uma306•1mo ago

Hit 200 installs last week and it threw me for a loop

I was just adding up my job log for the year and realized I passed 200 alarm system installs since I started back in 2019. That number caught me off guard because I still feel like a rookie some days. Each one had its own weird twist like a crawl space that was basically a mud pit or a customer who wanted the panel hidden behind their grandmas portrait. It made me think about how much I have learned just from messing up and fixing it on the spot. Anyone else ever count their total installs and get surprised by the number?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_miles1mo ago

Man that bit about still feeling like a rookie really hit home for me. I do commercial HVAC stuff and I hit 500+ installs a couple months ago and I still second guess myself on simple stuff sometimes. Your grandma’s portrait story made me laugh because I had a guy once insist his thermostat be mounted inside a hollowed out dictionary on his bookshelf. It takes a lot of screw ups before you stop feeling like a newbie, I think that’s just part of the job. Every install teaches you something you didn’t know you needed to learn.

the_anna1mo ago

Is it really about screw ups though, or are we just making excuses for not being as good as we think we should be? I mean, you've done 500 installs and you're still second guessing simple stuff. That doesn't sound like learning, that sounds like you haven't actually nailed the basics yet. A dictionary for a thermostat mount? That's not a screw up, that's just weird customer preference. If you've done 500 jobs and still feel shaky on the routine stuff, maybe it's time to ask yourself if you're really learning or just repeating the same mistakes over and over.