Travis Johnson
Member
- Messages
- 2,369
As everyone knows I have been laid off for the last 215 days but that came to an end on Friday. This is a god-send because I can finally get some sleep and really rest up! (LOL). All kidding aside, farming full-time has been great and I have really been pounding out 18 hour days for most of this year, but early in the week I saw a nice job come up near me and went for it. On Friday I was told I had the job and grabbed my life vest and jumped aboard.
Jumped aboard you may ask?
Well there is a deep harbor cargo port near me and so it takes tugboats to shove the freighters and tankers in and out of their ports, not to mention a pile of barges. Since tugs use the same engines as locomotives and we all know I have 10 years of experience on the railroad. The owners of these tug boats were looking to overhaul a newly acquired tug and do some extensive repairs on another so my machinist experience on the railroad will really help. So will my welding in the marine industry.
Its kind of a two part job...sea work when the port needs us, and then dock work in between. I was a bit nervous at working abroad ocean-going tugs, but we did a tanker job on Friday and it was not that bad. For around here, the pay is really, really good, and the work...while dangerous...is not super physical. Muscle around some lines and cables but that is about it. Most of the sea work is still engine related stuff.
Better yet, it is so close to home that I won't have to give up my sheep or anything, and the 20 minute ride is 1/3 of what my old job was. All in all it should be a pretty good job, except for maybe in January when it is 10 below and blowing 20 mph and ice is everywhere, but for $37.50 per hour, I'll put up with it.
Jumped aboard you may ask?
Well there is a deep harbor cargo port near me and so it takes tugboats to shove the freighters and tankers in and out of their ports, not to mention a pile of barges. Since tugs use the same engines as locomotives and we all know I have 10 years of experience on the railroad. The owners of these tug boats were looking to overhaul a newly acquired tug and do some extensive repairs on another so my machinist experience on the railroad will really help. So will my welding in the marine industry.
Its kind of a two part job...sea work when the port needs us, and then dock work in between. I was a bit nervous at working abroad ocean-going tugs, but we did a tanker job on Friday and it was not that bad. For around here, the pay is really, really good, and the work...while dangerous...is not super physical. Muscle around some lines and cables but that is about it. Most of the sea work is still engine related stuff.
Better yet, it is so close to home that I won't have to give up my sheep or anything, and the 20 minute ride is 1/3 of what my old job was. All in all it should be a pretty good job, except for maybe in January when it is 10 below and blowing 20 mph and ice is everywhere, but for $37.50 per hour, I'll put up with it.