Passed the Final Exam!!!

[Oldninja]

Well, I did a little better than just passed, I ace'd it! The day started off getting no sleep last night, started re,re,re,re studying about 1:30 this morning. Went into class at 6am, so the next class that was starting today could be in the room at 8 after we were done with our final. I go to get my laptop fired up and it IMMEDIATELY crashes , colored lines start zipping across the screen. Our Instructor comes up and says what the hell are you doing? I don't know that much about computers, but I knew this wasn't right. Ends up the hard drive crashed, glad that didn't happen halfway thru the test!! Being the nice guy that he is the instructor lets me use his computer, while he sits next to me doing his paper work. The test took me all of about an hour, half way thru I thought I might actually do very well. I was the first one done and left the room to visit the restroom and came back, by that time a couple of others were done and I asked if the results had come back yet and if I'd passed. He looks it up and gets this funny look on his face and says I got a 100 percent on it, then he says I know you didn't cheat you were sitting right next to me and on my computer!!

I just hope I can keep up the good mojo when I actually start working tomorrow!!

[noOT4me]

Congratulations!

[yahoo]

good luck dude...

[locator00566]

Well, I did a little better than just passed, I ace'd it! The day started off getting no sleep last night, started re,re,re,re studying about 1:30 this morning. Went into class at 6am, so the next class that was starting today could be in the room at 8 after we were done with our final. I go to get my laptop fired up and it IMMEDIATELY crashes , colored lines start zipping across the screen. Our Instructor comes up and says what the hell are you doing? I don't know that much about computers, but I knew this wasn't right. Ends up the hard drive crashed, glad that didn't happen halfway thru the test!! Being the nice guy that he is the instructor lets me use his computer, while he sits next to me doing his paper work. The test took me all of about an hour, half way thru I thought I might actually do very well. I was the first one done and left the room to visit the restroom and came back, by that time a couple of others were done and I asked if the results had come back yet and if I'd passed. He looks it up and gets this funny look on his face and says I got a 100 percent on it, then he says I know you didn't cheat you were sitting right next to me and on my computer!!

Hope you are not getting into the contract locating business. If so , you better think twice

USIC=USUK

[ifinditunderground]

Welcome to the world of Utility Locating.

[Wingfoot]

Well, I did a little better than just passed, I ace'd it!

I just hope I can keep up the good mojo when I actually start working tomorrow!!

Hey - Congratulations Buddy! And welcome to the fraternity of locators (and locator wannabes) at the'Vine!

You will learn quickly that to survive in this business, simple common sense will get you farther than brute intelligence. A good locator needs both, but common sense separates the men from the boyz; as well as the women from the girlz.

When you get out into the field, have your area supervisor pair you up with a mentor. Tell your supervisor you'd like to have a mentor with 2 to 4 years experience if possible. A 2 to 4 year locator locates primarily using the basics and does not know all the scary shortcuts used by the senior locators (you gotta nail the basics first before you get to the shortcuts). Using your supervisor as your mentor would be a very poor choice. Your boss will slow you down and not allow you the freedom to learn the shortcuts needed to make this job easier.

First and foremost, supervisors ain't got the time to be a locator's mentor. On the whole, most supervisors won't GIVE you the time......... And that's just as well. A lot of them would struggle locating a backyard by themselves for a fence contractor. Forget about getting meaningful help from your supervisor when you're locating a cluttered intersection in your first assigned territory. All tenured locators have seen a person, who can't cut it as a locator, mysteriously getting promoted into becoming a BOSS!

Anyway, welcome to our world! Glad to have you on board! Please post often!

---------------------------------------------------------------

[locatethis]

Funny how when I look back to when I trained for this line of work, I was desperate for a job. Weeks of training and the day of the final exam! What a joke....... The test was given and when done, and time was up, the instructor said , OK, Lets go over the answers, and we scored our own tests. Guess what We all passed!!!!!!
Moral of this story, they just needed warm bodies.

[Mke]

Hey Ninja, Don't listen to all the negative comments... Passing the test, and having a positive attitude about passing the test goes a long way. Stay Positive, Get your routine down, and the rest will fall into place.

Congrats...

Mke

[locatethis]

Hey Ninja, sorry to make a crack about this wonderful line of work. I've been in it for 6 years now and as time goes by you will gain confidence. I still get a charge out of seeing a new guy in the field. They have that Deer in the head lights look about them when they show up at a busy intersection with tons of high profile going everywhere.
So job well done on your exam and be safe out there.......



Mke .............. is that better! My comment was really towards the way that the company I started with Hired people.

[Mke]

Hey Locate, no need to appease me. I was more refering to the comment about contract locating in general. All but the current job I have, lived the "warm body" theory of hiring. Why else would they hire me? I think the only reason I got into locating was a great brother in-law pulled some strings at the same time I got word that the mall I was a security guard at was going to be demolished. It all works out.

As for the Deer in the headlights look.... I love watching them walk in circles looking for utilities and some have even painted utilities, all while the transmitter was off...

Mke

[foefn]

Congrats oldninja! I have a slightly different take on the subject after having completed almost twenty seasons of this locating stuff... I see this job not as locating but as damage prevention. It really is a safety issue! What we do everyday keeps a LOT of people from getting killed or maimed. What a wonderful feeling to know that each night people are going to be with their loved ones.

Locating is not a science! It is an ART! This job can only be practiced not done. I still learn things every season! That is one of the many reasons I love my job... but that's another post. The more you locate, the better you will become. Piccaso couldn't paint when he was a baby, but with time and practice he learned how (I know... some could argue he never really learned how to paint). Locating can be very rewarding. It can all depend on YOUR attitude. Gripe, and you will hate your work. Become an ARTIST! You WILL love your job!

Sure, there are some things that are not the most pleasant like crawling through weeds over your head to locate lines, or opening a ped and finding it infested with bees/snakes/fire ants, or simply name your least favorite thing... You may run into it. You will sweat! You will freeze (depending on where in the country you are in the winter). But you can be proud of what you have accomplished every night when you get home from a hard day at work. You can rest easy knowing the people will not be hurt or killed because you prevented the harm by marking where the harm is! You protected the facilities for that company and kept them from losing revenue and plant. You do that everyday! Now that is a job well done!

[yahoo]

does the guy that started this thread even still locate?????

[Oldninja]

Yes, as a matter of fact I do still locate. It's amazing what a change happens after a couple of weeks by yourself out in the big bad. Been very busy and I can see why nobody would EVER buy a used locator truck!!!