The first thing that hit me was the scale of the project. There were never more than 15 electricians at the hospital. Even when I worked outages, there were maybe 25 to 30 electricians, tops. I showed up my first day in Ashburn and there were over 100 electricians - just electricians - at the jobsite.
The work is completely different too. I was used to running small pipe, 3/4" or 1", pulling wire in conduit, wiring equipment, etc. I've found myself in a world of 3" pipe (or bigger,) load banks and bus duct in rooms the size of football fields. There's 35,000 volts coming into the building. Even the control voltage is 600v!
All of this is, of course, incredibly cool. Running big pipe is just like running small pipe but you get to use a table bender. Landing wires in load banks is just like landing wires anywhere else except the wire is bigger. All in all, it's a very cool job. I just wish Ashburn, VA wasn't so far from my house...
Awesome opportunity G! I've never had a chance to do data center work, but I do love the big pipe and the switchgear work. It's super rewarding to see the massive equipment go up and come together into something bigger than your work alone. I also love the teamwork involved in getting two (or more) heads to come together and screw together just two pieces of pipe! So much fun. Learn as much as you can, and hang in there with the commute. It will be well worth it down the line. And just think of your next raise as your bump in gas money. Nothing gained, nothing lost! ; )
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering how the commute is going Griffin. Things getting any better or worse?
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