My first memory of anything electrical was reaching into a 2" x 3" opening, and grabbing the piece of greenfield my dad was dangling down from the box above it.
I had little hands. I was about 3, and mom & dad were owners/rehabbers of a 2-flat in Chicago's uptown neighborhood.
Dad taught me how to do things "to code", since the City would conduct random inspections on DIY's back then, and it made sense to do it right the first time. Learned electrical, plumbing, and carpentry.
When I got my house in '96, found most of the old linen/rubber covered wiring was cracked near the ends in the boxes - so, since it was all RMC, I just hooked the new to the old and pulled. Read my dad's copy of "Electrical Wiring Simplified", and connected everything back up. Went from 4 circuits in the house to 12.
My old fire chief heard that I did wiring, and asked me to wire his garage. I kinda cringe at the work I did back then. All to Code, but a little unsure on workmanship.
Just started going from there. Opened a "handyman" business that "happened" to specialize in electrical - did it all to code, and learned more as I went. Did a few jobs, and eventually wound up working for a guy with a shop for a few months. Being former union, I learned about "work more, jaw less". Left him, then wound up with a buddy from another FD at my most current shop. Studied correspondence class, and that, along with time worked, got me into the City's Code exam. Passed with flying colors, got insurance, and here I am.
Some of the tools I have (and HAD - see theft post) belonged to dad, and I swear sometimes when I'm about to "F" up, I can hear dad saying "what do you thing you're doing?".
