Train - Wreck

 

I finished up at the college Wednesday night with the students taking their certification tests. I'm guessing that there will be about half of them who pass. That's a pretty high number for the limited time they've had in the shop. Each of the two "stick" classes run two nights per week for 8 weeks each. Figuring four hours per session, you get 64 hours per class or a little more than a week and a half on the job. Multiply that times two and you get roughly three weeks if you were out on the job somewhere. No-one learns to be a competent stick welder in three weeks on the job, so a 50% pass rate is actually damn good.

The photo shows a young man holding the train he made in the fabrication class. I cropped the photo since I didn't have permission to show his face, but he was smiling ear to ear. That's the kind of thing that keeps teachers coming back year after year. And it looks like I'll be returning to the college in March just like the swallows return to Capistrano. I'll be doing another eight-week session teaching Stick II again. No more after that, though!

The Missus fell yesterday afternoon while getting ready to go out. I couldn't get her up by myself so I called 911. The ambulance folks got her up and put a temporary splint on her wrist. I drove her to the hospital myself and sure enough her wrist is broken. A trip to the orthopedic doctor is on tap today. Always something.