I never really liked being responsible to start a new job.  There were too many variables in the start of a new project; too many things that I wasn’t sure I knew what to do or where to start.

I would go over the blue prints and drawings.  Then I would walk the entire job to see what should be done first, second, third, etc.  After that I would make a decision of where and how I would start.

When the job had progressed fairly well along, I was much more comfortable.  Then I would take a piece of paper and the blue prints and make a list of everything that had to be done.  Sometimes the list would be organized by when it had to be done and sometimes it wasn’t.  As the job came together, progressing to completion, I would scratch the completed items off of my list.  That was satisfaction!

There were times, frequently, that another thing that I didn’t like to do would happen about that time in the life of the project.  I would be asked to go to a different job (or laid off) before the job was completed.

I knew it wasn’t possible to work on one project for my whole life – day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.  Not only is that unheard of in construction (the Winchester House aside), but it wasn’t a prospect that would have fit my personality.

Some people have that unique ability to stay at one job location their whole working life.  But that wasn’t me.  Other men have a difficulty in seeing one job through to its completion.  At a certain point they want to take off and start the next project and leave the work already started for someone else to button up.  That wasn’t me either.

I was always a little unsettled about what would be coming next, and not wanting to leave until it was completely done.  But any job was better than no job.

Many times when I went through a “lay-off” and had to wait on further employment I tended to devalue my worth.  Therefore, even when I was laid off, I would have projects of my own at home.  (To make myself comfortable, they had generally been started already and were just awaiting my arrival.)

My wife cooperated by having a long “honey-do” list.  We moved our mobile homes from location to location as work availability required.  I preferred living in the rural areas away from traffic, noise, and pollution.

After an extended period of “lay-off”, we managed to buy a piece of property with nothing on it except for a rundown fence.  For the next eight years we spent our spare time and what money we could eke out to build a house and outbuildings.

Then, for some strange reason, we got old and tired.

Mostly tired!

When the electrical industry comes out with something new it is a learning experience.  Sometimes the learning curve is sharp; sometimes it is long and gradual.  Depending on how much you wanted to see the change is directly related to how big a challenge it is to adopt.

The first time I installed baseboard heaters I installed some of them upside down.  Grrrr.  When GFI receptacles were first introduced, they could not be installed in series with a common neutral wire.  I learned that the hard way.  When Arc Fault Breakers were introduced, it was not possible to splice the neutral wires from different circuits together.  (This was not something I had ever liked to do, but many electricians at that time made it a practice.)

One job I had was to connect propane pumps to the propane tanks in several locations.  This type of wiring required explosion proof fittings.  The wiring, fittings, conduit, etc., all have to be assembled just right, and they must all have emergency shut off capability.

It is important that the propane fumes cannot travel up the conduit.  When the installation is complete, the wires must be sealed into the conduit.  This makes it impracticable (i.e. “impossible”) to pull out the wire at a later date and re-feed it.  You must cut out a whole section and reinstall it.

High voltage linemen have special gloves used in handling energized wire.  Despite the high expense of the gloves I had to buy a pair because I was always working with hot wires.  The gloves must be tested periodically to make sure the gloves are still safe.

Balancing circuit loading was another item I learned through experience.  I have found that the idea of balancing the circuits is often ignored.  I have found some conduit so hot that you could not hold onto it.  It was because the circuits were not balanced.

New changes and challenges; that’s why I enjoy electrical work.

At the house where I hung from the rafters, there were other problems occurring with the wiring.  Various (well, nearly all) appliances and plug in devices were not working.  There had been some Utility work done lately, and it turned out that the serving Utility had left a neutral loose on their end of the wiring.

The loose neutral had produced strange variances in the wiring voltage.  As a consequence much of the household appliances and devices had been burned out.  It took me quite awhile to determine that all of the problems were caused by the power company’s wiring.  Sometimes it’s a relief to find out it is someone else’s work that is the root cause.  Besides, the Utility pockets were deeper than mine when it came to replacing all the damaged electronic equipment.

Another job we were re-wiring was a truck stop and café that shared one building.  There were also a trucker’s lounge, laundry and shower facilities in the building.  The job entailed re-wiring nearly the whole building as well as putting in some outside lighting to enhance the appearance.

While doing all the wiring, we kept the fuel pumps and café operating at full capacity.  It required some extra effort, but it wasn’t too burdensome.  One day while we were working, we accidently cut the neutral that governed many of the facilities.  Included among them were the controllers to the communication with the fuel pump charging devices and the office computers.

When the electrician called back to the office he said; “I just blew up the truck stop.”

My wife just about died.  Well, not literally.  But she envisioned sirens, fires, explosions, walls of flames, etc.  A veritable Hollywood Movie set explosion.  She asked if he was hurt or if anyone else was hurt.

Instead, it wasn’t that type of blow up.  I apologized to the proprietor of the establishment and told him that our insurance would take care of the damages.

It was one time I collected on insurance.

The proprietor was very understanding and we didn’t lose a customer.