Job this summer
For the past couple weeks I have started working with a company called Professional Service Industries again. I worked for them in 03 and 04, I think. I did two summers in a row. Back then I was just in the lab testing soils, compression testing on concrete samples, and occasionally going out in the field to pick up samples. It was a job, I got paid, but the lab was not a real good place to work.
Now I am a field tech. This time around things are getting interesting. What I do is on-site testing of concrete (slump and if the concrete is spec'd with air, air content testing) as well as set cylinder samples for later compression testing in the lab. I have also done a few other things - coring concrete for forensic evaluation of trouble spots and vapor emissions out in the field, and more compression testing in the lab. There is a lot to concrete!
I was assigned to the Avon distribution warehouse in Zanesville, Oh this past week. I am not sure how long I will be on that job. The lead technician needed someone to fill in and I was the one that got picked. I guess you could say its a good thing - lots of hours, but the concrete starts flowing between 5 and 7am. With an hour and a half drive from the office and a half hour drive from home to the office I need to start my day rolling REAL early!
There are still a few wrinkles that need ironing. Once I am up to speed this job will be a lot better (I hope!). If you read my posts here much you know I like to understand what it is I am doing thoroughly. I know what my "job" is, but there are other things that the "job" relates to that I need a much better understanding of. Each day I learn more and more and get more and more comfortable with the site.
If you have ever been on a large construction project you can appreciate me saying this - it is like a well-conducted (hopefully!) orchestra. My job allows me time between my testing to observe, talk to people, and otherwise learn about what is going on. With all the engines running, back-up beepers, loader buckets banging, concrete sloshing, hammering, and all of that echoing off the 40-50' high walls in a building that makes people on the other side look like ants is somewhat of a harmony. I also have to remember to stay out of the surveyor's line-of-sight, the path of loaded (and unloaded) concrete trucks, telehandlers, scissor lifts, and crazy guys on skid-steers moving materials like they wont get a paycheck if they go too slow.
Now I am a field tech. This time around things are getting interesting. What I do is on-site testing of concrete (slump and if the concrete is spec'd with air, air content testing) as well as set cylinder samples for later compression testing in the lab. I have also done a few other things - coring concrete for forensic evaluation of trouble spots and vapor emissions out in the field, and more compression testing in the lab. There is a lot to concrete!
I was assigned to the Avon distribution warehouse in Zanesville, Oh this past week. I am not sure how long I will be on that job. The lead technician needed someone to fill in and I was the one that got picked. I guess you could say its a good thing - lots of hours, but the concrete starts flowing between 5 and 7am. With an hour and a half drive from the office and a half hour drive from home to the office I need to start my day rolling REAL early!
There are still a few wrinkles that need ironing. Once I am up to speed this job will be a lot better (I hope!). If you read my posts here much you know I like to understand what it is I am doing thoroughly. I know what my "job" is, but there are other things that the "job" relates to that I need a much better understanding of. Each day I learn more and more and get more and more comfortable with the site.
If you have ever been on a large construction project you can appreciate me saying this - it is like a well-conducted (hopefully!) orchestra. My job allows me time between my testing to observe, talk to people, and otherwise learn about what is going on. With all the engines running, back-up beepers, loader buckets banging, concrete sloshing, hammering, and all of that echoing off the 40-50' high walls in a building that makes people on the other side look like ants is somewhat of a harmony. I also have to remember to stay out of the surveyor's line-of-sight, the path of loaded (and unloaded) concrete trucks, telehandlers, scissor lifts, and crazy guys on skid-steers moving materials like they wont get a paycheck if they go too slow.
posted by Steve at
8:09 PM
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