Amen to all, brothers and sister. In this business, all kinds can be found. There are those so hungry for knowledge that they hound you to the point of great annoyance ... Those are the best kind. There are those who want to "skate" through and get their time in for the increase in pay, only to find themselves sorely ill prepared when they step out into the big, bad senior HP world and have to cover a s&@t storm. Trial by fire can be a rude awakening.
I was one of the former. I asked so many questions when I was a lad that I am sure I caused great grief to many a senior tech. But I was fortunate that, in those days, the necessary time for teaching was allowed. I owe a great debt of gratitude to a great many 'old farts' on this site. They took the time to give me the tools I needed to get pretty good at this gig.
As for the utilities not allowing juniors in the can, I know it, I've seen it, and I hate it. It detracts from the quality of future seniors, robbing them of the opportunity to learn what they need to know before the heat gets turned up and it's too late. I was told once by a Plant Manager, during a meeting, that Training is "core business" and should be treated as such. But by the time that message filters through the schedule and budget strainer, it comes out diluted to say the least. Fear of mishaps in the field plays heavily into this as well. Allowing an inexperienced junior out into the field for a high level evolution makes management a bit jumpy. ALARA considerations come into play as well. If you only send the seasoned techs out for such jobs, the number of bodies soaking up dose is minimized. But you gotta spend some to make some, as the saying goes. I firmly believe it's worth the expenditure of money and dose to get the wisdom passed on.
For those of you willing to teach, kudos to you. It is a noble pursuit. I only wish the time to do so was allowed more often. Over the years I have been witness to some awesome mentoring in the field and it warmed my heart each and every time I saw it. I've passed on a nugget or two myself and always felt like I'd made a meaningful contribution when it was all said and done. There is no reward greater than the one you get from giving of yourself to another.
As for the Bartlett issue ... It's good to see some of the people with good experiences come out of the proverbial woodwork and share their experiences. There are a lot of houses, cars, trucks and personal watercraft out there which were bought with Bartlett dollars, along with dollars from SEC, Numanco, GTS, PSESI etc. Working for one, two or all of the contracting companies has been of great benefit to all of us over the years and I believe will continue on for many years to come. Sometimes we dwell a bit too much on the down-side of things. I think that is just the nature of the beast. Being torqued at the boss from time to time is status quo in any business. But before any of us pull up stakes and give the old one-finger-salute to any of them, I think we need to mosey out to the garage and look over our toys ... maybe walk out to the curb and get a good look at the house we live in or look around at the family we've been able to provide a good life for ... and maybe, just maybe, come to the conclusion that it's all worth it.
