What little faith I had left in the trade is gone

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kenman215

Senior Member
Location
albany, ny
mbrooke said:
You do know you can refuse? Nothing is wrong with that minus the bare EGC which will corrode over time in what is known as a wet environment creating a fire/death hazard. Wrong in this world does not come from those who do wrong, but those who sit back and let it happen.

I dont blame you however. Reading that has me fired up, and yes I share the same views. The trade at times is a competition to the bottom. You should also see the POCO world... let me just say someone needs to be held legally accountable :rant:
Click to expand...

Speaking of the POCO world, part of a service we just did involved moving/replacing an existing transformer. POCO had to splice the primary underground and tie it into the 4" PVC that we had left coming out of the pad. They connected the old and new conduits with 3 six foot sections of 4" smurf tube and then back filled with crusher run...
 
mbrooke

mbrooke

Batteries Included
Location
United States
Occupation
Technician
kenman215 said:
Speaking of the POCO world, part of a service we just did involved moving/replacing an existing transformer. POCO had to splice the primary underground and tie it into the 4" PVC that we had left coming out of the pad. They connected the old and new conduits with 3 six foot sections of 4" smurf tube and then back filled with crusher run...
Click to expand...


Thats nothing :lol:
 
K

kenman215

Senior Member
Location
albany, ny
I forgot to mention that they took a little longer than they were supposed to so after we sent the generator back that was temporarily feeding the gas station while the change over was done, the 2nd crew informed us that the first crew had left without giving them the new, larger fuses for the switch feeding the trans. Instead of a 40 minute shutdown for the station, it ended up being 3.5 hours waiting for new fuses that never came. They threw the old ones back in instead.

Oh yeah, they also never cleared the switch shutoff with me either. The gas station had five cars mid pump when the power went down, as well as two transactions at the register. The shutdown with no warning fried the manager's computer as well as the one in the milkshake machine, lol.

Is that a little better?


Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 
mbrooke

mbrooke

Batteries Included
Location
United States
Occupation
Technician
kenman215 said:
I forgot to mention that they took a little longer than they were supposed to so after we sent the generator back that was temporarily feeding the gas station while the change over was done, the 2nd crew informed us that the first crew had left without giving them the new, larger fuses for the switch feeding the trans. Instead of a 40 minute shutdown for the station, it ended up being 3.5 hours waiting for new fuses that never came. They threw the old ones back in instead.

Oh yeah, they also never cleared the switch shutoff with me either. The gas station had five cars mid pump when the power went down, as well as two transactions at the register. The shutdown with no warning fried the manager's computer as well as the one in the milkshake machine, lol.

Is that a little better?


Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


Still nothing :lol:
 
mbrooke

mbrooke

Batteries Included
Location
United States
Occupation
Technician
kenman215 said:
So, curiosity has been piqued. Tell me what constitutes something.
Click to expand...

Reliability projects which should have been done 30 years ago. Using for example IEEE C57.12.00 as an excuse to run large power transformers over the OFAF nameplate rating. Neglected relay maintenance. The list goes on.
 
D

__dan

Banned
electricmanscott said:
Being an employee with standards, integrity and half a brain is hard. I generally have no say/input on how most jobs are going to be done. I just show up, get the scope, and working with whatever materials they give me make it work. I did a generator install yesterday. It was a hack job, period. The plan was to run pvc on a landscape timber that was flush with the surface of the ground. Through that pvc we were going to run 4/3 romex that we were running through the basement. Of course I protested and of course I was promptly overruled by "executive decision". So I ran sch 40 pvc and romex. But I stripped the jacket so it's ok. :roll: This isn't the first instance of blatantly ignoring the code and other foolishness.

I asked the other guys if this is how they normally do these and they said yes. So it was an illegal hack job that normally gets passed by incompetent inspectors while teaching the younger guys that it's ok.

I thought I had found a company that shared similar values etc. I was wrong. Sadly, this is one of the better companies that I've found. This is why I tell my kids to stay as far away from the trades as possible.

I'm just done trying. :thumbsdown:
Click to expand...

I recall working summers for my father as his electrical gofer, labor, shop and truck cleaner, recalling wiring pools in the summer in RGS, waiting for the ice cream truck to roll through the neighborhood, beginning about the third grade or 1972 ish. No PVC or rotary hammers drills, no cordless impact drivers ...

There was never a time for producing code violations.. The the entire time I would say I recall once we did a service change and the panel was a bit more than 10' inside the house from the meter without an outside disconnect .. His business was mostly all old work, service. No new homes, always busy for the day. He saved old parts and surely every day he would pick up a penny or a used wirenut off the floor. I certainly do to this day.

Every other employer I would have to say has in one way or the other done some crimes as bad as package store robbery with the worst of the worst being GC's or otherwise very creative crooks. There are not enough bad words. Strap them into bunks in the back of your van and drive them around untils they expire .. bastages. Be sure to chat them up right before or after breakfast.

In your specific instance it is clear you have no bargaining power and I mean this in the timeless sense of the word. To have bargaining power there would have to be a shortage of labor relative to demand and so, the market would give you pricing power. At this time and continuing for the next generations, there is and will be a broad surplus of productive capacity relative to demand. The surplus of goods offered for sale has a deflationary impact on pricing power, resulting in lower prices as prices find the liquidating level. Surplus productive capacity may be forced from the market to rebalance with demand. Demand is the price where the transaction takes place, when the money comes out of your pocket.

With no bargaining power, any complaint would predictably result in your termination, at which time your only recourse would be to file a written complaint, get on the docket with OSHA and the EEOC. And of course get another job ..

The complaint with OSHA/EEOC/DCP/DPS will have no effect and do nothing to increase your bargaining power by having some effect on either reducing productive capacity or increasing demand. Only this balance will give you bargaining power.

This is why it is necessary that the next time you have an RGS job with the same employer, buy two sticks for every one and throw half everything in the truck in the harbor every time you see the water. This way you may both reduce productive capacity and increase demand, resulting in your increased bargaining power. All businesses operate this way, by these forces.
 
ActionDave

ActionDave

Chief Moderator
Staff member
Location
Durango, CO, 10 h 20 min from the winged horses.
Occupation
Licensed Electrician
__dan said:
I recall working summers for my father as his electrical gofer, labor, shop and truck cleaner, recalling wiring pools in the summer in RGS, waiting for the ice cream truck to roll through the neighborhood, beginning about the third grade or 1972 ish. No PVC or rotary hammers drills, no cordless impact drivers ...

There was never a time for producing code violations.. The the entire time I would say I recall once we did a service change and the panel was a bit more than 10' inside the house from the meter without an outside disconnect .. His business was mostly all old work, service. No new homes, always busy for the day. He saved old parts and surely every day he would pick up a penny or a used wirenut off the floor. I certainly do to this day.

Every other employer I would have to say has in one way or the other done some crimes as bad as package store robbery with the worst of the worst being GC's or otherwise very creative crooks. There are not enough bad words. Strap them into bunks in the back of your van and drive them around untils they expire .. bastages. Be sure to chat them up right before or after breakfast.

In your specific instance it is clear you have no bargaining power and I mean this in the timeless sense of the word. To have bargaining power there would have to be a shortage of labor relative to demand and so, the market would give you pricing power. At this time and continuing for the next generations, there is and will be a broad surplus of productive capacity relative to demand. The surplus of goods offered for sale has a deflationary impact on pricing power, resulting in lower prices as prices find the liquidating level. Surplus productive capacity may be forced from the market to rebalance with demand. Demand is the price where the transaction takes place, when the money comes out of your pocket.

With no bargaining power, any complaint would predictably result in your termination, at which time your only recourse would be to file a written complaint, get on the docket with OSHA and the EEOC. And of course get another job ..

The complaint with OSHA/EEOC/DCP/DPS will have no effect and do nothing to increase your bargaining power by having some effect on either reducing productive capacity or increasing demand. Only this balance will give you bargaining power.

This is why it is necessary that the next time you have an RGS job with the same employer, buy two sticks for every one and throw half everything in the truck in the harbor every time you see the water. This way you may both reduce productive capacity and increase demand, resulting in your increased bargaining power. All businesses operate this way, by these forces.
Click to expand...
What you are trying to say would be easy to understand if it made sense.
 
romex jockey

romex jockey

Senior Member
Location
Vermont
Occupation
electrician
I want more electrical inspectors, real ones ,not multihats, not HI's with HD certifications.

Fewer of them mean fewer of us.....

~RJ~
 
chris1971

chris1971

Senior Member
Location
Usa
electricmanscott said:
Being an employee with standards, integrity and half a brain is hard. I generally have no say/input on how most jobs are going to be done. I just show up, get the scope, and working with whatever materials they give me make it work. I did a generator install yesterday. It was a hack job, period. The plan was to run pvc on a landscape timber that was flush with the surface of the ground. Through that pvc we were going to run 4/3 romex that we were running through the basement. Of course I protested and of course I was promptly overruled by "executive decision". So I ran sch 40 pvc and romex. But I stripped the jacket so it's ok. :roll: This isn't the first instance of blatantly ignoring the code and other foolishness.

I asked the other guys if this is how they normally do these and they said yes. So it was an illegal hack job that normally gets passed by incompetent inspectors while teaching the younger guys that it's ok.

I thought I had found a company that shared similar values etc. I was wrong. Sadly, this is one of the better companies that I've found. This is why I tell my kids to stay as far away from the trades as possible.

I'm just done trying. :thumbsdown:
Click to expand...

Maybe it's time you go back to being self employed?
 
mtfallsmikey

mtfallsmikey

Senior Member
Musings from the official forum plumber..

Musings from the official forum plumber..

I started riding with Dad to jobs in 1964. Hack work was being done at that time as well, in all trades...don't be too romantic about the good ole days. Although Dad had rigid standards about the work we did, if they were not met, we got a boot up the butt.
 
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