Monday, Mar. 27, 2006 :: I smell chicken noodle soup and MEK ::
it is yet again another monday. I have now been employeed for 3 months, wow. This morning the hangar was quite empty except for the arrow that's in for a 100 hour. Unforetunatly, there was an AD out on our arrows concerning cracks on the wing spars and I guess they found some over the weekend. Not my problem though. Today I got to work on a great lakes biplane. The FBI are not flying for two weeks, so we're taking this time to make some minor repairs to the fabric. Yes, I got to do fabric repairs... Something school said we wouldn't need to learn in practice... just know the facts. So I had to clean up the areas that were being repaired with MEK. There were probably 14 patches we put on or more.
I agree with the immigration bill that is causing much upset in this country. People are angry because they are being labeled as criminals in this country. HELLO! You're here illegally. Anyway, I'm a bit tired so I'm gonna go veg in front of the tv.
Stress level of the Day:
Thursday, Mar. 23, 2006 :: I've got the golden ticket! ::
ah the joys of dial up internet. we have dsl availalbe, but my grandmother wants to wait and see if the parks get high speed cable (which they said they were going to over 9 months ago and the company backed out.) She just doesn't understand because she has never used it! I try to tell her imagine everything happening 26 times faster. When you click a link, it opens... not loads for a minute. I stopped at a gas station before work to buy two pepsis. They are giving away gas money and free rides. So I saved my two caps and signed on when I got home to enter the codes. It took longer to load the pages and enter the codes than it did to drink the 2 pepsis! I almost feel like Charlie from Charlie and the chocolate factory where his family can't afford to buy a candy bar to try for the golden ticket. But he finds money on the street to go buy one. Similar where I can't get high speed so I have to plug along on dial up to try to win, lol. Anyhow, I finished up the odds and ends on the 100 hour inspection and got that plane out the door. Don't know what I'll start on tomorrow, but it's Friday and there's hockey saturday! hope everyone has a good weekend!
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Thursday, Mar. 23, 2006 :: thursday, um... ::
nothing new on my side of the world. I've been working on a few engines at work. Which means they're starting to trust me more =) I send off my first payment to my truck Tuesday morning. It was a bitter sweet feeling. My man's off looking for a house again after getting his first look at his paycheck with his raise in it. He's having a had time trying to get ahold of financial institutions to get financing. They must be busy... collecting money from houses that are close to forclosure, lol. Well, not that forclosures are funny. Just the price they want you to pay for the houses. The house builders have people holding signs out on the streets again to drum up some business which is a good sign that the market maybe slowing. Anyhow, off to work I go.
Music in the background: noneStress level of the Day: 3/10
Monday, Mar. 20, 2006 :: the job fair ::
so I went to the "job fair" for MD Helicopter on Saturday. I wouldn't really call it a fair really; it was more like a prescreening for employees. I applied for the engine overhaul and light technician positions. I waited around for about an hour and a half to have my prescreen interview. Where they filled out a back page "summary" that I could have done myself. Again, being a female mechanic you always get the comment, "that is so wonderful to see a woman in that field." Sure whatever, as long as you do what you like, why does it matter what sex you are. I don't want to be treated like the "female mechanic". I watched a few others get jobs and fill out their tax "packets" while I waited some more. My interviewer had ask me about my helicopter experience. She admitted she didn't know what Cessna and Piper were that I had listed on my resume. Because they were "fixed wing" she didn't know if that would count as experience. So she asked me to take a seat at a table again while she asked her associates about my resume. Well about 20 minutes later they called me back up to the front of the hangar (yes the job fair was in a MD helicopter hangar) and I was introduced to one of the men who supervises the light technicians. We should hands and he said, "let's take a walk." He said that he saw I went to Purdue and knew we had a good A&P program. Then he asked where I wanted to go with that experience. I mentioned that I could see myself getting an IA or working for the FSDO. Anyway, we talked a little about the fluctuating industry and how the major airlines are not the best place for job offers at the moment. We walked into another hangar. That had 6 stations of assembly work going on. I found out the "light technician" job is actually assembly line work... sorry sugar coat it as much as you want-- a sanitation engineer is still a janitor... a petroleum distribution engineer is still a gas pump attendent (LOL Lori) and a "light technician" is still an assembly line worker. And it's still an "at will" contract job. I'm just starting to get my head above water with my bills and now with my truck added in to my huge pile of debt, I cannot risk accepting an "at will" job even if it offers a few more dollars and is only a few block away. Job security means more sleep =) So I ended being there for about 3 hours (counting the time it took to fill out the thick paperwork to get that interview).
Music in the background: noneStress level of the Day: 3/10
Thursday, Mar. 16, 2006 :: Here's your sign... ::
The press never ceases to amaze me with thier ignorance. There is a big headline here in AZ concerning an opening statements for a hit and run, but that hasn't happened because jury selection is still ongoing. Mainly because some jurors were "tainted" from hearing a certain fact about the accused... and then they went on to say, "some members of the jury knew that the defendent had meth in their system and in their possession." HELLO, taint the whole world why don't ya! Anyway, the phoenix valley is growing fast. They say 375 people move to the valley everyday. 3.6 million people as of last year. That was the whole state's population in 1990. 60% of all arizonians live in maricopa county.
anyway, I stole something today... lol, now I have your attention right. Well, actually I did. With just cause though. There is a mexican couple that work in the kitchen at the cafe restaurant. They have an american flag on their car antenna... flying up-side down and it's faded and severely tattered. To me, that is disrespectful. So me and another guy at work took it off. Hopefully they dont do it again. Not a smart thing to do when a lot of the people visiting and working at the airport are military or ex-military.
Music in the background: noneStress level of the Day: 2/10
Wednesday, Mar. 15, 2006 :: DIIRRTY FUEL ::
I'M BACK! It was an informative seminar. I was also the youngest person there by atleast 20 years... haha, I guess everyone else thought they didn't need to know anything about their service department. BUT! I did learn something important. The GM service "manager" said that there is a company in Texas refining fuel- unregualted by the government. Shocking, I know. I can't believe this could be happening; you would think our government would be in control of this... ha, well in a way I guess you could say that they are. Being they OWN the oil companies... Anyway, this fuel is not regulated by the feds and is loaded down with additives that are harmful to fuel injected cars causing heavy deposits in the injectors. Now this is only for concern in the southwestern states like AZ, OK, TX, NM, and maybe NV. Stations that sell this gas are diamond shamrock, discount gas/supermarkets (yes even Sams). This additives cause corroding on the sensing units as well and can cause your gas gauge to freeze up. This can be remedied by using a fuel injector cleaner (recomend Chevron with Techron). Use it every third tank or so. So how can you avoid this dirty fuel down here in the south? Buy from Chevron, Shell, or QuickTrip. Pass it on to those you know down here!
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Wednesday, Mar. 15, 2006 :: out the door ::
oh I failed to mention yesterday that the MD Helicopter plant is just a block down the road. Meaning no driving to work for me! That'll pad the pocket book a little more =)
I finished installing the nose gear strut and tire today. Then I reinstalled all of the interior and the empanage access panels. So all the plane is waiting for now is its exhaust system. The cherokee is done and out. I'm sure the owner will love the bill he gets for his annual plus all the "man" hours spent to repair everything. Duane starting working on the cub that was flipped about a month ago. I guess the wings have been covered again and now he has to work out all the dents and cracks in the metal skin and replace all the crack plexiglass.
well, i should go clean up a little more before I head to the dealership! Have a good one all!
Stress level of the Day: 2/10
Tuesday, Mar. 14, 2006 :: tuesdays tattler ::
well, I've been updating my resume and searches on monster.com for a life line at a better job. No I don't hate my current job and I don't hate the people I work with. I also understand that I have to start at the bottom and do the dirty work like everyone did before me, but I still think I'm not being used to my full potential... or being paid fairly. (which I found out the the Labor Board considers Aircraft Technicians as UNSKILLED LABOR, WTF?) We hold more people's life in our hands daily than a surgeon does in a year, but we get paid a joke for a salary. Anyway, I got an email from monster stating that MD Helicopter is holding a job fair tomorrow and Sunday. They are looking for light technicians, but hey it could be a foot in the door to many other possiblities. And I think I can easily get higher pay. <>DAMN<> I just remembered that I RSVP'd for the Dealership's New Owner Clinic tomorrow at 6pm. So I guess I will go on Sunday.
Anyway today I did tires again, BIG surprise. I also got to pull the nose strut because it had fully collapse from leaking. Of course I did not forget to relieve the pressure this time ;) I repainted it so it's a bright clean white now.
Stress level of the Day: 3/10
Monday, Mar. 13, 2006 :: well hello again ::
well... a few weeks ago I was flipping through Smash's extra long buddy list and a name caught my fancy so I clicked on it. On that page they had a picture of a little cartoon character stating it's name and spieces and link to the site hosting this animal. This site was neopets.com Well, I clicked it, thoughtit was cool, and signed up for my own pet. Then adopted one (an abandoned neopet) and then another, and created one more. So now I have 4 hungry neopets to feed and shelpter. They have a 10 room house at the moment (poorly furnished at the moment) It's quite expensive. They only start you out with 250 "neopoints" (monies) and some of the cheepest food I could find is around 400 "np". To get np (neopoints) you have to play games and do little projects on the site. So I have been playin' my ass off to get this far. I played a dice game thats kinda of like the lottery and won 12K. Which helped feed them and build some of the house. The house so far has a couch, 2 table lamps, a decorative vase, a rug, and a table. Not much for four animals I know. I'm working on it.
Work is same old same old... Finally got the cherokee out of the hangar today.
143 days of no measurable rain. It ended Saturday, with a full day of rain. Here at our house the rain gauge measured 2.25 inches. Up in the mountains they got 30-51 inches of snow. There was even a little bit of snow fall in Scottsdale. I drove out into the mountains today after work to snap a few shots of the snow covered tops.
Stress level of the Day: 3/10
