RACA Journal August 2020 | Page 47

Back to basics ANDREW PERKS Andrew Perks is a subject expert in ammonia refrigeration. Since undertaking his apprenticeship in Glasgow in the 1960s he has held positions of contracts engineer, project engineer, refrigeration design engineer, company director for a refrigeration contracting company and eventually owning his own contracting company and low temperature cold store. He is now involved in adding skills to the ammonia industry, is merSETA accredited and has written a variety of unit standards for SAQA that define the levels to be achieved in training in our industry. REFLECTING ON AN UNEXPECTED TURN OF EVENTS By Andrew Perks This month, I was going to tell you about all the new equipment and technology I had encountered at the iiar 2020 conference in Orlando Florida. Sadly, due to the Coronavirus the conference never took place as USA started going into lockdown. We were already in the UK on our way to New York when we decided to abort. Phew, it was a close one, the world is a different place today from the first week in March 2020. So, I now have to think of something else to chat about. One of the things close to my heart is uplifting our industry and seeing young people getting to grips with technology and running with it. Today there is so much more technology available. I read on BBC World’s news service about just how far we have come from 2005 to today. That’s only 15 years. Just think – if this virus had hit us then, we would have no WhatsApp, Facebook or any of the social platforms that make our days so much brighter and fuller. Who could have worked from home? Where was the internet? Sobering thoughts indeed. I suppose like with everything good there is a downside. We are being exposed to conspiracy theories, large scale spam, fake news – the list goes on. But that’s not what I want to talk about. We need to embrace technology and apply it. I have a quote from Walter Chrysler [founder of Chrysler Corporation] that I have hung on the wall of my office for times like this; when I become disheartened and can’t see the way forward. I am sure a lot of you feel like that at the moment. What’s going to happen to the economy? After all, our jobs, our family and South Africa as a whole depend on it. Anyway, let’s have a look at this: Walter Chrysler once said – “The real secret of success is enthusiasm. Yes, more than enthusiasm, I would say excitement. I like to see men get excited – They make a success of their lives. You can do anything if you have enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the yeast That makes your hopes rise to the stars. Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eye, It’s the swing in your gait, The grip of your hand, The irresistible surge of your will, And your energy to execute your ideas. Enthusiasts are fighters, They have fortitude, They have staying qualities. Enthusiasm is at the bottom of all progress. With it there is accomplishment, Without it there are only alibis.” So now no doubt you are asking yourselves what this has to do with the current situation, how does it change anything? Well, we have reached out to a young man who recently enrolled with the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) for a business management course. For me it so refreshing to see the enthusiasm – to hear him talk about where he thinks we are going in the world. Just listening to him, and seeing where his mind is taking him, kind of stopped me in my tracks. Where I was seeing issues, he was seeing solutions. Where I was looking at problems, he was looking at opportunities. The world will need this level of enthusiasm because the life we used to know has forever changed. Sure, he is going to stumble and fall from time to time – that’s how we all learned through the years. But it is up to us to stand alongside these young people. They are the future and just maybe they will do a better job than we have done, especially if you look at the mess we have at the moment. RACA www.hvacronline.co.za RACA Journal I August 2020 45