Diaries of an Electrician

            This may or may not be a web-series.

 The Beginning

            It all started back when I was an inquisitive kid living in the basement of a Lake Oswego home. My dad always collected an array of miscellaneous pieces of equipment that was going to be discarded from the lumber mill he supervised out in North Portland. I rummaged through the garage and came up with a gear motor hiding in the bowels of dad’s boxes. I attached an old cord to the connection at the motor and tested it. I was relieved when the motor didn’t smoke on me. I was really impressed with the variable speed control it had. I built a little building and used the gear motor to lift an elevator for my army men. When the enemy attacked, the good guys were able to escape up the elevator. What fun!

            Things didn’t always work out so well. I had an old radio in my bedroom that needed an antenna to break free of the basement static. I simply got an old cord and attached it to the antenna terminal and ran it under my mattress and out the window. Presto! A clear signal! All was great until one day when my mom was scolding me for not doing something. For the life of me, I can’t remember what it was. What I do remember is that we were arguing through my locked door. When I turned around from shouting at the door, the curtains at the window burst into flames. As my mom continued to argue with me, I yelled back that I was busy putting out a fire. I frantically swatted the burning curtains with a towel. She asked me to repeat myself. After shouting my dilemma, my dad showed up at the door pounding for me to open it up. I kept at my fire fighting until the blackened curtains stopped burning. I ran for the door and unlocked it. Dad didn’t have time to spank me. He rushed into the smoke filled room and opened the window. He turned over the mattress and we saw a black smoldering line snaking across the bottom. He took the mattress outside and hosed it down.

            We found out that the wire from the radio had shorted at the terminals and heated up enough to ignite the fabrics. I can’t remember what my punishment was, but I believe that little escapade was the start of my journey into the electrical field. I even remember as far back as four years old and sticking a knife into a socket and getting zapped. Any normal person would have given up long ago…but not me. I was a hard headed kid who wouldn’t let a silly thing as a shock or fire to deter him from pursuing his goals.

            Thus began my life as an electrician.