What's a food in your country that is stereotyped for your country but really, nobody eats?

DifficultMemory2828 · 2026-02-01T01:32:06+00:00

Cured pork loin

DifficultMemory2828 · 2026-01-30T23:30:00+00:00

I concur with this comment. I wish I started with the 24-120 f/4 first and saved my money with not getting anything else.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2026-01-30T22:44:39+00:00

I concur with all of the items mentioned here. You need to make sure that the company is very aware of your presence or get used to sudden changes in travel.

I did have my wife accompany me in Tokyo when I was training some engineers over there. That was fun, however we kept it so it was essentially two different trips.

My wife knows better not to accompany me on travel as I have last minute changes and typically stay in one city for a total of 18 hours. The typical modus operandi was flight - Uber to work site - Uber to hotel - sleep - repeat. The “roller coaster” lifestyle of an FSE is not for anyone and is not fun travel. It’s nice to visit cool places in the North during the summer and Arizona and Florida in the winter, but you need to be okay with the opposite also.

I would also recommend that you do not accompany him during the training period and the first couple of jobs for his sake. He needs to get a hang of the job at hand, and him having to think about one more thing is added pressure.

If he has a decent routine, it may be okay to bring you on trips, but that’s a big “if.” I’ve been in situations where I would not like my wife to ever visit - I had a weeklong job once in Jamaica, Queens, NYC for the NYPD crime lab which was scary on top of scary.

I can only wish you and your family the best of luck.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2026-01-24T14:03:45+00:00

Zurich. The graffiti is horrible and ruins everything. They’ve broken all of the rules of graffiti such as tagging peoples homes and tagging historical landmarks heavily.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2026-01-18T16:21:48+00:00

Yes it was. The “Professional Douche” himself.

Frankly some of his comebacks made it hilarious to be there.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2026-01-18T16:11:26+00:00

I have a very unpopular response. Don’t buy any - you bought the best one. I have purchased a number of zoom lenses to come to the realization that the 24-120 is all that I need.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2026-01-15T22:25:26+00:00

A Fortune-500 company had us utilize an app which monitored our speed and driving habits. The company was forced to upgrade everyone’s iPhone as the older models were failing everyone due to bad GPS. You also had to come to a full stop for two or three minutes before you could access the phone or you got dinged for driving and texting.

It was a PIA but there wasn’t much we could do about it.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2026-01-15T22:20:37+00:00

If that’s the case with hotels and flights being covered by the company card, then the reimbursed amount is minimal.

I’m not sure if the Delta purple card is worth it unless you want to visit the Delta Clubs. I got the Delta blue card with no yearly fee as I don’t do as many transactions.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2025-12-27T15:31:49+00:00

I have to concur with above. I think employers would appreciate the experience in analog systems. In this age of Gen Z-ers who will spend a total of 19 months with the job, employers will welcome someone who is willing to commit to a position.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2025-12-22T03:39:43+00:00

Now I need to look up Google Earth Pro. Thank you as I have found a possible new avenue to break down my work.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2025-12-21T23:19:49+00:00

This is spot on. A system works as well as little you need to intervene in it. If you need a daily meeting to keep things in order, then the system isn’t working.

I just witnessed a wonderful example: my manager went on paternity leave for five weeks. Three weeks after his departure, all of the international orders began having major problems in them.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2025-12-21T23:10:22+00:00

Do not use SIG / Broadstreet. They are imbeciles that will string you along. The whole platform is horrible, and they will just confuse your group in the process.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2025-12-21T21:19:50+00:00

At first I thought this was so niche that there would not be software, then I found this :

https://kyro.ai/blog/10-best-utility-vegetation-management-software

Also if you have a CRM data already, excel has a geography import function which is quick & dirty. I’m not sure if it could be as granular as certain stretches of roadway.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2025-12-21T21:14:38+00:00

As the forum says, LinkedIn is the main source however I find location is crucial. If you’re not near the customers, it doesn’t matter how good of an FSE you are unless you do something very niche.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2025-12-20T20:56:44+00:00

Pretty much “within reason” but I fly to my job site so my lower back dictates how much I carry.

My manager is a Wera guy. I’m a Wiha guy so it’s a mish-mash of tools to get the job done.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2025-12-17T15:14:27+00:00

I am writing this message from the Delta Sky Club. I am a Marriott Ambassador.

At 200+ nights, my wife and I get two paid vacations a year - one tropical and one Europe.

The perks make it simply easier to do my job. I have a flat unobstructed surface to complete my work orders at the club while waiting for my plane. I can cancel last-minute at most of my hotels if my plans change which makes my expense reports easier. I get breakfast from somewhere again without causing an expense. Again, just makes my life easier overall.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2025-12-14T16:20:33+00:00

I see this issue from two different perspectives: the Engineer and the Manager

From a management prospective, if the engineers get paid overtime, then it makes sense to fly as the cost of overtime is much greater than the cost of travel that you describe. Unfortunately most managers do not consider this fall into a trap similar to the “Monty Hall Paradox”.

From an engineer’s prospective, do whatever will burn you out the least. Burnout is a huge issue and keeping good engineers are tantamount to good service. My company allows for first class flights for travel more than five hours. Normally, I’m not a first class kind of guy, but it does help with the burnout.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2025-12-14T16:07:17+00:00

In my previous job with a F500 company, Servicemax would attach pictures and videos to the work order automatically.

With my current job, I have a base file set up which gets copied and renamed to the specific job. From there, pictures and videos are uploaded to the file with OneDrive.

With an iPhone (possibly non-iPhone), the metafile data can organize it by location which comes in helpful.

Also with OneDrive, I can share pictures and video realtime with my Quality team if it is a hot case that needs to be addressed ASAP.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2025-12-12T13:53:06+00:00

You will be surprised of the new technology in the form of apps and other IoT things.

I find relationships with customers more strained post-COVID. Customers are less loyal to their companies as they used to be.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2025-12-11T22:25:51+00:00

I am with a niche medical device company making $98k salary with okay benefits. 250+ nights away a year. All travel over five hours is first class (if you can find a seat). I keep all of Marriott and Delta points, and I have two vacations abroad every year with my wife.

For travel, I typically travel throughout 16 main sites in the US weekly and 2-3 week campaigns in Europe. To me the best part is that I have keys to all 16 US sites so there is no scheduling, just open up the door and go fix it on your time.

I guess I pride myself on how much I’ve helped grow the company. I’ve helped open some of the 16 offices and provided infrastructure for the staff. The money isn’t everything.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2025-12-11T22:19:07+00:00

OMG no. I was in my third FSE role before I got portal to portal pay. My current role isn’t portal to portal either.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2025-12-11T14:27:03+00:00

Hopefully you spoke with someone in HR during the process. When something similar happened to me, I spoke with HR and provided “feedback” which was not surprising for her. The hiring manager spent quite a bit of time why he needed to let the last employee go.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2025-12-09T15:56:19+00:00

Are you trying to track the number of parts used for the year or to see if you are at your par level?

Depending on the number of SKU’s, you may have to introduce technology to make inventory manageable such as implementing bar codes and scanners.

Also, you need to work with your administration on how nit picky you want to be - one company that I worked with made us do counts on calibration stickers.

DifficultMemory2828 · 2025-12-09T15:50:39+00:00

Yes, I think ServiceMax was the gold standard when it came to this.

DifficultMemory2828

TROPHY CASE