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Sam Will Professor Walden ENGL 1102-003 13 September, 2013 Observations Description of the location: The place that I chose to observe is my place of work. I work for a mechanical contractor based out of Pineville, NC called Herlocker Mechanical Systems Inc. that is currently doing the new South Village Dining Hall located by the high-rises on UNC Charlottes campus. Right now, the building is basically a steel beam skeleton that consists of two floors. The specific location of my current work is on the ground level. Right now it is nothing but dirt, concrete walls, steel beams, and earth moving equipment. It is a noisy, dirty environment with about 30 workers at any given time from different companies. It currently consists of my company, with 15 employees, electricians and pipe insulators. The more specific people that I chose to observe as actors, actors being someone who is involved and crucial to a specific figured world, are from each level of field worker. From Highest up in the chain of command to the bottom, the list is as follows: the Superintendent, Andy Hempton; Foreman, Walt; Master Plumber, Donnie; Equipment operator, Johnny; Helper, Sam Will.

Some of the underground risers for the drain lines along with the actual place of my work.

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Some of the equipment that is around all day. A Lull (blue) and a Bobcat Skidsteer (white).

Figured World: A figured world is a community that consists of its own means of communication, its own rules, its own people, otherwise known as actors, and its own tools, known as artifacts. Summary: There really are not many rules of conduct working construction. The workers cuss like sailors, pull pranks on each other, and joke around all day long. Honestly, if that were not the case, nobody would do this job because it is truly miserable work if you cannot have fun while you are working, then why work? However, there are more specific rules and guidelines that change from job to job. For this job, like many other jobs run by large corporation general contractors, you have to wear long pants, steel toe boots, either a neon colored shirt or a safety vest, a tee-shirt with at least 6 sleeves, hardhat, and safety glasses. Rules of conduct are just basic knowledge. You do not prank or mess with someone who is at a higher level than you, if you are operating heavy machinery you must be certified and must be aware of everyone around your equipment, and you cannot intentionally cause harm to another worker. More specific rules pertaining to this job are that you cannot talk to students or drive around campus, unless going from the entrance to the jobsite, and you cannot make jeers, stare, or make hand gestures at students, more specifically female students. Personal Aspect: As an actor in the figured world I am observing, I have a different ability to being more in-depth and descriptive and true perspective to this paper. I feel that because I understand my observed figured world more and because I am also a part of it, I can be more descriptive in my paper and can also explain it easier to the reader because I have just recently learned in the past few years and am still learning.

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Actors: (people that contribute to a figured world and basically make that world possible) Andy Hempton: As the superintendent of our plumbing crew, his job is to communicate between the office and the jobsite. He is the one that reads the prints and tells the foreman (Walt) what is expected to be done by the end of the day and what needs to be done every week, month and so on. He makes sure that we are there on time, make sure that we do not make out breaks too long and makes sure that we dont leave early. He decides what hours we work in a week based on how close to a deadline we are. Andy is a little left of center, he does not talk too much, and when he does, he basically whispers, he looks a little raggedy, he is a pretty heavy smoker, and is tall and lanky. Most of the guys do not like him because he is pretty strict about work and does not joke around too much. They also do not like him right now because he is having the crew bust ass all day ten hours a day six days a week. Walt: As a foreman, Walt is basically the boss when Andy is not on site. Although he does not work, he oversees individual projects, and makes sure that we are not cutting corners. He also reads the prints and lays out daily projects to each master plumber. He also makes sure that we are actually working, although he does cut us a little more slack than Andy (lets us take an extra 5 or 10 minutes on brakes and maybe 15 on lunch). He reports any problems or complications with the job to Andy. As far as a physical description, he is about 6 foot 4, potbellied but pretty built everywhere else. He dips all day long, he is also a pretty quiet guy and keeps to himself for the most part. He is not really one who pranks people but he will joke around every now and then. Donnie: As a Master Plumber, his job is to plumb all day long. He knows very well what he is doing, and has 25+ years experience under his belt and is extremely good at his job. As far as a character description goes, I cannot even describe him. He is the biggest character in the field. He looks like Tommy Chong with shorter hair, glasses, a little bit of a pot belly, always has a cigarette in his mouth, and is the first one to crack a joke. He is one of those people whose laughs will make you laugh, and you almost cannot ever take him seriously. He is also the kind of person that would give you the shirt off his back. Johnny: As an equipment operator, his job is to run equipment, which at this point in the job is important considering we are basically digging ditches, filling it with pipe, and filling it back in with dirt. As a person, he is a joking asshole. Real big guy, loud, will not hesitate to call someone out, or cuss someone out. He jokes around a lot and pulls a lot of pranks on people. He is also a heavy smoker. Sam Will: As a helper, my job is either good or bad. On a day where we are not coming up on a deadline, I love work although it is a lot of work. My job is basically to get anything, or do anything a master plumber asks me to do. As far as my character description goes, I work hard at my job and can grasp new concepts quickly. A year ago I did nothing but plumbing, last summer I managed to make a transition to being able to work with HVAC (heating ventilation and air conditioning). Fortunately for me, all of my coworkers do not see me as a stupid kid that does not know what he is doing, but they see

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me and talk to me as one of them. I joke around with everyone and they joke around with me. I do not prank people just because it is not in my place. Artifacts: (Objects that are seen with importance within a figured world) *Note: these are not all of the artifacts used in a construction site simply because I do not have time to list and describe all of the tools used. However, I am describing artifacts that are important to me as a helper. Tape measure: Basic necessity on any jobsite. It is used to measure length, depth, or width of object. Level: Another basic necessity as a plumber. It looks like a little bar that has tubes filled with liquid that have an air bubble inside and lines on the tubes. A level can be used to make sure something is perfectly straight up and down, perfectly straight across, at a perfect 45 degree angle, and more important to a plumber, it can tell you how much an object is pitched, which is needed when running sewage and drain lines. Shit doesnt run uphill. Ditch bar: A long steel bar with a tapered end. It is used as a lever to force one end of a pipe into a fitting on the other end. The tapered end of the bar goes into the ground so that the bar is leaning towards you. You push it forward, and hopefully the pipe slides right into the fitting. Shovel: I am going to assume you know what a shovel is, but I use to make the bottom of a ditch as close to flat and smooth as I can get it. Tamper: This tool is basically a giant motorized foot that weighs about 120 pounds and is used to compact dirt down once a ditch has been filled back up in order to help with the settling of the soil once concrete is poured on top. This tool can be hard to handle and will also wear you out of you let it. Jack Hammer: This is an electrically driven hammer that weighs about 150 pounds that is used to chip up concrete that needs to be moved. This tool also sucks to use for the same reason the tamper does. Again, this is another tool that can be hard to handle and will wear you out quicker than anything else on the job. Discourse Communities: Office Workers: These actors (at my company) consist of the company owner, Tom Herlocker, who works as a project manager and estimator, along with other estimators, mechanical engineers, and drafters. These people are crucial in lining up the job and they are the ones that give the price to the client and design the systems that are going into the building. They are also the ones with the most responsibility, because when mistakes are made at this level, the cost can be very high. Upwards of tens of thousands of dollars on a larger project. Superintendents/Project Managers: They are both working basically as mediators between the office and the field workers. They are responsible for interpreting prints and ordering materials. They are also responsible for keeping the job on track, and letting the office know of any design problems or other major problems. Most importantly, they are problem solvers. They need to be able to come up with a solution to a problem in order to keep the job rolling. That way there is no down time between the problem being noticed and the engineers coming up with a solution.

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Field Workers: We are the ones that get it done. From start to finish we are there at least forty hours a week (if not more) installing all of the things that the engineers thought up and put on paper. Every now and then we get to make a decision about how to fix a problem but usually we are supposed to report a problem to the superintendent.

Literacy Practices: Building Codes: These are rules that are decided by the county in which the building is being constructed. Rules include things like how far a toilet is off a wall, how far away a cleanout is from a building, having a PRV (Pressure Regulating Valve) on your water supply line if it feeds more than 200 PSI (Pounds per Square Inch). They are there in order to set a standard that all buildings must live up to in order to provide the buyer with some sort of guarantee that their house is at least safe to live in. Inspections: These happen at every stage of the building. For example for plumbing, we get our underground plumbing before and after it is covered to check for leaks and also to check for more detailed code infractions. They snake a camera in the drain lines to make sure that they are not holding water. We then have our in-wall and overhead plumbing inspected for leaks and code infractions before the walls go in. once the building has walls, we do a rough-in inspection that consists of mostly code infractions. Things like how far off the wall to the back and side are a toilet or a sink. It is also to make sure that the appliances all work. Lastly, we have final inspection which checks for things like hot water system inspections, checking the appliances, and looking for any possible code infractions. Observations: 9/6/13: 11:30 AM - I show up to work and Johnny notices me walking in and says glad you decided to grace us with your presence today, grab that tamper and you and me are going to backfill that ditch over there. 12:00 PM Joel, the project manager who works in the office, shows up, walks over to me and says damn boy, youre sweating like a whore in church, you drinking last night? I looked at him, smiled and said hey boss, I aint gonnna lie to ya, but Im not gonna say no either, he laughed and walked away. 3:00 PM As it starts to get closer to the end of the day, the workers start to get a little more goofy. I was working with a plumber, James, running drain lines and another worker, Tj, sneaks up behind him and sprays the entire back of Jamess pants with bright orange marking paint. 4:45 PM James gets Tj back for the earlier prank by spraying his arm with the same marking paint.

9/9/13

12:30 PM I show up to work and Donnie is the first person I see and he says well youre about 5 hours late, I guess were gonna have to fire you, and starts laughing.

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1:15 PM we were all taking lunch and Johnny pills a cookie out of his lunch box, licks it and tries to give it to Travis, but Travis saw him do it, and he takes the cookie and says watch this. He takes the cookie to Kevin and says hey man, I was getting ready to throw this away, do you want it? Kevin says sure if youre going to throw it away and eats the cookie, while the rest of us look on in disbelief that Kevin would actually let him eat it. 1:45 PM Walt let us take an extra 15 minutes for lunch but we all reluctantly go back to work and I go back to tamping 4:00 PM Johnny and I have just finished back filling and tamping a ditch and I go and get a guy from a compaction testing company. He walks over and tests how compact the soil is. When he gets done he says, yall pass with flying colors, that damn dirts like fing concrete Johnny says to me ya hear that bud youre officially a tampin mother fer

9/11/13 12:00 PM When I show up, Donnie sees me from across the building and yells aw hell hes back and I reply shit, somebodys gotta do some damn work around here. (its a reoccurring joke on a jobsite where people will make fun of others by calling them lazy or that they dont do any work) 1:30 PM Kevin finds out about the cookie at lunch because Johnny gets mad at Travis for going to the store and not asking if anybody wanted anything and tells Kevin about the cookie. Travis tries to get out of it by saying he didnt know there was spit on it, but Johnny throws him right back under the bus by saying the only reason your fat ass wouldnt eat a damn cookie is if you knew there was something wrong with it, so we all know thats bullshit. Kevin gets very upset and says he is going to get Travis back for the cookie. 3:00 PM Travis tries to reconcile with Kevin, but Kevin just says get the f away from me. 5:15 PM because it is getting close to quitting time, James and Cowboy are standing around smoking, doing nothing and Johnny starts up the mini-excavator, gets a quarter bucket of dirt and dumps it on them and says get the f back in that ditch, it aint fin quittin time yet, you lazy shit heads Interview with Donnie: Why did you get started plumbing? o well mostly because its something that I understand pretty well, and because I screwed around and didnt finish school and figured plumbers got paid pretty well but I guess that was mistake number two hahhahahha Do you enjoy your job? o f no, hahaha. Well Ill put it this way, I enjoy the people I work with for the most part, its interesting to go somewhere new every few months or so and do a different style of work. What is the worst part about your job? o Well, I know you know the sayin plumbers have the shittiest job on site but besides that, I would have to say it boils down to the company and the stupid people and stupid shit that I have to put up with.

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What is the worst thing you have ever seen on a jobsite? o I cant remember what we were building but I saw a man fall three stories onto the fifth floor, bounce over the safety railing, and fall another five floors. Did he survive? o I dont know. But I didnt see him on that job anymore. If you could do it all over again as far as this career path would you? Why/why not o No. if I could go back in time, Id kick my own ass for not finishing school, but I wish I had gone to college so I wouldnt be in these damn ditches day in and day out.