Wow. A whole month.

Hello all,
I just realized how long it has been since my last entry. I guess it runs in the family. It has been a busy month.

Classes have been pretty regular. We are still working on the four core fundamental subjects that will help make the rest of the classes make sense. The four basics are Safety, Tools and Machinery, Electrical Fundamentals, and Refrigeration Fundamentals.We work on these subjects until Christmas break then we work on a variety of other subjects until the end of the year in May.

So far I have been able to keep up with all the theory and I think I have a pretty good understanding of the everything we've covered. On my work experience days (Fridays) the guys I've been working with have been quizzing me on things as we work on the different systems, and I'm getting probably 60% of the answers. That's not bad considering I've only been working on this stuff since early September. I have to say that work experience has been a real eye opener. So far I have been out 4 days and worked on seven very different systems. It shows me how this industry covers such a broad range of products and technologies and how every day working could be a different adventure. I'm really looking forward to it.

Last week we had our mid-terms which kept me very busy for two weeks and a full weekend. I really wanted to do well on these both as a confidence booster and to help keep my grade average up. I figure it is easier to stay near the top than to have to struggle back to get a good grade on my finals. Anyway, things went quite well - I had a 97% average over the 4 tests. The one I wasn't very happy with was the tools and machinery mid-term. I got a few questions wrong that I just didn't read carefully enough. That gives me something to work on for the finals in December. The other piece of good news we got during mid-terms is that if we have an 80% or higher average at the end of the year, we don't have to write the three big finals in May. That is definitely something to work towards.

We just completed an assignment called the "Horn Project". The idea is to practice bending, flaring, and brazing(soldering) copper tubing. These are all things that we will have to do in the field when we are installing and repairing systems. It was a little tricky but my bending and flaring went well and held a 150 psig of nitrogen which was the main test of the work we did. Then we had to cut all the flared ends off and braze and solder all the pipes back together. We didn't have time to pressure test the pieces last night, so I'll have to wait until Monday to see how well I did. I think it will hold pressure just fine although some of the brazed joints are a little ugly. It will get better with practice.

Well, I need to get going. I have a few things to do before class tonight. I will try to get my next post up a little quicker as we are getting back into a regular schedule again.

Talk to you soon,
Rob