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Pete999

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When I first started in 1961/2, one of the Blokes I Was Apprenticed to was a Chap called Pete Orange, good Bloke good Sparks to boot, Pete taught me a lot about being an Electrician, as well a lot about growing up, not many like Pete left in this world now I'm sad to say.
I followed Pere around from firm to firm, not on purpose, just seemed to work out that way, even followed him to Cyprus, sadly Pete is gone now rewiring Heaven.
We used to joke I was Sliced bread and Pete was the next best thing to sliced bread, many thought Pete was a bit of a berk, but to me he was my Mentor, Best Friend An all round good Bloke, i am privileged to have known him RIP Pete O. my thanks for your friendship.
 
good old school sparks are a dying breed these days. i remember one guy, back whe i was a lad. , used to come to work in a 3 piece suit, waistcoat , watch and chain. all the other trades loooked on him as God.
 
good old school sparks are a dying breed these days. i remember one guy, back whe i was a lad. , used to come to work in a 3 piece suit, waistcoat , watch and chain. all the other trades loooked on him as God.
I liked to think I treated the Apprentices as I was treated, but never wore a suit, waistcoat or a watch and chain.
 
There are no bad students only bad teachers

You obviously didn't have any ADT lads in your class then !! There were three when I did the 2330 and they were all a pita... Teacher tried his best with them but they were generally a bloody nightmare !
 
You obviously didn't have any ADT lads in your class then !! There were three when I did the 2330 and they were all a pita... Teacher tried his best with them but they were generally a bloody nightmare !

I had several 16 year olds in our class who just messed about and went off smoking weed most days.
But imo they weren’t really electrical students just kids who should still be in school
 
I had several 16 year olds in our class who just messed about and went off smoking weed most days.
But imo they weren’t really electrical students just kids who should still be in school

Sounds like Group A in college, all there just to collect the payment for being in college, like a school version of dole money.

Group B (our lot) were mostly 20s or older with a few kids who dropped out of the course.

Not sure if it was group A that did it or what but our lecturer quit in my second year and they had to fanny about quite a bit to sort out the time table after that.
 
I was an EITB trainer before I came out of my time*.

Years later as a manager and as part of an NVQ4 course I had to learn how teach people to train colleagues. A trainer of trainers.

*Geordie (RIP) was the only other person I know of that was an EITB trainer before he finished his apprenticeship.
 
More stories not ANECDOTES.
Canny remember if it was Attleborough or Wymondham School, worked with Dave from Dereham (Superb spark) doing a kitchen/ canteen extension...
Lunchtime having a poke about and cleared the sheet of the Assembly piano and Dave sits down and starts tapping away...
Went from modern stuff to classical, teachers and subbys all gathered and a good old round of applause given..
Good spark and a kin excellent pianist/ guitar player as well.....
 
used to come to work in a 3 piece suit, waistcoat , watch and chain. all the other trades loooked on him as God.

First firm I worked for, there was an ole chap who did all the small jobs and maintenance work.

He wore a bib & brace. Shirt and tie, brown Oxford Brogues, and a Sports Jacket. He had more pens & pencils, in his breast pocket, than Joe 90.

He could also test for dead, with his index finger.
 
As an apprentice I worked with a guy named Colin, he was the top spark in the firm and at the time was responsible for designing and building control panels. He was the go to guy for all the other sparks if they had a problem they couldn't solve. I always remember as a spotty faced teenager how knowledgeable and skilled he was. I remember asking how he knew where all the cables went, connecting all the relays and contactors... without following a diagram? He gave me a simple piece of advice that always stuck with me. "Easiest way to think about it is, there are only 2 things that happen, it switches on and switches off". this actually made complete sense and all of a sudden I realised that using that concept I could grasp an understanding of what was going on with these panels.

He was a very smart guy who could explain things in the simplest of terms. R.I.P Big Col
 
"Easiest way to think about it is, there are only 2 things that happen, it switches on and switches off". this actually made complete sense and all of a sudden I realised that using that concept I could grasp an understanding of what was going on with these panels.

Me and a mate working nights wiring up some robotics machine thingy. We had loads of control switches to wire up; they were in different positions on the thing, and we couldn’t get our heads round whether to use a normally open one, or a normally closed one, dependant on how it was fixed on the machine and what the drawing said.

We asked the foreman. He picked up a normally closed one, threw it on the bench. Said when the drawing says normally closed contacts, use one of them. Threw a normally open one on the bench. Said when the drawing says normally open contacts, use one of them. Threw one with both normally open and closed contacts on the bench, said when...............

Simple explanation for simple minds :)
 

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