“What am I going to do with my life?” This is the question many high schoolers ask. Luckily, each issue of ‘The Beacon’ will include an interview with a professional. This month the professional is Bill Ellington, who worked in the electrical field for 39 years.  

Q: When did you decide to be an electrician? 

Ellington: In 1983, when I was 31 years old  

Q: What did your education look like to be an engineer? 

Ellington: I took an extra semester course at WKCTC, and I then I began an apprenticeship at International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers which lasted for four years 

Q: What was the best part of being an electrician? 

Ellington: I loved working with a small contractor who dealt with residential (homes), commercial (stores), and industrial (steel mills, dams, and Paducah airport)  

Q: What was the worst part of being an electrician 

Ellington: The Union sending me to Paradise (ironically named) which is a coal powerhouse that is a couple of hours away. 

Q: What did a normal day in your life look like? 

Ellington: I would wake up at five and go to work at seven, which consists of going to Walmart and fixing the motorized scooters. After fixing the scooters I would go to Paducah Airport and fix the electrical work. Then I might go to the mall or the fuel terminal and finally go home around four. 

Q: What is the craziest scenario that you were in as an electrician? 

Ellington: I had just gotten a call asking me to head over to the William Vault company to fix up a cremation machine. When I arrived there, the man who called explained his problem to me. There was a (dead) man in the machine and in the middle of his cremation the machine broke. As I was working on the panel for the machine, I was sweating like crazy. The man saw how hot I was and offered to turn on a little electric fan that was on the floor. Immediately after that fan was turned on, a load of people dust that felt like sand flew in my eyes and stuck to my contacts.