He was quiet for a long moment. Then he laughed, a low, smoky sound. "Marta, when I was twenty, I paid a thousand dollars for a set of welding rods that turned out to be pig iron. Cost me a month's pay. But they taught me how to test metal before I buy it."
For fifteen years, she’d been a senior quality engineer at Hartford Steam and Vessel, a mid-tier manufacturer of industrial boilers. She knew the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code better than she knew her own coffee order. But she wasn't an Authorized Inspector. That designation, the gold-plated AI stamp, belonged to the insurance guys and third-party auditors. They were the ones who signed off. She was the one who made sure nothing exploded before they got there. asme authorized inspector course cost
Her boss, a pragmatic man named Lou, had given her the news that morning. "The AI slot for the Gulf Coast project opened up," he'd said, tossing a thin folder on her desk. "But corporate won't pay for the cert. It's a 'career development opportunity.' Your dime, your raise." He was quiet for a long moment
And then she thought of the alternative: staying exactly where she was, forever the expert without the authority. Cost me a month's pay