Fiona's Letters TAFE Motor Mechanic Training Course for Girls Here is the first of Fiona's weekly Letters to her friends:   Week One Hi All, To those of you who have been asking - here is a quick rundown of my first week of TAFE. (Note to LaLa or anyone else that doesn't know: I left my remunerative marketing job and I've taken up a mechanics course which started this week). Well, as you would expect, the first week was fairly uneventful - mostly theory and filling out paperwork. (I tell you, a government job would drive me completely around the proverbial bend with all the rules and regulations. It's probably just as well that some of these people are never to be released onto the streets!). We've started to cover Health and Safety, tools, job-seeking skills and the correct way to walk through the workshop: Essentially, this involves thrusting your hands deep into the recesses of the outer pockets of your overalls (the inner ones will give you a thrill but ruin the walking process), lead with your crutch and drag your heels (this is to give the impression that the steel-capped boots are heavier than they really are). Bonus points are awarded for having a baseball cap either on backwards or pulled down over your eyes and being able to have a quick scratch in the vicinity of the bikini line. This MUST be done on the outside of the overalls for public display - no points are awarded for doing that from within the inner pockets. After we mastered that, we were allowed into the workshop today and get our hands dirty! There are several engines (just used for tinkering with) on trolleys. They have a lot of little parts missing but there's enough there to give an idea of what the main engine parts and sections look like. Today's' teacher was very good and we didn't have too much trouble pulling things apart and reassembling it all again. Dad - I skinned a thumb knuckle whilst picking up a camshaft from a pile of others but it's OK, I didn't bleed on it too much and I didn't cry! My classmates are a varied bunch ranging in age from 15 to about 60+. The 15 year old is tiny - only about 5' and built like a china doll - but her ambition is to be a race car driver. She's a funny kid - I told her the soft end hammer (it has plastic ends) squeaks when you hit people on the head with it and she stared at me for ages before she realised I was kidding. They'll get used to me.................. From what I can gather, I'm the only one in the class that has held a permanent job for any great length of time - mostly they have all had part-time jobs or been on the dole. But, it's a nice bunch of girls and we all seem to get on OK at this stage. OK, that's about it for this week - can't guarantee that this will be a weekly report but I'll do what I can. Hope everyone is well! Cheers! Fiona Go to- Index - next page

free books fionas letters motor mechanic course