“Broken Promises”

When I wrote that last article I said I was going to write more down, I guess I lied. Shit happens I suppose.

I went man and read what I wrote about 18 months ago, and damn, I think I am more salty now. I was so naive then, thinking that smash town companies have less drama. That’s definitely a lie.

Where am I now?

I’m still with the same company, but more I’m pretty much in charge of IT. My old boss is still my boss on paper, but he’s taken more responsibility in the project management side and has left me to deal with IT.

We lost one and fired another since the last time I wrote here. The first, I was offering him a promotion and after I was done with my speech about it, he told me he was leaving. It was fine honestly, ownership didn’t like him very much and he didn’t have much motivation. Agree that but left we decided to hire a Sys Admin, and after some months of searching we found one. He fit the bill pretty good to begin with, but then things started getting lost and projects were only half finished. We decided to let him go after about a year.

After we let that guy go, I was talking with a supervisor on our production floor about the opening and he said he was interested. My boss and I talked and after the usual bureaucratic stuff we hired him. I can teach any one about the things I know, but what I can’t teach is what this guy has, the willingness to learn. I can mention odd topics during a rant, and a couple hours later he will come back asking for clarification on that topic, he had already gone and done his own research but wasn’t quite sure on some things. He’ll go off again and come back a little bit later with even better questions and really good grasp on the subject. He’s been a great addition to the team.

Death brings out the worst in people

Last April, shortly after I wrote last, my paternal grandfather passed away due to old age.

Shortly after he passed away, my uncle was crushed under a vehicle while working on it. From looking at things after, my other uncles concluded that the jack he was using slowly seeped down and it was too late before he could do anything.

In July of this year my maternal grandfather passed way as well. There isn’t much to say there. Yes it sucks, but he didn’t talk to me in the last 5 years, even though we tried, and he was always an ass before that.

What now?

To be honest, I’m not sure. I’ve made some pretty good contacts lately and I’ve made a good name for myself. I’ve gotten offers to go work for different companies, but I need to decide if I want to change careers.

One offer is to change paths and become a software developer. This sounds interesting, and would be for a company with a mission I can get behind, but I’m not sure about working from home full time.

Side Projects

Tractor

I have my snowblower working on my homemade garden tractor. I need to finish up some mufflers for it and bring it home from my grandmas farm.

This has been a big project and showing off solve of the things I have learned from working with engineers these last few years.

Ham Radio

I started getting back into ham radio again. I’ve been writing with the local country club and have found some links between all my hobbies and have been having fun. I started with Winlink and am going to be setting up an APRS iGate soon hopefully.

I found these poles locally from a surplus dealer and after some fab work they are great for putting up a 2M antenna and wiring some stations while mobile. The wife definitely doesn’t like the mag mount antenna on the family car though.

Photography

This spring I decided to pick up a LUMIX G9 Mk II and try my hand at taking some photos, and I think I do pretty good. Here are a few that I’ve taken, some day I’ll try make an actual gallery on here.