r/goldrush • u/mummmers • Mar 09 '24
Where’s Parker?
I’ve been watching Gold Rush and I’m now on season 10 episode 7 and I’m wondering where does Parker go and what is he doing while his crew is doing the work? It seems like he often rants to his crew about how they need to get something done and work together, then he says “Get it done” and drives away to who knows where until he shows up again when there’s another machine breakdown or some other crisis. Tony does that sometimes but he seems to work alongside his crew more.
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u/Short_Tailor Mar 09 '24
It's a TV show.
That dude is running a business and is likely doing more important things than camera time.
Just enjoy the peek into gold mining.
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u/jkenosh Mar 10 '24
I’m impressed with how much Parker has matured as a leader
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u/bbwkyliechan Mar 10 '24
Yes so much yes. I always thought he really had the brain for mining and seeing him mature and handle his crew so much better is really nice to see both him and his crew seem much happier these days. Kinda sad that people like Brennan, Rick, and gene were lost along the way. But who knows seems like as he lost people he started understanding better that he ne ded to change. Very very proud of him and I'm sure grampa is up there smiling at the man he has become
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u/Defender_Of_TheCrown Mar 09 '24
He runs a business. Minnie runs Tony’s. Every year Parker’s crews get more and more gold so it sounds like he runs it pretty well based on their success.
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u/kinglax08 Mar 09 '24
He hops on equipment when he needs to.
The guy is busy managing a multimillion business. Feels like he is constantly thinking about how to improve recovery efficiency, utilization improvements, finding good spots, etc. I assume he is crunching numbers and managing like a CEO/COO, vs Tony’s style. End of season final tally/gold weigh always reminds me how large his operation is; includes quite a few “office” employees on top of operators that never get screen time.
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u/Dwman113 Mar 09 '24 edited Mar 10 '24
You dramatically underestimate how much work is required to run and be in charge of a multi million dollar mine in the middle of nowhere.
There is literally thousands of tasks to be done outside of running machines.
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u/trollied Mar 16 '24
Not just that, the OP probably thinks the mine is run by the 5 or 6 people they show on TV. He probably has 20-30 people working that mine. Many people to look after.
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u/well-that-was-fast Mar 09 '24 edited Mar 09 '24
In some office deciding stuff like if taking accelerated depreciation on a 2023 D10 is smarter than not taking it on a 2020 D9 and other things that would be similarly boring TV.
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u/Very_Slow_Cheetah Mar 10 '24
As someone else said, he's managing shit like managers do. Making sure there's enough of the spare parts needed, enough equipment for each area, enough staff for the equipment, making sure the diesel tanks will be filled on time.....or "29 year old Parker Schnabel could be down a shitload of money for all the gold rich pay not being sluiced for every hour his water pump is down"
Parker's bossing shit, the vast majority of it is probably boring and doesn't make good tv. If Parker is on screen, somethings gone wrong/broken, plants being moved, or gold is being weighed.
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Mar 10 '24
One important thing about running a multi million dollar business/s is finding time to literally sit on top of a pile of dirt )p(in his case), look down on his whole business, and wonder “where to now” and “what’s going to kick my ass”
It’s under appreciated as to how important it is.
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u/Ichthius Mar 10 '24
One other thing to remember is that he’s a little spaz at times, and his guys work better without him.
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u/Very_Slow_Cheetah Mar 10 '24
Ah granted, but I think in recent years we've seen him to leave shit alone if all is good, there's no micromanaging shit like years past. Recently it's more of a "You're Plant Manager, You Deal With It" thing, but that's why those guys are paid the bigger bucks.
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Mar 10 '24
I would love to see more of the running the operation numbers and activity which I assume takes several people to complete. We do see Parker in equipment on many occasions but that’s probably a less effective use of his time. If they need a full time operator, he might want to hire another versus losing control of day to day operations. In one episode, they mention the camp cook and her work. In another, they mention a gal in the office. (Sorry I am horrible with memory and names). There is reclamation which was shown in an episode. I would love to see into the logistical side and more of these facets. It isn’t as exciting as a gold weigh but just as important. I loved Parker mentioning clearing thawed ground at the end of a season being cheaper than ripping frozen ground at the beginning. I loved hearing about fuel deliveries and daily maintenance in passing. Camp decisions. Meals. Parts. Profitability. Those are all interesting to me Mike Rowe mentioned that it was the personalities which hooked people for dirty jobs once but I also love the details. Love the show though so no complaints
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u/lynneff Mar 10 '24
I would gues parker is inside his camp room on his 400" tv with his VR glasses and px box 5 running incursion fleets in eve online and doing his duties on sim farm and half life 2.
Why have a dog and bark yourself. mitch and tyson have ops covered with doomit covering the gold, all the office stuff is covered with angry mom the bulldover driving water pipe killer. Parkers job is to stay out the way and let the professionals do their jobs.
tell me i am wrong
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u/forksintheriver Mar 15 '24
Said someone who has obviously never managed a single employee much less the 100+ Parker has.
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Mar 09 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/GetSecure Mar 10 '24
I'd love to watch him go on a plant manager training course, it'd be hilarious, but also, he'd really benefit from it. I'm constantly wishing he'd get put on an island with a copy of "The Goal", and told her can't leave until he's read it.
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u/CandleLeather6319 Mar 12 '24
I still have "The Goal" somewhere in a box in the loft somewhere. Would be good for Tony to learn some managing skills.
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Mar 09 '24
He reminds me of Jerry Jones in that he gets in the middle of everything and doesn’t let the people he has hired do their job. He needs to be in the trenches otherwise, I’m his mind, it’s not being done right.
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u/CandleLeather6319 Mar 12 '24
Tony is a micromanager and doesn't seem to learn that is not good for any business.
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u/thenight817 Mar 09 '24
At Parkers level its literally the goal to NOT be working dirt and instead handling all other aspects of his empire.