88pathoffroad Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Hay guys! (and girls) This is just a note to let y'all know what I've been up to lately, personally. Sorry I haven't been around much lately. I just started a new job last Monday and I'm still acclimating to it. I'm working for a CATV and aerial construction company as a cable splicer. The job is in my home town, so no commute and it's not too tough to get up on time. This job is pretty big; I anticipate it lasting half a year or so. After that I may be able to work on a line crew or splice cable somewhere else, I dunno yet. The boss told me that the company sends a cable crew to Alaska every year in the summer time, maybe I can go to Alaska? (Fairbanks) It's been tough working for the past two weeks with no money in my pocket for anything. Bank account's overdrawn by $99, I've been unemployed for the past 6 months or so...working odd side jobs with my dad on remodeling/painting/building things. I applied for a food stamp card and was approved (176 a month, heh) so at least I have stuff to eat. One bad thing about working on cable, the act of twisting fittings together all day results in carpal tunnel. If you've never had carpal tunnel, you're missing out. NOT! I wake up four to six times a night with one or both of my hands asleep. I have to take Aleve daily for the swelling in my hands and forearms. Anyway, things are not all bad, I have hopes and I have a job now. I'm going to be examining the forum move ASAP next. Here's my bucket truck. '95 Chevy 4WD, 454, 180k miles and new paint. The paint is the best part of the damn thing, just about every other part on that truck is broken, leaking, loose or rattling. Last Wednesday the idler pulley for the serpentine belt took a crap and ate the whole inside of the pulley up, but the belt stayed on! I fixed it on the side of the road after the boss bought a new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zonianbrat Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Hi 88, Good to see you around again and in good spirits. I feel you on the tough times I recently switched jobs and moved to Craig, CO and it is quite a bit more expensive (must be because we are in the mountains and right next to Steamboat) here. My new job pays well but not quite well enough for 2 kids with another on the way. Once I take an apprenticeship all will be good but till then we are struggling too. Hang in there though as it will all work out. I wish you the best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzy Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Good to hear things are looking up for you Aaron. I hope everything continues to work out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 One bad thing about working on cable, the act of twisting fittings together all day results in carpal tunnel. If you've never had carpal tunnel, you're missing out. NOT! I wake up four to six times a night with one or both of my hands asleep. I have to take Aleve daily for the swelling in my hands and forearms. you wearing braces at night? my mom had it in both hands and had surgery on both probably 10+ years ago and they still give her some fits...I think i have the beggining stages of it and its not fun... glad to see you're getting along...its tough to do these days with the way everything is...i hate my job but right after i say that i always say that i'm thankful to have a job. Good luck and hope things keep looking towards the + for ya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laxman0324 Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 glad to hear you got a job, mine is only part time while im in college and sucks horribly but i am clinging to it b/c i dont know if i could find another that pays a part time college student as well...scary times. and Brian: Didn't you just have a kid? Is this another one? If so congrats man, thats awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted March 26, 2009 Author Share Posted March 26, 2009 you wearing braces at night? my mom had it in both hands and had surgery on both probably 10+ years ago and they still give her some fits...I think i have the beginning stages of it and its not fun... I have a few of the cheap lightweight wrist wraps, that's about it. The problems at night just started...I knew it was coming though. I gave myself carpal tunnel 5-7 years ago doing the same exact job...(but for twice the pay) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittamaru Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 For the carpal tunnel, try having your significant other give you deep tissue massages on each hand twice a day (if she can). It'll help dramatically... I do a lot of data entry... different motions, but similar problems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavefromOZ Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Hey 88, good to see things turning a corner for you, guess I dont realise how fortunate I am to have a decent steady job sometimes. When my mum had carpal tunnel she got herself a couple of these, her doc wanted her to have surgery, but she wanted to try somethng else first. Within a month or 2 she had no problem at all, no more carpal tunnels. http://www.braceshop.com/productcart/pc/Mu...lint-62p687.htm You should only need to wear them at night, after a period of time she trained herself to hold her wrists in a certain angle to ensure good blood flow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9sar Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 You can reduce the effect of the carpal tunnel if you stop doing the five-finger shuffle. heheheh seriously though.. sounds like things are making a turn for the better. Congrats on the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Here's my bucket truck. Beware of the Walrus! On a serious note, glad to hear you are back to working. I know how rough it is being jobless for months, if it wasn't for my wife's pay check I woulda been homeless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted March 26, 2009 Author Share Posted March 26, 2009 Yeah...if it weren't for my dad letting me slide on the rent I'd be homeless too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekazgtr1984 Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Sounds like a fun job! I used a similar bucket/boom truck working on squirrel cover installation last summer. It's definitely nice to work outside in the summer. Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 You can reduce the effect of the carpal tunnel if you stop doing the five-finger shuffle. Or you don't do it enough! (I know save it for PoHo) Glad to here your on the up and up though, too bad you don't get a HD Chevy, then you could get your teeth rattled out along with the carpal tunnel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zonianbrat Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 glad to hear you got a job, mine is only part time while im in college and sucks horribly but i am clinging to it b/c i dont know if i could find another that pays a part time college student as well...scary times. and Brian: Didn't you just have a kid? Is this another one? If so congrats man, thats awesome Lax, Yes we did just have my son less than a year ago! What can I say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vengeful Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Lax, Yes we did just have my son less than a year ago! What can I say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakeside707 Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 nice to hear man. its pretty tough to find a job here in/around Salem, i've been out for over a yr. and if it wasn't for the gf's job we'd be really up a creek. hey you ever hear of Nor Sky? i think thats it, im pretty sure its the same type of stuff your doin. anyways a good friend of mine from back in the day is the area supervisor. im not sure where im goin with this anyways, hopefully i'll get off this no-job boat soon. Pepsi should be callin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted March 28, 2009 Author Share Posted March 28, 2009 I used to work for North Sky before Potelco bought the company. I have no clue what they're up to these days, their Salem office is closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted April 18, 2009 Author Share Posted April 18, 2009 Allright, that didn't last long. RCI bid too low on this job and my pay was largely dependent on doing as much work as possible. My best wasn't enough to make the company any money, then the bucket truck broke down repeatedly and that was it. I would have had to do easily two or three times the amount of work as I was doing to make it pay, which really was impossible for me. RCI kept me on for another week as a substitute flagger for the line crew and then sent me on my way. I worked for 4 weeks for them and still have yet to see 2 paychecks. Grrrr.... One of the guys from Country Cablevision told me to check back with him if RCI didn't work out. I got a call this last Thursday telling me to come in Friday morning. I signed paperwork and now I work FOR Country Cablevision. I'm kind of excited. I've never worked FOR a cable company before, just for contractor companies. Whenever I was working on a project the actual cableco employees were a step above my position usually, know what I mean? Now I get to be that guy, even if it's only a perceived position of status to me. Anywhoo, I got a different bucket truck which is another real POS...worked on that yesterday, cleaning it out, loading it up with the proper supplies, rewiring the bucket control switches (you shoulda seen what they had wired up in there!) and getting mentally prepared for my new job. New job: going door to door trying to sell CATV internet, digital cable or standard cable subscriptions on the spot by offering a free install and one month free. There are 4000 homes in the Country system with only 1000 subscribers. They need more customers. Wish me luck, I've never been a salesman but I'm going to give it a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleurys Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 Hey aaron.. hang in there... You're obviously not a quiter..so go for it and kick butt... S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzy Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Good luck Aaron! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyril Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Best of luck Mate with the new job . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctpathy Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 good luck with the job hang in there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 (edited) cable guy!? nice! sales is easy. if you can carry on a conversation with someone, you can sell them something. just don't act all desperate like old gill from the simpsons. people will say no, but don't get disappointed. smile too. try to match their speaking cadence as well. one of the things that sold me about tv was how cheap it is for 30 or 60 odd channels, that are always on and always there whenever you grab the clicker 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for pretty much the same price as your daily cup of coffee. It's hard not to justify if you go to the movies twice a month for entertainment instead. plus there are no bratty kids and expensive conssesions. it's an easy sell. im sure you can think of a few reasons for someone to buy your high speed internet service yourself Edited April 20, 2009 by nige Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 GIT-R-DONE lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vengeful Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 You gotta start wearing flannel vests now. Aaron the cable guy...heh. Good luck and congrats on the new gig, bro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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