first day

today was my first day as an electrician. it was a looooong day. i didn't really do much electrician stuff, probably because i don't know how to do much electrician stuff.

i started the day out digging a hole and then a trench to connect the hole to a piece of conduit. i then ran some wire through the conduit and trench and then backfilled the trench. neal and i then filled the hole (with the wire sticking up) with concrete. doesn't seem very electrician. BUT THEN, i hooked up some outlets and put in some under cabinet lights. that was the morning. the afternoon was spent cleaning off grey pipe (they were very muddy) with paper towels; waiting for the contractor to dig a ditch; and gluing the pipes together and laying them in the ditch.

not at all the way i expected it to go for my first day. the rain made things very messy and i did not enjoy that very much. tomorrow i get to start roughing in an apartment building. there are going to be ten buildings (for this phase) each with eight units so i'll probably be there for awhile. i have also decided that i don't make a great blue-collar worker. not that i'm too good for it; turns out i'm not strong enough for it (hey! i'm an engineer!).

new job stuff: i've been talking to someone in minneapolis about an engineering job. turns out, i'd start in the shop (making $14-$15/hr) putting electrical panels together. in about two or three years, i could move up to an engineer and design panels for industrial machines. it takes a mix of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science. it sounds like something i would enjoy, but i'm not sure if i want to wait for two or three years to be an engineer. my latest correspondence leads me to believe the job is mine if i want it, but i'm still praying about it.