Where Will I be in Ten Years?

Well that’s a good question. In ten years the lot of us will have been out of this program for eight years. I think by that time I would like to see my self having been in an engineering and fabrication type of position for at least five of those years, having been involved in not only the design side of the industry but also involved in manufacturing. Something I would really like to get into is working in a machine shop. Machine shops often involve a lot of design of components, drafting in a CAD program like Master Cam, and the actually making of the part on machines, either CNC or manual. Where I would see myself after those ten years is somewhere near a transition, having either just made it, or coming up to it. First of all, I might like to go back to school to get a degree in Mechanical Engineering, which would take another two and a half years; I would see this happening probably so that I would be finished the program not long after this ten year span. After earning my degree I would take the knowledge and experience I had gained and I would like to transfer to an engineering position at a motorcycle company, preferably a European company. I have always been drawn to motorcycles, and I have always enjoyed figuring out how things work and why they work, so being an engineer at a motorcycle company would be my perfect fit. This being my long term goal, in ten years I would realistically see myself getting ready for a transfer into my preferred vocation, and most likely somewhere in the middle of earning my degree. I’ve never really been one to look into the future and “predict” what I would be doing, but the above is something I say with confidence, knowing that it really is where I want to end up.

[329]

Inventions

Have any of you ever had a brilliant idea that you knew could go somewhere big, an idea that could take you all the way to the top? Have you stumbled across some marvellous inception of intellect into a desolate mind? Basically, have you ever invented something? I imagine that most of us in this program have invented, or at least conceived some sort of invention or idea. Personally, I had a marvellous idea when I was quite young, based on my childhood Gameboy, and all I can say is that I always wanted to play my video games in the bath.
I remember when I was in grade seven we actually had some people come to our class and discuss an invention of theirs with us. They showed us their invention, which was something to do with screen printing machines, and they told about what they had to do to patent their ideas. It was at this point that all my dreams were dashed to the ground, because, it costs thousands of dollars to patent something through the patent office, and then that’s only in certain countries, so you have to do it again elsewhere, and so on, and so on.
I would like to invent something some day, and I think that I am in the proper industry to initiate that. Other than the hopeful fame and fortune that would accompany such an invention, it would also be cool to invent something that would revolutionise the way something is done. I have seen a lot of new innovations in motorcycle technologies, since I’m into that kind of thing, and if I was to work in any industry that would be my preference and so I would hope to invent something to do with motorcycles. Maybe not even a brand new invention, but maybe some new way of making things work together, or a new process.
Well that’s all for me. See you in class.

[327]

Searching for a job, you are, hmm?

I have decided to redirect this blog slightly towards co-op jobs and opportunities. I have never really had to search for jobs that vigorously, all of my previous employment circumstances have come from personal connections with someone on the inside. I guess I’ve had it pretty good so far. Hopefully that will continue after graduating; I’m hoping to get some more connections in the industry to make things easier for myself. This is part of the reason I’m contemplating signing up for the co-cop program now. Obviously contacts can be made outside of co-op, and there is a good chance I could procure a job in the industry with out the help of the co-op, there is something to be said for “position security”. But I suppose that even the co-op doesn’t guarantee you anything; there are still interviews to be conducted and résumés to be done. The main reason I would chose co-op is the greater variety of available jobs. I imagine you will find more opportunity through co-op than trying to find a placement yourself; there are so many aspects of the program that it would be all too easy to overlook many of them. It would be interesting to see if the co-op interviews are that much different from a standard employment interview, because, they know more about you and where you are coming from, and they know what level you are supposedly at. But on the other hand they probably try to make it as life like as possible, and realistically they are still looking for an employee. Connections, as Paul stated in our last lecture class, are invaluable in this region. It’s more about who you know than what you know, and I like that because I have quite a few connections. My dad knows everybody in this town, and went to school with half of them. I’m not ashamed to ask for a hand up, I’ll take a little charity any day. It’s only a shame that the school asks for a few hundred dollars for their charity…

[351]

Career Day

Talking about careers, we are. Well, having worked in my own family business for the last couple of years, I can’t really say much bad. I’m sure you can all imagine what it would be like to work with your family, if you haven’t experienced it, day in and day out for two years; it can become pretty trying.
On the subject of communication in business, more specifically, some insight I have. Working in the construction/renovation industry communication was a problem in our company for quite some time. The size of the work force was about ten field workers, comprising three work teams. We found out that even with today’s modern communication technologies, we used mike phones within the company, communication seemed to be lacking. The lack of communication resulted in what we called “re-dos” such as scheduling mix ups, confusion about what should be done when, and in what way, or even some things not getting done at all. Communication is a vital part of any work environment where more than one person is involved, because if two separate entities can’t work as one, tasks will get missed, or repeated, or mixed up in any number of ways. Luckily, I believe, communication problems can be solved fairly easily. At my old job we instated a project manger who oversaw everything about the projects, from the time the customer signed the contract to the time the cleaning company finished the final clean-up. This solved the problem of having too many people in charge of a given job; with only one person to report to there is less chance of confusion than with three supervisors. Effective use of communication technology is essential as well. Simply having good tools doesn’t do anything for you if you can’t use the tools to their full potential. Mike phones, for instance, are a great tool for communication, but they can also be a hassle if used inappropriately.
So let’s get together and communicate some time.
[~327]

Oh my back.

So, I helped my brother move his bohemeth concrete counter tops last night. So heavy, there was like six pieces weighing anywhere from 100 pounds to probably near 600 pounds. We had to move them around the garage, lifting, flipping, turning. I actually couldn't move last night my back was so sore. I took two robaxacet and had a hot tub. Feels better. I'm very surprised I can actually move at all today. If anyone ever tells you they are thinking about going with concrete counter tops, tell them to forget it if they want to keep any of their friends.

I'm pretty stoked, I'm going to Edmonton tomorrow. Fory eight hours of fun and West Edmonton Mall. It'll be sweet, spending a whole day at West Ed. Water Park, here I come. I won't be doing much shopping since I'm a poor student, but oh well. I can live with that.

Well the mid-terms are as good as over. All we have now are Computers and Drafting, and they're next week or something aren't they? I'll try not to be late to those ones. Boned. I totally screwed myself up being late for the statics exam. I thought I had done okay but I made so many rushed mistakes. Well, that's the last time I sleep in... I hope. I wish more teachers used the Web CT, because it would be really good if they posted current marks on there. i'm doubtfull many, if any, profs use it at all though, I doubt they have much time for updating marks online. It would just be nice to be able to see what our current marks are. I actually started using that computer aps. assignment for my own marks. I changed it a little and threw in a bunch of my marks to see roughly where some of my marks are at. I was kinda bored.

I'm not sure how many words I have because I'm not using word, but I think it's [around 300].

The Last Mile...

Well, it's now an hour and a half before we all head down that last mile to our doom... materials exam. Just playin’. Well, by the time anyone reads this we will have finished the mid-term and all will be right with the world. Right now section 02 is in Tech. Comm. in the library. It looks like section 01 has a rough day today, unless your schedule got changed, because, it looks to me like you guys don't get a lunch break. That would be brutal. But anyway, back to the matter at hand, Materials. I have to say that I think Materials is now my best class. After getting all those assignments and quizes back from Vlad in Math class, I think that class would work out to be my best mark, which was some welcomed news after blowing that math exam. Anywho, I'm really not stressed about the materials exam, maybe that's a bad thing, I don't know. This is my outlook on it, the work and content of the course seems like a mad house, so much information, but I think it's overkill, as in more than we actually need to know. I really think we are only going for the basics this semester, so that when we start putting it all together to design say a metal bracket, we know that steel is stronger than aluminum, and why. Then conversely we can find the best material to use for a project. The raw data on all the materials will always be there, we just need to know how to sort through it all and make sense of it.

So, how about Thanksgiving? Was I the only one who didn’t get turkey? It’s true, no turkey for Kyle. I had ham instead, not by choice. Not that it was bad; I just missed having the turkey. It’s the spirit of thanksgiving the turkey is. Well. There’s always Christmas…

[326]

Big words, big marks

I was just noticing the other day how intensified our program is this semester. One month of classes followed by our first set of mid term examinationating, then another month of classes followed thereafter by our second set of mid terminations. Finally we have a couple weeks more of classification, all rolled up by our finalization examination. That’s crazy. The nice thing is that the homework slows down around testification time, so you don’t feel as discombobulated by the work loadification. I personally have never really studied for tests, so I have more time to get ahead on homework, or slackificate. I’ve been doing both really. I’ve already finished my persuasive letter, but my materials homework is a last second completion. I think the best strategy is to diversificate, organizationate, zero in on your destination, and then convergify. This is how we will over come the overcomers. Thank you for listening, and have a great day.

Anyone who uses iTunes should really listen to the President’s Weekly Radio Address podcast, and then you would laugh hysterically at the previous paragraph. In these trying times of Mechanical Technalization, I think we could all use a laugh.

Sometimes I find myself taking on really weird hobbies which, in some cases, take away from my time to do the things I really should be doing. For instance, the other day I just got really interested in LED’s, because I want to try making some custom brake lights for my bike, and so got into the whole world of circuitry and what not. It does involve physics with Ohm’s Law and so on, and so kind of relates, but it’s really quite different from mechanical engineering. I’m sure the hobby will die, like so many others, when I become discouraged or overwhelmed by information and having to buy a bunch of stuff, but ask me later and we’ll see what’s up.

Well that’s a solid word count, I’m out.

[329]