>>108836
>this is mee while annontating your person4l life story for futore refarence


:)

:)

:)

>>108841
It's like we got our own Penguin of Doom, I feel all fuzzy inside.

>>108836
>Where the fuck is the radiator drain
>Where the fuck is the block drain
>There is neither a rad drain or block drain on this car
>YUP there's the German influence.

Feels a bit like how all the CNCs at work are generally the same thing. One machine might be twenty years older or younger, but it's still pretty much the same layout. Buttons might have a different name or little diagram, or it might be on a screen menu, or to the left of the controller rather than the bottom, but even machines from companies that want to do their snowflake thing are very similar with a different coat of paint. They're basically like an Asian housewife, they'll do everything you tell them on the letter but sometimes flip a shit over a typo that doesn't jive with their traditions, like missing an end-of-block or something went and insulted their ancestors. Some machines come with more trimmings, like the well-off Japonski and her wardrobe of hand-woven kimonos or the Chinese princess and her heirloom vases, but again, same general theme, once you spend a few minutes getting through one machine's particular accent, you're good to go.

But then there's the Mikron UPC 600 Vario. German, fancy, but fuck it isn't like one housewife with more-or-less trimmings, it's three exchange students. They're all German, they're better than you, they don't care if you don't speak the language, it's up to you to learn it and not the other way around. If you piss off one of those three girls, doesn't matter if it's the milling girl, the pallet changer girl, or the tool magazine girl, they'll ALL get super sour at you until you make it up to all three of them. Sure, they'll make you a nice lunch with some good beer, but shit you basically have to learn the black magics just to say hello.

Must be a cultural thing fuck.

>>108844
>just f4 you beebs

*slurp noising*

>>108836
I don't think I've ever owned a vehicle with a transimission dipstick.

Always took off the fill plug, then the drain plug, refilled with the widest range 75w-whatever gear oil I could find (current truck calls for ATF+4 but that is new manuals for you), and then kept filling until it started to weep out the fill plug.

CVTs can be picky as fuck about oil and they are designed with the average consumer not taking care of them. They are sadly disposable. If you can source the exact fluid it needs then go for it but even then it could grenade on them in a few thousand miles.

Kinda sad since CVTs are really the best transmission for a daily grocery getter.

Pic related. G238 is the transmission in my Ram 1500. It and the 3.7l V6 caught a lot of shit from the press for being shit designs when they came out. Nowadays I'm seeing people with 400k+ miles on them without any major happenings. Auto-"journalists" suck

Picture unrelated, I recently finished DXHR and unlocked INAFT difficulty. (That game is really gud.)

>>/arch/10900
> I just wanna read comfy stories about turbine maintenance and shit.

I'm glad someone enjoys them.

This post strikes again... >>/arch/10840

> show up to customer site tuesday morning
> different site... actually this place again >>/arch/10669
> customer: What are you doing here? We rescheduled for next week.
> my face drops, not again...
> cust: Ah we're just fucking with you
> me: You dicks, you don't know how much that actually happens to me.

There's probably more story to tell, but I've been working too many 14 hour days to think right now. I got a new rifle, so that's pretty coo..... zzz.....

>>/arch/10862
Rewind to two weeks ago. The first day of the new job, and my boss has me go to this community meeting for the Safe Village Initiative. She briefly runs through a list of people working on this initiative, and an unrelated but overlapping community group, D Street strong. Included among the usual cops, probation officers, religious leaders, local residents, she mentioned the Fruit of Islam. That caught my attention and put me off. So I get to this meeting and see it's run by the NOI motherfucker I mentioned previously. For the last two weeks, I've been wondering if I should approach my boss and get out of these meetings or just keep my mouth shut. I remember he struck me as kind of odd. He cooperates with police and talks to whites; their kind usually don't. So I do a little reading up on him this afternoon. He's very big in "The Community", he's consulted by local media on matters of race, he's the head of a business or two, and then I notice his mosque.

Dude's not NOI. He's just some Muslim. I saw an African American man with an Arabic name dressed sharply in a suit, and I made an incorrect assumption.

  >>108905

So gamechanger, brothers.

In the quest for bigger tips and social experimentation, I decided to change things up and divert from years of looking like a bearded Dale Gribble. I got a haircut and trimmed stuff up. I just gave the barber this pic and he hooked me up.

Seriously, I never thought something so simple would change so much. Bigger tips and I'm getting hit on left and right.

I'm keeping it. Tank u Matt Best

>how to move 16 cubic inches of 304 stainless in 59 seconds

I have a bit of fun sometimes at the job but I'm thinking of quitting, and moving to a city with a bit more in the way of machine shops.

Might be fun. The downside is that potentially, it could also rape my savings. I'm still not sure if it's worth the risks, even if the daily grind is becoming a lot more grind and a lot less slaaneshigans.

>>108971
>I'm still not sure if it's worth the risks, even if the daily grind is becoming a lot more grind and a lot less slaaneshigans.

Do it. Moving to a city with more resources is the best thing I've ever done.

I'm actually learning the benefit of networking out here.

I'm focusing pretty heavily on metal working right now. Mostly welding and forging, but fabrication is also on my list.

>>108971

Our city is pretty dead when it comes to manufacturing jobs, compared even to somewhere like Toronto. The beauty is someone with your skills should be able to hunt for the kind of work you want to do elsewhere while still working and getting paid at your current job. I wouldn't be surprised if the right company offered relocation benefits and such for your skillset.

>>108976
I'm going to look really closely at Mississauga. It's isn't a hellhole like Toronto, from what I can see. Rent is lower, and there's tons of machine shops, and it doesn't seem to give out that vibe of Toronto liberal elitism gun-hating and super urban concrete jungle. I'd love to find a quiet basement apartment in the outskirts close to a shop, maybe somewhere not too far from a range of some sort.

I'll fluff up my resume and send a few applications out. I still need to save up a bit more but at this point I want to be out of here within 2 months, give or take.

I've gone from one end of social services to the other. Welfare helps all of the poor people but only a little bit. The Housing Authority helps only a small fraction of the poor people, but it helps them a fucking lot! We've got 17,700 residents in the projects, scattered sites, and using section 8 vouchers. In comparison, Clark County has over 300,000 people living below the poverty line.

>>108977
A former coworker of mine is a Chinese-Canadian chick who grew up in Toronto. That place makes San Francisco look downright affordable. Talking about where she wants to settle down, she mentioned "I can't move back to Toronto."
"What, you didn't like it?"
"No, I CAN'T move back!"

She'll probably be stateside for life. She's in love with the national parks of the American southwest, and she's hasguns.

  >>108980
> "No, I CAN'T move back!"

I'm having the same problem with Southern California. The house my parents bought for $80k in the late 70's is half a mil now. I make pretty good money now and couldn't afford a mortgage. So then you need two incomes and your kids get raised with English as a second language.

And then I'd have to get a permit to buy ammunition. I'd have to ditch all my magazines and neuter my rifles, until those modifications become illegal too... Fucking hell.

>>108924

I took the m.best haircut challenge too. We'll see what happens. Can't quite do the beard or the action-figure wrestler arms, but whatever. Maybe I'll be a little less generic looking.

> meeting with customers at hotel conf room
> going to the bafroom
> hotel staffer lady starts talking to me as if resuming a conversation
> lady stops, looks closely at me
> "Wait, you're not Brian."

I wonder if I missed my calling in life as a secret squirrel or some shit.

Also, I just looked at my work schedule and somehow I got the highest utilization rate of our guys. How the fuck did that happen? I've told my boss I'm perfectly happy sitting at home getting payed base salary to play Battlefield.

> get email from boss
> "Sometimes it sucks to be reliable. I need a favor..."

>be me today driving around town fixing boopbooters under warranty for our corporate customers
>case for a desktop failing to boot giving error beeps
>have trouble reaching him with 2 calls to voicemail over 2 days so decide to show up on site
>wait 15 minutes while they get the guy
>get down to IT dept
>machine's case already open, wires disconnected, heatsink off
>dis gon be good
>placing out needed tools and prepping provided new sysboard for install
>site's IT guy: "lemmie get that for you"
>snatches processor out of machine and sets it on counter, contacts down
>"OH SHIT NIGGER WHAT ARE YOU DOING" yells in my mind but outwardly I maintain slight smile to hide my usual mudermood.
>before i can say anything he grabs Lysol wipes and uses it to clean the thermal paste off, processor sliding around on table as this is happening
>struggling to hide any signs of disgust
>put new board together and pray as I put processor back in.
>system comes up fine thankfully and I put serial# and other info back in.
>2 hours later get a callback that the Intel ME is giving a manufacturing mode error on boot, this rare but happens. whatevs
>go back and attempt to use our sekrit manufacturer usb tools
>hey can we get a copy of that? don't you need to go to the bathroom for a few minutes?
>come_on_son_face.png
>system bluescreens as it tries to load up our win8 pe stick
>troubleshoot
>it's the goddamn processor because of course it is.
>smile as I say I'll be back tomorrow with a new proc

>>108996
Dude knows what's up, man. Ever since I changed it up, I've been getting hit on by more than just old gay guys. Young, attractive women have been hitting on me now. Feels weird.

I can't pull off his beard or have the huge arms, but I am in shape. Guess that helps.

servs girlfriend and about half the population says I look like a 20 year old Billy Bob Thorton, it pisses me off.

Had my review at work, got a raise. During my review, I pointed out that I'm doing the work of a Quality Inspector in addition to material handler, and because they NEED a Quality Inspector at night I said they need to give me the bid or put me back on days. They opted for the former. Got the bid, and the raise that comes with it retro'd to the first of the year. I'd have preferred, like...September, but I think I pushed that one as hard as I could. Chalking it up as a win.

Also, the electrician and millwright apprenticeships came up and I applied for electrician apprentice. Chances are pretty slim that I'll land it, but for as long as I work at that company, I'm going to chase that job. It's basically the whole reason I've stayed with this company as long as I have. As a journeyman electrician with an industrial focus, I could live and work pretty much wherever the hell I wanted, and make good money doing it. The downside is that if I get the apprenticeship, it fucks up my "Be in a swing state by next presidential election" plan, but it'd be a better long term move anyway.

Honestly I could probably do ok for myself right now anyway. I have a few years working in steel manufacturing as a material handler, with extensive use of gantry cranes and overhead bridge cranes (two bridges operated in tandem most of the time too) and I'm not too bad on a forklift. Plus the focus on quality and testing that the past six months have had (with a year prior to that being certified and doing the job on and off to give the other guys breaks from it for a week or two at a time)

If it sounds like I'm trying to talk myself into looking for other work, well...thought has crossed my mind.

Also, I'm on-call for jury duty this week so they had me work days instead of grave this week. Jesus fuck, I'd forgotten how obnoxious it is to have this supervisor micromanaging what you're doing all fucking day long. Exhausting in and of itself.

>>109003
Well done! How are you going to spend your back pay?

Welp, lucked out and things are working out great besides my car having transmission problems (won't shift).

Worked part time as an armed guard for a small security company that does contracts throughout Los Angeles. For $20hr for a dude with only 3 years of military service (not even deployed), pretty decent gig despite the fact I was working in Inglewood and Compton. That and I should be picking up my service firearm for Paragon Systems very soon. Outside of tackling a fuckton of homeless people on federal property and a high standard, should be easy fucking bread on the table.

My only concern is finally fucking finishing my associates in computer technology while working full time. I was actually digging my campus despite it being liberal arts campus.

I left my current job today (after a proper 2 week notice) and start a new one on Monday. I'll post more after I get drunk if I remember.

>>109004
It didn't really amount to that much, especially post taxes, but that MKIV 22/45 Lite I picked up was largely a back-pay bonus.

>>109007
So here we go. Since September of 2015 I used to work in a medium sized airport for a concessions and retail company that had a contract with said airport. I genuinely liked my coworkers who are in the management level with me and most of the non-management people were ok. I never really talked about it here or on any chan because it was an airport job and hence security concerns. So my first boss left for a corporate job, my second was fired for running a scheme where he hired his brother and law's company to do refrigeration repairs exclusively and got cash back, my third boss was a bully douchebag and my fourth boss was never really my boss since the third one told him he "couldn't be due to seniority." This all happened within the past year. So my bully of a boss is basically a tard who inhabits the body of a normal person. He would give me and other people a list of things to do, but then forget about them and never follow up. Being IT I could differentiate between essential IT projects and dumpster fire projects that don't matter.

However my ex-boss would sometimes pick managers to hover over and criticise for extended periods of time, which is why people started to leave. Then out of nowhere he wanted to move my office to a storage room, think Milton from Office Space. He said it would be good since I would have "more room" (less) and have more "privacy" (he checked in on me constantly). So naturally what I do is apply to other jobs, use PTO to go to "appointments" (interviews) and end up getting a new job doing IT work that's a 10 min drive instead of a 45 min drive.

This asshole gets furious after I put in my 2 weeks and starts giving me nonsensical tasks like removing point of sale registers that "aren't used by anyone" (they are there for people covering cashier and bartender breaks). I straight up called our vice president and told him what shit I had to deal with, and all that ends up happening is I get a ceiling and lights in my office (PIC RELATED).

So yeah, I'm out of that place. I feel bad for my former coworkers that are still there. I hope they get out soon.

  >>109009
> my third boss was a bully douchebag
> He would give me and other people a list of things to do, but then forget about them and never follow up. Being IT I could differentiate between essential IT projects and dumpster fire projects that don't matter.

Heh.

>>109009
I had a similar boss when I worked in private computer repair for a couple weeks for a friend. My buddy ran his own small computer repair business and had been getting majorly behind, like backlogged by a week and pushing into two. I needed some money so he gave me a temp job where I knew a hard drive from a hard on.

The manager of the store was a dumbfuck who liked to micromanage every goddamn thing but only to a point. He'd give a job to somebody and for a few hours constantly badger them until he decided to give them a new job with the previous one half done. He didn't know shit about computers himself, not even the tried and true "google shit" method of computer repair, but seemed to think he knew enough to constantly offer "advice" which consisted of saying that such and such component might be broken but being unable to actually name the component, just pointed at it like a fucking toddler.

Now before this my friend was whining about how he was behind on jobs, whining that he couldn't keep employees for very long, and after my two weeks I told him straight up it was his manager. The fucker was actually his brother in law his wife badgered him into giving a job because he totally knew computers and stuff. Strangely when he shitcan the cock his business improved, like magic or something.

Between the asshole manager and shitty customers it made me remember why I got out of private computer repair in the first place.

Why I'm so glad my current boss is relatively hands off. Gives me a job and so long as I do it I never really see her. Don't even see her during the normal workday because all my work orders come through the iPhones everyone is issued, the only time she is more hands on is when her own superior is onsite. Some days I don't see anybody the entire day. I may not love my job but I certainly wouldn't want most any other.

I think a fucking Piru at Marble Manor did it. Shady ass nigga was too god damned close to my Vic when I clocked out. Apparently, not even my white ass can wear blue.

Or my tires are just old. Don't know how often they were replaced in the 100,000 miles put on the car before I bought it.

>>109014
>he couldn't keep employees for very long

Oh yea same here, before I left 2 managers resigned because of this asshole and another no-called no showed and got fired. I know one of them got an insurance related job and makes more money now. Theres also 4 managers who are definitely looking for new jobs and a few more I suspect are too but didn't tell me on my last day like the others did.

Leaving a job because of a shitty boss is sort of like the whole "vote with your wallet" or "if you pray, move your feet" ideas in a sense. And I get that some people can't find other jobs due to a number of reasons, but sucks to be them. If you aren't marketable in your field or in multiple fields then you aren't trying hard enough at life. If all you have is food and beverage management experience with no outside education then odds are you'll only work in that industry.

>>109016
There's a date code on tires, near the DOT number. They actually use the same system as microprocessors: WWYY. In pic related, this tire was made during the 6th week of 2016 (0616).

I think the climate is about the same between there and here, and down here you get about 4 years MAX before the sun burns out the plasticizers from the tires.

Oh, another thing to consider: NEVER put two different sized tires on a drive axle. That includes mixing a new tire with a worn one. What happens is, the tires rotate at different rates, and that causes the spider gears in the differential to spin constantly when they should only be rotating when the car turns.

So don't be a cheap bastard and only replace one tire. Do them in pairs if you're poor, or all four if you can.

>>109020
I got four brand new yokohamas at Discount Tire. I feel confident I got the best I could for the climate. I let the salesman know I was prepared to spend more, and he said "honestly, this is your best option for the climate."

This was like ten minutes after the plow cleared the parking lot at work, we took off pretty quick because you'd clean off the back of the car and the front would get covered again.

>>109055
Is that the normal you or do you crank the Canadian all the way up when there's a camera nearby?

>>109057
These days I kinda just do it for giggles whenever the mood strikes.

If you can't laugh at yourself, what can you truly laugh at?

When I finally churn out a video or two so I can unpaid-shill for OPchan you guys will mostly get a less satirical warpierad.

Fuck all this professional shit. I'm done. I'm fucking done. Filled out an application for a machinist apprenticeship with the local union. I'll drop it off Monday.

>>109059
>machinist
I just want to know if you understand that quite a bit of machinist stuff ends up being boring, tedious, often a little dirty/uncomfortable. The pay is "meh" to "okay", rarely does it get "good". You can end up making decent money, but it takes quite a while. My childhood friend as my age and we went through schooling around the same time, he's a smart dude and computer programming basically has him making almost double my salary.

Yes, this job has decent perks in many ways, especially if you're not huge into very socially active things, want to work nights, like machines, and so on. All things considered, it's not a bad gig. If you got any questions, feel free to ask anything you want, but keep in mind I've only worked at three shops and went to two trade schools; if there's one thing I learned it's that every shop is its world. Stuff you do every day in one could be unheard of in the other, even if you are making practically the same parts.

>>109057
It's like we have our own gun-building AVE.

>>109060
At least it's the kind of tediousness that produces something every second you're doing it. I don't even feel like I'm earning my check anymore.

>>109061
Oh fuck I'm not half as useful as that renaissance handy-man bundle of japes, joy, and wonder. I don't really see myself as a homosexual but I'd let him give me just the tip, only the tip, for a quickie or for the full two minutes. Whatever he wants~NOTICE ME AVE SEMPAI.

>>109063
True enough, even when I have days that are particularly boring monkey-work, at least I can see physical evidence of having been useful.

>>109059

Have you heard the good news of nondestructive testing?

  > water wash big ass turbine engine
> wait for cleaner-solvent to dissolve gunk from the capital wasteland
> reading wtt:csase thread

>>109059
Damn man.

> rinse engine
> restore plumbing
> vacuum up water/oil/soap
> restart engine
> check for fuel and air leaks
> work on turbine colonoscopy report while engine heats up
> take running and vibration day-ter, and lube oil sample
> shutdown engine, beat feet

Even my routine work ain't bad. A lot of my "customers" are facility operators, who are absolutely the most lazy people I've ever met. I'm pretty sure they're only dimly aware that they're alive. They're like cows: They stand (sit) around all day, eat, get fatter, and occasionally look at you because something moved in their field of vision.

Even worse are the ones who work for the government. Holy fuck.

>>109059
Back to RM. So what kind of talents do you have? Any specific aptitudes? We know about writing. Any mechanical, computer, wood working, art, webpage design, sales, marketing, fire fighting, logistics, card dealing, teaching, fighting, manipulating people?

I'm telling you, NDT is the thinking man's trade for working with metals and shit.

>>109066
You know about writing as was said (even if I never finish shit. Fuck, I need to finish something). After three years of doing what I do, I can handle most anybody. I am not very handy. I attribute this to a lack of experience, not some natural inability... Made a 2 string cigar box guitar once.

  >>109086
Hands on training is how to learn. Having someone teach you how to do shit in the flesh is 1000X better than book learning. Fucking up and making mistakes is how you learn, having someone call you a retard and shame you for those mistakes ensures you won't make them again.

Experiential education > Theoretical education

  >>109087
>Experiential education
From experienced person, mind you. You can teach a bear to ride bicycle, of course, but on the other hand, theoretical education (if it's not too late to be delivered in full) will give you much more expertise in more general area. Without knowing the basic stuff you are going to make same mistakes over and over again until someone gets hurt, it is same principle for every area of knowledge.

Specifically, it can give you the words you need to explain things to other people, or memorize them yourself, which is a very useful skill. This is how I understand it - a lot of people ask me about simplest things you can just read everywhere, again and again after every considerable intermission. I'm getting surprised somebody can have trouble memorizing them once and for all - though I probably can have some trouble by myself, but just don't mind it too much.

>>109060
To give examples. I work in a big shop for a bigger company and it's union. Pay and benefits is pretty phenomenal. Starting is 19 bux but you max out in 6 years at 42 something bux as a normal machine operator. There's a lot of other places where you can't get to 20 bux no matter how many years you put in. Starting at a little above 10 bucks is not unusual.

>>109063
Embrace the tedious days. Grab an educational book and learn something. I read a shitload when I was a mill operator making the same damn landing gear beam over and over again (24 hour run time for both sides to make one part!). The program and tool package was pretty reliable so it was just relaxing.

  Srsly tho. NDT.

>>109098
No! He's already ours.

MACHINISTS, ASSEMBLE!

>>109096
>embrace the tedious days, grab a book
Hard to do when a boring day is ~6 machines, all running different parts. Cycle time all under 15 minutes, I memorize the dimensions on all of them within an hour or else I play catch up all night.

Less boring days are 4 to 9 machines, but with a setup for a new part with an unproven program (machining a fixture, gathering tools, taking zeros). Due to the nature of the parts we usually get, I often end up rewriting portions of the code by hand. If it's mostly sensible, I'll optimize feed/speeds and prove it out.

Tonight I'm running three completely different ITAR regulated parts, one is titanium, two other are 304SS, four odd aluminum parts, one copper part, and the evening isn't too boring because one of the day shift guys brought me a Winchester 22 pump to TLC.

Man. Kind of a shitty day.

Bossman and I spent the last two weeks framing 22' tall 6" stud walls. We had that down to a science, especially since I learned how to horsecock those fuckers around.
Then we ran out of shit to do (on Thursday) and were sent to work with another crew on another part of the site today. Building soffits in hotel rooms. Boss knows how to do that, I don't. So cue about 7 hours of me flopping around trying to learn, while Boss is hollering at me, and only one room getting done. For as much as went into that room, we should have been able to do 2 or 3 in a day.

Tomorrow will be better, especially now that I have an idea of what the fuck is going on.

>>109101
So I'll be fully engaged by my productive job my entire shift? Awesome! No more sitting at a desktop, beating back the existential dread!

My exam is March 28th.

Pretty nice rifle, all things considered. The wood is pretty beat up, worst being the front grip that's cloven in twain, rest is a bit of rust. Mechanically, the functioning parts are in great shape, bore is dirty but pretty good. I cleaned most of it, rest is gonna be gentle rust removal, nothing drastic in any way. Just clean, oil, sight in.

>>109102
>horsecock
Is that a technical term?

>>109105
How is horsecock not a technical term?

He's going to regret it the first time he drills through his hand or gets metal shavings behind his eyelid.

>>109107
Most machine tools are a lot like guns. They have a dangerous end, keep trigger finger until target is confirmed, etc.

Most dangerous part of machining is not wearing safety glasses, loud compressed air whistling when blowing off parts with holes (wear earhole pluggers), some swarf can be a little sharp/pointy, and any hand tool. Seriously I've given myself retard skin signatures with hand tools and burrs more than any machine tool. None of those required stitches, so they're really not bad. If you're unlucky/dumb enough to get caught in a machine tool, regretting your career choice will be the least of your worries because a lot of mills/lathes can blender a person into spaghetti without slowing down. As long as you don't look down the barrel of a loaded gun, figuring out how not to become mixed-racer all over the walls is pretty damn easy.

RM if you can handle papercuts and one or two tweezer-removable metal needles, you'll be fine.

>>109108

I'm well aware, but I spent a few years working with machinists (and inspecting their work)... it's easy to get complacent and injure yourself. I've seen some pretty gnarly shit, especially in tech school.

I just think our racemixing friend is jumping into a new trade thinking it will fulfill him, potentially without looking at the tradeoffs.

>>109105 >>109106

Horsecock is the technical term. >>/arch/9995

Along with monkey spunk and weasel piss, for thick or thin liquid products, respectively.

RaceMixer, check this shit out.

https://www.mynextmove.org/

StrengthsFinder 2.0
https://www.amazon.com/StrengthsFinder-2-0-Tom-Rath/dp/159562015X/

And some format of the DISC assessment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (for research into careers)
https://www.bls.gov/

Meyers Briggs is the other assessment everyone does. I did the strengthsfinder thing a while ago and found it to be mostly accurate. I then went through the archetypes, read the descriptions, and picked out what I thought fit better. (Because I do what I want.)

My career/life advice is this:

1. Figure out what you've got, what your aptitudes and talents are.

2. Based on that, brainstorm what kind of work you'd be decent at.

3. Focus in on specific careers.
3a. What you would be good at.
3b. What you would be interested in.

4. Figure out how to get there. What kind of school or training you would need.

5. ???

6. Profit.

http://vault106.com/fallout-3-character-builder

  >>109108
>>109110
Yeah, lathes are fucking impressive. I've got like three lathe accident webm/mp4's somewhere, two of which are fatal. I'm as wary of spinning things as much as the end of a gun, but I would say the most dangerous part of a machine shop is when someone else doesn't care. When your senior says "ah your don't need to bother with that", that's a sign from god that you do in fact need to bother with it. Most of the people I've worked with have been pretty good about that stuff, but you eventually find someone who's opinion on safety is equivalent to murder-suicide.

As long as you can handle peer pressure and tell a more experience guy to get fucked, then things are fine.

>>109101
Man. Your work sounds hard. For the most part. We just run one at a time. That's union for you I guess. There's talk of the higher ups wanting to get multiple machines per operator though.

>>109116
It's only hard sometimes really, lathes a bit challenging because I have less experience with them. Now I'm realizing that a lot of my troubles stemmed from management trying to push lower coolant concentrations because coolant is expensive. They tend to water it down to 2%, but on lathes that's a bucket of headaches. More than you can imagine.

Supervisor knows I'm just one fucking guy, but they try to get as much done as possible. Worse than all of that is I'm making less than you, a I'm making a LOT less after US/CAN currency conversion. Welcome to Canada, I hope you brought your lube, because you won't be able to afford the maple stuff and they'll go in dry.

>>109115
15+HP spindle motors moving a foot+ in diameter chuck with chuck jaws bigger than a brick will do funny things to a guy ;)

Yeah I keep my hands to myself.

>>109016
AGAIN! Same fucking project! I could see the screw sticking out of my tire. It was in the tread though, not the sidewall, so it may just be a hell of a coincidence.

>>109115
>>109117
So, uh... Short sleeves then.

>>109120
Short sleeves, tucked in shirt, watch goes in the back pocket, any rings removed, hair trimmed short or in a bun, wraparound safety glasses at all times.

>>109121
>tucked in shirt
I'll have to change holsters.

>>109060
I'm gonna level with you, man. Your posts in these threads are usually full of jargon I don't understand, so I skip them. I'm now going back through archived work threads and reading all of your shit and watching the webms. I still don't understand much of what you say, but someday soon.

>>109122
>jargon
If you want me to explain shit, just ask.

>safety/attire
As long as the t-shirt isn't super baggy, I usually don't tuck. Tucking shit is a good way to have chips in places you'd rather not; in addition to that, keep the pants over the boots, don't tuck those in unless you want to fish out curly razor blades from your socks. I'd also recommend tall work boots, there's often shit around ankle height that can suck to bonk against, like a vise handle spigot poking out from a shelf. Obviously, shirt tucking should be at your discretion if you're on a machine that's got spinning/snagging things at waist height.

Wear nitriles when sanding shit or when lots of oil is around, none of that is good for the skin. Heavier gloves when lifting stuff that might have sharp bits (like a less-than-clean vise). Never wear gloves when operating a bench grinder or anything that could snag the glove. Having a grinder take a bite of skin isn't fun, but having a grinder inhale a couple fingers because you had work gloves is a whole other level of bad day.

>>109123
Well, for instance

>>/arch/9995
>she can fucking cold form tap a 6-48 at 4000RPM
4000RPM is the only thing I understand in that sentence.

>>109124
Cold-form tapping is making a thread in a part without cutting any material. You drill a hole that would be a little too large for a regular cutting tap, then you make the thread in the part with a strange-looking thing that's like a threaded rod with weird angles. That's a cold-form tap, and it forges the thread by pushing material out of the way. There are no chips to plug up in the hole, but the hole size and shape are important to the CFT itself, as a tapered/oval/undersized/bad finish in the hole will often break CFTs.

6-48 is a size of thread, thread pitch being 48, or 48 threads per inch. It's about the size of threads used on scope rings. A thread that relatively small is usually carefully done, to avoid breaking taps.

A machine that can rigid tap (perfectly synchronize feed and rotation of the spindle) that fast is pretty impressive. Most of the time a tapping head would be used, the tapping head allows for minor error between the spindle rotation and downward movement of the tap, but rigid tapping is done with a regular tool holder that's clamped to the spindle taper. There's no slack or give in any direction for any errors, but you can usually get a thread very close to the bottom of a hole without smashing into it because the rigid tool will always stop at the same depth, where a tapping head might engage a bit sooner or a bit later.

  This shit I why I only use hand tools, and the occasional power hammer. With hand tools the worst that will probably happen is you hit your hand with a hammer because you're a fucking retard DO NOT LEAVE CUTTING TOOLS IN YOUR HARDY, YOU WILL LOSE FINGERS Or you'll get the occasional steel chip if you bang hardened steel against hardened steel.

Power hammers are actually pretty safe, at least the newer ones. They normally have a foot lever that you can depress activating the clutch. When your foot is off the hammer is idling, with a little bit of force the hammer will make very light taps, with more force you'll get very hard taps, and if you depress it all the way the hammer will slam down and rest against the anvil at least the ones I've used

Basically, everything in a workshop wants to kill you really really badly, and if you give a machine half a chance it will take it and maim you. DON'T RUN YOUR HANDS ON PIECES STUCK IN A LATHE. DON'T TRY TO JERK OFF THE CHUCK

>>109120
Forgot to mention, the tow truck driver that picked me up apologized for the late arrival. "They knew I needed to get gas. They should've sent someone else." And then he finally came out with it; he didn't want to go into Marble Manor. Even said he feared for me seeing me leaning against my car in there.

>>109128
You may consider getting a few cameras for your car.

>>109110
I think you may be overblowing the danger a bit. Sure lots of stuff can kill you really fast, but usually only if you do something stupid. Only two people I work with are missing pieces of finger, and only one happened at work, and that was with an angle grinder with the guard removed. I think the bigger dangers are hearing damage like someone mentioned already, and feeling like your soul is being crushed. I mean, the money is pretty good, but sometimes you wonder what the point is when you're working a minimum of 48 hours a week and you only see daylight for a few hours when you get up.

>>109130

Everything's dangerous - essentially my main concern is that racemixer is committing to a new career field based on a superficial understanding. In my experience, metalworking can be awesome and also incredibly shitty, especially at lower levels. When I say tech school I'm talking about the Air Force and our structural maintenance folks - many got there only to realize they didn't really like finagling machinery and metal all day, despite their love of the idea of working with metal. Now that warplanred mentions it, most of the actual injuries like people drilling through themselves were hand tools. But I also saw a guy, and this was in the operational force, crush his pinky just bending an aluminum tube... Shit was grisly.

NDT, for me, was a great fit because I love all this metalworking stuff, but if I had to do it all day or night I would be miserable. Doing inspections put me hands-on just enough to still enjoy it, while maintaining enough of a variety of activity to keep me from hating life, since from day to day you might be using any number of different inspection methods on tons of different projects.

>>109117
2%? And it's not rusting? If we get south of 4% it tends to rust wherever it can sit and collect. I admit I often like my coolant on the lower scale (but by that I mean 7-8%) since the higher end tends to get bubbly. You really need the cooling on ti as well.

>>109121
Yeah, I don't tuck in either. But again, I don't wear super loose shirts. Not hipster tight or anything. The danger here is from the lead screw or the feed shafts on a lathe.

To expand, on the gloves shit, the general rule of thumb is, hands near spinny moving shit, no gloves. Or anything for that matter. Don't try and get smart and hold your lathe cutter in a rag as you grind it cause it gets hot. First of all, don't let it get that hot, and second of all, it can inhale the rag and your hand all in one go, rip off a finger or two, and knock your head again't the motor or guard all in one go.

Any self respecting school will teach you that safety stuff thoroughly, and if your shop is run by businessmen who know what they're doing, they won't tolerate unsafe behavior. Safety engineering is improving by the day as well, and some stuff can be retrofit into older machines as well. Instead of this: http://www.dieselduck.info/historical/01%20diesel%20engine/Doxford/works.htm

where dudes are all up in that shut most machinist/machine operators in a modern shop are standing outside the work area with a metal and bulletproof glass enclosed box completely sealing off the work envelope with a miniature firehose of coolant going off in there. Or if you are working at my shop, the dude is sitting with a book and his feet up.

>>109134
>2% no rust
We use this weird Cimcool shit, it doesn't rust or smell, but it'll eat almost any plastic known to man. All the machine lights are covered in good thick hard plastic, they've all cracked to bits even if they've never been physically touched. We replaced them with glass, as new plastic ones crack in less than a month.

>gloves
I worked in this small shop for a bit, the boss told me to wear gloves while I was grinding a 2" diameter HSS drill. I looked at him really funny because the grinder was the biggest I've seen/used, a bit bigger than pic related.

Also, general safety thing, a ballcap is great in the shop.

>>109131
> my main concern is that racemixer is committing to a new career field based on a superficial understanding.
Well there we can certainly agree.

>>109148
He truly is thick headed and insists on learning the hard way.

>>109149

You should get in IRC and compare life goals and career plans with gerry

>>109150
But nobody is ever on there anymore.

>>109165
In #/k/?

Ho, yeah, it's pretty lively. Just as active as i remember it being in 2012, if not more.

#operatorchan, however, hasn't had anything said in it for days.

>>109167
Right...how do I get to /k/? I type in "#/k/" as the channel on mibbit and get nowhere, but when there's a link for it somewhere, it works fine.

>>109169
never mind.

>>109167
>#operatorchan, however, hasn't had anything said in it for days.

Everyone that's in #operatorchan is also in #/k/, so not a lot of chatting going on in the smaller channel.

Working an office job in operations (mfg eng) for a government contractor can seriously get painful sometimes.

>anon, customer won't give us blanket permission to use customer owned tools between programs, they want a list of individual tools.
>okay here ya go.

>2 months later, hey anon, can you give me that list again? Customer still won't give us blanket permission
>um. Okay.

>2 months later, hardware is stopped because no permissions to use customer owned tools.
>anon, customer still won't give blanket permission, please send that list again?
>suuuuuuuurrrreeee thhhiiiiinnnngggg

Seeing how gov. contracts work is like seeing sausage being made. I'm usually stunned any of our products work, and how rough government hardware can be compared to basic commercial goods.

>>109225

It's a different world.

>>109103
I think I got about a B. I'll know when my interview is in a couple weeks.

>>109225
How have you not burned the building down by now? I couldn't deal with that.

>>108905
Another meeting with the aforementioned gentleman today. A newborn baby was killed last night in a gang related shooting. Metro is expecting retaliation ("We can pretty much guarantee it" -Metro Police Captain), and those gangs involved are entrenched in our properties, so we've been told to keep eyes open.

Our Koran reading friend remarked "I have not heard one word on this from Black Lives Matter. I'm about to call [prominent local BLM activist] and tell him that he is a hypocrite."

>>109286
Because NASA is the contractor, and the business is a hard one to enter. I'm pretty young and somehow stumbled into where I am and have a stable opportunity, just the beuracracy is nuts.

*NASA contracted us* rather

I really need to get my head in the game. I've already mentally checked out of my current job. I can waste an entire day doing very little quite easily. While I am working on something else, it is far from a given, and I need to start taking things seriously, but I am having a very hard time giving a shit.

4th time in a rolling month that I've called roadside assistance for my car. Hit a curb on a turn and blew out a tire.
>"And what appears to be the problem?"
>"A witch has put a hex on my car."
The tow truck driver was an Iraqi fellow. We had an amusing conversation badmouthing Saudi Arabia and wishing ill health upon its king.

> repair of turbine engine
> help repair team pull the ass end off the engine
> get to see things in real life instead of through borescope
> borescope kinda like a microscope
> GIGANTIC MASSIVE DAMAGE actually only 4 mm in size

Oh.

Like the opposite of pic related.

Careful around those engines.

Back in 2006, a mechanic standing next to a Boeing 737 at El Paso Airport in Texas was sucked into the engine of it and killed, it has been confirmed.

Roland Herwig, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Authority stated that ‘Continental Airlines Flight 1515 was preparing to take off for Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston when a maintenance-related engine run-up of the right-hand engine was carried out and someone on the ground was sucked into the engine.’ He also confirmed that this wasn’t the first time that something like this had happened, although it didn’t happen very often, which isn’t exactly that reassuring.

There were 114 passengers on the plane at the time and five crew members. I hope they managed to clean up all this mess before they got them to disembark (or deplane as they say in America) because I think I would be fairly traumatised if my flight got cancelled and I had to walk through see all this in the flesh. I mean it’s pretty traumatising just seeing it anyway and knowing that stuff like this happens in airports that are supposed to be safe and state of the art and developed, even if it doesn’t happen very often. http://www.sickchirpse.com/man-sucked-into-jet-plane-engine/

Saved money on the casket. Probably just needed a shoe box.

Now, there is a trend to use robots to inspect the fronts of running jet engines at the airport.
- Air-Cobot, one of several technologies integrated into the Hangar of the Future, is a collaborative robot that automates visual inspection procedures. During aircraft inspections, Air-Cobot performs a thorough diagnosis in any weather or light conditions.

And use really small robots for closer inspections.
http://inspection-robotics.com/brief-portrait-of-inspection-robotics/

>>109384
Yeah, turns out turbine engines use A FUCKING SHITTON OF AIR.

Imagine like 50 big ass K&N filters...

> doin' inspections
> engine intake <--- silencer <--- air filters <--- duct <--- atmosphere
> 8ft square duct has a man-door
> the filters are solid so there's no possible way to get sucked in
> try the handle, vacuumed shut
> try harder, crack door open, negative pressure relieves and door opens
> WWWWWOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHHHHH
> hold door open and peek in
> air rushing past feels like driving on the freeway Ace Ventura style
> filters look gud

Danger zone!

>>109389
I always thought how EAPS work was cool

>>109233
Scored a 90%. Interview is in a couple weeks.

We don't sing for birthdays at my restaurant, we scream them. The louder the better. And gentlemen, I stand the loudest. I make people jump on the other side on the restaurant. I sound like Ivan Moody was a drill instructor. I actually made a drill instructor think I was a former drill instructor, that made me feel proud.

I had a guy who was brought there because he didn't know what we did for birthdays. I screamed 4 birthdays while he was there.

"AAAAAAAATTENTION *STEAKHOUSE*! I GOT LOVELY GUEST SITTING MY SADDLE TODAY, THEIR NAME IS X AND THEY'RE TURNING Y, GIVE THEM A ROUND OF APPLAUSE! ON THE COUNT OF THREE I WANT YOU TO GIVE THEM THE BIGGEST TEXAS SIZED YEEHAW YOU CAN MUSTER UP!" and so on.

By the time I brought the saddle over to him for his birthday, he looked so terrified. So I cranked it up to 11 for him, he didn't expect it.

I loved getting tipped more for embarassing the fuck out of people. And honestly, the way they do birthdays here has done wonders for my social anxiety.

By the way, black people live for this shit. Nobody enjoys hokey family restaurant shit more and they're the most interactive with everything we do, I fucking love my black patrons.

So I may have an in into the film industry, quite a few different options.

This may be a huge opportunity because special make up FX and cinematography was my first serious career choice that I put a lot of time and effort studying and learning about. It may be worth picking back up.

Do you know how to make those giant prosthetic niggercocks they use in porn?

Lei, I have a question for you that might be a little OPSEC so email in the field.

>>109419
k

Met a Vietnam combat vet after work today. Fascinating guy. He showed me his cool Harley collection. He can't ride in his current condition sadly. He rides around on a little electric scooter. He told me about being in the army and the two or three other careers he's had. He had to stop talking every now and then when the pain in his neck would be too much. It's probably on account of me hitting him with my car. Told him to let me know what it'd cost to fix the scooter. I'll pick up the tab for any out-of-pocket medical costs as well if any.

>>109408
...yes...

>>109429
Well, that's one way to meet people.

>>109433
He texted me and told me to come see him today. He'd apparently been very ill last night and this morning. I drop what I'm doing (fucking around on OPchan), and immediately head over. I get to his complex's clubhouse as he instructed me, and he has me take a seat. He's just ordered food. I think I'm whisking him away to fucking urgent care, and I find myself sitting and listening to him talk as he eats a burger. When I finally ask him "what am I doing here?" He tells me I'm "providing moral support."

I don't know about this guy, man. He very well could be what he claims, but for every soldier that is actually green beret, there's 10 guys that claim that's what they are. Other things too.

I am right the fuck out of vacation time. What little I've accrued, I've used. I'll take unpaid leave to get this fucker looked at, but I asked about arranging transportation for himself, a common service often covered by medical insurance. He said:
>"I'm 100% disabled due to combat in the Republic of Vietnam. I don't really have insurance. They're just supposed to take care of whatever I need, so the usual phone numbers for that sort of thing doesn't work."
>"Do you know who to call?"
>"I'm not sure. It'll come back to me."
Maybe that makes sense to one of you vets. It doesn't to me.

There's other little things. He's an Italian guy. Born in Rome in fact.
>His first and last name might as well be Waspy Nordicson.
He knows some mobsters in Chicago.
>He's from Buffalo.
He has "top secret crypto clearance", still current.
>Is that a thing?

  >>109469

Honestly sounds like he's enjoying having something over you that he can leverage for attention.

>can't get normal medical services because VA

Plausible.

>Italian with WASP name
>"I know the mob"
>western NY

He's channeling the dumb fucks who unironically live in Buffalo/Niagara Falls/other rusty bullshit town even though there are no jobs and the city is literally crumbling but they stay and reminisce about their early adulthood doing hood rat shit and getting beat by their psychotic italian grandmother and eating meatballs and garlic bread.

Good luck discerning what is true out of that yarn. From experience, WNY geriatrics realize their lives were disappointing and boring but still need you to pay attention to them so they will lie. After they successfully gain your sympathy they'll ask for a ride to the casino and some money.

>current security clearance

No, expiration is built into the system and hinges on a need to know for current work. Unless he was doing some consulting within the past 10 years he doesn't even have an inactive clearance.

Vid related probably his favorite song.

>>109471
Another one that was mentioned offhand yesterday.
He was friends with casino mogul Sam Boyd back in the day. Locals here love Boyd Gaming; he innovated the so-called "locals' casino." When my guy moved into his current place, the HOA didn't allow trailers anywhere on the property. He parked it at nearby Sam's Town. His buddy Sam said he could keep it there as long as he wants. It's just a minor thing that came up in conversation. Real estate websites tell me that his house was built in 2007.

Wikipedia says Sam Boyd died in '93.

>Honestly sounds like he's enjoying having something over you
It's more than that. It's needier. I think he is a very lonely old man starved for attention. He made it difficult for me to leave yesterday. Kept tugging at my sleeve and saying "we're friends" and "my friend."

>>109474
Fuck. You've got to be more careful about who you run over.

>>108836
An oldie but goodie. I was at a customer site working with/for another contractor. He's a smooth talking player from New York. (Maybe, possibly, I don't know.)

> wrapping things up
> Contractor guy: Alright, do you guys need anything else?
> Me: Yeah, do you have any life advice?
> Contractor guy: What?
> Me: General life advice. Any tips you've got.
> he thinks for a second...
> Contractor guy: Never get married, never have kids, and tip the strippers five dollar bills.

>>109474

Right that's what I think he's happy about - he has something that obligates you to pay attention to him

  >>109477
>>109474
>>109469
>lonely old men

RCR goes into it during this video here

>>108836
A couple of weeks ago I was in my office (truck) doing paperwork when I got a call from one of my customers.

> Customer: Hey Avgas! Hey we just got this field tool shipped to site. It looks like a really complicated and expensive piece. I wonder if you know anything about it?
> Me: Oh hey, uh well, no I didn't order anything for the site. Any description on the box?
> Customer: Just the Tool Number 12345. It looks really expensive and complicated. Also, how do you like your eggs? Over easy? Scrambled?
> Me: What? Uh well, I'd have to look up the tool number. Can you send me a picture of the tool?

The customer is cracking up at this point. He sends me pic related. With a Igloo cooler, torch, and some other accessories in a wooden crate.

> Me: Oh jeez. Actually that stuff is for installing interference fit parts. Dry ice one thing and torch the other.
> Customer: Man, we could have gone down to tractor supply and got all of this.
> Me: Yeah, but we ship a lot of stuff to Africa and other BFE locations. I don't know why you guys got this... So yeah I'll bring the eggs and bacon next time.

>>109474
I confronted him today. Despite all of the extraordinary shit he's said, the only lie I can confirm is the Sam Boyd shit. As he was talking about his service as a Green Beret (He was on a secret op, an incursion into North Vietnam with the goal of assassinating Ho Chi Minh), and I mentioned off hand that being a draftee turned commissioned officer and all of the training he had and the numerous deployments, "You must have a hell of a DD214." A pause.
>"You know, civilians don't get that a DD214 isn't the end all of military records."
God fucking dammit.
>"It wouldn't mention secret ops you were on."
"Of course. That's expected. But it would say you were Army Special Forces."
>"You know, my form DA-[some number I can't remember] went into way more detail. I had it framed on my wall." He proceeded to tell me it was stolen years back when burglars cleaned out his house. Figures. I poked at the trailer story. Well, after he turned Sam's offer down, an aquaintance of his, a Korean war vet ("really, he was a desk clerk. Not a combat man," followed by a dismissive snort), let him keep it on his property which he thought safer than keeping it on the lot at Sam's Town. It ended up getting stolen anyway. "I bet you wish you'd taken up old Sam's offer."
>"Yeah."

At that point, I just let loose. I started with Sam Boyd dying two decades before his reported conversation with the man and went down the list from there. His claim to be personal friends with the number one American Kung Fu Grand Master, the recognized best sushi chef in the world, and Carroll Shelby who he was such good friends with, Shelby gifted him a limited run Ford Cobra. He remained placid, came up with answers, never showed he was upset, (though he did tell me I'd hurt him), and the longer it went on, the worse I felt. The fuck was I doing? I regretted calling him out. Don't get me wrong; he's full of shit. But it didn't fucking matter. He wasn't running for office or taking advantage of someone. He's a lonely old man who met me by coincidence, clung to me, and tried to impress me. I backpeddaled. "I don't know, man. I guess I'm not a trusting person. Just let me know when you get your appointment scheduled, okay? We have to get you taken care of."

He followed me out to my car. When he said "I think we can still be friends." I felt like I'd kicked a puppy.
"I think so, man. I think so."

>>109496
>crushing an old man's spirit because he told you a few tall tales to make try to impress you

>>109500

Don't encourage liars.

>>109501
Don't pay heed to a shitpost.

>>109496
I've met a few shit talkers in my day but that guy takes the cake. Most shit talkers I've known talk about local people they know, how they know all the judges or got a buddy police officer or know so and so who owns such and such. Maybe spin a tale bout how they know someone famous or did something famous.

Be it small lies or big ones they are still lies. Someone who is willing to lie to you, who believes you are so vain that shit impresses you or so stupid you'd believe it. I mean for fucks sake I'm pretty goddamn dense at times but even I know someone is making up some shit when they say they met Elvis when they aren't even old enough to have been alive when Elvis was. You're a pretty smart dude I bet but even if you were flipping retard you'd know there is no way this dude could have met someone years after they died.

Yeah it sucks the guy is craving attention and I sympathize with that need being a no life loser with most of my interesting stories being of a scatological nature but if someone doesn't have the respect to tell you the truth or atleast a minorly embellished version then you really shouldn't give them the time.

Though I'll admit I'm a bit of a cunt when it comes to interpersonal interactions and don't objectively see the point of humoring someone spinning tall tales. You have a bit more of a heart then I so perhaps you will overlook his tendency to live in some Green Beret mob and business connected fantasy land and give him some company. Not really a bad thing as long as you aren't letting him take advantage of you but personally I wouldn't do it.

Pic somewhat related. If your guy ain't going around wearing a bunch of random ass medals on some random bits of uniform and claiming its all real (I have wore random ass medals on random bits of uniform personally but never claimed it was anything other then for my own enjoyment or to piss off people who get their bollocks in a vice over that shit) then he should atleast be tolerable. Nothing worse then some 400 pound fatty claiming to be special forces or some pimply faced teen claiming they fought in wars or battles they might have been in elementary school when they occurred.

>>109506
> but even I know someone is making up some shit when they say they met Elvis...

I used to work with Elvis. The guy was the nicest shitshow you've ever met. Like no dexterity whatsoever, but hilarious to hang out with.

That is Elvis my coworker from Africa, not the entertainer. He was actually some kind of prince. Had an Audi R8 and shit. (Though no one actually saw any of his fancy cars...)

Is that more or less believable?

>>109507
I'd actually believe he was Elvis the Entertainer given some reverse Micheal Jackson surgery then some African prince.

Seems like every African immigrant is some sort of prince or princess just like everyone from England is a part of the Royal family, every German's family fought against the Nazis during dubya dubya two, every Russian is a descendant of Catherine the Great (this one would be far more plausible if she was a dude considering how much of a whore she was) and every fatass neckbeard has a Canadian girlfriend who is a supermodel.

My thing was always to say I'm not from WV despite being born and mostly raised here. I could totally sell that shit too considering my accent is utterly fucking bonkers. I get someone atleast once a month asking where I'm from with some trying to guess and having such guess as California, New York, Massachusetts, Canada, and once even the UK (which to be fair was around the time I was super big into Doctor Who so some of the accent might have rubbed off on me subconsciously).

My favorite place to say I'm from? Africa. Confuses the fuck out of people being that I'm so pasty white and people are so dumb they think Africa is nothing but Redguards and yes I got the idea to say I'm from Africa from Mean Girls.

>>109506
>as long as you aren't letting him take advantage of you
That's the tricky thing, man. If this was just some old geezer I'm keeping company, who cares? But it's some old geezer I hit with my fucking car. I want to fix his scooter and I'll cover any out of pocket medical costs (still hasn't seen a doctor) because that's the right thing to do, but the fucker could really stick it to me if he wanted to.

I know he's got some kind of military service because he's insistent on going to the VA clinic (which is why shit is taking so long). If I had to guess, he probably got drafted in the 60s, ended up in infantry or some shitty MOS, saw 'nam once or twice, had a rough time doing grunt shit, probably got shot at, might've shot back, then got back to the world feeling like what he'd done wasn't enough.

On a more job related note, the closer I get to my apprenticeship interview, the more unbearable my current job gets. I want to get the fuck out of there. It's to the point that my wife is fighting with me to not just quit outright.

Work talk.

There was a big reorganization, merging the program I support into a new beast along with a few other programs that used to be sort of independent but have roughly... and I mean very roughly related missions. In real terms their missions are completely unrelated but happen to touch on some of the same populations sometimes. It was a transparent move to create a new SES position. But whatever.

So, I'm responsible for our primary IT tool, a database/web interface that allows the entire staff to do their jobs, document it, and report on it. It's evolved from a recordkeeping application into something that sends automagic emails, performs validation, etc etc over basically a decade of feature creep. Now it is essential to daily operations, as in if the staff can't access it, no work can really be done. I'm sure if it disappeared they could find a new way forward, but there would be a lot of down time while new procedures were established.

Anyway, this database resides on servers belonging to Network A, which also provides all our desktop support, interwebs access, helpdesk services, general IT shit.

Now, there is an enterprise-wide push to put everyone on random networks onto Network B. Someone decided that this reorg was a perfect opportunity to force us to move to Network B at the same time as physically moving offices to sit with our new amalgamated program office.

Sounds great, right? Except they didn't tell Network B that they would need to host our database and website... when they found out they said they would need a few months to sort out all the requirements. But we need to move right now! Ok, well then we can't host your shit.

Now, Network A and B don't play nice with one another. You can't access resources on one from the other... so if our computers and interweb are coming from Network B, there is no chance of reaching our essential workflow tool on Network A servers, in their present configuration.

I brainstormed with the application developers and we came up with some options:

1. Don't move networks until we can move hosted resources? - rejected, move has to happen right now, no waiting.

2. Ask Network A if they can whitelist some connections from Network B so we can use our shit - rejected, muh security!

3. Make our resources on Network A public-facing so we can get to them from everywhere and hope our authentication is good enough to keep the chinese from hacking us - not rejected outright - possible!

Our new program leadership counter-proposed some ideas:

1. Each person will have two computers on their desk, one connected to Network A and one connected to Network B.... wtf

2. Set up some VPN scheme so you have a Network B computer but only use it to VPN into Network A to do all your work... wtf

3. Leave some users on Network A and everyone can just tell them what they need updated in the database via email... wtf

Needless to say, this was kicked around amongst higher ups with no idea wtf they were talking about for all of the time we had to prepare for the move, so all the work to implement our 3rd idea had to be done in the last 2 days. Let me tell you this was a giant clusterfuck. I am usually very diplomatic, but I think I hurt some feelings on this one and likely burned some bridges.

Network B tech monkeys are now working over the weekend to get all the shit wired up, we'll see if it worked on Monday.

Anyway, the first big shakeup of the administration was a total clusterfuck, but at least I get a cube with a window out of the deal.

pic unrelated.

>>109515
> 1. Each person will have two computers on their desk, one connected to Network A and one connected to Network B.... wtf

> 3. Leave some users on Network A and everyone can just tell them what they need updated in the database via email... wtf

I really like these ideas.

>>109544

With a straight face I had to tell a guy whose job title includes the words "director" and "information technology" that those options likely would result in significant mission degradation.

>>109515

I see you've met Mordac?

  >>109584
Probably one of the best things about my company is a lack of that. It's pretty much a company entirely of engineers and skilled labor. (And the requisite admin and support people.)

We had a plant manager get sacked, suddenly, and rather quietly. We figured it was either he had some kind of business fuckup or he was doing the secretary. He was a pretty straight shooter, so we all ruled out the business fuckup. (It's too bad, he was a great manager.)

Within my business unit, my bosses, pretty much up the whole chain, used to do my job. People either go into management because they're good at it, or bad at technical work.

>>108836
> big job this week, R&R (remove and replace) engine
> started Sunday (double time)
> got a pay raise!
> good crew + a trainee
> 90's resurrection weekend on the rock station
> DESPITE ALL MY RAGE I'M STILL JUST A RAT IN A CAGE!!!!
> fuck yeah

> turbine is on the 2nd floor the utility plant, like 50 feet up
> elevator broke (it's fucking scary anyway)
> carry all our shit up stairs
> tools, hydraulic high torque wrench with all the sockets and accessories
> spent all day breaking loose turbine to generator coupling bolts
> 1 3/8" shank bolts with self locking nuts, torqued to 1400 ft/lbs
> use hydraulic wrench thing to bust them loose
> rotates like 1/16 a turn each pump
> takes for fucking ever
> got like 8 out of 24 nuts done and the oil pump removed
> oil everywhere
> other guys get turbine mostly disconnected
> jet fuel everywhere

> monday
> remove oil pressure regulator and relief valve
> oil everywhere
> use a couple of adapters to use a 3/4" drive ratchet with the 2 3/16" socket
> break nuts loose with hydraulic wrench, use ratchet to remove nuts
> fighting the self locking nuts the whole way
> up and down the stairs, bathroom on the 1st floor
> waste oil container in the dungeon
> Afghani food for lunch (fuck yeah)
> get all the nuts removed (pretty solid where it is)
> wrap up for the day
> fucking beat

Our pastime is arguing about pointless shit. One guys suggested making a work out gym where you torque bolts and carry shit up and down stairs all day. Then you can have the turbine tech body: Beefy legs, a ripped back, rock hard triceps, and a beer gut. You too can look like Ahnold... from behind...

  The hydraulic wrench is pretty badass. They're kinda dangerous since they will crush the fuck of your hand if you leave it between the wrench and the reaction area.

>>109594
Your company sounds pretty well put together. How do you feel at the end of a shift? Obviously tired, but where's your head?

>>109394

Interview was today. They have no idea how long it will take me to get picked up, they cannot tell me my number on the list, and they say explicitly not to call them. To make it even better, once my name does get pulled, I've got 48 hours to quit my job and be ready to roll. So there goes the light at the end of the tunnel. Got a pair of good work boots, partly so I can be ready but mostly wishful thinking. I went back to the office afterward and did nothing. Not a god damn thing. I want very, very deeply to quit my job. I am under great pressure to stay because of the wife and child and everything.

I almost checked myself in today. I might give my sister-in-law my guns to hold onto for awhile.

>>109595
>Time to calibrate various insecticide granules being put through the small seed attachment on a planter, for some trial work.
>Expecting hours of humping a wheel, as that's what often drives the machinery.
>Planter actually has an attachment point for a calibration lever. (See arrow in picture)
>Even better, experienced guy who has worked with these particular planters before brings along a hydraulic drive that fits said point and connects right to the tractor.

Aside from having to deal with insecticide, it was actually a lovely day. I will alway appreciate how effortless hydraulics can makes things. This also includes horrific injury.

>Getting some gas-powered air compressors and generators going for Boss to sell off
>Gennys run fine
>all compressors run great after some minor dicking
>2/4 develop pinhole leaks in the tanks when I'm standing right next to them
>spooked

On the way out this morning the scrapper guy I work with sometimes stops in front of me when I'm pulling out the gate:
>"Hey I got this air compressor I want you to take a look at."
"Electric or gas?"
>"Gas. Honda engine. It don't idle down when it's done pumping"
Just like all the others I been working on.

What happens is, the unloader valve (also called a genie valve) gets a little sticky after sitting for a while. When the tanks get to 120psi or whatever the cutoff pressure is, it opens a valve in the compressor head so's it isn't pumping air into the tank.
It also puts pressure on a tiny air piston that operates a cable or rod, which is hooked to the engine's governor rod. That lets the engine drop down to ~1500rpm or so, using less fuel while letting everything cool off.

Oh and then on Saturday I ran into an old friend. He sent me along with a chinky-dinky winch controller with an blown chinky-dinky relay box (it's getting Ford starter relays) and wants me to tear into an air-cooled VW engine on Friday.

werk werk

  Excavator fail / win compilation unrelated...

> today
> working on the back of the engine
> turk-bro working in middle
> other guys up front

> front guy 1 yells to get my attention
> front guy 2 talks to him quietly for a bit
> me: What? You talkin' shit up there? (joking)
> turk-bro: Yeah what the fuck? If you're talking shit, fuck you! If not, don't worry about it.
> me: Yeah fuck you guys!
> turk-bro's phone rings, supervisor
> apparently he butt-dialed the sup
> turk-bro: Hey [boss], oh shit did you hear me cussing at [the front guys]?
> ....
> turk-bro: Nothing nothing, we're just bored and talking shit
> turk-bro and boss talk about butt-dialing people and mis-texting for a bit

> front guy 1 later remembers what he was going to ask me
> FG1: Hey, do your knees ever just start hurting randomly?
> me: Yeah when we have to climb up and down so fucking much.

> later

> Me: Wait, are you calling me old, you fucker?
> FG2: Damn that took you long enough to realize that.

> somehow being old enough to have used DOS makes you old...

>>109604
> How do you feel at the end of a shift? Obviously tired, but where's your head?

Generally, breddy gud. I'm kind of the opposite of an anxious person; I don't really stress about shit. (Or really have strong emotions, actually.) Traffic is usually pretty shitty so I listen to podcasts about science or whatever from the BBC. I pretty much check out mentally after work, unless I've got some planning to do. My customers are, for the most part decent and our jobs are pretty routine. This week/month in particular is just super heavy. For our Fall 2015 maintenance season I worked a shitton and kinda melted down, which I discussed in a prev Work Talk thread. That was also my first year in the field, which had a lot to do with it.

> spaces out and picks at new-skin glue covering 3 inch long but shallow cut on arm for 5 mins...

I would have responded sooner, but we've been working a shitload. We started Sunday and I worked a 40 hour week by Wednesday at lunch time. Currently at 73.5 hours and I'm still working tomorrow, then flying out Sunday to Tex-ass for training.

The previous week, my job canceled so I worked like 5 hours and sat at home and played Battlefield and Fallout.

The previous week to that was like 50-60 hours. Spring and Fall are my busy seasons, since all the customers want heat and power during the Winter and Summer.

> pick pick pick

I've been zombie tired all this week by about 5pm. Which really sucks when you're using the hydraulic torque wrench I previously mentioned. We've had to yell at one guy twice for trying to talk to us while we're concentrating on not getting our fingers smashed.

> I really need a shower...

The good news got a raise and promotion (with another raise). My boss didn't even have any gripes. He is pushing me toward planning for future career moves. I dunno if cubical life is for me. How am I supposed to refer to a fuel strainer looking like a "Burnt asshole" when human resources is in the same building?

Friday is my last day. I have nothing lined up.

>>109663
COME TO ARIZONA

Similar climate (except more rain)
A network of shitbirds (Cable, lolnoguns, soiv, caseless, me)
Cheapish housing
Jerbs

Oh man. Something just dredged up this memory:

>Doing demo at pissican factory (>>>/arch/10479)
>Site is surrounded by plastic sheeting because customer doesn't want drywall dust everywhere
>GC requires spotless area at the end of the day
>Using a shopvac to pick up lines of dust the scoop shovel won't pick up
>Shopvac has no filter
>Big cloud of dust in this 20*10' plastic bubble
>lol whatever, I have a dust mask
>BEEP BEEP BEEP
>BEEP BEEP BEEP
>wtf is that, boss?
>I think that's the fire alarm, IHC
>Poke head out of bubble
>Everyone's leaving
>Yeah, that's the fire alarm, boss.
>Go outside and have a smoke while waiting for the FD to show up
>FD shows up and does their shit
>someone forgot to move the smoke detector in our little plastic bubble
>kek softly for the rest of the day

> be in Texass for advanced electrical training
> disassembling a stack of diodes and transistors that handle thousands of amps
> a stack of these things looks like a warp core
> mfw

I heard about a new thing: Fidget spinners. Apparently they're being banned in schools. From CNN:

> A fidget spinner is considered to be a type of fidget toy; a low profile, handheld device that people can, well, fidget with without making a big scene.
> The little devices were originally designed to help students with attention disorders like ADD -- expert say having something to occupy their hands may help improve concentration. However, the spinners caught on with the general population, and now come in every color and finish imaginable, with add-ons and doo-hickeys galore.

> How does it help kids with ADHD?
> "Promoting fidgeting is a common method for managing attention regulation,"
> If you've ever watched people tap pencils, twist pieces of paper or even doodle in meetings, you've seen the power of fidgeting in action.

And that's when I realized my coworkers and I are just highly skilled special-needs children adults.

> Playing with coins in pocket: check
> Starting another sentence before finishing the first: check
> Daydreaming during meetings: check
> Squirrel!

I'm really thinking about buying enough for everyone and giving them out at the next company meeting.

>>109690
I think some of the people saying ADHD or autism over people fidgeting is just board motherfuckers finding something to do with their hands. I mean its like the difference between a classroom where everyone is engaged and a classroom where everyone is bored. Of course the bored shits aren't going to be twiddling their thumbs and fucking around, sitting there staring off into space is not for everyone.

Anyway on topic, anybody ever get the feeling that your work/boss does shit sometimes just to fuck with you? I got that feeling recently.

Considering I'm a relatively strong strapping young lad most physical labor is done by me. Making some 60 year old granny cart in boxes of books probably not the best thing. So usually someone has some meeting in the library I'm the one setting shit up unless the fucks bring their own people. I don't mind though, at most its usually putting out chairs and setting up tables, maybe dragging some collapsible podium type deal. No big deal.

The recent meeting really pissed me right the fuck off. It was for some local youth group meeting of some shit with like parents and kids getting together to get some asshole to talk to them, for all I fucking know its an incest convention, don't know and don't really care.

What I do care about is I've got to set up in the extra big meeting room putting down around 50 chairs, several tables, the podium, plus put up posters and stands for I guess brochures. That on top of my normal duties.

Now what was SUPPOSED to happen was one of the other branches workers was supposed to come in and give a hand while one of the kids of the event organizers was too. The branch worker was a no show and the kid, some fucking teen, was glued in his iPad given to him by the school system and couldn't be arsed to follow simple directions.

Its fine, all fine. I'd just throw on my headphone and robot that shit, completely blank my mind and get the shit done even though it hurts like a bitch the next day. So its fine......or it would be if I could have gotten to work for more then a few minutes.

The fucktard organizer kept stopping me to go do this or go do that, all the while her fucking kid is sitting there in the one chair he sat up, plus I kept getting called to help with computer problems down in the main lobby because some moron downloaded some game from a website of ill repute and it was making the computer spaz out. Because apparently someone can't unplug a computer from the network and run a virus scan without me or just replace the bitch. Which I had to end up doing as I kept having to run off and somebody else fucked with the computer completely crashing it.

Its really hard to get in a work groove when you are pulled in several directions at once, its fucking hard to accomplish any fucking thing.

I got a little pissed and told my boss that this shit was bullshit (in much better words) and I ain't doing it again. I don't even know if its legal for me to be doing all that fucking backbreaking labor alone.

My boss promised me they will hire a part time library assistant to assist me. A library assistant's assistant. I ain't holding my breath though, another branch has had a similar vacancy for months. The last part timer that was on quit after a year because they kept fucking with his hours, really hard for him to do his college work because of that.

Still if it actually happens maybe I won't have to interact with ANYBODY during my day except the few co-workers who come to my dungeon for whatever. I'd be downright giddy not having anyone asking me any questions or anything. Maybe give them the literal shitjobs. Really abuse the little bit of power I'm given.

But whatever, tomorrow I gotta see what some idiot managed to scramble on the fucking computer. I'm only supposed to be doing basic computing according to my job description, not doing IT work. But again, don't mind.......just as long as fuckers let me do my damn job.

Also why the fuck are people still playing Runescape anyway? Motherfuckers were playing that shit back in the day well over a decade ago when I was going to the library as a patron and still today it seems like atleast a 3rd of the computers some asshole is playing that shit. I don't mind really except when they try to download a client from some random ass probably Russian scam site promising some special version of the game.

>>109690
>Fidget spinners.
Learned about these today from a teacher friend.
She says she is allowing them for now as long as her students use them to help them focus on a task at hand. I also realized that a coworker 3d-printed one for his desk; never figured out what it was before.

>work 14 hour day in new boots
>lotsa bullshit, long day
>get home, shower, prop feet up and fire up the Youtubes
>hear Mexicans argue outside apartment
>casually point gun behind me while not taking eyes off screen
I'm ready to go, fuckers.

I move in 2 weeks, to a better neighborhood with a backyard and garage and good friends as roommates. I'll give you all an update soon.

>>109709

In case you've ever wondered what happens when you try and a lift a ~3000 pound part clamped to an angle plate with 3/4-10s using a tool in the spindle of your horizontal mill, it's this.

>>/arch/10840

Once again. Only postponed till tomorrow though.

> drive home
> stop at gas station around 1000
> homeless guy passed out on the sidewalk
> don't see his chest moving
> whatevs
> decide he was just sleeping
> fuel up and leave

>>109721
That probably made a bit of a snap I bet.

I remember the machine didn't even alarm out on this particular "oops", Okuma STRONK.

I recently had to quit my job working for a call center that handled blue cross blue shield of Arkansas.

After some dumb fucking choices by the company they decided to put me on a team with a dumb fucking hillbilly who threatened to knock me the fuck out a couple of times. Shit was reported to my OM, to HR, and to the site manager. I told said supervisor if he wanted to we could go outside and settle it like men.

Instead he decided that trying to write me up for every little thing was a better approach. It would not have bugged me if he only treated me this way. Instead he was threatening physical violence on little old 50+ year old ladies. Who have all gone to the appropriate channels to file formal complaints. Nothing got done.

They didnt pay me enough to do all the work he gave me (his work), deal with his shit, and keep up with my normal work load. So I basically chunked the deuce and left. I then posted on our employee voice (kind of like a facebook thing) and that post goes straight to the CEO of the company.

I also sent that email explaining how he is a piece of shit, and keeping him around is making people quit/want to quit to blue cross blue shield as well.

And since I quit last week another three or four agents have quit and another three or four are about to. Mind you my line of business only has like 15 people. So they are fucked, especially without me because I was the only one left who know anything about the product. But good riddance.

However I saved up enough money to spend the next 3 months stay at home dadding and working out so I can enlist and ship to basic by october at the latest.

So to those of you I owe money, I do apologize you havent been paid in a timely manner. However I will be repaying yall with interest in the very near future.

How has everyone been?

  The engines I work on can either run on natural gas or a liquid fuel like diesel or kerosene. Natural gas works fucking great, burns clean, and makes good power. Liquid fuel is used as a standby and can be... difficult.

> finishing up maintenance
> start at 0700, friday, water wash engine
> button everything back up by 1100
> gonna start and go to lunch
> only 1 facility gas compressor working, running other turbine
> time to start on liquid
> failed start, temperature high
Lets try that again...
> failed start, no ignition
> check spark plug, new one failed after one shot, put old plug back in
> failed start, temperature high
Ok, cut back on fuel.
> failed start, temperature high
Cut back more?
> failed start, temperature high
More atomizing air?
> failed start, temperature high
Even less fuel?
> failed start, no ignition
Increase fuel? Less atomizing air?

Then coworker remembers that we've never successfully started this unit on liquid. Those two painful nights the previous 2 winters were on this unit. >>/arch/10229

> send coworker out to get lunch
> eat lunch while troubleshooting
> call engineering for halp
> start digging through control system logic
> should be cutting back on fuel but it doesnt
> six hours later and a dozen starts later
> discover a semi-related software value that was dicked up by previous tech
> minimum fuel value set higher than starting fuel value
> couldn't go any lower
Well that explains why were getting too much fuel...
> copy values from other unit
> fires right up
> rockets a shitload of water wash out the exhaust
> hmm interesting
> throw my shit in the truck and leave at 2000

>>109759
How's your family?

>>109769
Are you guys using your own temp probes or just the ToT?

>>109786
Industrial gas turbines, so we've got 12 TCs between the 2nd and 3rd turbine stages. What's that, Inter Turbine Temp for aero engines? I've got another unit that's "special" and has some 27 TCs and RTDs.

>>109787
Way over my head lol.

>>109792
I thought the propeller pasties were adequately concealing.

B-25 Mitchell flying over Inglewood, California, circa 1941. Big enough to read the gunner’s baseball cap, and in true color to boot.

>>109787
TCs... titty cranks?

>>109793
IDK I pinged JD in the IRC, he hasn't responded, so I'll just put it back up and see if anyone bitches.

>>109789
TC = Thermocouple
RTD = Resistance Temperature Detector

Thermocouples work by having two dissimilar metals meet at the point you want to measure. Any kind of heat will generate a very small voltage in the circuit, which can be read by a sensitive meter. (41 µV/°C according to Wiki)

The most common is "Type K" which is chromel–alumel. Works well for exhaust kind of temperatures (below 2000'F), but can't stand combustion temperatures (3000'F +).

RTDs (RTD100) use platinum wire which increases in resistance as temperature increases. They will read 100 ohms resistance at 0'C, and about 118 ohms at room temperature.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermocouple
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistance_thermometer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermistor

>>109785
We are alright. Had to move out of my other address in about 2 days into this new place (which is bigger, nicer, and cheaper) because my landlord refused to fix anything (including the fact that my other place was filled with black mold due to constant flooding). He texted me a day or two after I moved out all "I cant believe you would jet without telling me, karma is gonna get you, hope your happy" etc. This guy beats his women and treats his tenants like scum. I actively overheard him say we deserved to live in scum because my little family unit was scummy. Currently looking for a lawyer to take him to court for damages, med bills, etc. His former assistant and my neighbor is joining, as is his most recent girlfriend (who was smokin hot) as a character witness and a few other of his tenants.

On the family news I married my lady I have been seeing for the past 4 years.

Pecpocalypse yesterday blew donkey balls but im not too sore today, and its probably legaggedon today. weee.

  >>109789
A turbine "stage" is a stationary section and a moving section. The combustor produces hot gas, lots of it. The stationary blades (nozzle) sets up the airflow onto the moving blades (just blades) causing them to spin.

This animation is has two different "spools". The combustor is to the left, exhaust to the right. The left (inner) turbine stage would be for the inner compressor/turbine spool, probably called N2 or high pressure compressor/turbine. The right (outer) turbine stage would be for the N1, or low pressure compressor/turbine and probably the big fan on the front of the engine. The energy comes from combustion and then it's all downhill from there out to the exhaust.

>>109800
> On the family news I married my lady I have been seeing for the past 4 years.

Congrats dude!

propeller nips are fine

Warning: Blog post.

Hell of a week. The picture is of another piece of equipment that kept alarming for no reason. I "fixed" it.

Sunday, got paid 2.5 hrs of double time to drive somewhere.

Monday, at a landfill with 2 turbines. Spent 12 hours finishing up maintenance then drove 3 hours. Landfills fucking stink, but at least the site guys were pretty cool. By noon we were ready to go, just waiting on the site guys to finish work on another piece of equipment. "We're just a few minutes away" he says. Ok cool, we'll wait till after lunch. 2 hours later they get their shit together and we work another 2 hours after that. It was 1600 before we finally broke for lunch. I think we finished around 1800.

Tuesday, I helped a coworker make some software changes. The customer wants a few things added to the software, but coworker wants to rewrite the whole program. He's been telling me about it for a few days saying we would need to get special permission from engineering and all kinds of shit. I tell him to chill out and, as simply as possible, do what the customer wants, without changing anything critical in our software. A new problem pops up, when we give a "turbine shutdown" status indication, customer sends us a shutdown command. Can't clear our shutdown because we're getting a shutdown. Customer's engineers cannot understand this concept and fuck around for 5 hours until I talk to the guy directly for 5 minutes. They get the shit worked out and finally get started. I then drive 3 hours and get a ultrasonic flow meter from coworker in a gas station parking lot. Another 15 hour day.

Wednesday, I try to figure out how ultrasonic flow meter thing works. Read manual, set settings, apply lube, clamp meter on to pipe. Reads some random number. Check settings and relube. Reads 2x the first number. Fuck around some more, come up with a seemingly consistent 85 gallons per minute. Been on site for 2 hours, customer boss calls my office asking where I am. Apparently I was supposed to find him and let him know I was there, not just talk to the operator on duty. What the fuck ever. By the middle of the afternoon, he sends out an email to my bosses saying he is waiting for my report, even though I haven't left the site yet, and have spoken to him twice on the phone. Fucking dickhead. I think that was a 13 hour day.

Thursday, home and off. Do paperwork then go shoot shotguns. A different coworker calls me, "Hey man, how would you like to be my best friend?" To which I reply "Aw fuck." He sets me up to go fix some shit at my least favorite site in my area. He's been there all day trying to get the engines running and it's his last day on the job. I guess moving out with his family is some kind of priority.

Friday, I went to my least favorite site... in fucking Baltimore. The engine is down, the customer is stressing, it's hot and humid, it smells like sewage, and I have to rewire the fucking thermocouple box >>109787 because of some random and unrepeatable problem. What do you do when you don't know what else to do? Shoot the parts cannon at it. I also replaced an air regulator which coworker stole to get the other turbine running and a liquid fuel flow meter which just decided to die.

Coming up tomorrow I'll be helping to run a 3 gun shoot, then another rifle shoot on Sunday.

>>109811
>The picture is of another piece of equipment that kept alarming for no reason. I "fixed" it.
[laughter]

>15 hour day
>15 hour day
>13 hour day

Fucking harsh dude, seems like work is getting ridiculous for everyone.

I got dumped 12+ machines to run for the 10 hour shift, I get home at the usual 2am on Tuesday from the Monday shift, and get 2 hours of sleep then have to get up for an interview Tuesday morning. The interview takes a while, I get home from it and basically just get food ready for the Tuesday shift, another 10 hours of a dozen machines. I ask boss what's priority, he highlights like 9 machines out of the 12 and says "do what you can". Worst part was the heat, we got a bit of a wave up here, it was 80 to 90 degrees Freedoms in the shop.

So Thursday I get a call, new potential job asks me to come in for an orientation/testing to see if I'm worth my salt, because they said they'd had more than one yahoo spouting all sorts of stuff during the interview and once they're hired they'd suddenly find out that "oh this machine isn't like the one I'm used to" and whatnot. I get off Thursday night, another 2 hours of sleep, and nail the tests they had ready. The weather was much nicer being in the 65 range, that helped quite a bit.

New job has me all sorts of giddy, it might take a dollar off the pay to start but I don't mind, at least I'll be doing what I should be doing instead of being a glorified part-swapping-button-pusher monkey. The new potential job boss said he had one guy to interview but I'd know by Thursday next week.

btw avgas, you gonna post pics/webms of your 3 gun and rifle match coming up?

>>109811

I hope you're getting paid enough to put up with that kind of shit and work hours.

>>109814

Hope it works out for you.

>got a good deal on 10g plate
>2'x6' for $10
>decide to make a more portable forge
>mark a 6" square
>get out my square and draw lines from corner to corner
>cut the right triangles out and clean them up
>cut the 1st inch off so I can weld a pipe on later
>fit them together so I can weld them
>they won't fit
>fuck with it for 20 minutes
>welding magnets should be 90 degrees
>confused as fuck
>keep jigglin around the plates hoping it will just work.
>it dawns on me
>should have cut the plate into isosceles triangles
>tfw retarded as fuck

  >>109814
> btw avgas, you gonna post pics/webms of your 3 gun and rifle match coming up?

You got it, fam. >>109818

>>109817
> I hope you're getting paid enough...

I get paid pretty well, but that's with overtime. It kinda burns my ass that the worthless ass plant operators get paid more than I do, but I get other benefits like a new company truck every 2-3 years and free gas for personal use. And really my bosses and coworkers are cool and I get to do high-level shit despite being what other companies would consider a noob. And I get enough random time off to go shooting.

> that kind of shit
Eh, usually it's fine. This week was just a lot of work. Not even that bad.

> and work hours.
That's what usually gets our guys. My department has a pretty high turnover rate, like 5 out of 25 per year. Not because they dislike it, but because it fucking kills your personal life. My buddy who's leaving had a kid a few months ago and the wife already got him to take a desk job back in California. That's where they're from, so they can be with family and everything. I totally understand, but that's how it goes.

Thanks to the high attrition rate, I'm like half way up on seniority after 3 years. I'm starting to get more and more calls from my guys asking how to do something, which I don't mind, makes me feel important.

I've had a couple of quick answers that I'm pretty proud of. One, we were starting up a new site and working out the serial communication between the turbine and the plant control system. He'd send us a number and it would come in all fucked up. Big number turned into a small number. We're sitting there scratching our heads when it hit me, "Are you sending the number as 'most significant digit first' or 'least first?'". Coworker looks at me like I've got a dick growing out of my forehead and plant control guy goes "Oh yeah!". That brand of PLC sends it the other way. Flip some configuration bits and it was good to go. Good luck figuring that one out fuckers.

The second was more recently, a plant I started up 2 years ago just decided to do some "black start" testing without telling any of us. This is where the plant is completely without power, and they use batteries to start a small generator to power the starter for the next bigger generator, and bigger, and so on. When a turbine start motor takes a megawatt of power, you can't really start it off batteries, it has to be from a CAT diesel or something.

> diesel generator starts on batteries
> energizes ancillary bus for turbine, have power for oil pumps, fans, fuel pumps, and start motor
> turbine starts, synchronizes to diesel generator
> lots of power available now
> start and synch other two turbines
> shutdown diesel generator
> turbines run facility (and themselves)
> later, synch to power grid once it's back

Generators can operate in two modes, Island or Grid. Island mode assumes you're the only one there, and you have to generate enough power to support whatever motors, battery chargers, computers, ice makers, disco balls, etc that needs power. Oh and the voltage and frequency have to be right, otherwise you get "brown outs". An example of an "island" would be like an oil rig, where there's no utility at all.

My city based engines run mostly in Grid mode. The power grid is like a tandem bicycle, everyone pedals and contributes as much or as little as you want. This tandem bicycle is infinitely long, and it's going 60 hertz (hz), so all you can do is put effort into it or take effort out of it.

So back to the story: Customer's engineering consultant guy calls me, cool dude, haven't heard from him in a while. "It synched, but then went down on under-frequency" he tells me. Well that's not right, it should carry the load and maintain 60 hz.... thinking... thinking... coworkers and boss are buying gourmet cupcakes and meeting up with other coworkers for lunch... thinking... send address for lunch place to coworkers to meet up... thinking... order me some cashew chicken I'll be late...

Fuck! "Hey man check the generator screen, tell me if it's ISLAND or GRID mode." I tell consultant guy. "It says GRID mode". "Well shit that's your problem, the turbine doesn't know it's supposed to do all the work. Hold on..." So I pull up the drawings on my laptop (on the armrest of my truck, in the cupcake store parking lot), "Hey put the electrician on the phone. Hey, get your drawings and turn to page 50, go to the control console and remove relay 1234."

And then it worked. starwarsreybypassedthecompressor.jpg

Dude dropped a sandrail off at my place yesterday to figure out why it runs like shit.

>Huh, it doesn't really want to idle well
>I bet the carb's dirty.
>Better test the midrange and high speed, too.
>BRAAAAAAP
>BRAP
>huh, thing does good brodies
>BRPBRAAP
>BRAPBRAAAAAAAAAAP
>Yep. carb's dirty
>better make sure
>BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP
>BRAP BRAP
>BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP
>yep, carb's still dirty.

Now I get to clean it up and, uh, 'test' it some more.

>>109822
Oh look at that there's sand in the carburetor.

Not exactly the dried gas and dust goobers I was expecting (thank fuck) but still enough to clog the shit out of a jet or two.

Just a little sand, nothing to worry about.

Change your god dang fuel filters, people!

>>109828
Oh and here's a tip for you classic car masochists enthusiasts:

Gas-axe tip cleaners are a handy dandy thing to keep around.