Shane,
and I had a hard time the last hour telling m y s e l f to not to reply on your post but finally I became weak, as you may recognise.
First off, God bless you for what you have written since it proves - as you may allow myself to say so - both wisdom and respect. Most likely btw the latter is one of the outcomes of the former...
Secondly, even though I must state a straight sympathy and understanding for Henry along this thread I do not wish to stir the pot (hopefully that was not even too much). I mean moreover that all has been said and done and any addendum to the topic which has been put into its constituents would be dispensable and further would act contrarily.
Anyway, your post has led - fortunately and most probably secondarily - to another question which is a burning issue to myself.
To get to the point.
As I had a look into the July 2009 welding journal I could also read on page 6 the 'Editorial' coming this time from the highly appreciated Mr John C. Bruskotter, AWS Vice President. He dealt with the offshore welding business and the outstanding capabilities a welder must have when working in this field during his Editorial, and then I could read a very interesting comment where he said: (quote) 'These guys and gals are "real" welders' (unquote).
Free and frankly spoken, you know me as an honest soul, my very first idea was: Stephan, you should start a thread in the AWS forum asking the question:
"WHAT IS A "REAL" WELDER?"
Instead of this I was happy to read the story of Kip and the other fellows which was then finally subject of my post in the 'Shop Talk' section.
Anyway, as I could follow the discussions along this 'Inspection' thread, I could not avoid to ask myself again, 'Who the heck has the right on earth to decide what a 'real' or a 'poor' or a 'monkey' welder is?'
And your extraordinary statement (quote):
'There are a lot of people who will be MIG (GMAW) welders all there lives, are you a better person (or less of a monkey) just because you are a boiler tube welder ?' (unquote)
has replied my question so entirely that it's second to none!
Therefore, Shane, a heartfelt 'Thanks!'.
You know I have also seen the wonderful pictures John R. West (jrw 159) has attached to another post, showing the excellent work of a few fellows who have accomplished their welds by using FCAW and an additional manipulator or turntable, respectively. These W E L D E R S can be proud on their work as it was performed perfectly (I guess they also are). No, for me they are as quiet as "real" as any other of my appreciated fellow welders doing his/her job filled with proudness for what they are doing.
I mean that nobody should 'classify' welders into 'monkeys' and 'reals'. All of those who are performing their daily job seriously and also very often physically suffering - due to the harsh surroundings, very often influencing their work - have - at least from my humble standpoint - deserved our upright and honest respect.
Thanks for giving me a chance to saying this during my last few minutes of summer vacation!
All the best to you,
Stephan