March 6, 2026 - Freedomain Radio - Stefan Molyneux
01:00:20
My Luck Keeps Getting WORSE! CALL IN SHOW
Caller recounts compounding misfortunes: an electrical fire from corroded utility boxes, asbestos discovery, and a totaled car after driving his wife's vehicle without listing himself. Host advises securing any job, like the AT&T interview, to build networks, noting defensive driving often prevents worse outcomes. The discussion expands on overcoming shyness for employment in an AI-driven market, addressing political polarization within unions and questioning civil war possibilities. Ultimately, life is reframed as a series of solvable problems requiring a resilient, proactive mindset to navigate financial stress and systemic flaws. [Automatically generated summary]
I uh, I thought uh, I thought it didn't go through, but I guess it did.
Yeah, well, no sweat.
Let's uh, let's get uh, let's get going.
Just it's a public call, so uh, please, no names and places.
And um, audience, how can I best help?
Yes, sir.
Um, well, so uh, I've calmed down a little bit since I sent that uh that request there.
I was, you know, in kind of the heat of the moment, so it sounded you know, pretty bad in the in the request, but um, you know, pretty much I'm just going through you know a lot of life events at the moment.
Um, I uh I guess it'd probably be uh best to well, let me think.
So, so I, okay, so a couple months ago, I think that's where it all really kind of started.
Um, you know, I own a house with my wife and my daughter.
Uh, it's a really old house, and we bought it a few years ago.
Um, you know, so you know, it's been a lot of work, but you know, little by little, we've kind of been building it up and stuff.
Uh, but a couple months ago for Thanksgiving, we were having like a we were having a little Thanksgiving, a party.
I was getting things ready, and um, I was basically pressure washing the outside of the house and um water.
Uh, there was an like I said, the house is very old, so the um, we had like an electrical box, the utility box outside, it had some corrosion on the side of it, and I didn't notice.
And some water got in as I was pressure washing, and um, the utility box basically exploded, um, and we had an electrical fire.
Um, so you know, both my wife and I, we work full-time, and uh, it's been really hard kind of making ends meet.
And we live out here alone, um, so uh, it was kind of a huge setback because you know, the insurance people had to get involved and yada yada.
And we basically have been out of the house for a few months now.
Um, and that was kind of what started this whole thing.
Like, you know, we've been displaced from my house, and and you know, we're kind of struggling to make ends meet.
Um, And just a week ago, a couple weeks ago, I was driving with my daughter and we got into a really bad car accident as well.
So it just feels like all these things are just compounding in my life.
And yeah, man, I just, I don't know, like, I don't really have anyone to turn to for sort of advice in this kind of situation and just kind of how to start digging myself out of this hole that I'm in because, you know, now we have all these expenses and it just feels like, you know, we don't really know, like, I don't really know how to like handle all this, you know, all at once.
So, um, I was sorry to hear about that.
That's, that's, that's very tough indeed.
Um, what's happening with the insurance in the house?
Are they, are they covering it?
Is it being repaired or how's that going?
Yeah, it's, it's been, it's been a weird process because like they're kind of, you know, they've been nice about a lot of things and they're really like, they're, they're helping me out with a lot.
But at the same time, they, they're just very like the whole process has been super slow.
Um, and they the between them and the contractors, it's just like this constant back and forth type thing.
Um, but but they just take forever, man.
It's been what, you know, the, the, the, the fire originally just kind of burned part of a wall down.
And then, um, and then, you know, I thought it was just going to be basically fixing the electrical and fixing that the wall of the kitchen that basically burned down.
But then they found like a bunch of water damage on the floor and they decided to cover that as well or whatever.
But then when they ripped the floor.
That's unrelated to your pressure spraying, right?
To my what, sorry?
Your power spray, like your pressure washing.
It's unrelated to that.
The other, the water damage?
Yeah.
So basically the insurance lady, when she went out there, she found the water damage and she was like, oh, hey, we're going to cover, we're going to do the flooring for you.
You get me?
But when they ripped out the floor, then they found asbestos under the floor.
And I'm just like, oh my God.
So then they have to like, basically, they had to treat for the asbestos.
And then between all of this, I mean, like I said, this was all the way back in November.
You know, we're now in February and it's been like the insurance lady going on vacation.
It's just like, it just feels like it never ends, you know?
So we've been out of my house since then, basically.
And sorry, I've never gone through this process.
So is it that they're not releasing the money to pay for the repairs or the repairs are taking a long time or what's the delay?
Yeah, yeah, that's pretty much the so it's it's kind of both.
So they release some money to me and it kind of it's like a slow crawl where like they they release some money, they do some work.
They release some money, they do some work, but it's very like the communication between them and the contractors is very bad as well.
Like the contractors will send an email to the insurance lady, and then I'll reach out to her and I'm like, did you get the email?
She'll say she didn't.
And then it's just like this back and forth where I'm just like the middleman or whatever.
So, you know, that just adds a whole new whole nother level of stress to the whole situation.
But and where are you staying?
Luckily enough, I have like a friend, a really good friend of mine that they had a like a house, basically like a vacation home that they that they weren't using.
It's it's her his his mother-in-law's vacation home.
Um, so this is where I've been staying for now.
Okay.
Well, that's that's handy.
And uh, gosh, what happened with the car accident?
Yeah, man.
So, dude, I work full time.
I basically drive.
Um, you know, I, I, I, I do pest control at the moment.
And I drive eight hours a day.
Like, I, and I've never had a car accident other than when I was like 18 years old.
That was over 10 years ago.
Um, you know, when I had just gotten a new car or whatever.
Uh, but I've never had any sort of issue with my driving record or anything like that.
The only thing I've ever gotten was one speeding ticket going like 10 miles over or something.
Um, and uh, dude, I don't know.
It was just like the perfect storm of crap.
Um, I was um, I was taking my daughter to gymnastics class and it had just snowed.
Um, it had just snowed here where I live.
It never snows, never.
Like we get maybe one snow a year.
Um, and you know, I was taking her to gymnastics class.
Um, as I was driving there, my wife calls me because uh, my daughter left her water bottle at home.
Um, and so I go to turn, I basically go to make a left turn to turn around and go back home to pick it up.
And um, as I'm trying to turn, the sun is beating down on my face, basically.
My daughter is yelling in the back seat.
Um, I have two cars merging in an intersection on my right.
And I don't know what happened in that moment from the reflection of the sun or whatever.
There was a car coming on the opposite lane, and I completely did not see it.
I took the turn, and we basically got T-boned.
And my daughter was in the back seat, and it was, you know, absolutely terrifying.
But, you know, thank God she's good.
You know, she, we were all good in terms of more health.
But yeah, the car is total, you know.
So it's, and we owed money on that car as well.
So it's just like, I don't know.
It's just like too much, you know.
Well, well, and of course, that's even more time with insurance.
Was anybody injured?
No, no, no one was injured.
My daughter, we were both good.
And no one in the other truck was injured either in the other car that hit us.
But the insurance isn't covering anything.
Basically, yeah.
Oh, is it because you're at fault?
Yeah, partly because I'm at fault and also because I was driving my wife's car and I wasn't on the insurance for that car.
Oh, gosh.
As well.
Yeah, yeah.
Dope.
That's tough.
Yeah, I never, you know, I also, like, like I said, we had a loan on the car and I never really questioned my wife about the insurance because the car was under her name and all that.
And I never really thought about it too much.
But I always kind of assumed in the back of my mind that the insurance would cover, it would be a full coverage because she still owed money on the car.
So usually, you know, the bank won't let you have a loan without that or whatever.
But I guess.
Sorry, sorry.
I missed some of the subtlety there.
So you thought that you would be covered because the car was still being paid off?
Yeah, because, you know, at least in the back of my mind, I just thought like, hey, like when you owe money on a car, when it's, you know, when it's a when you're, when you're, when you're still paying off a loan on a car, like the bank will usually not let you, you like, you have to be insured.
Right.
You get it?
You get me?
But that was just kind of in the back of my mind.
I never really thought to ask my wife about any of this.
I just kind of, you know, so you didn't, you didn't know if your insurance company covered third-party drivers.
Right, exactly.
Okay.
Got it.
Got it.
Yeah.
Oof.
That's, that's tough.
That's tough.
And so, so how are you feeling now?
Well, I'm, you know, I'm a little bit better.
So I've been kind of racking my mind, just kind of like trying to figure out what I'm going to do.
But, you know, I've been applying to a bunch of jobs because my current job just isn't really going to cut it.
You know, so I'm going to have to basically work, you know, an extra job and then probably find another part-time to do overtime with.
Or, you know, if that job doesn't get me overtime.
But I have an interview lined up for next week.
So, you know, there's something to look forward to.
Hopefully I can get that job that should pay me a little bit better.
And then I'm thinking of just working a bunch of extra hours, I guess, you know, overtime.
But to make up for the car in particular, right?
The car, yeah, because I feel really guilty because, again, it's my wife's, it was my, my wife's car, you know, and she'd been paying off for a long time.
So, and you know, also, we, we still, we also have a little bit of debt as well that I need to finish paying off.
But okay, okay.
Covering Others' Mistakes00:15:59
All right.
And yeah, the car was total.
So your daughter, fortunately, was in the back.
Did it hit the passenger side?
Is that where you were?
Yeah, it hit her directly, exactly where she was sitting.
Oh, it did hit her where she was sitting, but he wasn't going fast enough to do her any injuries.
Did you get like side airbags and stuff like that?
Yeah, we have, thank God we have, we have, it was a really good car.
So.
Yeah.
Well, you know, it's funny because I generally think it's worth paying for extra safety features because, you know, cars are replaceable.
Life is not.
So it sounds like you made a good decision as far as that went.
Yeah, yeah.
It was a good, it was a Volkswagen.
So that German engineering saved us for sure.
Now, sorry, I don't want to start because I don't want to start philosophizing if there's more that you wanted to mention, but I'm certainly happy to give feedback.
I'm happy to hear more, whatever works best for you.
Yeah, you can go ahead.
You can go ahead.
Okay.
So this is sort of my big old guy perspective because you're right in the thick of things and that is tough and it feels like it's an endless, you know, life.
It's funny this.
There was a cartoon I saw many years ago.
It's two guys watching a bunch of demons marching down the street and it says, ah, it's just one goddamn thing after another.
And it does sort of feel like that way in life.
There are times where things are relatively smooth sailing.
There are other times where things cluster.
You know, it's kind of like if you play a game with two dice, like two six-sided dice, every now and then you're just going to get five twos in a row.
Whereas, you know, in the long run, it kind of evens out, but there's going to be clusters.
So there are times in life where things cluster together.
I mean, I've had entire years where I get one nagging injury after another or one minor health issue after another.
And it just, and then there have been other times where it's, it's pretty smooth sailing.
So just recognize in life that there are going to be times when things just, by coincidence, they just kind of cluster together.
So just be aware of that.
And it's not a curse or anything like that because we tend to remember the negative, not all of the neutral and the positive.
So that's the first thing that I would work to remind you.
The second thing is that statistically, people are going to get involved in two car accidents over the course of their lives.
You know, in just 40, 50 years of driving or whatever people are doing, sometimes 60 years of driving, you're going to get involved in two tangles.
Now, of course, that's just an average and so on.
And maybe it's changed.
This is like from decades ago.
But so if you're going to get involved in two tangles, and you know, maybe you'll only get one, right?
Because a lot of times after you get your first one, you're even more careful and cautious and so on.
So if you get involved in a car accident where no one is hurt, you get on your knees and you thank the gods, my brother.
Yeah, that's what I was doing when I got out of the car with my daughter, dude.
I was just hugging her, you know, looking at her in the face, and I was like, I was very thankful.
So, yes.
So, you know, like everyone gets lumps in their body over the course of their life.
And if it's not cancer, you get on your knees and you thank the gods, right?
But you don't get to compare a life with no problems or no accidents.
Now, of course, it sounds like you made mistakes in both cases.
And mistakes are natural, right?
They're going to happen.
And it sounds like the first mistake you made was to put high-pressure water into a rusty electrical box.
Is that right?
That's correct.
Yes.
Right.
Now, that could have saved your life.
Sorry, what's that?
That could have saved your life.
What do you mean?
But you got asbestos.
Oh, right, right, right.
Yeah.
Well, yeah, I mean, sort of.
The way that they explained it was basically the asbestos was like under the floor or whatever.
And it wasn't like exposed to the air.
So it wasn't until they ripped out the floor that, you know, but yeah, I guess in a way.
Well, who knows, right?
I mean, wear and tear year over year, maybe stuff, some stuff escapes, maybe not.
I don't know, right?
But it could have saved your life.
And the other thing, too, is that if you have a rusty old electrical box, at some point, a bad storm, a bad rain, a hard rain, a windy rain might have caused a short circuit and set fire to your house while you're sleeping.
Yes, yes.
Yeah, we talked about that.
Yeah, that's true.
So there's a great line: never underestimate how much worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.
Right, right.
Yeah.
And again, look, this doesn't make everything great, but life is in general.
It's kind of a shit show with redeeming moments, if that makes sense.
Life is tough.
Life is a slog.
Lots of things go wrong and lots of things go right.
And are these, like, when was the last time you had major negatives like this in the past?
Well, like, I guess things like this that, like, that would have such a major impact.
I probably, probably never in my life this bad.
You in your 20s or 30s or some other decade?
Yeah, I'm 28.
28.
Okay.
All right.
So you managed to go 10 years in adulthood without any major problems.
Yeah.
Bro, that's great.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, you're right.
It's great and it's terrible.
Of course, it's great because you got 10 years with no major problems.
It's terrible because that sets up your expectation in life that you shouldn't have major problems.
Right, right.
It's sort of like when you're young, you never really think about your health, right?
Like when I was in my 20s, I went like, I don't know, eight years without seeing a dentist or something like that.
And now I have to go three times a year, right?
Yeah.
And so, and my teeth are pretty good.
But, you know, things change.
Now, of course, you know, 28 is not like you're like me.
I'm almost twice that age, over twice that age.
So you got used to there not being any particular or significant problems.
And, you know, one of the things that can happen if things go well for a long time is you lose some of your caution.
Right.
So if you've driven, you said you drive eight hours a day in the pest control business.
So one of the things that can happen, of course, is you say, well, I'm such a good driver.
I mean, look at my driving record.
I've been driving for over a decade.
I drive eight hours a day, never have any problems.
And so it is, you know, somewhat easy to get a little overconfident, right?
Yeah, that's true.
That's true.
I definitely, like after, after the whole thing happened, I just, you know, I kind of realized that, you know, I definitely sometimes drive a little bit erratic and, you know, not erratic, but I, you know, I feel like I've been in a lot of situations driving that I've had to be sort of defensive and stuff.
And so I kind of feel very comfortable.
You know, I don't, I never really feel like any sense of danger when I'm driving.
So I guess maybe that could have contributed to it.
Yeah.
I mean, I was in a I was I wasn't driving, but I was in a car.
It was a truck that flipped on a gravel road and went like, I don't know, a couple hundred yards on its roof on gravel.
So I'm a jumpy driver, which, you know, I think is good.
It does make driving its head uncomfortable, and I'm sort of interested in this automated, automated driving thing.
But it will remind you, of course, as everybody should remember when they're driving, that you're a three or four thousand-pound bomb.
You are moving around a three or four thousand-pound bomb, you know, full of gasoline.
Now, let me ask you this: when you were turning left to go and get the water bottle or to make a U-turn, did you just kind of dart out?
Did hang on, let me let me finish.
If the other driver had been fully alert and aware and driving defensively, would he have had a chance to stop or at least slow down?
Um, I so uh, so, um, as I, so, okay, so I was driving actually very carefully that day, like I said, because it had snowed, and here it never snows, so I was actually pretty concerned about any sort of ice and stuff like that.
Yeah, so I was, I was driving like an old lady, dude.
Like, I was driving, I just know your name and the fact that you were concerned about ice.
A whole different thing, a whole different thing.
I got it.
You know, actually, it's funny because I'm from Venezuela.
Um, I know, so um, but um, but yeah, like this whole ice thing is just ridiculous.
But anyway, um, uh, the yeah, I went to uh, I had, well, I had a white white lady reach out to my wife the other day, uh, one of these liberal white ladies, and she was like, oh, you know, we're so concerned about you and your family and how you know these like legal migrants are getting picked up from the streets.
And my wife, you know, my wife looks way more Hispanic than I do.
And she was just like, What the fuck are you talking about?
Like, no one's getting picked up.
Like, no one's well, you know, this, like, somebody who's locked into CNN and just getting wound up like a top, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's absurd, dude.
It's absurd.
Okay, so sorry, I took you on a side quest.
So you were talking about ice on the roads and you were driving super carefully.
And what happened?
Yeah.
And so, and so then I, you know, I went to make that left turn into like a parking lot just so I could turn around in the parking lot.
And I was like, I was full stopped with my blinkers on, you know.
And as I, as I took the turn, I took it slowly because, again, I literally just did not see from the reflection.
I did not see a car at all.
But I think she was too close.
I think she was too close when I decided to take the turn for her to have been able.
Like, I think what she did, you know, she was like a lady in her 40s, not the kind of person that I would say would have the reaction time that someone like, you know, younger nowadays, you know, if it would have been like a young guy, maybe, but, but, you know, she was in her 40s.
I think she was very nervous as well.
Like, I could tell, like, after the accident, she was super like jittery.
So I like she probably wasn't the best driver in that sense, you know?
Right.
Yeah, because sometimes like we've all been, everyone who drives has been in the situation where if you hadn't been alert, there would have been an accident.
Right.
Right.
So everyone's had that person turn into their path.
Everyone's had that person who pulls out ahead of you.
Everyone's had that person.
And you know, you know, you drive, right?
So you can see these idiots who are weaving in and out of traffic and gunning it forward.
And my wife is like, please go have your accident somewhere else.
That's a sort of big phrase.
Please go have your accident somewhere else.
And if there's a dangerous driver around, I will pull into a side road for a minute or two and just let them go have their accident somewhere else because I don't want to be anywhere near somebody.
I'm not putting you in that category, but what I'm saying is that everyone has had their experience where if you hadn't been more alert, you would have been in an accident.
And we sometimes give that gift to other drivers, and sometimes other drivers give that gift to us.
So sometimes we cover for other drivers' mistakes.
I mean, everyone's had, usually at some point, somebody running a red and it's really dangerous.
Or you're coming to a stop.
This happens quite a bit.
You're coming to a four-way stop and someone doesn't notice the stop sign and blows right through it and you have to stop halfway in the intersection.
And now, of course, we can all get outraged and that's fine.
You know, sometimes drivers are just pretty bad.
We can all get outraged.
But on the other hand, sometimes we save other people from their own bad decisions and sometimes other people save us from our bad decisions because, you know, everybody makes mistakes when driving.
And so usually like a real accident is, I'm not saying it's both equally equal parties' fault, but generally, if I drive like everyone is drunk, texting and blind out of one eye or something like that, I assume everyone is going to make a mistake.
Like I assume, and I sort of told this to my daughter and like, so if you're going to turn right and there's a car that's coming up on your left, on your side of the road, like on the perpendicular, right?
So you're going to turn right, there's a car coming on your left down the road and he's got a signal on.
Now, what percentage of time is that guy actually going to turn right?
You know, 90, 95%, maybe 98%.
But I never assume it.
They could have just left their blinker on.
Yeah, I see what you're saying.
I see what you're saying.
Right.
So I drive like everyone is incompetent.
And of course, occasionally I make bad decisions and so on, right?
And that's, I think it's called, I take defensive driving to a level of really jumpy paranoia, but whatever.
That's just my, that's my style, man.
And so, yeah, I just wanted to sort of probe about that because sometimes an accident can be the result of, yes, you made a mistake, but the other person didn't have the alertness to save you from your mistake.
And that doesn't make it their fault, of course, but there's usually a coincidence of a mistake with also some inattentiveness.
Yeah, no, I think she was relatively attentive because she got the chance to slam the brakes before she hit me at least.
Right.
So good for kind of, you know.
Yeah, and then there are some times where you just, there's nothing you can do because the other person has just, especially with the ice, right, causing the problems.
So, okay, so yeah, looking at those kinds of things, usually when there's a bad accident, it's a result of a whole combination of factors.
And so with your house, the factor was, well, first of all, knowing this weakness in your house and finding it out with the pressure washer was better than water getting into your electrical outlet when you're sleeping or even if you're away, right?
So if you're away for the day, there's a bad storm at your house, your wife and daughter are away, and then there's a fire and whatever, right?
Like it creeps inside the house and maybe you just lose a whole bunch of belongings and photos and computers or whatever it is, right?
Diving Into Mishaps00:02:27
And furniture.
So that stuff can be really bad.
And heaven forbid, if you're sleeping and there's some kind of electrical fire and then maybe your smoke alarm doesn't kick in or whatever it is, right?
So it could be really bad.
And the asbestos thing, you're right, it's probably kind of inert, but it's pretty good to get rid of it nonetheless.
So there's plus there.
Do you have any idea when the house stuff is going to be done?
Are we still on?
Oh, I bet maybe his phone died.
Maybe his phone died.
All right.
Well, I'll talk a little bit here about generally the philosophy of mishaps in life.
So mishaps, I mean, assuming that they're not really damaging or fatal, mishaps are a kind of inoculation in that mishaps teach you to be more careful, right?
And this is sort of how it works when you're a kid, right?
You're a kid and you're biking and, you know, like most kids, you're like, hey, I wonder if I can bike hands-free, right?
And maybe you do it, and maybe you do it well, maybe you do it badly.
And if you do it badly, then, of course, there's a certain amount of caution that you end up exercising because you fell and did and did bad things to your knee or your elbow or something like that.
So you were taught a certain amount of caution.
So when I was in my 20s, I was swimming.
I was scuba diving.
Sorry, I was skin diving, which is snorkel, snorkel diving.
And I swam into a wreck.
And as I was swimming into the wreck, just to sort of poke my head around, which is kind of dumb, of course, actually very dumb.
I swam into a wreck.
And then as I was swimming in, I realized that there was a very strong current through the hole.
And then getting out of that wreck.
against the current coming in through the hole was really tough.
And I still have the scar.
I gouged the hell out of my arm getting out of that undersea wreck.
And of course, I only had my breath to sustain me.
So it was bad.
And of course, don't ever go into wrecks alone.
And don't ever go into wrecks when you don't have any breathing apparatus.
So there was all of that.
But it taught me to be a very careful.
Very careful.
No, no problem.
I was just vamping a little bit.
So sorry.
Horrible Loans and Sick Jobs00:15:09
I was asking you, how long do you think it might be until the house stuff is done?
Dude, I think hopefully within a month from this point, I think it'll probably be done.
They just finished the asbestos thing or whatever.
So, yeah, I mean, if they can do the flooring and the electrical within a month, I think, I think they should be able to get that done.
Okay.
Okay.
Well, that's good.
That's now just as kind of an aside here, because I think this kind of, you know, plays into kind of my mental space and a lot of things.
Cause, you know, I'm the kind of person that overthinks things a lot.
And one thing that I've been having a lot of trouble with over the years is getting a career going.
I, you know, I basically bounced around jobs a little bit when I was, I went to college for psychology.
And then after I graduated college, you know, I was between getting a master's degree or just going into the workforce.
But sorry, let me just interrupt you there.
So, of course, an undergrad psych degree doesn't get you much of anything, right?
So do you mean that you were planning on doing a master's so you could end up practicing psychology?
Yes, that's right.
So I was, yeah, when I when I graduated with my undergrad, I, you know, I was between those two options of just either starting work in something or going into a master's degree.
And then, you know, my wife basically got pregnant at that time.
We got pregnant.
So, You know, in that moment, I was, you know, I had some student loans already, and I wasn't.
So, your, your, your house wasn't the first place where you may have sprayed inappropriately.
Okay, got it.
Got it.
Yes, sir.
Um, I was, you know, obviously more conscious about the uh the latter than the than the house, but um, but yeah, I mean, anyway, um, so at that point, you know, I ended up going into the workforce because I, I, like you said, like with an undergrad and psych, you can't really do anything.
Um, and then I also had like a lot of loans and stuff, so I didn't really feel comfortable taking out more loans at that point.
And, you know, I think it would have been just a really complicated situation with my wife being pregnant and then me trying to like do this whole degree thing, you know.
Yeah, because I think psych can be two years for the master's, then you have to get a job and then maybe you can get paid, but also you have to get mentored for, I don't know how it is where you are, but you have to get mentored for quite some time, like, and then you got to write even more exams.
Like, it's a whole deal.
Exactly.
Yeah, yeah.
So, so I ended up, you know, start, I started working construction and I did that for a couple of years.
Sorry, for what?
Just working construction.
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
Um, and I did that for a couple of years.
Um, you know, I, hate it.
Like, I just found it very difficult, um, especially during the winters and stuff.
I would just be constantly getting sick.
And um, I don't know, I guess it's just like uh, I just have a weak immune system or something.
Um, sorry, what do you mean?
Like, with the sickness was related to working, were you working inside or outside, or why would you get sick with construction?
Yeah, whenever I was like out in the in the winter in the cold, um, I don't know why, but I would just I was I was just constantly sick all the time.
Um, you mean like cold flus, that kind of stuff?
Yeah, flus, and it was just kicking my ass.
Like, I honestly, I felt like I was like, I don't know, slowly dying or something because I would be sick literally every like three weeks.
I'd be getting sick with something and like sick enough to not work or just like go in and be miserable.
Yeah, miserable.
I mean, if I did work, you know, yeah, it's hell.
But, um, and I went to the doctor a bunch of times for it.
They couldn't really find anything specific.
They, you know, they just kind of said, like, hey, it's probably just your genetics or whatever.
You just, you're more predisposed to illness or something.
Right.
Um, and it was like real illness.
I mean, I was getting like strep, like strep throats and stuff.
I would have to be on antibiotics and everything.
Um, but you know, eventually I started doing like a coding boot camp thing.
And I just kind of picked up the programming thing because I was like, okay, I need to like pivot.
And that was kind of like around COVID time.
And it was like, you know, the whole, the whole coding thing was like, there was a big buzz around that.
So I thought, okay, maybe I can do that.
You know, I've never been amazing at math, but I'm, you know, I'm a logical thinker and I felt like, okay, maybe I can figure this thing out, you know?
So I did, I did that for a few months and I built like some little personal, like some projects for a portfolio and stuff.
And I ended up landing a gig and I worked, you know, two years for that company.
I learned a lot working that job and stuff.
But then around the time that COVID ended, I got laid off.
And, you know, it wasn't just me.
I got laid off with like 30 other people from that company.
But after that, I just couldn't find another job in tech.
You know, I was right.
Yeah, I applied.
It's, you know, tons and tons of jobs.
Again, my, um, background in tech was very limited because, yeah, I had two years of experience working, but my portfolio was just like little projects that I had worked on.
It wasn't like I had like a, you know, formal degree in computer science or whatever.
Right.
So it was very hard to find anything.
So that's why I ended up going into pest control because it was literally like the only place that I got a callback from.
And I was like, what is going on?
You know?
But I, you know, I started doing this thing and I've been doing this for like maybe a year now.
And I've, you know, I've kind of been racking my brain trying to figure out like what else I should like because I don't see myself having a career in this at all.
And I just don't feel like I just don't enjoy it.
You know, I just find it to be something that's just like, it's just mind numbing to me personally.
You know, I just don't, I don't like it.
But I recently got into a union for an electrician union.
And, you know, I just thought like maybe that would also, that would kind of work for me because it kind of appeals to my sort of logical side a little bit.
I do, you know, I do like to work, you know, hands-on things as well.
So, you know, I figured maybe that would appeal to me.
But it's just been very like, basically, I've been in the union for four months now and there's just no jobs, dude.
Like they just, yeah, they haven't found any jobs.
Like, and I'm just like, okay, like, I don't get like, I don't know what I have to do.
I just need, I just want to work, you know, like, I just want a job, dude.
But, but I don't know.
It just feels really hard nowadays with like everything.
It just feels like it's hard to just work, you know, and build a lot, a normal life, you know?
Oh, it's horrible.
Yeah.
No, it's, it's, it's genuinely horrible out there.
Yeah, it's just it just sucks because like, you know, as a man, it makes me feel so like shitty that, you know, I have my wife and she works a lot, you know, and we both work really hard.
And it's just, it just feels like it's so hard to like get anywhere, dude.
I don't know.
But, but just in general, I guess, like, you know, I applied.
I basically got like an interview with AT ⁇ T for a like basically just like as an installation technician or whatever next week.
And I was just wondering what you thought, like in general, like, should I, do you think I should just bail on the electrician thing and just do that instead?
Because I feel like it would probably be more of a steady job, you know?
So I don't quite understand the electricians union thing.
So you're in the union and then so you've gone through the training, right?
Well, I've done, you know, I just got in this year.
I've done like these last four months of school, basically.
I'm doing, it's training twice a week.
And then whenever they find you a job, you start working, you know?
And when I joined, they were like super, like, they seemed like they heightened me up.
They were like, oh, yeah, you know, you're going to be able to finish in four years.
And there's all this opportunity and all this and all that.
And then I'm in here and there's like 20 other guys in my class and no one's working.
And I'm just like.
Yeah, no.
And the problem is, of course, as you know, when people get desperate, the scams go through the roof, right?
Yes.
And that's almost how it feels.
It almost feels like I got scammed into this thing because I feel like I've given more money to the union than anything that I've gotten from it, if you understand.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
You know?
So it's just, it's just like, you know, this kind of just adds to everything that I'm dealing with because it's not just like stress in my life in general, things that are happening to me, but it's also just like, like, man, I need to like be able to pay my bills.
I need to be able to like support my family.
And it just feels like, you know, it just feels like there's very little opportunity, man.
Right.
Yeah.
I, I remember when I had, when there was a, I think it was the 90s, I guess, and there was this really bad recession.
And I remember just trying to get work and it was, it just felt, it felt impossible.
Like, and this is the sort of summer I ended up.
I had to like weed gardens.
I had to clean people's cars.
You know, it was just, it was just crazy, you know, and I had a good education and all of that.
And it was, it was brutal when it came to that kind of stuff.
So yeah, that, I mean, I, I really sympathize with all of that.
And it is very tough.
And again, I remember there was a place that was like, hey, we've got jobs, right?
And I was like, okay, I gave them a call and it's like, okay, that's nice.
What kind of jobs?
And they're like, don't worry, man.
Just come on down.
We've got jobs.
And, you know, I couldn't get any answers and all that kind of stuff.
And so, yeah, as the desperation goes up, so doth the scamminess, right?
Yeah, dude.
It feels like it honestly feels like it's like a scam economy at this point.
I mean, I apply to so many jobs online and half of like the calls I get are just people trying to, you know, steal money or, or even this, like it feels like everyone, I don't know.
Even when you find like a job that's an actual job, it feels like you're being treated by the companies in such a sleazy way half the time now, where they're trying to like make sure, you know, I mean, you know, obviously it's a company.
They're trying to make a profit and all that.
And they're trying to make sure that all their ducks are in a row, but it feels like they are like hyper aware of every little thing that you're doing as an employee and trying to latch onto any little thing that you do to not pay you in full or whatever, you know?
Oh, yeah, no, it's horrible.
And yeah, I really do sympathize with that.
And, you know, we can get mad at these companies and that sort of makes sense to some degree.
But also, you know, they are trying to make money in a horrible economy too.
And sometimes you kind of got to cut corners that way as well.
And nobody's particularly happy with it, at least not if they've got any integrity.
But it's really, it's really, it's a tough, it's a tough, tough situation out there for jobs.
You know, I mean, you, of course, you don't know how much of this stuff is just general demoralization stuff.
But there is, of course, you know, it's all these, I sent out this many resumes.
I got this many replies.
And, you know, it's really, it's like that guy who kept track of how many times his wife refused him for sex.
And it's just, you know, it's depressing as hell to look at that kind of stuff.
Yeah.
And, you know, I don't know what do you think I should do then, like sort of in my situation, you know, just knowing my background, a little bit, what I told you, like, what do you, what would you suggest?
Like, what do you think you would do in my, in my situation?
Well, I'm a big one for like just stay in the workplace no matter what.
Okay.
Because if you've got big holes in your resume, that is tough for employers, employee employers to sort of process and deal with, if that makes sense.
So I'm a big one for like just stay in the workplace.
You know, I remember, you know, like saying like, I'll do anything, you know, like just I'll move.
You know, I remember I wanted a job with computers.
It's like, I'll move computers.
I'll dust computers.
I'll clean computers.
You know, just anything.
Right.
And so I think staying in the workplace is really key because the moment you get out, it's really, really tough.
It's really tough to get back in.
Yeah, that's how I was thinking about it.
And that's why I ended up doing this pest control thing, even though it was something I was like, okay, like, but I mean, obviously, I needed work no matter what anyway, because I have a family, so I don't have the luxury of just being, you know, if I were single, I don't care if I'm homeless, but I can't really be in that situation when I have a kid, you know.
Right, right.
So I would say stay in the workplace no matter what.
That would be my advice.
The other thing, of course, is when the economy is bad, what really matters like crazy is your contacts.
And of course, you have, I'm sure, of course, you don't need me telling you this, but anyone that you ever had anything to do with, you know, you got to put it out there and try and really get them to see if they can get you some work or something like that.
Yeah.
I mean, unfortunately, I'm not like, I've never really been a very, you know, outgoing person in that sense.
You know, I've always kind of like been pretty introverted when it comes to all that.
So I'm not like the kind of person that just has like all these people that I know or whatever.
But yeah, I mean, I'll feel it.
No, but I get that.
And I'm not a networker at all.
I don't really network.
I've always kind of hated it because, you know, it's always struck me as, you know, kind of super fake, you know, like, hey, have you been?
Working The Network00:07:56
You know, that kind of stuff.
And, and I prefer, of course, things to be slightly more organic in my relationships.
So I get that.
But, you know, this is one of these things, like when the economy is tough, you got to do things that don't feel, you know, particularly comfortable or that you feel would be particularly natural to you as a whole.
So yeah, you just, you just, you know, anyone.
I do think that the electrician thing, I've never been a big fan of unions.
I'm fine with unions in general, like on principle.
But the reality is that unions tend to be, well, they're looking out for their own, right?
Yeah.
And, you know, there's tons of people in these unions that have jobs for their own folks, right?
Right.
And, you know, if it's if it's that bad that that, you know, it's really hard to get work, then it's going to be really hard to get work for all of the existing union people as well.
Yeah, yeah.
So, you know, I think it's just part, it's just all tied to the just the current state of the economy, I guess, you know, that there's just not that much work.
Because like the unions usually get hired by like the bigger companies that are building new big industrial.
It's a, you know, we do most, mostly like industrial electrical work.
And I guess if, you know, if there's not much of that going on in my state, then it's kind of is what it is, you know.
But, you know, I'm thinking of just doing the ATT thing and then just, you know, if I do get that position and then just grinding that, you know.
Yeah, that's, I think that's totally fine.
Yeah.
I would, yeah, whatever you can do to stay in the workplace is general, is good.
And I would also stay in the workplace with the general idea that you are going to use this for contacts.
Right, right, right.
Yes.
So, you know, I mean, if you're going to go into ATT, I assume with ATT, you're going to meet some people who are pretty good at a business because, you know, they're they're able to survive in a difficult economy, right?
So if you can find those people, then maybe those people can help you to get a job.
If they like you, and I'm sure they will, you're a personable fellow.
So I would say that if you can get into this organization and then you can, you know, get people who you like to work with, they like you and all of that, then I think working it not just for not just for the current job, but for the context it gives you down the road.
I think that is a, that is the way to, that is the way to go.
I generally have got most of my jobs after I sort of started working in the professional field.
Most of my jobs came from people who already knew me.
And, you know, it gives you the incentive to make sure you're really productive, that you, you work well with people and all kinds of good stuff like that.
So I think that get into the workplace, stay in the workplace and make sure that people like the living heck out of you.
Like you can't afford to be shy, if that makes sense.
Yeah, yeah.
Maybe it's not.
So, you know, let all the shy people be without work, if that makes sense.
Right, right.
Yeah.
I definitely need to try a little bit harder in that sense and be a little bit more personable.
I just, I've always kind of strongly, I think it's kind of like what you said, where like I kind of feel fake sometimes doing it because it's just not my, not how I am naturally, you know?
Yeah.
And I, people just see it as kind of like, oh, this guy's just kind of standoffish or whatever.
Yeah.
No, I get all of that.
And there is that.
But, you know, it's like the old thing, right?
You can't, you can't afford to be I say, I say precious.
That sounds like a bit derogatory.
But You can't afford to be shy in a tough economy, if that makes sense.
Yeah, I know, you're right.
You're right.
I mean, it's funny.
Do you do you do you have any alumni memberships or associations or some of where you went to school or anyone that you went to school with?
Like, if you get back in contact with people, I mean, yeah, I get it.
You know, it seems a little fake and this, that, and the other.
But if you do get back in touch with people, you know, it doesn't have to be totally fake.
You can just ask them what they're up to.
Right.
And, you know, if they remember you and they like you and they happen to have a need for things, you know, I, I mean, when I was back in the day looking for work, I just, yeah, just call up anyone, get in touch with people from my high school, get in touch with people from my university, what you're doing these days.
And, you know, first of all, it's a nice way to reconnect anyway.
And it helps sort of oppose some of the shy stuff.
And, you know, it doesn't have to be like, hey, man, I'm only getting in touch with you because I want a job.
I mean, it can be just, you know, and then you just, you've got to, you got to just work your network and you've got to just be friendly.
And of course, the other thing, too, is that if you get a network going and maybe they can get you a job, and then maybe if you're at the phone company and you hear of a job opening up, you can also say to people, hey, you know, I just heard about this.
You should apply.
You got a network.
You know, the solitary stuff is for like flourishing capitalism and this sort of late semi-socialistic hellscape of opportunity out there.
You got to just, you can't do it alone.
You can't do it alone anymore.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Because you're just a pile of resume from here to the ceiling, right?
You're just one piece of paper.
It's got to be some kind of recommendation or, you know, so-and-so sent me and some way to stick out from the crowd because I don't think people get jobs through sending resumes in anymore, particularly now with AI.
AI could send resumes by the billions.
And everyone's got their automatic filters.
And a lot of times the hiring process is just a fig leaf because they already have someone they want to hire, but for some reason they, you know, they got to put it out there and so on.
And then, of course, a lot of people are getting the H-1Bs or the workers from overseas because apparently you have to drill right through the center of the earth in order to get someone who can say, do you want cream with your coffee?
Apparently, that's just nobody around who can do that.
So yeah, I think the idea that you can afford to be shy or not social or not network in the modern economy is, I say outdated, right?
But it's not, it's sort of like you'd much rather, I mean, how did you, how did you meet your wife?
Was it a dating app or did you know someone?
No, no, we met, we met back in college.
Okay, right.
So, you know, I mean, people, shy people prefer dating apps because you don't have to go talk to people.
But dating apps statistically are not a great way to meet people.
So you just got to, you know, I get the fakeness of it too.
I want things that are more authentic and so on.
But, you know, who wants to be authentic and living in a homeless shelter?
Not that I'm saying that's your fate, but it's better to be a little less.
It's better to be a little more awkward, maybe a little less authentic and have a job.
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
No, you're right.
You're right.
You're 100% right about that.
Get in the workplace, get your network going and be super helpful to your boss, be very likable to your coworkers so that, you know, first of all, and then everyone says, hey, do you remember that guy?
Propaganda's Work Done00:05:59
Oh, he was a great guy, you know, and just have that positive reputation.
Like, I mean, I had the reputation of absolute, like, I would get the job done no matter what.
No matter if I had to, I mean, I once had to stay up for two nights straight, like three days straight to finish a project.
I did it.
I did it.
That's just what you do.
And I'm sure you have a similar kind of work ethic.
And you just like, no matter what, I wanted to be like, you know, those videos where they throw stuff into the big grinders, you know, like, here's a here's a chair, here's a table, here's an anvil, you know, and they just grind them up.
And I just, I was like the big grinder guy.
Like, whatever you threw at me, I would find a way to get it done.
And once you get that kind of reputation, then people will just recommend you, particularly for the tough tasks, which are the ones that I liked the most.
I'm so sorry.
You were about to say, and I kept yammering on.
No, no, sorry.
Yeah.
I mean, you know, funnily enough, this is a little bit unrelated, but, you know, I've always considered myself to be, you know, that kind of person.
Like, I work really hard and I try to, you know, learn as much as I can on a job and try to solve a problem that, you know, back when I was coding, especially, I really enjoyed solving like problems that people were saying, like, hey, we can't do this kind of thing.
You know, I would really like buckle down and try to do that.
You know, but it's funny when you say like, oh, you have to be likable this and that.
Dude, like, especially, for example, right now with this electrician thing that I'm doing, man, in this union, 90% of the people that are in this, in, in, in this union, well, I don't want to tell you too much, but I live close to a city, like where the union is, it's in a city that's very, very liberal.
And it is so depressing, man.
Like, I'm in this union and these kids are just like these guys that I'm working with, they're brazenly talking about basically like killing conservatives.
And I'm just like, what?
Like, like, it feels so, I don't know how to explain it, but it's kind of hard to imagine myself sort of working with these people, you know, when they have that kind of mentality, you know?
Oh, yeah, no, I get that.
Yeah, because I mean, their enemy, the free market is their enemy, right?
Dude, it's honestly, it's terrifying.
Like, I've never, I've never in my life, like, you know, when I was growing up and stuff, you know, there was some sort of animosity and stuff, but it feels kind of crazy, like the degree to which it's gotten.
Oh, yeah.
The propaganda has done its work.
Yeah.
No question.
The propaganda has done its work.
Yeah.
And it makes it hard sometimes because I'm with coworkers, but I'm like, I don't know.
It's very hard for me to even make conversation with a lot of these people because they're just so foreign to me.
You know, I don't even know what to talk about because, you know, they're people that are unhealthy, you know, just out of shape.
They don't take care of themselves.
Half of them are men that look like women.
And it's just like, like, I have nothing in common with you people, you know?
So I don't know.
Sometimes it's, it gets to me as well, you know, in that sense, where it's like kind of hard for me to like even relate, you know?
Oh, no, I get that for sure.
I mean, I had similar things when I was in university, just about how terrible people were as a whole.
And yeah, it was, it was pretty monstrous.
Yeah.
And there's no, there's, I mean, I don't have any good philosophical answers to that other than, you know, these people are almost like blood enemies.
And unfortunately, we just live in a society where, you know, to these two, these two opposing forces, they can't both live in the same society and they can't both walk out of the same rooms.
Like they just, they just can't.
Yeah, well, what, what's your, just kind of unrelated at this point, but what's kind of like your feel right now for like where things are going?
I mean, I know you're, you're heavy into Bitcoin and, you know, and all that, but like, like, I wonder more, more just like, do you think a civil war is something that is, that is a possibility at this point?
Or it's tough because, of course, the civil war requires there to be two combatants, right?
And there aren't because, you know, I just was doing a show with this about this with someone today.
So I won't get into more details because I kind of talked about it there.
But how is there going to be, how are there two combatants, right?
There's only one that has control of the media and all of that.
So.
Yeah, that's true.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I mean, especially my biggest gripe really is that Like conservatives, I feel like have been kind of, you know, like the modern conservative, it's just like, it feels like it's just a Democrat from 20 years ago at this point.
Yeah.
And it feels like neither side, like both sides are basically hell-bent on government spending and all that.
So as a Venezuelan, it's very demoralizing because my grandfather, he's from Cuba.
He escaped Cuba and moved and moved to Venezuela back in the 70s to restart his life there.
And then obviously, you know, once the socialist revolution happened in Venezuela, he escaped Venezuela.
We all escaped Venezuela and moved to the United States.
And now it's like this place is, so it kind of just, I don't know, man.
Way It's Always Been00:01:15
It's the way it's always going to be as long as we have governments.
Right.
I mean, it's just how it's always going to be.
And there's just no way to avoid it except by, you know, doing this kind of thing where we, you know, work on the peaceful parenting and try and sort that stuff out.
But yeah, it's just the way it's always going to be.
Yeah.
All right, man.
Well, hey, I really appreciate, you know, your help here.
And I do feel better.
I've been feeling better the last week.
You know, I've just kind of realized that I just have to knuckle down and just work through this.
You know, there's a lot of things.
Yeah, and just remember, like life is, is, is, is just a lot of problems, back to back and face to face.
That's what life is.
And you've got your problems.
And, you know, we are problem-solving machines as a whole.
So having problems means that you're alive.
And there's no particular way to be alive without having these kinds of problems.
And, you know, you will, of course, be an even more careful driver and all these other good things that are going on.
So, you know, this will, you'll, you'll, you get a better house out of this and all this kind of good stuff too.