A person is free only when their work matches their nature and they can measure themselves against a resistant material or problem; loving your work is the closest approximation to earthly happiness available to most people. This dignity is available in skilled manual labor exactly as it is in intellectual labor, because both involve confronting and solving concrete problems.
The rigger treats each erection job as an opponent with its own character: some are stubborn, some treacherous, some elegant, and the worker wins by learning that specific job's temperament rather than applying one fixed method. Competence is therefore not a transferable technique but a repertoire of attentiveness built up across many non-identical encounters.
A life can be read through the physical things a person has left standing: the cranes raised, the bridges that still carry traffic, the towers that did not fall. Under this lens, biography is measured not by stated intentions or titles but by durable artifacts that continue to function after the maker has gone.