Last week my parents bought a new 4-Runner. This is both good and bad news for me. Good because I will now get their "old" 4-Runner. By "old", I mean 2009, which is by no means old, but much newer than the 1993 model that I drive right now. It'll be retired. That's the bad news.
Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate all their help and actually kind of look forward to getting a newer, more reliable vehicle for "dirt cheap" - but I'm really gonna miss the Ol' Girl that I drive right now.
It's kind of bittersweet. Common sense says Level Up, but my heart says...well...yeah....I'm not sure how to put what my heart says into words. (That's another entirely new problem.)
I love my Ol' Girl. Just keep everything maintained and her gas tank full and she'll get you where you need to go. There may be a little trouble along the way, but I know her inside and out....and so far I've been able to fix all the immediate issues that need fixin'. Ol' Girl is kind of like Serenity, she needs a little lovin' every once in a while, but if you know what needs workin' and where to be lookin', she'll tell ya what's worth fixin'.
She's perfect for what I need. I don't do a lot of driving...period. Maybe once or twice a week, and usually to school and errands. Very little highway driving; even fewer gravel roads. But when I need to drive, she's there. Ready to go. Fires right up.
I KNOW that vehicle. I know where exactly all her corners are...I haven't hit a thing yet. I know how tight to turn the steering wheel before the power steering starts to leak. I know how to rev her up to get rid of the cold-start fan belt squeal. I know that the fan doesn't always work, and how to get it going. I know that the back window won't go down if it's colder than -15. I know how hard to push her on the highway to keep her gas mileage at optimum (...not any faster than 105). When I'm driving her, she's almost like an extension of myself. I keep her full of gas, her oil and miscellaneous fluids up to date and she gets me where I gots to go. It's wonderful. (She even dealt really well when Dad and I tried to jump a relay to keep the defog working....)
I'm not sure how I feel about trading her in for a fresher, newer, more reliable model.
Also, everything is manual on her: windows, locks, 4x4...even the transmission. Not just anyone can jump in and get her to go. You gotta know what you're doing.
Manual everything. Another reason why I love Ol' Girl so much. When she's broken, she's easy to fix.
On the newer model, everything I've come to love being manual....is electric. If something breaks, it means a trip to the shop, or learning how to hack the computer. I'm not sure how my toolbox will feel about this.
Dad asked me to think about selling Ol' Girl. That's where I'm really torn. She's not worth much...just tires (new last spring), battery (new this winter), and spare parts (engine has 420 000kms on it). I know I won't get what she's worth.
Also, I don't want to sell her to just anyone. She needs a good home. Selling her is kind of like realizing that you need to sell your "old reliable" saddle horse that taught you how to ride...only because you don't have enough feed for everyone this winter. You have to let him go, but you don't want him ending up at just any ranch. You want him to go to the family with the tiny human who's just learning how to ride; so he'll teach that tiny human how to be a better cowpoke. You know that you could leave your kid on that horse, and he'll always end up at home at the end of the day....even if there is a little bit of trouble along the way. Ol' Girl is just like that. I know I'll end up at home, there just might be a little bit of trouble along the way. Trouble that I have no problem getting out of.
I want Ol' Girl to go to a kid who wants to learn how to maintain a vehicle. A kid who's just learning about driving, engines, all that good stuff and needs a vehicle that's seen a lot, but will teach them a lot along the way. Honestly, I don't think that kids like that exist anymore. When a kid turns 16, it seems like they expect their parents to get them something brand-spanking-new. Something with bells and whistles. Not something that they can learn with.
I'm planning on making the switch-out in April, when I'm home for Easter. I'm going to keep a piece of her to put in my "treasure box". I still haven't decided what part that'll be; it's going to be small but significant. It'll be a really sad day.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
Adventures in Mechanical Testing - Part 2 (Otherwise known as "Pick Your Battles")
Day 10 of Mechanical Testing and things are still moving reasonably tickety-boo (knock on wood).
Yeah, there's been set-backs and nothing has gone over perfectly, but it's mechanical testing and research. I've come to understand why Stewart was so mind-numbingly calm whenever something went terribly wrong. I guess he had to be. With all the things that could possibly go wrong (and all the things that did), it would take too much energy to get excited about every little "oops". Even the little "oops"'s are wearing thin on the Vet Resident. She has a tendency to get freaked out about little things, but I think she's learning not to get freaked out unless I get freaked out. Honestly, I don't have the energy to get freaked out. Freaking out is exhausting.
I'm about as calm as the Vet "Attending" (if you want to call him that). I saw him for the first time in a little over a week on Thursday. He called me the "Instrumentation Elf". We have a system, and within it I'm completely ubiquitous and anonymous. They text me when there's legs to strain gauge, I go over and gauge them, then I go back to the test or to my office. In and out. No fuss, no muss. It's almost like I'm not even there....they leave me legs (like cookies) and I gauge them and bolt (like Santa leaving presents). He wasn't even worried that there was something wrong. He figured that everything was going as well as it could until he heard from me. He's right.
This whole process has me thinking about how it's worth picking your battles. Yeah, gauges have failed, legs haven't quite been set correctly, and the list goes on and on; but if I got even a little bit upset about every little thing that went wrong, I'd be even more exhausted than I already am.
Brings me to discuss another battle that should have been wisely chosen....but wasn't.
There's a GSA Referendum coming up, and as GSA Council Chair, it also makes me CRO for the referendum aka a lot of work at the worst possible time.
Long-story-short: There was a misprint in the Sheaf; student in charge of campaign panicked; asked me how the problem should be solved. Frankly, the Sheaf's inability to check facts or proof-read is not our problem.
My proposed solution - Write them a letter, tell them they fucked up and move on.
I told the student that this would be done, and no more...because it's not worth getting excited over. She panicked - "What if people vote on the wrong day? Should we put up posters? Send a mass e-mail? Change the referendum date?"
I told her to STFU and CTFD (calm the fuck down)....but not in that many words. That would get me into trouble.
True her concerns were warranted, but this wasn't worth picking a battle over. An oversight on your part does not make an emergency on mine. It was a problem worth solving, not a problem worth wasting energy and getting excited over.
Funny how my life seems to overlap itself....like an after school special. Weird.
Yeah, there's been set-backs and nothing has gone over perfectly, but it's mechanical testing and research. I've come to understand why Stewart was so mind-numbingly calm whenever something went terribly wrong. I guess he had to be. With all the things that could possibly go wrong (and all the things that did), it would take too much energy to get excited about every little "oops". Even the little "oops"'s are wearing thin on the Vet Resident. She has a tendency to get freaked out about little things, but I think she's learning not to get freaked out unless I get freaked out. Honestly, I don't have the energy to get freaked out. Freaking out is exhausting.
I'm about as calm as the Vet "Attending" (if you want to call him that). I saw him for the first time in a little over a week on Thursday. He called me the "Instrumentation Elf". We have a system, and within it I'm completely ubiquitous and anonymous. They text me when there's legs to strain gauge, I go over and gauge them, then I go back to the test or to my office. In and out. No fuss, no muss. It's almost like I'm not even there....they leave me legs (like cookies) and I gauge them and bolt (like Santa leaving presents). He wasn't even worried that there was something wrong. He figured that everything was going as well as it could until he heard from me. He's right.
This whole process has me thinking about how it's worth picking your battles. Yeah, gauges have failed, legs haven't quite been set correctly, and the list goes on and on; but if I got even a little bit upset about every little thing that went wrong, I'd be even more exhausted than I already am.
Brings me to discuss another battle that should have been wisely chosen....but wasn't.
There's a GSA Referendum coming up, and as GSA Council Chair, it also makes me CRO for the referendum aka a lot of work at the worst possible time.
Long-story-short: There was a misprint in the Sheaf; student in charge of campaign panicked; asked me how the problem should be solved. Frankly, the Sheaf's inability to check facts or proof-read is not our problem.
My proposed solution - Write them a letter, tell them they fucked up and move on.
I told the student that this would be done, and no more...because it's not worth getting excited over. She panicked - "What if people vote on the wrong day? Should we put up posters? Send a mass e-mail? Change the referendum date?"
I told her to STFU and CTFD (calm the fuck down)....but not in that many words. That would get me into trouble.
True her concerns were warranted, but this wasn't worth picking a battle over. An oversight on your part does not make an emergency on mine. It was a problem worth solving, not a problem worth wasting energy and getting excited over.
Funny how my life seems to overlap itself....like an after school special. Weird.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Adventures in Mechanical Testing
So I'm a few days late. Sue me....in fact, Sarah - kick me.
Today was Day 6 of mechanical testing, and we had our first "oops". It wasn't a catastrophic "oops", but it was a big enough "oops" for the Vets to get very, very frustrated. I was cool with it. "Oops" happens. It's Mechanical Testing. Throw Research on top of it, and you have a pretty frustrating and ugly beast that needs taming. Sometimes it's never tamed, only reluctantly caged.
We solved our "oops", after a little bit of creative thinking and negotiation (that's why I have the Engineering Degree), and we should be able to test it out tomorrow, provided there are no more "oops"'s.
This round of testing reminds me why I left industry in some parts (constant plan changing - so much so that it's hardly worth making a plan), but it reminds me about what I miss.
I miss being called "Trouble". I miss working with my hands. I miss decompressing data - I may change my mind after dealing with 20 +1G .txt files - but for now it's cool.
I don't miss making plans up as they go. I don't miss trying to squeeze more work than humanly possible into a very short time frame. I don't miss waiting until a test finishes to see how it's all going to turn out. I don't miss it when there are no results.
Either way, I'm sure this month will garner it's fair share of "oops"'s. I'm cool with it.
Today was Day 6 of mechanical testing, and we had our first "oops". It wasn't a catastrophic "oops", but it was a big enough "oops" for the Vets to get very, very frustrated. I was cool with it. "Oops" happens. It's Mechanical Testing. Throw Research on top of it, and you have a pretty frustrating and ugly beast that needs taming. Sometimes it's never tamed, only reluctantly caged.
We solved our "oops", after a little bit of creative thinking and negotiation (that's why I have the Engineering Degree), and we should be able to test it out tomorrow, provided there are no more "oops"'s.
This round of testing reminds me why I left industry in some parts (constant plan changing - so much so that it's hardly worth making a plan), but it reminds me about what I miss.
I miss being called "Trouble". I miss working with my hands. I miss decompressing data - I may change my mind after dealing with 20 +1G .txt files - but for now it's cool.
I don't miss making plans up as they go. I don't miss trying to squeeze more work than humanly possible into a very short time frame. I don't miss waiting until a test finishes to see how it's all going to turn out. I don't miss it when there are no results.
Either way, I'm sure this month will garner it's fair share of "oops"'s. I'm cool with it.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
I think they're cutting the wrong jobs...
Ok, so I'm a day late, but I think it's a good thing. Mostly so I can let my head cool.
Yesterday morning I was pretty pissed off. Still am. Problem still exists, but it's solved as good as it can be given the different procedures in place at the University. Damn.
To set the scene. I received a scholarship in December that I can claim given I defend in January (CHECK) and register in the PhD program before January 31 (CHECK). The way the letter was worded, as long as I met these conditions, I could claim the scholarship from January to April (4 months). I never heard anything from the grad secretary, so I assumed that everything was fine. I assumed wrong. Fuck.
Well, someone along the way dropped the ball (I'm going to point fingers at my grad secretary) and I didn't get paid for January on time. I was anticipating this paycheque, so not getting it has thrown a huge monkey wrench in my finances. HUGE.
I phoned the secretary yesterday morning. Politely told her to get her ass in gear and asked how soon I could get my paycheque. Turns out I can get part of it next week (yay) but it'll shift ALL my U of S paycheques between now and May (WTF!?).
I talked with HR, we came up with a plan. The least shitty of plans. They were all pretty shitty. Part of the conversation went like this:
HR: "This kind of mix-up is really common for employees receiving a stipend and doing casual work. It can be expected."
Me: "Just because they've come to expect a mix-up like this doesn't mean that it's correct or warranted."
HR: "Well we haven't had any complaints yet."
Me: "Expect one."
I'm working on my complaint letter. I guess I'm not the first person to get fucked over, and according to HR, I won't be the last. Stupid HR. Stupid U of S Financial Department. Grumpy, grumpy, grumpy.
The secretary then phoned me back (kind of unprofesisonal-like) to stick up for herself because she felt like I was laying blame on her. Which I was, but that's not the issue. I think if she'd actually been doing her job correctly, then she wouldn't feel the need to defend herself. But whatever. Here's part of our conversation:
Secretary: "But it's not my fault that he (my supervisor) didn't submit the form on time. I can't start the account without knowing where to take the money from."
Me: "That's fine. Did you do everything you could to make sure he returned the form on time?"
Secretary: "Like what, send a reminder?"
Me: "Yes."
Secretary: "Well, I don't think it's my responsibility to remind people to submit forms."
Me: "You're an 'assistant'. You 'assist' people. Sending reminders 'assists' people."
Secretary: "I don't think I should be sending reminders."
Me: "You may want to add it to your standard procedures. It's called a 'follow-up'. You may want to start doing everything you can to help the process, because it's flawed and now my finances are screwed up from now until April - provided I don't get another scholarship. I'm going to talk with the Department Head and see what I can do to file a formal complaint."
Secretary: "Are you sure you want to go to that much trouble. It's not my fault."
Me: "There's a problem, and if no one knows about it, it won't get solved. Goodbye."
I'm still pissed. Honestly, I'm just glad that I have REALLY UNDERSTANDING PARENTS that are able to help bail me out of a financial mess that I really didn't cause. It's the end of the month - there's bills to pay. I don't want cheques to bounce. Good thing my fridge is full, because although they helped out, this coming week is going to be pretty meager.
Good thing I'm coming up on "crazy fucking busy" too...less time to get into trouble. Trouble requires coin.
Yesterday morning I was pretty pissed off. Still am. Problem still exists, but it's solved as good as it can be given the different procedures in place at the University. Damn.
To set the scene. I received a scholarship in December that I can claim given I defend in January (CHECK) and register in the PhD program before January 31 (CHECK). The way the letter was worded, as long as I met these conditions, I could claim the scholarship from January to April (4 months). I never heard anything from the grad secretary, so I assumed that everything was fine. I assumed wrong. Fuck.
Well, someone along the way dropped the ball (I'm going to point fingers at my grad secretary) and I didn't get paid for January on time. I was anticipating this paycheque, so not getting it has thrown a huge monkey wrench in my finances. HUGE.
I phoned the secretary yesterday morning. Politely told her to get her ass in gear and asked how soon I could get my paycheque. Turns out I can get part of it next week (yay) but it'll shift ALL my U of S paycheques between now and May (WTF!?).
I talked with HR, we came up with a plan. The least shitty of plans. They were all pretty shitty. Part of the conversation went like this:
HR: "This kind of mix-up is really common for employees receiving a stipend and doing casual work. It can be expected."
Me: "Just because they've come to expect a mix-up like this doesn't mean that it's correct or warranted."
HR: "Well we haven't had any complaints yet."
Me: "Expect one."
I'm working on my complaint letter. I guess I'm not the first person to get fucked over, and according to HR, I won't be the last. Stupid HR. Stupid U of S Financial Department. Grumpy, grumpy, grumpy.
The secretary then phoned me back (kind of unprofesisonal-like) to stick up for herself because she felt like I was laying blame on her. Which I was, but that's not the issue. I think if she'd actually been doing her job correctly, then she wouldn't feel the need to defend herself. But whatever. Here's part of our conversation:
Secretary: "But it's not my fault that he (my supervisor) didn't submit the form on time. I can't start the account without knowing where to take the money from."
Me: "That's fine. Did you do everything you could to make sure he returned the form on time?"
Secretary: "Like what, send a reminder?"
Me: "Yes."
Secretary: "Well, I don't think it's my responsibility to remind people to submit forms."
Me: "You're an 'assistant'. You 'assist' people. Sending reminders 'assists' people."
Secretary: "I don't think I should be sending reminders."
Me: "You may want to add it to your standard procedures. It's called a 'follow-up'. You may want to start doing everything you can to help the process, because it's flawed and now my finances are screwed up from now until April - provided I don't get another scholarship. I'm going to talk with the Department Head and see what I can do to file a formal complaint."
Secretary: "Are you sure you want to go to that much trouble. It's not my fault."
Me: "There's a problem, and if no one knows about it, it won't get solved. Goodbye."
I'm still pissed. Honestly, I'm just glad that I have REALLY UNDERSTANDING PARENTS that are able to help bail me out of a financial mess that I really didn't cause. It's the end of the month - there's bills to pay. I don't want cheques to bounce. Good thing my fridge is full, because although they helped out, this coming week is going to be pretty meager.
Good thing I'm coming up on "crazy fucking busy" too...less time to get into trouble. Trouble requires coin.
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