I used to work as a labourer on a Shipyard in Liverpool. I'm glad I don't anymore as the conditions were pretty bad, working regularly in or near sewage, asbestos, cancerous paints, etc. But I domiss the scrap. I worked mostly with Boilermakers as a grinder/firewatch so the welding tips, damaged welding cable, etc was a lovely little bonus, and in between ships I also had to clean up the docks and yard. While other people would hide in little cabins and sleep, smoke and play darts I would be out and about being seen eagerly cleaning the yard, burning pallets and moving all kinds of crap around. My days went really quick because I was literally walking around collecting broken brass padlocks, pulling broken brass burning torches out of the piles of junk, cutting the thick, black rubber hoses up that were used for fuelling ships tanks because most of them had brass couplings that were as big as hard hats and very heavy . . . I can't beleive I'm starting to miss that job now!
It's a fantastic feeling when you see a dirty, orange peice of rubber that's been churned up in the mud my a truck or a crane's tracks. pulling it and seeing a long, muddy, knotted length of welding cable. Driven over again and again, discarded and dirty. It looks gorgeous back home in my garden though, stripped and laying there on the grass, glowing in the sunshine like a pot of gold.
Sometimes it was so beautiful I didn't even want to weigh it in.
