November 5 2020

Hi folks,

So, I went in early this morning.

6 AM start.

Usually I start at 7.30 AM (Forgot to mention that yesterday)

_{Context mate, people reading this need context}

I drove in rather than rode my bike.

For the reasons I outlined yesterday:

Training, stupid mistakes, discharging presses, doing a favour for someone I respect...

All that.

I discharged the two presses first thing, got them out the way.

Then after that was done, I drove down to the local TAFE SA campus at Tonsley for the 'Solids Handling' module.

Or to use the full title:

'Operate and Control Solids Handling Processes'

Went through a bit of theory, watched a presentation, spoke to the tutor a fair bit, met a few people that work in other related businesses that were also doing the module, then did a short test on what we'd covered.

One bloke worked for the same company as I do, but at a Wastewater Treatment Plant over the other side of the city. Actually, it's the largest of all the WWTP's in town.

Another bloke worked at another Wastewater Treatment Plant but for a different company in a regional city about an hour-and-a-half drive south from where I work.

A third bloke also worked at a Wastewater Treatment Plant for a local council across town.

A fourth bloke was an apprentice plumber who works in a regional area to the east of the city, about 45 minutes drive away. His company builds self-contained portable huts for mines, construction sites, emergency accommodation, that sort of thing...

And then there was me. 5 in total. A good class size. You get a chance to talk to everyone beyond mere pleasantries.

I like this part of these courses. Meeting new people, hearing their stories and perspectives.

So this was at the Tonsley campus, which is situated inside a converted Mitsubishi Motors factory. I'm not kidding.

They used to manufacture cars here.

The TAFE SA campus is just one area of this huge, sprawling complex, still being built as I write. There's also a Flinders University campus and a whole heap of businesses and offices within. There's a couple of cafes, basketball courts, gardens... All sorts.

The whole site is actually called the Tonsley Innovation Precinct.

And it looks like this:

There's also these fake timber tree stump geyser things that spray mist into the air every 30 seconds or so in the central garden.

Kind of tacky, but the effect is nice.

Yeah, so the place is full of that whole 'Industrial Chic' aesthetic, but in this case it's not contrived.

It actually was a functioning industrial facility in the past.

I kind of love this sort of thing. Not sure I'd want to spend every day here, but it's nice to visit.

And the place was bustling with people and all sorts of activity.

Compared to last time I was here over a year ago, when there was hardly another soul within cooee.

So, after the theory and bit of lunch we all drove over and met up at my WTP for the practical side of the training.

Which turned out to be a site inspection of the Sludge Plant and some density calculations on samples taken from the centrifuge.

We wrote up a Job Hazard Analysis for what we were going to do before starting.

And I also gave the group a brief tour of the whole plant, running through the process from start to finish and answering questions that the others had.

It was 3 PM and we were all done, so that was that. Everyone went home. My day went a bit longer as I had a bit more work I wanted to get done before finishing at 4PM.

Psyche!

I didn't get to leave until 5PM, as I noticed a problem at the Chlorine Dosing Building, literally as I was driving past to go home.

It couldn't wait til morning. An extaction fan that wasn't meant to be running was, and if left, would have burned out over night.

Got that issue sorted with a bit of help.

And finally went home.

Long day!

Now time for a good night's sleep before Friday.

...

We'll see what adventures tomorrow has in store.

Happy sailing.

See ya.