Double Shift Days

My husband is an instrumentation tech at the local paper mill.

INSTRUMENTATION TECHNICIANS test, certify, install, repair, inspect, maintain, and help to develop complex instruments that measure and record changes in industrial environments. The process-controlled systems operated by these technicians are central to the operation of such facilities as chemical plants, canneries, food processing plants, air and water pollution control agencies, petroleum refineries, and power plants.

Technicians test and record the effects of varying conditions, actual or simulated, such as vibration, temperature, humidity, pressure, differential pressure, liquid flow and level, altitude, acceleration, pH, conductivity, stress, and chemical analysis. They prepare graphs and written reports translating test results into meaningful terms.

Technicians select, install, calibrate, and check out telemetering and recording instruments and circuits. Using engineering data, and considering the limitations of the equipment being tested, they develop specifications for nonstandard apparatus and equipment.

They may make sketches and build or modify jibs, fixtures, instruments, and related apparatus. They also may verify the acceptability of devices which have been fabricated by craft workers or other technical personnel. In addition, technicians, troubleshoot, repair, and perform preventive
maintenance on test apparatus and peripheral equipment.

Some Instrumentation Technicians work as field service representatives who install and maintain equipment and systems at the customer's worksite. In addition to providing preventive and corrective maintenance, their duties may involve training the customer's employees and advising them of proper procedures to use to avoid equipment breakdowns.

In the performance of their duties, technicians operate calculators, computers, testing devices, and laboratory equipment. They use drafting tools, complex electronic and mechanical instruments, and also use engineering handbooks and other reference materials.

He had to work so hard to get his journeyman's card - it was a lot of gobblety-gook math and electronics stuff to me. As someone fairly intelligent, I'm in awe of what he does.

And this week, he is working three consecutive days of double shifts. Time and a half pay is always nice, but Baby, Little Boy and I would rather have our Daddy home.