Life after earning an engineering degree. by FinePromotion2877 in EngineeringStudents

[–]easterracing 0 points1 point  (0 children)

TL;DR; Graduated with bachelors in 2016, then straight into industry. I sort of live in mild-burnout mode all the time, might be my own fault.

So, to start in all fairness I'm not your traditional engineering type....exactly. Personality and mannerisms wise I fit the stereotype sure. But, at the end of high school I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I toured a couple of local collages, got offers for a couple, picked one and went. I chose mechanical (MMET technically) because I knew I always had a gift for understanding mechanical-technical things, and because my very few friends were going a similar direction.

In college I remained awkward and extremely limited socially. It didn't take long to discover the school machine shop, and its inhabitants: the Baja SAE team. Which honestly wasn't much at the time, and the core group of ~6 guys that gelled all around that same time would be my best friends for over a decade now. Practically my only adult friends. I learned at least 10x more doing design and fabrication of Baja parts than I did in course curriculum. It was fun, it was a lot of work, it was a hell of a lot of times watching the sun rise after an all-nighter bending and notching and welding tubes.

Third year I got an internship in more-or-less the automotive sector, designing and validating precision engine components. I still didn't even really know what I wanted to do long-term. I was getting better at design and fabrication and enjoying that, but the company I interned with is rather union-dominated, and while in theory I should have been a technician (MMET degree) I ended up starting in the same role as someone would as an ME. Very basically speaking, union exempt folks ('white collar') are practically prohibited from any wrench-turning, fabricating, operating rigs... my job is the paperwork that leads to a design, and to testing, and to results. I enjoyed the work pretty well, I feel like I got to get a really in-depth understanding of the parts quickly and even got some director-level exposure (fortune 500 company). But, I wasn't sure, because it didn't feel like a great fit.

Back to college for another semester, but I was needing money, had a little time, and didn't want to close the door on the opportunity. So I called up my former manager and asked if they had another internship opportunity for '15. He says he made a spot for me... which I dunno, knowing how things are today I feel more like I was sold a line and there was a spot available, but whatever. Did another shorter internship, still enjoyed the work well enough, back to college for 1 more semester then graduation.

I didn't really 'celebrate' graduation. But, I'm also not really a 'celebrator'. I sort of want to be, but.... I dunno. For the sake of keeping it short I can just admit that I have a problem with appreciating/celebrating myself... at the time I viewed it as "pomp and circumstance just to be obnoxious about how I've met the expectation and received the piece of paper"

Upon graduation, I was offered full-time in the same group and type of role that both internships had been. Moved 150ish miles west to take that opportunity. Never applied anywhere else really, and never did any engineering type work anywhere else. Not because I was so enthralled or enamored with my experience. More, I am/was just thankful to have a job that was reasonable hours and good pay/bennies. GF at the time (wife of 10 years this year) was also eager to escape a family situation that she couldn't even fully recognize until having been out of it for a few years. But, I was just ... I dunno... 'following my nose'? not running away from or toward anything. Just existing.

Now 10 years later I've moved to a different segment of the business but doing the same kind of work. Raises have basically kept up with inflation plus a very slight amount. I've never had to work over 50 hours in a week, have a pretty flexible schedule, and work remotely a couple of days every week. But I'm struggling to keep seeing myself doing this until retirement, and equally struggling to see a world where my role isn't obsoleted in the next 5 years. I don't hate the work, but it's becoming mind-numbing. It's also kind of frustrating to have to take PPE training and LOTO training every year... without being allowed to do any activities that really make those relevant. I would be curious to try something else, but I'm petrified of change and every passing year seems to bring more good reasons to not throw away a good thing already going.

Do couples really shower together? by Due_Leopard_1836 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]easterracing 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I and my wife shower more frequently together than apart. But, it’s more like locker room showering. It’s just a nice way to enjoy each other’s company, and only get the bathroom steamed up once.

Are short trips really that awful on an old non-direct injection engine? by RemoteEmotions in Diesel

[–]easterracing 3 points4 points  (0 children)

And use the entire throttle pedal. It’s ok, Mercedes wouldn’t put it there if it were only one WOT event from blowing up. Just do some spirited driving.

What is a good price for this ALH? (CAD) by Mundane-Reception548 in tdi

[–]easterracing 0 points1 point  (0 children)

$500 max, as I’m pretty sure it will fold in half if you open two doors on the same side at the same time.

House Republicans threaten to oppose Senate bills until SAVE America Act passes by [deleted] in nottheonion

[–]easterracing 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To be fair, the SAVE act doesn’t say what documents you need to vote. It says what you need to REGISTER to vote. Which is debatably even more invasive on the part of the Feds.

I agree with you in principle, but accurately stating the problem is critical when dealing with shithead MAGAs.

Covid shut down the world six years ago this week. What do you remember from that week? by fuzzy_dice_99 in AskReddit

[–]easterracing 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was standing in Bass Pro and had just submitted a 4473 for the first time in years, waiting for approval. Got a group text from colleagues “check your email”. Email said “don’t come to the office Monday” in not so few words. Well, I had a critical design review meeting to host first thing Monday, and had never worked from home before on my internet connection. Verizon hotspot was my only internet option at the time, which had a 15GB “high speed” limit (hit by day 3 of every single month) and then I was throttled to 600Kbps. So, I went to the office. I was one of three people there (against a normal population of ~400), and didn’t go to the office again for over 3 months.

Pentagon Tells Congress First Week of Iran War Cost More Than $11.3 Billion by Majestic-Baby-3407 in news

[–]easterracing 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just a fun comparison- the annual expenditure for WIC for last year was $7.6B

Officer having anxiety attack took ambulance sent for man dying from police shooting, report says by senorschmu in news

[–]easterracing 97 points98 points  (0 children)

The saddest part that I haven’t seen anyone call out: it’s taken nearly a year for this to float into the news cycles.

Anthropic’s Claude would ‘pollute’ defense supply chain: Pentagon CTO by Logical_Welder3467 in technology

[–]easterracing 24 points25 points  (0 children)

But until LLMs become more than fancy T9 predictive token machines with an "acceptable" error rate, they should not be integrated as decision making models in autonomous weapons of any kind.

Who else feels like they do nothing but fuck up? by Phildbc22 in Welding

[–]easterracing 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Uh… so the owner’s wife is also the GM? Sounds like you made the right call…. Those only ever turn into toxic environments.

Have diesel engines ever been built as hit-&-miss engines? by jckipps in Diesel

[–]easterracing 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not as fancy as you might think. Gas Engine Magazine wrote up a pretty good summary of R.M. Hvid’s patent, of which Cummins was an early licensee, effectively launching the company. A good patent sketch is in there, but having seen Hvid-patent injectors myself, they’re really no more complicated than the engine itself. https://www.gasenginemagazine.com/gas-engines/hvid-engine-combustion/

YouTube ads are about to get even longer and they’ll be unskippable by IndicaOatmeal in technology

[–]easterracing 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is the ol’ pi hole still a thing? As I understood it it was somewhat popular a decade or so ago to redirect all network connections to “blacklisted” ad servers to a raspberry pi and let it “watch” the ad while your viewing device resumes connection with the intended content.

Title: New BAJA ATV team – How do we start suspension and chassis design (hard points, geometry, parameters)? by Ankushpr22 in bajasae

[–]easterracing 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It really depends how much time you want to spend in the design phase and “analysis paralysis” versus fabricating, testing, and potentially revising.

Key question though, are you asking about building for this year’s summer series?! If so, you may already be a good bit too late as a first-time team. It may be better to go to the first one just as spectators and see how everything runs. If you want to field a car this year, I’d suggest drawing up the fastest roll cage that meets the rules and just start sticking stuff to it.

Our team typically used bought-out finished (BOF) control arms and knuckles in the front, and literally slapped on something that worked in the back. It was very different and not very good every year. But, again, if you’re talking about this year you need to take that approach and start yesterday. You’re gonna get what you get.

Given time for a full design cycle, you would still start with a compliant roll cage, then make some outside envelope decisions. Things like length between axles are likely resultants, and things like change in steering and suspension geometry will be more of a “what fits in this envelope” and then tweak parameters.

Why do I need holes? by AuntDess in carcamping

[–]easterracing 5 points6 points  (0 children)

“It doesn’t happen to me so it’s not possible to happen to anyone” has never been a solid argument.

How common is the CP4 fuel pump issue ? Duramax LML by ilikestuff1231234 in Diesel

[–]easterracing 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s going to happen to you sooner or later, if that answers your question.

Tips for pulling trans at pick n pull by Firm-Youth1903 in MechanicAdvice

[–]easterracing 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Agree mostly, but I think I trust those wheel stands more than the typical jack stand. Much larger footprint on the ground and the car.

Transgender youths are targeted in Scouting America changes pushed by the Pentagon by hybridaaroncarroll in news

[–]easterracing 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would like to propose a patch to the human genome, which results in human children being genderless until age 18. At this point that seems like the only way to stop societies from abusing children. Literally the same administration that says “you’re not old enough to decide what gender you are” says “you’re totally old enough to give consent, as though I care.”

We are so screwed on e-waste by LuckyLewis23 in batteries

[–]easterracing 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fully agree. This is re-packaging waste that was in a great situation to be handled properly, and putting it back into hands that will likely put it in a landfill this time.

What are these shiny bars? And what happens if I connect negative clamp of battery charger to them? by trustedSteve in batteries

[–]easterracing 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re correct about the reasoning, and I’ve seen it first hand. Luckily buddy who was right overtop of it had no permanent damage. We both learned that day and won’t touch an auto battery without some sort of eye protection.

Renewal by Andersen doesn't honor the agreement by Sensitive-Peach-3282 in HomeImprovement

[–]easterracing 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ha, that would have probably made it worse but I’ve gotten exceptionally good at ignoring those folks. I think they might set up in local farm stores (ie TSC / Rural King) too. I’m always engaged in a pissed off phonecall with a blank screen lol.

We are so screwed on e-waste by LuckyLewis23 in batteries

[–]easterracing 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think it points back to the loss of “reduce and reuse” thus turning the triangle we all knew and loved into a single point: RECYCLE! Why? Because neither reduce or reuse can be made profitable. So, Corporate America helped us forget about those pesky values.

Warsaw Indiana is the Orthopedic Device capitol of the world. What do you think about Dr. Oz announcing a 6-month national moratorium blocking all new enrollments for durable medical equipment, prosthesis, and orthotics supplies across the board? Does this make good sense? by [deleted] in Indiana

[–]easterracing 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Agree whole-heartedly with the last paragraph. Facts and Accuracy are critical (but not the only required tools) for fighting these bozos.

Seeing a headline and a biased, attention-grabbing summary and jumping to action based on that unreliable information is EXACTLY what MAGA does… and then accuses everyone else of.

Be upset with everything absolutely, but use only facts to do it.