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hvac1000 · Jan 8, 2009, 05:27 AM

You have to enjoy what you do or it is just a job with no end in site. I have always enjoyed what I have done and that is the secret to success. I tell the younger folks at the university when I give my pep talk that if your are satisfied at what you do and enjoy your job the financial rewards will always follow. I finish by telling them I try to learn something new every day and never pass up the opportunity to talk to older people since they have experienced much and it is a shame that when they pass the information is lost unless carried on by others.

mygirlsdad77 · Jan 8, 2009, 04:52 PM

I truly hope I never get burned out on my job, either plumbing or hvac. I have liked working with my hands as well as training my brain ever since I was a litte guy. I can't see getting tired of working with these trades, although, I must admitt, the people can get to me a little, but I trained myself years ago to,, just grin and bear it.

I love to work around older gentlemen, and learn little tricks and get advice that I never would have thought of. They usually have some pretty interesting storys about how they acquired there knowledge on certain things.

KC13 · Jan 8, 2009, 04:57 PM

Get this: Not too far from my home is an intersection of two roads named "Grinn" and "Barrett". No $#1T! The sign is a landmark and a reminder for me.

mygirlsdad77 · Jan 8, 2009, 05:59 PM

So every time you drive by that intersection, you think,, now that's what I should have done, instead of punching that guy in the nose.lol

KC13 · Jan 8, 2009, 06:05 PM

I'll get a pic next time I pass it. You have to see it... to believe it.

hvac1000 · Jan 8, 2009, 07:06 PM

Originally Posted by mygirlsdad77

I truly hope i never get burned out on my job, either plumbing or hvac. I have liked working with my hands as well as training my brain ever since i was a litte guy. I can't see getting tired of working with these trades, although, i must admitt, the people can get to me a little, but i trained myself years ago to,,, just grin and bear it.

I love to work around older gentlemen, and learn little tricks and get advice that i never would have thought of. They usually have some pretty interesting storys about how they aquired there knowledge on certain things.

I am kind of the same way. I was always taking apart everyone's radio when I was a kid then putting them back together just to see how they worked. The old tube type were a real bear since the metal top on the galss tube can give the uninformed a good shock. It was the tube plate voltage that would get you every time. Naturally charging up a capacitor and tossing it to one of my buddys in school worked every time for a laugh.LOL

I have what you could call head problems since I was a kid. They did not have fancy names for all that stuff back then. I was hyper active and always had to keep my mind busy and I did not sleep at night. My parents could always tell when I was up cause you could smell the rosin core solder from me working on a project. Later in the good old Catholic grade school I had to take the a advancement test 3 times since they did not believe the score. A short time later after a visit to some kind of doctor they had me take a Mensa test and the results of that explained many things. The Nuns got off my and I was allowed to do whatever I wanted especially after I built the first portable electronic organ that anyone new of or heard before. My hole father sold the drawings and gave the organ to the Baldwin Piano company for some good $$$$$. He was a boozer and burned through the money. This design or parts of it were later used in the Yamaha portable organ use by some of the popular bands of the 60's. The D-2B and the EX-42 were the units from Yamaha. You also have to remember my design was analog since digital was not available yet. Such a simple circuit would be laughed at today but a old military surplus code oscillator with 8 pots to vary the voltage along with 8 finger tabs with one little speaker and one of the old large 9 volt batterys made that baby work just great. I remember the Nuns with there pitch pipes helping me to tune it so it sounded just right at the college science fair. It was a big time for me to go since the competition was not open to grade schoolers but you know how those nuns are. They put there mind to it and I did a demo for the college president and he said I was allowed to participate and that is how Baldwin Piano Company found out about my portable organ.

The good old days.

Waiting for that picture of the street sign KC13.

mygirlsdad77 · Jan 9, 2009, 04:28 PM

I believe the correct terminology for your head problems,(these days) would be called,, genious. Betting that's what the test proved. Thanks for a little insight into your life. I believe a bio book on your life would most likely become a best seller. I truly wish I were a writer or pulblisher(or knew one for that matter), because I would be knocking on your door tomorrow.

hvac1000 · Jan 9, 2009, 05:07 PM

Everyone's life is interesting as I see it. It is too bad with all the hustle and bussle today that people do not take more time to find out more about each other. When I had the shop every month I would check with the employees over coffee and donuts privately in my office as to just how it was going in there life. It took me about a month to get to all of them then I started over. It gave me a little window as to how my employees were doing along with there family members. It took them awhile to get used to this routine since when I started it they just thought I was a little nuts for bothering to care. They used to tease the new hires about the once a month meeting with the boss. LOL

Finding out about various traits about each one of them had allowed me to place the people where they would do the best for the business and also helped them understand that I was just one of them but the difference was I sat in a big office sometimes. On a three months cycle I liked to ride with every one of the employees to the service calls or installs. This way we had personal time together for a day at least 4 times a year. I can say I had the greatest group of personnel of any HVAC company in my opinion. Now I will also have to admit I had some pretty ruff and tumble guys also. I do remember having to bail my leed man out of jail more than one time and a few others to boot. To much alcohol and bar fights will cause that but they were good at what they did and they had families to support. I had a standing offer for everyone in my business that if they though alcohol was starting to take over there lives and they needed a program to help them quit I would pay for it. There were quite a few takers over the years of that offer and most were better off for taking it but the first few month are difficult for a recovering alcoholic so I made allowances for this at work to help smooth the way. I have paid for baby sitting for weekends so the men could take the wives away for a day or two to work things out without the kids being around. All of this might sound crazy to many people but it was all in my plan to make work not a dirty word and see smiling faces when I walked in the door at 6:30AM every day. I wanted my people to be winners not losers because if they were winners so was I.

mygirlsdad77 · Jan 9, 2009, 05:34 PM

This does not sound crazy to me at all. As a matter of fact, I believe this shows not only a great boss, but a great heart. Of all the post of yours I have read, this one touches me the most. I aspire to someday be the boss that you were. As of now, I think that my current boss is about as close to your thinking as he could possibly be. This really hit home with me(im not the problem employee, but there are a couple rough and tumbles, as you say, and I never fully grasp why my boss helped them out so much, as in bailing out, giving loans,and such) I guess they just play as hard as they work. Hopefully someday they will realize how lucky they were to have a boss(and a friend and mentor) such as you.