One more story. I took over the electrical part of a fast-track $200 mil project that was under construction, and through no fault of my own, some things were going south due to the ongoing actions of the engineer who left and went to another large corporation. We had project meetings every day with the key players at the corporation, the key consulting engineers, and contractor's project managers. One engineer at the large corporation stood up in the meeting (I had only started this position about 2 weeks prior), and sliced and diced me for what the other engineer had done. He looked directly at me and said "your work is a good example of 'piss-poor' engineering", and it was like being in a cage of tigers. I have learned to never show fear in meetings, regardless of the circumstances, and so I said "I assure you we will get the problem straightened out quickly", and I did get it straightened out shortly. But of course that sort of confrontation from someone who you are working for can rattle you quite a bit. But after the meeting, an older gentleman that worked at my new company pulled me aside, and said "Never forget, it ain't over till its over". It was golden advice, and eventually I earned the trust of that corporation and its engineers. And in a wonderous and no doubt God-inspired (for those religious types out there) Coup de grace, the project ended, and the large corporation fired every one of their in-house engineers. The guy who badmouthed me in the meeting barely escaped the mass firing when he executed a quick transfer to North Dakota (nice warm place to practice engineering). In the end, the corporate engineers were given the shaft, and us consultants were left to continue working for the company for years. .
Thanks for the support it means a lot to me. This is definitely a 4 beer kind of conversation. Unfortunately I also have the flu now and that's the farthest thing from my mind. No time to be sick. This job is quite different from what I saw in med school. Residency is quite a bit worse and much more isolating due to the different schedules the other residents have and 24 hour calls on the weekends with constant day-night switches.
I have had the flu for two days, and been flat on my back. Luckily it seems to be breaking up slowly today, and I can sit up in a chair for a few minutes today. My early career was very difficult, and while college laid the foundation for engineering with math, the real learning started after I got out of college. I remember working 8 to 5 every day, and then studying the projects that had been previously completed until midnight or 1 AM. I did this every day for perhaps 6 years, but at the end of six years I was far more competent than when I got out of school. I guess you have to look at the long game. Where do you plan on being 10 or 20 years from now? I always had in the back of my mind that I could perhaps one day start a business, but I never really thought I could pull that off. I did pull it off after 18 years of corporate, and I am lucky in that I have done well, although 2008/2009 was a bad period. I see more and more doctors converting to concierge medicine practice, and I actually have that arrangement with a doctor. It works well for him and it works well for me. The concierge arrangement seems to eliminate many of the middle men, and seems to give doctors time to be doctors. .
This flu going around my region is a particularly nasty this year. It's a different strain than the vaccine and at least three area children have died from it. One man from my town who got it developed pneumonia and has been in a coma for weeks. I felt it come on on Thursday, got to the Doc on Friday and spent the weekend in my pjs on quarantine. I didn't have the option of not going to work for at least a half day on Monday so I donned mask and gloves for the sake of others , kept my distance and went home as soon as my stuff was done. Do what you have to, but get treatment for this one. Pete
That's what my wife said. I fear getting exposed to others at a doctors office more than the flu I have. I started to get better yesterday, and was feeling pretty good (day 3), but no, it is not done with me yet, and today I feel bad again. I work at home, but I had to go to a funeral the other day, and got exposed to 200 people, and I am sure that is where I picked it up. It generally runs about a week for me, sometimes up to two weeks if I get a bad strain. The bright side is that if and when I get well, I will certainly appreciate feeling well again. This is my motto for life: .
I become a hermit this time of year. If I see someone sneeze in a store down some aisle, whatever I needed on that aisle I suddenly don't need anymore. I don't understand when someone is leaking out every hole in their head why their employers don't send them home? Drives me nuts to see someone sick as hell working in the public. TAKE YOUR SICK ASS HOME TO BED!!! Just get away from me! I can't afford to be sick, I'm a one man show and if I'm sick, no one goes anywhere!
I need to play the devils advocate here. 60 to 80% of the public family’s make less than $50,000 a year. Most of them have zero sick days to collect on ... and are living in poverty, paycheque to paycheque. Sometime showing up for a shift at Walmart, with a runny nose just gets them by for food or rent.
I started blogging here, but I am just trashing up a good build thread, so I moved the blog to a new Blog 101 topic in the General Chat section. .
really impressive piece. and a huge amount of work involved. people often ask why is bronze so expensive if they saw your videos they would understand. Whats next in the puipe line?
For sure a lot of work. I think the Chinese knockoffs kind of ruined people's price gauge. Next is my chicken sculpture and probably a 13 inch bell and a new fire pit grate (iron). http://forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/eagle-statue-2-0-zapins.294/
