Pontiac – Week 4 – Clay Kurkechian

Where do I begin! The first four weeks here at Pontiac were fun, yet hectic. We have been getting a lot of work coming in recently due to the renowned GM shutdown (where GM shuts down their operations for an entire week in the beginning of July). I have been tasked with just about anything and everything so far from requesting job numbers, contracts, coordinating with subs, estimating jobs (the smaller ones) and going on “walk throughs”. I’m learning a ton out here and the guys and gals in the office have been very helpful and patient with getting me acquainted with the PDPM system. I still have a lot to learn, but I think I have a general understanding of how things work here in Pontiac.
I’ve seen tons of stuff so far. Last week I was able to go into GM’s fabrication plant where massive rolls of sheet metal are fed into stamping machines and spit out in all sorts of convoluted shapes. This was really neat to see as many people don’t often get to go into these plants, including ideal employees. (Joe, my supervisor said he hadn’t been in the building in a couple years). We are currently in the process of putting together an estimate for roof repairs for the metal fab building. That being said, I got to walk the roof which we call a “saw tooth” roof due to the numerous peaks and valleys in the roof. This was my first exposure to a commercial roof and it was eerily surprising due to the layer of bones that cover the roof. One of the supers “Tommy G.” was explaining to me that seagulls gather on the roof in the summer and the hawks circle over head and pick the seagulls off one by one and eat them leaving the bones behind.
On another note, I cant wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store for me. I’m thoroughly enjoying my time here at Ideal. Ton’s of good people out here that are super friendly and always willing to lend a helping hand, give a word of advice, or explain concepts.