So I haven't been on EBW very much in the recent past and that's because I went back to school and am learning to weld, so i can get out of this loser streak with the temp agencies and unemployment.

2-3 times a week I go to my dad's work and spend the day practicing my welding in the corner of the shop, under the watchful eye of my dad.  Usually there's 3-4 people in the shop, basically fucking the dog, because it's the "calm before the storm"  (down season leading up to winter work).  I thought they weren't going to take a liking to me, seeing as this is basically a hand out and all, but it turns out most of them started the same way.  I guess it kinda reminded them of the old days where people actually got a job by knowing someone.  Some of them told me that they were trained from a general laborer to welder at that place, during the slow seasons.  They also know my dad... if I didn't live up to his expectations of me, I wouldn't be there - plain and simple.   Well work picked up a bit and those guys were sent out to a job, and on Thursday it was just me and my dad in the shop.  Since it was only him there, he actually had work to do.

Instead of just practicing my welding I helped him clean up the shop and move stuff around with the forklift.  He taught me how to use a cutting torch - which will be very useful on the job site.   Every now and then the plant manager would come around and he came and took a look at my welding.  Of course he looked at the worst test coupon I did (one of my last passes wasn't as straight as I wanted it to be), but he said it was good told me the test was on the 13th of next month.  So that means, even though am I not actually working for them at the moment, they're training me for free, and willing to spend money not only on supplies and hydro for that, but my CBW transferable Flux Core - Flat ticket test (even though I'm practicing arc ).

I don't plan on failing that, so for the rest of the day I spent welding - stopping for a smoke break only between coupons, waiting for the next one to heat up in the oven.   In between the ego boost and the welding fumes I was on Cloud 9.  But it gets better yet!

Like I mentioned before, my dad had some work to do.  He had come hopper track thingy for the cargo hold of some ship to weld up.  Eventually the boss left and he got busy doing that for a while.   For a while we were both welding at the same time.  All you could hear was the two welding machines going, and the occasional bang from the chipping hammer.   A sudden rush of realization swept over me, mid rod.  Me and my dad haven't spent time like this together in at least 10 years.  I literally had flashbacks of back when me and my dad were best of friends.  I used to go with him everywhere.  When I was 9 or so he would bring me to his old work and give me the spare change out of his truck if I could coax out the stray cat that would get into the shop all the time.  One time he brought me to this guys farm, who turned out to be the company's boom truck driver - I had no idea.  (It's weird some of these guys knew me since I was a baby... two of them are my uncles, one is my godfather).  Anyways... I at one time wanted to be just like my dad. I really looked up to him - way more than I ever looked up to my mom.   We've spent the past 10 years growing apart, and now it's finally coming back together.
It's really humbling... I got way more out of this than I expected.