Appreciation post: the old A&P at my shop in Bakersfield who caught my safety wire job
Two weeks ago I was finishing up a safety wire on a fuel line and I thought it looked fine, tight twists, no slack. This guy named Ray, been turning wrenches for 38 years, walked by and just stood there for a second without saying anything. Then he pointed at one twist near the nut and said "that one's backwards, it'll loosen under vibration, do it again." I redid the whole run and it took me 20 extra minutes but now I check the direction of every twist before I move on. Anyone else have an old head catch something small that stuck with you for good?
Man. 38 years and he spots one backwards twist from just walking by? That is wild. I did the same thing on a brake line once, thought it was perfect, and my lead made me redo the whole thing because two twists were going the wrong way. Twenty minutes feels like forever in the moment but that lesson sticks with you for years. Dude probably saved your butt and never even made a big deal about it.