Thursday, January 12, 2012

Long Weekend

Got a long weekend coming up, and I might head out to the boat if the weather is cooperative, and my van is not revolting too much. It's been in the 40's this week, but the temps are dropping into the 20's for the weekend. I notice a few folks around work that have been climate change deniers, are now strangely silent about the topic. Sunny and near 50 degrees in January has some affect I guess. I'm keeping my mouth shut, as some subjects around here get people yelling, and all red faced. For a large group of GM engineers, you would think that the data itself would be enough evidence, but some people need it to slap them in the face I guess. Me, I'm a bit nervous about all this change, and I want to get out there and enjoy nature while I can.

We ordered the new holding tank for the aft cabin. We'll be able to carry an extra thirty gallons of crap around the lake this year, which is a less than the forward holding tank, and a lot less than the crap I'm usually spreading around the marina. This spring, the forward holding tank, which used to be a fresh water tank, is being removed by some poor bastard from the yacht works across the street. A bit pricey to have done, but I will make it a point to see the look on the guys face when he's hauling the pieces of smelly tank out of the v-berth, just to make me feel better about the bill. I have a feeling that this is a job worth farming out. When completed, this will give us 60 gallons of waste storage, which should be OK, if we cut back on the fiber.

I had to give a tour of our department to some young engineering students yesterday. I could see by the look on their faces, that they weren't too excited about another old man showing them how it used to be done. So, I made it a little more interesting, by pointing out some of the "less than perfect" (screw ups) engineering we've done over the years, mixed in with some things we like to brag about. This brought a smile to their faces, but a slight frown to the HR rep. that was with them. Oh well.

I notice sailors tend to talk about how they really screwed a job up, and not so much bragging about how perfect a job went. This is good, especially for the new folks, trying to care for an aging sailboat. This is different from a homeowner talking about a job they did on the house. I don't know how many times I hear "Well, they way I did it, blah, blah, blah", and they explain every little detail of the job. Boring. You tend to tune that person out, but if they're talking about how they really fucked things up, then it's got your attention, because number one, it's fun to laugh at someone Else's screw ups, and number two, you don't want to do the same thing. So, this spring, when I tell you how I fucked up trying to seal the ports again, or how the holding tank removal made the boat smell like shit for a month, I'm sure I'll have your attention.


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