“I’m happy with what I have,” sixty-six-year-old electrician and casino connoisseur Eduardo Molina said. “It’s kind of like they say, stop wanting what you want. I want this, I want that. You’re always unhappy. You know what? I don’t want it anymore. Now you’re happy!” And that’s exactly how Eduardo Molina lives.

Molina worked with his crew from General Lighting Services Inc. on the underground electrical wiring for the portables at Los Altos. Although he’s a month away from retirement, he still takes his work as seriously as he did 45 years ago, when he finished his Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee program. He guides his crew members, who call him “Eddie,” with the same care he received from his brother-in-law and electrician mentor, Randy, who pushed him to perfect his craft. 

“I used to tell him, ‘You know, Randy, one of these days I’m gonna be as good as you,’” Molina said. “And [Randy] said, ‘No. You’re gonna be better than me.’”

Although Molina puts on a serious face at work, off duty, he takes the opportunity to enjoy the small things in life, like going to bars with his coworkers and vacationing with his girlfriend.

“My honey and I like to get away to the casino,” Molina said. “It’s out there by Sonora. It’s out of the Bay Area, out of the traffic, everything. Sometimes we hang around here, but most of the other times it’s kind of like, ‘Okay, let’s go. I’ve had enough of running around in this city life.’”

While Molina used to spend his free time on small home improvement projects like refurbishing windows, he no longer has the same energy he had in his 20s. Instead, he now takes the time after work to rest.

“I’ll watch a little TV, eat my dinner, go see my honey,” Molina said. “I used to do a lot after work but now it’s kind of like, man, I don’t know where I got that energy from. The day is still just as long but the body says, ‘Nah, I don’t think so.’”

Molina describes himself as “terrible” when he was younger, but after finding religion, he started focusing more on the joys in his personal life, using the Bible as a means to guide him.

“Life is one hell of a run,” Molina said. “When I was a young man, I was a brawler, a fighter. I’m religious, and the Bible is the book of life. It tells you how to live, how not to get in trouble, how you should respect your neighbors. It’s really interesting, but I started reading it a little bit late.”

Molina is content with his way of life. While some of the corporate workers at his company have fancy cars and big homes, Molina recognizes that an expensive lifestyle isn’t easy to maintain.

“Life is what you make of it,” Molina said. “When people want to live a higher lifestyle, like my boss or anyone else, then they have to work hard. If they want a four million dollar home, now they gotta maintain that four million dollar home. In order to maintain a four or five million dollar home, you better start making big money coming in. It all depends on what you want to do, but I’m happy with what I have.”

Editor’s Note: Molina left the Los Altos construction site on Monday, May 13.