Lessons from a week.

A week has gone by since I started this job.. so I thought I would share some nuggets of wisdom from an electricians point of view.


The moment you take off your gloves, you get splinters.
Ladders help a lot
If there is no breeze, it's going to be a hot work day
Water + wood makes a smelly humid house
Ask if you don't know, 'cuz you don't want to do it over again
2 story houses are good, unless your going up and down them repeatedly.
Large lunches are awesome
Don't sweat the small stuff 'cuz your gonna sweat all day
Sandy soil is awful to dig into
You will be sore
Under the sink outlets are of the devil
No one will notice if your light isn't actually in the middle of the room
Always have something to write with
If your hands don't have an owie.... your not working hard enough
Always make sure your circuit is OFF
Who needs a 3rd hand, you got a mouth
You cant do construction and not get dirty
Use your cell phone calculator if you cant do math in your head
Shower so the rest of society can deal with you
Don't force it, use a longer screw
Cold water has never tasted so good
Watch your head
Hammers are dangerous and malevolent

As you can prob figure out each of these has a story behind it and if you are interested I can share the stories.... but I think your imagination makes them much more funny.
Heres some pictures for your enjoyment

The undersink plug of doom..... and The kitchen of my first house
sorry i dont have more but I dont really have time to take pictures while working.

Work

So for all those who dont care i have a job now doing electrical construction. (I think that is what it's called) and sadly for those who had high hopes.... i am coming to the reunion. (haha I think I'm sooo funny)

Jared asked me why I wanted this job so I'll answer here. I thought it would be good experience and help me get big muscles like Nate (the great) has. Also if I need to in the future I can fall back on it. And it will feel good to know how to do this stuff.

I was really apprehensive on the first day (today) but it turned out ok. I made sure i had a good breakfast and took a large lunch as I was sure i would need it. Got there early and of course the boss (Dave) was late so I'm wating at the gate twiddling my thumbs thinking of all the negative things that could happen like I always do. Well we get into the building and clock in and I'm standing around feeling useless and Dave tell's me to go with Nick in the company truck (which like all construction trucks was dirty but I expected this) I soon learned that it was just Nick and I going to do finishing work on a house. We drove out to the eastern part of Las Cruces were the new developments are. (There is also a brand new Ele. School so I'm guessing the projected growth of the area is large) After bringing in gear Nick showed me how to do plugs.. so I did plugs

After a few questions (like why does this one have 3 lines in it? Oh thats GFI and the wire that is twisted is your line) I got busy. I was SOO glad for my MP3 player. Nick had a radio playing rap, the plumber had spanish Polka, the tiler had country and while I usualy dont mind country.... adding it with the other 2 just makes me cringe. While i was doing plugs (much more slower then when Nick did it) Nick worked on the outside plugs, stand thingy where meter goes, AC. And got a lot done.

We had lunch and I sat down the entire time trying to rest up knowing my body is not happy with me.. (trying to do plugs over a counter that was just glued so you cant lean on it is REALLY tough!) Thank Goodness i packed a large lunch and lots of water cuz i needed all of it.
around 1PM I started to notice getting a little tired and 2pm I could really start to feel it and I started watching the clock. By now I'd finished the plugs and started working on Switches. Now I cant sit down and do them I have to stand. Nick had already switched to doing lights and fans... he hates fans. Can't do them fast or you break something (the last one he did he broke the glass covering the lights on it.)

3pm i was really starting to lag. So I'd do things "as soon as i finish these switches then ill take a drink of water" which worked pretty well. Finally 4 came around and we started to clean up.. holy cow going up and down is really tough! We got the fixtures we hadn't put up away and drove back to the office... whatever you call it. WHEW I survived! It felt really good to sit down.

Got back home took a shower and i know Im going to hurt tomorrow!

anyways thought you might be interested in my first day.

And i think this house would look much better with white instead of ivory plugs and switches and if it had a LOT less Brown! (but then I'm colorblind..... oh well)

Hope your all having fun and I'm REALLY looking foreward to teh reunin......

i am going to fire my keyboard.