"Road Tramps"

The above photo is of the early morning sunrise view at our job. My husband and I are both working on the same job doing industrial electrical work...we also have the good fortune to be able to be "work partners" as well...for safety and productivity in industrial work most construction workers work in pairs.

 Above is a photo of my husband Charlie (left) and his look-a-like Bob...Charlie and Bob had worked on a power plant project back in the 70s ....Charlie and Bob were surprised to see each other again after all those years. Bob is working on the job that my husband and I are now working on.

Pictured above in the top photo shows a small section of the pipe Charlie and I installed...we also installed the 4 ft by 3 ft metal "can" or "junction box" there in the ceiling. The bottom two photos show the hydraulic Greenlee pipe bender that we used to bend the EMT (electrical metallic tubing) metal pipes to offset down from the wall into the metal "can". The pipes do not come from the factory pre-bent....industrial electricians bend each pipe to make metal "raceways" for the electrical wires to be placed into once the pipes are installed.

We used 3 inch EMT...each "stick" of pipe is 10 feet long and weighs approx 30 lbs each "stick". Sometimes a whole stick of pipe must be carried up a ladder to be installed..of course two workers share the weight of the stick of pipe. Want to see how much physical effort is involved? Try carrying a 20 lb sack of bird seed up a 10 foot ladder and place it above your head on a shelf.

Studio painting time....not much time for painting for the past two weeks since I started working over time. 

Comparison: I've been doing some comparison....comparison between painting full time and working as an industrial electrician. Although the two jobs are completely different in all aspects...and the electrical work is so much more physically and mentally demanding on every level..... the stress is not there for me in electrical work....the biggest stress relief is that I know that at the end of my work week there will be a pay check and that I am contributing the my retirement pension as well. I am also physically active in the highest level doing electrical work.

Painting items specifically for sales items ..in my mind...is such a gamble these days. My calculations for wages earned for an item that I painted, say that I would sell for $1200.00....the hourly wage I made was $4 an hour. I contributed zero to my retirement funds and I have to pay taxes on that $1200.00.

I am itching to continue painting the items I have in my personal resin collection.... 

Wishing you all a super happy spring!!! Enjoy some time outside in the sunshine!!!