The Tenderfoot Years
In this episode, Dan Holohan shares funny stories from the start of his career that involve a missing skyhook, an overly heavy roof drain, and some tough lessons.
Comments
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I was working on a nuke back in ‘77. Now, a nuke may have several hundred pipefitters at one time and they are large complex lay-outs. I was just a couple years out of my time and so had a keen appreciation of the Skyhook Quest. On big jobs tools can be a problem as the night crew would come in an strip all our rigging leaving us to first, complain loudly and then go in search of the tools to get the job done, again. I sent, Oscar, our first year apprentice out on the “Skyhook Quest,” with the admonishment of “do not come back without them…” We didn’t see hm for days. He was a good kid
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On the Racetrack, you'd be sent around to every barn in the The Backstretch for the enigmatic "Saddle Stretcher." Ha Ha. Mad Dog
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I've read that some electricians will ask the new guy to get a "Greenfield bender" which obviously doesn't exist since Greenfield is flexible. For those not familiar, it's flexible conduit- basically large BX where you have to pull the wires in.
In old-school print shops, it might be erasing ink, striped (or dotted) ink, paper stretcher, etc.
Baltimore, MD, USA
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Consulting0 -
Asking the apprentice to get some 1 3/4" pipe was a common thing.
A lot of guys used to give the apprentices a hard time, but I never believed in that. If they were good kids and worked, I was good to them……….as long as they didn't mess up my coffee order
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I've never been a fan of sending new guys on a wild goose chase either. it just wastes theirs and the company time when I could be actually teaching them something useful instead they are learning "don't trust this guy, he's gonna send you to get something that doesn't exist and waste everyone's time"
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my uncle said much later in life that his father that was a machinist would do that to him. you don't do that to your kid…
actually come to think of it i have a little drill press vice that he made and gave to my grandfather when his kid wanted to marry my aunt.
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When I worked for Delta airlines on the graveyard shift, a naive new mechanic's helper would be sent out to retrieve an overhead bin stretcher that we loaned to Eastern. Eastern would apologize and say they loaned it to TWA who loaned it to PanAm who returned it to so and so a Delta that afternoon.
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A smaller dose of what Dan endured is all in good fun, but can go too far. Mad Dog
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Eastern? THAT's going quite a ways back……………….
Baltimore, MD, USA
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Consulting
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delta is the only one of those that still exists
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yeah…..my age is showing. I still have my tool chests with logo stickers from all those airlines including federalexpress before they became fedex. Different world back then. I hated watching those carriers go under.
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as a kid that is probably slightly autistic but undiagnosed i very much didn't enjoy that sort of thing
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Still looking for a Tuit. Specifically a round one. I was told they would finish when they got it.
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I used to fly Allegheny. I think that was before Eastern.
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I was successful in bringing back a bucket of steam once….Once!
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I've got one around here somewhere, wonder if I can find it…
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