Pain & Loathing in Solar [RE-wrenches]

[William Miller]

Ray:

The grind gets to most of at one time or another.  One approach is to
improve the work environment in little ways.  Here are a few ideas:

At 01:14 AM 8/4/01 -0600, you wrote:
>It's after midnight, I'm in the middle of laying out a power board on my
>table and lost my motivation. 

I try not to promise to complete a job at a specific time unless I am
really certain I can.  Too often I've let the customer pressure me into an
early delivery.  I try to remember that saying I'm busy is a good thing.

>This is a tough business. I just checked:
>I've hand carried over 20 tons of lead acid batteries the past 5 years.

Got a good hand truck and dolly?  Don't forget to ask the client if they'd
like to deliver the batteries to save themselves some money.  Is there a
teenager you could hire?  Most batteries have two handles-- I'd rather
share the load and make twice as many trips.

> I'm tired. All of you must be dealing with this too? Wrestling 4/0 cable
with
>your fingers.

Klein makes some wire bending tools.  I've never indulged but I probably
should purchase a set.

> Pulling a hundred pounds of slimey wire through 200 ft of
>conduit a few inches at a time.

Greenlee makes several wire pulling tools for small contractors.  One is a
hand crank winch I've used and another uses your hole hawg.

>...Always the digging: in rock, in mud, in
>frozen ground...

I have two good excavation contractors I've cultivated relations with.  I
always pay them first to keep myself in their good graces.

>And the ritual insertion of the ground rod 8 ft down into what ever the
>earth can dream up  ... 

I now have a full size Bosch hammer drill with a ground rod driving
attachment.  I welded a 1/2" masonry bit on some 3/8 ground rod to drill a
ground rod pilot hole.  You can Cad-weld #4 wire to your rod and lay it in
the trench.

>Well pumps: lets not even think about the miles of
>pipe pulled and slid back in - "This time it'll last 10 years"...
>Is it worth it?
>Are we really saving the world?
>Am I off topic?
>Have I stared too long into the sun?
>

Ray, your first priority is yourself. Provide for yourself and make
yourself happy.  You could put food on the table clerking at the local
hardware store, but I get the impression you are too independent to do
that.  So, in spite of the grind, you prefer working for yourself and
solving the problems-- technically, logistically and spiritually.

So its decided you enjoy working for yourself.  Now, you could be any kind
of contractor -- a swimming pool contractor, for example, but that's
definitely doing less for the environment than the RE trade.  Are you
saving the world?  Maybe not, but you are improving your little corner of
it.  If everyone cared as much as you did, we would not have to worry about
the environment, would we?  

I say keep on doing what your doing.  Get lots of sleep, don't strain your
back and you'll do fine.

Respectfully,

William Miller

__________________________________________________________________
William Miller
SLO Communications: Communications and Power Systems Consulting
PO Box 50, Santa Margarita, CA 93453
Voice :805-438-5600		Fax: 805-438-4607	VMail: 805-546-4875
email: wrmiller at slonet.org
License No. C-10-773985
_____________________________________________________________
Compatibility:
Word processor: WP7
Spreadsheet: Quatro Pro 7
CAD: Microstation 95, DXF, Visio 4.1T
_____________________________________________________________
"I stand by all the misstatements that I've made." Dan Quayle
__________________________________________________________________

- - - -
To send a message: RE-wrenches at topica.com

Archive of previous messages: http://www.topica.com/lists/RE-wrenches/

List rules & etiquette: http://www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/etiquete.htm

Check out participant bios: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/index.html

Hosted by Home Power magazine

Moderator: michael.welch at homepower.com

==^================================================================
EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bz8Qcs.bz9JC9
Or send an email To: RE-wrenches-unsubscribe at topica.com
This email was sent to: michael.welch at homepower.com

T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail!
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register
==^================================================================