Now we're cooking with gas.

> working on new startup project
> all of our customers have the same "drop dead" date of nov 1
> a million dollars of penalties, per day, if they're not online

> week 4 of job, worked a full week prior
> had 2 days off in 5 weeks, 70-80 hour weeks
> (For reference, my longest week was that hellish job last year, 92.5 hours)
> going pretty well otherwise, good contractors
> working in northern VA, nice hotel, good food

> sunday, manager sends out a "Great Teamwork" email
> coworker A was having a meltdown from overwork
> coworker B spoke to mgmt about the meltdown
> coworker A got a bit of time off
> we had to acknowledge the group email that we can have days off if we're melting down

> last week
> boss A calls: Hey man, are you available for maintenance next week?
> haha no
> next day, boss B calls: Hey man, you working Saturday?
> uh yeah
> today, boss A calls
> B-A: Hey, I've got you scheduled for an engine exchange starting the end of the month, are you going to be done by then?
> me: Maybe? I don't know if we'll be done by then. I'd rather not go from working solid into an engine exchange...

> yesterday
> get into argument with paint morons
> they started disassembling shit that was VERY PRECISELY installed and aligned to slather some paint on it
> "But we never had a problem befo"
> normally I'd shrug it off, but my fuse is short to the point where I'm getting mad at fire trucks
> I explain that there's a chance we're already fucked, so paint away
> ride home, getting more and more pissed about it

> had enough of this shit
> working on my escape plan
> have the company buy me a 9oz filet mignon for dinner
> really damn good

> still pissed about argument
> sleep like shit

> today was "Fuck off Wednesday"
> did site report and expenses all morning
> took a long lunch, back to hotel, watched some The Great War
> rolled back to site, did a few small things
> go back to hotel, do some more paperwork and call the IT help desk for computer shit

> life of a field tech

One of my coworkers just called. He often calls me for technical help, and being 19:30 at night, it might be bad.

> CW: Hey man, I fucking love Mission BBQ. I just tried it for the first time like 2 weeks ago and I just get the ribs and the fries, and the pie is so good....
> goes on 5 minutes about smoke meat
> CW: Oh yeah, sorry I got side tracked. Can I get that laser alignment tool off you?

I've accepted a position with a real estate management company contracted to a financial firm for data center work. Slightly farther drive than my current position but not too bad. Still in NY though but it pays $2 more hourly equivalent with chances for OT. I'm even considering moving 20 min closer after the first month there. Very high risk data, but I now have a chance to learn a lot of facilities things I never had the opportunity to before.

I got a desk job on the admin side of a construction contractor.

I haven't had a desk job before, it was highschool - infantry - trades. How the fuck do these people live?

>>112415
My jobs were usually 50/50 desk/on feet. Drink plenty of water so you have an excuse to always get more water and take frequent bathroom breaks. I'm serious.

Need to figure out what I'm doing when I come back from OSUT. I put in notice for my current employer. By law, I could make them hold my job, but fuck it. Enough cashiering. Time to make a move.

>>112415
It's hell. Why do you think I promised myself I'd never do that shit again?

>>112407
> 02:00, asleep
> coworker calls
> CW: Hey man, sorry to call you at night. I can't get this emergency stop to clear. The customer had to e-stop it and now it says the button is still pushed in.
> Me: Alright, you might have to check terminal block 1, 1-4 to figure out which button it is, do you have your meter with you? Ah well lets start from the top. Twist and pull out the button on the door. Then press both reset buttons.
> CW: Oh fuck it cleared! Why did it clear? Why did it clear? Why did it clear? Why did it clear? Why did it clear? Why did it clear?
> Customer in background: Alright already! Lets start it up.
> CW: Fuck man, thanks for your help.

God dammit. I'm really getting tired of field service.

Pic unrelated.

So I've had 2 run ins with Human Resources lately. Not for anything I did, but I just happened to be there. Just a protip, don't say any stupid shit in a work environment or outside of work with coworkers. We live in a world of hurt feelings reports and social justice.

> phone rings, some unknown number
> Hello this is Avgas
> customer's company HR lady
> HR: We're doing an investigation, did any of our employees say anything weird around you?
> *thinks through all the hilarious shit we talk about*
> Me: No, nothing that I recall.
> HR: What about on Tuesday the 1st, did John mention anything about masturbation?
> *thinks through all the masturbation jokes in the last 2 months*
> (and this is where I fucked up)
> Me: Oh yeah I guess he did. I didn't take any offense to it. He's a veteran with a goofy sense of humor.
> goes on for a bit, asks me to call if I remember anything else

Fuck. Caught me unprepared. For future reference, I was busy working on something and I don't remember anything.

> last week, working with [replaced ethnicity] Irish coworker, we call senior coworker
> both of us asking about some technical issues, Senior apparently forgets Irish is sitting next to me
> Senior: Well, you know, Irish guy was there last week and he didn't listen to me and he didn't get the right data. You know if he would have listened to me you wouldn't have had to go back there today. Irish is a smart guy but he doesn't have the experience you do... [And some other stuff about Irish people in general]
> Irish-bro is getting visibly pissed
> Me: You know Irish is sitting right next to me right?
> Senior: Yeah of course. I'm just joking with you guys.
> Irish storms off in a rage, says he's done for the night
> Irish comes back after a few minutes to help me finish up
> Irish: Do you think Senior forgot I was there or do you think he was really was joking?
> Me: Doesn't matter. The only thing that matters how you react to it. Do you want to be pissed off or do you want to shrug it off?
> he mopes around for a while and helps me carry out my tools

> today, senior calls me
> Senior: Hey who is this?
> Me: Uh, it's Avgas, you called me?
> Senior: Well let me tell you man. You remember when you and Irish called me last week? Well the manager came by my office and told me that someone overheard me talking about Irish people and was offended. Offended! He said I could lose my job for that! After XX years with the company! I told him that's a fuckin' lawsuit waiting to happen. Can you believe that shit?
> Me: Yeah man, it's a Human Resources world we live in. I don't think anyone should have to worry about being harassed at work, but when joking can cost you a job, that sucks.
> Senior then goes on to tell me about something he saw on faux news about an illegal immigrant shooting at some cops...

To be fair, he's deaf as shit and was probably yelling into his phone. It's likely the whole office could hear, but I think it's more likely Irish-bro bitched to the manager about him. Irish-bro is easily agitated and has lashed out at some of our redneck coworkers for them saying racist shit, but going to the manager is a bitch move.

I try to stay out of this shit as much as possible, since Irish-bro is taking my on-call holiday so I can go home for Christmas and Senior is working over the manager to try to get me a job in engineering.

I think Switzerland has the right idea, when everyone is at war, stay neutral... and armed to the teeth.

  >>112720
In this world of finks, delicate thin-skinned snowflakes and reactionary ding-a-lings, it's usually best to just say you know nothing and keep your mouth shut. You know, doing the Schultz. https://youtu.be/UmzsWxPLIOo

>>112720
>>112720

it's stories like this that are making me reconsider leaving my defense industry job. I work with a lot of veterans and they can take some bants. Having to deal with sensitive safe space loonies would drive me up the wall.

>>112720
the irish are a bunch of easily offended, short-tempered alcoholic morons with no sense of humor. they're practically women, everyone knows that.

>>112726
Oirish

  >>112726
>>112734
>>112736

Coworker is not Irish. I subbed in Irish to anonymize the story.

> last week, working with [replaced ethnicity] Irish coworker

Senior coworker from the same post keeps sending me random texts about inflammatory shit he reads on faux news. I must be his favorite young person or something.

On my vacation I only got 2 calls for help from my coworkers. Originally I was going to be on-call for New Years, but Not-Irish-Bro was nice enough to cover my on-call so I could eat more mexican food in CA. Today the on-call answering service called me and I told them to call Not-Irish-Bro instead. Ha suckers.

shart the fuck off u irish loving son o'bitch
this is AMERICA not ireland
if you love irish folk so much then go move there

I get along with my coworkers and they get along with me, but they all seem to dislike each other behind each others backs... makes me sad people can't get along.

>>112743
They dislike you behind your back too.

>>112745
I wonder what kind of shit my coworkers talk about me. Probably that I'm a know-it-all asshole.

Like strong IPA's? This one's 198 proof.

When we wash engines in cold weather, we use a 50/50 ratio of water to isopropyl alcohol to lower the freezing point of water. Washing an axial compressor with ice isn't the best idea.

>>112756
> last week, boss calls
> hey man, do you want to go to West Virginia to help out coworker with a commissioning (startup) project?
> sure thing boss
> Monday, travel 5 hours
> Tuesday, get to site, they still have a lot of work to do
> looking around, figure out what's missing
> 14:00 meeting
> probably about 15 people, mechanical and electrical contractor superintendents, project managers, engineers, and other lackeys
> Project Engineer: So we're here to figure out the plan for commissioning. So... Avgas, what's the plan?
> everyone looks at me (pic related)
> my favorite part of day 1 at a commissioning project
> explain the general order of operations and timeline for the startup, like a boss

> later, electrical super comes up to me
> ES: Man, it really sounds like you know what you're doing.
> Me: Ha, I just talk a good game.

> sit around for a couple of days waiting on the oil flush guys to get their equipment and get started
> fucking freezing cold, was 6'F when we arrived the first day
> construction site on a ridge in West, by God, Virginia
> 30 minutes from town, not too bad
> Friday night, get dinner at Panera Bread, salad that has blue cheese crumbs
> blue cheese was extra funky
> 02:00 wake up with stomach cramps
> get to bathroom, comes out both ends

> Saturday, get up and get to site, watching contractors bolt up some piping
> feel shitty but stable
> plenty of Mt. Dew
> get some chicken noodle soup for lunch, goes ok
> saltine and goldfish crackers for dinner

So jobs like this are basically the reason I want to get out of field service. The jobs runs into the weekend due because people can't get their shit together, 5 hours from home (and 2500 miles from real home) in freezing ass weather with occasionally shitty food. The actual work is fine, turning wrenches, telling contractors what to do, but I could have been shooting and playing vidya games today.

The high point of my day (night) at work is seeing that the mouse took the offerings I left it.

> driving in MD on a highway, heading to VA for a job
> signs for right lane closed 1500 ft ahead
> see minivan cruising in right lane
> signs for right lane closed 1000 ft ahead
> minivan still cruising, BMW merges on, tailgating minivan
> signs for right lane closed 500 ft ahead
> minivan still cruising, BMW tailgating
> ORANGE BARRELS
> minivan still cruising
> minivan oh fuck emergency brakes hits a barrel
> BMW lightly rear ends minivan
> I pointed and laughed

Maryland drivers are fucking morons.

So I've just finished writing my PhD proposal. Probably gonna get accepted as I know the department and they know me. I've cut down days working for the family firm to reduce the pay roll and also because working for family is a pain in the arse.

What do?

>>112777
What to do? For people working on PhD thesis or dissertation, their time is typically consumed with reading more books or data on their subject.

What is your PhD subject, Armed Britfag?
"Where'd All The Fuckin' Ammo Go? Man's Struggle To Locate .455 Webley On This Sceptred Isle That Made The Goddamn Stuff And Don't Get Me Started On .476 Eley."

Pic: Doctoral ceremony at Leiden University (7 July 1721).

>>112777
>What do?

Look for bursaries, grants, etc.

What is your area/topic of research?

>>112773
We had a safety stand down last week. There was the usual amount of death by powerpoint, but most of it was from our peer safety teams. The funny part about that is that like 4 coworkers out of 26 seemed to be up there the whole time. I was once again volunteered to talk about my run-in with the worlds angriest battery charger.

> 120vdc battery system
> 2 big ass racks of telecom grade batteries
> *angry humming noises*
> adjust float / high rate potentiometers
> charger switches to high rate - dumping 110 amps into the batteries
> *angry noises intensify*
> a mere 14 kilowatts
> adjustment pots right next to 480vac input
> shorting that would have caused an arc-flash
> explained the danger to coworkers

But the real topic of meeting was gender neutrality. Not officially, but our supervisor made up some humorous "Atta-Boy" and "Atta-Girl" awards.

> One Atta-Boy
> Avgas
> For your display of professionalism and commitment to customer service while responding to the trouble call at [REDACTED] you are awarded "One Atta-boy". Your performance was recognized by the customer as 'Going the extra mile'. One thousand "Atta-Boys" qualifies you to be a leader of men, work overtime with a smile, explain assorted problems to management and be looked upon as a local hero, all without a raise in pay.
> Supervisor
> Note: One "Aww Shit" wipes the slate clean and you have to start all over again.

Which we all thought were hilarious and a little light hearted recognition. But then someone, sitting at the mgmt table at dinner that night, brought up some kind of gender issues. Supervisor realized that this could be a potential problem and shit canned the "Atta-boy" to be renamed at some point in the future. (And to his credit, issued himself an "Aww Shit" which he framed.)

So then gender neutral language was the running joke of the rest of the meeting, and how it's quite the wet blanket in any professional setting.

>>112796
I had a mostly event free year. The only safety issue I ran in to, besides the battery charger, was when were gassing up the unit for the first time. Every fucking fitting on the pipe leaked. Then somehow the filter drains got pressurized with gas, and of course were leaking into the building. Natural gas is unscented normally. The odor added when it goes out to residential customers. One of the pipe fittings was just pissing out gas and everyone is standing around looking at it. As the building is filling up with gas I go e-stop the other unit and everyone looks at me like "Why you do dat?"

Gas you morons!

They eventually figured out that another drain line was open to pressure, and the vent was closed off.

But all of that was nothing compared to one of my coworkers who presented at the safety stand down.

> shows pictures of manlift... personlift... stuck in mud being pulled out by a dozer with a guy in it
> lists safety incidents
> 40" diameter pipe dropped from the top of the hill, rolled down, crashed into site
> lost control of another pipe that smashed into a building
> piece of equipment struck a charged gas pipeline
> dropped something onto high voltage lines
> hill washed out, almost washed out supports for cable tray
> manlift operating on wooden planks, but the road underneath almost washed out
> huge mud pit underneath pipeline valves, guys walking around on the pipes like no big deal
> laborers hired from local McDonalds to build gas pipeline
> contractors smoking in the middle of the yard
> contractors deliberately lied about pressurizing the gas pipeline so our rep "Wouldn't freak out"

And the best part of all this is that the gas companies talk all this shit about safety. Like that you can't have hoods on your jacket, because it obstructs your vision. And that you need 6" boots, but not 6" from the ground like manufacturers measure, but 6" from the top of the sole, so they're really 8" boots. But nothing about morons trying to kill you.

Just graduated.

>>112807
Congrats, RaceMixer!

Woo!
Again, good job, RaceMixer.

Meet with some s'arnts tomorrow for in-processing into my reserve unit. My questions will be:
What training can you send me to?
What vehicles can you train me on?
Can the Army get me my CDL?
Can I get any other technical certs?
Where do most of my comrades work, and how do I get those jobs?
Are we deploying?
Any deployment slots with other units I can fill? Like now? I'll go to Syria. I don't give a fuck.

>mfw looking forward to blowing down walls with a bunch of badass sappers.
>mfw we're route clearance.

Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! We're a fucking ready force unit as of now. First fucking drill weekend with my reserve unit and it's with the news that we are NEVER FUCKING DEPLOYING!

>"hey, dad. What's up?"
>"I'm sitting in a bar with an old friend of mine. He's got a job for you. You start Monday."
>"I didn't tell you? I found one. I got a job with a moving company. I started on-"
>"fifty-five dollars an hour."
>"I-I... Say again?"

So for the last ten days, I've been driving all over Northern California in a rented infiniti SUV, armed with a list of lat/long coordinates taking pictures of telephone poles for a contractor under a major utility company and getting paid stupid money to do it.

>>112921

Well done. My buddy told me that he once had a job being the confined space entry safety guy. They were painting some type of liquid tank and he was the one to stand outside of the tank in case anything happened. So there he stood, watching paint dry, for a buck a minute.

I've been looking for jobs back in California. On Tuesday I had an interview for my same job but for the west coast. Crushed it. It was a mix of human resources psychoanalysis questions and ones the supervisors made up.

> Tell us about a time when you had to make someone trust you.
> Well at this job, I worked closely with the construction superintendents. I did my best to communicate clearly on what I needed and when...

> You're on a trouble call, the engine won't start. What do you do?
> Check this, that, start data logging, and go for a start.

I'm also looking at one other job, engineering liaison. Which sounds made up, but one of my old coworkers calls me out of the blue and asks if I want his job. It sounds like the liaison is there to be the first level of tech support for engine problems, rather than burdening the actual engineers who have better shit to do.

It pays well and you get to learn from the biggest brains in the company, so shit why not.

>>112907
you sure are eager to openly share your unit deployment information
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/28/fitness-tracking-app-gives-away-location-of-secret-us-army-bases

I work on forklifts.
People are fuckwits.
My misanthropy grows.

>>112925
Haiku?

- A Soviet junior political officer armed with a Tokarev TT-33 Service Pistol urges Soviet troops forward against German positions during World War II. The picture is allegedly of political officer Alexey Gordeevich Yeremenko, who is said to have been killed within minutes of this photograph being taken.

Went on my first FTX with my unit. We pointed a weapon at civilians, almost started a brush fire, it was a good time. Got back to California and picked up where I started. Two days ago, I learned the hard way how terrible a non 4wd pickup is in snow. I got stuck up a mountain with no cell coverage. After attempting to unfuck myself for an hour, I decided to hoof it back to town. Made it half a mile before I found the road blocked by two fucking bears. Now, I realize I probably smelled less like prey and more like "the fuck is that!?", and you can probably run a black bear off by yelling "Fuck you, bears!" but I felt less confident in that knowledge when actually faced with them. I backed up slowly until they were out of sight and walked back to the truck looking over my shoulder. Finally freed the truck by cutting pine boughs and shoving them under the back tires.

>>112931
Congrats, RaceMixer!
Reminds me of a friend in the Marines who was sent out on an exercise to the middle of nowhere in the wilderness of Montana or somewhere like that and he had to make a bunker in the woods and guard his area during the night. He radioed his sergeant and told him that a gigantic bear as big as a Winnebago was approaching his bunker and what should he do. His sarge said no unauthorized intruders were allowed through his area, including bears and that he must go out and defeat this infiltration. Luckily, the bear wandered off in the opposite direction.

Army cadets receive a terrain map briefing by a soldier assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, before their field training exercise on Camp Buckner at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., July 10, 2013.

I grew up in Oklahoma, the reddest red state. Guns and rednecks abound, but driving in the sticks, I didn't see bullet holes in every road sign. I live in Nevada, motto: Battle Born. The desert is riddled with shooting pits, but I never find torched, shot up cars on the side of the road. Whatever breed of redneck they got up here in Northern California, they are some fucking savages.

Tab ate my long ass whiny rant because I'm phone posting. With less swear words, here is my situation: I have been inadequately trained and outfitted for this job. The client company now knows me because I showed up asking for a fish key; my lacking one was crippling my productivity. It became very clear to the employee that met me that I don't know shit, and things snowballed from there. They are now auditing my work at my boss's expense. With that on my mind, I've been driving around some of the roughest terrain in the state in a 2wd Dodge S"""U"""V. It is now stuck in a saddle on a ridge line with the slopes fore and aft of it too steep to pass. I mean stuck. When I say I hit those hills, I was their pimp, and they owed me money. A lovely older couple in a side-by-side sat me on their spare tire where I clung to the roll bars for dear life while they drove me out of their. The ranger was impressed, nay, in awe at the determination and stupidity it took to get my car where I did. If the company can't extract it, the forestry service is going to drag it out with a bulldozer. I've been assured it's not a bill we want.

>>112966
A colleague and I attempted to get to it with his bucket truck. A big badass dodge 5500. It is now high centered ass to snout in a ditch. We lost breaks or something when we bottomed out. I am leaning against an oak tree swatting flies as I type.

  Y'know how some military vets are triggered by fireworks? Well it's pressure cookers for me.

I was at a site with a gas turbine in the basement with the exhaust feeding a Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG). They also have a couple of other boilers and a steam turbine hooked up to a generator. The turbine was shut down when I arrived so I do my inspection while the operator is off messing with something over by the steam turbine. I complete my visual inspection and the operator says he's ready to start the gas turbine. Cool, I can check for leaks and get some running data.

The usual procedure is to start the gas turbine and just run it at idle for a little while to let the HRSG heat up. The HRSG is a boiler that uses the turbine exhaust as the heat source. Sometimes they will also have a "duct burner" which is like an afterburner on a jet, but its job is to make more heat (and steam) not thrust.

The operator starts it up, idles for a while, looking good, then commands the turbine to load up. Once you start putting on load the turbine, that's when the exhaust temperature and volume really starts. After a few minutes the steam pressure is starting to rise, and rise, and rise. The operator was off messing with the steam turbine and taking boilers offline, ok cool he's running the show.

I'm in the control room looking over some stuff on my computer when I hear "POP HIIIIIIIISSSSSSSS" coming from the plant. After a couple of seconds the building fire alarm goes off telling everyone to evacuate. I look out of the control room window expecting to see a burnt and scalded man appearing from a cloud of steam, but there was no visible steam and the operator was fine.

> pressure cooker venting sound, loud as fuck

The operator hauls ass back to the control room and tells me he wants to shut down the turbine. I initiate a normal stop from the control computer then go out to the turbine and hit the e-stop. For the next 20 minutes the fire alarm is going off, people are calling the control room phone asking what the fuck, and the operator going in every direction. The facility fire and safety people show up, wearing no protective gear at all, and look around a bit. Supervisors and managers start to appear.

After the steam whistling stopped, I went over to the steam turbine to find the offending pressure relief valve puking water everywhere. I figured this was a good of a time as any to get the oil sample from the gas turbine, so that's what I did, then packed my shit and left.

I was chatting with the operator and answering questions before we started. He was experienced with boilers and chillers, but new to gas turbines and this plant specifically. He works 2 operator jobs. Last night was a double because his replacement called off. He said he got 4-5 hours of sleep while the other guys covered for him. On this job, his partner was on vacation, so they were short handed while trying to start and stop all this shit. He was also telling me that the previous crew was having some kind of problem with the steam system and the whole floor was covered in water when he came in. So once I put the pieces together, I realized this was a disaster waiting to happen, and it's a good thing it wasn't worse. Mechanical and human factors.

When the shit popped off (literally), I didn't freak out in the slightest. As soon as I heard the pop-hiss I knew it was a steam pressure relief valve. I don't know if I'm just getting desensitized because of shit happening like >>/k/108804 and the other events in this thread, but I just put on my ear muffs and (1) Tried to determine if it was safe to leave the control room (2) Was wondering if the operator was ded (3) Was working on a plan to shut down the turbine to kill the steam. (Mostly point #1)

Now when my roommate is using the pressure cooker on the stove at home, that's when a little poo comes out. >>112909

>>112966
>>112967

LOL

>>112977
We got the fucking vehicles out. A regional tow service does off road work. I have since traded in that dodge for a Nissan Frontier 4wd.

>>112976
How many people could that have killed?