The First Week.

I made it. The first full week as a Technician! Things are going well. Just like moving to a new area in the mission, I've adjusted. (This may be a little scattered because the McDonald's customers sitting next to me won't stop talking about a new saw that has great new safety features to prevent chopping your fingers off.) I can't multitask. Anyway.

The first few installs on my own went great. After shadowing a few experienced techs, I arrived at my first job and did the whole thing by myself! Wahoo. Only a few problems occurred but I played it cool and had a sweet victory dance in the street when I finished.  I've done eight installs now and every one brings something new to the table. It's kinda like the gospel. I study something and think that I understand it completely, and that there is no more to learn about it. Then bam, the Lord presents me with a new idea or challenge and I learn even more. That's how this job is, and I learn more and more every house that I enter. So thats the great and dandy fluffy news.

You never know what your going to get/see/hear when you enter into someones home... Now keep in mind we are working in small agricultural/industrial towns in eastern Oregon and Washington. Lower income families and people that have lived their whole lives in these little towns. My first install these two sisters talked about all the girls in the town that are pregnant or who have gotten pregnant in the last month. I know them all now! Ha. Then one of them decides to start breastfeeding right there in the living room. They talked about teen pregnancies almost the entire time we were there. Interesting. One guy had a cat-hair infested house and 5 minutes into the install, my throat closed up and I wheezed the rest of the way. It was bad. He was creepishly watching us the entire time. The pale white skin and thin mustache didn't make me feel any better. Then I helped on an install where this  family was obviously protecting their weed garden. They dedicated their garage to growing beautiful marijuana plants.  It was pretty nice, I'm not going to lie. They went all out with special lights, fans, and the whole bit. There were plants by nearly every window as well. Then the teenage son came home and was bragging how he had a gun that he could protect the family with. It was a pellet gun hanging up on his bedroom wall. Nice one. Then, last night, I made a boo boo. I ran into a nail when drilling a whole into a door jam. So I routinely grabbed my drill bit that cuts through metal. I tried cutting through the nail but it wasn't working. I tried to pull part of the bit out but it was stuck. So I pulled a little harder and fingers slid right along the bit. It hurt. My brain said, "Owe, that hurt!" I finally looked down and found my hand full of blood. Oh crap. It was dripping on their back entry way floor. I freaked out about spilling blood on their floor and didn't want to call it to their attention. Luckily my manager Tristan was there helping me with the job. I called for him and he came over and exclaimed a four letter word. I asked if he had a band-aid. He politely and calmly asked the customers if they had a band-aid and they came rushing over. Luckily they were more concerned about me than the floor and grabbed some paper towels and band-aids. They helped me wrap it all up and then I apologized. A lot. I sheepishly kept going and finished the job. I left there and felt like an idiot but luckily I still have my fingers! I felt I deserved some tacos after that and stopped at a taco truck. Good deal.

So that's the life of a technician. I love this job and work with some great guys. I shall talk about my social/church life next post... It's almost as exciting as life on the job. Ha.

That's the Life of a Technician.

Pictured above in my roommate Travis. Good guy.