winners survive.

I held a high position on The Snowy Mountain Project.

Do What Ever You Like.

No digital photos then

only black n white film.

How I won the rat race, doing what I liked and being paid to enjoy myself.
I never needed a fast car when I was young or to take up some extreme sport to get my adrenalin buzz. I was paid to ride a crane hook and show-off high up on the steel purlins, what a buzz and no danger of snake bite.

There were other thrills.

I love the smell of bread baking and getting my work done early. So my first job was in a bakery the work gets done by midday and I could go swimming. I also like money and labourers on building sights were being paid more than I was earning in the bakery.

Young Jack in the Snowy Mountains.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowy_Mountains_Scheme

I gave up the bakery job and chased the gravy train for a fatter pay packet in the construction game.
There was a down turn in the building boom, I was retrenched, that was the word used instead of put off. As often happens what looks like a problem turns out to our advantage. One should never get upset when things do not go as we plan, it often turns out better in the long run.

Their boy back home for a night out.

I left my home Sydney and went to Port Kembla steel works for work.

Tongariro Development NZ.

I got a job with the Riggers they were working long hours and getting paid over-tine rates.

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=open+hearth+furnace+pictures&biw=983&bih=483&tbm=isch&imgil=qvJ_V01abVD0rM%253A%253BExIFJma74LyRMM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.britannica.com%25252Ftechnology%25252Fopen-hearth-process&source=iu&pf=m&fir=qvJ_V01abVD0rM%253A%252CExIFJma74LyRMM%252C_&usg=__n5VcehG3YOOAiRnPhKZdqCa1W0o%3D&ved=0ahUKEwirp9K2np_LAhWBwZQKHRS3DRIQyjcIMA&ei=WmnVVquSLIGD0wSU7raQAQ#imgrc=_

I was taken to the open hearth furnace where a 250 ton gantry crane was being built. I followed the boss up a series of wooden ladders lashed to the end column. It was scary up there walking along the crane track. I thought if I trip on the hog-ties I am going to get electrocuted on the wires and  fall in the soaking-pits where the steel ingots softened for rolling, if I escape that the sudden stop after falling about 80 feet would be really bad news.
We had to reach out to a ladder then step on to it, that was a real challenge. I made it and I had never felt so hyped-up.

New Plymouth Power Project, things get serious.

I was introduced to the head rigger. Then Sam Treseter, the man that led the way up, said. “There is an easier way up here I took you short cut.” I think he said that so my new work mates would know I had passed the test.
Rigging has more ups than downs, no pun intended, from then on I was paid for exercising and getting a buzz, showing off.

On top of the world, N. P.P.P.

As a 20 year old, I was driven by the pursuit of money and the pleasure of spending it, having what I considered a good time.
It was not all wasted on frivolous things. I went around the world in the 60s, not as a tourist, I got off the beaten track hitch hiking and mixing with the locals. I only speak English so it was a real adventure at times.
I learned a smile is the same in all languages, A smile will get you a ride where a worried look makes you look desperate and perhaps dangerous.
That smile became a habit with me if I am finding the going tough I smile.Then I believe my own smile and feel good.

A column being erected using two cranes.

then the Manitowoc takes over and

the column is stood up by Manitowoc.

When you can earn a living doing what you like, you have it made. You have  escaped the rodent treadmill and life is a work of joy. When you love what you do you do it so well you get promoted. This change was all for the best, I was no longer capable of being the admired show off. The young blokes won  the show-off title from me. I became the brains of the outfit or mother hen.

More responsibility.

Mt. Taranaki, paid to tour North Is. NZ

Pipe liners bury their troubles.

My job to see it done right.

My three sons on weekends.

Arapuni pipeline site.

Caravan office by lake.

Work in progress.

Wet steal and rubber sneakers are deadly, so on rainy days I would run a class on rigging safety. Based on a “Guide to Riggers.” by the Australian Labor Department, New Zealand had no equivalent in the seventies. A lot of the fun went out of rigging. I applied for a job on quality inspection on the Maui Pipe Line Project http://mauipipeline.co.nz/ and to my surprise was successful.

That is a story I should tell you as it shows how lucky I am.

My 3 sons had to be on the

My sons with me on weekends.