from fem to forkin'...

for the past week

i've been editing and narrating

a forklift training powerpoint

for a local aluminum smelter,

the very same factory i personally

received forklift equipment training

 from 25 years ago...

~@~

in the early spring 

of my freshman year at murray state,

my mom informed me i would be working

as a summer student, laborer at alcan aluminum.

alcan was a local aluminum smelter 

where she, my step-dad, 3 uncles, and

numerous cousins worked.

although she and my step-dad

worked in accounting,

you can believe me

when i say i was well-versed

in the woes of working in the factory.

i think she thought working 8-16 hours a day

in the 100+ degree heat

would teach me a valuable lesson...

that i needed to stay in school and get my degree!

the thing is,

i went from this:

to this:

like a fish takes to water...

i.loved.it!

~

ironically, terry givens (tl),

whom i now work for,

trained me on the forklift.

tl had worked for alcan

prior to starting the givens group

(then known as "the tool shed").

alcan had brought him on as a contractor

to train new-hires

and shoot and produce safety training videos.

#thingscomefullcircle

i ran stackers,

i banded metal,

i charged the furnaces,

and

i fork-trucked billet, slab, and t-bar.

and, you know what?

i was good at it!

when i went back to school in the fall,

i declared my major,

occupational safety and health engineering.

i knew i wanted to work

in a factory setting.

there was nothing like it.

the people were real,

the work was hard yet rewarding,

and

perhaps, i could be 

one of the ones to keep

the employees safe!

it was the following fall,

after finishing 

my safety engineering internship,

that i started working for tl.

we put together videos,

painted signs and banners,

and

i drew and labelled alcan's

emergency plan maps

for each department.

~@~

my job assignment

this week

has been a very nostalgic one.

there are so many more regulations now

than there were back in the day.

in 1988,

there were no seat-belts,

our trucks were propane,

i don't recall having

to perform a pre-use inspection

on any of the heavy equipment

i operated,

and...

there may or may not have been 

horse-play on the midnight shifts.

(and, btw...

i may or may not 

have won a forklift race

or three;)

love and God's blessings,

danixxx