I GOT A JOB, or A Polite Notice of Resignation

To all of you that have been praying for my job situation, I would like to let you know that God has provided me with an opportunity that went beyond my hopes. The job search has been slow and stressful and extremely down-putting, but through the many months I have never doubted. My hopes were to stay in the relatively same area that I'm at, but if I had to move I had to move. As it turns out,  God allowed us to stay in the relatively same area, thus answering another prayer.

Today, officially, I handed in my two week notice. It was awkward and I had no idea what to say as I handed it to my boss. I explained how I'd been looking ever since the kerfuffle about late paychecks and reduced work weeks. He understood and wished me good luck.

So, after three years and two months at the Mexican Lightbulb Company* as a Highway Drainage Engineer, I am hanging up my, um, keyboard. My last day of employment will be Thursday, July 19.

Where am I going? My new company is an aluminum manufacturing plant located a simple half-hour drive from Stewartland. There I will take on the mantle of Environmental Technician, where I will work extensively and exhaustively at reducing pollution. I will be involved in air, water, soil, and all other facets of environmental engineering. The work will be much more physical than what I've been accustomed to these past three years, but I am very much looking forward to that.

It is a bit sad that I'm no longer going to be a practicing engineer. Even so, this technician position is muy rewarding, as I will be working hand-in-hand with the environmental engineers at the plant. One of them is eligible to retire, and I was practically told (twice) in my interview that I would easily be able to step up to the environmental engineer position in the future. What excites me about the technician is what I said in my interview: I want to actually see how things come together and work from the ground up, and the technician position is perfect for that.

I'm sure there will be more to come in the future about my new place of work, but for now I just wanted to get the word out. Now I need to come up with another catchy fake name that'll make a good acronym.

Once again, thanks to all of you that prayed.

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*Obviously my current employer is not actually named the Mexican Lightbulb Company, though that would be pretty sweet. Actually my current employer is named after the three founders of the company. One of them (and I'm not yanking any chains here) is Johnny Depp's grandfather. Johnny Depp is from Owensboro, KY, and his grandad helped give me my job. So that's that.

I Survived Staunton, IL, and All I Got Was This Lousy Blog Title

I spent all last week out of the beautiful and wonderful state of Kentucky.  Work required me to take a trip up and over to Illinois.  To be more specific, to a little town called Staunton.  Being away from home was a drag, but being away from the desk and outdoors was great.

Most of the time I sit in the office and spend my time working on projects.  A lot of this involves repetitive actions and constant re-reading of design manuals.  Staring at dual-monitors all day long sometimes leaves a halo of unpleasantness in the brain, so needless to say, I enjoyed my time away.

We were working on a twelve mile stretch of road along I-55.  The purpose of the trip was to inspect culverts, inlet pipes, outlet pipes, underdrains, etc.  Many of these pipes showed up on the plan sheets, but some we had to find along the way.  Once the structure was found, we’d take a picture and write down the condition of the thing, as well as any other notes needed.  That’s pretty much it.  We wore the highly reflective yellow jackets, so we would be seen by drivers.  And there were plenty of drivers, as the work area was relatively close to St. Louis.

We would park the car off the shoulder, look for an opening in traffic, and run to the median.  Often we had to cross the cable barriers, carrying with us the equipment we needed.  Then we’d run across the other lane of traffic and find the structure and repeat.  Sometimes we were alarmingly close to vehicles (like this one inlet that was right off the shoulder).  And the noise was unbelievably loud.  At one point I almost stepped on a snake.  We saw plenty of mice, which apparently like to make their home in the medians.  Ants and ticks and poison ivy were plentiful.  Steep slopes were often challenging.  The sky was mostly clear and the sun was relentless, but the temperatures weren’t too bad.  Yes, even in all of this, I had a good time.

Why?  What sounds fun in this?  Maybe there wasn’t much fun involved in what we were doing, but it was a break from the norm, a change in scenery.  Plus, I had plenty of time to think and daydream.  I wrote a few pieces of flash fiction.  I thought about the complexities of LOST and wondered what would happen in the remaining episodes.  I sang songs (when I was alone).  I pondered and marveled.  And at night, alone in my frigid motel room, I read and wrote.  The only thing missing was Keisha and the dogs.

The city of Staunton is a small town, quite reminiscent of home home*.  Little winding roads.  Pretty downtown.  Presumably friendly people.  But the best thing it has going for it is the Staunton Family Restaurant.  It was good enough that we ate there every single night.  The food was all cheap and delicious.  The service was great, just like the soups and entrees. 

Friday was going to be a rainy day, so we drove an hour north to Springfield, IL, where the MLC** has an office.  That office does a lot of environmental work, and since my major was Civil & Environmental Engineering, I was excited to talk to the environmental manager.  We discussed my background and the experiences I’ve had, and I got to say how I’d love to be able to do some environmental work if the opportunities presented themselves.  (They liked that idea, as anytime there is any environmental work to be done in Kentucky they have to drive several hours to get to it.)  So hopefully my future will involve some of this kind of work, too.

In the end, I had a good time, but I’m still pretty tired from the trip.  We were up early and out late, and I’m still a bit draggy.  I’m glad to be back home, though.

*Bremen, KY
**Mexican Lightbulb Company, the fictitious name of the real company I work for

Bits & Pieces

• I’ll have some book reviews up this week, as well as the next installment of The Absurdly Epic Tragedy of Oscambria.
• I may have another Flash Fiction Friday this week, too.
• My anniversary is next Wednesday.  I’m pretty sure Keisha knows what she’s getting.  So that means I need to think of something else…
• Sophie is still undecided, that crazy dog.
• I’m in two weddings coming up, one in June, the other in November.

Real-World Engineering Application

I finally put to practice my engineering skills in a practical, hands-on way. I made a harmonica holder out of a wire clothes hanger. It was relatively simple, just bending and molding to fit how I wanted it. Unfortunately I didn't have a vice grip or anything like that, just two sets of pliers, so the straightness of the equipment is not top-notch. Also, I didn't get it exactly how I wanted it, so I intend on making another one in the future.

Here's the final product.

Pretty cool, eh? I've had it on and tested it with the guitar, piano, and mandolin, and I laughed and giggled at my new toy. I felt like Bob Dylan, or maybe Neil Young or Demitri Martin. I played with the thing for a while yesterday, finally putting to use my set of harmonicas. It's all just another step on becoming a full, one-man band.

As you can see, I finalized the project with a thick layer of duct tape to provide neck support and stability. This solidifies the project as an "engineering project" by using the fabled tape. Here's a sample clip of the finished product.

On a side note, I'm a little over halfway through New Moon, and I'm honestly okay with it so far. There's things I don't like about certain characters, but that will all spill out when the review comes.

Keep it secret. Keep it safe.

Some Catching Up (Part 1)

You may be aware that things have been happening very quickly for me. That's okay. I'm young. Presently I am sitting on my mother-in-law's bed, fighting to stay awake and write this post, enjoying the newly installed monstrous air conditioner.

First off, I must comment on my new job. As in the previous post, I'm working as a Highway Drainage Engineer for the Mexico Lightbulb Corporation. This job is what you would expect from the title: I design structures to drain highway systems, namely culverts and pipes. Starting a new job is a stressful, but fun, experience. This week I've been learning some new computer programs (HY8, MicroStation, InRoads) and reading design manuals. The difference between academia and professional life is design manuals. Design specifications change every few years, so keeping up with the current (or what was current when a project was going on) specs will be fun. I think I am really going to enjoy my career. I'm not sure if I'll be with MLC for life, but so far, I've really enjoyed what I've learned and done. Plus, my colleagues are a fun group, too.

On an equally important note, as of today I have an official closing date for my new house. Friday, May 29, 2009. This is when I can move into my new place.

And now I am very, very tired and must retire. This was going to be just one post, but I fear I must split it. I wish you all a wonderful evening/noon/night.

It All Happened So Fast

Really, really fast. Let's review everything that has been going on here within the past fortnight.

1. School ended. Thus, final exam period.
2. House searching. Thus, looking for the perfect home.
3. Graduation happened. Thus, I graduated with my Masters!
4. House purchased. Thus, I bought a house!!
5. Job started. Thus, I started my job (today, actually).
6. Interim housing. More later for this.
7. Paperwork Paperwork Paperwork...
8. GIS project finished. Mostly.

It's been really hectic. I cut off cable & internet back in my apartment in Louisville at some point in the past week, and so I've been unable to get online until yesterday (see #6), where I have been presently relocated with the folks until I get my new house (see #4). Technically, the closing date for my new home is scheduled around June 3, but no one is living in it, so it could be quicker. As a first time home buyer, it's been very stressful. And then there's the job. I've decided to leave my employer's name ambiguous for several reasons, so let's just call them something. Stanley? Nah. Eduardo? No. It is in engineering firm, so it shouldn't be too over the top. How about the Mexico Lightbulb Corporation, or MLC for short? Sounds good to me, too. Okay. So, anyway, I started working for MLC (ahem) today, and my boss told me I was already 3 weeks behind! This I take with a nod, all in a strong and certain stride, because I know it to be probably true. There is a lot of work to do. And what is it I do exactly? Well, since today was my first day, refer to #7 in the above list. My official job title is Highway Drainage Engineer, which means that I am in charge of ensuring that highway projects drain correctly. In that, I design pipes, culverts, channels, etc to fit the Kentucky design specs and regulations. Use of many computer programs is essential to the adequate design of the drainage structures. And to top everything off, while moving from Louisville to home, I left the book that I am reading in my apartment. Needless to say, this is very unfortunate. Even more needless to say, my mind is fracturing and things are blending together. I am very tired. You'll be informed as I am informed. Blackbird singing in the dead of night. Yes, I used fortnight in the introduction part of this post; don't be too jealous.

Sledding Is For Kids

As mentioned a few posts ago, Kentucky was hit with a severe winter storm. The storm surged through Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Arkansas, and Tennessee and resulted in many deaths, most from carbon monoxide poisoning or fire. This said, the county I am from, Muhlenberg, was devastated, and much of the county is still without power. Cell phone towers were down, too, and so there really was no way to communicate with anyone from back home.

Here in Louisville we got around 6 inches of snow and ice in varying layers. Layers stacked so perfect that we just had to go sledding. The first night of sledding was down a rather steep, mostly ice-hardened hill, containing several downed tree limbs, a few large tree trunks, and a monster dip in the middle of the hill that would propel the sledder off-ground a piece. This was awesome. The thrill of sledding as a 23 year old brought back memories of sledding as a teenager. In fact, I had so much fun I agreed to go sledding again the following night.

The second night was sledding down an intimidating hill in Louisville's Cherokee Park. My wife was feeling better on this particular night and so she decided to tag along for the sledding. While there I realized that I forgot to take my glasses off, so I took them back to the car before I started sledding. My wife walked with me and she said she was a bit hesitant to go down first, so I offered to head down and show her it was okay. BAD IDEA. I was on a round sled and so naturally I was rotating as I flew down the large hill. At the bottom everything happened really, really fast.

From what I can remember the ground disappeared beneath me, quite suddenly, and a wall appeared before me. I collided and doubled over and felt pain across my back like I've only known once before. At first, I honestly thought I wasn't going to be able to get up. I remember saying "no" and groaning, but I couldn't raise myself off my hands and knees. I wanted to throw up. My face was sweating. I couldn't see anything but black. Two strangers was yelling and asking me if I was okay. I said, honestly, "NO!" My wife was waiting atop the hill for my "It's okay," but I hollered "Don't come down." She walked down to where I was and helped me walk back up the hill. I came to realize that I had hit a ditch that had been created at the bottom of the hill we were on, and I must have collided with the opposite bank side.

Dynamically, I think I obeyed the laws of momentum, gravity, and conservation of energy pretty well. See, let m1 be the weight of me and v1 the velocity in which I was traveling downhill. Let m2 be the mass of the earth and v2 the velocity it was moving. Adding these terms, m1v1 + m2v2 = (m1+m2)v, where final velocity, v, equals sudden death. Furthermore, all kinetic energy from me traveling down the hill, .5m1v1^2, was instantaneously transferred from my body into potential energy that the ditch bank would hold, i.e. too much for my liking.

Regardless, and nevertheless, I am thankful my wife and I didn't go down the hill together, lest we both received painful injuries. I've basically been doped on Excedrin Back & Body since Thursday, resting on a heating pad, and using my massage chair. I'm strongly considering visiting a chiropractor or a professional masseuse. In short, sledding was very fun, but regrettably, I don't think I'll be going back for a while. Hope you all are warmer than I am.