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Thick Skin
Thick Skin: Field Notes from a Sister in the Brotherhood | Hillary Peach
5 posts | 1 read | 3 to read
Thick Skin: Field Notes from a Sister In The Brotherhood, is a deep dive into the secret language and hidden culture of one of the most esoteric heavy construction trades: Boilermaking. For more than two decades, Hilary Peach worked as a transient welder - and one of the only women - in the Boilermakers Union. Distilled from a vast cache of journals, notes, and keen observations, Thick Skin follows Peach from the West Coast shipyards and pulp mills of British Columbia, through the Alberta tar sands and the Ontario rust belt, to the colossal power generating stations of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. At times edging up to the surreal, Thick Skin is a collection of strange stories carefully told, in tenderness and ferocity, for anyone who has spent time in a trade, or is curious about the unseen world of industrial construction.
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Lindy
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At first glance, these stats look like I was going a bit overboard on reading in April, but 14 out of the 51 books were picture books—there was a readathon on booktube encouraging adults to read picture books. I also participated in #TransGirlApril —and read 13 books by trans or nonbinary authors. 10 memoirs or biographies were for #PeopleApril. #readingstats (for bookish nerds)

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Lindy
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For 20 years, Hilary Peach worked as a welder in the Boilermakers Union, often the only woman present. She has many great stories to tell of experiencing the rewards of camaraderie and stings of misogyny along the way. I love her sense of humour and found her memoir very engaging. #CanadianAuthor

audraelizabeth I work for a credit union that our primary membership base is union workers and most are male. Electricians local has very few if any women. Boilermakers same thing. 2y
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Lindy
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Mental illness & addiction thrive in the dark. It‘s ironic that the most stressful, the most dangerous jobs, the ones with the longest hours & most extreme conditions, where people are separated from their families & support systems, are the same jobs that teach us not to show how we feel. If I could change one thing about construction culture, that would be it: the introduction of a little more tenderness.

Hooked_on_books This is so true. I‘ve left my profession but was a surgeon, where one is expected to be superhuman and beyond perfect, never showing any real or perceived weakness. It‘s an impossible standard to achieve and is completely exhausting. 2y
Lindy @Hooked_on_books Thanks for your comment, Holly. We could all benefit from from a greater appreciation for human vulnerability. 🤗 2y
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Lindy
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In the early 2000s the retail side of Fort McMurray was run by children. The minimum age for working legally in Alberta had been reduced to 13 years old. But kids who were 11 & 12 were lying about their age & cutting classes in grades 5 & 6 to pick up shifts. Big money on the projects left a void in the retail sector & businesses were offering top dollar to anyone who would put on a name tag. So little kids […] would pull $800 a week.

Suet624 Oh boy… 2y
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Lindy
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