Telling Stories

Every morning, I call my old friend.

When the news is especially juicy, I tell him to light up a cigarette—just so we can talk it through properly.

Straw—short for Strawberry—has been my business psychologist for going on seven years. 

We talk about the wins, the losses, and all the straight-up nonsense that comes with building things. 

I’ve known him since I was 5 and worked with him during the summers of the 1990s. 

Back when we worked for my uncle’s construction company. It feels like I’ve come full circle. Almost 30 years later, here we are again.

Straw’s always got a story. 

Some of them I’ve heard ten times, but I never mind. 

There aren’t many people I talk to every day outside of my wife,  but Straw’s one of them. 

He’s usually just chillin’, always easy to reach, always good to talk.

Running construction projects is no joke, especially when it’s your name and capital on the line.

 I’m sure one day I’ll have some AI-powered assistant or robot I can bounce ideas off of. 

But when that day comes, I hope it acts like Straw. Think Fred Sanford with a tool belt,  funny, witty, and always got your back.

There are days I feel like I’m in over my head. I just need to talk it through. 

That’s when Straw becomes indispensable. 

He’s even on my payroll. And when I hit that first big lick, I’ll make sure to surprise him properly.

I tell him about the systems I’m building—financial models, apps, dashboards. 

He listens.

 Supports me.

Probably doesn’t fully understand how any of it works. And that’s okay. 

In a way, I’m building the tools that could’ve made guys like Straw rich if they had existed back then.

These days, I’m building things you can’t touch: processes, code, logic, workflows. 

All designed to make this construction life just a little more efficient and a lot more profitable.

Straw always reminds me: a carpenter can fall back on his tools.

And that’s how I see it too.

Some of us will keep wearing tool belts. Others will sit behind screens writing scripts and spinning up automations. But no matter what the future holds—robots, AI, whatever—I’ll be ready. I’ve got a hammer in one hand and a keyboard in the other.

And I’ll always make time to talk it through with an old friend.