What 2008 Has in Store!!

YEAH I'm a year two!! And I didn't even keep you completely up to date! :( I totally blame my boyfriend. He has kept me tied to the bed for the past four months (aside from work) and he..... hmmmm well I won't go THERE! Jokes! Needless to say, I've had a busy few months and I am now ready to get back into keeping a record of my progress through this thing we call a career! :)
My time at the Queensway Carleton Hospital has come to an end. I was there right up until X-mas, then after the New Year I was sent back to the shop. I am now still in the shop, but don't mind because it's FRICKEN COLD out there! I got some welding done right up to X-mas, but am back on forming, insulating and assembling duct work in shop.
The pic is of a couple of offsets I fused together (tig welding).
In an attempt to speed up the process and figure out what works best for everyone, we have been adding on to our job in the shop, whilst lessening the job on site. It doesn't necessarily make on site work easier, it just let's them do what they have to do with a bit less to worry about. Over the past week and a half we made a crazy amount of duct for a site. We then made the sleeves that go into the floor for all this duct. Now I am putting fire dampers into the sleeves and then attaching them to the corresponding piece of duct. This way we now have a piece of a riser done and ready to slide into the ground. All that needs doing is to have the pieces that fill in the space between this duct and the sleeve above. A riser being duct that goes vertically up the length of a building to branch out to all the duct on each floor. This is the first time we've taken these extra steps, so we shall see how valuable they will turn out to be for those on site. Usually we make the duct and ship it out... that for the most part is what we do.
I was thinking back in the fall that it would be cool to make something with my new found welding skills. I thought about it for a month or so and had come up with the idea of making a bed frame. After some thought on the idea however I realized a few things. First of all my welding is not what it hopefully will be down the road. I have yet to make any "bubblegum" welds, but that is not to say I don't have a lot to learn in other areas. Also the metal I wanted for the job is out of my league in price. I hadn't realized how expensive metal can be!! So the bed is on hold until further notice...
This year I thought would be the year I bought a car. I'm starting to realize however that it may not turn out that way. I am making more than I made last year by 10% which is a NICE raise, but I am still about a year away from keeping up with the various payments required to own a car. Maybe a few months down the road I'll be able to alter that thought, but for now I'm going to have to dream about wheels... I am however helping my boyfriend look for a car. He got in a bit of a scuffuffle on the Queensway with a tractor trailer and his Suzuki lost the battle. Thankfully it was just between the two vehicles and he came away 100%. :D Searching for a car is quite the task I am finding. You have to be able to judge the car AND the salesman!
I got my letter to attend my basic training in March. No I'm not heading off to the armed forces. This is the first two month full time session of classes we have to take. There are three sessions, giving us a total of six months of full time in class education throughout the five years. In my hopes to buy a car I had thought maybe I'd wait until my second year to take basic. Also it would mean I'd be doing basic, intermediate and advanced in my 3rd, 4th and 5th years, keeping the info fresh each time so that when I go to write my test I'll have most of it right there (we hope... I'm not sprind chick anymore...). Then again there is always the worry that each year we delay, we may end up having to travel to Oakville, ON to attend. Hmmmmmmmm decisions decisions!!
I'll let you know what I've decided....

Hanging Around

*sigh* I have a cold and cannot talk right now. If I were to try it wouldn't be pretty for anyone directly involved. So here I sit typing and if need be, whispering to whomever comes around.

Someone or someTHING has to be trying to give me some sort of signal. I move into a new apartment and it is almost completely renovated beforehand. It feels GREAT to be moving into such a new place. Of course the one thing I take note of as I enter into my new new abode is how wonderously PINK the tiles in the front entrance and bathroom are. Those tiles are not replacement for old finish. I have to admit they are in good shape, which would stand to reason why he did not deem it necessary to change them. However............................ PINK?!?!? What is it telling me!!!

Now that I've been on site for approximately a month, I can give a bit of comparison to the age old question "Which do you prefer, shop or site?". I'm only going to compare it because for me there is no better. Shop is warm in the winter and our shop is relatively cool(A/C), in the summer. That is ALWAYS a plus. Site is cold in the winter and can be a sweatbox in the summer. That is NEVER a plus. I find that site work goes more quickly than shop work. Shope work is repetitive, whereas site work always seems to have some sort of twist to it that either makes it impossible to hang a certain piece without chopping another trades balls off, or maybe just because it's raining and I have to weld anyway. There is never a shortage of stress in either location. Mike seems to enjoy his position and handles it quit well from my perspective anyway. Ed hates his position and never let's the opportunity to point that fact out pass him by :D . Although in all honesty he seems to be handling his situation quite well as well, so as much as you hate it Ed, your doing great!!! Ok that had nothing to do with comparisons for my oppinion, I just felt like going off on a tangent. So where were we.......... ah yes. Site will require much more clothing come the colder months, which keeps me from freezing to death, but also can keep me from getting into that perfect position to get that piece welded. Meh, will just have to try to get at it from a different angle. In shop I left my tools on the work bench I inhabited most often. On site everything has to be locked up or it WILL walk away. I put down a pair of safety glasses for three hours in the middle of a high traffic area and don't they walk away!!!! It's not like I asked for it by leaving them there or anything. LOL. There you have it. A few comparisons, but no real oppinion yet. I'm glad I am on site now, but I'd be ok in shop as well.

I got a chance to hang out near the ceiling for a whole day two weeks ago. I'm telling you the feeling of love when Ed sent me up onto that ladder to hammer drill some holes into the ceiling was overwhelming indeed!! Getting up there and then having to balance myself on the third rung from the top, reach up over me and use one of the heavier drills to vibrate my body into fear of falling, was awesome!! I'm such a lucky girl!!! Well if asked I will do it again. How else
am I going to battle this uncertainty I have in my ability to find my center and BALANCE! I've also done a bit of welding on a ladder and that I can handle. When I'm looking through a mask and the only thing I can see is the arc, I have less sense of my surroundings and don't feel the height. Monday I get to climb on top of a piece of duct hanging from the ceiling so that I can weld it together. Now THAT should be interesting!! Do wish me luck!

Welder to be........ Or not to be.............

Welder to be... or not to be...
I'm closer now to the end of my first year as an apprentice than to the shakey beginning. I can't think of any machine in the shop that I haven't used except the plasma, which I'm not seeing in my near future, but I won't discount it yet. With everything I've done over the past year, one thing still stands in the forefront for a better future... money. I'm looking forward to that 10% raise come November!!
When I first started in the trade, my goal was to start welding. I had no idea how long it would take to get to that point. It was a matter of either learning it in school first, or personal opportunity. Well personal opportunity won out first. Andrew is my first "teacher" when it comes to welding and he has made it possible for me to build enough courage to take what I've learned to work. I have now been welding in shop for over a week. I am definitely pumped about the whole thing!! I still don't know a lot of technical terms as far as the whole process and materials go, but this I know I will learn as time goes on. At least I have my foot in the door and am on my way! I do however hope to stay in shop welding until I am confident in my work, and I will save on site welding (ie. hanging upside down by my toes while bending backward and welding) for better days. :D
Last night was the Union (Local 47's) 100th Anniversary!! In representation of the event all the members got a watch with the unions logo in the middle. Andrew is beyond stoked about the watches (mine included since they ordered female style watches for the women in the trade), and I was definitely proud to wear mine! They are quite something. I went to the event with Rebecca, Andrew and his date Tanya. We sat at a table with four others. Nathan and his girlfriend (don't recall her name, horrible horrible memory... BAD!!). Nathan works at Dilfo with me and also is showing an interest in welding, but don't get too sure of yourself Nathan! I'M shop welder!!!! hehehe. Brian and his girlfriend (don't recall her name either... my brain should be shot, it's lame....) Brian did work for Dilfo some time back during his apprenticeship, but has since moved on to other work. I think the big shocker for everyone invloved was that I wore a skirt! It wasn't my first choice, but there you have it. Not only a skirt, but HEELS!!! Yikes, what will the neighbours say now!! I have a pic of Andrew and myself taken at the dinner and I tower over short stuff quit a bit LOL! I had a great time. I have definitely come to realize that I know enough people in the trade now to stop, schmooze with and feel perfectly comfortable. Mind you many of them were more than half cut and feeling no pain by the time I stopped to say hi, but that's ok, I only took a few embarrassing future blackmail pics, not many.....
:D

NOW you can shit an eggroll!!

I've discovered quite recently, though I've had inklings all along, that I would make a rather content nomadic Native living in a time with no airoplanes or boats on rough water... along with large boats on trailers. Although now that I've long since discovered video games, it's almost worth the risks we humans put on ourselves with the things we create. Poor Andrew has had to deal with a lot this past weekend. My daughter and I went with him up to his camper this past weekend. Friday went without any hitches, and then Saturday we made the attempt to get his pontoon boat out of a receding lake and onto his trailer. The whole process took us between 1.5-2 hours. That is one heavy boat and when it settles off the rollers, it SETTLES!! I think that boat was giving us attitude for not taking it out for a spin in a few weeks. After all the messing around we dealt with, the trailer came out of the water with a flat. So we had to teeter totter the boat to the nearest town for an air pump. We ended up in Smith Falls, which was farther than he had hoped to go. We then spent a wonderful afternoon on Otter lake motoring around and swimming. It was great! The water was warm and Tammie was having a blast!

The sun came up Sunday morning bright and warm. Birds were singing, and I could swear I heard an angel playing a harp. It couldn't have been more cozy. We got packed up and headed back to town a bit early. Figuring we'd have a bit of extra time to do whatever we had to before Tammie and I took off to our family reunion. Everything and everyone bundled into the truck, the boat attached to said truck and we were a shoo-in. I think Andrew must have hiccuped because at one point near the beginning of the journey the truck went a bit right sending the trailer tire onto the shoulder and starting what would be my prozak induced medical dependency for life! (honest!). It was a bit stubborn on returning to paved road which according to Andrew made him "pucker" some. So everytime the truck even seemed to glance (yes trucks in my world can glance...) to the right I'd go all tense. Andrew kept looking at me and telling me to calm down. I couldn't help it, it's in my nature to not want the white man and his ways pressed upon me (in this case that would be sitting in a truck pulling a VERY heavy boat). So we pull into the city and I start to breath. I actually forget all about the boat until the pot hole in the intersection of Fallowfield and Greenbank enters our lives never to be forgotten. In retrospect I don't actually think those were Angels playing harps... I think it was more along the lines of our deathmarch being played out... yes I'm a drama queen.... Well as soon as we hit that pot hole that was it for the trailers axel. Off went half the axel and the left wheel across the road and down went the boat. We heard a BANG, Andrew looked into the review mirror saying we hit the intersection light and then as he watched the boat fall to the left he says (so much calmer than I would have given him credit for considering we were watching his hard work go down) "NOW you can shit and eggroll!" Tammie told us later that she was zoned out and all she really remembers is looking up and seeing us both looking behind us with looks of horror on our faces. Poor girl.

Andrew assessed the situation and then with no other alternative he got back in the truck and dragged the trailer and boat 200 feet to the shoulder and out of the way of traffic. I'm impressed because my big worry with the boat was if it leaned too much it would fall over and take us in the truck with it. What actually happened, is the wheel fell off but the boat didn't come off the trailer at all AND didn't take us with it. Quite impressed, but I'm sorry it took that sort of damage to build my confidence in it's sturdiness. Well Andrew got right back on the horse, called a friend to come help and got the trailer off the ground, welded and back in working order within 3 hours (yeah Andrew!!). We ended up leaving early to get ready for the reunion, but I checked in on him a bit later and all was looking healthy once again. HHaaaaaahhhhhhhhh (sigh....)

Monapolis Times

I think I've forgotten how to do anything else but insulate TDF duct work......... Pitsburgh? what's that................. Ok maybe it's not that bad, but I'm sure Trev and I are the going experts on rigid insulation. Goodness knows I could tell you how it grits between the teeth compared to flex.

I'm thinking our rags must come from someone's home, because they aren't store bought cloth or anything. They are actually ripped up pieces of someone's clothing. Well this week a piece of someone's old pink fleece jogging pants ended up as our cloth at the insulation table. Pink fleece jogging pants............. think about that for a second.......... pink.......... fleece.......... getting any mental images? Jogging pants.................. is it coming to you? Or are you having trouble, because those three things don't belong in the same sentence. Who wears PINK pants in the first place (no Andrew they are not pink they are SALMON or more like a rusty red....), let alone fleece jogging pants. I was looking around the shop trying to picture who's home this monstrosity came from. Picturing the guys I work with walking around with wives wearing something out of the 80s. Or even some of the women that work up front owning a pair. Gave me something to chuckle about while slicing through mile upon mile of insulation. Are you with me here? Or am I alone on this one...

So I asked Danny (big bosses son, future big boss) about my book. We have these books that throughout the apprenticeship have to be signed by someone when we've accomplished a task. At the end of the apprenticeship it has to be I believe 75% full. Our union is for both tinbangers and roofers, so I don't see myself filling out any sections that have anything to do with roofing, but as long as I can get the rest of it filled out, I'm good. I didn't know when I should start concering myself with that though, so I was a big girl and asked! You have to understand this is a big feat for me due to my life long partnership with shyness. It took me awhile to see our forman in a casual light. What's that all about anyway? In my mind I KNOW he's a nice guy, as is everyone out there (well most anyway......), so why would someone have trouble making the first move to get to know that person. Pooey on shyness, I spit at thee!!!! So I asked and it turns out that if I leave or finish my apprenticeship, whichever happens at Dilfo first, they will then go through the book and sign off on all the necessary areas. He DID however say that most people finish their apprenticeships once started at Dilfo, which made me feel REALLY good. I would love nothing better than to stick with Dilfo throughout my apprenticeship and beyond if possible!

I've started biking to work! It's actually quite satisfying. I enjoy it. At the end of the day I can definitely feel it in my thighs though. Rock hard legs coming up! Yay health!! Hopefully this added with good eating will put off anything my high cholesterol started on my heart up until now. Breath easy!

Me? A health nut?

Ok so we're going to try something new here. I've decided to work on areas of my health that my rigorous job doesn't touch. I definitely get a good workout standing all day, as well as in my arms with all the lifting and hammering that I do. However this does not touch my middle or other areas that could use a bit of toning up. As of last week I started in on my jogging again. (Have you ever seen the movie "What Women Want" with Mel Gibson? In that movie he, or should I say Helen Hunt, came up with a shoe commercial. In that commercial they mention how therapeutic running is. How the road is there for you everytime, yada yada yada. Well that commercial couldn't have said it any better. I was feeling a bit down lately and so I went for a run. That run has now become determination.) Along with my jogging there is my kickboxing. Now my Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are kickboxing days, and my Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays are jogging days. I've cut out a lot of crap in my diet (I even walked into McD's and ordered something for my daughter and didn't order anything for myself.... now THAT'S restraint!) I haven't had a pepsi in over a week now........... I KNOW!!! I'm also working on getting my bike in working order this week so that I can hopefully start taking it to work next week. This may seem a bit sudden and over the top, but this is my personal goal right now. I want this for myself. Not only will it help get me in better shape for some of the more vigorous work I'll experience, but it will also help me personally in so many ways. Health is never something that should be a passing phase. So GO LISA GO!!

I believe that I am going for my basic training this January at work. It will be a two month full time course load at I'm hoping Algonquin. We may be moving our classes to Oakville, but I'm hoping that when that is implemented, I'll have finished my intermediate if not my advanced courses. I won't put too many eggs in that basket though. One can only hope for the best. I'm a bit excited about going though (to the classes, not Oakville). It will be interesting what I can pick up. I'm learning so much, but there is SO much more to soak in!

Yes, it truly was embarrasing....

So at lunch one day at work I had put my head down to rest my eyes (honest!) and I ended up falling asleep. When I awoke everyone was leaving the lunch room except these two electricians that have been revamping the shop for the new plasma coming in. So The last tinbanger walks out the door, I'm thinking oh shit, time to go. I stand up take a step just as I catch the bad end of virtigo and lose my balance. I swing around to try and catch myself and end up doing a 180 into the fridge, which is about two feet behind where i originated! I stop, lean on the fridge to catch my barings and the two electricians are just sitting there taking in the show. Never try to act like you weren't really sleeping and then get up too fast when your still not sure which way is up. That was seriously the most embarrasing thing to happen to me at work! Right, back to work, bring on the power tools!!
This year is the tinbanging unions 100th anniversary. So they are having a dinner and dance in November I believe. At first I wasn't going to go. I am getting to know others, but not sure well enough yet to sit among a room full of them. I'm still a bit shy I guess. Andrew is going however, so he talked me into going as well. Let's see how social I can be! Now to find a date!
I am also going to play some golf with Dilfo this August. I guess I am getting out there a bit more. I thought of getting onto the union baseball team, but I think I'll wait until next year when I'm a bit more established. (was that an excuse?......)
I went to Toronto a few weeks back to check out the Pride parade. Didn't make it to the parade however. I was expecting it to be around noon or something and it didn't start until 2pm, so we had to start our way back to Ottawa by then. It's ok though, there's always next year and we did have a blast with my sister. We checked out the zoo (that place goes on forever!) on Saturday. That evening we headed over to friends of Carolyn's and wow she is cute when she's buzzed! Being the mature adults that we are, Carolyn, Tammie and I raced Greg and Den home. We called a cab, and they were going to take the trolly... streetcar? Note: I did say "going to take". End Note. We showed up home and about five minutes later they pull up in a cab! Not that they had a chance anyway, lol. So Sunday morning we went for some Dim Sum and Tammie actually ate something! Yay for trying something new beebs!! After that we chatted and then headed back to Ottawa. So I had a great weekend, and it was good to see my sister. We'll be out there again at the end of August for a visit and a trip to the CNE (get the barf bag ready!)