τ=Fsin(𝛉)

That’s the formula for torque.

I started writing a technical in-depth blog about tightening torque, the importance of being thorough and how a good electrician is a tad obsessive and more than a little nerdy…I decided to spare you all that for now and talk about the new business, the big pictire stuff.

I launched the website today…sending all of these words, pictures and ideas into the aether to see what comes back which feels a little strange. I’ve never been on social media or had an internet presence of any kind, this is a first for me. I searched for my website an hour after publishing and couldn’t find it. I felt a little relieved at not seeing my little company out there in the churn of commerce, a sea of other electricians, top 10 lists, bots claiming to know something about Tree Fort Electric and of course a company that builds actual tree houses in Portland. Maybe we could partner up?

Always having been a bit of a wallflower myself, I’m glad my website is playing it cool. Steady, reliable, consistent and not too flashy has always worked for me. My friend Vicki just dropped off some eggs and a sweater she darned. I mentioned what I was up to and she told me she hasn’t advertised her business in 20 years. People just know that Vicki is who you call when you need your dress altered…or your work pants patched up in my case. Word of mouth is where it’s at, she said.

Last week an exasperated neighbor called me up. Their dryer breaker was tripping and they had tried everything: new breaker, new outlet, new cord, new dryer…still tripping. A friend had seen them unloading laundry from the car and asked what was up. She said “have you met Tony?” The culprit turned out to be an improperly seated and under-tightened wire at the breaker (See, Torque). I was able to quickly fix the dryer, no more tripping breaker or trips to the laundromat and high-fives all around. This is the electrician I want to be: swooping in on a friends recommendation to fix something that was making them feel crazy.

If you came here for an in depth essay about craftsmanship and the benefits of anti-oxidant on aluminum conductors, I’ll probably get around to it. For now, I’m glad you found my new website. If you are one of my previous customers, thank you so much for trusting me with your homes despite my lack of online presence and dearth of anonymous reviews. And thank you for telling your friends and neighbors.

Here’s a catchy song about Torque to tie it all together

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6ymNyyjR1s

-T

OK, Here We Go…

It’s time to get to work.

I mailed my last bit of paperwork to the Building Codes Division on Friday…the two options were mailing paperwork or sending a fax which I found delightfully old fashioned. It will link Tree Fort’s CCB with my Electrical license…one last bureaucratic hurdle. While standing in line at the post office, I was reflecting on how this journey had started a year ago. I realized that I had spent enough time as a Journeyman Electrician to sit for the Supervisors exam allowing for the possibility of setting out on my own. Like most things in my life, I could’ve gone a little faster. I’ve been stretching out the time between things, working my job for a few more months, a class here, a test there, stacking up health care visits, watching old european bike races, climbing, reading, and generally enjoying this space between old and new chapters. I know this thing, once it has started, has the potential to be all consuming.

The lazy float down the river is over and the fast water is up ahead. The word has gotten out and the work is coming in. Friends are telling other friends and the imaginary work of the future is becoming the reality of bids, contracts, phone conversations and schedules. I’m a mix of anxious and grateful.

I followed my intuition to start this company. I was comfortable in my old job, but feeling that I had more to give and more to learn in this trade. I am intentionally moving into a more stressful environment in order to gain raw material for personal growth. As I reflect on what’s going on for me, I am feeling the familiar effect of setting out on an unknown rock climb….leaving behind the comfort of certainty and control, accepting the oncoming effort with gratitude, taking a deep breath and just getting on with it.

I am looking forward to sharing this journey with all of you…

Every New Beginning…

“I live on Earth at present, and I don’t know what I am. I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing — a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process – an integral function of the universe.”
― R. Buckminster Fuller

That little plant could end up being anything. It’s a Cotyledon. They’re present in the seed and store up food reserves for the new plant. They all look kind of the same to the untrained eye. That one could be an oak tree or a sunflower for all I know.

I don’t know what this blog will turn out to be…it will probably be a bit of everything. It for sure won’t be like any other blogs on any other electrical contractor websites. For one thing, I am one person and this company is a new project for which I have a lot of energy and new ideas. I will be thinking out loud here a bit, talking about my new business, musing about the industry in general, keeping it at least somewhat electrical related I think…

Most of all, if you take the time to read it, you’ll find out what I’m all about. Part of what sets a small company apart from a big one is you get to know who is stopping by. I’m a different kind of electrician, and I’m determined to make this a different kind of electrical company. I look forward to meeting you and working together on your project.