I have no doubts that is why i35E has been under construction for longer than Iāve been alive.
1 Like
It doesnāt seem counter intuitive to me. I suppose it does if you think that we have reached peak traffic. But I think that the limiting resource in most cities is road space. Increase the road space and more people will drive because there is now room for them. So traffic increases until it is about the same as before.
Portland decided to try the opposite and made a two lane in each direction road into a one lane in each direction. This might have worked out but they didnāt make the bus stops no parking so the buses now have to stop in the middle of the road blocking all traffic in one direction and causing a lot more anger in drivers. (I canāt use public transport most of the time in Portland because I have to drive in about 90 miles or so first).
I have a random story\confessionā¦ lolā¦ long intro bear with it
so as I mentioned previously Iām an inspector at my job now, Iām not an engineer
I know I usually self deprecate on here because programming hurts my brainā¦ and this forum is deep in the programming watersā¦ but I know enough to be semi capable however when it comes to machines and mechanical problem solving and some handy training that was just a deep dive into universal troubleshooting theory
I really should have gone to school for it, but my neurodivergence was in FULL swing in those years and I lacked many of the coping skills I have today in those years and it probably wouldnāt have ended wellā¦ I should go back nowadaysā¦ but its harder to commit while doing the full time thingā¦
anywaysā¦ the engineers we regularly deal with are not the R&D type, but the glorified babysitter typeā¦
operator breaks XYZ, we fetch an engineer and have them fix itā¦
so I can understand why they look down on the run of the mill operatorsā¦
ā¦thatās not meā¦ I usually go far out of my way to troubleshoot and diagnose issues and have several plans of attack ready before I even bother dealing with themā¦ in addition getting anything is like pulling teeth
also they have a tendency to really not listen and talk to people like that are literally childrenā¦one time I had to keep myself from either strangling or uttering insults that would have made their relatives shudderā¦
" hey engineer, hereās what Iām experiencing, hereās how Iāve isolated it, hereās why its a problem, perhaps XYZ as a course of action? but its your call "
(scenario was about the amount of a liquid compound being applied to a surface, and that the standards were totally unclearā¦ specifically the compound in question flashes off semi quicklyā¦ and I was trying to get an answer on whether the compound in question needed to be in liquid formā¦ or SHOULD flash off before proceeding )
āwell we want the surface of the part to be of the thing to have ____ applied on itā¦ you should make the surface wet with ____ā¦ if it looks shiny, that means it is wetā
ā¦gee shiney = wet? god youāre so smartā¦ what would I do without you?.. probably the sameā¦ since I literally didnāt ask you about if the surface being āshineyā, not 5 minutes later I heard her nit picking someone else for having too much of said compoundā¦ I was this close to using the " play dumb" voiceā¦ and be likeā¦ " but so-and-soā¦ I tHoGhT yOu SaId iT sHoUlD lOoK sHiNeY"
( its hard to put into words just how condescending this person is, and how her answer had nothing to do with my questionā¦ just take my word for itā¦ just makes my blood boil talking to her)
anyways, this was the backstory you needed to know about WHY Iāve decided to start playing some gamesā¦ both due to impatience in getting any assistance , and fucking with them
they use a 3d printer at work for a lot of the jigs and whatnot, and Iāve gotten enough of a look at their printing styles, that I can dumb my slicer settings down, and make it look like they printed somethingā¦
long winded wind upā¦ sorry, hereās where it gets good
there are all kinds of little things that streamline the job, like a screwdriver holder here, a tray that holds parts in a certain orientationā¦ etcā¦ little things that you couldnāt get them to make for you to save your lifeā¦ but are useful, and have no downsidesā¦ ( I wont fuck with anything that does anything to parts, I know the lines )
Iām now saying fuck it, making my own ( no rules against it, some people have personal screwdrivers etc), and discreetly leaving only 1 float around so that it looks like they made it, ( one is never enough ), and then let it circulate for a while to become familiar (and nobody to know where it came from) and people start fighting over the one good gizmo that saves them timeā¦
then I wait till someone gets peeved off that they cant use the gizmo because the other guy has it, and they put in an official suggestion for more of the gizmo
the person that tells( who is sort of HR and not an engineer, nor do they care) the engineers to make things, all they hear isā¦ " they want more of something that is workingā¦ make more of it" ā¦ they assume the engineers made itā¦ which they didnāt 
ā¦ the engineers donāt have the files to ājust print anotherā , initially they talk amongst themselves trying to figure out where the files wentā¦ all the while not wanting to tell the person TELLING them to make more that they donāt have the files, so they are forced to sit down and measure and reverse engineer my designā¦ ( I may have put a flaw in one design to see how faithfully they rip it )
whatās funny is, Iād happy make a bunch more and \ or give them my files, ā¦ all they need to do is ask
asshole, mad-genius, shit stirrer, or just a guy who builds a tool when he needs itā¦ you decide
3 Likes
I assume youāve decided to play it that way because itās impossible to bubble up good ideas within your organizations without being talked down, correct?
I strongly believe every engineer in contact with customers - or other teams within the company, who are also kinds of ācustomersā in a way - should spend 6 months working 1st line support.
I hope you will update us as things progress }:>
you got itā¦
they actually have a fairly decent idea of a programā¦
if you suggest a tool or a work flow change that is helpfulā¦ you get 50$ ( oooo wow, but better than a sticker I guess)
problem is they literally fail 99% of themā¦ which could be one thing if they were shitty ideasā¦ but then later they claim they were already doing it before the suggestion, so it doesnāt countā¦ oh and it takes 6 monthsā¦ like people have literally put in suggestionsā¦ left the companyā¦ came back to the companyā¦ and then get paid for a tool suggestionā¦
fuck that Ill just print my own
currently making a coin cell battery tester for a whopping 3$ and 30g of plastic
while Iām on a rantā¦ we work with glassā¦ lots of glassā¦ we need to clean glassā¦ a lotā¦
acetone is very useful for this purpose since its so pure and evaporates so quicklyā¦
literally every desk in production has an 8oz bottle of acetone in a tap style dispenser bottleā¦
as a result, people have a habit of using acetone to clean anything and everything at and around the workstationsā¦
knowing thisā¦ those of you that 3d printā¦ if you had to 3d print jigs to hold parts, that will get very dirtyā¦ is there perhaps a single filament choice that you would recommend NOT using?
ā¦ yeaā¦ they use absā¦ for EVERYTHINGā¦ sigh
you could use PETG, its nearly the same strength profileā¦ (and you are literally just positioning thingsā¦ and you could probably SOAK it in acetoneā¦) sigh
1 Like
quote=āEriequiet, post:8689, topic:5860ā]
but then later they claim they were already doing it before the suggestion
[/quote]
Way to alienate people of good will.
pretty muchā¦
I suspectā¦ maybe optimistically so, that it isnāt an organizational thingā¦ but rather engineers trying to save faceā¦ but yea end productā¦ people say fuck itā¦ not my problemā¦
Iām at the point of, keep your moneyā¦ I would pay you the 50$ to get the tool or workflow change I want NOW, not 6 months from nowā¦ so FUCK it ill just print it lol
ā¦ good or bad, I may be sarcastic and cynical, but I cant help but fix thingsā¦
Fixing things is the mark of a good engineer. Sounds to me like the engineers at your job are kinda shit and full of themselves.
2 Likes
As an Engineer by title (but not actually an engineer, given that Oregon has a a habit of suing people for practicing engineering without a licence at the slightest opportunity)ā¦
I understand where you come from.
My personal feeling is that whatever your job, customer service is the most important thing. In the case of your āengineersā you are the customer. I do my best to explain things to people as clearly as I can without being condescending or patronizing.
It sounds like your work really needs a serious attitude adjustment.
Iād think so.
last week I almost YEETED a 30k $ optical inspection device off my new deskā¦ which is fucking critical to what I doā¦ because its positioned directly on the edge of the deskā¦ and not fixed in anywayā¦
I told the engineer he had 4 choices in that situationā¦
- secure it, like it should have beenā¦ 3 minute job
- give me 2x nails/screws and I would screw them halfway into my desk to prevent it from going over to oblivionā¦ 3 second job
- I will go home and send an email that I will not touch that device until it is secured against falling off the desk
Option 4? Or is that one left to our imaginations?
just the engineersā¦ I may bitch and moan, but the company does do good by usā¦
1 Like
I decided I shouldnāt write it, but apparently I forgot to remove all evidence lol
option 4. not catch it the next time it falls, and tell them ____ didnāt want to secure it to the desk
3 Likes
I was thinking that option 4 was to prevent it falling on the floor by ramming it into one of his orificesā¦
You are so nice to these jerks.
2 Likes
meh, Iāve never been one for going that routeā¦
telling the company, ____ specifically was advised, and actively chose not to prevent 30 grand in damage ( and I really down even want to imagine how much downtime)
is far better than any temporary physical pain
gotta play it the right wayā¦ if you come in like a wrecking ball, it blows back on you
the trick is giving the boulder on the edge of the cliff a light flick
1 Like
Wait, are they industrial āengineersā or actual engineers? Ok, I think you answered that question alreadyā¦
And I hope not to get lynched for this commentā¦
Weāve got several flavors and I donāt always deal with all of them, and everyone gets them all mixed up so I honestly donāt even keep straight anymore
are the ātoolā engineers, who build and fix things
I believe they are āmanufacturingā engineersā¦ wether thatās the right term I cannot say
They are the ātoolā engineers, who build and fix things used by production, but donāt really deal with the product itself
These are the guys Iām trolling at the moment about making convenience items
2 Likes
Haha, Wow, I made something VERY similar a good while back, I still probably have it somewhere. ( iāll show you if i find it ) It wasnāt 3D printed, just in a project box. Yours doesnāt look spring loaded, I did this for mine so I could do 2032s 2016s etc, I was going to add in a seperate smaller button cell compartment, although it was was really handy, I now use a āuniversalā battery tester, which is built into my Battery cady
Like this one, circled is the removable battery tester (the downside is the lack of voltmeter, just a red, orange, green LED meter.)
Itās a simple flexible design, iāll take an actual photo of it when Iām home.
You could replicate and put in a voltmeter.
I have another similar one to yours (but larger, made with all salvaged parts) that I still use because my āUniversalā tester doesnāt do Hi-Rose connectors
