Apprentices

[Steve]

I once had a second year apprentice that cleaned an expansion valve in a bucket of water....!

I week later he was caught cutting copper tube with a hacksaw...!

His punishment was stripped to his shreds and taped (masking tape) to the back of the flatbed and driven down the centre of the town where I used to live.....what a laugh....untill his dad came down the next morning..!!!

Steve

[Simon]

As an improver I did an incredibly stupid thing when on a service call working on my own.
I can't remember what I thought was wrong with the system which was running a coldstore for a distributer, but at some point I decided that I needed to adjust a pressure regulating valve on the discharge. So I got my spanners out and set about removing the cover to the adjusting screw, it was'nt tight and came loose without a problem, the valve was at low level so I was working over the top of it, when without warning BANG... the cap flew off closley followed by the brass insert of what I quickly realised after was actually a 1 5/8 90 degree NRV. The insert ricocheted off my forehead leaving me with a bloody but not to serious fleshwound. I was so embarresed by what I had done I mopped up my wound and put a sweater on over my bloody t-shirt so that no one would ask me what had happened. I eventully found the guts of the valve, (after having a sit down to stop shaking) which after bouncing off my head had shot through a hatch in the roof and landed on top of the coldstore some 30 feet up.

I will never forget that incident as I am well aware that if my head had been an inch further forward I would have got more than a glancing blow and would probably not be here today.

Learning on the job can sometimes be a difficult and dangerous thing:o