Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Chaos?... confusion?..... My work here is done


Today was a bit more than crazy, but a touch less than insane.

Two of the young gentlemen who blew off the discipline assignment yesterday walked in this morning and quietly asked for a fresh copy. Both said they would take it seriously this time.

We shall see.

We had a rep in from an aeronautic school, recruiting our youngens as post secondary students. Yes... they look at my auto tech trainees as prime material to feed their campus. I managed to capture his multimedia presentation from his notebook and run it on our class projector/speaker system. (The boys and I installed this mess last year). After his presentation, I asked how many schools he speaks at that can run his material like that.... and just got a laugh. Apparently 'tech schools' are not yet that technical, at least not elsewhere. Sad thought, that.

The afternoon got more than busy, just barely organized at all. Lots of work getting done, live work vehicles crowding the shop, an after school tactile test to set up..... you know.... busy.

The adult tactile test retake this afternoon..... was disappointing. I was told this guys job was on the line, and he needed this retake. He had already taken the test once, failed it, and knew exactly what was involved.

I don't think he practiced one bit. He missed huge safety items on the vehicle, had no idea how to use a dial indicator on suspension components, mis measured brake components.... just totally tanked it. I was a little pissed, as I set up the entire tactile test just for him, and thats the best he could do?

No gray area on this one. The man should not and will not be doing vehicle safety inspections in this state, at least not with my name on his certificate. Perhaps this is not the career for him. I mean..... I unbolted a steering arm on the vehicle he inspected, and he never noticed. Like I said.... not a tough decision on my part.

Aw well..... dinner was decent, the music is fine, a glass of wine awaits... and I have friends blogs to keep me company this excellent chilly evening. Brigid writes about an AR that I'd love to own, and tops it off with incredible looking cheesecake bars. Breda tells us the Gun Nutz show is a rerun because Caleb is playing sick. Tam brings us snark, history, and snark.... in various proportions. RobertaX mentions the next Indy blogmeet..... sigh.... which I will miss :-( Old NFO opens a window on military history on this veterans day. Phlegmfatale shows us her jewelry making skill... beautiful.

The list could go on... but each blog is a glimpse into the life of a friend and I appreciate each one. You can look at the list to the left and see the blogs I read daily. That's why they are there... so I can find them easily myself. Most I read every day, some every few days. While I don't comment a lot, there is no doubt those people have become important to me.

That's all for me folks. Now I'll go refill this glass of Red Truck wine and turn up the Pandora radio just a notch, then return to browsing my friends lives, enjoying what they chose to share so freely.

Oh.... One last thought to leave you with a smile. The recliner I am sitting back in as I type this has almost completed it's nasty little plan of slowly disassembling itself, and there is every chance it's collapsed under me as you read this, leaving me sprawled in the wreckage. Covered with wine, still typing away madly on this babble box..... and smiling quietly to myself.



4 comments:

Old NFO said...

Thanks guy! I needed a laugh to offset the madness of today... sigh... Beware the chair, that DID happen to a friend- He sat down and kept right on going.

Jean said...

heh...if you can keep smiling when your chair collapses and spills your wine, there's a good day in there somewhere!

"He's just this guy, you know?" said...

Brigid: The last time I had a chair collapse, I was sitting on a friends deck. It was one of those plastic deck chairs, and maybe had a few years on it. As I sat down, the font legs of the chair just drifted away and snapped off.... leaving my butt flat on the deck amongst the shards of chair.

The only witness was the dog... as no one else was looking at the time. I'm glad of that... I'd hate to the think what the physical damage from laughing that hard could be.


Jean: Sometimes a smile is all thats left after a tough day. Everything else is worn out and used up!

Home on the Range said...

Oh yes, THAT chair - the remains were buried quietly. :-)