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Something aint right.....

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
So my future brother in law just got a job with our local utility company as a "linemen". He's never done any type of construction work, has no formal education of any type. Dropped out of high school, was in prison for a few years, he's younger than me and he'll be making more than my wife who has 6yrs of schooling under her belt and he'll probably be making more than me soon as he has a few months in.
I don't know how the utility companies are by you but I deal with them on a daily basis here and they are a total waste. The guys who come to the site make more trouble than they're worth and do less work than the lowest paid day laborers for the general contractors.

On one hand I'm happy for him because he has turned his life around and he has a great family who he supports but on the other hand there is my wife who worked her a$$ off to put herself through 6yrs of college with excelent grades who is making less than this guy.


Sorry that was just my rant........
 

Total Heckler

Beer and Bike Enthusiast
Apr 28, 2005
8,171
189
Santa Cruz, CA
I make more than a lot of my friends who went through 4-6 years of college. I only went to high school. It's funny how these things work out.

I am taking a few programming classes online right now. Hopefully get paid some more after I am done.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,015
Sleazattle
I'd expect that part of the pay is because of the danger involved in the job. That said for my own personal safety I'd rather play with high voltage that be stuck in a room full of kids.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
I'd expect that part of the pay is because of the danger involved in the job. That said for my own personal safety I'd rather play with high voltage that be stuck in a room full of kids.
He won't be touching high or any voltage for years. They'll put him through schooling but the simple that fact he'll make more than me with no education/knowledge of the field he's going in to is f'ing crazy!

PS. it's a union job.
 

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
I have done some line work in the past...CATV construction. I made good money, working as a "contractor" but it is freaking brutal work at times and dangerous as all hell. Especially when you dont have a bucket and have to climb in some easement or something.

I applied for a lineman apprenticeship with Metro Nashville Power and even had an inside guy pulling for me...never got a reply. Starting over $20 an hour.

Good thing...Id rather zap fish.
 

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
what do you expect....he's working with thousands of volts of power 50 feet in the air and is on call 24 hours a day if a line goes down.
If he's a lineman working on the big towers it'll be WAY more than 1000 volts, and way higher than 50'.


The high pay is too keep him in the union fold long enough to hook him and have him actually trained up for this crazy sh1t. Lineman work isn't dangerous, it's fvcking DEADLY.
 

firemandivi

They drank my Tooters
Sep 7, 2006
784
-1
a state called denial
Funny thing is I make good money.

Think about this, he probably retire in 20 yrs with better benefits than you while your still working your ass off for someone else. But he has to be on call for downed power lines and stuff during weather that you wouldn't want to even drive in. There is a negative and a positive to everything.
 

splat

Nam I am
If he's a lineman working on the big towers it'll be WAY more than 1000 volts, and way higher than 50'.


The high pay is too keep him in the union fold long enough to hook him and have him actually trained up for this crazy sh1t. Lineman work isn't dangerous, it's fvcking DEADLY.

yeah what he said, but more on the like 100's thoundsands volts.

most of the towers ( and the small ones at that ) start at 176Kv most bigger towers are 592Kv and Up.

and just rmeber the line men who are working on the poles a lot of time are working with 13.8 Kv Live!! and usually there is a lot of current backing up that voltage. scary part is most of the line men I had to deal with when I was working in that field , really had no clue how deadly what they were dealing with was.
 

hooples3

Fuggetaboutit!
Mar 14, 2005
5,245
0
Brooklyn
oh well what are you gonna do??

Highway repairers on my job just closed a deal to make 75k Base salary plus 20 - 30k More in O/t most of them get into the apprentice program after High School. In 5 years they can make that money.
Meanwhile I went to college have a masters Have a Nycet level 3 and Im only a tiny bit ahead of them.
Dont even let me get started on the PayLoad operators.. they make 90K plus the same O/T , there are 2 of them to cover the shift so they basically work a half of day!!!
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
yeah what he said, but more on the like 100's thoundsands volts.

most of the towers ( and the small ones at that ) start at 176Kv most bigger towers are 592Kv and Up.

and just rmeber the line men who are working on the poles a lot of time are working with 13.8 Kv Live!! and usually there is a lot of current backing up that voltage. scary part is most of the line men I had to deal with when I was working in that field , really had no clue how deadly what they were dealing with was.
Those lines are obviously dangerous and high current.

Voltage isn't much without lots of current :busted: I was opening my car door the other day coming home from work and I was shocked by around maybe 10000V. I've played with a few Van de Graaff's too, those should be around 30000V. Stun guns can go over 1000 kV.
 

deadatbirth

Monkey
Aug 29, 2007
657
0
In a van down by the river
If he's a lineman working on the big towers it'll be WAY more than 1000 volts, and way higher than 50'.
i said thousands of volts, not 1000v. sorry i didnt specify if it was 100k+ volts. but regardless its hard work. and not all lineman work on high tension towers.
two of my neighbors are a lineman and a linewoman and they get called out at all hour to fixed downed lines.
it seems to run in the family....stupidity that is...and they all know people that have been fried
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,939
13,133
Portland, OR
My guess is he also runs a greater risk of DEATH AND INJURY at work than you do.

I friend of mine was a lineman until he died from electrocution. He USED to make more than me.
 

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
I know this off topic. H8R, when you go over seas do your amps, mixers, etc, work ok?
The answer is yes, no, maybe, and KAPOW - TZZZZZZZZZ!!!


We rent most of the backline when we play overseas these days. For the gear we bring, the clubs provide step-down transformers. We run those into line conditioners.

Many amplifiers (Marshalls, etc) have a voltage selector switch, and a universal AC plug so you can swap with whatever local connection is needed.


We have had problems in the past, mostly with electronics. European power is at 50hz which fvcks with the rotational speed of CD players, etc.

Also touring in the cold, then bringing gear inside a warm club with moist air = condensation. Plug that moist device into a stepped down power source and BOOM. Fried power strip, hopefully not fried gear.


Grounding is ALWAYS and issue. You want the gear to be grounded, but not have any ground loops that make noise through the amps. Lifting the ground is dangerous - touching guitar strings and putting a lip to a mic can give you a nice jolt of 220 through your face.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,015
Sleazattle
The answer is yes, no, maybe, and KAPOW - TZZZZZZZZZ!!!


We rent most of the backline when we play overseas these days. For the gear we bring, the clubs provide step-down transformers. We run those into line conditioners.

Many amplifiers (Marshalls, etc) have a voltage selector switch, and a universal AC plug so you can swap with whatever local connection is needed.


We have had problems in the past, mostly with electronics. European power is at 50hz which fvcks with the rotational speed of CD players, etc.

Also touring in the cold, then bringing gear inside a warm club with moist air = condensation. Plug that moist device into a stepped down power source and BOOM. Fried power strip, hopefully not fried gear.


Grounding is ALWAYS and issue. You want the gear to be grounded, but not have any ground loops that make noise through the amps. Lifting the ground is dangerous - touching guitar strings and putting a lip to a mic can give you a nice jolt of 220 through your face.

I deal with ground loops all the time. I tell people to put a nylon washer behind a screw or something silly like that to solve some weird problem. They always think I am full of crap until it works.
 

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
I deal with ground loops all the time. I tell people to put a nylon washer behind a screw or something silly like that to solve some weird problem. They always think I am full of crap until it works.
Weird things happen when you have a guitar player with two amps, a rack full of gear and (yes we counted) 52 footswitches, going into Euro power that was hooked up by some drunken tech with a bad haircut.




I love drums. No volume knobs.
 

ultraNoob

Yoshinoya Destroyer
Jan 20, 2007
4,504
1
Hills of Paradise
I think it's they cycle of things. Years ago, college grads made tons more money than non college grads. So many "blue collars" have gone to school and now are "white collars". All the while leaving their blue collar jobs un filled and therefore in demand. I studied to be a computer engineer but now work in the automotive industry (which by chance is getting more computerized every day). I make more than many of my former classmates employed as CompE's.
 

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
No he isn't. Volts are a measure of electrical potential, not power. Watts are what happens when the volts cause amperes to course through his body and turn him into a cinder.
Electric potential difference, or electromotive force to be exact.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,939
13,133
Portland, OR
Also, my guess is his RM post count is far less, therefor less credits and ultimately less pre-tax income.

You have to consider ALL sources of income when figuring net worth.