I don't regret it, I was destined for a career in medicine, however I didn't fancy all the extra years studying, lol, yet when I think about the amount of study I've done over the years it adds up to quite a chunk, aside from an apprenticeship there's been, courses on telecommunications, courses on broadband installation, access control, health and safety supervision, highways, ladder safety, the list goes on, so ironically in an attempt to avoid study I ended up doing quite a bit, same as most of us I expect.
Would I go into the same job today? Probably not, there's no art, and very little skill in the job today, FP has replaced pyro, steel conduit has largely become a thing of the past, and the deciding factor in most cases seems to be cost!
We discussed recently how things have changed, making your own bends etc in tray and metal trunking has largely fallen by the wayside, as has a lot of other skills us older sparks were taught.Now it's specialist this and specialist that, things that were once the stock in trade of an electrician are now classed as a specialists domain,pretty soon electricians will be reduced to wire pullers, it's very sad indeed, any older spark who's struggled to get a series of bends in a conduit run, or cut his fingers fabricating bends and tee's for galvanised trunking, then stood back when the job was finished, and admired his work will know where I'm coming from.
When you look at some of the work that was done 40 or 50 years ago, it's a work of art, now it just seems a case of "throw it in", I know I'm waffling on, but I think like a lot of things I had my time in what was a "golden era" in sparking. Technology has moved on in leaps and bounds, back when I started off, controlling a machine from some remote location was a dream, now anyone in a domestic house,can, for very little money, not only watch their home from virtually anywhere in the world, but can turn on lights, operate their heating, the possibilities are endless, yet we throw away more stuff than ever.Anyone asked for a fridge stat in their local wholesalers lately? Chances are they don't stock them, time was they all sold stuff like that, you'd spend about a tenner and get the fridge working again, now it's pop down to Currys and spend a couple of hundred quid on a new fridge.
