This is it. I could walk, strikeout, or get a hit. I’m shaking because I know the team is looking to me to win this game for us. If I mess up, I could be shunned in the locker room. I know what I need to do, so I compose myself and step back into the box. This is my chance to show the team I can help.
I have been spending a lot more time in the field now at Ferrari. We are starting to move along with the project, so I am there to help Ron with any miscellaneous things he may need. We finally started boarding the ceiling now that we have all of our inspections done and pretty soon it will be time to start plastering. Angelini is starting to put up soundboard on the ceiling so it kind of looks like a real ceiling and not just a bunch of wires and metal hanging in from a roof. The Showroom is busy as ever because we have Tom Hannon putting in electrical wiring, lights, etc. We also have some people from Angelini boarding the office ceilings and plastering the configuration room — not even mentioning the floor tile people who are starting to clean up the room to get ready for tiling. So, it’s pretty hectic when we go to walk around and check on everyone. The changes have ceased for the moment, which helps us to get the project moving so that we can move onto the next phase which is the Reception area. But, I guess I spoke too soon.
We were almost ready to start plastering one of the offices when we get an email from Ferrari back in Italy saying that we need to push back the wall 2 feet because it is too small. Alright, that’s okay Angelini can do this. So, they have to demo their studs and track to gain more room in the offices. That takes about a day, and then at the end of the day we bring the manager of the dealership inside to show him what is supposed to be his new office. He noticed a little bit of space that would be inaccessible once we put the boarding up and plastered his walls. He asked if we could do something with it such as making a closet or cabinets of some sort. We told him we could so we had to take out a few more studs and drywall around the area, which was not much of a delay so it’s okay. The whole process might have slowed us down by a day or two which is no problem because the subs worked fast and we are back on track.
Meeting day comes. We finally have a plan for the Maserati side of the building: a very simple plan, but just to get an idea of what we need to do. So, after talking a little bit about the plan for Maserati we give the phase completion schedule for Ferrari. This is big to me because the way things were changing and all of the little problems we had I thought we would never finish, but now we can see the finish line about 5 weeks away. We discuss the schedule and the owners are happy with it, but next is to discuss how we are going to do the Reception phase without overtaking too much of the building while keeping the Ferrari and Maserati show rooms connected somehow.
Now, Ron and I previous to this meeting had walked the reception area and tried thinking of millions of ways to set it up where we would not interfere with the salesmen and their business. We figured that we could build a tunnel across to connect the Showrooms while building steps above the tunnel so that the subs could get in and out without disturbing anyone. Were there simpler ways to do this? Yes, but we needed to make sure the customer was happy because that is what we do as a company. I kept asking why don’t we just walk through the tunnel with them and Ron explained to me that we do not want to disrupt them. At first I thought we would barely annoy them and it would only be intersecting for a moment. I kept thinking that would be the easiest way, but Ron knew and helped me to understand that sometimes the easiest way is not the right way. He knew that he had a job to make anything work so that the owners were happy, even if it was more of a challenge for the subs and him. He understood that no matter the convenience that the customer comes first. It really was eye opening to see how far a superintendent would go for the people he was working for.
The pitcher winds up and throws the pitch. This is it, I know I can hit this one. I see it coming from the moment it leaves his hand. All my training, all my hard work, everything I’ve done comes down to this last pitch. I make contact and the ball goes back, back, back off the wall. My eyes light up with excitement as the winning run crosses home plate as I round 1st. The team chases me around the bases as we celebrate the victory. We finally did it. Game Over, NEC Wins.
I’ve learned a lot in my time being at this internship. Whether it be how to enter a submittal in Timberline or learning that you have to do whatever it takes to satisfy the owners in the field. I still have a few weeks left, but I never could have imagined learning so much about the field I want to go into over a short period of 3 months. It was more helpful than any class I could ever take in school. I’m grateful that NEC gave me this opportunity to learn so much at such a young age, and I could never repay them for the experience. I would love to come back and work during the winter and next summer. I just hope that I lived up to their standards and did enough to make a good first impression on them. Thank you NEC.
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