my instructor told us that.......

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wireman71 said:
So how is having one guy spend company time getting coffee cost effective?
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Because one kid is cheaper than 30 men.

30 of your men head out to the roach coach ....along with 50 other tradesmen....each order takes 1 minutes to make and exchange the money....that's 80 minutes of time gone PLUS the time to actually have the break...another 15 minutes.
Everyone cannot be first at the roach coach and everyone wants their 15 minutes.

So you send one helper out....as does the other 3 trades...
- money is exchanged faster ($2.00 - $1.75 x 80 times is slow compared to $100 - $96.50 x 4times)....
- the men all stop/start at the same time (when the kid gets back)
- the only "real money" lost is the kid's wages for 1 hour (still less than the price of 1 journeyman for 1 hour).


On some larger jobs, a roach coach will actually set anchor right on-site to ensure THEY get all the money .... first thing in the morning, break, lunch, and a soda on the way out - some of these guys make good money setting anchor.
 
the lowest man gets the coffie...period
he could be the best apprentice around BUT he has to pay his dues if he has the least amount of time as an apprentice...lol

its like initiation "Go get the coffie ROOKIE!!!!!"
 
So how is having one guy spend company time getting coffee cost effective?
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It is thought of as a right of the worker, breaks can be beneficial to moral, I always by break or lunch if I am around at that time or slip the apprentice money for break/lunch if I am not going to be around at break/lunch. Take break away and see what it cost you.

By buying I speed up the process, no checking with anybody, I order 10 of this 10 of that 10 more of these when the apprentice returns radio eveyone let's eat.

My 3rd day in the trade I went for 26 men and screwed up royally. Learned quickly and the rest of the summer I was the favorite helper, I got the order right, gave change and made 20.00+ pocket money everyday at a time when we only made 24.00 dollars a day before taxes.

IN response to the original post, It sure will enhance your usefulness if you can bend conduit. Learn as much as you can..it will not hurt at layoff time that's for sure or any other time for that matter.
 
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Ah Yes, I remember it well.
"Hey ********, hot foot it down the road and get us a cup"
LOL! I swore that man was out to kill me. My first 18 months (back in the early 80's) resembled boot camp. Looking back now, I see why he was such a grumpy old fart. Wiring a concrete plant with a green helper under foot would certainly stress me out too!
 
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first day in the field, one of the other guys tried sending me out for a lamp bender. i never fell for any of those tricks at all. my high school warned us of that :grin:
 
'B phase grounding block'

and my personal favorite - '6 inch fender washer'

I actually know someone who was able to locate a skyhook... took the parts house an hour to find one.. . at something like $30,000 plus....

must have been more than one green helper involved in that one
 
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