2006 Rollercoaster

2006 was a wild and challenging ride for me. I worked for 7 different contractors, but still for only 26 weeks altogether. I didn’t get a job until near the end of February when I was sent down to Susquehanna Nuclear in Berwick PA. It was only three hours from the house, so I was able to get home on my days off. Some jobs you just keep you mouth closed, show up every day and do as asked. I was put on ISI (in service inspection) again. However, in this plant we weren’t drawing the grid pattern on the pipe. All we had to do was use green scrub pads and mineral water to clean off the piping for the technicians who came behind us with the ultrasound equipment. That finding determined the thickness of the pipe which would tell the engineers if pipes needed replacement. Extremely boring job, but it paid well. After that I was sent back to Hope Creek/Salem Nuclear in NJ. During training I was able to stay with my oldest sister who lived an hour away. Once the 12 hour days started, I found a fleabag hotel that I was able to share with another female pipefitter who was on the opposite shift as me. Like I said, I don’t share my living space! This was one of the worst places I ever stayed. I could see drug/sex deals happening in the parking lot below me. I slept with a chair wedged up against the door and made sure I was always inside before dark. After I left, I was called back for a week shutdown at their sister plant, Oyster Creek, which was even closer to my sister. I’m not sure why I was there since the only thing I did for a week was sweep floors and clean the fab shop. But they paid me very well. On my last day, I stopped at the seafood shop I had passed daily. As a thank you, I bought a lobster dinner for my sister and her husband. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In May, I started up at a new veterinary research tower at Cornell we called the Mouse House. I was very happy anticipating staying on one job for at least a year. I was working with Jeff B, one of my best friends in the local. The only drawback was that my GF was “The Bitter Fitter”. Here was a guy who had everything going for him, smart and hard working, but nothing made him happy. Somewhere or somehow, there was a target drawn on my back. I could do nothing right. If I was walking on the left side of the corridor behind 6 other guys, I would be reprimanded for it and told I should know enough to walk on the right. Jeff told me the company project manager had taken one look at me and said get that woman off the job. I couldn’t believe in this day and age that was true. All I know is that it was truly a hostile work environment; then it got worse. In mid-June our paychecks bounced. We were paid on Thursday and I had deposited it in my bank on my way to work on Friday. When I arrived everyone was complaining. We finally walked off the job after getting no answers. I was able to retrieve my worthless paycheck from the bank. On Saturday afternoon the BF called and told me if I wasn’t at work Monday I was fired. He then told me he was a good union man. If that is good, then I’m not interested in his type of union. I told him I would work until coffee break, but if the check bounced; I was out of there. At nine, we all piled into the company van, went to the bank where our checks were cashed. Crisis averted. The next payday the Project manager handed us our paychecks and asked us not to cash them until noon. Well, I called the bank who said there wasn’t enough money in the account to cash my paycheck, let alone the other thirty checks that the crew was holding. Someone asked me what the bank said; I answered honestly, but said maybe the Project Manager was going to make a deposit which is why he asked us to wait. Then I went back to work. I was installing a temporary waterline from the back of the building to the front for the masons. At 11:55, I shut off my torch and jumped into the van to go to the bank where our checks all cashed. At 2 PM, BF was chewing my ass; telling me I was fired for causing a work stoppage on the job. Despite me explaining to him I had nothing to do with anyone not working, especially as my partner and I had been balls to the walls all morning, he refused to back down. I called my BA whose idea of backing me up was to send me to a different contractor the next day. While I was glad to have a job, I knew it was short term. I really wanted to stay on that job. Eventually the company was forced to leave after not being able to make payroll. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After another month off I went back to Byron Nuclear with my old buddy Gary W. This time I wasn’t on his crew, but we still hung out together. It was a good job, until one night at midnight, when I came in for lunch. I had a dozen voicemails from my siblings. I knew it couldn’t be good news, so I walked outside to call my youngest brother. My mother had passed away while sleeping in her favorite chair watching TV. She was only 77 and I was her baby girl. I started to walk back inside the break room with my arms wrapped tightly around me. As I have said before, nuke workers are a family. An Ironworker I had become friends with had been watching me and knew I was upset. He asked me if I was okay. I told him no and that my mother had died. He did the best thing possible; he hugged me tight until I stopped shaking. Then he brought me inside, told me to change out of my work clothes while he got my GF. By the time I changed, they had all the paperwork done so that I could leave. I will never forget the kindness shown to me that night. I had been mostly packed since the job was almost over anyway. I sent emails for my BAs/BM and friends and left for home. I took many calls as I drove the twelve hours home, but one really stuck out in my mind. Greg L called (for the second time) to make sure I was okay. I told him my phone was dying as I didn’t have a car charger. Sounding like a big brother, he insisted I stop, eat and charge my phone. Times like that are why I love my union family. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After the funeral and reconnecting with family and friends, I rejoined my life. The rest of the year flew by in a whirl. It was a Congressional election year. I was working very hard to get our candidate elected. By then I had joined the Chemung County Democratic Committee and was very active in phone banks, get out the vote and a hundred other duties. Bryan A. called me for a job on Election Day at Anchor Glass. I told him I would go Thursday. It was a shutdown to replace old piping and install filters. It wasn’t hard, but it was filthy and hot. In addition, the GF had never worked with a woman before. His first question to me was what year apprentice I was. I told him I wasn’t just a pretty face. I actually knew what I was doing. By the end of the shutdown, he had come up with a new motto for me after watching me work. “Don’t piss off the Redhead!”