The Test

Kenneth and Archie were Mom's step-brothers. They were mostly white-trash alkies, but they did have one enviable trait. They were industrial welders that could pass the "test".

Dad said to get the high paying welding jobs as a pipe fitter, ya had to take a test where ya welded some steel and then the weld was x-rayed to determine its quality. Apparently Kenneth and Archie could easily past the "test" every time. Dad started out trying to learn this trade, but he said he could never weld over his head while the white hot slag was raining down on him?

Dad managed to weld a bit over the years, but he called what he did "daubing" (like a dirt dauber wasp building a mud nest).

After welding on and off for the last several years, the ole ranch hand has decided that the progression of welding skill is as follows:

1. Daubing
2. Sorry beads
3. An occasional good bead, but ya have no clue how ya did it?
4. More frequent good beads, but just as frequent relapse back to daubing??
5. Mostly good beads with occasional "disaster"???
6. All welds that a metal grinder can make purty!
7. Purty welds that a metal grinder can make better!!
8. "Test" quality welds????????

After two eight hour Saturdays in the barn with the new Miller Wildcat humming all day, the old fat boy has "progressed" from number 1 to number 6 (and back to number 1 a time or two?).

The goal is number 7 with consistency.

Forget about number 8 (I couldn't drink that much hooch anyway).