The week
So I began work on Monday. Pretty slow to start, but then it was the first day. Hmm... perhaps I need to back up a bit.
The company I work for is called "North Pacific Crane". The office building is technically in Seattle, but I would call it Shoreline. Yes, I realize a good portion of you will have no clue what that means, but I can't pander to everyone. There's another location near the Oregon/Washington border, where they do the manufacturing of said cranes. The office I'm in does sales and engineering, with me tagging along with that second bit.
They make, yes you guessed it, cranes. As in big lifting objects, and not the bird. Though North Pacific Crane does sound rather like a species. But no, they make cranes, more specifically cranes for marine type applications. Marine here meaning aquatic and not the branch of the armed forces. For those of you that watch the Discovery Channel and have seen the show "Deadliest Catch", approximately 80% of the cranes you see on those boats are NPC cranes. Not so bad for a tiny company (I am the fifth of five employees at the sales/engineering office just to give you an idea). I have more info about the company, but it's not stuff that even I really care about, so I'm not going to bother, unless you're really interested. I know, I'm such an enthusiastic promoter.
So, back on track now, the first day was slow. I looked at old CAD (Computer-Aided Drafting/Design) drawings and some of the engineering/structural calculations to familiarize myself with them. All day. Boring? Quite.
Next day was better, as I started producing some of these drawings myself. I took a course on a program called "SolidEdge" back in college, but this is SolidWorks. A little different and a lot more powerful. So I'm teaching myself how to use it again, but so far I think I'm doing pretty kick-ass, if I do say so myself. That's what I did yesterday and today. Obviously no work on Fireworks Day (which I essentially didn't celebrate. Nice break in the middle of the week though).
In bigger news, today was also the wedding day of my really good friends mythagon and centauri. And for those of you that don't know, I was their officiant. I was nervous as hell, but I hope it didn't show too much. Mouth was dry, but I expected that going in. Everybody told me I did a great job, so I am inclined to believe them. Though what mattered to me most is that the two of them were pleased with it. And they were.
(To them: Thanks again for asking me. I was really glad to do it. Terrified, but glad. Congratulations!)
That's it from me. Looks like I might actually begin to have things to update people on. Will wonders never cease.
The company I work for is called "North Pacific Crane". The office building is technically in Seattle, but I would call it Shoreline. Yes, I realize a good portion of you will have no clue what that means, but I can't pander to everyone. There's another location near the Oregon/Washington border, where they do the manufacturing of said cranes. The office I'm in does sales and engineering, with me tagging along with that second bit.
They make, yes you guessed it, cranes. As in big lifting objects, and not the bird. Though North Pacific Crane does sound rather like a species. But no, they make cranes, more specifically cranes for marine type applications. Marine here meaning aquatic and not the branch of the armed forces. For those of you that watch the Discovery Channel and have seen the show "Deadliest Catch", approximately 80% of the cranes you see on those boats are NPC cranes. Not so bad for a tiny company (I am the fifth of five employees at the sales/engineering office just to give you an idea). I have more info about the company, but it's not stuff that even I really care about, so I'm not going to bother, unless you're really interested. I know, I'm such an enthusiastic promoter.
So, back on track now, the first day was slow. I looked at old CAD (Computer-Aided Drafting/Design) drawings and some of the engineering/structural calculations to familiarize myself with them. All day. Boring? Quite.
Next day was better, as I started producing some of these drawings myself. I took a course on a program called "SolidEdge" back in college, but this is SolidWorks. A little different and a lot more powerful. So I'm teaching myself how to use it again, but so far I think I'm doing pretty kick-ass, if I do say so myself. That's what I did yesterday and today. Obviously no work on Fireworks Day (which I essentially didn't celebrate. Nice break in the middle of the week though).
In bigger news, today was also the wedding day of my really good friends mythagon and centauri. And for those of you that don't know, I was their officiant. I was nervous as hell, but I hope it didn't show too much. Mouth was dry, but I expected that going in. Everybody told me I did a great job, so I am inclined to believe them. Though what mattered to me most is that the two of them were pleased with it. And they were.
(To them: Thanks again for asking me. I was really glad to do it. Terrified, but glad. Congratulations!)
That's it from me. Looks like I might actually begin to have things to update people on. Will wonders never cease.