Slow day at work, I honed a carbide engraving tool with a fine diamond file to a very sharp point and engraved pic related on a firearm receiver. The whole thing is 1.125" in diameter, took me a bit to program the engraving toolpaths just right to have the various "shapes" at certain depths for more or less texture.

Then I hit it with just a tiny bit of sandblast and almost erased fucking everything. What did I expect, I'm an idiot. I'll re-run it just before sending it out for anodizing, hopefully it'll be okay.

If not I can run it again after the anodizing and just give it the lightest and most diluted dab of a deep red-colored paint...

>>112331
How'd it come out?

>>112336
Haven't rerun it yet, I got like 50 guns to make before the end of September so the little cosmetic side projects are taking a back seat for a bit.

Walked into two coworkers kvetching. Don't know why, but I told them how amused I was hearing them bitch to each other when yesterday they spent all shift bitching ABOUT each other and expecting me to pick a side. "But jokes on you fuckers. I hate you all." I hope I'm not here much longer.

> racemixer post
> have to google search some term
> <3

I've been busy, as is pretty normal for this time of year. All of our customer do maintenance in the spring and fall when energy demand is lower and they can shut down the turbines. But then fall is when construction is finishing up and the commissioning starts. So maintenance and commissioning.

> random job
> customer's exhaust system cracked and broke
> customer wants us there when the exhaust is bolted back in to verify the turbine doesnt get fucked up
> talking with welders about how turbines work, dude doesn't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed
> welder is really impressed with the turbines
> "Wow that's cool. You seem like a pretty intelligent human being."
> the ruse is working

> few days into the job of me sitting around watching them install exhaust ducting
> all the welding is done, they're bolting shit back in
> some of the bolt holes don't line up
> see genius welder dragging Argon bottle over
> Me: "Hey man, you gonna weld something?"
> Welder: "Yeah, this fuckin' stupid ass duct looks like it was drilled by a fuckin' teenager. A few of the bolts don't line up, so we're gonna fuckin' weld a bracket to it then use a come-along to bend the duct so the bolts line up."
> Me: "Hold on, lets do something different... How about using a grinder and just oval'ing out that hole a little bit."

I guess when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

>>112375
Don't know many jews, huh?

>>112376
I probably have heard more Jewish terms from TV than IRL. That said, I have been to a couple of bar mitzvahs and taught a rabbi how to shoot. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

> work talk
Today's objective was to not shit my pants.

I mean, that's on my list every day, but today it was my top priority. For reference, the Holiday Inn on Balls Ford Rd in Manasses VA fucking sucks. My key card didn't work and so the manager had to come fix it. My plan was to take a shower then get dinner because I was so dirty from work that I couldn't go anywhere for fear of leaving a muddy ass print on anything I touched. After waiting for an hour and a half I was starting to get pissed and got up to go to the front desk. Right then the front desk guy comes over to tell me it was straightened out. Alright whatever. I showered then got some shitty azn food and watched The Great War on youtube for a while. Went to work the next day.

Last night after work it was raining like fuck, so I hit the hotel restaurant and got a burger. The meat tasted like it had been in the freezer a year too long, but whatever. At 05:38 this morning I rocket out of bed and straight to the toilet. On the ride to work, the bubble guts hits me and I pull over to another Holiday Inn near by, and destroy the toilet by the dining area.

Work was going fine but by lunch time my colon started to remind me of the war crimes brewing in my intestines. I go to a nearby restaurant and give my waitress my order without sitting down and then proceed to blow up their bathroom. There were a few more close calls throughout the day, but I made it back to the hotel to once again unload the brown bounty.

So achievement unlocked, another day without shitting myself or having to shit in a porta-potty.

On a side note, my greatest fear in life is being pushed down a hill in a porta potty. If a turbine explodes or you get zapped by 13,800 volts, at least you die from it. With the potty, you may survive, but there's no hope of living after be deluged in trabajador diarrhea and blue juice.

> text my buddy with the short version
> he pooed a little while trying not to slip off a ladder
> cut off his underwear, wrapped it in paper towels and a cardboard box
> left it in neighborhood dog poop clean up box to confuse them

Fucking savage.

Why do baby boomers talk to me like I'm retarded?
>"Do you have corkscrews? For wine bottles? Corkscrews?"
>Whilst making corkscrew motions with her hands, lest her technical jargon lose me.

>>112380
Oooooohhhhh those things.

lol

Update. >>112378

I've moved to a Marriott hotel. It's probably the nicest hotel I've ever stayed at. It has fast internet and there's a mall across the parking lot with lots of awesome food, so I'm set. The manager was personally greeting all of the guests as I was checking in...

> So will you be staying with us for a while?
> Yeah, all month.
> What really?!?

All of the other people in the lobby looked like business professionals, while I looked like I had spent the day wrestling livestock, so maybe he was trying to figure out if I stole the credit card or something? (Joking. The manager was very pleasant.)

Marriott seems to offer a long term stay rate that's pretty good. Normal nights are like $190+, while the long term was $130. I think I (the company) was paying more at that shitty holiday inn.

So far the only downsides are that my optical mouse doesn't read on the shiny white table, and I haven't figured a way to rearrange the furniture to use the room TV as a second monitor. I wonder if they would notice if I grabbed the 4ft long folding table from my truck and put it in the room.

I also realized today was my 14th work day straight, and 7th of this job. No wonder I've been tired as fuck.

>>112331
>>112336
Turned out okay. There are black oxide solutions for touching up aluminum, but are there dark red/rust color options out there? I think paint would really cover up all the details.

>>112383
This phone is shit for macro pics... I'll have to take some at home with the DSLR.

Welp that's what I get for not buying a macro lens. It's hard to show the various features like how the gear is embossed on one side and recessed on the other. The whole thing is 1.2" in diameter so you can easily cover the whole skull with a thumb.

I'm wondering now if I could send it out for anodizing in another color only on the engraved portion, so it would be black and the adeptus mechanicus engraving would be rust red.

>>112385
Fuckin' sweet dood.

>>112383
Sure is purdy.

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!