A Prayer Request

I just wanted to ask that your thoughts and prayers go to a coworker of mine, and a fellow Lineman brother here in Central Cal who experienced an electrical contact.  He is alive, but has had to endure double amputation of his hands.  No names will be posted.  If you work for the company, you've likely already been tailboarded - opportunity to sell your vacation hours will soon be available.  If you don't work for the company, please just pray for him and his family.  God knows who he is.

Things You Don't See Everyday

As a Lineman, I have opportunity to see the back roads and byways that most of us don't. There's a lot down those dirt roads and driveways that the general public isn't privy to. Here's what I saw in the last week.














If you look hard, here, you can see a baby Tibetan Yak. Just one day old.

















Just try and keep it under 115mph, okay?






















Looking down on Burrough Valley from up here.

















Watching So Cal Edison work on installing a new static line on their transmission towers.

A Lineman's Favorite Things: :Lineman Gift Shops

We linemen seem to enjoy gifts that celebrate what it means to be a lineman.  I think it comes from both having pride in doing a job that involves things that most people fear (heights and high voltage) and what can feel like a lack of appreciation from the general public.  As a result, we overcompensate, and buy t-shirts, hats, toys,belt buckles, stickers, etc. to tell ourselves and others that we think we're the best.  I post this link as an example of what we Linemen think of ourselves (and tell others).

We know we're good, and we want everyone else to know.  

Here are some of my favorite things:

Lineman Silhouette - an exclusive of LinemanGifts.Com 

The Lineman Calendar - only from Line-Man.Com

Lineman Decision Flip Coin - also from LinemanGifts.Com

Lineman T Shirts - I like the power tools one from The Lineman's Factory (there's shotgun hotsticks running down the sleeves)

Those are just a few of my favorite gift stores.  What are yours?  Suggestions?

A Lineman's Favorite Things: Boots

This week I'm listing the things that I like the best.  I say, why not start from the bottom up.  First things first then - boots.  

Most folks don't give their footwear much thought.  You see a shoe you like, and try it on.  If it fits your foot (and hopefully the budget) you buy it and take it home, likely to be worn about 3 times a week for an average of 10 hours a day.  An exception being the fashionista, who will take an entire paycheck to buy a shoe that she'll wear twice, all the time cursing to herself that she'll never buy something so uncomfortable, again. The lineman tends to approach footwear with a long view.

Footwear in the line trade is not something that is entered into lightly.  Easily understood, once you consider the fact that a lineman's day is mostly spent on his feet.  Even more understandable once you take in to account that a day for a lineman can be anywhere from 8 to 40 hours long.  

As a lineman, when you show up at work, there is a tacit understanding that the hours of your workday that while defined somewhere in a union contract, are more or less arbitrary points of reference which define when the overtime and double time pay begin.  When you walk through the gate at the yard, you know that there is more than an outside chance that everything can go sour today, and you will be working some long hours to make sure that the good folks at home can turn on the heat and watch the game.  It's just part of the deal.

When you spend that long on your feet, you think more about what your footwear needs to do for you.  You'd be surprised at just how long a group of linemen can sit around talking about their boots.  

Shanks, insulation, leather pads, kevlar,  waterproof liners, Vibram soles, boot height  - the list goes on and on and on.  And everyone has an opinion.  You have to.  When your footwear is going to cost you the equivalent of 1 or 2 days pay, you think about it.  What has worked for you in the past, is what you carry forward with you.

That said, here are my favorites (and current footwear choices) in the pantheon of things which a lineman likes.

Trooper Lineman 

Danner and Hoffman boot companies have joined together to create a Frankenstein creation that does exactly what you want.  Danner comfort and Hoffman performance.  I was on a pole for about 6 hours the first day I ever wore these.  They felt as comfortable as slippers the whole time.

Hall's 12" Waterproof Pull-On Lineman's Boot

I just bought a pair of these a week ago, and have been absolutely pleased with them.  I've always wanted a boot that I didn't have to spend the time to lace up.  I always like having a boot be watertight.  This boot has been great.  I was up on a pole doing a backyard easement pole change out for about 4 hours, last week, and these boots performed great.  Especially considering that after that pole change out I helped replace another rear-easement SP transformer that went catastrophic, and then replace a power pole and two spans of 4 ACSR that were taken out by a wayward eucalyptus tree.  That was a 20 hour day, my friends.  And the boots carried me through all day and night.  The best part was when I got home at 5 in the morning, I didn't have to unlace my boots at the door. BONUS!

White's Lineman Pac Boots

When the snow starts falling, you'd best reach for your pacs, Slim.  These boot have taken me through many a winter storm season.  They're waterproof, felt lined for warmth, steel shanked, and ready to take on whatever comes their way.  When I was a mountain power lineman in the Central Sierra Nevada, I kept these boots in my rain gear bag.  If I knew I was headed out for a boggy, sloggy, wet, cold adventure, I never left the yard without strapping on my White's Pacs.  They're just as comfortable on a pole as they are on a trail.  They work well with your snowshoes.  They just look good, too.

As far as boots go - those are my favorites.  I'm interested in finding out what other guys have found to be a good boot.  What do you wear, and why?  Calling all lineman lurkers.

Another question.  Are there any other Linework related blogs out there?  Let me know.  I'd love to link up.

Coming up this week.

Hand Tools

Lineman Gifts

Northwest Lineman College

Linemen end up in the trade by many means. For many, it is a family tradition; the hooks are passed down from generation to generation. Some are as lucky as me, and walk off the street into one of the best jobs in the world. For a few more, it is the result of hard work and planning. Many lineworkers choose to go to school, before they ever get hired as an apprentice.

Northwest Lineman College is a fine example of just such a place. NLC was created by a former employee of Pacific Gas and Electric. Gerald McKie recognized a need within the industry for employee candidates with prior experience. NLC was created for that purpose. The NLC boasts an 85-95% placement rate within the industry after graduation from the program.

I have several friends from work who went through the program at NLC. We went through the apprenticeship program our utility employer provides. I can say that their previous education at Northwest Lineman College gave them a competitive edge. Whereas I was sweating it every time I learned something new, they were hearing it for the second time. Experience counts for everything in this trade. If you are thinking about entering the field of Linework, I would strongly recommend that you consider NLC.

Power Lineman Series: A/C Power and Tesla

Let me begin by quoting Mark Twain - a close friend of my electrical hero, Nikola Tesla.

Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work. August 28, 1908

Mr. Twain knew this from close and personal experience. He had the most fortunate opportunity to have befriended the lone genius known as Nikola Tesla. Twain was often found hanging about Tesla's laboratory, playing with whatever new discovery had been borne into existence.

Tesla's name may be most synonymous with the coil that carries his name. The Tesla Coil is a resonant electrical circuit in which the primary voltage and the secondary voltage resonate at the same frequency. Through the use of many electrical apparatus (which I do not yet understand) this ungrounded contraption essentially creates lightning. In the picture above, Tesla sits in his Colorado Springs laboratory while one of his coils creates bolts of electricity on the order of MILLIONS of volts. That's right. Millions. The noise created by the coil on his mountaintop lab could be heard 10 miles away. Check out this link to see a much smaller Tesla Coil in action.

Tesla is my hero for having developed, and promoted the use of Alternating Current. Good old A/C. For those of you who just thought, "A/C? Like AC/DC? Isn't that a band? I thought AC was air conditioning. I like air conditioning. Why does it cost so much to run it? Back in Black totally rocks as an album," all I can say is that you think too much, too fast. Alternating Current is what allows us to live hundreds of miles from where electricity is generated. You can thank Mr. Tesla and Mr. Westinghouse for their commitment to the technology. They faced the bulldog known as Thomas Alva Edison; the proprietor of Direct Current, or DC, technology. Had Edison gotten his way, there would be a powerhouse and substation on nearly every corner. What a noisy and ugly way to bring power to the people. Tesla's A/C has the advantage of mobility. Due to it's nature it can cross multiple miles without losing power. Edison's D/C just doesn't have the capability to produce the kind of power needed for most of the world.

Most of my inspiration from this post comes from the book I'm reading now, Tesla: Man Out Of Time, by Margaret Cheney. Tesla is most certainly a man beyond his time. Truthfully, much of his work is still beyond our own time. Scientists today are still unable to reproduce some of his more playful inventions. He created the electron microscope and the cyclotron before anyone even had a word for these things. In essence, Tesla was the quintessential mad scientist: playing with voltage pressures in the millions - creating lightning, plasma, and wild machines.

Today, you can see a fictional representation of the professor in the latest turn-of-the-century magician rivalry movie - The Prestige. David Bowie creates a believable Tesla character in the movie. This is what sparked a renewed interest in Tesla's constructs, for me. If you're looking for an entertaining, slightly suspenseful, and partly historical account of fictional and factual characters; The Prestige is your movie. Electrifying!

Plugs aside, I owe a great debt of gratitude to Mr. Tesla. He created the industry which keeps me employed. For those of you looking into the electrical trade, I would suggest that you read about those who have come before us. Understanding the past gives us the ability to appreciate our present fortune.

Some more links to meander through:

Magnifying Transmitter

Plasma Lamp

War of Currents

Power Lineman Series: Apprentice Lineman

An Apprentice Lineman is a worker that aspires to become a Journey level Lineman. The path to becoming a Lineman is something that will take commitment, a measure of skill, determination, an ability to work at heights, and a generous portion of common sense. In essence, Linework is the construction and maintainence of both de-energized and energized powerlines. Overhead powerlines are usually wooden poles with suspended wires on them. The wires are under great tension to keep them high enough in the air to avoid accidents with the public. The tension on the lines, combined with the hazard of high voltage and height issues create a work environment that takes years to safely negotiate with confidence. First, you must start your apprenticeship.

In the high voltage electrical trade, becoming an Apprentice Lineman is the natural progression towards becoming a Journeyman Lineman. Generally, there are two ways to go about becoming a Lineman. You can start by working for either a Public Utility (as I do), or you can work for a contractor. There are benefits and drawback to both avenues. At most utilities, your training is done "on the job". Every day that you go to work, your journey level Lineman will train you in some new aspect of the trade. You also attend special schools, on company time, to hone some skills in a controlled environment. Apprenticing with a contractor usually means that you will be going to school, after work hours, for several hours a week. At a utility you can usually settle down and buy a home in the area that you work - knowing that you will continue to have a job in the local area. Contractors go where the work is available. This usually means that you will be on the road, or out of town for long stretches of time. For some, the predictability of the utility work is desirable - for others, the opportunity to be out "booming" is what they love. Contractors pay double-time for all overtime work. This too is a draw for some. In the end, the work is pretty much the same: wires, poles, heights, and electricity.

An Apprenticeship is a way for the unskilled to become skilled through a process of successive steps. Each six month long step is both a raise in pay, and a raise of the bar. An apprentice must master a new set of skills for every step he reaches. Where I work, an apprenticeship comes in two lengths. For those who have had experience as a Groundman, the apprenticeship is 36 months - six, six-month steps in all. For those hired off the street, the apprenticeship is 42 months long. Contractors' apprentices undergo a 48 month long apprenticeship.

The six steps of an apprenticeship are set forth by the Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee - or JATC. The JATC's job is to maintain the standards necessary to produce productive, and highly skilled workers. Although the specific layout of the coursework may vary, the general progression of training for apprentices is as follows:

1. The first step of training usually focuses on learning how to climb a pole. Since a lineman has to climb up to be able to work, this is the first skill acquired. This first step also trains the apprentice in the basics of the electrical system. An apprentice will learn about the common tools and materials of his trade.


2. The second step introduces an apprentice to working on energized secondary conductors. These are wires energized from 110 to 500 volts. Apprentices will also learn how to properly ground primary conductors, as they are not yet permitted to work on energized conductors over 1000 volts. Rigging and transformer basics are also taught at this stage.


3. This third step introduces an apprentice to Live Line work. This is the use of hot stick tools to manipulate and repair energized powerlines while standing on a pole. The key to Live Line work is not brute force, but finesse. A strong understanding of rigging will make an apprentice lineman's job much easier at this stage.


4. Step four introduces the apprentice to Rubber Glove Techniques. This is the work of moving, repairing, and replacing energized powerlines at a very personal level. A lineman wears special insulating gloves while standing on an insulated platform, and works the powerlines with his hands. Because of the danger of working in such close proximity to energized wires, extensive training is involved.


5. Step five is a chance for the apprentice to learn advanced line techniques. These classes focus on the specialized tools and practices needed to work on special projects.


6. The final step is dedicated to learning the skills needed to perform work on underground electrical systems. The apprentice will learn how to splice cable, test equipment, and perform safe work practices.

After three years of training, the apprentice undergoes one final cumulative test of his knowledge. Should he pass, he will be awarded with a certificate from the state which proclaims him to have attained Journeyman status. Now the real work begins.

Next time: What does a Lineman do anyway?

Power Lineman Series: The Groundman

This is a post dedicated to those who have been directed to my site by various web search engines, looking for what it means to be an electrical lineman. For the most part, I'll draw from my personal experience. I'll also give you some links that I've found to be interesting.

Look to the bottom of this post, and others in the series, for the label. By clicking on the label "Linework" you will be able to read all the posts I have made concerning Linework and it's associated industries.

The next posts will be a series of sorts. I'd like to share what I've learned about what it takes to be a Lineman.

Often, the first step towards becoming a Lineman is to get a job as a Groundman or Utility Worker. This job is a good way for those unskilled in linework to develop the base skills needed to become a skilled Lineman. A Groundman's duties often include the following:

• Driving a Class A vehicle such as a Digger/Derrick or Aerial Lift


• Stocking the truck with material for the day's work


• Operating a Digger/Derrick to dig holes, and set poles or equipment


• Using a handline to deliver materials to a Lineman on a pole or in an aerial lift


• Anything else your Lineman or Foreman tell you to do.

For the most part, you'll be learning the names of all the tools you use in the course of your work, as well as their specific uses. Believe me, there are a lot of tools to master. One of the more difficult aspects of the job is that Linework has its own vocabulary. Not only will you be learning work techniques; you'll be learning a new language. Tools and materials seem to have several sets of names. Some names are traditional; passed down from the earliest days of linework. Some names are endemic to the company you work for. Some names are very localized; more like nicknames. My advice is that you pay the most attention to whatever names your Lineman calls his tools and materials. After all, it's your job to make sure that your Lineman has the tool he needs before he has to call for it.

This is the ultimate job of a Groundman: make sure that your linemen always have what they need to complete the job at hand. My first lineman explained it to me this way; you need to be able to look up at the pole at what your lineman is doing and read his mind. Don't worry if you aren't able to anticipate you lineman's next move when you first start working as a Groundman. If your lineman is understanding, he will remember that he had a lot to learn when he started working the lines. But remember this: he will not likely give you any slack for something he has already told you. Linework is a serious business. A mistake made here can kill.

As a Groundman you will be entering a dangerous, but rewarding, field of work. Stay "cut in", and you'll make it to the next step: Apprentice Lineman.

For now, you can read up on what other people have to say about linework.

LINE-MAN.COM

Northwest Lineman College

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers