"artfulbodger" wrote in message

I know a guy who's a commercial diver & welder. He's been at it for
ten or fifteen years, and he's good at it: he's one of about a dozen
people on the planet certified to weld the pressure hulls of nuclear
subs while they're still in the briny.

That's an amazing assertion. A "wet" weld can only have 80% strength and
50% ductility becaues of the quenching action of the water. There are only
a couple of rods that will work underwater. How is it that a weak brittle
weld would be allowed in a pressure hull weld? I don't believe I've ever
heard of that cert.

He's the Manly Man type, but he says the work is just plain Godawful
hard (plus there are lots of ways to die while doing it). To him,
diving is about as exciting as laying bricks.

It is just the elevator that takes you to work. You have to know what to do
when you get there. It is far easier to teach a welder how to dive than a
diver how to weld. You can teach a monkey how to dive. Diving is a blast
when you can see. It's just that most of the time, you can't see anything.
How does one weld when they can't see the weld?

But he's very, very
well paid, works when he feels like it and doesn't when he doesn't.

That's odd. When I worked, if you "didn't feel like working" when a company
called you, they just didn't call you again. 80% of life is showing up, and
when you won't show up, they will use a more reliable if less able worker.
"Not feeling like it" was not a valid reason. There were no valid reasons
unless you were injured. And you stayed until the job was done, even if
that was six months working 12 hours a day.

Burnout is high. Most divers don't last five years due to burnout or
injury(ies). Your friend, at fifteen years is either very lucky, or very
talented, or very burned.

Repetitive decompression wreaks havoc on the body tissues. Please refer to
dysbaric avascular necrosis in google. You just can't do it for long
periods of time. Well, you can, but some people just have a higher pain
threshold. It damages you for the rest of your life.

I have a friend that lives in ******** City, Kansas, named Tony. He retired
after about five years with Taylor/Brown and Root and 900' of water in the
North Sea. He went back home and bought most of his little home town. Most
divers are a pirate mentality, and end up with little or nothing. If you
read this, Tony, the welder, get back to me.

Steve, Ocean Corporation Class of Nov. 1974
Gulf of Mexico, 1974-1980

HOLY CRAP. THAT'S 31 YEARS AGO!

--
Artful Bodger
http://www.artfulbodger.net