The Fanstastic Ms. Fox

The greatest thing I've learned in this metalwork program has had little to do with yellow-hot iron and molten bronze. Rather, it's been about applying myself. Grades six through twelve were often busy work. I resented this and realize that on some level, I labeled study not as a joy in itself but "a necessary thing that consumes my time." I broke with this now and then, but never entirely shed it. Until recently, when I realized I really enjoy this. i could go home. Or i could put in another long day doing something which I enjoy.

The HILTI power-actuated tool is a cross between one of those anti-cattle stun guns, and a rifle. The gunpowder punches the piston forward, and the piston kicks the nail into concrete (if set to power "1") or steel beams (if set to "1.5"). If you shoot it into anything softer or more brittle, the nail will just fly right through at 100m/s, likely shattering the object in the process. Power goes up to 4.

Except for the colour, the multiple-nail version looks like a sci-fi weapon (2 magazines: cartridges in the back; nails in the front grip). Sadly, it's has nothing to make a charging/whining sound when you turn it on.



If you aren't on firm footing, it can knock you over.

If you are interested, the test to use one is 20 questions, true or false. With 70% being a pass, this means that if you know eight of the answers, and guess the other twelve, you will probably be okay.

Oh trades school, you expose me to such variety.

All the other times in my life put together would not sum up to the number of warnings I've heard in the last two months which include such words or phrases as:

- "asphyxiate"
- "electrocute"
- "crushed"
- "burst"
- "...[number] tonnes... ...your foot/hand"
- "explosive"
- "injury... ...can't... ...anymore"
- "acid"
- "...to the inside of your lungs"
- "hearing loss"
- "...and once you've absorbed it, your body can't get rid of it"
- "criminally liable"
- "...through your body like a knife through butter."
- "scalp torn off..."
- "brighter than the sun... ...blindness"
- "amputate"
- "lost [insert number] fingers."
- "pressurized... ...dirty... ...puncture... ...blood poisoning"
- "collapsed"
- "face/eyes"
- "could put your finger in the hole that went throuh his torso"


I hear office work is bad for you too though.

Welding turns the tables on steel: makes it soft and pliable; makes it do what you want.

Even after I removed the coveralls and wiped off the soot, you can still smell it.

Uniform coveralls. Oversized leather aprons. Thick goggles. Hair covers. Grossly oversized gloves. We look like gnomes.

The goggles give you a similar view to what you'd see on an alien planet: outside is a chlorinous green-yellow. Dim. Your vision is constricted, presumably by the space suit.

The goggles that make glowing steel look black. But the torch is bright. Even through the goggles.

The metal is hot. I can leave it through a 45-minute lunch break and it will still be too warm to handle without tongs.

The gases are dangerous. Mixed and lit properly, acetalinne and oxygen make a 3300 degree flame, the hottest gas burn known. Applied correctly, it makes steel grow uncomfortably bright, then melt, then boil.

Mixed and lit wrong, without the right attachements, it can burn back up the line and hit the tank.

If you over-pressurize acetaline without suspending it in acetone, it explodes. If pressurized oxygen contacts oil or grease, it explodes. In case of a large explosion, the roof is designed to go before the walls. Everyone in the shop still dies, but the people next door live.

I walked in the door  with my referral in hand, and didn't have time to finish reading the article in MacLean's before I was on the table getting my knee X-rayed. Damn that's fast. Go public healthcare... at least on occasion!

In other news, I got a ride home with a woman who offers a holistic massage service. A non-sexual holistic massage service, as she had to point out to a caller. Funny how massage = sex in this and other cultures. Why can the newspaper not look like this?:



-----------PLUMBING / PIPING------------
SVETLANA  - Hot, blond, busty, discreet; ten years industry experience:
let this exotic Ukranian Red Seal certified steamfitter reseal your ducts!




Hmm... why not ndeed? I am in a small business program after all.