Tale of a Fridgie #1: Owen Ryan

Owen Ryan

Fridgie / Air Conditioning Salesman

Stage 1 – Apprentice Fridgie

I left High School in 1977 thinking that I wasn’t very smart.  I wanted to learn a trade, my Mum’s side were Carpenters, my Dad’s side were Motor Mechanics, I knew I wanted something else.  I knew an Electrician who was dabbling in electronics and thought that would be interesting.

I applied for various roles as an Apprentice Electrician and one with the University of Queensland, Building & Maintenance Department which had roles for both an   Electrician and a Refrigeration Mechanic. 

I asked a few people about refrigeration and got various responses from “tough dirty work” to “make a fortune on the side doing beer fridges”.  I didn’t think it would be an issue as the University had a tough selection process including a 2 hour intelligence test and several interviews.  Surprisingly I was invited to a final interview in late October 1977.

On the day of the interview , I got there early in long pants, a business shirt and a tie (clip on version).  While waiting outside, a big guys in overalls called me in to get out of the heat.  His name was Peter Wesener and he changed my life from that instant.  He told all about being a Fridgie, what they worked on, how they were better than any other trade, I was sold. 

I went into the interview full of new information & confidence, regurgitating what Peter had told me minutes before.  The Panel of Interviewers were impressed with my knowledge but had one final question, did I want the Electrician or Refrigeration Job,I answered “I want to be a Fridgie!”.  They said that’s good because we just offered the Electrician role to the previous applicant because he was going to study Electrical Engineering at the same time as doing his apprenticeship.  I later received a letter offering me the Refrigeration Mechanic Apprenticeship and inviting me to the Workshop Christmas Party.

On arrival at the Christmas Party, I met again with Arthur Bayliss, always referred to as Mr. Bayliss who was the “Master of Apprentices”.  I met my Leading Hand, Barry Kelly, who left me with a group of about 15 tradesmen.  One came over to me a said “Do you support Aussie Rules or League?”, when I said “League” he picked me up and said “You belong over here !” and dropped with another group.

The University was a great place to learn with a wide variety of equipment from Water Coolers to Centrifugal Chillers, Air Conditioning, Refrigeration and even some experimental projects.  The Tradesmen were very generous with their time and I will always be grateful to Neil Beaton with whom I shared the ride from Mt Gravatt to St Lucia for the 4 years.  We had Electricians, Plumbers, Sheet Metal, Fitters and Painters who all also helped with my training and as a there was no father in my household they helped me to learn how to maintain my mother’s home which was a great asset to my family.

I had started in January 1978 and was called to Block release training at Yeronga in April.  I was not ready for college and was worried that not being to smart I would struggle.  Barry Kelly, my leading hand, called me over one Friday afternoon while we were doing the weekly workshop clean up and said “Do you know what our expectations of you at college are?  I answered “Yes, show up every day and pass” He laughed and said “No, show up every day and get Honours!”  I had never gotten anything like honours in 12 years of school and now I am going to college with 3 months experience and you want honours, I was panicking.

I had some great classmates at college and everyone was wanting help us all get a good mark, we had some laughs and misbehaved a bit but we all wanted to know more about our trade.  I was surprised how well I took to the theory work and got through barely my practical work.  In first year this included Fitting and Turning.  We made a Bending Tool (useless) and a Screw Jack (Paper Weight).  Thank goodness Morrie in the Refrigeration Store was generous with the Emery Tape so we could polish up out screw jacks on the lathe for a super fine finish.   

I was genuinely surprised and proud to receive Honours, which I maintained all through my College, going on to the Advanced Trade Course as a 4^th year apprentice and getting Honours in both Refrigeration and the Air Conditioning elements.

Suddenly I was a Tradesman!