A flexible approach, piggybacking on available resources and processes, and driven to achieve a single goal – those in recovery can learn much from W.W. and company in this episode.
For a complete summary, go to http://breakingbad.wiki.com/Hazard_Pay. For the purposes of this blog, here is the big stuff:
- Walter White-Jesse Pinkman Meth Inc. and their new partner Mike eventually find a suitable meth lab, which is actually a network of “labs”, via a company called Vamonos Pest Control. The company is run by Ira, who has a burglary operation on the side. He uses the pest control crew to scout out potential burglary targets. WW and Jesse will cook inside houses undergoing fumigation (and have a tent surrounding the house), a perfect site because no one can see what’s going on inside and the fumigation process will take care of the odors from cooking meth.
- Walt objects to Mike paying part of their meth proceeds to pay Mike’s nine guys who are in jail. Mike calls it “legacy costs”. A grumbling Walt finally agrees, then after Mike leaves, brings up Victor’s death via box-cutter by Gus. He claims it was a result of someone taking a liberty they shouldn’t have, meaning it wasn’t Mike’s place to dole out money to “his guys” and that Walt may do something to rectify the situation.
You’ve got to admire Walt’s ingenuity. Who would dream that the house on your block that’s being fumigated is also a temporary meth lab? It’s brilliant.
Walt and Jesse have evolved and changed their meth business plan to meet changing business conditions. They began cooking in a RV, which made sense at the time because they could drive it out into the desert to an isolated spot to avoid detection by the police and the general public (who could report suspicious activities to the police). But then Hank tracked down the RV and was about to get a search warrant for the vehicle so they had to have it disposed of. Then Saul set up a meeting with Gustavo Fring who first bought their product from them, then hired the two blue crystal makers to cook for him. Then Hank was about to nail Gustavo Fring, and hence Walter and Jesse, so they had to destroy the superlab to get rid of any evidence of their wrongdoing and then oh yeah, they realized they had to erase the data and video from Gus’ laptop sitting in the APD’s evidence room. Now they need somewhere to cook but can’t afford to start another another business (or two in the case of Gus with his industrial laundry and chicken-restaurant chain.) So they piggyback on top of a pest control company that doubles as serial burglars.
But besides being really intellectually smart, Walt’s spiritually and morally unwise. He’s not only greedy – he wants the money Mike doles out to his guys in prison for himself – but he also objects to the fact that Mike thinks he has the authority to make that decision.
One strategy that our meth guys use – piggybacking on a pest control company’s operation – was a stroke of genius. Instead of spending a lot of time, money and effort building a meth lab, Walt, Jesse and Mike take advantage of an opportunity and of a resource that they have access to. In the same way (with a completely different goal in mind, of course), an addict/alcoholic can piggyback on successfully recovered substance abusers’ by using tips and techniques they come across at AA meetings, in recovery literature, online chat rooms or talking with a sponsor. The piggybacking idea falls under my seventh and final Insight of Enlightenment: “Devise a recovery plan but make it flexible.”
I’m sure Walter, when he was in college, never took a business course that addressed the issue of how to set up a meth lab with the least chance of being detected by the police and at a minimal cost. He and Jesse are flying by the seat of their meth pants in this show. Likewise I never took a college course that addressed how to turn your life around after seeing your long-time spouse kill herself with daily alcohol abuse and then have a near-death-experience from quitting drinking, sober up for awhile, then go into detox five times in one year, sober up for 18 months, get a third DWI, spend two weeks in jail and emerge to continue writing this blog. The key in all of this, besides understanding the truth of unity (no one is separate from the whole), is to make sobriety the absolute highest priority in your life. Priorities are what drive our actions. Actions are what determine the quality of our life.
If you’ve been sober for any period of time and want tools to help you keep that positive streak going, or if you feel you have a drinking problem and want a system that will inspire you and help you find your true identity, you can buy my e-Book for a mere $3.99. Happy (flipping} Meals and most Starbucks drinks cost more than that and they don’t last nearly as long as the benefits from my book! Your satisfaction is guaranteed. Go to http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/leewriter for more information.
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Note about the author of this blog:
Lee A. Eide is a freelance writer from Red Wing, MN. This blog shows how to free one’s self from any obsession by living beyond the narrow confines of the ego. His book, “Overcome Any Personal Obstacle, Including Alcoholism, By Understanding Your Ego”, is available at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/leewriter and on Amazon.com.
Also available on Amazon.com and www.xlibris.com:
“Dead Man’s Plan” – spiritual thriller that’s been described as “a unique and fascinating read” by Midwest Book Reviews and “a great, exciting story with well-developed character’s” by Mary E. Dana of SharpWriter magazine.
Author’s website is http://www.leeeide-thewriter.com. Eide lives in Red Wing with his cat, Shaggy II.
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