I remember this one time in grade 7 when my music teacher had to tie me to my chair to get me to sit still. I wasn't one of those kids you would call hyperactive or ADD or whatever, but when I get bored, I get a little antsy. Flashforward 30+ years and that's one of the reasons I bid off the shovel crew. I just can't sit in those machines for 12 hours without going a little crazy. Actually, 12 hours is not too bad, but four days in a row of 12 hour shifts is a little much. Even then I can do it now and then and it's not so bad- I'm an adult and I can deal. But forever and ever amen of 12 hour shifts? No thank you very much. Being the shovel oiler was ideal for me since my job mostly involved labour outside. But they keep trying to "promote" me to fulltime operator. So I bid on the pump crew, a position my friend Robin graciously left vacant to pursue a tradesman ticket.
The pros of being a pumpman:
In the summer when things are going good, you mostly just drive around and make sure things stay that way.
The cons of being a pumpman:
In the winter things usually aren't good and you mostly go around beating on pipe with a sledgehammer.
In the spring things are never good and you mostly drive around frantically putting out fires. Except when I say fires I actually mean the opposite, waterstorms of uncanny malevolent gushiness.
Oh well, on the plus side no more running shovel!