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Well, fourty plus years ago when I started I was told the things I am hearing from you. I think it's great that you know the things you are mentioning above. Not to many do.

Im not saying that oil, oil applied with hemp, wax with string, wax, even cutting oil mixed or not mixed with who knows what? etc. etc. was or wasn't used as a thread sealant to take up the microscopic imperfections on threads. They were not considered better then pipe dope.

Notice I called it pipe dope. Still do. That's all it was called when I first started. Or at least that's what I was made to use and call it. It was never refereed to as a lubricant from all of those old dudes that taught me. Just my humble experience. I was actually scolded to have called it that. Maybe because the old guys new that pipe dope and lubricants should be two separate things.

Hey call it what you want but when somebody starts talking about pro dope not being allowed it brings my past thoughts to mind.

I am a firm believer of using life stories as a learning tool. I know the jobs I made a mistake on, I never make that mistake again. I also believe life is a series of experiences, all of which have a lesson to be learned attached to them. I would love to hear about the life experiences you all have had, and what the lesson may be. One of the hardest lessons I learned is also really gross.

This incident happened in my younger days when I thought I was a real hot shot plumber / heat guy. My boss gives me some blue prints for an expansion of a dentist office. All the work was to be done in this 3' wood framed crawl space that had suspended ceilings below that. It was a hard job to pipe as you needed all these services shoved into a tiny box. ( Air, water, vacuum etc ) so the dentist hand piece would work.
We were kicking ****. We had a majority of the work done in a few days. Considering you literally had to crawl over joist and it seemed like the dental chairs were a mile away.

The last service we had to connect to was vacuum. We had to cut into 2" PVC for tees to be installed in the vacuum line. It was anchored to the joist above. So.. my helper starts to cut the 2" PVC. All the sudden, 1/2 way thru the pipe snaps off and all this spit, water, blood and hunks of teeth falls directly on my helpers face and neck. I didn't notice the big sag in the line. Jim, my guy starts throwing up, then I didn't know sympathy barfing is a thing... It is. The smell ... omg it was horrible. There were 2 guys throwing up in a crawl space which has that suspended ceiling. What really sucked is the long ways to crawl to
get out. Words can't describe this experience.

This story really isn't over. We had to contact the office people, new ceiling tile. Without a doubt, this is the worst one I had. The lessons... yeah plural

Steve Noviello