Why every construction worker should know cheerleading moves and …

and why cat videos and two buck Chuck make for a productive day. 

I just spent an entire Saturday working on a freelance writing project. So what do I do to relax and decompress? I check my Facebook page and find that a friend of a friend posted a video on the best cat videos ever. Is this healthy? I’m not sure.

So I’m sitting in the den, while Jim snores away on the couch, and do everything I can not to laugh so loud it wakes him up. Actually, he needs to wake up as we had plans to take his mother out, who is staying with us.  Our cousin Marcy is singing at a local casino, the Atlantis,  and mother-n-law hasn’t heard her perform other than in church. I’m secretly hoping he doesn’t wake up, as the thought of staying up until 10 PM is daunting to me. But the part of me that wants to be cool and fun and sexy, thinks it might be fun to not be a slouch and go out.

After I wrapped up my freelance work for the night, I poured myself a fine glass of Two Buck Chuck Chardonnay and decided to surf the web, feeling mighty pleased with myself that I actually devoted a Saturday (and a Friday) to my new marketing and writing company. (I’m not lazy, I can do this, I can do this ….). And this freelance project is for  my first client who is not a friend.

Last night,  this his how Jim decompressed after working out of town in East Jesus Nevada, the only place in the state where there is construction work, yes, at a mine site, in Battle Mountain (again, East Jesus Nevada). He has been staying in a motel (no-tel) where the box spring was stained with something brown that resembled blood.  Now, who the hell would sleep on a mattress that looked like someone hemorrhaged? That would be a dude.

So, back to decompression. He’s been working with Gabe, for the last month or two out of town, and they always share a motel room. Being guys, they are quite comfortable hanging out in their boxers or briefs and laughing over epic farts. The stories he tells me almost make up for the fact that I miss him during the week.

This time, he told me that Gabe, an avid movie watcher, re-enacted “spirit hands” from the movie “Bring It On” about high school cheerleaders, in the work-truck coming home. Full on cheer-leading moves. Full on “spirit hands.” I laugh until I almost pee just by him giving me a Gabe impression. I beg him to let me invite Gabe and his wife and daughter over for dinner so he can perform for me too.

We spent our first hour or two together, after being apart for days, trying to call up the clip on YouTube. This is life now, right?  Couples on their iPhones searching for answers? We can’t find the full video but I find the song. You know it. It’s one of the most popular songs now played by college bands. It’s starts off with “Ya’ll ready for this.” Click here for the link.

How great is that? Two manly men construction workers, driving in a truck, and one of them doing a cheer-leading routine?

This is what makes life so grand. This is why working ain’t all that bad, because the people we work with. This is the good life. Watching cat videos, drinking cheap wine, knowing I wasn’t lazy today …