Tonight, I was on Fire

Quite Literally.

See when your working in a steel mill like I do, you get used to things happening, that others would deem "unsafe." But to me and the other guys I work with, it's just another day at work.

For example tonight. I was welding a joist, and when I was finished I smelled a very recognizible odor. The odor of something burning. Now you would think with all the dirt and cigarette smoke, and welder smoke I would have a hard time smelling anything. But this is not true. You smell it right away, it's a very different smell then the ones you are used too. So the first thing I do? Check my clothes. Am I on fire? Too many times the sparks off the welder hit your clothes and start to burn. And it is slow burn, one that doesn't always make itself known. I remember smelling that smell for almost an hour, until finally the guy next to me figured out his pants had been on fire for the whole time.

I guess whats funny to me is the difference in this job, in contrast to my old jobs. How I used to get SOOO worked up and frustrated over a irate "user" that I had to speak to over the phone. How I used to hate going to work, because of the "users" and their lack of technical savvy. But now? Now I catch on fire. And what's funny about that is my reaction should be this:

"AHHH!!! I'm on fire! OMG! I'm on FREAKIN FIRE!!!" (I would run around and smack the flames, and maybe even exercise the Stop Drop and Roll technique)

But in reality this is my reaction:

(I smell burning and calmly check my clothes for any thing, like for example tonight my sweatshirt was burning and I say)"Ah man, I'm on fire again. AGAIN! that's two nights in a row. (sigh, while slowly putting out the flame)

it's just funny to see how far I have come. how much I have changed.