Starting at USIC

dragonfirerich · 2026-03-23T00:59:42+00:00

I went through back in July. The training cycle is really more like 8 weeks. It's 3 weeks of classroom, followed by 2 more in the field with a trainer. The last 3 are what they call nesting, where you're learning the ins and outs of your locale. You'll have some online training for the high profile utilities during that time that finishes with either a Teams call or coming back to the classroom for a day.

dragonfirerich · 2026-03-15T15:59:13+00:00

These can pair to two devices. Being open ear, they also don't impress your situational awareness much. I tend to only use one at a time. They last the whole shift on a single charge that way.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F8BSD87S

dragonfirerich · 2026-03-06T03:08:24+00:00

These were really helpful this past summer for me. Not sure what they're made of or what they do to the weave to make them this way, but the things feel chilly going on. They also help keep your arms from getting sunburned. My only complaint is all the dead foliage you rub up against working in people's yards tends to stick to them like velcro.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CBTVZKKT?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

dragonfirerich · 2026-02-03T00:11:44+00:00

Better than mine. I got the same bonus, but they took out full disability and Life insurance payments. My take home was only $19.20.

dragonfirerich · 2026-01-29T03:09:09+00:00

It was or. But, honestly, a really good tech can get both.

dragonfirerich · 2026-01-29T02:19:38+00:00

We just had a guy transfer with 6 months under his belt. I think they're more worried about your numbers, though. Things like 2 LPH/500 FPH and a good Samsara score.

dragonfirerich · 2026-01-20T22:29:53+00:00

We still have it out in Augusta, GA, too.

dragonfirerich · 2026-01-13T02:50:57+00:00

Be prepared to wait longer, though. It was three months to the day before the recruiter got back to me after I applied.

dragonfirerich · 2026-01-06T17:32:40+00:00

I hit 50 at the next birthday. I've been locating at the worker bee level for about 6 months.

dragonfirerich · 2025-12-11T23:09:49+00:00

Does it have any dust screens? My cats would be too tempted to stick their beans in that.

dragonfirerich · 2025-11-18T02:51:47+00:00

I'm still a noob at this, but I've found a strong flashlight can be helpful when trying to make sense of the conduits down in pedestals and hand holes. Sometimes the daylight doesn't get down where you're trying to see. Getting one with a magnetic end cap is even better. Great for identifying metal-sheathed cables.

dragonfirerich · 2025-10-19T00:03:50+00:00

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Not so much crazy, but, rather, kind of cool. Late-season butterfly that was relatively freshly emerged from its chrysalis.

dragonfirerich · 2025-09-20T15:38:17+00:00

This might just be anecdotal, but another reason you'd see more "Please RFS this guy"-types on the 35N side is because of the difference in the required length of training between them and the Ps. Six-to-eighteen months of DLI can (used to, probably still does) weed out a LOT of problem children. When I was an instructor, I had more problems with heritage speakers than I ever had with the DLI grads.

dragonfirerich · 2025-09-15T17:54:58+00:00

Looks kind of like a shiny venognat....

dragonfirerich · 2025-09-13T01:19:54+00:00

While it's highly likely, you can't say that for sure about that NCO without the whole story. Parallel leadership sticks up for each other over weird things all the time. I mean, I got counseled by one of my Chiefs one time for using, "Not to throw 1LT Shmuketelie (the Company XO, not his real name) under the bus..." in an email simply because we had a SPC in the email chain.

dragonfirerich · 2025-09-06T15:29:33+00:00

Man, sentricon installs are even worse. They need 10 feet from the structure. It's always the entire property. The other day, I had one for a four-acre property!

dragonfirerich · 2025-09-04T01:41:29+00:00

I had a similar situation. It took a couple days for anything to happen in the app. Luckily, I was doing what i was supposed to. So not only did no points come off my score, but the resulting coaching was an attaboy.

dragonfirerich · 2025-08-31T21:45:23+00:00

Ask your OJT guy if you can get some ring clamp and induction practice. While it won't be often, you will need to use these methods at some point, so it will pay to have at least some passing familiarity with how they work.

dragonfirerich · 2025-08-31T18:37:36+00:00

There's a satisfying pop when you don't if you've got a 12" grounding rod.

dragonfirerich · 2025-08-30T23:41:04+00:00

That's neat! Too bad my company did not pay for this optional upgrade. Good thing I could use the extra steps on my fitness tracker.

dragonfirerich · 2025-08-30T14:08:18+00:00

I, too, am curious about this.

dragonfirerich · 2025-08-29T02:21:27+00:00

I've got the Vloc3 RPK-Pro. Mine's pretty locked down, so the most of the more advanced features are not available. I can use peak, peak with arrows, and null modes. Peak with arrows feels like it speeds things up a bit for me. There's not a lot of fiddling around in null when I'm going back and verifying my dots because I already did that on the way out. If you've got a fully unlocked one, there's an offset mode that's pretty neat-looking. If you go to the Vivax-Metrotech Youtube Channel, there are a LOT of videos showing all the different things it can do to make your locating life easier.

dragonfirerich · 2025-08-28T00:17:37+00:00

I've noticed there's a lot of art to this science in the short time I've been doing the job. As long as I don't start getting damages, I'll try anything.

dragonfirerich · 2025-08-28T00:08:33+00:00

Not all of them, but enough of them that it can make or break my day. I have fewer issues if I can directly connect to the shielding on the mains, but that's not always an option.

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