What was one of your worst work days?
(There are some I won't mention. Today was one of those days where I need to take stock and reflect .)

(Edit: I would like to keep this PG13 and a bit more up beat than stories from my days working in EMS.)

I've worn many hats in my 45 years. It would take a while to remember all the things I've done to make a living. But I do remember this one from about 15 years ago. It was definitely a candidate:

I was replacing an electrical utility meter on the side of a house on a winter day with a temperature just above freezing. We had the utility company disconnect their wires and arrange a time when they would come back to reconnect the new panel after we finished our work. As soon as the wires were cut a freak blizzard came through. It was one of those snowstorms where your footprints would be covered in a minute. We had no choice but to keep working or the residents of the house would have no electricity for days.

On a typical day this would be a 6 hour project but everything that could go wrong did. Wrong parts, rat nest in the wall, broken water pipe....etc. At noon, the blizzard was over and the sun came out. We rejoiced in our good luck and made a quick trip to the supply store (big 4x4'truck) to get the right parts. When we got back, the 10cm of snow had begun to melt. We were working under the edge of the roof and snow had begun falling on us from the second story roof above. I'd read about some scientific testing of pain tolerance being conducted by having someone put their hand in a bucket of ice water for as long as they can stand it. Unfortunately I could not simply pull my hand out of the bucket. My jacket was great for snow but it was not so good for constantly dripping and running ice water. The hill side we were working on had turned into deep, slick mud. I was covered in mud,soaked to the bone and everything hurt. Somehow we finished off the project but we had to wait late into the evening for the utility company to return. They'd had a lot of emergency work to do but fortunately they were equipped for the worst weather conditions. By the time they were finished the temperature had fallen well below freezing, leaving a sheet of ice over the landscape.

My work partner drove us off into a ditch on the way out the long private road. It was a cold, wet sleepless night, we'd eaten all of our food at lunch. I think I slept for the next 2 days.


I suppose I feel lucky. It could have been much worse.

You call that tough?

I can remember once there was no milk in the lunchroom to put in my tea!

I stormed into the bosses office and said "I can't work in conditions like this! Either you go to the corner dairy now, or I'm on strike"

Man did he move quick!

( I must be really valuable team member )

Oil refinery - operator

*insert earth moving boom*
. . . Followed by biggest fire ball your eyes can see, or your imagination can muster.
24 hours of continuous burning, over 30 industrial firefighters trying to contain the inferno.
Wearing SCBA'S while trying to isolate the fuel source. Watching 24in lines blow open like straws, and melt like bad dreams.