An Unexpected Lesson

Last week I was pried away from the factory. Just a few service calls in some apartments which turned out to be changing some lightbulbs. A few that turned out to be breakers off… not tripped, just off. Some wall packs to retrofit, and an explosion-proof light fixture to wrestle open. I’ll talk about those later. Lastly there was one apartment renovation that took some time.

The apartment was to get new receptacles and light switches a well as a bit of wiring for heaters and demolition of old appliances. Pretty straight-forward. Until… we got a call back for one of the receptacles tripping a GFI whenever it was used. I assumed I hadn’t tucked the ground wire away from the device enough and it was causing a short. That was not the case. It turns out that there were two circuits sharing a neutral connection. The old devices didn’t have issues, but the safety-conscious devices of today defiantly did. It was a learning moment for both me and the journeyman.

That was also the week I was in the bucket of the bucket truck for the first time. Remember how I’m bad with heights? Well, it was an underwhelming 18 feet in the air, but the feeling of being in a bucket truck vs a scissor lift is very different. I had a case of the ‘forget everything you know because you’re terrified.’ I still got the light changed and the experience was pretty good. Not nearly as bad as it was in my mind. Add some more height and wind, that might change. It was a proud moment. For me.

The explosion-proof light fixture. So, we were asked to change the light bulb because the company’s truckers and maintenance couldn’t figure it out. We were able to get the whole fixture down, but that’s where it stopped. After use of truck, very large ridged wrenches, strap wrench, chisels and hammers, the thing wouldn’t budge. We could not change the bulb. The thing lived up to its name. Explosion-proof. So the company is now looking at over $3,000 to get a replacement.

Now, I know a few of you were at the edge of your seats to hear about the robot arm installation, but you’ll have to wait a bit longer. The project is now set to start in January.

That’s all the excitement for a little bit. Hope the week treats everyone well.

-Vessa