From the Desk of TGRR; Corporate Life in the 21st Century (blog)

[Nephew Twiddleton]

THE CONTINUATION OF THE BALL MILL SAGA:

Big meeting, Mike's suspension cancelled because vendors from all over the place are here.

We have now proven, with SCIENCE, that the problem HAS to be the ring gear.  This was after we replaced the $14,000 mill bearings (actually cost way more than $28K, but there's a lot involved).

So we have this big meeting 2 hours ago.  The ring gear IS the problem.  We have imported 2 crazy Germans who have shown WHY the ring gear is the PROBLEM, and the gearbox is a SYMPTOM.

Tracking so far?  Ring gear = root cause, gearbox = "victim" of ring gear.

Everyone in the room has had this bashed into their head with a combination of basic math, physics, and metallurgy.

Meeting is drawing to a close, nobody has shat the bed yet.

WAIT FOR IT...

As we are all standing up to leave, Mike says "I have one more thing I want to talk about..."

Oh, Mike, and you were doing SO well.

Mike:  "We haven't talked about the problem with the gearbox."

My boss turns purple.  I laugh so hard I fall off my chair.  The German guys start screaming abuse at him.  The gear consultant guys from Phoenix sit there staring like a dog came up to them and started singing fucking Clauda Rogers tunes.  The gearbox manufacturing rep looks like he's having a stroke.

Total chaos.  I leave.

10 minutes later, Mike's suspension is reinstated, Jim put Lilly in charge, she refused, they both drive off in different directions, vendors bailing out left and right.

I am the only manager left on the property.


WHAT HAPPENED?
\

So, I'm gathering I should stop considering bioengineering and go into biochem.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

THE CONTINUATION OF THE BALL MILL SAGA:

Big meeting, Mike's suspension cancelled because vendors from all over the place are here.

We have now proven, with SCIENCE, that the problem HAS to be the ring gear.  This was after we replaced the $14,000 mill bearings (actually cost way more than $28K, but there's a lot involved).

So we have this big meeting 2 hours ago.  The ring gear IS the problem.  We have imported 2 crazy Germans who have shown WHY the ring gear is the PROBLEM, and the gearbox is a SYMPTOM.

Tracking so far?  Ring gear = root cause, gearbox = "victim" of ring gear.

Everyone in the room has had this bashed into their head with a combination of basic math, physics, and metallurgy.

Meeting is drawing to a close, nobody has shat the bed yet.

WAIT FOR IT...

As we are all standing up to leave, Mike says "I have one more thing I want to talk about..."

Oh, Mike, and you were doing SO well.

Mike:  "We haven't talked about the problem with the gearbox."

My boss turns purple.  I laugh so hard I fall off my chair.  The German guys start screaming abuse at him.  The gear consultant guys from Phoenix sit there staring like a dog came up to them and started singing fucking Clauda Rogers tunes.  The gearbox manufacturing rep looks like he's having a stroke.

Total chaos.  I leave.

10 minutes later, Mike's suspension is reinstated, Jim put Lilly in charge, she refused, they both drive off in different directions, vendors bailing out left and right.

I am the only manager left on the property.


WHAT HAPPENED?
\

There are not enough palms nor enough faces in the UNIVERSE.

Nor enough Picards.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Filthy Assistant suspended for insubordination.

He apparently took issue with the idea that he reports to me again, and came in my office announcing How Things Were Going To Be.  Which is to say, he would tell me, and I would issue the official orders.  No shit, he really said that.

I held up a printout of the org chart.  I turned it upside down and made a frowny face while shaking my head.  I turned it right side up and smiled while nodding.  I put it back down.

At this point, Jim walks into my office behind him while he screechs profanity at me and called my mother's past into question.

It took him a good 5 or 6 seconds to realize why I was laughing so hard.

In any case, we all had a nice chat, in which it was decided that FA would take 3 days off without pay to rest, and that when he came back, he had ZERO input on how things were going to get done, and how he would simply make sure that the parts are in on time, and that the contractors have been scheduled.  And that this is ALL he will do.

If looks could kill, I would be a slowly settling pink mist.

I'm comfortable with that.

I love this.

[Junkenstein]

Best philosophy I've heard in weeks.

Life's too short to define yourself by your employment.  Seriously.

YES.

The second you feel like your job defines you, it's time to quit. It's only going downhill from there and usually fast.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Filthy Assistant suspended for insubordination.

He apparently took issue with the idea that he reports to me again, and came in my office announcing How Things Were Going To Be.  Which is to say, he would tell me, and I would issue the official orders.  No shit, he really said that.

I held up a printout of the org chart.  I turned it upside down and made a frowny face while shaking my head.  I turned it right side up and smiled while nodding.  I put it back down.

At this point, Jim walks into my office behind him while he screechs profanity at me and called my mother's past into question.

It took him a good 5 or 6 seconds to realize why I was laughing so hard.

In any case, we all had a nice chat, in which it was decided that FA would take 3 days off without pay to rest, and that when he came back, he had ZERO input on how things were going to get done, and how he would simply make sure that the parts are in on time, and that the contractors have been scheduled.  And that this is ALL he will do.

If looks could kill, I would be a slowly settling pink mist.

I'm comfortable with that.

I love this.

No Larry.  No Lilly.

BUT MIKE COMES BACK TODAY!

[Faust]

Filthy Assistant suspended for insubordination.

He apparently took issue with the idea that he reports to me again, and came in my office announcing How Things Were Going To Be.  Which is to say, he would tell me, and I would issue the official orders.  No shit, he really said that.

I held up a printout of the org chart.  I turned it upside down and made a frowny face while shaking my head.  I turned it right side up and smiled while nodding.  I put it back down.

At this point, Jim walks into my office behind him while he screechs profanity at me and called my mother's past into question.

It took him a good 5 or 6 seconds to realize why I was laughing so hard.

In any case, we all had a nice chat, in which it was decided that FA would take 3 days off without pay to rest, and that when he came back, he had ZERO input on how things were going to get done, and how he would simply make sure that the parts are in on time, and that the contractors have been scheduled.  And that this is ALL he will do.

If looks could kill, I would be a slowly settling pink mist.

I'm comfortable with that.

I love this.

No Larry.  No Lilly.

BUT MIKE COMES BACK TODAY!

I give him until next Friday before he is fired, or climbs into the ball mill of his own volition.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Filthy Assistant suspended for insubordination.

He apparently took issue with the idea that he reports to me again, and came in my office announcing How Things Were Going To Be.  Which is to say, he would tell me, and I would issue the official orders.  No shit, he really said that.

I held up a printout of the org chart.  I turned it upside down and made a frowny face while shaking my head.  I turned it right side up and smiled while nodding.  I put it back down.

At this point, Jim walks into my office behind him while he screechs profanity at me and called my mother's past into question.

It took him a good 5 or 6 seconds to realize why I was laughing so hard.

In any case, we all had a nice chat, in which it was decided that FA would take 3 days off without pay to rest, and that when he came back, he had ZERO input on how things were going to get done, and how he would simply make sure that the parts are in on time, and that the contractors have been scheduled.  And that this is ALL he will do.

If looks could kill, I would be a slowly settling pink mist.

I'm comfortable with that.

I love this.

No Larry.  No Lilly.

BUT MIKE COMES BACK TODAY!

I give him until next Friday before he is fired, or climbs into the ball mill of his own volition.

Naw.  He's too self-absorbed to kill himself, and we need his PE stamp.  We could Weekend at Bernie's, I suppose.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Boy, it's quiet around here.

No weird behavior in the conference room.  The morning meeting lasted 7 minutes.  Well, longer, but everyone got up and left when Mike started blathering, so I guess it doesn't count.

Finally got the new mechanical seal for tank 100, but we fucked up on the installation (very tricky process), and now we need another one.  Monday.



Filipe and TKN are still furiously hammering the keyboards.  Whatever they're making is going to be big.

All is well, or close enough, here in the City of the Damned.

[LMNO]

So, it's quiet.



Too quiet?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

So, it's quiet.



Too quiet?

No, just QUIET.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

A little busy today.

Boiler feed pump took a shit.
Tunnel kiln #2 conveyor threw a drive shaft.
The evaporator burned through and shot a 2" wide stream of acid out of the tower.
The 8' ball mill (the old one) gearbox puked all its oil out.
Tunnel Kiln #1 conveyor is FUCKED.
The new structure on the old jet mill is unacceptable.
It's raining like a mad bastard.

So I won't be around much.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

WHAT IS WITH THE BALL MILLS?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

WHAT IS WITH THE BALL MILLS?

Crappy gears and a bad design on the pinion/ring gear arrangement.  Basically, the pinion gear weighs enough that it puts a strain on the gearbox shaft, which makes the bearings run hot.

The evaporator is a bigger concern right now.  That's outdoor work with a crane, so lightning is an issue.  I have 5 hours before the rain turns to a thunderstorm, at which time all the work has to stop.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Fucking clouds are now at ground level (happens here once in a while).

Cloud rolls in, stop work.  Wait for cloud to roll out.  Next fucking cloud is right behind it.

[LMNO]

Everything that happens at your job is an excellent metaphor for life.