So lately at Mona things have been a little frustrating for me in the fire alarm (life safety) division. The foreman I was working with went to a new contractor so I've been bouncing around for the pass the month or so. Well being an apprentice seems to make the new people I come across doubt my ability. Now granted being only a year deep in the trade there is a world of things I will learn and a ton of space to improve, but at the same time there's only one way to learn and this isn't rocket science. The real thing that has been bothering me the most is that when I'm working with a journeyman and there's an issue completely our task in a timely manner instead of stating the reason I've pretty much been thrown under the bus by statements like "well you know Mike's only a 2nd year apprentice". That statement right there just burns me up but I digress.
So yesterday I was was feeling pretty vindicated because I had to organize some material and wasn't a part of the same team I was working with before and the same task we all were working together on the previous day took a little more than twice the time without me. I felt like I dealt a little smack to the face of the whole "well you know Mike's only a 2nd year apprentice" bs.
Well today I was feeling pretty good moving at a good pace demoing and rewiring some duct detectors. One of the journeymen happen to come across one he believed to be inaccessible because of the location. We always mess with eachother so I talked a little trash on how I would make it happen and show him how its done all that good stuff. So I flew through the one I was working on so I could get a shot at this detector and possible bring some credit to my name instead of just being known as the "help". Well it was in a pretty tough location but after moving the 2' by 2' tile while the fixture still attached I managed to get most of the work done as far as the wiring and just had to remove the detector. At this point I just had enough space for my arms but I needed to get my upper body in the ceiling as well and the fixture was getting caught ont he grid preventing the tile from moving any further. So I decided to take the cover off to make a little more room. That still wasn't enough so I noticed the screws holding up the fixture were already loose so I just took them out let the fixture hang and this gave me the space I needed. Well I managed to get the detector out and I was feeling like the man. So I began to put the fixture back and while doing so I was thinking about all the trash I was going to talk to the journeyman and just as im putting the last screw up for the plate bam the plate nicks the wire and causes a big arc than the light goes out. Boy did that suck I felt like doodoo. Luckily it was the emergency circuit we just had to cut the feed wirenut a new piece of wire down to the fixture and everything was all good but it was definitely a humbling experience.
The Wild Ride Continues
12 years ago
