OK. I guess that’s a little overstating it. I’m not really unemployed. The job is over and the contract is up; I can’t sign up for unemployment because I’m making too much money – from my pension.
Students at a nuclear power plant simulator – photo rendered as a painting.
This was my second contract since I retired a little over three years ago. Both have been for about 6 months and both have been doing part of the job that I used to do before I retired – teaching license operator candidates in the classroom and in the simulator.
The class did well in the simulator operational exams administered by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week. The last day of the operational exams was Thursday, which was also my last day on the job. I had my box packed and was out the door by a little after 6 PM.
I suppose it will take a little time to get back into the swing of not working.
I think I’ll be up to speed by sometime Monday morning. 
I’ve got quite a lot of work to do around our place this spring, summer, and fall. Of course, we’ll get a little bit of traveling in, too.
Then, sometime in January, it looks like I’ll probably be back at work. That’s about the time the next class should be at the point where I’ll be needed – if they allocate the funds, which I think is quite likely.
I’ve worked a total of about 13 1/2 months out of the last 36 – and when I do work, it’s doing something I know well and get satisfaction from.
I’ve been working quite a number of hours in the simulator the last few weeks.
One of the requirements for reactor operators is that they demonstrate the ability to start up the reactor. Each candidate practiced the reactor startup 5 times and then had a startup where he or she is evaluated by someone from Operations management.
So that’s a total of 6 startups for each student. There are 12 students, so, over the last few weeks, there have been 72 startups for training or evaluation — and I was there for every one of them. Total time in the simulator for this was about 84 hours over a 4 week period — about 20 hours a week. And that doesn’t include the several startups that I did to verify the scenario I was using and to establish the conditions for the evaluations.
This week, I am working in the simulator from about 4 PM to midnight every day, providing support and guidance for a crew of students who are shutting the plant down and cooling to “cold iron.” Once that’s done, they’ll be doing a heatup to normal operating condition, with a startup and power escalation to as high in power as we can get before the end of the shift on Friday.
I’ll certainly be ready for a rest when the weekend rolls around.
I certainly did NOT miss clearing the paper out of the paper path in copying machines.
However, it’ still one of the necessary qualifications in today’s “paperless” nuclear power teaching environment.
On Friday, I went to the copy center to copy material I planned to hand out in my first classroom instruction since I started on this contract.
The students all have laptops and wireless access to most of the material that they need for class. However, I’m going to be going over material associated with a certification that they need to complete and I wanted them to have a copy of the forms that that will be used by the evaluator during the test.
The machine jammed on the first copy.
I had not cleared a paper jam from a copier in at least a year.
Needless to say, it wasn’t a particularly easy task.
Even after I finally found all of the paper, it took a while to get all the levers, knobs, and other copier widgets back in their proper positions. The door wouldn’t close until everything was aligned for operation.
Finally, everything was somehow aligned correctly and the front door of the copier would close.
I decided to give it one more try before going to find a friendlier machine. All twelve copies sailed through with no problem — single side to double side, stapled, punched and stacked.
All in a day’s work at the power plant training center.
On Wednesday, another retiree — who I’ve known for over 25 years — went back to work on contract, the same day that I did. He’s working in another part of the training organization from the one I’m working in.
It just so happens, though, that his son is an “in-house” employee in that same organization.
Since he has been contracted to work primarily in a support role, there may be times that he’ll be providing support for his son.
He told me today that he didn’t have problem with doing whatever they needed for him to do, but that his son might have a little bit of a problem telling his dad what he wanted done.
It’s back to work I go — I think.
We should know something soon as the proposed date to start is June 1st.
The contract schedule will be a little different from last time. I’ll be working about 6 weeks and will then have about 6 to 8 weeks off while the class is involved in activities that do not require my “expertise.” The entire contract for me will be 6 months of actual work.
During the 6 to 8 weeks that I am off — assuming the funding for the contract is actually approved — we’ll be traveling out in the western mountain states. We had originally planned that trip for July and August, so it’ll be a little delayed, unless the funding is not approved.
I really do enjoy the work that I’ll be doing under the contract. It’s the best part of the job that I had before I retired.
The job will help us keep from dipping into our savings for the duration of the contract and we’ll try to pay down a debt or two so that the pension and other income will stretch further when I’m not working.
Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, it’s off to work I go…, probably…, maybe.
We’re leaving Harper’s Ferry this morning, heading for Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
I’ve finally succumbed to a cold — first one this season of any consequence.
The good news is that I won’t be passing it on to anyone at work because I’m not at work — for now.
I was hired as a contractor to work through the first week of March. Then the students went to the plant to support the other unit’s refueling outage. I’ll go back to work about the 8th or 9th of April — the week before classes pick up again. My last day was supposed to be Friday, but that turned into a snow day.
The snow is all gone. Living about 500 feet above the river valley, when we have frozen precipitation, we generally get a bit more than many of the surrounding areas and it usually lasts a little longer. But, still, it’s Arkansas and March, so the snow didn’t stay around long.
I’ve taken about a 5 day break from reading e-mail and looking at blogs… I’ll get back to it. Just taking a bit of a break.
During the last couple of weeks, I’ve been looking at, and downloading, a lot of images associated with the Depression years and the dust bowl. I read a book called “The Worst Hard Time” and found a copy of the old Government propaganda documentary “The Plow that Broke the Plains.” With all of that as a starting point, I picked up a copy of Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.”
I read quite a bit — and I used to read a whole lot more — but I’ve never been one to get into the great classics of literature. This time, though, having spent some time getting to know the background, this book is an easy and interesting read. I’ve never tried to read it before, that I know of, and I think I would know since the protagonist’s last name, Joad, is so close to mine. (Did I really just use the word protagonist?)
It’s been 3 days now of getting up early to go to the fitness center before going to work. The fitness center opens at 5 A.M. and normal working hours begin at 7 A.M. This morning I was at the gym about 10 minutes after it opened.
Tonight, I was sitting in the living room reading and the next thing I know, two hours have passed — I’ve been sleeping. I guess I’ve grown accustomed to a bit more sleep over the last 12 months. I could go to the fitness center after work, but I prefer going in the morning when it is less crowded. On days where I’m in the simulator with the class in the late afternoon and evening, I’ll be going later in the morning.
I’ve spent most of the last couple of days reading procedures. I’ve got two “instructor refamiliarization guides” to complete before I can resume teaching. One is for general instructor and the other is for simulator instructor. Needless to say, the reading is pretty dry — make that very dry!
My first scheduled class to teach is Monday, February 11th.
(Note: The control room in the photograph is from Shippingport Nuclear Power Plant, one of the early plants, no longer in operation.)
I’ve not started back to work on the contract job yet. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I’ll probably be out there sometime next week — perhaps.
The real surprise is that it’s occurring at all.
Three years ago, I was in a situation where I really needed help to get everything done that needed to be done. One of the options that was attempted was to bring back another instructor who had retired a couple of years earlier. He would be a contract instructor, much like what I will be doing.
It never happened.
A couple of years later, I happened to run into the man they had wanted to come back as a contractor. He said he had been willing to do it, but after they had initially talked to him, he hadn’t heard anything from them. I subsequently found out that they had not been able to get approval for hiring a contractor.
My contract manager — the guy used to be my boss — called me today about documentation on some of my qualifications, so things are apparently still moving ahead. It appears part of the problem is that recent restructuring has reduced the number of people in the corporate office that looks at contracts from eight people down to one part-time employee who only works three afternoons a week. I’ve heard that other departments are having similar problems.
Maybe Monday. However, I’m planning on going to the bi-weekly retiree breakfast. (They’ll get a kick out of this run-around.)
I’ll have my cell phone with me.
……Previous posts on this (most recent on top):
That’s right. The funding for my contract was approved. I start next Wednesday. It’s a 26 week gig, 40 hours a week.
The money is good — a bit less than I was hoping for, but more than the minimum I would have accepted. No per diem as it’s a local job. Of course, this is in addition to my pension, plus we won’t have to touch our investments this year.
With this “bump” in my plans, I won’t be spending a lot of time trying to monetize my sites for a while.
related posts:
A couple of days ago, I posted BIG BUMP in the road for my online plans…. perhaps and there were a number of comments wondering what the heck was up.
Opal already knew as I had mentioned it was a possibility a while back, so I asked her not to give up the secret. (Thanks Opal for the comment… it was perfect!)
Oh and the picture on the post — the same one I’ve posted here — did apply very specifically to this situation.
I’ll use Teeni’s questions and my answers for part of an explanation…
- Just what is this all about? Just wait an opportunity
- Will you tell us soon? Likely so right now
- How much longer do we have to wait? Not Long now
- Is it good? Depends on the perspective, but in many ways, yes for me, yes
- Are you getting a new job? Not really.. It’s doing some of the parts of my old job that I really enjoyed, with people I know well, and with very good compensation, so it’s not really a new job — plus, it’s only a limited engagement.
- New camera? Don’t need one. N/A
- New computer? Don’t need one, but there might be something about it that brings one. I’ll have to have a computer and access into the company’s network to do the work. It won’t be my computer, but it’ll be assigned to me.
- New travel plans? There is some travel involved, but it’s not far. The travel route is virtually the same as I’ve done well over 1000 times over the years and most days it will be over, under or near the Exit78 overpass.
The main thing I am waiting on is approval for the funding and it’s at the VP level right now. They’ve already got me on the schedule — which I have a copy of — for a week from this coming Monday.
More later!
