Keeping it in Perspective

Through my time as an apprentice, I've had the opportunity to experience a multitude of working environments. I've seen the typical "construction" site, where hardhats and safety glasses are everywhere. I've seen "occupied tenant spaces" where we've had to be careful of all debris that we create -- no dust on this or that person's desk! I've worked in the same office as someone who's working at his/her computer and let me tell you, that's nerve-wracking. But where I'm working now has been by far the most difficult environment I've ever experienced. I'm still at the National Zoo, still working in the Amazonia building, which by the way is a simulated rain forest in case you weren't aware. We have to be careful about everything we do; we don't want to step on the plants, lest they be crushed; we can't leave ANY trash behind because the tiniest piece of plastic can wreak havoc on the animals' intestines if consumed; we can't leave extension cords plugged in crossing any pathway because children and adult visitors alike are not accustomed to the added trip hazard; oh and it rains INSIDE, EVERYDAY. The building itself has very few straight walls, and even fewer 90 degree corners. It seems like with every step, we're towing a huge weight that drags and drags the job, climbing over obstacles (literally), tripping over ourselves and working in piecemeal. This is a challenge for both myself and my mechanic, who prefers the ability to "run with a job". Who ever thought that I would miss the days when I had a foreman who wanted things done "rush, rush, rush"; when it was possible to throw that pipe run up, easily getting 200-300 feet up... ahh, those were the days.

It's easy to get caught up in the daily fusses of how your current situation could be better. You think "if only" this, or that. Your first instinct is to find a better way, because after all, most of us who are drawn to this sort of work are natural problem solvers. But sometimes, as I'm finding out, this terribly slow crawl is in fact the best way. You simply have to be determined to hunker down and take it one step at a time. Sometimes that means taking it one hour at a time. I find I have to silence the brain about all other concerns, and focus on the task at hand. Bite-sized chunks of a job eventually winnow out a huge scoop.

Last week we finally finished one portion of our rather large project. When we got to the stage of pulling wire to the lighting dimmer controller, I got a breath of relief. After struggling with the entire lighting project from burying flexible conduit throughout the rainforest, hiding lighting fixtures amidst the plants and pulling hundreds of feet of wiring while balancing between spiky trees and curious monkeys, I knew that the finish line was in sight. I knew that wiring the final switches and pulling the final legs of wire back to the electrical panel meant that we could soon turn on those forsaken lights! When troubleshooting the system only took one day, I really felt proud of what we had accomplished. Everything was watertight, and there were no shorts. Quite an accomplishment.

So I've found the best way to keep insanity at bay on a challenging job is to remain vigilant against negativity, remind myself of the all the milestones, and seriously take it one step at a time. It's too easy to get overwhelmed if you let the flood gates of criticism run rampant in your own head.