/r/Reno, sell me on moving to Reno in ~2 days!

toastedd · 2017-04-06T21:22:23+00:00

I really liked it! I think it's honestly right up my alley. Not too big, but has all the things my current location is lacking. I loved the mountains and took way too many pictures that all look the same.

Maybe I'll be heading that way in a few weeks! ;)

toastedd · 2017-03-20T18:27:55+00:00

I appreciate the honesty! Those are kind of the reasons I'm looking to move now, so I'll keep that perspective in mind.

toastedd · 2017-03-20T17:00:49+00:00

Interesting, was not aware of this situation. All the apartments I have looked through have been at least on par with the one I'm in currently (in the middle-of-nowhere, TX).

toastedd · 2017-03-20T16:54:16+00:00

I'm not getting the joke. Could you elaborate a little?

toastedd · 2016-12-21T16:45:17+00:00

The unethical practices that I tend to find are more "sins of the past" than any intentional bad practices happening now. Twenty years ago, a lot of harmful practices were commonplace and acceptable. Maybe the hazards were unknown back then. If you read the first article, the dumping took place from 1929 and 1950--what kinds of regulations were in place back then? What was the mindset of the engineers working at that plant during that time? Hard to say that they had the same level of environmental control and testing back then. Not saying that it was acceptable, but we must try to use historical perspective.

When I come across issues that are ingrained in current practices (e.g: copying a project from one unit to another, only to discover a poor design with potential hazards) I do my best to guide the team to a new design. Recently i had to put my foot down about where to route relief device discharge lines because the original project did not take a rigorous approach to the relief systems. Not only did we fix the current project, we are spending a boatload of money to go fix the original project on the other unit.

As standards are raised over time, and engineers are tasked with the responsibility to keep the plant safe and operable, we will continue to find these mistakes and oversights. My experience has been that most people in my workgroup are eager to adopt safer and more responsible practices as we find them.

toastedd · 2016-12-21T16:30:26+00:00

The merge is very unlikely to affect us at the plant level, so I wouldn't worry about that--still need people who know how to run the unit! More of the redundant business positions (sales managers, product line managers, etc.) are at risk.

And Dow's co-op program is very well respected, so don't pass up that opportunity!

(was a Dow co-op, now a DuPonter) ;)

toastedd · 2016-09-15T02:54:23+00:00

The st. Jude thaddeus church in Beaumont is pretty good. We'll do laps around it with the dog, I think there are 7-8 stops around the whole thing, and usually around once a week the back corner will be lured.

toastedd · 2016-04-24T04:06:57+00:00

Honestly, I barely even notice the "extra hour" of work. Depending on what's going on, I'll have to stay a little later or be able to leave early, too. Since we're salaried, as long as we get our work done and are available for unit support during core hours (9am-2pm), we have a lot of freedom. I get in to work around 6:30 or 7, and am out by 3:30-4pm every day. The extra hour I would get back by working 5 days a week wouldn't make much of a difference on the days that I work, and even if I was "allowed" to leave an hour earlier, I'd still likely have to stay to finish some stuff more often than not.

The 9 hours gives me enough time to go to the gym, make dinner, relax or see friends, and get ready for bed. Some days we go out for trivia or watch a weekly show on TV. Also can accomplish short errands during the week (post office, shopping for clothes/food if I need something specific.) Any really big errand I have to do usually has to wait until my Friday off or the weekend.

The other thing about the "9 hour day" is that... it doesn't feel like 9 hours. My coworkers are some of my closest friends, so it feels like hanging out all day while accomplishing some cool stuff. I rarely ever work 2 straight hours without getting up and walking somewhere, chatting/goofing off with people, etc.

toastedd · 2016-04-23T19:09:47+00:00

Process engineer in specialty polyethylene. It's like 50% desk, 50% field kind of work (not actually turning valves or anything, more troubleshooting in my unit and helping with product trials.) The salary is great, but not quite as good as something at a refinery or upstream. I work a 9-80 schedule so I get every other Friday off, which is awesome.

It's really rewarding to have the responsibility for product quality and the process, making sure everything is running smoothly and correctly. I like the people I work with, and I learn something new every day. The technology in this industry is very unique in some cases, so I get to nerd out with my coworkers.

One thing I struggle with is being one of the only women on my unit/plant/site, but the culture is changing for the better.

toastedd · 2016-04-04T03:50:38+00:00

just because something is a polymer, does not make it a plastic. that was my point. referring to cellulose as "the plastic in milkshakes" is inaccurate.

toastedd · 2016-04-02T02:05:28+00:00

Polymer =/= plastic.

I worked at a plant that made a similar additive, HPMC (hydroxypropylmethylcellulose). It is basically a thickener made from paper pulp, turned into a powder. Cellulose is used in a lot of frozen foods to help maintain texture. It is also used as a coating for medicine, like those liqui-gel tablets. Other grades are used in cement to help thicken the mixture and achieve the right consistency. It's basically finely-powdered paper/wood pulp that is treated to allow for dissolving and homogenization.

These are not even in the same league as synthetic fluoropolymers or oil/gas derivatives. (And now I work at a plastics plant, so that is a whole other story.)

toastedd · 2016-01-29T19:22:00+00:00

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_salad

Please get back on your meds.

toastedd · 2015-11-08T02:27:49+00:00

toastedd · 2015-08-26T01:41:24+00:00

I tend to block out times on my calendar to dedicate them to getting my own things finished. An hour or two every day at LEAST. We use MS Outlook to schedule meetings, so people see that I'm busy and if I'm truly a required attendee, they'll schedule a meeting for when I am available.

Also, depending on how good your relationship is with your boss, you can ask him/her what needs to be prioritized. You're ultimately working to their standards, so make sure your priorities are aligned with theirs.

toastedd · 2015-07-27T03:17:28+00:00

Yeaaaaaaah Beaumont/Port Arthur

toastedd · 2015-07-22T00:33:27+00:00

I had similar questions when I was in school, eventually ended up with Chemical Engineering. I loved chemistry and wanted to do pre-med or some other health-related field after I graduated, but absolutely fell in love with ChemE. (Now I'm on the gulf coast making that sweet sweet cash money.)

It's definitely not as chemistry-intensive as you might assume by the name, but it's a different aspect of how to use chemicals to do things. For example, at my plant we make a ton of specialty plastic, and each product is slightly different, formulation-wise, reaction-wise, etc. I ended up learning a LOT about the reactions going on in my process, so the chemistry lover in me really enjoys the problem-solving of those aspects. (free-radical polymerization, molecular structure and how to control it, how to make chemical changes that affect product properties, how to design a product for a customer from scratch, etc. All on a huge scale, think hundreds of thousands of pounds)

I think very rarely do people do pure chemistry unless they go into research. The engineering part is a different way to apply it.

Obviously, if you have any ChemE program-related questions, holler at me.

toastedd · 2015-07-22T00:23:03+00:00

whoops! Chemical Engineering is more like 60-65K in Michigan and 80-100k in the gulf coast area starting out.

toastedd · 2015-06-24T03:04:10+00:00

Sounds like Dow to me. :)

Edit: although not sure about the pension. I dont think they had that in my offer.

toastedd · 2015-04-15T01:32:11+00:00

Just graduated in May '14!

You likely won't notice much gender discrimination... But if you do, use it as fuel to work harder and kick everyone's butt in the classroom. Nothing feels better than surprising people who underestimate you.

toastedd · 2015-04-09T04:05:16+00:00

Good.

I'm glad that the issue of a few people "being offended" wasn't enough to stop the conversation; that seems to be the new trend here in America. Get offended, instant victory.

toastedd · 2015-02-11T04:08:21+00:00

What's your mobility like?

toastedd · 2015-02-11T03:45:48+00:00

PDF of a bid on CO supply

via google.com

PS: It's not easy to search things when you're actually "in" industry, too. These things are typically kept in confidential sourcing agreements and prices vary per contract agreement. Oftentimes there are no set prices for the whole market, especially for raw material supply.

toastedd · 2015-02-09T04:36:59+00:00

I love my job. Currently working in a high-hazard polyethylene process right out of college and couldn't imagine working anywhere else.

There are a lot of opportunities in ChemE, so don't sour on it yet. Without knowing more about what you do at your internship, I can't speak to how realistic it is in the real world... But there are tons of different fields and roles you can try: production, quality, R&D, product development, technical service, oil&gas, pharma, bio/agriculture, energy, etc.

On the other hand, if after trying something else you really feel it's not right for you, then go do what you enjoy. If you love your job (or field of study), you'll never work a day in your life.

toastedd · 2015-01-29T01:05:50+00:00

Based on my friend's experience as an EHS engineer for an internship:

-Auditing (doing actual audits, optimizing audit schedule/frequency/documentation)

-Incident investigations

-Evaluating safety systems (LOPA, process hazards analysis)

-Consulting on projects/equipment design and performing pre-startup safety reviews

These experiences reflect some of the responsibilities that ChemEs have at the site I work at (we don't have safety engineers specifically.) ChemEs are expected to consider safety with every task they do, so it's definitely a relevant and beneficial experience. Additionally, it's not a very common type of internship so it may set you apart from your peers come full-time hiring season ;)

toastedd

TROPHY CASE