Ironic Changes...

It rained exceptionally hard yesterday and excepting our crew most people went home pretty early in the day. We stayed because we are installing some monorail under the surge bin and so for the most part we stayed dry. Of course putrid water that had landed in the surge and worked its way through the structure did pour into my face and mouth while I was fitting an overhead clip but that only happened a couple of dozen times so it's hardly worth mentioning. There was a pretty serious wind too which caused our red hazard tape to stretch thread thin and then break within ten or so minutes of being strung up but we were protected up on our scissor lift by a giant concrete column so we were pretty safe. Neat to see the rain flying by sideways though! On days like yesterday you really notice the lack of people most in the trailer at coffee. I say 'coffee' and not 'break' because that is the normal way to describe it even though almost no one drinks coffee at our site. There is no coffee pot and a lot of these guys refuse to drink instant. So our trailer had 5 or 6 people in it where there is usually 30+ and our table had the 3 from our work group but the other guy had gone. So it got me thinking about the makeup of our little crew/unit. Our crew, ironically, is very non-traditional. It has a Journeyman, a 2nd year apprentice and a 1st year apprentice. Making up the crew are a man in his 40s, a woman (also in her 40s) and a 20 year old big kid. Traditionally a crew like this would have the older man as the J-man, the kid as the first year and there likely wouldn't be a woman anywhere on the job site. Not here. Not this day in age. Instead our crew is made up of a J-man being Elise who is the woman and yes she is very French. The kid is the second year punk (apprentice) and I, the old goat of the group, am the 1st year punk. I find that a little ironic how that works out but I am pretty happy about it too. Elise is an excellent J-man and a good teacher. Jason (who goes by Picachoo) is a good and hardworking apprentice who is easy to get along with and I am there to learn so as long as that happens I am plenty happy with my role. Elise is a really good journeyman as I have said. Though there are women in Ironworking and some very good ones at that, a lot of them take courses and move over to safety the first chance they get. Not Elise. She is over 40 but doesn't look alike it. She is thin and in great shape mostly because she does power yoga apparently. Despite looking thin though she is solid, solid and strong. She apparently has been in ironworking for 15 years and started in Quebec. Now she is in the patch and is a true professional. She has jet-black hair that sticks out from the back of her helmet in a ponytail, really square shoulders, perfect posture, and a great French accent. And best of all for me she is great at training apprentices so I am learning lots! Pikachoo (whose real name is Jason) is a good person to work with. He has been working with Elise for quite a while so he has some excellent skills that he has picked up. That said, he picked up those skills because he works hard and stays focused. Some kids have it and some don't! He does. He is easy to work with, he jokes a lot, but is always working and getting things done. Like Mamachu (what we jokingly call Elise) he is fairly thin and is also over six feet tall. He will be a great J-man one day just like Mamma. So that is my crew and I am happy to be on it. We work hard and erect a lot of steel while still having fun. I am learning all day long and am getting better at my trade. And with that being the case a little rain wasn't going to wash the sun from our day. I am greatful to be working with Mammachu and Pikachu and I love my job!