Jimmy the Geek

Been a while!

James' Big Adventure!

Here are some pics of the passes I drove this weekend from Seattle to Wenatchee, WA and back.  It's normally a 3 hour trip, it took 5 hours.  Lots of ice on the road.  It didn't look like it, but it was definitely there!

High winds in Seattle area!

Passengers on board a Northwest 757 had quite the ride Wednesday afternoon as it tried to land at Sea-Tac Airport during strong winds. The pilot aborted the first landing attempt before making a successful landing on his second attempt.

Holy moley...

I cannot believe it's been nearly three months since I last posted...

I'm doing OK, just been preoccupied with my new job at Carlyle which is going very well.  I'm thoroughly enjoying myself and am starting to feel much more comfortable with my new vocation.

I've actually got a lot of stuff to post.  I picked up an electric RC helicopter, some new in-canal earbuds, and a few other goodies that I really need to tell you about.

I'll be back...

First week at Carlyle

It was a good week!

I learned SO much in just four days.  My first day at my new job was set aside for orientation and reading; pretty much what I expected.  My biggest concern was that I wanted to feel like I was contributing as soon as possible.  That concern was disintegrated during the rest of the week!

On my second day, I tagged along with one of the other QE's out to one of the product line assembly areas.  Seems that the supervisor for that line called in sick.  Jim, the other QE, gave me about a week's worth of training in an hour and turned me loose at being the floor supervisor.  My job was to make sure product was flowing smoothly and address any glitches that endangered product making it to shipping for that day. 

Well, the line supervisor ended up being gone all week so I ended up being supervisor all week.  I attended daily production meetings and was tasked with action items even on my second day.  By the end of the week, I felt like I was truly contributing.  When I started, shipping was behind by one to two days... by the end of the week we were a day ahead.  I feel pretty danged good about that!

I've received several very complimentary comments during the week... pretty cool!

It was a great week!   

Pluto on eBay...

Well, it was bound to happen...

Employed!

It's Official!

Today, I received and agreed to a very nice employment offer from Carlyle, Inc. for a Quality Engineer position.  I start Tuesday, September 5th and am anxious to start exploring this brand new chapter in my life.

Carlyle is a major player in the aerospace world with several huge clients.  Their main product is wiring and cable assemblies for every area in today's cutting-edge aircraft.   When I visited, I was completely and totally impressed with the company and operations.

Of interest, I saw several very large frames being built to house much of the cockpit instrumentation in a Boeing aircraft.  The wiring harnesses were very complex and are held to very strict standards and must pass some stringent testing.  The client will typically include required testing procedures and strict standards to be met.  An ohm or two can be the difference between a good test and a bad test.  Oxidation on connectors will also cause failures.   Sounds like fun!

My job will be to develop and modify testing procedures for these behemoths.  I'll spot things that can be done more efficiently and troubleshoot problem areas on the factory floor.  Apparently, there are other 'special projects' they've also earmarked for me. 

Read on for the Job Description...

Pluto not a planet?

Pluto Loses Planet Status

By Lisa Pickoff-White
August 24 - The International Astronomical Union has stripped Pluto of its planetary status. Pluto was discovered in 1930 by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh of Arizona's Lowell Observatory and classified as a planet. In 2003, Pluto’s standing was called into question when astronomers found a larger object, UB313, in the Kuiper Belt, an area beyond Neptune filled with large icy objects and believed to be the source of many comets.

Approximately 2,500 experts at the IAU’s general assembly voted to change Pluto’s status, rejecting a proposal that would have retained Pluto as a planet and brought three other objects into the planetary club. Pluto is considerably smaller and more distant than the other planets in our solar system. Two-thirds the size of Earth's moon, Pluto's classification as a planet came under scrutiny when many objects of similar size and distance were discovered in the Kuiper Belt in the 1990s.

The Space Studies Board provides an independent, authoritative forum for all aspects of space science and applications, and it serves as the focal point within the National Academies for activities on space research.  -link-

The Hacker's Diet

Now THIS I can do!

I stumbled upon a website today that totally caught my attention.  It's called The Hacker's Diet.  The byline is a tongue-in-cheek 'How to lose weight and hair through stress and poor nutrition'. 

Thinking it was a humorous slam on hackers, I was drawn in.  What I found was very different from what I expected.

It's actually a serious online book written by John Walker, founder of AutoDesk, who approaches weight loss 'as an engineering problem' .  I think I like that!  Here's an excerpt:

The absurdity of my situation finally struck home in 1987. “Look,” I said to myself, “you founded one of the five biggest software companies in the world, Autodesk. You wrote large pieces of AutoCAD, the world standard for computer aided design. You've made in excess of fifty million dollars without dropping dead, going crazy, or winding up in jail. You've succeeded at some pretty difficult things, and you can't control your flippin' weight?”

I'm going to give it a read.  Not that I'm overweight or anything like that... snort!  It looks like a great how-to for following the standard equation that we all know and love... eat less food than your body burns.

Moving On!

Last day at RTC...

Dave - Rob - David - Bill - Jim (me) - Rook - Irving - Jesse
Click on the photo for the 1600x1200 version

Well... it's a happy/sad day for me.  I'm very happy for the students that are graduating after a demanding two year electronics course.  They deserve a hearty congratulations for sticking to it and successfully completing the course.  I'll miss them.

Today is also my last day at Renton Technical College after nearly 22-years of teaching.  My lay-off is due to a lack of jobs in the traditional electronics industry.  In turn, we were just not able to attract enough students to run the electronics program.   I believe the industry is on the rebound, but it's too little, too late.   

I'm actually looking forward to a new chapter in my life.  As they say, "A change is as good as a rest".  And that's how I'm feeling right now.  I'll be just fine!

Please read on for more photos!

Ohhh... look at the colors!

Water Prisms...

Several years ago, Shelley and I went on a camping vacation and ended up in Santa Fe, NM.  Neat town and very artsy-fartsy.  There was an arts and crafts fair going on with some pretty neat stuff for sale.

We were attracted to a booth that had many brilliant rainbows going on... real rainbows.  That's when we discovered these water prisms.  The interesting couple manning the booth made them for a living.   In fact, I was happy to find that they still make them... here.  They turned out to be very friendly and we enjoyed shooting the breeze with them.  We also came home with a water prism.

I was sitting in the living room last night watching one of those rainbows on our white fireplace and reminiscing about the Santa Fe trip.  Great memories.  It was a fun trip.

The water prisms fascinated me, so I decided to try my hand at making one.  I had done a couple small stained glass pieces, but the challenge with the prism was creating a three-dimensional shape and then making it water-tight.

I even got to use my math and geometry skills to figure out how to cut the glass.  It actually worked!  Both of our water prisms are hanging in the kitchen window and on sunny days we're rewarded with multiple rainbows around the house.

I may have to make another one soon! 

P.S.  Ann... Bill says to put the credit card away!  But what does HE know?  Go for it!