dreaminthedark

The angle grinder is my best friend for making it look decent.

Dude - have you ever tried a flap disc? They're amazing. Hit ugly weld with grinding wheel and follow up with flap disc.

Nobody's gonna insure/bet their company/career/life etc. on a guy who says he learned to weld on youtube.

Damn. Guess I should remove YouTube from the education field of my resume.

My dad is a pipeliner and my brother is his helper. I rode the grinder years ago between the months of November-February. I couldn't get in to it and it does seem fairly unreliable (though the money is good while you have work). The key is to find a really good company who will offer PTO or put you in the shop when it's slow. Unfortunately, those companies in the oil & gas industry are super hard to come by. The other catch is you have to be really good for most of them to give you that treatment. If you're mediocre or have a bad attitude, you're first in line for layoffs.

Personally, my biggest issue is that it's really hard on the body and there doesn't seem to be any retirement plan (though that probably depends on the company). I am studying Occupational Safety & Environmental Technology instead, and I do theater/lighting system installs on the side.

Yes.