One time I was called down to a restaurant to determine why there was an electrical problem in the kitchen.  I determined that there was a short somewhere in one of the kitchen circuits.

This particular kitchen had a concrete floor and running along in the floor was a crack.  The wiring had been installed in metal conduit buried in the floor.  There was also a water leak that, for some indeterminate time in the past, had been running water down the crack to the floor below.  I determined that the short was in the conduit buried in the floor.  Therefore I needed to tear up the concrete floor, find the conduit that held the short and correct the problem.

We found the problematic conduit.  It had been completely rusted away for about 10 inches by the running water.  The wire insulation had also been eaten away, exposing the copper wiring to the water and metal.

At that time PVC conduit was not yet available.  I had to cut the metal conduit back to where there was clean pipe at either end, insert a short piece, re-pull the wire, and re-pour the concrete.  I had no idea how long the fix would last, because basically, I had just recreated the original circumstances.

I mention PVC because of its superior properties when it comes to using it as electrical conduit.  PVC is an acronym for Poly-Vinyl Chloride.  This is an ideal electrical conduit because it doesn’t produce condensation inside the pipe.  It has a certain amount of flexibility and stretch.

It does however have a few downsides to take into account.

PVC does not conduct electricity, so it cannot be used as a grounding element in an electrical system.  It does not bend as metal conduit does, so it is less convenient for use.

The way that we have overcome these failings is to carry a ground wire inside the PVC conduit and to carry manufactured, pre-bent, fittings.  It is also possible to bend PVC by heating it at the point of the bend, perform the bend, and then cool it quickly so that it comes out of its Delta and reforms with its original hardness.

Bending PVC by means of heat has two concerns; 1) the conduit wall may be slightly thinner and less able to withstand outside pressure.  2) it is very possible to overheat and thus burn the conduit beyond redemption.

Recently there have been some advances in PVC bending.  There is now available a spring insert that can be placed in a PVC conduit at the point of the bend.  The PVC is then bent as you would a piece of metal conduit and the spring insert is then withdrawn.

Here again there is the concern about the conduit wall thickness after performing such a bend.  The upside is that, as in the case of the concrete floor experience above, a PVC conduit would last much longer and resist the possibility of corrosion.

In fact the half-life of PVC has not yet been determined.  It has only been around for a short time.  Not long enough to determine its ultimate longevity.

I have some very vivid scenes in my mind from driving back and forth to Pullman for various jobs.  I remember when four of us were driving to Pullman before dawn.  When the sun came up on our left, we were all talking and visiting as the sun rose over the tops of the hills.  All at the same time we all stopped talking to look at the beautiful sight.

Another time I was driving alone on a wintery day.  It was January 1.  As I came up out of the valley by Spangle, the early morning sun just flashed before my eyes.  I realized that a cut in the hills south east of me had allowed the sun to flash through for a brief moment.  I was always curious about that cut in the hills, and wanted to drive down and find it, but I never found the time.

On a different wintery day, on another trip to Pullman, as I passed through the Spokane area on my way south, I noticed small patches of green and red in the snow, on and beside the highway.  I realized that it was anti-freeze from radiators that had been damaged in traffic accidents.

After I passed downtown Spokane there were no more colorful green and red patches.  After I passed Rosalia, there was no more pavement to be seen because the snow was packing as it fell.  After a short time I would notice a black patch on the white road.  That meant that some of the packed snow had kicked loose to reveal the black pavement.  Using the intermittent black patches, I was able to navigate my way to the job site in Pullman.

I worked all day on the college campus at Pullman.  All day long I wondered how I would make it home.  When it was time to go, I called my wife and told her that if I wasn’t home in 2 hours to come looking for me.  She knew what route I would be taking.

As I pulled up to the highway the night was lit by a full moon, … and the road was perfectly clear.  Apparently either the road crews or the wind had completely cleared the highway.  It was one of the easiest drives I ever made.  I think I met no more than 5 cars on the road on that trip home.

Some workmen have jobs where there is very little variety.  For instance, some men may work only on high-rise towers, or in manufacturing plants, or military jobs, or huge apartment buildings, or residential homes.  Fortunately, in my 65 years of being an electrician, I have worked on such a variety of jobs I have never been bored.

As I previously wrote, I have been employed in North Dakota, Montana, Washington and Idaho.  I have worked in small farming communities to places as large as the Port of Seattle.  I have worked for electric shops large and small as well as establishing and running my own business for 25 years.

People talk about starting a business on a shoe-string.  Our shoe-string was about 2 inches long.

A friend of mine asked me to do some work on her place as I was out of work.  I accepted.  She paid me $8.00.  Another friend asked me to do some work, so I spent the $8.00 on material.  This friend paid me $30.00.  I received $100.00 for the next job I did.  Then I had to buy gas.

There was a sale on at one of the supply houses so I borrowed some money from another friend and purchased a used station wagon and $200.00 of material.  After spending money on licenses, insurances and permits we were in business.

A couple of years went by before we ran out of work.  I went to Seattle.  One of the Seattle contractors I was working for got a job in Pullman.  I got to come home and travel to Pullman for work each day.   After the job in Pullman completed, work around Spokane had picked up enough that I could stay at home and make a living.

For a time I would work Monday through Thursday noon in Seattle and then drive home.  On Fridays I would catch up on all my local jobs for my business.  On Sunday afternoon I would drive back to Seattle.

On my way to and from Seattle I would often encounter cars in the ditch, rolled over, etc.  There were traffic delays and very often heavy fog.  Sometimes the fog was so heavy I couldn’t see the cars on the other half of the highway, but I could hear them.  I noticed that some drivers would pass me up and disappear into the fog.  I figured out that if I could speed up just enough to keep their taillights in sight, I could make better time.  Neither would I be likely to be rear-ended.  One time I followed someone right off the freeway, not realizing we were on the exit.

Working in Pullman about 100 miles away was much the same.  After a few years of that I was happy to stay home and work.

I finally got here from there.