"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:24:37 -0400, hk wrote:


I have a female union electrician acquaintance out in San Francisco who
operates the electrical system at a plant. She makes $40+ an hour plus
fringes. Six years ago, she was a college-degreed bookkeeper and bored,
bored, bored. I met her in the first year of her apprenticeship.

That's $1600 a week without OT.

Don't think I mentioned this before, but after I got laid off from my
first IT job in '82 (Reagan Depression) I scrambled for odd-jobs.
Worked some house-painting with my brother, and some plumbing jobs
working for Roy, a son of my neighbor.
Roy was working to get a union ticket, but didn't really need it.
Never saw such an energetic hustler as him.
He was doing apartment buildings on the north side, replacing the
clogged galvanized with copper.
What I did mostly was sawz-alling through plumbing walls and pipe and
replacing fixtures. Some digging when we did sewer tile.
We was giving me 10 bucks an hour.
Roy did the brain work - sweating joints.
Big apartment buildings, mostly 12-flats.
One day we're laying side by side in the apartment building owner's
bathroom. I was replacing the toilet stop valve and he was doing the
sink's.
He took off a valve and maybe a half cup of clean water flowed out
flow a saturated anti-hammer leg.
I saw the water heading on the floor for the very nice rug, but Roy
reached up and grabbed a washcloth and laid it on the tiles to stop
it from hitting the carpet. Sure, he should have had a rag.
The owner walks in, and she blows up when she sees her "guest"
washcloth on the floor.
Like a bitch from hell she tears into Roy about it.
I was surprised how that got her off her rocker.
Anyway, she finally leaves and I look at Roy and he looks at me.
He just smiled and said,
"That was a hundred bucks. Easy."
Be nice to your plumber.

--Vic


Now a *union* plumber wouldn't do that. 8)