NLC Week 8

Week 8 was a lot of fun! Competency week!!!! Started Monday morning off with two more 100% test grades which meant 2 more stickers for the hard hat. Monday in the Climbing Pit it was good started the day off with doing 6 up/downs in the allotted 8 minutes, then after lunch knocked out the single crossarm. Both competency's done on the first attempt. Tuesday in the Distribution Pit I got the EPZ Grounding competency done on the first try, it wasn't pretty, but it was done correctly and under time. Wednesday in Transmission I got a personal best time on the competency and knocked off 5 minutes off my best time. Thursday we helped the guys who were still needing to get competencies signed off. GREAT WEEK!!!

NLC Week 7

Week 7 has come and gone. I got two more 100% scores on last weeks tests so that was a great way to start the week out. Class work was more Basic Electrical Theory and Working on lines and Equipment. Monday in the Climbing pit we practiced our competencies which included changing out a crossarm in under 7 minutes, climbing to the top of the pole and circling around to the other side and getting back to the ground in under 40 seconds and finally preparing to do the 5 up/downs in 7minutes. I was able to complete the crossarm change out with a few seconds to spare. Tuesday in the Distribution Pit we practiced our EPZ Grounding competency which has to be done in less than 35 minutes. I finally got it under time so that makes me feel pretty confident. Wednesday was pretty interesting; we got our first rain while out in the field so that added a small degree of difficulty. In the Transmission Area we continued to practice replacing aside-stack insulator mounted to the side of a 55 foot utility pole which has to be done in 25 minutes, I did it in 18 minutes so I felt really good about that one as well. Thursday was tests in the morning and a full day of fun in the rain!

NLC Week 6

This week was the best so far! The bar has been raised though. The week started off good with two more 100% test scores…More stickers for my helmet. Monday in the Climbing Pit we began we started off with up-downs then moved on to learning how to “wreck out” a crossarm and install a new crossarm and insulators...The catch…It has to be done in 7 minutes. Time starts when you gaff in to the pole and time stops when your feet touch the ground. It was a lot of fun! My first time was just over 10 minutes. We also have to go up the pole circle around the top to the other side in 40 seconds. My first time was 55 sec. I changed my climbing technique and dropped it down to 41 seconds. Thankfully, we have three weeks to practice. Tuesday in the Distribution Pit we began learning how to change out insulators on the poles without crossarms and setting up an EquiPotential Zone (EPZ) which connects all the phases and neutral to ground so in the event of the line becoming energized this creates a direct short in which the fault current is diverted around the lineman working on the pole…SFETY FIRST! And my new crew won a skills builder competition…Another sticker! Wednesday was our first day in the Transmission Area. It was a little intimidating and exciting to look up at the 55 foot poles when all we have been climbing are 30 foot poles and only to the top of those for about a week and a half. The instructions were simple…Go up, belt over the bottom and middle insulators and climb up to the top insulator…TWICE! After each climber climbed twice, then we could begin practicing removing and installing the side-stack insulator. The first climb went well. It was slow; I stopped about half way up to get my senses together and get to the top. Finally, I made it and then came back down. The next climb went a lot faster, I was still a little nervous, but it was fun. After our group finished, I got to go up and practice taking the insulator off and put it back. My first time up, I did it 6 minutes under the required time….WOOOOO!!! Thursday was a couple more tests and another county fair so we rotated through the stations and practiced our new found skills…What a great week!!!

NLC Week 5

Another week gone by! Getting back into the "student" mind set after having nearly two weeks off was interesting. Waking up at 4:30 a.m. seemed really early after sleeping in until 7:30. Tuesday was great though, I got two more A's on the tests I took before Christmas break. We also finished the Fundamentals of Linework book and started in on the Working on Lines and Equipment book. This week was also the last week of the Electrical Systems book. We start the Basic Electrical Theory book on Monday. Class was good, but the field was better. Climbing Pit for 6 hours is a lot of fun. We began the day warming up and getting back into the rhythm of climbing then after lunch it was all about getting more competencies signed off. Climbing up and over the front of a crossarm, doing the 6 foot lean out and climbing to the top of the pole. All were first time "GO's" and then a couple of us got to go make an obstacle course on a pole to climb over and practice transitions with our secondary lanyard. We ended the day doing "up-downs" . Wednesday was the usual classwork, then into the field at the Distribution Pit getting more competencies signed off. The competencies were framing a utility pole which meant installing crossarms and insulators, tensioning a utility pole guy wire and running the boom on the line truck through an obstacle course. Another fun day in the field. Oh yeah..."Squirrel" took our NEW class flag to the top of the 80 foot pole, he was the first of the term to climb it...The other class wasn't to happy about it. Thursday was review day for both classes and then off to the field this time we were in the last day of the Underground area getting signed off on making up 200 amp Load-Break Elbows that plug into the transformer. After that was done it was Vault Rescue Certification time. The rescue dummy didn't respond when I called his name so I had to go in after him! After everyone in my group finished we went over to the Transmission area and watched the instructor demo changing out an insulator. He did it at about 5 feet, we will be doing it at 55 feet...I can't wait. Friday we tested and then had our first "evaluations" of the term. I got great marks and all the instructors comments were positive and encouraging. What a great week.

NLC Week 4 (and Christmas vacation)

What can I say? Week 4 was AWESOME!!! Christmas break was Great as well. We are really picking up speed now. Started the week off on Monday by getting the test results from the week 3 tests…Two more A’s so I can’t complain. We began the last week of the Linework Fundamentals book and the second to last week of Electrical Systems. In the field, we did up-downs in the Climbing Pit and worked on going over the backside of obstacles on a pole and continued working on basic climbing skills a little higher up on the pole and building the confidence in our new skills and abilities. On Tuesday we had more class time and my group was in the Distribution Pit rotating through the stations which included,  tensioning guy wires that attach to the utility pole and the ground, operating the boom on the linetruck and maneuvering a transformer through a maze, using a different boom to raise a transformer up to a person working on a pole and framing a pole on the ground. Wednesday was more class time then my group was in the Underground area working on the Primary side of the transformer prepping conductors, making up load-break elbows and working with the hotsticks. Thursday was test day and then County Fair rotations through all the stations practicing what we did all week. Only we were finally allowed to go up to the top of the poles…FINALLY! It was a burden lifted off everyone’s back to finally go all the way up and get a feel for what climbing is all about. It was a great week!!! Friday began our Christmas vacation, which my wife children and I drove down to Los Angeles to be with family. It was a much needed vacation. We drove back up to Sacramento on the 29^th and had a nice quiet New Year…By that I meant we were fast asleep by midnight…So HAPPY NEW YEAR! I can’t wait to get back to school and continue learning about a trade that is so vital to our everyday life. I found a sticker that I like it reads “EVEN FIREMEN NEED HEROS” and had a picture of a Lineman on a pole. Lineman are a very special breed, selfless and hardworking individuals with type 1 personalities. I am thankful that this is the career path I have been given and I cannot wait to join the ranks of men who serve their communities regardless of the hour, weather or given situation.

Reaching out the required 6 feet.

Going the "extra" mile at 93".

Cutting a piece of ACSR (Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced).

Tightening the hoist.

All 190 Lbs on that handle.

Changing out the guy preform.

Travis is glad to be at the top.

Looking down at Spence from 30 feet.

Porcelain Line Post Insulator with a conductor.

Tools that keep me on the pole.

NLC Week 3

Another week has come and gone! Time is simply flying by at an amazing rate. The week started off great. Monday morning I got the test results from the previous week. I got 100% on both exams so that is a great way to kick off the academic portion of school. It also meant that I received a couple stickers for my bare helmet. We also began the second chapters of the Linework Fundamentals and Electrical Systems books. In the field we were in the distribution pit and we began getting level 1 competencies signed off. I got the adjusting the Bucksqueeze competency on the first try, I can’t say the same for circling the pole. I thought I was locking my knee out when I was going around but the instructor saw something else so needless to say I got to practice a bit more. I got signed off by lunch and Spence said “It looked a hundred times better” so having to redo that competency really paid off for me. Especially considering that one day I will not have a journeyman focusing just on what I am doing, so I need to have all the techniques down. My crew also won our first skill builder competition…Another sticker!!! Tuesday was more class in the morning learning about the transmission and sub-transmission portion of the electrical system, as well as, rigging and calculating the weight of poles and crossarms. In the field we were in the distribution pit getting signed off on more level 1 competencies. We had to make up a handline and rig items to a handline to send up the pole. My handline was the best of the day….No, really the instructor actually took out his phone and took a picture of me and my BEAUTIFUL handline. Then, he set it aside to use as an example. Rigging went well, I had to rig, hoist and call out commands for a shotgun (insulated tool), bolt, insulator and an 8’ crossarm…It went great and my crew won a second skills builder competition. Wednesday was more class then off to the underground area to do the last of the level 1 competencies for the week. I got signed off on landing wires to a main service panel and making connections in a junction box in the ground. It was fun. Thursday began with our second set of exams then both classes (Edison & Tesla) gathered to hear a couple of guys campaign for class president. Then after a vet meeting (the VA is really messing the vets over right now) we were in the field for “county fair” it was a great time rotating through the stations. We had a competition to install a crossarm…My team won! Then at the end of the day, another vet meeting this time with the NLC Director of Operations…That was fun.

Waiting for the groundman to "Do work".

The groundman..."Doing work".

Up about 15 feet.

It's a 9.75 (I thought it was a 10).

Running the linetruck.

Again.

Landing the secondary conductors in the main panel.

Again.

That's how ALL main panels should look.

That's a 10.

Doin' work in the J-Box

NLC Week 2

So the second week of training at NLC is done. This was our first week of academics and learning in the field. The school and staff are extremely organized and the course work is very well thought out.  The day is split into two parts; classroom and field/lab. Two hours of class room instruction in the morning and six hours in the field or in the lab. The classroom portion in the morning is a good thing, because if I had to actually use my brain to think in the afternoon, I would be in BIG trouble. This week we covered Linework Fundamentals #1 (LF#1) and Electrical Systems #1 (ES#1). LF#1 was focused on safety protocols here at NLC (which I’m sure will translate into the field as well) and on one of the more important topics of customer service. Surprisingly, nobody likes it when their power is off; whether it is a planned outage for maintenance or some type of emergency such as a storm or an auto accident involving a transformer or utility pole, the customers just want their power back on. Also, if work is being done in a customer’s yard, it should look better than it did before the work was started and appear as if the workers were NEVER there. ES#1 focused on the power grid from the starting point of power generation all the way to distribution to the customer. There are quite a few steps in the process and a lot of equipment that is involved. Some basic electrical terms such as volts, amps, conductor, insulator, etc. were also introduced. Thursday was our first tests, they seemed to go well. The field was great!!! Monday my group was in the climbing pit so we began with learning tool and equipment inspection/maintenance. Once that was done we went through putting all of our equipment on correctly. Good thing because there is always one guy in the bunch that wants to put his hooks on the wrong feet, to which an instructor will chime in “What, are you gonna climb out of a barrel, I thought we were here to climb poles! Fix your hooks!” It looks pretty funny though. Once we belted on to the poles we worked on proper foot position (climbing on the quarters) and adjusting our Bucksqueeze, which is the belt that goes around the pole and provides 100% attachment and fall arrest. Then we got to climb and work on technique and form. Unfortunately, the instructor had us hammer our screwdriver into the pole at about the six foot mark…So that’s as high as we went. Then we worked on going around the pole. On Tuesday we were in the distribution pit learning how to make up handlines for storage. Handlines are what are used to haul items up to the lineman working on the pole. We also learned how to tie insulators, crossarms and tools to the handline and prepare the items to go up the pole. We also learned how to communicate with the lineman working on the pole as we are raising and lowering the items. Finally we learned how to prepare a line truck for work, set out cones and signs and setting the outriggers. After all that was done I got to operate the boom. I wasn’t nearly as smooth as the instructor was, but hopefully after 30 years in the trade that will change. Wednesday, we worked on the underground secondary connections which is want brings power to the customers after the transformer. Finally on Thursday, we took our tests and went to the field for “county fair” where we rotate through all three stations. The BEST part of the week was being up on the pole playing some football. We were only supposed to be up about 6-8 feet, my hooks were set in at about 15 feet! It was AWESOME!!! We also learned about Up-Downs, not the kind I remembered from High School football though. If the ball is dropped...EVERYBODY climbs down then back up. I got to climb, play football and exercise all on one pole. Next week, we start getting our level 1 competencies signed off…WOOOOOO!!!!

Here is a link to the class Photobucket page 

http://s1186.photobucket.com/albums/z365/NLC_EDISON_2011/

 Here are some Week 2 pictures

Morning Tailboard.

The Climbing Pit.

Junction Box.

Terminations inside the J-Box.

Up about 15 or 20 feet.

Beautifully made up handline.

The view from 15 feet.

Playing football to build confidence.

Operating the boom.

Belting on.

This Guy.

Again.

Getting ready to do work.

Look mom, no hands!

Load testing my Bucksqueeze...It works!

A little farther.

The screwdriver...aka "training wheels"

The Bearded Man!