I began Googling welding classes near me. First, I found a trade school in my hometown. I called up and said I was looking to learn as a hobby, and asked, “What is the cost?” They gave me a number but insisted I take a tour of the school. When I arrived for the tour, I asked again about the cost—still no luck. After my 2-hour tour, I met with the person handling enrollment and was finally told the course would cost $25,000.

I took a few weeks off from searching and eventually found Mr. G’s Workshop (https://www.rongrosinger.com/welding-101). I saw that he was offering three intro-to-welding courses for about $225.

I signed up for Welding 101: Learn the Fundamentals of Arc Welding in 4 Hours.

On my first day, I showed up in khaki shorts with a clipboard and pen (like an asshole, in retrospect). Right when I stepped into Mr. G’s shop, I was told, “Hey, California—put on a pair of pants and lose the clipboard.” I humbly replied, “I’m from Florida,” and then heard a faint, “That’s even worse.”

We learned the fundamentals and science of Arc Welding, aka Stick Welding. Stick welding, or arc welding, uses an electric current to create heat between a metal electrode and the workpiece, melting both to form a joint. The electrode’s flux coating burns off to protect the weld from contamination. It’s versatile and great for beginners, especially for outdoor or heavy-duty projects.

I was truly awful at it. It was like trying to use chopsticks, except these “sticks” created temperatures of up to 6,500°F (3,600°C)—hot enough to melt most metals. Stick welding typically operates at 20 to 100 amps and uses a voltage of around 20 to 30 volts, depending on the material, electrode, and welding conditions. (For perspective, as little as 0.1 to 0.2 amps—100-200 milliamps—of current passing through your heart can be fatal.)

Because of my khaki shorts debut, Mr. G started calling me “Spicoli” from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Mr. G is an amazing teacher and a truly funny man. He didn’t know about my extensive movie knowledge, so I kept calling him “Mr. Hand” (because I love Fast Times at Ridgemont High). Later, he moved on to calling me “Marty McFly.” I went back to my well of movie knowledge and called him “Biff Tannen”—it was a stalemate. 

 I’ve worked in corpate america since 2006 - I’ve done many HR trainings, granted the company i’m at now is small, ran well and people are allowed to be funny at work. I used to work in restatuats, sinc high school in 1995 to college around 2002 - i’m using to getting roasted at work. It was refersihng to get trashed head to toe by a man who runs a trade school. I tell my kids we roast the ones we love. 

 I left very hubmled by how hard it is to stick weld - it’s a true craft tha requeines knowledge to electial currents, polatiray and saftely.