here’s life

Here in Wichita, there is a 4 engine plane that is doing touch-and-go’s most days and some nights. I am not sure what Cessna is trying to find out, but it seems to be taking them a while.

Today at work was the big unveiling of the new name of the company: Spirit Aerosystems. You could feel that most people felt a bit let down when it wasn’t something AWESOME. But what really would have been awesome? Nobody knows. And in time, people will begin to latch onto it and claim it as their own.
So, now, I don’t work for Boeing, I don’t work for Midwest, I work for Spirit.

But what ever the name is, they pay me and so I went and got some groceries this evening. Contrary to the common proverb, I was shopping while hungry. I don’t think I bought to much though…

I need to find things to keep myself busy. I found myself reading comics most of the evening, and there are so many other, more useful things to do. I did talk to a friend (on Impersonal Messaging) that I had a grudge against, and I understand his side of the story slightly better.

So, I went to MO this weekend, leaving after work on Friday and reaching my destination at 10:30. Which was the house my family is building. We spent the night at the house for the first time. In the morning we worked on finish wiring. My little brothers had been working on outlets and ceiling fans. Three-way switches are confusing.
In the evening I cleaned some tempered glass to take back to KS. Eight pieces, 20.5″ by 21″ from which to make a desk.
I also talked on the phone to my two sisters and brother-in-law until both ears were sore.
Sunday I skipped out of church early to catch a ride back to our new house. There I waited until my ride to KS arrived. We loaded up my stuff and took off, looking forward to getting home just after dinner. And then the car started to die at stop signs. It would start back up fine…sputter and die. Our suspected culprit was watery gasoline he had filled up with earlier. But that was a week and a few tanks ago. So, we got some Heet and dumped it in, filled up with gas, dumped in more Heet and it seemed to be doing ok, so we got on the interstate and didn’t have any trouble for 40 miles. His dad lived a couple hours away, so while we waited, we took off the fuel filter, shook out black powder with the gas and replaced it. We drove another ten miles, but when we stopped, it started acting up again. When his dad replaces the filter and it still didn’t work, we parked it at a repair place and rode to his house, where we ate and then left about 6: headed for KS with five hours ahead of us, in his mom’s pickup. The rest of the trip was uneventful, though we looked forward to getting up early in the morning for a long, tired day at work. But we made it and the car needs flushing out, but should be fine. I am glad I got to go.

Today at work we actually worked on a project–got people to look stuff up, went around finding stuff out, looking at little pieces of metal. Finally got a solution that shouldn’t involve engineering anything–use a different nut that is already ok’ed.
Then I played volleyball with interns from mine and other companies. They seemed like a quality bunch, and we had a lot of fun. I need to go to bed, to get up, drive to work with Aaron, so I can ride straight to MO afterwards.
oE

This evening I got internet at my apartment. So I plugged my computer into the cable modem, and pushed the button….nothing. It worked last night… I checked the cables. So, I got my spare computer (ToBe) and it worked fine. A bit slower, but ok. I took the other apart (a 1.2gHz that my brother-in-law found in the dumpster, didn’t work at home, so I brought it out here and it worked,,,for a while) The fuse in the power supply is burned out, so I’ll have to find another. But that could be a symptom.

Last night me and Aaron (guy from work who lives in my apartment complex) went and played softball with some interns from various nearby companies. I did poorly, as usual, and our team lost drastically. (we almost got a run)
On our way back, we joined some neighbors playing volleyball. They were sober, but horificly foul-mouthed. I wonder what it is like out there when I see them playing drunk all weekend!

I still haven’t really started working at the office yet. Always seems there is something we are waiting for. Lately I have been going through some incomplete tutorials on the CAD program they use. Maybe once I get good it would work better than something like SolidWorks, but it seems to be pretty similar to programs freely availible I have on my Linux box. I try to show positivity about the totally anti-intuitional, brain-rending user interface by saying I obviously do not understand it well enough. And it doesn’t seem that much of a coding leap to make it usable–just make dimensions define objects, instead of the other way around!
So, Coda, can you write me a Java CAD program that actually works?

Back at home I sit in my empty house and try to figure out how to fill it. I have some good ideas for making some furnature, but I need some stuff from MO. And one of the new hires here is going to Rolla for the weekend (of boozing on the rivers). So maybe I’ll go with him, or have my family send with him some pieces of tempered glass from behind the shed.

oE Abu

I have been in Wichita for a little over two weeks now. I have been going to work, and I actually have an apartment now. I don’t have much of a life, but things may pick up.

Tuesday I went to a softball game where I heard that a bunch of Boeing interns played. They didn’t really need any more people that time, but next week they may. One of the teams seemed pretty relaxed–just happy to get around the bases without spilling much of their drink. Definately closer to my skill level than some of the other teams.

My empty apartment doesn’t offer many comforts, but that will change. I need to find some furniture. And a desk so that next week when I get an internet connection and my computer becomes useful, I have a better place to put it.

So, the question is, do I spring for tables and chairs that cost hundreds of dollars, or get used stuff that costs dozens of dollars, or build my own?