jwalker

Just to remind anyone who may be trying to hire on with SCC... If you REALLY want to work for them, you MUST continue to call either Cullen Broom or Sherman Carlton at the home office, until you get a response from one of them. Don't just call once or send an email and wait for a response. Keep calling until one of them gives you an answer.

this is the main instrument that you carry: You will also need to be able to use a probe bar, which is similar to a fence post pounder. The weighted shaft slides up and down, pounding in the probe bar part. It weighs about 15 lbs but you usually drive your vehicle to the sight where you are using it. Additionally, you will use what is called a CGI to confirm the percentage of gas in the probe bar holes, but just like the probe bar, you usually drive you vehicle to the spot where you use the instrument. Here in Dallas, we have to drill out our own probe holes if they are in concrete or asphalt. To my knowledge, Dallas (and some other places in TX) is the only place we have to do this. That means you carry a big 'ol impact drill and generator with you in your vehicle. With all that said, the Flame Pack, is the instrument you will use the most (5 lbs maybe), then the probe bar, then the CGI (5 lbs). I can't answer you about your neck problem. The hardest part, for me anyway, is using the probe bar in hard ground. But I use it every day, and haven't had much problem with it. You just have to let it do the work for you instead of you trying to make it work.

Bob, If you can get hold of Fred, tell him to call me on my personal phone. I do not carry my company phone with me after hours or on the weekends. Pers # is 865-388-7400 Tell him to call after 7pm Central Time. I'll try to remember to keep the co. phone with me this weekend anyway, just in case he calls on it.

delsolrp.. I hope I am understanding your question (if you are asking a question that is) I think the decision where and when you go is made collectivley between home office and Field Supervisor, based on where and when you are needed. They will hire both of you if you both want to work. Just make sure to clearly communicate that wherever they send you, you both need to work. They will do their best to accommodate you.

Jim and Lois... I can concur with what Bob said. Gene would not know about all the jobs that might be coming up in the future. He is only one of the supervisors SCC has through out the US. But he is a very good person to talk to in the interim as he can get you the forms you need and get the ball rolling for you. In fact, if you get hired on, depending on where you are needed most, you may not even be working for him. Each SCC field supervisor handles a different geograghical area. The MOST IMPORTANT thing you need to do if you decide to come on board is to CLEARLY COMMUNICATE your wants and needs and make sure everyone understands each other. SCC wants to keep good workers. If you do a good job for them, they will do their best to accommodate you. As a general rule of thumb, surveys are not done up north in the winter months because the you can not survey effectively in frozen ground. I have heard of a few jobs they have up north that have been done during the winter but they are few and far between.

Bob, Where are you working right now? We need info on where to stay in DFW area (cheap) :-)

Jim and Lois... Yes, that is correct. As long as you are both coming from a job where you were both working as full techs.

Jim and Lois, I'm sure Bob will answer your question too but we are a couple working for SCC. We have not completed a full year yet, but from what I understand, you would be able to work as a couple if you wanted to. This would all depend on the work locations SCC has available, but you can request to work as a couple only. Then they can match you up with the jobs they have that require more than one person. So far we like it fine. Chuck liked the work from the start. It had to grow on me a bit. He tends to like repetitive work, whereas I like more variety. I came to like it because I love being outside and I really like walking all day. It's like getting paid to hike. (which is one of my favorite things to do) The general way you find leaks tends to be the same at each location BUT the paperwork you have to fill out and the way you report leaks seems to change depending on what the gas company your working with wants. This can be a bit frustrating but it just takes a little patience to learn the way they want it done at each location. Currently, we are working in the Birmingham area. I think there are about 10-12 techs here working on this job. Up until last week, we were working separate routes, which means we were going out each day in saparate cars. We finished that project and now we are on another one where we ride together in the same car. Riding in the same car is more convenient, separtate cars is more money. (you get an hourly vehicle allowance for each vehicle you drive if it is your own) I guess you could use one car and work on routes in the same area. We didn't try that, but it seems doable to me. We don't live very far from Birmingham, (only 4 hours away) so we just drove both down when we came. If they sent us out west or some place farther away, we'd have to only take one. SCC does have transmission line work that is suitable for couples. One verson is one person walks the line while the other person moves the vehicle. The person moving the vehicle gets about $6 an hour I think. The person walking the line gets full pay. The other version of this is what they call "leap-frogging". Both techs walk the line. As each is dropped off, the other one moves the vehicle to the next spot and begins their walk. When the original tech gets to the vehicle that was dropped off, he/she moves it on down the line so the other one can get to it, and so on. Both techs get full pay for the "leap-frogging" verson. As a female, It doesn't bother me to work by myself. I was used to it from my career before, so it is not an issue with me at all. I hike many times, by myself, so the tranmission line work does not bother me either. If you do get hired on, just tell them you prefer to work as a couple and year round. They will try to accomodate you as best as possible. They want to keep you happy and the way to do that is to try to put you in situations where you are content. Open line of communication is very important in this type of work. Just make sure to clearly communicate what you need and you will go a long way to being satified with the work and the company.

Tina, Email me privately and I will happily try to answer any specific questions you have there. janree at aol.com (of course take out the "at". trying to keep the trolling spammers away :-)

shergry- Bob said Paul was training with him in Salt Lake right now, so not sure about Round Rock. B'ham is not unlike Knoxville, just a little hotter a little longer. And, as you mentioned, more tornados. (whoopee!) Chuck's dad just passed away suddenly about a month ago. It is probably best that we weren't assigned too far from home at this time. That way, if Chuck needs to go home to help out his mom, he won't have far to go. It is also close enough for him to go home on the weekends if need be for the same reason. Things work out for the best sometimes. While B'ham wasn't our first choice, it is probably the best choice right now. It makes Chuck feel better about leaving his mom, knowing he is only a 4 1/2 hour drive away should she need him. happy trails

Dang Bob, You tell Paul he owes us big time. Boise was supposed to be our job. Instead somebody's arm got twisted and we are off to Birmingham till fall. But hey, maybe we will be fleet of feet and zip though B'ham in no time, and the heat should help us in our continued quest to lose some poundage. Well, probably not, but one can dream

Sorry for spelling errors... It's Chuck, not Chuch.

J&A... The answer to that is "sorta" Chuch has been training for the last 3 weeks ans is hired. I sent in my paperwork the same time he did, but because of a local community project I am tied up with, I will not be able to start my training until after April 1. From what I understand, after we are both trained, we can work together, at full technician pay, IF they have a job available that requires 2 on-site technicians. (or we could join a job that has multiple technicians, again, if available) If there isn't a job available like that, we could request to work a transmission line. This would get one of us working at full tech pay, but the other would just be a helper. The helper is paid somewhere around minimum wage, and all that person does is shuttle the vehicle. We have requested to work together as a team, we also have let them know that if they only have a job for one tech, we are fine with that too. We realize we will not always be able to work together and sometimes it will just be one of us drawing a check. They know that just because both of us are trained, doesn't mean we want to go in different, separate, directions. If they had something where there were two separate jobs in close proximity, (i.e., resaonable driving distance from a central location) we would do that though. We just don't want to have one of us going to one end of the country and the other going to the other end. We only have 1 RV, afterall. The bottom line here is it is not critical that we both work ALL the time. We knew that would be the case going in and are fine with it. We are willing to be flexible and work with them so that their clients get the best service and we are able to make enough to live on. Of course if they had a job in a really interesting place, and only one of us could go, I might be easily pursuaded to ditch the DH for a few months, and head out on my own. Hope this answers your question.

Hey Bob, Chuck got hired, has been training for the last 3 weeks, and will probably take his test this week. We gave your name as the referral so you can get credit. You might want to check to make sure they have your info from us. I am to start training in a week or so. Chuck says he really likes it so far. He has been with Don and Rick and he says they have been very helpful. Just thought I'd let you know what happened after I talked to you in Feb. Regards, Jan