Let there be light!

 

This week I was presented with multiple opportunities to learn how to mechanic, and I chose to wire in a lightbar that was already mounted to the front bumper of a pickup. The other two options I will have to try at later dates, as one was a little more time consuming, and the other was not very entry level. I never thought I would be incorporating other aspects of different occupations into the new occupation I am trying to learn, such as being an electrician, but I guess being a mechanic entails the knowledge and skills of many other occupations.

Sometimes being a mechanic means you are not always lucky enough to have all the luxurious accommodations such as the space or shelter (a shop), climate control or the ability to stay out of the weather, or even light to be able to see what you are doing. It is easy to take for granted the things that we typically have available to us in other instances. Not having access to a climate controlled, lit shop means that the garage or a storage unit in this instance, will be my place of work.

The other thing I had to consider was my attire and what visibility tools I was going to use to be able to see my workspace effectively. Always wearing jeans and close toed shoes is important for protection. It was later in the evening, and I knew the temperature was going to cool down quickly, so I wore a long sleeve shirt and a sweatshirt. My main reason for the last two pieces of clothing was because I thought I was going to be welding and wanted to protect my arms, but they ultimately ended up keeping me comfortable and warm. Lastly, the hair. It must be up and pulled back. Many mechanics I have had the opportunity to come across will cut the strings out of their sweatshirts, and make sure their beard hair is trimmed, strictly because they fear the possibility of getting pulled into a moving and rotating part of the vehicle and burning themselves in the potential ignition of a fire.

As I tackled this task late in the evening with no light source, a head lamp was crucial. The supplementation of a running welder to draw power from allowed for additional light. Coincidentally, I was adding one more light source that was not going to be beneficial until after the job was complete.

I traced out what a mechanic would call a 12-4 wire (a bundle of 4, 12-gauge wires) from the light bar connection and snaked it through the fire wall (the panel between the engine and passenger compartments) to the inside of the cab on the driver side. I exposed three of those four wires by using wire strippers to expose the wire from the plastic and snips to trim the wire to the desired length. I then connected the wires to wire connectors, that were clamped and secured with wire crimpers, and connected them to the switch in their respective places. I chose the green wire as the ground, the brown wire for the light bar, and the white wire for the potential use of pod lights in the future. I then took a single 12-gauge red wire and snaked it through the passenger side of the firewall because that was the side the battery was on (where the light bar would be drawing power from). Then I snaked a ground wire from the battery to the light bar creating a circuit from the light bar to the battery, the battery to the switch, and the switch to the light bar. I flipped the switch, and viola, there was light!

This project was rewarding. I did the work and saw the outcome. Relating this occupation to the various definitions that Hasselkus provides in the The Meaning of Everyday Occupation, this occupation may be ordinary and familiar to some people, but not all people. This occupation is very engaging. This occupation is also very self-directed unless you have the opportunity to be provided with the knowledge about the occupation. Being extremely adaptive to my surroundings, new tools, and new safety measures, I would support a portion of one of the definitions of occupation within the book that supports the engagement of adaptability (p. 20). I would exclude this occupation from definitions that would define being a mechanic as a necessary thing that people are obligated to do (p. 21) and relate it to the definition of a daily living task that is part of an individual’s lifestyle (p. 20), with the reward being related to the personalized and meaningful engagement in an occupation of choice (p. 21).

As I talked about having to be extremely adaptive within this occupation, Wilcock’s model of doing, being, becoming, and belonging relates to the action of adaptation. I believe we adapt to our environments to successfully reach each stage of the model through meaningful engagement. I do not necessarily believe my new occupation fails to relate to the model, but I think that the occupation has not provided me with enough knowledge, experience, and meaning yet for me to feel the relation to certain concepts of the model. I think it is a little early on in learning this new occupation to feel relatability between the two, but I guarantee if this question were asked again towards the end of this experience as I increase my understanding of meaning and occupation, I would answer differently.

Here is to already ‘doing’ and working on ‘being’!

References

Hasselkus, B.R. (1939). The Meaning of Everday Life. (3rd Edition). (Slack Inc.).