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ENGINEERING THOUGHTS
The last few weeks have been quite interesting. It seems like all I have been hearing is economy slow downs and people loosing there jobs. I have been so busy that it has been long hours and weekends. There was a project that many of my associates were involved in and it was all in the timing. I had four separate devices that needed to be designed, built, and installed before completion and production could begin. I was responsible for all phases. And to throw another problem into the mix, I was going on a weeks vacation right at the end. This vacation was planned before the project schedule was set. Changing the vacation was not an option.
I gladly worked whatever time I had to and talked very nicely to the fabricators to get that part done in a very big hurry. I worried all my vacation, but when I returned, all was well.
Sometimes you just got to do what it takes to get it done. There are no exceptions. At least not as far as I am concerned.
But I am a bit funny about that sort of thing.
I am in the process at my work place of finalizing a small project. It is a modification on a piece of existing machinery. As projects go it is quite small, about $8000. From it's beginning about 3 months ago, it seemed to be plagued with demons. One thing after another going wrong. Nothing really earth shattering, but just enough to make you wonder. No project never progresses without something going wrong, but this one had enough for many projects. Some of the things were under my control and others, like a machinist getting called home for a family emergency and the boss being out at the time, that caused a delay in finishing the job. The main thing to remember is that things happen and no one is to blame and what good would it do to blame anyone anyway? You just rethink the situation and go on. Don't dwell on what happened, just fix it and move on. No one wants to hear excuses, they just want results. If it takes a day or two longer, that's life. Get the job done.
HOME FINANCES
The big thing going on around my house on the financial front is the use of credit cards. We, my wife Carolyn and I have set up a system. We have one card we use for almost everything that is common to us. Things like food, gasoline, entertainment (when we are together), medicines, house hold items and the like. The items we buy for ourselves, we each have our own credit card. The common card is paid from our common account and is paid off each month, no questions about it. Never any interest or other charges. Our personal cards, we each take care of them as we see fit. For me it is working out very well. I have my own moneys to spend on what I want to spend them on. No shared responsibility on that card.
The problem with credit cards is that they can be abused very easily. It is so very easy to overextend ones self. We both have steady jobs with reasonably consistent incomes. We, you, must always keep the income and outgo in mind all the time, not just when the bills come due. Before you know it you are looking back and saying, "how did I get that far in debt?" Credit cards are a needed and convenient tool. But they are a tool that can eat you alive. Unless it is an emergency or truthfully planned expense, they should be paid off each month. And the minimum monthly payment should never be used as the basis for anything. It needs to me at least twice that amount if not four or five times the amount. And if you can't do that, then you shouldn't have used the card in the first place.
If you have young adults in your family, either at home or gone, they each need a card for convenience and learning responsibility. But they must be watch closely and do not bail them out of trouble. They are a very good place for each person to start and establish a good credit status. They will need to barrow money at some point in their life. It will probably be sooner than later.
FROM THE PUBLIC SECTOR MARCH 2006
Today, I was driving down the road, like I so often do, and was reminded, as I am so often reminded, that my fellow partners on the road are mainly made up of lousy drivers. I would like to say that they are all women, but that would be a lie. The art of driving is all but lost. We as a society have almost totally lost our desire to be good drivers. To me driving is an art form. What I mean is that to be a good driver you must want to be a great driver. You must desire to be all you can be when you are behind the wheel. I am not talking about obeying all the rules of the road. Although that is a good place to start. Knowing the rules at least puts you way ahead of all the rest of the drivers out there on our roads. No, what I mean is driving with a passion to do the best and be the safest and the most forgiving and most courteous. When you drive you must drive every vehicle in your sight. You need to put yourself into all the drivers minds and try to think like them. Your life depends on them doing what you expect them to do. So if you understand how they are thinking, you are continuously saving your own live.
The scary part is that most people on the road with you do not know how to drive. They do not know the rules and the real sad part is they do not care. I need to add that there are many good and great drivers, but they are the exception. Our cars and trucks today are made so well, we don't need to be good drivers to get along most of the time. They handle well and stop straight and fast. They are a marvel of engineering. Its the person behind the wheel that is the problem. And the one of the reasons they are the problem is that they can be and no one does anything about it. I mean our enforcers of the laws. We have enough laws for just about anything imaginable. The problem is they are not enforced. We all, myself included, break the laws of the road every day and nothing is done about it. Our law enforcers break the law everyday and they are not stopped. Even if we are seen breaking the law, we are seldom ticketed. Is it any wonder why we don't feel it necessary to follow the laws? Most of us do not even know what the rules are, so when we break them we do not even know it.
I have a few pet things that I notice all the time and I truly believe that most drivers do not know any better. It is using turn signals or blinkers. I have often thought that most drivers somewhere deep inside think they are needed in order to complete the turn. Most of them put on their signals, if at all, just when they start to turn the wheel. If I may, the purpose of turn signals is to inform those around you what your intensions are. You need to turn them on before you ever start to get ready to turn. I taught my sons that the signal should go on before the brakes. Turning on the signal after you are already in the turn lane is a waste of time. Just by being in the turn lane you have told all what your intensions are. You are way too late. It is like changing lanes on the freeway. I know it seems almost senseless at times, but again it is to tell your fellow drivers what your intensions are. And I can not remember the last time I saw or heard of anyone getting a ticket for not signaling. People will not learn if they are not told what they are doing is wrong.
Another one of mine is tailgating. This one is dangerous and it is done all the time. This one scares me a lot. I have people pull in front of me all the time on busy roads, because I leave so much space in front of me. Then I have to pull back again and then someone else pull in and so it goes. The easiest way to tell if you are tailgating is to watch the white lines on the road and the bumper of the car you are following. Pick a time when the line is aligned with the bumper and start counting the seconds. Two seconds to be exact. If your bumper gets to that some line before you say two, you are too close. It works for any speed. Try it, you will be amazed. You will quit pulling in front of people after you pass as quickly as you used to.
I have two solutions that each and every state should do to help in these and many other road problems. When you go in to get your divers license renewed, you will need to take a written and behind the wheel test. I mean every four years. Yes, I understand it would be very costly. But I think it could be done with the aid of computers. I also know there would be a lot of complaining. But isn't it worth it?
THANKS
FROM HOME TIDBITS
It is winter up north here in Wisconsin And even though it has been , to this point, a very mild winter, energy costs are going nuts. We live in the very energy efficient house, but it still takes power to make it do what we want. I am getting to a point in my life that I like things a little easier. I used to burn a lot of wood for heat, but not now. That is a lot of work at both ends. I try to be smarter now. I must admit I am a real stickler about turning things off. The old NSP slogan was, and I like it still, "if you need it use and if not turn it off" I think that is pretty close anyway. I do have a heated garage. That is my one not so good energy user. But is that nice. I almost live in my garage. The big uses of energy in our homes are heating and cooling, that's an easy one. The next ones are the water heaters, (set at no more that 125°F), the clothes dryer, (use but always keep the lint trap clean), and the refrigerator. That's one unit that is hard to shut off. The best thing is to have as one that is as modern as possible. If is a frost type, keep it defrosted. And of course, keep the condenser heat exchanger clean and open so the air can move over it easily
A quick thing on lighting. Fluorescent lighting is great, but must more costly to buy up front. But if you have a fixture that is on a lot, it needs to be a fluorescent one. Ones that are on very little, for example, the hall closet, should very easily be a incandescent type. It will never be replaced. A 900 hour bulb that runs 5 hours a year will outlast the house. When looking at costs, you need to look at return on your investment. Incandescent lights still have a place in your home. Just look and think before you install or change that fixture. A good rule of thumb for ROI in your home is five years. If is two years, go for it for sure.
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