A Decade of Change

Check out Tim McGraw's song...sums it all up rather well :)

Back When

We had an exhilerating Safety Meeting last night and our team sat together through the meal, laughing about some of the funny exchanges we've had.  Most of them head slappers based on the things those of us over 30 know that the 20 somethings never heard of.  Like the rubbernecker theory and the Rumpelstiltskin stories I mentioned in previous blogs.

Things change, of course they do.  But what a difference a mere 10 years can make!

They don't remember rotary phones.  Remember those?  We had an avacado green wall mounted phone in the kitchen.  That was THE phone for the longest time too btw...  The cord was stretched 15 feet long and would get all tangled up.  You had to dangle the receiver and let it spin to untangle it.  You had to get rid of the rotary phones when 911 came into effect...it took too long for the 9 to go around...tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick....  Talk about a pain in the ass when you dialed the number wrong and had to start all over.  However, slamming the phone down on someone was gratifying.

We sit and listen to the young guys talk about their fancy gidgets and gadgets.  Dudes love that shit.  Six Foot Scary (45) finally broke down and got a BlueRay.  Hey, that's cool right?

Remember the disks?

Think back...way back...before the VHS, before the BETA.  The disk.  A big ass album looking thing. 

Albums...omg.  I'm about to get sidetracked for a moment.  But apparently I'm old and this is acceptable....

When The Short One was a little girl, we were visiting my folks at the farmhouse.  She found a 45 in my old bedroom closet and asked me what kind of a frisbee it was.

Wow.

The Tall One was about 6 when my grandmother was enjoying her birthday cake at our dinner table.  The mini Tall One asked her how old she was, and when she replied "71" his eyes just about popped out of his head. 

"Did you see the dinosaurs????"

I thought she was going to throw her fork at him.  But it had cake on it.

Getting back to the kids at work...who are only 10 years or so behind me...most of them...****sob****

They don't remember the PC era.  That's Pre Computers.

I remember when the office I worked in changed over to computers.  Big ugly ass yellow things with iddy bitty monochrome monitors that gave you a headache after an hour.  And the gigantic mainframe.

And using a typewriter.

In fact, it was a really good typewriter if it had the little preview screen that let you preview one bloody sentence at a time before you hit enter and it typed it out for you.  That was an electric typewriter.  I learned on the really ancient model you had to drive the keys all the way down, and listen for the satisfying little wack, wack, wack as you typed away.  And it dinged when you got to the end.  And the whole cartridge moved when you hit return.  You had to make sure your table was sturdy or shit would get knocked over.

Laptops.

pffft.

IPods.

sheesh.

Things have changed so much...but it's fun to remember..

Big hair, harlem pants, Cougar boots with the laces undone.....

The New Role

This is what I love about my job....it's always changing :)

Basically, I'm a piping estimator.  Recently it was pointed out to me, by a guy, this doesn't sound very...uhmmmm...ladylike. 

Sigh...

So just to clarify...I'm not looking at crotches and feet and guessing who's hung to where...  I look at drawings of mechanical systems - gas lines, water lines...pipe..I measure the lengths, count the fittings..consider the job from set up to clean up and take a wild stab at cost.  And yeah...I'm used to the jokes, and may have participated in the crude humour once or twice.  Hard not to.  You try taking off (and that's actually an estimating term, perv) fittings...nipples, male adaptors, female adaptors, plugs, valves...you get the picture.  I didn't name the stuff, I just take it off. 

See you just can't talk about this shit without grinning.

So that's what I do when I'm not on a jobsite...I go back to head office and estimate PIPE until a new job is ready to go.

Then I go to site.

The gig I'm on is a sweet deal...but truth be told..am bored to tears after a year of document control.  Paper shuffling with flare.  yawnsville.

BUT...my job is changing.

Sometimes it's a good thing having 2 speeds...and so when I go... I git r dun..and now all the submittals and RFI's are up to date..the asbuilts are complete to date..and apparently that's not a normal thing.  So I've either completely fucked everything up (which would take a frontal lobotamy...possible, considering the amount of time I've been drunk since on this job)...or the other individuals who've done this job in the past are maybe a smidgeon slow....  Either way, and who cares anyway...I'm sitting here with next to nothing to do.  Not a good plan.  I tend to get up to no good when I have nothing to keep me otherwise occupied.    The bad side of having 2 speeds.

So I'm begging for work and the Project Manager has passed me RFQ's and odd things.  Done and Done.

****yawn*****

Low and behold...one the mechanical coordinators is moving on to greener pastures..and I have new responsibility.

Tracking pipe.

Go ahead and giggle...

This means I'm going out into the field and tracking the work as it's completed.  Very cool.

But it's cold outside.  -5 plus wind factor...brrrrrr....   The kind of cold that Cupcake and Clan would consider T-shirt weather, but for those of us here in the Canayjun Suhth...it's fucking miserable cold. 

So yesterday I went to Mark's Work Warehouse and bought some woolies.  :)  I like my new socks the best.

And soon, I'll be headed out into the field...trudging through mud, over ice...into the plant, out of the plant...  Maybe I should leave a bread trail.  Meh...

So at this point, I'm going to ask you to stay tuned as I put you on pause....and I'll return with story of my first Pipe Tracking Adventure.....

*********************************************************************************

......skidding into room in socked feet.....clad fashionably in long underwear and sporting most disheveled ponytail worn to date.....  I'm baaack!!!  Oh don't panic...I'm not at work looking like this, I'm at home!  Sheesh!

So....

Did you miss me?

Thought so!

Went on fantastic walk of job site!  Jolly Giant is the man who's leaving behind this little piece of heaven in search of greener pastures (as if!)...and twas he who is showing me the ropes...or, in this case, the pipes.

Jolly Giant really is a giant of a man.  The safety melon always adds a couple of inches, and with us all bundled in warm winter outerwear, we all appear slightly Michelin Man...but this man towers above me.  I am certain in fact, that if he so chose, he could place one meat-hook on my head and just pick me up.  Jolly Giant is as it implies however..he's a lovely happy Giant originally from the UK...not far from where me mum growed up.

I tucked my jeans into my fabulous new socks and laced up my winter work boots (as opposed to the summer ones which have no lining).  My winter boots have been worn exactly once since I bought them 2 years ago, so gifted am I at avoiding cold weather walks..till now...  I zipped up my coat, threw on the charming fluorescent orange dickie, my winter hat under my hard hat...safety goggles and gloves.

I knew for the first time exactly how my poor children felt stuffed into their snow suits so fat their arms no longer touch their sides....meh....

Off we trudged through the couple centimeters of snow that barely covered the mud.  Jolly Giant pointed out the spools of pipe installed and the corresponding ISO's, marked off showing progress.  I tried to ignore the men on site that actually stopped work to stare.  Barfaroni.  Jolly Giant thought it amusing.

We made our way across makeshift bridges and down temporary ladders...carefully maneuvered down sloped and winding little pathways.  Jolly Giant slipped and tripped enough to let me know that he was not a good choice for balance or support should I lose my footing.  Graceful lad he is.  We were making our way towards a good vantage point for one of the systems as one of the three overhead cranes began to move.  (Here's a picture of the job site to help you visualize this paradise we call home away from home).

The civil sub was pouring concrete through a hose that was rigged to the crane, so as to reach the high point of the formed column.  As the crane swung around, bits of concrete splattered all over the ground, so close to Jolly Giant and I that even my face was sprayed.  Attractive.  When the coast was clear, Jolly Giant grabbed my shoulder with one oversized mitt and tucked me under his arm (I mean literally..my head was under his arm) then yanked me up a little hill so he could show me the pipe system we were tracking...then we continued our journey.

Dudes I saw pipe I could walk inside of and would have to stretch to be able to touch the top.  Way kewl!!  Remember Tim from Home Improvements? Aaahhhhhhrrrrrr?  ooooohhhhrrrrr....   uhrrrrr uhrrrrrr uhrrrrrr

Y'all did that out loud didn't you?   heh heh heh

I have a lot of prep work to do yet...I've walked the job, seen the systems (knowing I won't remember diddly shit), now I need to go back and match the ISO's to the plans and walk the walk again.  I'll get it though...no worries.

That right there's some fun stuff lemme tell yeh...

And once again I count my blessings...this is a sweet gig...I am in the best business!!

I dooo luv ma job!