Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Straight out of high school, started working in slaver. Worked in the field two years. And then the foreman would always tell me, you know, hey, you know English, you graduate from high school, what are you doing here with a shovel? You know, you should be somewhere in the office.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: I did not want to go work at a fast food restaurant. So, you know, I had an uncle, you know, he was working in construction. He was a foreman. And so then I was like, hey, Theo, like, you know, let me come work for you. He was like, hey, get on the machine and you know, start messing with the joysticks. I was like, all right. He was like, it's like another Nintendo. And I was like, all right, whatever. So I got on the machine and like, I barely move and it goes, wow. It was like I got in the truck, we, you know, it was seven to five, 30, you know, 10 hour days. You know, I got in the truck, 10 minutes later, I'm knocked out. We want to be the best utility contractor, and that's kind of who I am. I want to be the best, you know, safety representative, regardless of, you know, titles or whatever. You know, I want to be the guy that they can reach out to in the fields and say, hey, man, I need some help, you know, so fancy seeing you here, right?
It's.
It's been a couple years, right, since we first met.
I know that we first met at a first, you know, one of the these older utility contractors, you know, But I appreciate you coming on today and talking about a little bit about, you know, your story. My story, I guess, a little bit. And how you got started at Moss and how I got started at Moss.
So, yeah. Thank you for coming on board.
[00:01:47] Speaker A: Thank you for having me.
[00:01:48] Speaker B: Utility contractors, right? So we both first, like my first job in construction was.
And as for a utility contractor, what was your first job?
[00:01:59] Speaker A: You see the contractor as well.
[00:02:01] Speaker B: So straight out of high school, straight.
[00:02:03] Speaker A: Out of high school, started working as labor.
I worked in the field two years, you know, being labor first, kind of escalating my way up.
Pipe helper next.
I did pipe laying for probably a month or two before I got moved up to operating the machine loader, operator, excavator operator. And then, you know, from there a safety position came out within the company that I was in interviewed for it.
Got it out of five guys. And then a month later a safety manager in that company said, hey, you're not gonna make it out there by yourself. We have a lot of formants, a lot of groups, so I'm gonna bring someone on board. And along came Mr. Angel.
[00:02:48] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. So that. That's, you know, a pretty big summary. That's a pretty big summary of how we first met each other. Right. So, like. But let's go back a little bit.
[00:02:58] Speaker A: You.
[00:02:59] Speaker B: You started off here, started off here, started off. You started off at that utility contractor as a labor, right? Yep. How long were you a labor before you started, like, moving your way up and realizing, you know, I want to stay here doing this work? Like, why? Why stick with, you know, construction?
[00:03:16] Speaker A: Well, yeah, it was roughly like around nine, ten months as labor. You know, the group I was with.
I'll back it up even further.
Whenever I got offered, you know, the position, it's. It was actually a cousin of my mom's that called her, saying that, you know, hey, does your son want to work in construction?
And she got with me and she was like, you know, do you want to work in construction? It's labor work, hand work. You're gonna be working long hours out in the sun and not in the cold as well. I was like, you know what? I was young, I didn't mind it, you know, playing soccer. I was used to the heat. So I was like, let's go for it, you know, more money in construction. So I went for it. Started off as labor. I still remember my first day to this day, man.
First day out there, man, they put that, say, you know what you're gonna be lifting?
What was it probably like 20, 30 pound bags of gravel from 10ft deep manhole by hand.
I went home sore.
So, you know, it's a pretty good day regardless. And then the foreman that I was with, he'd always said, would always tell me, you know, hey, you know, English, you graduate from high school, what are you doing here with a shovel? You know, you should be somewhere in the office, you know, somewhere bigger than this. And that kind of stuck with me. Right. And so even before that, you know, I didn't even knew what. What a safety coordinator position was the safety aspect of.
[00:04:52] Speaker B: Yeah, right.
[00:04:52] Speaker A: I didn't even knew what it was, you know, until, you know, out on the job site while working guys started showing up. You know, he would carry ppe, he would hand out ppe, he would kind of make sure that, you know, we had water, shade.
And, you know, as he came more and more, I was like, hey, so what do you do? And that's whenever I got introduced to what safety was. Yeah. And then from there, you know, I was kind of interested in that, you know, because they kept telling me, hey, you need. You need to go to the office or something, you know, because I would always translate for my foreman in any scenario, you know, whether it was talking to the engineer, the superintendent, whoever I was. I was. Want to translate.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:34] Speaker A: And so, you know, my initial thought was, you know, maybe I'll become a foreman. You know, give me a group and, you know, go from there.
But like I said, you know, I was nine years late. Nine years. Nine days. Nine.
Sorry, nine months of slavery. Then I got moved up to pipe layer because the actual pipe layer left.
So the pipe layer helper moved up as a pipe layer. They moved me as a pipe layer helper. We did that roughly around five, four to five months.
And that's whenever.
My mom's cousin, he was an excavator. It's like, you know what? Hop on the machine.
I was like, are you sure? I don't know how to use it. It's like, just come here, I'll show you. I hopped on. He got on on the side and he's like, you know, this controls this. This is for that. This is how you turn it on. This is how you turn it off. This is the, you know, the speed.
You lock the machine with this. And, you know, he was like, just move it. That's it. Started moving it. I liked it.
And, you know, soon enough, he left to be a foreman as well. The position opened up for labor. I mean, operator. That's where I went for operator.
And, you know, throughout the year, instead of that Christmas party came up safety manager. The company came out. He's like, hey, I'm, you know, we're looking for someone within the company to bring up on board on safety. And I was like, you know, I gotta go for it.
Went for it. I was the last one to go for the interview.
After the interview, he told me, you know, you're the one that stood out the most. I'll probably go with you. Two weeks later, he called me like, you got the job.
You know, I was there. Started a month later. He's like, you know what? I'm gonna bring another guy on board. That's whenever, you know, we got introduced to each other.
[00:07:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:33] Speaker B: So that's. That's kind of a good, you know, intro to, like, into construction. Right. So my. My introduction to construction was a little different. Right. Because what, you know, same thing with you. Like, I got out of high school, tried going to school, and, you know, it just wasn't working out. You know, I didn't want to waste my time, my parents time you know, I didn't want to, you know, go work. I did not want to go work at a fast food restaurant. I was like, it's not what I want to do. Like, I not want to do that.
[00:08:03] Speaker A: That's not for me.
[00:08:04] Speaker B: That's not for me. Yeah. So, you know, I had an uncle, you know, he was working in construction. He was a foreman. And so then I was like, hey, Theo, like, you know, let me come work for you, you know, and he was like, okay, come on, let me know when you're ready to go fill out the application.
And so I look back, you know, look, looking back now and you know, there was no, like, new hire process. There was nothing.
[00:08:28] Speaker A: There wasn't.
[00:08:28] Speaker B: There was nothing. You filled out application and, you know, I believe the lady's name was. Was Tana or something like that. Ms. Tana or something.
[00:08:36] Speaker A: I don't think so.
[00:08:36] Speaker B: And. And she was like, okay, here he goes. Like, have fun out there. It's like, it's gonna be hard. It's gonna be hot. And I was like, okay, cool, thank you. And fill out the paperwork. You know, that same day I was out in the field. I had, you know, my gloves, vest, hard hat, everything. I was like, all right, I guess I got to the field, you know.
You know, and like you said, I remember my first day and, you know, thinking about it, you know, now you can go as far back as, like, having to wake up early. Like, you know, my uncle's job at the time was in Dallas, and we live in Fort Worth. And so it was like, hey, I need you at the house by 5:50. If you're not here, I'm leaving. And I was like, okay, cool. And so, you know, he lived within minutes of where I lived and so drove to his house and he drove off. And, you know, we. We would go to work together and he would bring me back, you know. But that day, you know, I saw my uncle filling out some paperwork and I'm like, I'll take a nap. You know, I was like, whatever, fill out your paperwork. Because it was like, you know, he liked showing up to work early every time. So by 6:30, 6:40, he was already there waiting for all his crew to show up. And he was filling out his paperwork and reading plans, and I'm like, whatever, you know, I'll wait for seven o' clock, show up, you know.
And so then, you know, we were doing some street work, right? We were doing some paving. It was in front of this school and we were doing some paving. And so Monk was like, all right, we'll start carrying some rebar up to where they're tying the rebar. And I was like, all right. So I started, you know, carrying it, taking it to where they needed it, carried all the rebar where they needed it. And they're like, all right, well, go to my truck, get some pliers and out of Las pinsas.
And I was like, okay. It's like.
So I got there with the guys. I had a roll in one hand. I had pintas in one hand. I was like. I was like.
He was like, hi, Angelo. You know, I was like, so, you know, those two guys are really, really good guys. And. And I hold them dear to me because they. They've taught me a lot, and they're really good guys. You know, when his name was Mauricio and the other one was Pancho, Pancho Salaos. And I won't forget about them because they're really good. I still talk to them every now and then. And so I was like, all right, so this is what you're gonna do. You can put this belt on, and, you know, you're gonna get the rebar wire, you're gonna start tying the rebar. And I was like, well, which. How many do I tie? He was like, all of them. And I was like, oh, crap. I was like, all right, start tying rebar. And man, I was so tired that day. I was like, I got in the truck. We, you know, it was seven to five, 30, you know, 10 hour days. You know, I got in the truck, 10 minutes later, I'm knocked out. You know, I was like, I was sleep. I was tired, you know, and that's kind of like where my introduction to safety, not safety to introduction to construction was right. It was, you know, doing concrete work. And it was hard. It was hot. Like, I like what you said it is.
And, you know, I worked for him, with him for. For a little bit. And then, you know, they wanted me to go back to school. So I tried going back to school. It didn't work out. So I went back to work with my uncle, and he was doing the same thing, but they also had him doing, like, concrete structures.
And so we were doing this big project over there. It was a big project for the company. It was over there off of a Beach in 30, close to Fort Worth.
[00:11:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:48] Speaker B: And we were doing these two big junction boxes or junction structures.
And I just remember, like, there's this bunch of rebar. And, you know, I was like, well, this is going to be a big Big old structure, you know. And so that's where I learned a little bit more. I started getting into it, and my uncle was like, all right, you know, fill out the jha. I was like, what the hell is jj? You know, that was going to tell you what we're going to do for the day. You know, what hazards there are and, you know, how we're going to mitigate those hazards and so on, so forth, right? What PPE you need and so on so forth. And so, all right, so I started filling it out. We're going to do this because I need to turn these in every week. I was like, why? He's like, it's required. You're required to do these documents. I was like, all right, cool. Sounds good. So, you know, I started filling out all those safety documents, and that's kind of how I really started doing safety, was filling out all the safety documentation, but it was same thing. Like, you know, my uncle's like, hey, you need a, you know, you know, you went to school here, you know, English. It was like, you need to, you know, help me start reading the plans or, you know, you start, you know, looking for your future. Like, what do you. What do you want to do? You know, I was like, you know, get into safety. And I was like, I've never done safety is like, how can I get into it? He said, well, go, go. He told me. He's like, go, go pick up some PPE from the office and talk to the safety guy there. And I was like, all right. And so I went. Talked to the guy there. I was like, hey, my uncle told me that, you know, you know, talk to you and, you know that you do safety here and this and that. So got introduced to him and, you know, so on so forth. And, you know, that Christmas Day came, and he was like, hey, you know, we're going to open up a safety position. We want to hire within, you know. And so I applied and, you know, same thing like you.
And created my presentation that he requested and so on and so forth. I think my presentation was over, like, the Dallas Cowboys or something. I don't remember what it was exactly. And he told me that, you know, unfortunately, we went with another candidate because the majority of the work with that, that company did was utility work. And we were.
What my uncle did was mainly concrete work with a little bit of utility work every now and then, right?
And so then I was like, all right, you know, that's fine. And so I told my uncle, he's like, oh, it's all right, man, you know, there's next time. And so, you know, I started doing a little bit more, I started tying rebar, started doing a little bit of more carpentry, you know, you know, and then, you know, the machines, you know, the machines were intriguing because I was like, seems pretty cool. You know, you're sitting down, you got AC and all that. And so that, that project right there off the beach, they had a demo a line, so they had to remove a line and abandon it. And so he was like, hey, get on the machine and you know, start messing with the joysticks. And I was like, all right. He was like, it's like another Nintendo. And I was like, all right, whatever. So I got on the machine and like I barely move it and it goes.
And I'm like, oh, these things are strong. And so he's like, yeah, you need to turn down the, the power on it a little bit and, and you start moving it slowly and start getting used to it. So that's where I first got on machine. He didn't let me on it for too long cuz it was like I, I wasn't used to it and it was pretty deep.
And so, you know, after that he got me on the water truck because we needed to, to water grass every day. So I got stuck on that project for like about a month just watering grass, watering every day. And so that's kind of was my introduction to, to construction and to safety. You know, later on, you know that the safety manager called me, say hey, you know what, we actually do need another safety representative because there's a lot of work, there's a lot of crews. And so, you know, I started, you know, I got pulled into safety is where I met you. And you know, you know, since then it's, it's been, it's been a journey. It really has been. You know, I'm grateful for, for my uncle and, and you know, mentorships from him and his, his son. You know, my cousin, he's in control construction as well.
And you know, I just, it's just, it feels good to be a part of something now here at Moss, right?
[00:15:48] Speaker A: It is reunited.
[00:15:49] Speaker B: Yeah, I know, right? I know that we, we took a little break and we went our separate race for a little bit and kind of got reunited here.
But what's been your like after that utility contractor, where did you go?
[00:16:05] Speaker A: So after there, man, you know, pretty much I went a little bit for, to work with us IC as a locator technician. So you know, kind of have that in the background, as well as to how they actually locate, you know, gas lines, communication lines, electric lines, and a little bit of that. So, you know, whenever it comes down to, whenever we have line strikes, incidents, I have a little bit more of a clear aspect as to, you know, how it works.
[00:16:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:28] Speaker A: At the back. Back end of, you know, locating those lines.
And then from there, you know, just pretty much. I always, you know, I wanted to get back in safety after that utility company. And so, you know, I started looking, you know, had offers from, you know, contractors, but I wanted something more settled for the company. And so I found another company. It wasn't utilities. Right. It was more of Earthwork.
Brand new to me at that point.
[00:16:58] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: But, you know, they gave me the opportunity to join them. I started with them, thankful for the manager that I had at that company, too. With him, you know, he helped me grow a bit more. And then from there, you know, I had the. The call from you wanting to join Moss, and, you know, to me, it was a little bit of a difficult decision because I was, you know, I was at a comfortable place.
But then at Moss, you know, Utilities, it'll be more of a, you know, even more comfortable because Utilities, it's like, you know, the back of my hand. I know it. You know, I work just started from labor. I know how it works.
Everything goes right from, you know, having a little bit of experience of reading how the plans go.
So, you know, that really made more of a.
This decision easier, you know, as far as was working with you. Someone familiar, familiar face.
You know, ever since I started here, you know, I gotta say, it's a unique company, man. Yeah, it's. Everyone's real friendly.
You walk down the hallway, everyone's, you know, saying hi.
It's. It's real.
It feels comfortable here.
[00:18:09] Speaker B: It's definitely a good culture here, and it is.
I've seen it change for the. From the little time that I've been here. It's definitely a good culture.
And you just. You got to put in the work, put in hard work, and, man, you'll see where it takes you. Right. And that's kind of why I wanted to bring you on board here, is because, like, I knew. I know what you had to bring to the table. Right. To Moss. Right. And I knew your background and, you know, what you did, because we know when I left that utility contractor, I ventured off, too, and I went to try other different companies with. With the intention, obviously, of making a career. Right. And, you know, that other company wasn't it, you know, the other one, you know, safety wasn't really their. Their, you know.
[00:18:50] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:51] Speaker B: You know, it was on the wall, you know, but it wasn't, you know, their. Like, it wasn't a real core value. Like, they didn't really care about it. And so I was just like, you know, it's not for me. You know, I kept. And I kept venturing off until I found Moss, you know, and. And I. I've probably told this story plenty of times where how I first really got introduced to Moss. You know, my sister has a bounce house business, and I helped her out on the weekends. And, you know, here I am driving up to freaking Parker Thane's house and dropping off bounce house. And so I get there and I see the truck he's driving. I think he was driving a king ranch at the time. And I was like, that looks like a utility contractor. I've never heard of him before. Yeah, you know, at that time, I had gotten out of. You know, I hadn't worked for a utility contractor in a while. And so then I'm setting up the bounce house, trying to see, you know, who lives in this house, you know, who's. Who's here. This is a nice house. This guy wants to make good money, you know.
[00:19:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:45] Speaker B: And so, you know, guy comes out and say, hey, how you doing? No, my name's Angel. I'm delivering this bounce house for you guys. And, you know, let me know if y' all need anything. I'll be back to pick it up. He's all right, sounds good, man. I gotta go. And so I didn't really get to talk to him, but when I came back to pick it up is when I really, like, he was outside, and I think he was wrapping stuff up with his wife and kids. And, you know, I. I pinch picked it up. I was like, hey, I seen that your truck says Moss Utilities. Like, so what do you do there? He's like, oh, I'm an operations guy. And I was like, oh, cool, man. I was like, well, I'm, you know, currently doing safety, and I also work for a construction company. He was like, oh, for real, man. It's like. Like, I think we're going to be looking for a safety here here soon. And I was like, all right, sounds good, man. So I got his number down and I just kept in the back of my pocket, you know, for the longest time until I was, like, ready and I made a call. And that's how he. I called him. And he kind of got me connected to. He was here in the past, you know, running safety department. And so that's kind of how I got introduced to Moss. And I feel like that was just like, luck, man. I just.
What are the odds, right? And, you know, just to talk a little bit more about, you know, safety and, you know, I think safety gets, at least in the past, has gotten overlooked a lot more than what it is now. Right. I can really, you know, say that safety really matters to us as utility contractor, to the general contractors who we do work for, to the owners. Right. Because, you know, we're doing projects now where they're like, you know, high profiles with, you know, you know, you can't even say the names of them nowadays because they're having, you know, they're. They're big projects. And so, you know, with that being said, they come with high expectations when it comes to scheduling, production, safety, the whole nine yards. And so that's kind of like where we have to step it up and make sure that our. Our safety department is up to expectations, up to par with their expectations. Right. You know, like, the whole change of, like, the type 2 hard hats, like, it's just part of it now. Like, you know, the whole industry is changing, you know, type two hard hats, and it's just. It's just a part of it. We want to be the best utility contractor, and that's kind of who I am. I want to be the best, you know, safety representative, regardless of, you know, titles or whatever. You know, I want to be the guy that they can reach out to in the fields and say, hey, man, I need some help. You know.
You know, a foreman reached out to me today as I had a quick question on, you know, the. The JHA has. It says this, this and that. I was like, oh, yeah, dude, I'm glad you called. I was like, the reason we have that on there is because if this happens and we need to know, you know, how to proceed, he's all right. You know, thank you. I appreciate it. And so those are the type of, you know, phone calls that I like receiving. You know, I always, you know, I get a phone call from a foreman or superintendent. I was like, you know, am I. Are we going to lunch or are we doing something else? You know, I don't want you to call me for no injuries. You know what I mean? So. Oh, yeah, unfortunately, that's, you know, part of. Part of the role is, you know, managing incidents and, you know, managing incidents and injuries and making sure that the employee is doing okay and he's getting taken care of at the end of the day.
So, you know, to me, the employee is number one. Right. And being able to give them what they need to do their work safely is most important.
And, you know, from what I've noticed here, we do way more than what other utility contractors do we do. I don't know. What are your thoughts on that?
[00:23:13] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, I agree, man. We do. We do.
You know, same thing here, man.
I like it whenever they call me, they have questions. It's like I tell them, man, I prefer you calling me and asking the question, even if you think it's ridiculous, then rather you being out there doing it wrong. Right. So, you know, you never know if you're right, you're right, but if you're wrong, then that's what we're here for. Right? And it's like every day that we're out in field, man, it's. First thing is, especially right now, during summer, it's a. Guys took a break already in the shade. You got water? Got ice?
[00:23:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:48] Speaker A: Right, because it's. It's hot out there, man.
[00:23:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:51] Speaker A: And so, you know, they're constantly working under the sun. So, you know, my. My priority is, hey, do you have water? Yeah, you know, if not, I can get you some. Or I can talk with the foreman so we can get you some.
[00:24:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I think last year we had an inspection at a project, and it just so happened to where, like, you know, everything.
I don't say. It just doesn't so happened. Right, but. So we had an inspection at a project, right? And our guys, like, knocked it out of the park. Our guys had their coolers like they had. They were doing what they were supposed to. They had their coolers, they had eyes, they had water, they had their canopy, they had shade. They were taking their breaks as necessary. And, you know, those are the phone calls, like you said that we like receiving. Hey, your guys had everything that they're supposed to and, you know, you know, good job. You know, give props to the guys, you know, but I think it's. It's the team as well. You know, I. I can't do it by myself. By all means. Like, you know, with you, Oscar Gomez and Oscar Ocampo, and, you know, we've. We've had some. Some newer additions to the team as well.
It just. I can't do it alone. Right. And we have, what, 54, some odd foremen, and so each crew is composed of six, sometimes seven employees. And so that's a lot of. It's a lot of areas that's a lot of projects, you know what I mean?
[00:25:10] Speaker A: Cover.
[00:25:10] Speaker B: Yeah. So it's.
It takes some planning to make sure that we hit these projects meticulously, to make sure that we're taking care of them.
But yeah, you know, Oscar's been knocking it out of the park out there at this high profile project, and it's kind of weird. Goes back to building relationships and what kind of culture we have. Right.
You know, the relationship that he's built with a general contractor has, you know, opened up different doors for other, you know, projects in the future. And that's kind of what we want to keep doing is building those. Those relationships to keep opening doors.
[00:25:48] Speaker A: Yeah, no, yeah. I mean, I, I gotta say, we do have a pretty good team. You know, all of. Although all the guys, including myself, we know, carry good experience, have knowledge and, you know, it's that hunger for keeping. Keep them all safe, you know, I.
[00:26:02] Speaker B: Think what I like a lot here too is like, we don't take ourselves too serious for sure. You know, seeing you be, be a part of that, you know, the pickleball tournament, going to that retreat and seeing the entire team there, like, not any company does that, you know.
[00:26:19] Speaker A: Yeah, man, that's, that's, that's a fact. Not all the companies do that.
[00:26:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:23] Speaker A: And, you know, I decided to play pickleball because I was like, well, it looks fun, man. Yeah, why not? So, but it was, it was really fun. Something unique that tomorrow and you know, look forward in the future to play even more tournaments.
[00:26:38] Speaker B: I wonder how many other construction companies have a pickleball tournament or pickleball court at that than a gym. I mean, like, you know, probably should take Garrett's word up for it and go to his jam. But, you know, I'll get there. I'll get there eventually. But yeah, you know, I think the culture here that, you know, the people here are great.
I like working here. I think it's changed my life. It's. It's let me, you know, do things that I never been able to do before.
You know, I'm grateful for everyone here, for the people who pushed me. You know, Parker's pushed me, the operations teams pushed me. You know, it feels good. It feels good to be a part of a company that cares about its employees, genuinely. Right.
[00:27:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:25] Speaker B: Hearing Garrett's words saying, you know, there's not a, you know, anything that we won't, we aren't willing to buy to make sure that we get the job done safe. Right. And that goes a long way. Right. Because, but you hear at other companies, it's like, oh, that's too expensive.
We don't have money for that. And on the contrary, here is like, we need it. Let's get it. You know what I mean? If we need it, let's get it. And that's, that's kind of the, the attitude that everybody has here is like, we got to do it, let's get it. You know, let's grind. Right?
[00:27:59] Speaker A: It is. So, yeah, and everyone pretty much helps out each other, so, you know, it doesn't matter what department you're in if, you know, they'll help you out.
[00:28:08] Speaker B: Yeah. That's interesting you say that, because I was talking to Oscar Ocampo the other day, and he was like, hey, man, this. The superintendents here are completely different than where I was at before. And I was like, what do you mean? He was like, well, you know, they actually, like, take time to explain to you what they're doing, right?
And he's like, even the foreman, the foreman are very humble about explaining things. Right. We have this project up by Sulfur Springs. And he was like, yeah, you know, we're going to cross under a utility.
Overhead. Utility line. And, you know, the farm was like, well, come on, let's. Let's go walk. We're, you know, we're working across, and, you know, there's a gas line here. And, you know, this is, this is what we're working with. And so Oscar's like, you know, he gets a good understanding so that he can help the guys out as best as possible, you know, I mean, so it just, it feels good to hear those stories, you know. It is to hear those stories.
[00:29:00] Speaker A: Yeah. And, you know, I can back it up myself, you know, whenever I'm out in the field, first thing I get, you know, talk to the foreman. He's already explaining to me what they're doing without me asking, you know, and it gives me a better idea of, you know, what they're doing to understand better on the safety wise, on what's needed.
[00:29:17] Speaker B: You know, I think we have some. Honestly, I think we have some pretty good foreman. We're not saying that we're. We're perfect all the way around. I think we're. We're always have, you know, some polishing to do, but I think we have really good foremen that care about what they do.
[00:29:34] Speaker A: Yeah, we do.
[00:29:36] Speaker B: Overall, they. They know what they're doing. You know, they have a good sense of safety, and they know that it's. It's getting to be looked at. Right. That somebody's going to question them if they see something wrong.
[00:29:49] Speaker A: Yeah, they're pretty good. Because, you know, just the other day last week I put up to a job site, you know, the problem. During an inspection, I noticed that one of the sling bands on site, you know, had a little wear and tear and needed to be replaced. And, you know, I told the foreman about it and he, you know, responded, yeah, we know it's put aside. You know, already ordered a replacement. I was like, okay, good, so you're not using. And it's like, no, it's just put aside so the guys won't use it. I was, okay, that's good. You know, the week later this week, actually, he gave me a call and he's like, hey, you know, just letting you know that we, we have replaced that band. The band's no longer on site with us. We have a new one.
[00:30:27] Speaker B: So that, that right there, it shows you that the guys care. He didn't have to call you. He didn't have to.
[00:30:34] Speaker A: You know, and it's not that, you know, I pulled up to the job site and they were using it. No, it was put to the side separate from everything else. You know, they already knew.
[00:30:43] Speaker B: Yeah. So that's, that's. That goes a long way. But aside from work, I mean, you have, you have a daughter writing a sign.
[00:30:49] Speaker A: Yeah, I have a.
She's about to be nine years. And then I have a two. Two year old boy.
[00:30:54] Speaker B: A two year old boy? Yep. Two and done.
[00:30:56] Speaker A: Two and done.
[00:30:57] Speaker B: For right now. For right now?
[00:30:59] Speaker A: Y.
For right now, yes.
[00:31:01] Speaker B: And you're still playing soccer on the side?
[00:31:03] Speaker A: Yeah, man, I, I try my best to play out there, man, because, you know, we're just getting older. Our bodies getting older, our bones, they're not the same after a certain age. So I try, I try to be out there the best as I can.
[00:31:16] Speaker B: You yourself, man, I, you know, I was, I was playing softball for a while. Like a men's league.
[00:31:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:22] Speaker B: But it just takes time. So what I leaned on to a lot here is pickleball.
[00:31:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:29] Speaker B: You know, you have pickleballs. It's competitive. It's fun. It is, it's. You have to be. You have to be somewhat athletic. Right. And so that's kind of where it challenges me, you know, getting to the ball and being able to make good shots and all that. But I like, you know, to your point, you know, we're getting older and we need to get. Being in somewhat of a good shape, so. For our kids. Right?
[00:31:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:54] Speaker B: And so that's kind of my thing is, like, you know, being. Being in the best shape possible. Right. Playing sports, trying to do something.
I need to get out with Christian and go fishing or something. I don't know.
Yeah, I got likes fishing.
Yeah, man.
[00:32:10] Speaker A: Other than playing, man. No, I watch it. I'll try to watch all the games. There is, man, from, you know, MLS here in United States, Leah Mekis in Mexico, the La Liga in Spain, you know, Bundesliga, all those, man. I try to watch all the games.
[00:32:28] Speaker B: That's honestly what I never understood about soccer. Because, like.
Like, I watched soccer games, but it's like, I never understood because there's, like, these, like, a thousand Copas, and I'm like, which Copa is what? And then, like, what really made me upset is, like, whenever there's a game and they're like, three, two.
[00:32:46] Speaker A: But the.
[00:32:46] Speaker B: The team that had two points still passed or they still won or somehow because of the point system, and I'm like, like, dude, you literally lost the game. Like, how does that work?
[00:32:56] Speaker A: Like, you know, it's just the aggregate of, you know, the score. Whoever has the. The higher score at the end of the second game, it passes through.
[00:33:04] Speaker B: So, yeah, there's always, like, that, right?
[00:33:07] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:33:08] Speaker B: And so I'm like.
[00:33:09] Speaker A: And then sometimes if it ends in a tie, it just depends on the position in the table from the tournament.
Every little league has its thing.
[00:33:18] Speaker B: What's your. Your favorite soccer player?
[00:33:21] Speaker A: Soccer player?
[00:33:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:22] Speaker A: CR. 7.
[00:33:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:24] Speaker A: Cristiano Ronaldo.
[00:33:25] Speaker B: Yeah. What about team?
[00:33:27] Speaker A: Team favorite from Mexico's Chivas.
[00:33:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:31] Speaker A: Of any others? Real Madrid, Manchester United.
[00:33:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:36] Speaker A: Mls. I gotta say. Like, Galaxy. Yeah.
[00:33:38] Speaker B: So. So I know, like, my. Like, my family's Mexican, Right. My dad's from Jalisco and my mom's from Michoacan, and my dad's not a real big soccer fan either, but he. He likes baseball, and that's kind of what I lean towards, too.
But what's the whole thing between, like, Chivas and America?
[00:33:56] Speaker A: Like, why that's funny you ask, man. It's just the whole classic rivalry.
[00:34:01] Speaker B: Classic?
[00:34:02] Speaker A: Yeah, it's just, you know, El classico. That's the two biggest soccer teams in Mexico. And it's like, you know, Barcelona and Real Madrid, the two best in the country, once they hit, that's. That's it, man.
[00:34:16] Speaker B: Classic. The way that they've explained it to me a little bit was that, like, America was kind of like the New York Yankees, that they had the money and they purchased all their players.
[00:34:26] Speaker A: Yeah, basically.
[00:34:27] Speaker B: And then there's Chivas who is like, no matter who, like, no matter what was it like they, no matter the players, they always chose like, like Mexican players.
[00:34:36] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. So that's the thing right now with them. It's the only team in the Liga at Macis that has all 100% natural born Mexicans in the team. Every other team has, you know, players from Europe, from usa, other countries, you know, basically the League of States. Only about seven can be allowed per team. But she was, you know, hopefully they stay like that for quite a bit because it's, it's quite a. How you say, or wheel.
[00:35:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:08] Speaker A: To have whenever they win a championship with 100 just Mexican players, man. Because this just speaks more about our national team, you know. Mexico.
[00:35:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:16] Speaker A: Whenever we go world, you know, the World cup, the Gold cup that just passed, which Mexico won, you know, I guess she was.
[00:35:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:25] Speaker A: But yeah, you know, it's, but I.
[00:35:27] Speaker B: Think like, honestly, if you're like just talking about work terms, if you think about Moss, Moss is going to be like America if you think about it, because it's, it's, you know, we have a lot of different cultures here and we do, you know, it's not just Mexicans, you know, there's, you know, there's Hondurans, Venezuelans, there's Salvadorians, there's, you know, it's a combination of, you know, cultures that make sure that they get the job done essentially. Right.
[00:35:55] Speaker A: They do.
[00:35:56] Speaker B: That's kind of pretty cool because, I mean, don't get me wrong, if it was just all Mexicans, that'd be cool too. Right. But I think to be the best utility contractor, we get the best people as a whole. Right? No matter who you are, we get the best people.
So that's, that's pretty cool. Well, thank you. Appreciate you coming on board today and kind of giving us your, your story and you know, telling a little bit more, telling you a little bit more about my story here at Moss. Right.
Little similar backgrounds but, you know, a little bit different paths on to where we're at today and, you know, making sure that these guys go home safe at the end of the day.
[00:36:33] Speaker A: Yeah, that's the goal.
