started

[PEG]

...Let me tell you a story,that me mum has told a thousand times,that indicated the direction i would follow....Picture a 5 year old Peg,invited with his siblings to a posh neighbours house,late sixties. Fancy buggers had a garden pond with a fountain in the middle. Mother took eye off the ball,and young Peg removes and dismantles said pump. One massive bollooking later i'm dragged home by my ear and sent to bed. At teatime,the husband is at the door and i'm presented for apologies,am asked how it was dismantled and are offered to show...march back to pond,where i re-assemble pump and stand with proud,gushing parent,observing re-activated fountain. BANG! .....no,that's not the pump,that's the crashing sound of a career in engineering beginning from then on. A whole lot occurred to help and hinder that path,but from it i will never stray. I cringe a bit,when i remember things like,making jacobs, ladder spark machines out of industrial boiler ignitor units (age 12),or rewiring family friends kitchens (age 15),but consider myself VERY lucky to put bread on my families table doing something i love. ....just don't ask me to give what i do a "name" :bow:

 

[Knobhead]

My father was a factory hand, he was determined his two sons would be tradesmen.

My elder brother got an electrical apprenticeship at the factory my father worked at. He set a board with various contactors on it for me in the garage. Safe it was not, 240V coils, no RCD, a 13A fuse was as good as it got. If I got a belt it was my fault. At 11 I was quite happy following single line drawings.

So that was it, my fate was sealed. I was to be an electrician.

When offered an apprenticeship with the company my father and brother were at, no chance, I went to another company. No way was I having them breathing down my neck.

I don’t regret one minute of it. It’s something your blood.

 

[shanky887614]

My father was a factory hand, he was determined his two sons would be tradesmen.

My elder brother got an electrical apprenticeship at the factory my father worked at. He set a board with various contactors on it for me in the garage. Safe it was not, 240V coils, no RCD, a 13A fuse was as good as it got. If I got a belt it was my fault. At 11 I was quite happy following single line drawings.

So that was it, my fate was sealed. I was to be an electrician.

When offered an apprenticeship with the company my father and brother were at, no chance, I went to another company. No way was I having them breathing down my neck.

I don’t regret one minute of it. It’s something your blood.

thats like me with my music etc.

I didnt realise one of my relatives is an electrician and one of my other relatives was a pianist and flute player who taught people to play

 

[tooleystreet]

There's a few venues that could do with a refit or two, do the proprietors even take notice of the sparks suggestions on what peripherals would increase clientele?

 

[trev]

Oh dear lord!

 

[tooleystreet]

But we save a packet by going with good old trusty grey....to prove how clever we are

 

[Knobhead]

 

[dingledong]

Who is grey ?

 

[trev]

Who is grey ?

Someone or something which is relevant in Tooley's world (and probably nowhere else)

 

[dingledong]

So the rumours are true Trevor

 

[trev]

So the rumours are true Trevor

What rumours would they be mate?

 

[Pete999]

So crap that you can't even spell it...........

Yeah you got it total crap at woowork as well

 

[dingledong]

The rumours about tooley ! He she has not replied suppose the polite word to use is eccentric

 

[trev]

The rumours about tooley ! He she has not replied suppose the polite word to use is eccentric

Not the phrase I'd use mate but it'll do

 

[7029 dave]

I always wanted to be a sparky since I was 13,nearly killed myself putting an torch bulb in circuit on table lamp,BANG burnt fingers.

 

[uksparks]

The other thing to consider also is, what kind of a Person you are.
The more I read Tony's posts the more He reminds me of myself, what I mean by that is For me it is always a case of doing whatever it takes to get a factory, production line etc up and running.
I have often been on a machine at midnight, having been called out by my customer's and all that interested me was why had it stopped working, what needed doing to get it working.For me the very last thing on my mind was " How much will I earn",.
Now don't get me wrong I am also in business to make money, but it always gets pushed to the bottom of the list, for me it as always been about customer satisfaction, learning and applying my craft, and doing the very best I can at all times.
So to round it up for me it is always Pride 1st Price & Profit 2nd, but don't feel too sorry for me I do OK!!!.

I enjoy what I do, I purely do it for the love of it, I find it very interesting and am very practical, I know this isn't electrics, but have always been in to extreme DIY such as building extensions, garage conversions, that type of thing and really do enjoy pulling floors up etc. I know my way around a house for example and have quite a lot of experience in how it all fits together.

You are right though, it depends on what sort of person you are, I am like you really, customer satisfaction and applying your knowledge, seeing that you do a good job. Yes I am alo not a charity, but money is not something I need or do electrical work for, I do it because I enjoy it.

 

[uksparks]

Just to add, I used to play its batteries a lot when younger, things like trying to put a voltage through the bedroom door handle to catch Santa lol. I used to be in the electronics club at school in the mid 90's constructing those kits you used to be ble to buy from maplins, I think it's just something I have always been in to.

 

[Silly Sausage]

I always wanted to be a Physicist, trouble is, it's too frigging HARD!
So, any variation of the Electrical/Instrumentation Technician world was more than good enough for me.

Anywhere other than an office! I've done time as a C programmer.

 

[PEG]

I always wanted to be a Physicist, trouble is, it's too frigging HARD!
So, any variation of the Electrical/Instrumentation Technician world was more than good enough for me.

Anywhere other than an office! I've done time as a C programmer.

...Did you get out using a rock hammer hidden in a bible?...:stooge_curly:

 

[Silly Sausage]

...Did you get out using a rock hammer hidden in a bible?...:stooge_curly:

Haha...Got laid off, they (Yanks) shut down the UK (quality) side.
I had to fake the gutted look when they broke the news!