Gifts To Go, Part 2

This spring my current boss announced he was taking another job across the country. Sooo, it was time to make another going away gift. His work scope was broader than that of my old boss so it was a bit tougher to nail down what to make as a gift. However, one thing we always joked about was his penchant for modifying the probes we had made. In the shop we would manufacture the probes to exact tolerances and he would take them and adjust them for his purpose on a belt sander.

We decided to make a miniature belt sander. This is something most folks are familiar with. It started out as a nonfunctioning unit but one of the other guys suggested we make it actually work so I added a motor and a battery pack.

The company had a going away party before we had it completed so one of the other guys threw together a piece of rusty pipe and a probe. He also spelled his name wrong on the plaque. He didn't look real thrilled with it but he smiled anyway.
 
We gave him our real gift at our department going away party.



Here is the design I came up with.

Here is the exploded view.

Here is the animated assembly view.

Here is the actual working model.

Here is a short video of it running but idiot boy/me shot it sideways so it looks kinda weird.

While I enjoy designing and building these things I wish it weren’t for folks I like to work for. Of course if I didn’t like working for them they would be getting the standard adios plaque.

BTW, He was speechless.

If you were to retire/change jobs what kind of gift would best suit you?

Gifts To Go

Being in the machine shop we are often asked to make unique things. One of those things is going away gifts. Over the years I have made a scaled reactor vessel and a small steam generator for departing folks. I have no pics of those.

Last year one of the senior staff here at work decided to retire.

The company has a standard three figure plaque design they give to retiring management. Problem is I have worked for him in some capacity for over 28 yrs. He and his wife are wonderful folk. His daughter baby sat my kids when they were little. Knowing his family is being part of his family.

For him I wanted to make something a bit more unique. His main field is turbines and turbine generators.

This is not the first time he has left a company where I worked for him. For his first departure I machined a small steam turbine as his going away gift. I turned it from solid brass.  That was about 17 years ago.

This time I wanted to create something more complex. I designed this as a miniature turbine generator. It’s the thing that is turned by the turbine and generates electricity at the power plant. The actual components vary but a common unit is approximately 42 inches in diameter and up to 40 ft long. A bit large for setting on your desk.

This is the concept drawing.

This is the final product.

It is about 10 inches long and has a brass body with 64 hand formed copper windings. I had the body turned by our machinist and the stainless steel end rings turned outside. I made the slot wedges and formed the copper windings. My fingers were sore for days. There are a total of 83 pieces in the completed model.

He seemed to like it.



Exceeding The Expiration Date Or Now For The Good News

Thanks for suffering thru these posts. I realize they were long and prolly as riveting as a vacuum cleaner operating manual. However, I have been blogging for 2 years now and since most all you guys have opened up personally at one time or the other I thought I would let you know a little something about the guy you are dealing with here.

Now don’t get me wrong. I aint no where near falling over anytime soon. Since those days, thru the miracle of chemistry, my EF has improved to 30-35%. The doc is pleased with my progress and has relaxed my restrictions. Early on was a bit of a struggle finding my boundaries. The wife drives me nuts. You can’t do this, you can’t do that. She aint quite as bad as she was but she still gets on me. But then again I do tend to push it a bit. I’ve always done physical types of work and it’s hard to ask someone to lift something when you look perfectly healthy. I have gotten the “you lazy SOB” look a few times and I don’t like to use it as a crutch.

After the diagnosis the doc asked me if I had been tired a lot. I thought no, not really. He said he has known folks with a 40% EF that couldn’t function at all and I was functioning fine at the 10-15 %. He said my body must have compensated somehow for it. The wife said she had noticed me dragging a bit but I was working 2 jobs at the time. They can’t tell me how I got it. The main known causes at the time were heavy drinking, drug use or viral. I know it definitely wernt the first two. He said it really didn’t matter as the treatment is the same.

I have physical limits that really don’t impair me too much unless it comes to lifting things. My biggest issue tends to be the side effects caused by my meds. Standing quickly after stooping makes me dizzy. I’ve only passed out from it once and that was 2 months after the discovery and I had been crawling around under the house getting it ready to sell. The main thing is that I do not strain.

Working on the road is a big challenge as we tend to do 12-14 hour days. There is a lot of walking and climbing. At the end of the day I am a bit tired but the doc said tired is not a bad thing.

I was looking at my chart a couple years back and found a line on it that says, “Research Patient”. I asked the doc about it and he seemed a bit puzzled. He said he would ask about that but I’ve never gotten an answer. I aint really worried about it as whatever they’ve done seems to work well and I’ve not grown a second head yet.

I was truly blessed by having the accident. God is good. But I must admit, I have never called the girl and thanked her in person.

And thank you all for not saying, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. I absolutely abhor that phrase cause it didnt. I also don’t care for the song by Tim McGraw, “Live like you were dying”. I live each day like any other day. I don’t let this thing define me. Too much.

That’s all I got to say bout that.

Y’all take care now.

Best If Used By 2012

Continued....

I had a dentist appointment that morning. I always get an 8:00 appointment so it doesn’t break up the day. It was a good visit and I had no cavities.

 I walked into the shop at work around 9:30 and my shop mate asked if I had talked to my doctor. He said they had called the office, my parents, and my sister. Not sure why they didn’t call the house but seems everyone was now calling the office. This was back before I had a cell phone. I returned their call. I was prepared to be on hold but as soon as I gave my name I was transferred to my doctor’s nurse. “ I don’t want to alarm you but we need you to come to the office immediately” she says.

Major fail on the not alarming me part.

 It was a good 45 minute drive from the shop to the Doctors office so I had lots of time to wonder what was up. I really didn’t have a clue what was going on but when I got there I received some of the best service I had ever gotten in that office. I saw my doctor within 5 minutes. Things calmed down from there. He said that they had determined I had a fractured sternum and because of the force required to break it they wanted to check the heart and aorta for any type of damage. He mentioned something about Princess Diana’s death and something else suposedly relevent that I didn’t hear because I was thinking, that’s the only time she and I will ever been included in the same conversation. He said they had me scheduled for a CAT scan and an ECG over at the hospital.

 At the hospital they had me lay on the CT table and gave me a shot of contrast dye. Wow, that was some warm stuff, and made me want to pull up some covers and take a nap. After that I went to the ECG guy. I laid on my side and thought wow his Ultragel was cold. He hooked me up and started the scan. I watched the screen and all the colors indicating blood flow. Is that good or bad?? He left the room and came back with a doctor. After the test the doc came to the room and told me they had found something not related to the wreck and sent me back to my doc. Oh.. the suspense.

I went back to see my doc. He gave me some drugs and said don’t lift more than 20 lbs and made me an appointment with a cardiologist. More suspense. Will somebody tell me something?

The first thing the cardiologist did was their own ECG.

More flashing colors and funny heart pumping sounds. During the exam the ECG tech looked me square in the eye and said I was very lucky that girl hit me. OK, that didn’t sound good. The cardiologist explained I have Dilated Cardiomyopathy(enlarged heart). It’s the thing ball players walk off the field and fall over with. My EF(ejection fraction) was 10-15% where normal would be 50-60%. That is a measure of how efficient your heart is pumping. He gave me more pills and reiterated not to lift more than twenty pounds. Twenty pounds?? At the time I was working out regularly and was easily lifting 250 plus pounds. He also offered to put me on permanent disability. What?? I feel fine. Well, I did till they filled me with drugs. That has slowed me down a bit.

When I got home I made the mistake of looking it up on line. I found some support forums that were kinda depressing and one website that said the mortality rate was 50% in 5 yrs and 75% in 10 yrs.

This year my warranty may have expired but I’m still working and feeling fine.

A Mixed Bag of Anniversaries.

2012 is like any year. Every day is a celebration for someone. We all have some type of “anniversaries of….” that occur at various dates.

I have been at my current job for six years on Jan, 23rd. Time does fly. This January was the 32nd anniversary of the first date with the wife. It is also the 32nd anniversary of my last speeding ticket and traffic court appointment the day before that date. I told her I would pick her up for our first date if I still had a license. I was caught doing 70 in a 35 zone and already had 12 driving points on my license. What can I say? I like to get there fast. Anyways,I kept my license, we went to the Statler Brothers Concert, and the rest is history. October will be our 30th wedding anniversary.

However this is also the tenth anniversary of the year that tried to do me in.

Ten years ago, January 2002 when our youngest was 9, we found out (Much to our surprise) we were expecting our 4th child. She was born later that year in the new house we had just moved into in June 2002. We had to move because we were living in a rather small house with no room for a new one.

March 20th of 2002 I was T-boned while heading home from work. The accident sent me to the hospital. I was sent home, sore and bruised but none the worse for wear but my beloved Blumina(Blue Lumina) didn’t fare so well. Later the next week while loading my trailer with firewood my chest started aching. I went in for a check up and saw the PA. She ordered x-rays and said they would contact me with the results. It turned out I had fractured my sternum in the accident. How they contacted me is my next post.

Simply Walking On The Wild Side

I am hoping all y'all had a wonderful Easter Holiday. It was good here. Everyone headed over to my parents house for lunch. Lots of food, lots of chatting and lots of family pics. We came home and headed over to the wifes moms. It was an OK visit as she has pretty much forgotten anything that has happened in the last month. I need to update you guys on the bro in law. I'll try to get that done soon.

I took vacation time Friday and Monday. Vacation? Well, lets see. Friday I cleaned out the Garage and today I put the awning up over the deck and dug up a stump. I am a really fun guy. Heading in to work today to get some rest.

Saturday however I did something I have never done. I took the little one to the nail salon to have her toenails done and while there I got a Pedi as well. Dont tell nobody but I think I am hooked. The little one loved it and tried to get bunnies painted on my toes but I had to hang on to my dignity. I did agree to clear polish.

I will defintiely be doing that again.

Y'all have a great week.

Overheard At The Restaurant

We went out for lunch Sunday. As we were in line the woman in front of us was picking her toppings.

"I want green cheese" she said.

The girl behind the counter looked puzzled. "Do you mean sour cream or shredded cheese"?

No, That green cheese y'all have.

I'm sorry but we don't have green cheese, just the shredded cheese.

"There it is", as she pointed thru the glass, "That green cheese"

"OH, OK, ma'am we call that guacamole".