A Quantum of Challenge

So, Work is going pretty good. I'm working on some new stuff since I finished the test box. Right now I'm doing some testing for one of our engineers. I have resigned myself to the idea that I will never really get a project here at Raymond Corp. I more than likely will continue doing the things I have been doing for the last two months, for the rest of my time here. These duties consist of testing, a bit of research, and whatever tasks the engineers need completed to make their lives simpler. While the job is easy and the duties are quick to complete(usually a couple of hours up to a day) I am left feeling unsatisfied. I was really hoping for a project that I could do on my own, and take my own way. Maybe I'm being selfish, but I wanted a challenge; something to push me to the edge of my knowledge and perhaps over.

I have gained some good knowledge from working here though. I have severely sharpened both my soldering and schematic reading skills. I have learned to work on my own, more. I have gained insights into the every day goings on of both an office and it's functions. I've encountered everyone on the spectrum of hard work, from those who avoid it in any way to those who embrace it and take on as much as they can handle before breaking.

Most importantly I have learned that yes, this is a job I could see myself doing in 10, 20, maybe even 30 years from now.

And yes I did steal the title from the latest Bond flick... bite me

Vlog not Vblog

My First Video Blog

Technically known as a VBlog, this video, and those like it, will update you to the goings on my life without me having to spend twenty minutes writing and editing.



Oh and as promised I have included the link to Kenny Vs. Spenny. Just make sure to give it a second to load.

One of the wierdest sea creatures I have ever seen

If anyone can tell me what this thing is I will be forever in your debt.



Look at this thing! What the h#$k is it?!?

Mr. Toyoda Himself

So a few days ago Raymond Corp. recieved an inspection from it's parent, owner, corporation; Toyota Industries. And, Raymond had a special guest coming along for the inspection. As the preview and title suggest, Mr. Toyoda the president and CEO of all of Toyota Industries was in Greene Ny a few days ago. Now I know that his name has a D in it and not a T but apparently thats how it is supposed to be. In any case I did not know about him coming until the day of his arrival. In fact, I sort of disregarded the idea that he would be here until I walked out into one of the company corridors and saw a huge group of short Asian men, all huddled around an older guy in the center. He dd not make eye contact with me, but I did get a good look at his face, which gave me the impression that he was tired after traveling from Tokyo to Greene, understandably.



I followed their group around for like a minute just to make sure I had seen what I thought I had. Now this may not seem glamorous to some, but at least I had the opportunity to be within feet of one of the richest men in the whole world.

Pretty F'ing cool

Comming Soon!

Tonight I will tell you all about how the president of Toyota came to Raymond and how I was able to see him.

Yes... he is very short

Car Troubles, part 2

So, I spent independence weekend with the family in Massena. I arrived Thursday night and decided that I was going to leave Sunday at around four p.m.. "Going to," is the key phrase here; and I will explain why.

On Sunday at around three p.m. I was ready to go. I had gassed up my car, gotten a nice snack, purchased a couple of caffeinated beverages, and took off with listening to NPR with the air conditioner on full blast. As I passed from Potsdam to Canton I decided that I was going to top off my tank so that I wouldn't have to worry about running out of gas. As I glided through an intersection I began to slow down so that I could pull into the station, but something was wrong. No, I take it back; something was terribly wrong. The brake began to resist me, and the wheel would barely budge. I remember thinking "Am I imagining this?" So, I pumped the brake to make sure. I recieved my answer shortly after. No, this was no dream. I had no power steering and barely any brakes. I manually turned my two ton Concord into the station as I turned with force. I slid into one of the spots and stopped short of hitting the wall of the station.

After some time, that was filled with reading the owner's manual and calling for my father to come out, we discovered that on a 90 degree day I had been driving with almost no radiator fluid, low oil, and to top it off the air conditioner on full blast. The engine had overheated and cooked one of the thermostats that regulated the flow of coolant to the engine.

We got it home, but I followed in the Buick, with my mother, as my dad had to stop every other mile to let the car cool down. An agonizing hour later we made it home, and I called work to let them know I wouldn't be in today.

Well, lets fast forward to this morning.

I awoke at seven fifteen and saw my parents off to deliver my mother to her job. After that, my father called the dealership and set up an appointment for nine a.m.; which I just got back from. It took the mechanic an hour and one hundred and thirty dollars, but he is reasonably sure the problem is fixed. Just to be sure he drove the car around a bit and the temperature gauge never rose much above the .25 percent mark. I called work and everything is worked out with them, they were surprisingly understanding. Other than that I am going to do another test drive and leave at about four p.m. as was scheduled the day before. It goes without saying that I will be watching the temperature gauge like a hawk and driving in the slow lane with no air conditioning, a small price to pay I assure you.

If I make it home alright you will be sure to hear about it in a blog, and if there are any problems then you will definitely hear about it in this blog. I am mostly reassured though, because I have a cell phone with me and my tom tom GPS navigation device will direct me to many local mechanics based on my current location. Until then, I will leave you with my best regards and I hope you all had a wonderful independence weekend full of fun and excitement.

I certainly have had my fill of the ladder.

Independence Weekend Ups and Downs

I am spending this weekend in massena and am enjoying being home. Work gave me the day off, and still paid me. I have been having issues with my youtube and yahoo email account, though. I can't log into my youtube account because I forgot my password, so I sent a verification email to my yahoo email account. Not long after I discovered that I couldnt get into that one either. I guess I am going to have to spend some time trying to remember it. I do have another ace up my sleeve though. I'm not out of this one yet.

As far as anything else is going, the fourth is very relaxed and we plan on bbq'ing tonight. Other than that, not much is going on. I will however update you to the goings on of my life, like the pictures I posted below.

I heard from a couple of new people, who were reading my blog, just wanted to say thanks to everyone for reading and hopfully enjoying the site.

I'll post another blog soon.