Some of you, however few you may be, have heard the recent events of the last week. For those who don't know what's been going on in the North, give me a moment to explain. First off, I finally got a solid, gold-plated line on a job, back in the electrical field. No, not at that godforsaken pellet plant - if that place ever gets off the ground, I'm no longer sure I'll be heading back there. (Sorry, Boss, but an industrial start-up just seems too unpredictable to earn a ticket in.)
No, the job's not back in Atikokan. In fact, it's not so much in one place as potentially in several places across Northern Ontario. To put it bluntly, I'm now signed on with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 402. Yes, I'm on my way to being a union boy.
But, as it always must be, some things from the past must always rear their ugly heads, threatening to put a damper on a good day's work. And so it was today I found myself faced with a true monster: nearly 80 metres of 750 kcmil high-voltage TECK 90 tri-phase conductor. At nearly nine kilograms per metre, it is by far the single largest power cable I've yet to handle. And it took 14 guys (of which myself and Tesla were the lightweights) to dead-lift it onto a cable tray - which it summarily began to destroy. Oops.
Anyway, after eight solid hours of effort, we managed to put this beast to bed in four pieces, twin runs of 23 and 15 metres. Of course, it's never so easy as just that. Yes, there were complications beyond the cable tray. (Anyone that knows me knows it's never one thing that goes wrong around me.) TECK 90 requires a specific type of connector to attach it to whatever switch gear, motor control console and/or junction box it's meant to power. And the ones we had, valued at $400 each, were the wrong size. Specifically, they were too small.
So, while the majority of us were dealing with the last cable, a small group grabbed the connectors, along with power drills and some type of metal grinding bits I've never encountered before, and started doing what they could to widen the openings on the connectors. Can you guess what group I wound up in? (If you say the metal grinding group, call me - I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.)
After the day's labour, me and Tesla decided to hit KFC before ordering a full retreat to my place in Thunder Bay. While he spent half the time bitching about house insurance and property tax in Barrie and avoiding mentioning what I think is the root of the problem (Barbatos) I sat there in bliss at the thought of the day. Only part of my thoughts were about me being back to work.
The other part? As I understand it, under the rules of the union, work on a weekend is double rate.
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