from Mr. Mayhem*
December 1990
These have been some eventful years!
I graduated from high school in 1979 and decided to skip college. I'd been working in the oil field since I was 16 and was making a name for myself there. The guys liked me and I was getting the respect of my co-workers and bosses. Why leave such a good thing?
It was hard work and I was working a lot - which I like. There is something really satisfying about putting in a full, hard day of work. I just feels really good. The other thing is that everyday I come home with all my fingers still on my hands is like a little victory. The oil field is a rough place to work and there are not many who can work it for very long without a serious accident.
Now, I'm not saying that I've been accident free. I've had plenty of near misses. In fact, once I got hit in the back of the head with drilling pipe. That is some heavy stuff. Every time I think about it I wonder just how I was able to survive that. After I woke up, I seemed OK so I went back to work. That is just what you do in this business, get up and get after it. There is no time for just hanging around. That's for retirement.
Anyway, my oil field days are now behind me. I don't live in oil field country any more. The great state of ****** asked me to leave after I got arrested for having some marijuana. I think they thought I was dealing at first but when they realized I was only using it myself for the headaches, they cut me a break. I completed probation which included treatment and living in a half-way house in the mid-west, so my record was wiped out, like it never even happened. I'm pretty lucky to have gotten such a break on a felony charge like that.
It's not too bad here though. I've started playing bass guitar and really like it. And people are telling me all the time how good I am at it. I suppose that I am but really, I just love to play. I've played piano, trumpet, french horn but I've never connected with them the way I do with the bass. I don't know. Maybe it's because I see the effect that a solid bass groove has on the dance floor. The girls totally dig it and it shows, if you know what I mean.
I've started working as an electrician. Right now, I am working toward my Journeyman's licensing. I plan to get my Master's license and go to work for myself. I'm also thinking of going to college for an engineering degree.
I don't know what the next 10 years of my life will bring. Maybe I'll finally meet that pretty lady I've been seeing around in the meetings. She has the best smile.
So long all!
Mr. Mayhem
*This is written from Mr. Mayhem's point of view as the things that happened during this time have bearing on the whole of the story.
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