HEAT BEAT REPEAT
Every swing of the sixteen pound hammer;
every hit of the thing against the slug wrench
a blow made for the payments life required.
Hours spent in heat, beat, repeat;
getting that torque where it needed be
so the world didn’t come apart
under high pressure.
I never minded sweat
Every swing of the sixteen pound hammer;
every hit of the thing against the slug wrench
a blow made for the payments life required.
Hours spent in heat, beat, repeat;
getting that torque where it needed be
so the world didn’t come apart
under high pressure.
I never minded sweat
it was easier than marriage.
© M Durfee
4/1/18
© M Durfee
4/1/18
Once upon a time, in a mindset far, far away I was working on a turbine overhaul crew. The bolts were up to four feet long with hundred pound cap nuts on them. The bolts had a hole in them which we used to insert a heating element to stretch them out. When they got to the correct temperature, we would use a sledge hammer to hit a slug wrench to tighten the cap nuts, allow them to cool and start the process over again. It was a long arduous system of bringing the correct amount of torque to the turbine’s 28 ton covers. 1800 psi of steam will take any error apart in a spectacular explosion.
I swung that sledge hammer well. The work helped me through a contentious divorce and loss of communion with my children. Shit happens, as long as I had the work…
55 words of whatever linked Joy at to Verse Escape in memory of G-Man who started this exercise in writing. Be well, kick ass, and think no evil if you want no evil thought on you.
I think our current culture has severely underrated the power of skilled manual labor--it gets little respect compared to all the techy and IT acrobatics that drive profit these days--and yet making things that work is one of the most satisfying jobs on earth. I too have used hard work to get through hard times; planting trees, building flowerbeds, laying sod and shoveling dirt saved my ass many a time from going crazy. Thanks for torquing up for the 55, Mark, and may the remainder of your weekend kick ass.
ReplyDeleteWorking for a living and continuing learning life lessons are always a good thing, meouwpoppa ... I am proud of you and I love you ... Always, cat.
ReplyDeleteInteresting -- to preheat the bolts then tighten, then allow to return. What temp was the preheat I wonder? We used to preheat weld areas prior to welding when I worked in nuclear construction: But my wife stayed with me thru it. Good tidings to ya . . .
ReplyDeleteMy guess is about 120-140 degrees. We could touch the bolts barehanded. The stretch was measured with mathematics that was beyond my ability to do. That kept the engineers employed.
DeleteI assume Goat that the torque pressure was applied as the bolts cooled and were remeasured.
Yeah man I have helped high pressure welders doing their thing too. Heat the weld joint, weld it, hammer it, grind it and then X ray it. Layer after layer. It was good work.
hi mark! there's something to be said for the comfort of routine and when it's possible to actually measure or count or see what you've accomplished, that's all the better. I find this to be true with my efforts to write but my work as a counselor is clearly harder to measure, and sometimes, impossible.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are well, my friend xo
love
kj
I dig it, dude!
ReplyDeleteThere is therapy in work, for sure!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I could c ope with all that heat, though
Sometimes work is easier than life, at least the rules are clear, but it can dull the senses, kill the life, oh woe, which is the better option...
ReplyDelete