Life in Texas

It's hard to believe it's been over six months since I updated my blog! And yes, I've been working. I received a job offer at the end of August, and started work the beginning of October.

For those that don't know, I'm working for an Electric Cooperative in North Texas. I'm not allowed to use the name of the company on the Internet, but suffice to say it's a great one.

The following is a photo of an accident that happened to break one of our poles. It was pretty intense, the pole was on fire, the engine was laying out on the grass farther to to the right of the photo, and where the pole is, that's where the cab should have been.

There seems to be a stereotype where I'm from (The Northwest) about Texas, and yes I was guilty of believing it too, where all of Texas wears cowboy boots and hats, spurs and chaps, and talks in heavy drawl. Let me be the first to say, not true. In fact I would prefer it to be true, living in a college town I see WAY too many hipsters, stoners and punks.

On the flip side, Texans don't really know about Washington state. Most think of Seattle, Liberals, and Starbucks when I talk of home. I try to communicate that, just like Texas, Washington has diversity also. I also keep hearing about "Texas Summers" to the point where I'm starting to get a little freaked out. A typical conversation will be,

"Where are you from?"
                                                                  "Washington"
"The Capital?"
                                                                  "No, the State."
"Oh, it rains a lot over there"
                                                                   "Well, I'm from the other side of the state"
-Confused look, "Have you experienced a Texas summer yet?"
                                                                  "No, but it can't be that bad..."
-Shakes head looks down  "Just wait"

                   ...So we'll see how summer turns out to be...

As I stated earlier, I'm working at an electric cooperative. I LOVE IT! When I went to school, I started out wanting to work at a coop. I was inspired in school by teachers who came up through the ranks of cooperatives, and now I work at one. My experience thus far in my career has been a blessed and exciting one. And I can't wait to see what the future will bring!

Graduation...

Graduation. 

     ....Finally.... 

                                                                                      ......Already?....... 

.......What now?

Wow. It's finally here. The start of the rest of my career. I can finally get out there and get some work done. But am I truly happy to leave? This is most definitely a bitter-sweet time. Because I'm going to go work with a real crew, but the crew of 40 guys or so I've been working with everyday I will most likely never see again. We had our rodeo, our graduation, and that's it. I joked with a few of the guys, telling them "Don't worry, you'll see me again. I'll be your foreman someday!" But it doesn't disguise the fact that this is a really sad time. 

But I need to focus on the future.

That's why I've been applying like a madman, staying up late and doing the same thing over and over and over again. Expecting that at some point I wont get a "Sorry, we've decided to pursue other candidates."

But it only takes one!

And I'm confident that I will very soon be working in the trade. I will keep posting off and on, letting everyone know how the job searching is going. And eventually, how my apprenticeship is. So keep your eyes peeled. And in the meantime, check out the slideshow I made for Edison. 

And, here are a few rodeo pics that my wife took!

The Rodeo

You can see my sister in the reflection of my shades taking this photo.

View from the top.

14 down, 1 to go!

Well, we're down to the last week. Coming up Monday we have finals, Friday we have the rodeo and graduation, then we get a road map and a boot in the rear. This past week, everyone was working on the last of their competencies, working the delivery of crew presentations, and taking tours of various Idaho Power facilities. We went to a substation, systems operations, the main office, and  a generation facility (swan falls dam). Very impressive stuff. The substation was HUGE.

Here's a picture of half of the outside, and the control area...

The substation

The back part of the controls.

 

Oh and here's a picture for my friend, Bryan.

Here are some photos of the "dam tour."

One of the original turbines at the old dam

The control area for the new dam.

The other thing I mentioned was that we did a lot of crew presentations this week. I caught a part of one on video, because they said they were going to ignite hydrogen. The crew used electrolysis of water to fill a balloon with hydrogen. The way it works is, a DC current is applied across a container of salt water, the water is then broken down into hydrogen and oxygen. Pretty cool stuff! Here's the video!

Setting poles, and a burger fit for a journeyman.

Just a quick blog post to keep ya'll updated. A lot of academic stuff this weekend, since we have a 4 page research paper, 4 labs, and a crew presentation due on Monday. I was up until 4 last night getting the paper done, and plan on staying up late tonight to work on my part of the crew presentation. Coffee, how I love thee...

A lot of this week was spent tearing down, and rebuilding the 'climbing pit.' We use a hydraulic pole jack to loosen the pole from the ground, then lift it out with the winch. The hole is then redrilled and retamped. A new pole can then be set into the hole, after first framing the arms and insulators. Here's a picture of the view from behind the controls of the winch.

Tamping in the new pole

 So there is this place in Boise called Big Jud's. If you're ever in Boise, go there. They make some of the best burgers I've ever had. Big too. You can buy the 1lb burger (seen below), or if you're feeling exceptionally famished... the DOUBLE 1 POUNDER! They have a challenge, if you can eat the whole 1lb burger, and a pound of fries you get to live forever in notoriety with your picture on the wall. I didn't quite make it.

 

Man vs. Food gave the 2lber a shot... check it out!

That's all for now!  Have a great week!

The sweet smell of victory, and the bitter taste of defeat.

What a crazy few weeks it's been since my last update! Getting all kinds of stuff done, getting ready to graduate, trying to find a job, and having a lot of fun!

This past week ended on a sober note though, as week 12 was the last week to finish all the timed competencies. We witnessed many good men give it their all to finish, in order to graduate with the rest of the class. Most came through victorious, and some, through no lack of heart or will, fall just short of the finish line.  

Inspiring is the one word I would use to describe these gentlemen who pushed passed difficulty to nearly accomplish what even they would have considered impossible at the start of our course. But the most inspiring of all was Wilkerson.

Wilkerson needed several competencies at the start of the day. He plowed through them all, except one: 6 up downs in 8 minutes. He had previously missed it by a few short seconds, so it didn't seem like it would be a problem.

First try, no luck. 

Around 3:45 he had his second try, and people started cheering, spraying water on his back (it was a hot day), anything to help him out. It was a no go.

Wilkerson took a break, obviously feeling dejected. As he headed back over to the pole to give it one last shot, McCormack shouted, "Wilkie! You're going to get it done, I'm doing it with you!" Several others joined in, and most available poles were taken. Those who didn't climb, gave their verbal support. Nearly the entire school, Edison and Tesla were united to cheer Wilkie on.

Emotions were running passionately high, as Wilkerson started his climb. 1,2,3 up downs done. 

4 down, then 5. The sole desire of nearly 90 people united in this one man now slowly lifting one foot after another lifting an exhausted body slowly up a rugged pole. Halfway up on the last up down the frenzy reached it's stirring peak.

                                      Wilkerson was going to make it.

Finally down at the bottom of the pole, the last up down just a memory.

A hush fell on the crowd as Wilkerson, when told his results, slowly nodded his head. He didn't make it under time.

 

   

Embraces followed, and dry eyes were few and far between. We all gathered together, and Mr. Rogers made the announcement that they had never seen anything like the amount of support that they saw today for a fellow student, and camaraderie and heart means much more than the legality of the time in which things need to be done. With that in mind, he announced the extension of the timed competencies until the end of week 13. Great news for Wilkerson, and all of us who wanted so badly for him to succeed. 

Such an inspiring story, and a lesson that transcends any educational experience.

With that, I'll post some other photos I've taken (and a video - significantly better quality than previous videos, since I uploaded it to youtube, and linked to the blog), enjoy!
                            

                              

The Last of the Mohicans

The heat is on... oh oh oh oh...

     We're getting down to the wire at Northwest Lineman College (so punny!). We have a total of 2 weeks to get all of our timed competencies down, in the midst of learning transformers, and fine tuning our resumes and cover letters. It's getting exciting, that's for sure! We're working on double-crossarms, installing armour-rod on the wire so we can attach it to an insulator, changing out the insulators on the angles. Learning is definitely taking place! Here's a photo of the double-crossarm changeout, and a few more...

Double Crossarm Changeout

Armour Rod Changeout

 

Hurt Man Rescue

Sawing logs...

That's it for now. Hope everyone's enjoying the blog, and if there are any questions shoot me a comment. I'd more than happy to answer! Have a great week, and be safe!

No blog post this weekend, have a great 4th!