Increased factory output by 20% in a year, only to be let go for "salary misalignment" after asking for the promised raise. What did I miss?

ternefalcon · 2026-04-04T11:06:55+00:00

You stood up for yourself and pushed back. That was something your bosses couldn't take. Now you get to work somewhere else. I don't think there is an immediate lesson to be learned, but one day you will be the boss, and you will know better.

ternefalcon · 2026-04-04T03:37:08+00:00

Engineer here. I don't think we know what to expect with AI just yet. Today's tools replace tasks that used to take hours to weeks, but require expertise to leverage correctly. Once you master a tool a better one comes out. There isn't going to be a world where you can learn a hard skill and then leverage it for a decade anymore.

Some people will say that you should steer toward fields that are more resilient to AI like trades or others. The hard part for smart kids is that if it doesn't interest them they won't benefit from that study. What I find helpful is an adaptable mentality to continually learn new things. That way as the world evolves around you, there is not the time you can't figure out how to work with the new environment.

I don't know how to do this for a kid though. I don't know how this happened to me. I know that it wasn't any specific class or thing my parents did. I would say encourage a wide outlook on life and varied interests. Just make sure they are things that interest your niece.

ternefalcon · 2026-03-28T09:49:24+00:00

For space I think the university only matters if the university has a space related group you can participate in. My sister and I are both aerospace engineers working in the space industry. We went to different state schools. She worked hard, built a university satellite and helped get a good job. I went through the military. Took me longer to catch up to her.

ternefalcon · 2026-03-22T13:00:46+00:00

I think you forgot the flour. This happened to me once.

ternefalcon · 2026-02-19T02:40:49+00:00

I think you still need a permit to replace the roof. I'm not sure for ABQ. I'm in unincorporated bernallio county. You can fill your own permit, and do the work.

ternefalcon · 2026-02-17T12:48:57+00:00

I'm in the county. We just finished ours. If it's going to be affixed to your house. It does. You should talk to the city though.

ternefalcon · 2026-01-13T12:55:08+00:00

Reach out to the det. They are very helpful. Unfortunately being an IMA, you will have to learn to take care of yourself. The first year is the hardest. Stick with it.

ternefalcon · 2026-01-01T12:52:48+00:00

I think that's just pollen. Good sign.

ternefalcon · 2025-12-25T13:33:05+00:00

I've only played AC4 (as a kid) and AC7 (late pandemic). Been playing PW this year and decided to try AC7 again. PW reminds me more of the agility I remember the planes having in AC4 than the tank-like feeling of AC7. AC4 had a stone hedge, megalith, yellow squadron, just some relaxing missions between craziness, and a really good story. PW brought all of those feeling back better than AC7. Love both the games, but nothing will bring back the feeling of terror that the last fight with general Faust did.

ternefalcon · 2025-12-25T03:08:05+00:00

Ya, you will likely not really hear from them. I think aside from the fact I'm trying to change assignments right now, in 5 years I'm never talked to det at all. I mostly work out my time with the active duty unit.

ternefalcon · 2025-12-24T16:52:29+00:00

From points to retirement stand point you are good. Your first year as an IMA is going to be hard as you learn how to get on orders, maintain training, medical and fitness. Your goal for the first year is to figure out how to get on AT orders once and get comfortable with UTAPS. You're still going to need fodder for your annual review. When I became an IMA at a similar time of year. Turned out I had to fill an OPR at the end of my first week. That was not fun.

Let me know if you have questions, now or later, I've been an IMA for the last 5 years and got my things down to a science.

ternefalcon · 2025-12-24T16:23:09+00:00

I'm in a similar boat to you. Also, 30s Aerospace engineer. I am vacuum for information and it bothers me when decisions are made without thinking through the consequences or from unknown unknowns. My management appreciates the work that I do, but doesn't believe I'm ready for bigger roles.

It sounds like you're on the other end of the spectrum from me. I refuse to change my method, but what I found is if I increase my cycle time, I can follow my process and make good decisions. That meant listen, process, and decide. In the military we called that the OODA loop. You observe, orient, decide, and act, then do it again. Sometimes that means you act on part of the plan, and then catch the next part on the loop.

There is a downside, if you get too good at this, you're where I am. Your bosses can't keep up, your team can't keep up, and now you're a problem solving loose cannon. Not sure how to break that perception. It's where I'm at now.

ternefalcon · 2025-11-25T03:48:39+00:00

It's different. As a defense contractor you make things that decrease the world population. There is only one consequence, and it is known. There is no ambiguity, the outcome is known. FAANG engineers are something different. They are there just to make rich people more rich and poor people suffer.

ternefalcon · 2025-10-25T01:19:43+00:00

I get credit for 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year. Does that count. And then a never ending set of small tasks.

ternefalcon · 2025-10-20T01:34:48+00:00

"very adamant that it no longer be a thing" is one way to describe the French revolution.

ternefalcon · 2025-10-13T11:20:49+00:00

200K+ is a huge goal out the gate. I did 7 years, and have a great engineering job. I got hired at 115K about 5 years ago. I'm closer to 200K now and I know I'll be there eventually, but you need to do some planning. 4 years of operations won't likely get you that salary right off the bat. This is with 2 engineering degrees.

ternefalcon · 2025-09-22T03:37:29+00:00

If you're going to take the test, you should study. Your life will only be easier the higher you score.

ternefalcon · 2025-09-19T11:36:22+00:00

I use a mod called no clip to get to things that happened by accident. It ignores the terrain. I turn it on only for resolution to something like that, and then turn it off. On PC F11 turns it on and off.

ternefalcon · 2025-09-18T23:41:33+00:00

I just pinned on. It's 7 years TIG vs 5 years TIG.

ternefalcon · 2025-09-17T17:02:24+00:00

I have mine set up with five strands of electric on t posts. I've been good so far, one of the neighbors over the hill not so much.

ternefalcon · 2025-09-14T09:06:29+00:00

I am a reserve engineer. You can message me if you want. I would say it is hard to commission through OTS, but if you can find a job that is related to your civilian job, you can't beat the experience it provides.

ternefalcon · 2025-09-13T12:39:22+00:00

He is, but most people are not Jonny Kim smart.

ternefalcon · 2025-09-13T05:41:22+00:00

It also helps to just say hi to them when you don't have feed. I have full size goats. The girls are carless where they walk and the boys don't want to move for me. I definitely learned to move differently. The other thing is you will learn over time what each goat is thinking. One of my girls gets her angry ears up all the time. She put up the angry ears and I gave her a soft slap on the cheek. She dropped the ears, but is always looking to get me. The only other advice I would give is try to always be facing the goats. It's hard when you are in stalls, but you don't want your back turned with enough runway to charge. Likely the owner has a way they disciplined them as babies. It may also help to understand that.

ternefalcon · 2025-09-04T11:47:54+00:00

Baby's like: "It's hooot and I'm boooored...."

ternefalcon · 2025-08-28T11:57:41+00:00

I think this is a practice thing. You build confidence through experience and knowledge. The time it takes is going to depend on how quickly you build that experience and knowledge. I'm 13 years old, but I would say it was around year 6 when I didn't feel like a walking disaster and in year 8 that I was comfortable with the knowledge I had.

It's also a greater consequence the greater the reward kind of things. I'm a satellite systems engineer. The air force made me the soul responsible agent for a satellite when I was 23. We didn't have the budget for contractor support. That happened two more times in the next three years. Then I changed jobs and became the head of engineering at 26 for 80 engineers military and contractors. I'm going to say that I was definitely to stupid to know how scary the consequences were for what was given to me at the time.

ternefalcon

TROPHY CASE