Tah Haaaaaw...........!
A prison record helps around here too. Most guys are less apt to screw you if they believe they will get thrown off a bridge, or end up duct taped in a trunk.
What part of Colorado are you in mastermetal?
I'll tell you, it's good to know pipe, but way more lucrative to have fabrication skills - way more. And if you are proficiant at both, you will go a long way in a state like Colorado. A lot of guys that come up here thinking they will get their foot in the door don't really achieve much more than a couple paychecks and a good swift kick in the hynie. They could weld pop cans together, but start scratching their heads when they have to engineer something big. Not only is competition tough here, so is the cost of living. If you're used to paying 500 bucks for rent and come here with your 60 dollar an hour rate, you will find out in a hurry that you won't make it. Shoot, you cant rent a double wide here for less than 1500.00 a month. The welding society here is a revolving door of wanna be's, has beens, and big mouths. They all end up leaving. The rest of us that stick around, well.........there's a reason why we survive here. Some of us do honest to goodness business, and the others have to steal their work. I'm the former of the 2.
I've got a big project on the drawing board. If it happens, I'll need hands that can think on their feet, and keep up with me. I bid high so we'll see what happens..........
ps. yeah I never had a dui cause it was part of the plea agreement..............for real.