Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by AHTOXA »

Started a new job last week. Left the massive international company for a much smaller one of ~160 people. The culture change is massive, which is exactly what I was looking for along the standard new job must-haves and nice-to-haves and what not. The politics, the power-plays and the red tape really got to me by the end of the last gig. It was nearly impossible to get anything done because of all those factors and ultimately, no one really knew what their official job was, so there was little accountability all around. I was mostly doing reporting and analytics work that no one ultimately cared about so it never went anywhere. That was frustrating.

Got a rather large project on my plate now, so things will be busy for a while. Gotta map out a large section of a supply chain process, from start to finish. Then gotta get the IT teams to implement, test, correct, test, correct, test, change, test, have all parties sign off, develop SOPs, train the people that will actually do it and then turn the thing on to go live and let the ops folks handle from there.

Will be fun, but there sure is a challenge ahead; also a tremendous opportunity to grow my skill sets and in the long-term, as this has potential to lay the foundation for me to go off on my own into consulting if I choose to stop working for the man at some point.

I fell into this career right before the first standard shift meet (started the job just a month or so before it) and it seems like such a long time ago now. So many things have changed over the years and I'm honestly surprised to find myself where I am as I never really planned to be here. In fact, I'm not sure how much I planned overall.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by AHTOXA »

I guess I better update the vehicles in my sig and the profile while I'm at it.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by potownrob »

AHTOXA wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2019 10:16 pm Started a new job last week. Left the massive international company for a much smaller one of ~160 people. The culture change is massive, which is exactly what I was looking for along the standard new job must-haves and nice-to-haves and what not. The politics, the power-plays and the red tape really got to me by the end of the last gig. It was nearly impossible to get anything done because of all those factors and ultimately, no one really knew what their official job was, so there was little accountability all around. I was mostly doing reporting and analytics work that no one ultimately cared about so it never went anywhere. That was frustrating.

Got a rather large project on my plate now, so things will be busy for a while. Gotta map out a large section of a supply chain process, from start to finish. Then gotta get the IT teams to implement, test, correct, test, correct, test, change, test, have all parties sign off, develop SOPs, train the people that will actually do it and then turn the thing on to go live and let the ops folks handle from there.

Will be fun, but there sure is a challenge ahead; also a tremendous opportunity to grow my skill sets and in the long-term, as this has potential to lay the foundation for me to go off on my own into consulting if I choose to stop working for the man at some point.

I fell into this career right before the first standard shift meet (started the job just a month or so before it) and it seems like such a long time ago now. So many things have changed over the years and I'm honestly surprised to find myself where I am as I never really planned to be here. In fact, I'm not sure how much I planned overall.
I assume, based on you knot mentioning it, that your new job is still in Texas?? Or is it in CO?? SS Meat ‘20 Prep??
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by potownrob »

AHTOXA wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2019 10:20 pm I guess I better update the vehicles in my sig and the profile while I'm at it.
what does ORP stand for??
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by tankinbeans »

potownrob wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:29 am
AHTOXA wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2019 10:20 pm I guess I better update the vehicles in my sig and the profile while I'm at it.
what does ORP stand for??
My guess is off road package.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by AHTOXA »

potownrob wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:29 am
AHTOXA wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2019 10:20 pm I guess I better update the vehicles in my sig and the profile while I'm at it.
what does ORP stand for??
Off Road Premium. There are Off Road and Off Road Premium trims of the TRD spec. Not much difference, just some creature comforts.
potownrob wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2019 10:52 pm
AHTOXA wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2019 10:16 pm Started a new job last week. Left the massive international company for a much smaller one of ~160 people. The culture change is massive, which is exactly what I was looking for along the standard new job must-haves and nice-to-haves and what not. The politics, the power-plays and the red tape really got to me by the end of the last gig. It was nearly impossible to get anything done because of all those factors and ultimately, no one really knew what their official job was, so there was little accountability all around. I was mostly doing reporting and analytics work that no one ultimately cared about so it never went anywhere. That was frustrating.

Got a rather large project on my plate now, so things will be busy for a while. Gotta map out a large section of a supply chain process, from start to finish. Then gotta get the IT teams to implement, test, correct, test, correct, test, change, test, have all parties sign off, develop SOPs, train the people that will actually do it and then turn the thing on to go live and let the ops folks handle from there.

Will be fun, but there sure is a challenge ahead; also a tremendous opportunity to grow my skill sets and in the long-term, as this has potential to lay the foundation for me to go off on my own into consulting if I choose to stop working for the man at some point.

I fell into this career right before the first standard shift meet (started the job just a month or so before it) and it seems like such a long time ago now. So many things have changed over the years and I'm honestly surprised to find myself where I am as I never really planned to be here. In fact, I'm not sure how much I planned overall.
I assume, based on you knot mentioning it, that your new job is still in Texas?? Or is it in CO?? SS Meat ‘20 Prep??
Yeah, based in Texas but not limited to this location. Many folks work remove and since I don't have direct reports under me, I'm not necessarily tied to a location. This is something I spoke about with my VP and there's flexibility. So in the future, if all goes well, there may be an option for me to work from anywhere, really. At that point of time we'd be looking to move to CO.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by AHTOXA »

Overall in regards to CO, this is still the plan. It got delayed a little bit since the new job was found here rather than in CO, but I think it's rather temporary. The GF is moving into my apartment this coming weekend ( :shock: :shock: ). We are riding out the end of my lease, which is at the end of this October, and then renting a house. During that time if everything else is moving to plan, we'll start looking into CO places.

We have some ideas of where we want to live in CO. Some of the top runners are:

Golden, CO (near Denver)

Pros:
- not in Denver
- cheaper than Denver
- right next to the mountains
- spyderco factory is there :lol:
- smaller town feel with a 40 minute drive to Denver when needed
- all sorts of trail access all around

Cons:
- kind of expensive for the Denver area but not the worst
- commute can suck


Denver

Pros:
- convenience of getting around, specifically for the GF as it's likely that a job she eventually gets will be near or in the cit. She's a social worker

Cons:
- Denver; terrible knife laws and gun laws, really
- traffic
- would rather live in/very near the mountains

Durango, CO

Pros
- beautiful town
- lots of stuff to do; SO many trails to wheel, hike, MTB.
- it's at the foothills of the mountains with Silverton just 50 minutes away
- one of the most beautiful areas on Earth. You can't hate it. I'll put up with feet and feet of snow for it

Cons
- No jobs for the GF as it's a rather small town focused on tourism and she's a social worker specializing in end of life care
- touristy for most of the year.
- expensive entertainment if you want to do anything in the city. again - tourists
- overall costs of living are kinda high, too, especially in the best pats of the city
- tough to travel out of if I needed to fly for work, which I would occasionally - maybe a couple times a quarter on average



That said, if it were my choice, I'd live in Durango and work from home. We could do it on my single income and be ok, but it'd be really nice to have dual income because frankly, it would allow us much more budget for things like side-by-sides for wheeling in the mountains, MTBs, outdoor gear and outdoor toys, not to mention travel.

PS, I'm stoked that she's moving in here, because I've got a roommate I love that also pays part of the rent. :lol:
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by potownrob »

AHTOXA wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 9:12 pm (overly organized thought mapping)
glad you're still planning to eventually move to CO. not my choice of course but, from what you've said in here, you seem to really like CO better than TX for your kind of lifestyle (not talking the drugs here :mrgreen: ).
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by Rope-Pusher »

potownrob wrote: Thu Jul 18, 2019 7:16 am
glad you're still planning to eventually move to CO2. not my choice of course but, from what you've said in here, you seem to really like CO2 better than TaXes for your kind of lifestyle (not taking the drugs here :mrgreen: ).
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by Rope-Pusher »

Eye yam sew prowd off maboy.

Drove out to Richard Bong State Recreation Area in Wisconsin, pulling my Coleman pop-up camping trailer, to take my 3-year-old grandson camping. Trailer is 2,650 Lbs. empty - I'm guessing that it is easily over 3,000 Lbs. with everything we had packed in it.

Not all the 1,111 miles were towing - only about 740 were. We did some driving to Milwaukee and back, mostly on county and state highways. For the trip, I averaged 17.8 mpg, using 62.4 gallons at an average price of $2.76 per gallon for a total fuel cost of $172.10.

Sew, eye no ewer axing "Hoo wass Richert Bong?" and "Y did they naim this park after hymn?"

Reader's digest version: Richard Bong enlisted in U.S. Army Air Corps, was trained to fly the most bad-assed fighter, the P-38, and was stationed out in Australia and other air bases in the South Pacific. He became the Ace of Aces, scoring more enemy "kills" than Eddie Rickenbocker, the famed WWI Ace's 26 total. They gave him all sorts of honors, promoted him to Major, took him off regular combat missions, and made him an instructor for the fighter pilots coming up through the ranks. He accompanied them on missions, just to continue the classroom out into the real world, and scored another 14 kills. They awarded him the Congressional Medal of Honor and sent him stateside after that, to promote War Bond sales and to test the P-80 Jet Fighter. He died in a crash after a fuel pump failure. His death was announced in the newspapers the same day as the Atomic Bomb blast over Hiroshima, Japan.

Yadda, Yadda, Yadda, they were going to name a fighter plane airbase after him. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda, the project grew to include Strategic Air Command Bombers. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda, the airbase budget was killed 3 days before the main runway was to be poured. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda, the land reverted to nature and the State of Wisconsin ended up using it as a recreation area.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by ClutchFork »

Rope-Pusher wrote: Sat Jul 20, 2019 2:34 pm Sew, eye no ewer axing "Hoo wass Richert Bong?" and "Y did they naim this park after hymn?"
They also named a 2-mile-long bridge after him. It crosses Duluth-Superior Harbor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_I ... ial_Bridge
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by Rope-Pusher »

ClutchFork wrote: Sun Jul 21, 2019 12:07 am
Rope-Pusher wrote: Sat Jul 20, 2019 2:34 pm Sew, eye no ewer axing "Hoo wass Richert Bong?" and "Y did they naim this park after hymn?"
They also named a 2-mile-long bridge after him. It crosses Duluth-Superior Harbor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_I ... ial_Bridge
It seems fitting that they named a bridge after hymn. Yanno, he was accused of buzzing the golden gate bridge and grounded. He missed going off to Europe with his group because of that. Afterward got sent to Australia. Who nose what his career would have been like if he had not buzzed the bridge?
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by AHTOXA »

Rope-Pusher wrote: Sat Jul 20, 2019 2:34 pm Eye yam sew prowd off maboy.

Drove out to Richard Bong State Recreation Area in Wisconsin, pulling my Coleman pop-up camping trailer, to take my 3-year-old grandson camping. Trailer is 2,650 Lbs. empty - I'm guessing that it is easily over 3,000 Lbs. with everything we had packed in it.

Not all the 1,111 miles were towing - only about 740 were. We did some driving to Milwaukee and back, mostly on county and state highways. For the trip, I averaged 17.8 mpg, using 62.4 gallons at an average price of $2.76 per gallon for a total fuel cost of $172.10.

Sew, eye no ewer axing "Hoo wass Richert Bong?" and "Y did they naim this park after hymn?"

Reader's digest version: Richard Bong enlisted in U.S. Army Air Corps, was trained to fly the most bad-assed fighter, the P-38, and was stationed out in Australia and other air bases in the South Pacific. He became the Ace of Aces, scoring more enemy "kills" than Eddie Rickenbocker, the famed WWI Ace's 26 total. They gave him all sorts of honors, promoted him to Major, took him off regular combat missions, and made him an instructor for the fighter pilots coming up through the ranks. He accompanied them on missions, just to continue the classroom out into the real world, and scored another 14 kills. They awarded him the Congressional Medal of Honor and sent him stateside after that, to promote War Bond sales and to test the P-80 Jet Fighter. He died in a crash after a fuel pump failure. His death was announced in the newspapers the same day as the Atomic Bomb blast over Hiroshima, Japan.

Yadda, Yadda, Yadda, they were going to name a fighter plane airbase after him. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda, the project grew to include Strategic Air Command Bombers. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda, the airbase budget was killed 3 days before the main runway was to be poured. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda, the land reverted to nature and the State of Wisconsin ended up using it as a recreation area.
I've been to Richard Bong rec area more than once when I lived in Chicago. It was one of the go to camping spots.

Also in regards to towing. Last weekend I was moving the GF to my place. I rented the 6x12 U-Haul box, which is 2000 lbs empty. After I got her loaded, it was likely closer to 3k lbs all in.

The runner did great towing, although I did get 11 MPG in all-city towing.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by watkins »

I bought a school bus
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by tankinbeans »

watkins wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 8:11 am I bought a school bus
Did you remove the children first or were they included with the purchase?
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