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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Sophie's Ice Pics

Sophie is going nuts in the house, so she got out yesterday after the ice storm and took a few pics.




Salt Supply

I appreciate the concern over global warming, no seriously I do. But why is it that every year the local governments are complaining about not having enough salt!?! I mean do we really have to go through this every year? I can't remember anytime when I was younger that salt was such issue. Plus how many years in a row do you have to be short on salt before you start buying more - idiots. If you didn't have enough 2 years ago, then didn't have enough last year, then you need to BUY MORE SALT. Seriously I can't feel sorry for cities and states that don't realize they need to buy more salt. If they are sitting there thinking that things are warming up, they need to dislodge their head from their hind quarters (remove head from rear end) and realize that the only thing that is getting hotter is my temper from driving on snow and ice covered roads. Ahhhh, I feel better all ready.

An exhausting week

I'm a little tired this week, and the weather isn't helping the situation any. First I stayed up way too late on Sunday watching the fight on Versus. Wait, lets go back to Saturday, when Ricco brought his Wii up, and we played until the Wii hours of the night. You know I guess that is where that phrase comes from, I never really thought about it before, heck I didn't even realize the pioneers had the Wii. Anyway so then I stayed up late to watch the fight and I kept dozing in and out, and Jamie Varner ended up winning a split decision after four rounds because Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone kneed him in the head while he was on the ground - dumb. I woke up at the end of the fight and Varner was down on the mat and they were like "the fight is over" and I didn't understand what was going on until Varner got on there and started swearing - unnecessary. He cleared thing up, because I initially thought he had lost and I was kind of surprised. For the rest of the week it has pretty much been get up, shovel, drive an hour and half to work on the crappy roads, work, drive an hour and a half home on the crappy roads, and then shovel. Then yesterday I did something really fun. See we had a giant ice storm Tuesday night and everything was covered in ice Wednesday morning. Sophie was trying to talk me out of going to work at 6:00 in the AM because we were under a level 3 advisory, which is - Don't drive unless you have too. So I told her I would just go out and shovel the driveway and then call in and see if they needed me. Also it was raining in the morning. Anyway I go out to shovel and I have my car keys so I start thinking "I might as well warm up the car, it couldn't hurt." So I get in on the passenger side and start the car. While I'm in there I decide to open the driver door to break the ice off it and roll down the window and clean them off. Then I get out to scrap off the front and back. I go to open the door to throw the scraper back in, and low and behold the door doesn't open. So I like, "crap the door froze" but it didn't, I locked it. Either accidentally or by habit, I'm not sure which, but I think that I left the driver door open anyway so no be deal. So I slide around the car (literally) and try to open the driver door, but apparently I locked it too. And the car is still running. So I go in and ask Sophie where the spare key is? No one knows. Crap. I then rig up a clothes hanger, because I have seen enough keys getting locked in cars that I think I can unlock it myself. Well the strength of the average clothes hanger does not compare to the strength the tool the police use. So then I start getting a little desperate. Mind you it is still raining and the road is iced over, so there is no way I can call anyone to come, and the car is still running. So I start trying to just jam the hanger in through the edge of the door frame, and after about 5 minutes I finally find a place where it will fit in, about 20 minutes total. But get the hanger through the door and actually manipulating it to open the lock are two completely, and I stress completely, different things. First I realize that the hanger in its current configuration won't hook the lock, so I remove the hanger and re-bend it. Then after about 15 - 20 minutes of fishing I finally get the door unlocked. By then I am completely drenched, coat, pants, long underwear. I changed, called work and decided to go in. It was a long ride. Then it was a long ride back and when I got home I had to shovel the drive again. It hasn't been a real fun week. Oh and also Sampson hasn't had school since Monday, and I think between him and Peach and not being able to go anywhere, Sophie is going a little 'stir-crazy'. I could tell because she actually wanted to play Resistance 2 with me. Unfortunately she got sick after about 2/3 of a level and had to stop. It's okay, I'm sure things will warm up and get better next week. Commonnnnnn Ground Hog!!! or Al Gore, global warming my butt, no seriously my butt needs global warming it is still frozen from yesterday.

Bellcot - Day 5

I have officially made my complaint with Taco Bell. As they respond I will update.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Taco Bellcot

That's right, I'm boycotting Taco Bell. Why you ask, let me tell you. Lets go back to the fall of 1994, when I was first introduced the border. My buddy from high school recommended we try "The Bell" after one of the school's playoff games. Me being completely foreign to the world of the burrito decided to try something simple - the chili cheese burrito - and relationship was born. It was a simple love, nothing fancy, and easily satisfied, just the way I like it. It was a love that grew while I was at college as I could easily attain the chili cheese burrito as it was only two blocks away from my apartment. Then after college something bad happened - they took the chili cheese burrito off the menu. That's right. I was distraught, upset, it couldn't be explained. They still had the chili, they still had the cheese, and they definitely had burritos. I didn't understand it. Then something wonderful happened in the summer of 2007. After a hiatus from the border I was reunited with my beloved in Florida. I couldn't believe it, perhaps they only had these down south, but when we returned home the CCB had returned as well. But only to the Taco Bell store's not the Bell / KFC stores. No matter, because now I could still get what I craved... until today. Apparently they have taken it away again. Still no explanation why. They still have the chili, still have the cheese, still have the burritos. So now, I am going to voice my protest to them directly, and boycott until my demands are met. I won't ask anyone else to take up my fight, I'm not like that. If you feel compelled, I won't stop you, but it might be a tough battle, and it will continue until the Chili Cheese is returned to its rightful spot.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

NFL Championships for the birds

More literally this year, 75% of the conference championship games will concern feathered mascots. As far as the AFC goes, well it is a game that many Browns fans couldn't care less about. I'll probably tune in to see what the field looks like, because of all the snow we've gotten lately, but that is about it. I figure it will have all of the offense fire works of a checkers game at the old folks home. These two teams run the ball and play tough defense, and that is about it. I look for it to be a close game and probable end under controversy. I do hope the steel towners get beat I guess, but that is only so I don't have to listen to that annoying Superbowl song for two weeks. ugh.

Sledding in '09

Well there was some debate about whether or not the kids had ever gotten to go sled riding or not so I have put together some visual evidence. There was a lot of snow today so we took the kids out to play. A good time was had by all.



A poem

Apparently some of the folks I worked with at the Triple C made a poem (well one guy, chief red metal) and he wanted to post it on the old blog. So without further adue... (did I mention he won the 2008 nobel prize in literature)

He worked with us a real good friend
He hated to leave at the very end.

His ideas were neat a true originator
Producing the 2000 model Cecilator

His DCS there was no slack
Kept him busy making that carbon black

Then came that day we knew was near
Marshall lost their Process Engineer

He said good bye left somewhat sad
Told all his buddies the good times he had.

Then came one day the phone rang tall
Old Kirk made that first phone call

He talked with Dean, Big Mike was near
He grabbed that phone pulled to his ear.

Hey old buddy are you liking it
But all big Mike heard was a click.

Hey Dean my buddy hung up on me
Dean replied how could that be.

Its been awhile we’ve heard no more
He’s probably busy on the potroom floor.

Hey Kirk we’re still here making the final black
If you get sometime you can call us back!!


-Pretty awesome, brings a tear to my eye.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Final Decision

Well I've made up my mind to stay at the big O and give things a shot. So far so good. I am starting to come around, I guess is the easy way to put it. I kind of actually like it a lot more than I thought I would. Which is great. I got my office, I got my new computer, laptop even, so that is cool. It even motivated me to set up my wireless network at home finally. So I did. It took about an hour, but now it is set up so I can bring the laptop home and work wirelessly (this may or may not be a word). I even made the network secure, and I found out that some of my neighbors don't have a secure wireless network, ha ha ha. But it's too late for me. I guess I could have used their network, but I wouldn't want to do that. Oh I also set my laptop up to have two displays in my office, thanks Stevie for that little tip. I guess you can set up any laptop with XP or Vista to do this you just have to check the extend my display box. Neat. Anyway just wanted to let you know. Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts through this tough transition.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Blog back to Normal

I finally had a chance to take down the 'decorations' from Christmas and put the music back to normal. Hopefully things will slow down a little and I can get back to blogging on a more normal basis, at least that is what the people want or so I heard....

Back in the Saddle

Well I ended my unemployment by going back to my former employer. You see they had actually contacted the day that the other plant had announced they were going to close and I did a phone interview on that Friday, but I didn't really want to go back. You see the last time I left was at the end of the strike when I was first severed. I had worked very hard during the strike and even before the strike, but when the rolling mill shut down some of the salary from the reduction plant that had been working down there came back and with the people that were coming back there were 6 people too many. So they decided to cut by seniority, which I had never seen them do and I happened to be in the bottom 6 on seniority. So I was greatly disappointed and didn't really know what to do, because they still needed me to work to train the people who were coming back. Not only did I help train the people coming back, (because I actually had a personal relationship with the people and I liked them and didn't want to see them get hurt because I didn't teach them everything I could have, I would have had a harder time with that if people I was responsible for got hurt, which is ironic because...) I took a casting position which was essential the pit lead. Though it was the only shift out of four that didn't have the shift lead as the caster, but that was probably due to me being the youngest person on the shift. Anyway I hated that job, and actually ended up getting a 3rd degree burn on my ankle, which essentially ended my casting career, but by the time I was healthy enough to come back I already had another job at the triple C ranch. Now I'm back, and I have been hit with a lot of old emotions, but I have an opportunity to leave and go somewhere else. So rather than stay I put my notice in after working 3 days and a funny thing happened. People were like 'Don't leave', 'think about it'. And that is all I have been doing for the last 2 months is think about it, with Sophie and the kids (thus the reason for the lack of blogging lately). You see the old O would have probably said get your stuff and leave, but this time the operations manager came down to my office and essentially tried to convince me to stay. Which signals to me a big difference in management from the way it used to be and some of the people said this is the best it has been for them since they worked there.

The dilemma is I have an offer from a place in Marietta with an industry that I don't have any experience in and I don't even know if I would like it, plus 3 to 4 hours in a car everyday unless I move the family. On paper the the O is actually the better deal, but if I knew for sure the other place would be there in 5 years I would switch in heart beat, because that is more important right now. Or is it? Should I just stay here for as long as I can, one or two years? I worked with the people this week and things went pretty well, plus the relationship that I have with most people is good, and I know the job, it is a little more physical than other places, but nothing I can't do.

Basically the theme of the last two weeks has been 'I don't know', because after the plant I worked at shut down due to whatever their reason was I don't know what it will take for a plant to make it through the current down turn. And I don't know what the better decision is right now either. The salary people at the O are great, and none of the people that put me in the earlier situation are there, it is just a matter of me getting over the old demons of the place. I have prayed and prayed about the situation that God would lead me to the right thing to do, and looking back I don't know if I have taken the signs the right way or just haven't wanted to take them the right way because of the animosity that I had for the plant and my former situation. But when I asked for an answer of where to go the next day the paper had on the front page that one area plant was thriving and that was the O. Plus they called like two hours after the announced closing of the other plant. And then when I put in my notice they gave me a reprieve which is pretty unheard of. I mean how many places are you going to work where you say 'I'm leaving' and they responded 'no, think about it more'. So it is like I completely ignored all the signs and looked for any excuse I could and God basically is screaming at me what to do, so maybe now I'm ready to listen. I can work there and be happy I just have to put the stuff from the past, well in the past and focus on what I can do in the short term. I'll update next week when I have finalized my decision, but I think I'm pretty much there. I just need to talk to the guy from the other plant and let him know. This was a very important cross roads for me and Sophie.

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Wii Night

Well we did get to go to Ricco's to play a little Wii and I think Sophie really took to it. We all got a chance to play. Ricco showed us the bowling first and it was pretty neat then he showed us the boxing. I got to fight him first and I was going crazy swinging that little controller around for about 10 minutes before losing a unanimous decision. The Sophie took the controls against her Dad. I think she may have had a little pent up frustration that she needed to take out as she proceeded to level up Dad in the First Round. Ricco said it was possible to get an early knockout but she hit him so that he did a dang gone flip. A FLIP. Well then I decided I needed to get in there and set her straight only she proceeded to knock me out too!! At least I didn't knocked out 'til the 3rd round, but man, I think Sophie missed her calling. She could have been the greatest. Sophie Ali or Iron Sophie Helfen, or Sugar Sophie Helfen. Anyway now she wants one, but I think deep down she only wants it so that she can beat up on pixelated versions of me and the kids. I wonder if there is like a handicap match were we could all three beat up on her... we'd probably just be more embarrassed when she whipped us though. If only I could convince her to come kill aliens with me on Resistance. I think I might have a gamer on my hands. One final note, at least I mercy ruled her in baseball. Also our arms all hurt today.

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Unemployed

I was thinking about the title I would put here for a while. 'The end of an era', perhaps or 'All good things, must come to an end', or even 'Done'. But I settled on this one because it is what it is. I will be sans job for today and tomorrow and start a new, er... old job on Monday. It was a pretty emotional finish yesterday. Have you ever done something and realized it was the last time you would doing something, or the last time you would be some place. It was kind of a two month build up to that point yesterday. Some people I may never see again, and some places it won't get to go again, but in the end I guess it is for the better. I mean I could have stayed to ride it out, but really I needed to move on to something else as fast as possible. I did like working there, it was probably the best job I have had yet. There wasn't something I couldn't do there and there were opportunities to grow. I could have stayed with them I suppose in a different area, but I would have had a hard time with that. I'm feeling a little sorry for myself today I guess, I stopped and got a monster burger on my way home last night. I figure it is ok to be a little depressed about this given the circumstance, but I need to shake it off pretty quick. I want to start Monday at least with an up beat attitude even though there is nothing guaranteed past a year. Today we might go bowling later or at least Wii bowling at Ricco's house. Well hope everybody had a great new year, once I get things straightened out I should be able to tell whether this was a good one or not. So far today I made pancakes for the kids, changed some light bulbs, hit the heavy bag, watched back to the future II and blogged. Hopefully on one more day of unemployment to go....

A day I will not soon be Forgetting (work)

Today, December 9th, will be a day that I will not soon forget. At work last night there was a power failure, so at a little after midnight I got a call from the shift foreman that the DCS had only rebooted 1 computer, and I told him that since the plant was shutting down in a matter of a month that it would probably be okay to let the units idle and I would take a look at it in the morning. Well in the morning the computers were in the same state, so I re-booted the two that didn't restarted and they worked fine and the servers were okay. Unit 3 was still down because it didn't act right when they tried to run it in idle after the power blip. So we tried it, and the furnace didn't look right and I didn't think that the blower sounded right, and I had the electrician take a look at the motor control. It checked out okay. Then we checked the valves and the instrumentation to make sure we didn't just 'think' we had a problem, but they checked out too. So we fired it up again and this time the air rate coming through the furnace was noticeably not right as the flare on the furnace was smoking (not normal) and the valves had opened as needed. The only explanation was that the heat exchanger was leaking from being shutdown so abruptly during the power outage (this is usually the last thing you check for because it means mega downtime to change the heat exchanger). Well Dean Markum and his gang checked the old heat exchanger module and sure enough if wouldn't pass the pressure test, so in all likelihood Unit 3 has produced its last pounds of black. I would be curious to see how bad the exchanger got burnt up, but in all probability I won't. During this ordeal the day shift tried to start to other unit. Apparently during the power outage some of the sets in the DCS were reset though and the valve that allows are exhaust gas to be used for fuel was shut. Needless to say when we started calling for the fuel gas it was unavailable. I radioed to the controllman that the valve should be 100% open, well just as he opened it BOOM. It actually sounded like 2 large metal canisters being banged together, but was definitely due to the hot gas meeting the air. There was no significant damage from this as far as I can tell yet, but the unit collector must have been damaged during the power outage as well. Either way ye haw. So Unit 3 maybe done for good and the other unit may be down for a while as well. No biggy as we are not pressed for orders and the plant is going to shut down anyway. My boss was at our corporate headquarters today and yesterday, 'Hey remember how we wanted to shut the plant down and stuff? Well don't worry we took care of it.'

Note: not posted until after the first of the year, after I had left this facility.

Update: I originally did this post on the 9th and in fact unit 3 did run again and I did get to see the heat exchangers and man were they bad. The tubes were almost all the way gone in the third exchanger and partly gone in the second. A couple of the guys said this was the worst they had seen but it made sense since they tried to coast the unit for an hour or so. It basically means all of the combustion was taking place at the heat exchanger and not the reactor as the gas wasn't being burned until it met the leaking air and basically torched the last two modules. In the end we didn't run very much the rest of the month though, in fact none in my last two weeks.