Quote:
Originally Posted by Mako mike
Marty, you need to get out fishing! Or a job this winter, I'm looking for a helper?
|
Mike;
I actually worked for an Air Condition/Heating/Sheet Metal guy one summer when I was off from college. I never felt so stupid in my life
I think it was first day, he asked me to measure and cut a piece of sheet metal for him. I laid out the large piece on the table and started marking the sheet every 12 inches apart with a slash for the proper cut. He said, "What are you doing?".
I told him I was going to use a straight edge and connect the marks to get a straight line for me to cut.
He said it would take all day to do it that way. He took a ruler, put his thumb at the mark (depth) he wanted, laid the ruler on the sheet metal, put a pencil at the end of the ruler and struck a line all the way down the sheet metal.
Wow, that looked easy enough
I tried to do the same thing. My pencil kept falling off the end of the ruler and I had lines everywhere
I eventually got the hang of it by the end of summer
Second thing I needed to do was "cut" with tin snips the measured piece. No problem, just like using scissors on paper; I thought
I started my cut, not far into it, the tin snips were getting "bound" and it was difficult to cut. Again, he says, "What are you doing over there?". "Cutting this sheet metal", I said. My piece had little shards hanging off the ends to cut your fingers to pieces.
"Here, do it like this", he said. His cut was as smooth as a knife through butter, with a clean edge.
By the end of summer, I knew how to hold the snips and cut effortlessly too.
I still remember being up on a flat tar roof in July. It must have been 90* temperature, and 110* on the roof. Factor in, we had to "cook" tar on the roof to seal the AC units on the roof. I still remember the first time I showed up for a roof job in bermuda shorts (it was hot outside, right). It was a windy day, and the hot tar which was "ladled" out of the pot left a long string of thin tar that blew onto my legs and quickly tattooed me with hot tar. Learned to wear long pants, even on hot days.
Now this was not a terrible job. The owner of the company had a boat in a marina. Most days, we would quit around noon and head to the boat
One summer was enough for me to realize that I had better stay in school and finish my degree. I spent the next 32 years working with a deadly organism, Mycobacteria tuberculosis
Not sure I picked the right vocation
Oh hell; sure I did. Guess I'm one of the lucky ones who got to retire early and fish whenever I want. I developed a sense of respect for anyone who works in the professions like AC; plumbing, electrical, roofing, etc.
It's been 30 years since I cut a piece of tin
I better stick to fishing and an occasional mate job on a charter
5th
Hybrid Mode
