Thanksgiving 2011...Last few day's before Northwest Lineman College (NLC)

 Wow, this year has really flown by. I completed my Electrical Technology training in June, so I am a certified California State Electrician Trainee. I was selected for an the PG&E PowerPathway which went fron August  thru October here in Sacramento. That was an AWESOME experience. It was a veterans only program sponsored by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E), American River College (ARC) and Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD) to teach veterans about the type of work the Utilities Industry performs. It is by far, the most physically and mentally challenging work I have ever done. Challenging, but exciting and rewarding. The three day pole climbing school at the SMUD Hedge Training Center was the best part of the eight weeks of training. Now I am getting ready to begin the 15 week Electrical Lineworker Program (ELP) NLC in Oroville, CA which starts on November 28th. I figured the worst conditions lineman face are in the frigid cold winters, so why not initially learn the trade in those kind of conditions, Right?! Nice thing is, I will be commuting from Sac to Oroville with a buddy and fellow Veteran from my Electrical Technology class. The commute will be roughly 78 miles...ONE WAY! leaving Sac at 5:30 a.m. and returning sometime between 6 and 6:30 p.m. It is going to be AWESOME and completely worth the pain and sacrifices that will have to be made by me and my beautiful wife and great kids. Please pray for us during this journey of unknowns. I can't wait to see where this path leads.

Here are a few pictures of the three day SMUD Climbing school, we started the last day off by free climbing to the 15 foot mark and playing a little football...It was AWESOME!

 

 

 

 

And a few videos!