Tiss the Season

When I first decided to get into the trades, I really wasn't sure where it would take me, or how much I would get out of it. Once I actually started work and realized the general simplicity of it, I wondered if it would keep my interest. Generally we fabricate and install ventilation in commercial buildings. Specifically however there is a LOT more involved in what we do. To create the simple rectangular piece of duct work that you see, there is a lot of planning, mapping, and precision involved to come to that end result. It is all that is involved in the making of such material that is keeping my interest. I believe I will be starting school in January and there is a strong possibility that it will be drafting. I'm stoked! Another thing that I have discovered however is that with all the knowledge that I will obtain over the years, I will be able to create things of mine own. My friend Andrew has put together an AWESOME pontoon boat with his skill, so in as much as our aim at work is ventilation, the knowledge can take us anywhere we wish. I do believe however that my mind does work a bit overtime with creativity. I find myself thinking up different things that I could do up on my own with the right materials. However, I do not have all the skills yet to put some of these dreams together, so I find that they can be a bit unrealistic. For instance... I have yet to own a cat carrier case that can in fact carry securely a scared adult cat. Most carrier cases out there are made of plastic with plastic joints and secured together with plastic pins. Any cat that is terrified of the great outdoors and then placed in a small space to be dragged out into this great space would be doing anything in their power to escape, and I'm telling you from experience, plastic is not the answer!! Thank goodness Tom knew his way home and traffic was not his enemy that day!! In one of my pre sleep day dreams (eve dreams?) I had invisioned a cat carrier case made out of sheet metal!! Now the fact that metal is so much more solid than plastic has it's advantages, but then again... metal is so much more HEAVIER!! So how much of the carrier could realistically be made of metal, though let me tell you, the image in my mind was fabulous!! So there is my crazy mix of what I see in my future and the lack of what I know!

I'd like to say Merry X-mas (or is it Y-mas? lol) to everyone out there! Hope your stockings aren't too stained from that lump of coal! jokes!! Take it easy (and I can say that now that I actually have a holiday free from on call work!) and drive safe!!!!!!

A Bit of X-mas Cheer!

Safety first... that is a common phrase that makes it's way around work... and for a very good reason as well. I've used just about all the machines at work now. I know what they are capable of both progressively and regressively. Claude told me the tale of how he blinked and his pinky ended up between the rollers. He didn't forget to give me the details on how his finger exploded. Couldn't eat dinner that night! Safety is VERY important when it comes to your environment. Kirby and I may be old friends by now, but there will never come a time that I won't respect every aspect of what I do.

Every day at work I do things that of course use muscle. I was thinking the other day as I struggled with my snips, that though you may be using a certain part of your body, the dominoe of muscles through out your body that you use is a lot more complicated than it may originally seem. For instance... I was trying to cut through four layers of 26 gauge metal, and I realized my hands where not strong enough to work the snips through the metal. Mario comes along and chomp! chomp! there goes the extra metal like tissue paper. I was thinking of ways to work the muscles in my hands so that there will come a time that I too can do just that. In thinking of my hand muscles I also started thinking of all the other mucles that I am using that would need strengthening to get through that metal. Arm muscles, shoulder muscles... possibly facial muscles do to all the faces I was making whilst struggling with the job...

Our X-mas party was last night. I am getting to know the people in the shop well enough, but there are still so many more faces that I have yet to put a name to. I made the decision to go with a friend and his wife. Then I would have another female to talk to if I couldn't get any conversation going with the co-workers. She it turns out was thinking the same thing. So I had a few weeks to try and figure out what I was going to wear to this shin dig. As grundgy as I get during a typical work day, I thought it would be good to show the world that I am in fact female. So I had ideas brewing in my head as to what to wear, how to do make up (yikes, what is THAT!) and so on and so forth. I thought of wearing a skirt, but then on closer inspection of my legs one night in the shower, I realized that work is definitely harder not only on my hands, but my shins as well. Skirt was out! With the help of my mum, I finally got and ensemble together and then the creator opened it's doors and let in a bit of freezing rain!! Freezing rain cancelled my friends care giver, which cancelled him and his wife from going which cancelled me going. So I didn't make it to my first work party. Next year... (and yes, it was MY choice not to go alone)

Well now.... Dusty (our cat) definitely has some interesting habits. If you recall I mention some posts ago that he tends to go around leaving doors open. Well we also have box's placed around the apartment for his sleeping pleasure. As soon as a box comes into the home, he is all over it! Well actually IN it. So now he has an old box that he started sleeping in back when we first got him (which he barely fits anymore...) a new bigger box with a sleeping matt mum bought for him in it, and a box at the end of the hall that he likes to trip you to get into whenever you show an interest in heading in that direction. If your not careful, you'll get clipped by a paw as he spies you over the edge of one of his trenches. Dusty has introduced himself to new people by standing up on his hind legs to get a better sniff of you. Most interesting however is the fact that he can now turn on the bathroom tub tap to get a drink. As soon as the shower goes on he is right there. He far prefers running water to the stagnant liquid in his bowl, no matter how often it is renewed. He went so far one evening as to hop in the shower with my daughter and wait patiently for her to finish up so he could get his ever important drink. Well this evening he took the next step and got the tap going by himself. I do hope I don't come home one day to find him having ordered cable and flipping through the nature channels while enjoying a tray of choice imported cheeses!!

The Canteloupe Are Running Across The Sky....

Time to make the donuts...

So I spent two days straight putting together TDFs (a type of duct). A TRUE TDF marathon... Time was not my friend during this period at all. I had no one close to chat with, so I did what I'm sure any other assembly worker does. I started talking to myself. Ran out of things to say so went into singing mode. One thing I have found in the month and a half I've been working there is there is nothing better than a good crew of people to work next to. When everyone feels at ease around each other and the jokes come easily, the day slides by at a faster pace. When you know that everyone else around you is going through the same things you are, it's a lot easier to just let yourself relax and not stress. It's one big party!! I was at the pinning machine giggling to myself over my sparatic pinning abilities today and I could hear Mario mumbling to himself while cutting out insulation. So A: I know I'm not alone, and B: We're all just a bunch of crazy metal workers!!

I made the donuts.

Looking Back...

Oh yeahhhhhhhh this is me.... calm... cool.... and collected....

But I have to tell you... that wasn't always me! No siree! There was a time that I too was a bit apprehensive! A bit unsure of myself! I know... hard to believe right? The stand tall... stoic Liz could NEVER have been a a tiny shivering, curled up in fetal position, rocking back and forth ball of nerves!! Oh wait... did I say that? I meant someone a fraction less than 100% on top of things... yeah... that's it!! So anyway, everytime I was faced with a new machine to operate, I had a momentary "uh oh" go through my mind. How will I do? Will I chew up a few pieces of metal? Will I... anyway, after I had my first attempt I was "oh... is this all?" Now I look forward to trying something new out. I guess it was just my step through the door that kind of had me worried. Now it's more like "BRING IT ON HOSS!!" Hard to believe that even Kirby intimidated me some. Well you know... just a tiny bit... couldn't even measure how little, honestly!

My daughter and I spent last weekend in Toronto. We had a good time. The first day there we went up the CN Tower, took some pics and then attempted the subway system to my sisters stop. Piece of cake! We went to the Pow Wow the next day, took some more pics and bought some Native crafts. Sunday we went to visit my friend Tammy whom I hadn't seen in at least 7 years. Had a good time with her. Lot's of catching up and did a bit of shopping. Then we returned to Ottawa Monday. Nice long weekend for us, glad we went. When we were on our way home, my daughter pointed something out to me that I had never considered and though somewhat amusing. She said that whenever we go visit Andrew for a night, we pack like we're going away for a week, but when we went to Toronto, we each had one small bag to carry on bus entertainment and a small overnight suitcase and Andrew lives in the same city as we do.... Wierd....

This past Friday I went in to my daughter's class and spoke to them about the Sundance. Quite the experience. Her teacher told me I had about 40 minutes to talk and then after that we could take questions. Well I only filled about 20 minutes, but we filled the whole rest of the time with questions. Was amazed at the interest there was on the topic! Afterwards I thought of so many things I wanted to say, but never brought up. Yes I was a bit nervous. Adults do get jittery too hey!!