A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE, A BOOST OF CONFIDENCE

Today, my journeyman had an appointment that would require him to be gone for a couple of hours. We had a another IJ with us ( his journeyman was off ) who is green, only doing the IJ thing for 2 months. Usually when this happens, I get dropped off with the foreman until my journeyman returns, not this time. Since the circuits we're pulling are not hot yet, there was no danger of electrocution, so he lined me out on what needed to be done and left me in charge, with the blessing of the foreman. The new IJ and I did what was lined out and our efforts were met with approval upon his return.
This was significant to me because my journeyman trusts me enough to leave me unsupervised. He trusts me to not fuck it up, and believe me, when you fuck up while running circuits the results are fourth of july spectacular when energized and embarrassing, and above all, dangerous.
I feel fortunate to be able to work with this guy, an excellent electrician and a more than adequate teacher. As the adage goes " Just last week I couldn't even spell electrician ". Except in my case, it was 9 months ago. 9 months into a job that started out as "maybe a couple of weeks, but, hey, it's money, right"? I can't wait to terminate this maze of circuits into the sub panel I installed last week and fire it up!

NEW RULES

Ann and I are notorious packrats. We have 1600 square feet of shit in a 1000 square feet space. Our carport is and has been since last years reno a shitport. But no more! we say. Being a member of the local IBEW union has many benefits, and one of them is the way they deal with vacation time. It's a bank. Contributions are made each week and you can draw from it twice a year, for any reason. That's right, put in your request by friday, get a check the following monday after 3 pm. So...I'm cashing in my vacation fund and having a roll off dumpster delivered to the house next week. All of the shit under our carport and in the back yard(or as I call it, white trash central) will go into this dumpster plus a fair amount of shit that's been piled up in the back addition, hey its a 10 yard dumpster. We are shedding ourselves of clutter. The new rule around here is if you haven't need it or wondered where it was for the last year, fuck it...landfill here it comes. To actually park under the carport will be a dream come true. And we can finally convert the back addition into a studio again, which will clear out the office of extraneous musical equipment allowing us to renovate it. We can also get the matching couch for our chairs, completing our living room, and I might even be able to get a new pair of workboots! WooHoo!

See ya! Hey! Tomorrows Friday again! Already!