Fire, mentholyptus and DirectTV
I started my welding classes this past monday. I guess the teacher knew there was know hope for any articulation on our part, so our assignment was simple.
1) Light this oxy acetylene torch
2) Cut this steel this size
Interestingly, (to me) if you are unable to draw a straight line on paper, you are similarly unable to cut a straight line with an oxygen torch. By my forth attempt I was able to cut a fairly decent line. There is an amazing amount of nuance to cutting with a torch. The thickness of the metal, the size of the cutting tip, the pressure of the oxygen, etc. The cool part was watching the molten metal splatter around. According to our book, next week will be more cutting, this time with a plasma tool. I am hoping this will go better since there is (allegedly) less preheat temperature to deal with.
Monday was a bad day at work. I had the beginnings of a cold lurking around my throat and when I got to work, I learned my supervisor, a very cool and charismatic leader, was being shown the door. Literally, after 15 years, he was being frog-marched out the door. As though he were a security threat. The level of insult for him, I can barely comprehend. Is frog-marched an ethnic slur? Messieurs les Francois, je m'excuse.
Anyway, the stress of dealing with that must have exacerbated my cold and I have been at home yesterday and today. That hasn't been a total loss, though as I have discovered the joys of DVR from DirectTV. You know all those shows that are on at ridiculous hours, like Junkyard Wars and Invention Nation? No longer a prob. The fact that Survivor is on at the same time as Smallville. Dealt with. How did people survive sans DVR?
It's flippin' sweet.
1) Light this oxy acetylene torch
2) Cut this steel this size
Interestingly, (to me) if you are unable to draw a straight line on paper, you are similarly unable to cut a straight line with an oxygen torch. By my forth attempt I was able to cut a fairly decent line. There is an amazing amount of nuance to cutting with a torch. The thickness of the metal, the size of the cutting tip, the pressure of the oxygen, etc. The cool part was watching the molten metal splatter around. According to our book, next week will be more cutting, this time with a plasma tool. I am hoping this will go better since there is (allegedly) less preheat temperature to deal with.
Monday was a bad day at work. I had the beginnings of a cold lurking around my throat and when I got to work, I learned my supervisor, a very cool and charismatic leader, was being shown the door. Literally, after 15 years, he was being frog-marched out the door. As though he were a security threat. The level of insult for him, I can barely comprehend. Is frog-marched an ethnic slur? Messieurs les Francois, je m'excuse.
Anyway, the stress of dealing with that must have exacerbated my cold and I have been at home yesterday and today. That hasn't been a total loss, though as I have discovered the joys of DVR from DirectTV. You know all those shows that are on at ridiculous hours, like Junkyard Wars and Invention Nation? No longer a prob. The fact that Survivor is on at the same time as Smallville. Dealt with. How did people survive sans DVR?
It's flippin' sweet.