on you invited me to to one of those things over there on the west side. Um no, it's right there off of what Brazos in Guadalupe. And I remember you had one year I went early on, and there was you were giving away bicycles también.

SPEAKER_00 59:21

Oh, yeah, that's another thing. I mean, they would they would get together. I mean, we we got to the point where the ministry rather got to the point, I think they were giving away uh like over 150 bikes, dude. I mean, and that's awesome, yeah. And of course, you know, to 150 bikes, a thousand, it's nothing because there they would still be a lot of kids that would go out with uh no bike. But I mean, you know, the kids don't understand that. Right, I mean, they all wanted a bike, but so what would do they'd give the parents a a ticket with a number, and then if your number would be called out, I mean there would be certain size bike for certain ages, like from 10 to 12, from the 12 to 15, blah, blah. And the bigger the bike, the older the kid. But I mean, it was great, man. It was great. I don't I don't know if that's gonna be to that extent this year. I know they had at first before all this started, they wanted to, I think, even do it at Wolf Stadium this year. Something they're they're you know, but unfortunately, with all this that's going on, you know, it's it messes it up. It messes it up. But I mean, there's still a way, and and even if it if it's not uh like I like I was telling my wife, even if it's not a big thing, I mean, I even thought about that this morning. Well, go stand in what on in uh right there on Waalupa, the Waalupa church, and literally uh give these kids toys, if that's what I have to do.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:47

Yeah, yeah, we can make it happen.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:49

And and if if even would go to that extreme right there, I mean, I would invite you and whoever wants to go and say, hey, you know what, this is what we do, and to help out, dude. That's it. Help out and see the happy faces.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:03

Yeah, man, those smiles are worth are priceless. Exactly, exactly. So, Fernando, what are your plans for the future? I mean, you've lived a full and generous life. What do you see in the future for you?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:19

Well, now that that the kids are growing up, uh, our future, and when I say our future, I mean me and my wife. I would like to later on we've discussed it, and uh maybe buy a little RV and a little bit of traveling. You know, uh I as a matter of fact, I've been looking into it. I got a couple of more years of work left in me. But uh after that, you know, the kids, uh the the youngest is 15. So by that, I mean, I'm talking about not going for months and months, but maybe going on a weekend and coming back on, I don't know, a couple of days and stuff where they they can take care of themselves already. And you know, just kind of I don't want to be that guy that that that can't do anything anymore, that that is gonna be bedridden because all he was thinking about was working 24-7. You know, there's gotta be a point in your life when you say, hey, enough is enough. I've done what I had to do. Now it's time for me to relax a little bit. I'm I've never been much about fishing or stuff, because uh I never where I grew up, my dad was really never around. So we were never taught anything like that. But just to go out and and and sit by the lake or or travel a little bit, man, and be able to uh experience some happy times with my wife and and the when the kids can go with the kids. And you know, I don't I don't want to live a luxurious life, but I want to live a good life.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:48

I would say that you've lived a good life. I mean, you you're a good man and you've done a lot for your community, for the people you care about, for the people you work with. And I think you enjoy or or you've earned that time or that the uh ability to go and chill and relax and and enjoy some downtime with your wife. I hope you get that, man. Well, I don't hope. I know you're gonna get it. You deserve it, man. So here's here's a tough question. Are you ready? Yes. What advice would you give give all the the young carnalitos that are coming into the trades? What advice would you give them?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:33

You know, to to just keep on going, man, because they're you're you're going to fall and you're going to struggle. But don't give up, man. Don't give up because there is a better life out there, you know, and there is there is a lot of opportunity, you know, in our fields. And only because you don't go to college doesn't mean that you're not smart. You know, you can like uh thank God for these companies were where you uh were and where I am, you know, they offer a lot. They offer a lot, and don't be afraid to to to leap into a different position to be able to advance yourself. Look at the people around you, look at yourself. And like I said again, I bring Rick up on this that these people, y'all have come from not the best situation, and you've made a difference in the world. You've made, you know, you've uh you've overcome a lot of obstacles in the way, and these young kids can do the same thing, but you have to, you have to want to do it and don't give up, man. I mean, because there will be there's gonna be a lot more mistakes done to get to that one good solution that or or or yeah, to solution that that'll help you. And you are are living proof that man, you've to every one good thing you've done, you've done a hundred things wrong, but you never give up, but you've never given up. And that's what I tell these young kids don't give up, man. I mean, you're gonna you're gonna make mistakes, and that's what sometimes when you're going, you're getting into this field, you get depressed because man, I can't do it because I made a mistake, but you're learning, dude. You're learning from those mistakes, and you're not gonna make that mistake again, just to keep on going, dude, to keep on going to to to strive to be better. Renee, you got any questions?

SPEAKER_01 1:05:26

No, no, I don't have any questions, but I I got a comment. So earlier you said, why you like why why would we interview you? You you were asking us that, and and I'm gonna tell you like I told these people that I work with, they were asking me about the podcast, you know, what's it about? And and I say, a lot of people know a lot about like celebrities and you know, their their favorite football player or whatever, they know everything they do and all their little all the little changes and stuff, all the little heroic things they do, but if we don't talk about Heroes like you, you know, you're a hero, you're a hero to your kids that you fostered. You're a hero to those kids out there that didn't have toys and and don't have enough money to make a uh a Thanksgiving. And you're that hero, you know, and we need to talk about these people, and you're a trade worker, you know what I'm saying? The the the heroes are not that far, they're not all in Hollywood, they're they're right down the street at that construction site. They're the ones making your house and giving you your plumbing and keeping your electricity going. They're heroes too, and and uh we need to talk about these people, and and uh we thank you for for being on the show and and sharing your story with us because everybody needs to hear this stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:44

Well, thank you. That that that means a lot. And and it's like you're saying, there there is these people that that I mean, I guess right now they call us uh essential workers that even through all this pandemic, uh you know, we've been there. We've uh you know, and when I say we, I mean the whole the whole company or or whoever, I mean, you know, they they talk about the male people, the post people, they talk about everybody else, but sometimes they they do not mention the construction part of it. Uh, like you said, the sheetrocker, the electrician, the plumber. That without the plumbing, you're full of shit, basically, because uh I mean, you know, without the air conditioned, man, uh, I mean, either you're gonna freeze your ass to death or or you're gonna be sweating and you can't go to sleep. A lot of people, like you said, they forget about these uh the essential worker, which is us. I thank you for for mentioning that. And on behalf of everyone that does construction from the sheet rocker to the plumber to everyone, thank you all for for you know remembering us. That means a lot.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:53

Yeah, man, we're gonna keep this going for sure. Um, if you when you have an idea, like hey man, I want to talk about this on the podcast, bring it up, dude. We'll do it again. And if you know other people out there that have a story or want to share their story, we're down. We we like Renee said, Renee, you said it beautifully. There, yeah, there are heroes among us, and we want to share their story.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:16

He said it very eloquently.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:18

He did watch out eloquently, yes, I I watched I watch Nickelodeon, so just so you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:27

One thing I wanted to touch with you, uh, is uh, and uh maybe you can look into it because uh about the apprenticeship program, which is a balanced program, but maybe it needs to be updated. Back when I was in there too, they have a lot of uh, especially the first and second year, they're doing a lot of uh things that were back in the 50s and 60s where needs to be outdated because there is no more. I mean, it's good to know, I mean, you have to have that experience, but there's there has to be something where it has to be updated for these youngsters because it has to be interested for them, and they're they're teaching them things from 20, 30 years ago, which they don't even do anymore. And that's maybe something that you can look into and say, hey, we need to kind of update our our curriculum so these kids can be interested from day one, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:28

Yeah, no, that's a great point. I mean, the way the material was created, um, one, it's the subject matter, right? So, what I'm hearing you say is some of the subject matter is outdated, those those practices are no longer applied.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:40

I must give an example. I mean, back in the day, I mean, you had to have skill. You had to have skill where now it's push a button, but unfortunately that that's that's the way things are now. And they're teaching them them to to to like you, I uh you know what I mean when I say stepping off something where you have to make uh out of a square, you have to make a to squirt around. And you would use a protractor, you will use a divider, and now all it is is push a button, you know, and all that is good to know. But once they are in in the real world, there is no way that they use anything like that. And that's why I'm saying I think that that you might touch on it a little bit. This is what it used to be, now this is what it is, you know. And you have to like even with students, uh, you might be bright at at one thing, and they're gonna say, well, this guy's dumb because he's not as bright as this. Well, he might have another idea. He might be that that artist that that turned into Stan Lee, or he might be a uh the females that do the uh dresses, or or uh what do you call those? A seamstress, not a yeah, and because all all they do is doodle and stuff, but that doesn't mean that they're not smart. That means that they have another, they have another onda, they have something else, yeah, you know, yeah. So, you know, you have to help them grow. And and and to do that, they have to be advanced. And like uh again, I was talking to a plumber, as a matter of fact, yesterday, and I wanted to bring that that same subject up that I was saying that they need a little bit of of uh you know advanced training and stuff. That he said the first thing they're teaching you, okay, this is a hammer, yep, this is a screwdriver. You'd have to be real, real not be able to understand what a hammer is used to uh used for. But I mean, I'm just saying it's something that maybe you can look into and and I don't know, try to see if okay, we can try to advance this or bring it, bring it up a little bit to the future.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:44

Yeah, point taken, my friend. And I'm I'm connected with that curriculum, so I can um I can make some waves uh and see how we can make it better for our people.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:55

Like I said, you you look for before you say it and look into it and say, Hey, what what does a first year apprenticeship program do? Kind of like when when they say, Hey, well, this, this is this. Well, don't you think you know this is a little bit outdated? Don't you think we should kind of bring it up to date more?

SPEAKER_02 1:12:11

Yep, yeah, and then the the the material and the delivery of the material, right? I mean, that's that's another another important thing because people, I mean, hell, did you ever think you're gonna be on a podcast, Fernando?

SPEAKER_00 1:12:25

No, I did not, sir. No, I did not. And my and my wife, she says, you need to watch your mouth. Because uh I have you know, because when I told her, she goes, You how come you you cuss all the time? I said, Well, I'm gonna, I said, babe, I know when to cuss. Well, sometimes I don't, because as a matter of fact, uh last night when I was talking to with the teacher, some some words came out, not not to him personally, but you know, just the way I am. I mean, it's like I said, we're we're construction workers. You we're used to that kind of language. And I don't I don't mean to be offensive with anyone when I say things like that. Even when I I've never to the youngsters or to whoever, I've never looked down at them, right? But and I've never cussed at them. I just cuss at things, you know, like this fucking thing or whatever, but I've never looked down at anybody, you know, from uh from a janitor to the VP of a of a of a company, you know. They because we're all the same, dude. Honestly, we're all the same. Because we're when we're dead, we're all gonna be buried in the same hole.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:35

Yes, sir. That's right. Yeah, you've always you've always treated people with respect. There's no doubt about that. You know, back to the the podcast. You never thought you'd be on a podcast. Hell, I never thought I'd be on a podcast. Hell no. Oh yeah, and so but the point there is there's different mediums to to transfer knowledge. Yes, the you know, younger generations, they're more accustomed to to digesting information or knowledge digitally. So why can't we do that? Um, and the same thing, like you said, I remember when I was in my plumbing apprenticeship. Yeah, I remember this is a hammer, these are needle-nose pliers, you know, all that. Like, oh god, come on, man. Yeah, um, but I also remember they were teaching us about how to use lead and oakum for uh sanitary waste systems, yeah. And dude, that nobody does that. Hell so to give people context, back in the day, like and when I say back in the day, I mean even before my day, Renee, before you say something smart, uh lead was used to make the joints between uh fittings or pipe and fittings. So the plumbers and apprentices they would melt these little blocks of lead, get them into molten lead, and pour them in the joint and use oakum to hold it. And then as the the lead solidified, it would make that joint so that there was nothing leaking out for waste systems. Now, my goodness, if somebody sees you touching lead, the uh red alert, right? That oh my god, it's it's um what's the word? It's a hazardous material.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:15

Exactly, yes, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:15:17

And it is, but I remember playing with it when I was a kid because my dad was a plumber, right? The same thing with mercury. We used to use mercury in uh in our gauges, and maybe this there's still some out there to test to get water pressure. And I remember me and Ernest used to play with the mercury because it was like you could pull it apart and it would be right, like oh, this is the coolest man. That's poisonous shit. We didn't know that. Exactly, right? So, but they're still teaching that, but times have changed, baby. So the material needs to be updated, the delivery method needs to be updated. Yeah, man, I hear you loud and clear, Fernie. Well, I like man, you're you're putting my ass to work here, okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:00

Yeah, um, um it's something you know, and then it's and it's gonna better for everybody, dude. I mean, you know, because we're I think we're all on the same page, and we all just want to for these youngsters to be able to have a better life, and you know, there's there's more out there if you don't have college or you don't want to go to college, man. And again, what what y'all are doing, man, is badass. I and you know, I hope more people can actually, you know, see this and say, you know what, this is a trend that we need to follow. As a matter of fact, yesterday when I was talking to the guy, uh the teacher, I said that I have a friend of mine that that they really push the the trades for for young kids that because not everybody's gonna go to college. Uh, and so he says, Man, I wish we could do here, we could do that here, but you know, there's a lot of protocols and a lot of red tape that you he, I mean, you know that to even get to to be able to speak with kids and like that in schools and stuff, but yeah, yeah, you know, keep on going, dude. I mean, you're doing badass, and and and just keep on what you're doing. Uh, changing the subject a little bit. How's your dad doing?

SPEAKER_02 1:17:07

He's doing good, dude. Well, he retired, and it seems like he's shrinking since he retired. Yata Ruco, right? I mean, he he's getting smaller, he's hunching over. Uh, but man, he's still out there, dude. He's still, you know, doing trabajitos, has a little projects, a million projects all over the place at the house. He's doing good though, man. He's he's uh he's taking it easy.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:29

He's uh he's he's one of those people that I I still to this day, man, you know, admire and have uh a lot of respect for that man. I mean, you know, even when we're around, he was already older, but that dude would get down, dude. That he he was one of the only ones that I would see that he would wear his his uh two pouch on his chest. And I'm like, well, why does he wear that way? But I mean, that's the way he did it, and he just kept on going, dude. And I have the utmost respect for that man. So uh please tell him I said hi when uh I will.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:02

Well, there you have it, folks. Fernando Cortinas, the sheet metal mechanic, the mentor, the philanthropist, the artist, eloquent speaker. Uh you like that? Yeah, yeah. So hey, dude, you got a do you have a picture, a specific picture you want to use when I when we post this uh on social media?

SPEAKER_00 1:18:27

Uh let me look for something uh that you know, because right now I'm on my underwear and stuff, so uh yeah. I thought it was just gonna be you and me, and I, you know, I was gonna go back to the old days. You're like, remember this, Jesse?

SPEAKER_02 1:18:41

But uh oh yeah, man. Yeah, bro. Find a picture you want to use. You know, lace is okay. You get a pat if you want to have your laces on, that's fine. Uh that way we could put it on the LinkedIn and Facebook, and that way people know do I how do I do that to get that picture to you?

SPEAKER_00 1:19:01

Do I have to drag it or what do I have to do? No, just I'm thinking I oh maybe I'll wear my magic sunglasses too. What do you think?

SPEAKER_02 1:19:11

So what do you renee? Do you know what he's talking about when he says drag it and magic sunglasses?

SPEAKER_01 1:19:18

No, what's that about? Hello?

SPEAKER_02 1:19:20

Go ahead, go ahead, uh uh elaborate, just let you toast. Damn it. This is this is a bad one. So the click and drag. We were doing and where were we? We're at Brooks, right? Yeah, we were at Brooks, yeah. We were at Brooks and we were doing some work. We had to take some kind of security test or something to access another project, another job site. So you know, it was a it was a I don't remember exactly what the test was, but we had to do this test. Everybody that was gonna be on the job had to do the test, and it was online. And so I set up my laptop, and one at a time we took the test, and then it was Fernando's turn. And and this is again how dumb I can be sometimes, or most of the time. I said, Rolly Fernando, here it is, you know. And Fernando, I don't know, you hadn't messed around with computers before, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:20:10

I I know, I but like I said again, I'm I'm totally illiterate when it comes to computers, so that that's where the story's going. Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:17

So so I said, dude, all you gotta do is read the question, click on the click on your answer, and then go to the next one. Like, I'll be here if you need help. And there were a bunch of us in the office. I think Doug was there too. Yes, yeah. And there was one part where you had to click on an answer and drag it into the box, right? But but Fernando was clicking on it thinking it wouldn't go further. He's like, Hey, Jesse Chink, this thing's not working, it's broken. I said, Oh, dude, all you gotta do is click and drag. Hey, so I did what you told me, brother. You did exactly what I told you. He clicked on the computer and dragged the computer.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:00

Drag the computer, I'll be like, okay, I mean, hey, it's like I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I mean, I barely know how to turn on a computer and he's just dragging it. I'm like, what the fuck does he mean dragging and then I'm I'm dragging it and hey, Jesse, you need to stop messing around with me, dude. I can't, I don't know what the hell's going on here. And Jesse's looking at me like, what the hell are you doing, bro? Well, you're telling me to drag this thing. That's true.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:28

True story. Yeah, yeah, uh, true, true story, man. I tried hard not to laugh. I remember I was trying not to laugh, and Fernando said, Just laugh, dev, I know you want to laugh. Just laugh, okay? And then the the magic sunglasses, like I said, I've I I appreciate Fernando because he's always treated people with respect. He was always helping people and mentoring and guiding at all levels, right? Like his peers, the people that he was supporting, and the people that he reported to. He would guide and mentor. And so I recognize that as leadership capabilities. And so I started putting his name in the hat for different meetings and different opportunities to come to the office and be involved on different things. And um, he had these shaded uh sun, uh they were they were prescribed, right? They were prescribed, yes, they're prescribed, yes. But but he was, if I remember correctly, Fernando, you were you were a little bit nervous about coming to the office to do the classes, yes, yes. So he comes to the office, and we're in an office, right? Very well lit, and he's got these sunglasses off. And people think like, why is this dude? Why is this dude wearing these sunglasses? He's inside. But they were it was his only prescribed glasses. Yeah, only prescribed glasses, yeah, the only prescribed glasses he had at the time. And and I made a comment, like, oh, those are his those are his his invisible glasses, like he's really nervous. So when he puts them on, it it helps him feel confident because he's in the superpowers. I I can see you in your underwear, and you can't you don't you don't know. That's yeah, yeah, that was awesome. Yeah, so that was it, man. Oh man, nothing but good times, Fernando. Shit, it's been a good life.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:21

Again, uh, again, I I appreciate you you reaching out to me, and and you know, uh, you know, I'll be on the lookout wherever something is that that ta-ta! I think I'll Jesse.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:32

That's it for yeah, yeah, brother. Do it, do it. Uh you've been supporting me for years, and I will appreciate all the support you have going forward. And yeah, I got you too, brother. I got you, man. Thank you. Well, that's the end of this episode. Thank you for being gracious and sharing your time with us. We ask that you show us some love on social media, give us some honest, actionable feedback, uh, help us understand if we're headed in the right direction and and providing an entertaining and insightful experience for you. You can also give us that feedback uh directly via email at Jesse at learnins and missteps dot com. So thanks again, and we'll talk at you next time.