agenthurt

[agenthurt]

Rebranded

I don’t want to lose the record of what I was doing back long ago, but I do want to have a blog of my own.  My intent is to utilize a blog format to show my journey into miniature painting and heroquest.  Perhaps I will end up creating a seperate blog just for that one specific hobby.  I haven’t decided how best to start recording my life in posterity for when I’m gone.  Maybe this can be a positive, creative outlet for myself, and a record of some of the pointless things I did in my life that brought me happiness.  End of brief.

[agenthurt]

Starting Over In Quality

i had an awesome day today at work on my birthday, and sharing at length on my blog seemed better than sharing a ginormous Facebook post to scroll through (links are friendly). 

For newcomers, i spent 12 years at a major manufacturer going from entry labor to senior quality engineer.  i was a miserable troll of a person by that time.  Eventually, my mouth caught up with me and I was fired because of an extracurricular activity that led to a serious witch hunt internal to the company.  I spent 4 months being unemployed.

Through some connections, I landed a quick interview semi-local out of the blue.  We’re talking “hey call me. are you interested in basic inspection?  can you come in this afternoon?”  I was highly motivated to take a large pay cut, and couldn’t expect to make what I used to make, but I knew my base asking price to pay bills.  After the interview and tour, I was excited at the opportunity and knew this was looking very positive upon the fact that some key cornerstone skills were sorely lacking from my career.  This would help.  I got an offer and immediately accepted.  

I have always had a knack of hanging out with the miscreants, and immediately hit it off with a guy sitting next to me.  We have very very similar personalities, and I could see how angry and at the end of his rope he was.  My group’s dynamic was a bit dysfunctional and I vowed to 1: not let shit bother me as much, and 2: help this younger guy not be me at his age.  I got a bit of a warning for that one, but I didn’t let that douse our friendship or my desire to help this person in his future desire to go down the career path I have fallen into.  

Almost 3 weeks in and I have had 2 days where I am frustrated and asking myself what I am doing.  The first time, I was still very much “I don’t need to put up with this shit!  I can go somewhere else and make triple this money!!!”  But I aired my concerns, had a few discussions with friends, and calmed down.  That’s me and my personality.  I’m getting better.  The 2nd day was just plain being overwhelmed.  I have so much basic stuff to learn and am frankly learning through failure.  I hate to have to ask the same question twice.  Being the know-it-all at my previous employer to knowing nothing is very difficult for me.  I also see so many opportunities to help and effect change, but I have to put my time in to be a trusted voice.  It is difficult to go from decision maker and steward to “nah, we can’t do that” and not being able to gain buy in to start making those changes right away.  Plus, I am a newbie to the shop culture so I want to be groomed for bigger things, but I worry that I will make people nervous that I am out to get them.  Manufacturing is cut-throat enough, but business is super cut-throat when an intelligent person comes in because a lot of businesses will just chuck the senior person in favor of the youngish.  And now that I know more history of the company, it is very understandable for remaining senior leaders to be nervous since the new ownership gutted a lot of people.

I have been wearing t-shirts, tennis shoes, and jeans every day to work because manufacturing is dirty.  But part of my upcoming responsibilities will be to interact with a customer entity when they come in weekly.  Since I started to learn about the outgoing inspection process yesterday, I decided to wear business casual to work for the customer visit, in case I was to meet this individual(s).  I also had a couple of other reasons:

1. Had a negative interaction with a leader and decided “I’m going to dress for the job I want.”

2. I had to go get a new driver's license picture (by the way, it is less head and shoulders now and more “your fat face only.”

3. Customer - I want to put my company’s best foot forward.  If I am to be that face, I want them to start to gain trust in me.  Appearance is a lot.

i picked out a purple button up shirt, not thinking the fact that my boss wears purple almost every day (I guess it is her favorite color).  She’s very old school, I respect her knowledge a lot, and I hate not being able to read a person when I am an open book.  My management style is also extremely different than hers.  But later today after a business conversation around a new role, I decided to break the ice around my shirt and this led to what I feel to be a positive interaction.  

At my old job, we used calipers, the occasional mic (both OD and ID), and steel rules, not to mention static wrenches relating to machines and systems, castings, forgings, sheet metal, and torque (all metric).  With this job being lots of piece parts and electrical components, I have gone home almost every night and pored over gauges, machining techniques, math theory, metrology, and tried to write down as much as I can when I am shown.  The required paperwork can be confusing and the Quality Engineer in me sees so many chances for cutting wastes but still meeting standards requirements.  

But today, I didn’t have one thing come back that I did that day.  Everything was completed correctly and I’m averaging 10-15 inspection loads per day (I’m getting toward the velocity goal considering the wide range of part variation and in process inspections we also complete).  By the way, this job is classified as a Quality Technician, but when you look at ASQ, this is really more of a Quality Inspector role with a sprinkling of QT.

I had a threaded Aluminum first piece that I checked (about 20 features?) and had a friendly heated discussion with the husband and wife team operators around threads.  We are required to check thread function, pitch diameter, ID (peak to peak), and ID (valley to valley).  Best way to check some of these is with a Johnson gauge, something I didn’t even know existed, and evidently isn’t made anymore.  When I went looking for it, I stopped in the CNC cell and started using the 0.625-24 2A gauge appropriate for the threads.  I was set to sign all four features off when the operator told me he just uses that for the thread depth and that I had to use the Johnson gauge.  If there is one thing I know decent, it is joints and function.  Since the gauge is “before plate” it was just fine, even if the inspection check sheet required actual values.  Okay, maybe I was pushing my boundaries a bit here....but we had a great conversation (or agree to disagree, at least) about thread function, measurement, and plating.  Pitch diameter can be important when you coat plating, but if the customer specification truly isn’t requiring the plating supplier to conform their threads to the “after plate” gauge (which in my experience is “must meet before plate dimensional requirements), you are setting up your fasteners to fail every time.  You’re talking microns, micro-units, and whatever BS imperial measurement requires.  Someone might tell me I am wrong, and I would happily go back tomorrow and tell the operator he was right.  I still measured the parts =P.

GDNT started out VERY daunting for me years ago, but I had a great CMM operator at my last employer.  He explained a lot and I slowly understood how a CMM/roamer operates, how to read reports, and know what I am looking at.  True Position has always been cringeworthy.  Today, I started to piece together how I could go about measuring, interpreting, and understanding TP with hand gauges (we don’t have a CMM...a whole other opportunity/story).  I got about halfway there and my new work buddy helped me bridge the rest of the understanding.  I feel really confident about measuring linear TP after our discussion.   

i bumblingly found a major quality issue on some parts that historically have been difficult in process.  I was on the right track with a drop gauge, and the experts found a better way to measure, but still found a nonconformity.  I was astounded at the teamwork from office and shop alike.  The supervisor is a gruff  and very knowledgeable, hard-working individual.  I was so thankful to participate with the team and learned a ton about the failure root cause contributor.   Our lead engineer came from my old employer and in my few interactions, he has been great at explaining, sharing, and showing what’s going on.  His practical approach toward proving theory is something that a lot of engineers lack.  

After this happened, my supervisor and team lead asked to speak with me for a few minutes (I thought for sure I was in trouble because I was heavily multi-tasking and carrying on a conversation about politics and prepping with my work neighbor buddy).  But I was pleasantly surprised to be asked if I had any interest in learning how to program testing.  Our electrical testing is highly computer language made and the knowledge is greatly lost.  I guess one of the QT’s before me knew how to do it, but made some mistakes in the testing that caused some problems.  I positively expressed that I was up to the challenge to learn and accept the responsibility.  I have always been more of a do-er in learning than someone to sit in a classroom, which is why I never made it far in a computer engineering degree.  Another great thing to add to my resume.

I also got an email from a recruiter looking for an electrical Quality Engineer about an hour away.  This would more than double my pay.  It is nice to feel wanted, especially considering I have 3 weeks of electrical experience.  But, I want to learn a ton more about machining, gauging, and electrical before I would feel confident to take the position that was described.  I would really love to step into my boss’s shoes when she retires, but my resume will be pretty fracking solid in 2-5 years if I want to go back to making a lot more money than I am.  Frankly though, making 62% less a year has never felt so good.  I even make less than I did with OT when I was performing labor on an assembly line.  You know what though, as long as I can pay my bills and spend some money on my hobbies, I don’t even care.  The only stress I have is about being overwhelmed and that will get better as months go on.  I love 99% of the people at my job, and they have all been so warm and friendly.  I am willing to pass up the pay to learn things and be a stronger Quality Engineer.  With skill, and trust, and time, hopefully I will be able to jump to a Quality Manager role.  And if not, I still have a very impressive and well-rounded resume by the time I am 45 years old.  Even if I don’t make it to that age, I have a job that I don’t mind getting up at 5 AM to going to for 8.5 hours away from the safety and comfort of my home/dog.  I only hate life a couple times a week rather than every waking minute.  There is a bar a block away for a quick after-work beer, and I’m not wishing away my life for retirement like I was.

[agenthurt]

Foreword by Huw: I asked Paul to write this review because I was curious about the quality of Lepin sets and I suspect many of you are too. It is not an endorsement and it's certainly not meant to encourage or condone their purchase. If you would rather we hadn't published it, or are easily offended, please skip to the next article.

[agenthurt]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCjByGgxjck)

[agenthurt]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvFCQlF96zY)

[agenthurt]

75120:  K-2SO (LEGO Buildable Figures - REVIEW!

LEGO buildable figures were introduced in 2015, giving collectors and builders the opportunity to have large figures of their favorite Star Wars characters, and the ability to interchange parts for your own purposes.  Set 75120 is based on the K-2SO character from Star Wars:  Rogue One.  

This is my first LEGO buildable figure set, and probably the first “heavy-Technic”  set I have owned for over 20 years.  Let’s jump into some thoughts...

It took about an hour to put together at a medium, un-rushed pace.  The instructions were fine, lots of extra parts, and contains the application of 2 stickers.  The shoulder pauldrons have printed images. I figure the cauldrons are specific to the set, otherwise LEGO would have printed the sticker items on the piece parts that required application.  Coming from a manufacturing background, I know why LEGO has had some many decals the last number of years.

I feel like my expectations were much higher than what would be technologically allowed for Technic-built LEGO items.  All of that aside, I can’t help but feel disappointed.  I wanted a detailed center piece to display.  Most of the model is fine, but the forearms are shoddy at best, which restrict posing of the figure.  There is a “button” in the rear that allows you to “punch” things when pushed.  

In conclusion, I would probably need to experience more buildable figures to really have a good opinion of this subject line, but the model doesn’t quite meet my expectations.  The design work is great, the assembly is easy for a skilled builder, but I didn’t quite get the result I was looking for.  But, give it a chance.  If you’re a Star Wars fan, this is for you.  If you’re a LEGO fan with extra money, then these sets are for you.  If you’re not into Technic or don’t have the money to spend outside of your sets of choice, then I would pass.

[agenthurt]

1st World, 3rd World Problems

I make great money.  I have it a lot better than a lot of other people, so don’t think I’m not thankful.  Some background:

I consider my first “real” job when I was 3 jobs deep, making about $13 per hour and working about 12 hours, 6 days per week, with no benefits.  I quit that job to go to my current employer, taking a pay cut, for the long term benefits of career and benefits.  12 years later, I’ve busted my hump to go from that level, into management, and up multiple salary grades from what I consider the base level salary grade (because it is).  

Things haven’t been that great the last couple of years.  I have already lived through one downturn where I missed out on annual merit increases.  When you think about it, that’s money I will never see again since that money follows you the rest of your career.  We’re probably talking...let’s say $1,000 (just guessing because it’s all based on percentages around your rating).  Here we are again, going on 2 years of no merit increases.  But, I was lucky enough to receive a promotion, which roughly equated to the same amount as a decent merit increase.  

Unfortunately, inflation and cost of living have skyrocketed in the US. We’re talking 8% increases year over year, the last couple of years.

So what am I getting at?  Am I bitching?  Am I making a point?  This year has been extremely difficult.  Supporting family members, medical responsibilities, trying to help fellow man.  My healthcare costs are increasing 50% this year.  I have money saved, but I drive a 15 year old car.  I live in an apartment that I’ve out grown, and would love to buy a house.  Part of my problem is being obsessive about regaining all my scrimpings for my house fund...largely because we’re laying off people like nobody’s business.  I’d like to feel confident that I could be out of work for a bit.  Or, if things are good, put a downpayment on a house.  All of that aside, I find that living on a budget, single, no kids, making the money I do (more than my father) is very disappointing.  I have my thermostat set to 55 for Christ’s sake.  I move a space heater around my living space.  I’m watching all of my costs. I have an expensive hobby that I was able to afford a year ago.

Where I’m going is that I have a new found appreciation for people less fortunate than I am.  I don’t know how people are making ends meet.  If I am blessed and struggling, what are people doing that make 50% less than I do?  I feel horrible for others and I feel horrible for the things I take for granted.  You people are soldiers.  Living on the edge.  Living paycheck to paycheck when I am doing the same is crazy.  I don’t want to get into the minimum wage increase argument.  I just want my message to communicate that I respect you.  I want my message to state that I feel things are broken in the world.  The world isn’t the same as it was when our parents were working.  I don’t think I will ever be able to retire and I plug a lot into my 401K.  I feel for those that aren’t putting away money, have no 401K, and/or feel the same.

[agenthurt]

What I’ve Learned by Feeling

About a month ago, I decided that I needed to throw time/caution to the wind to explore my ability to sell Lego online.  I have a handy store of bulk Lego, but I thought the collectible miniature line would be the biggest “bang for the buck,” largely because i could complete the collection, sell the rest, and recover money.  So, stupidly, I jumped in head first and purchased a few boxes.  

Now, one thing to mention is that there is a currently practiced collection technique called “feeling.”  This entails feeling the polybag (rather thick, might I add), and using certain piece feels to determine the contents.  The whole “min-max” thing pertaining to Lego mini figures. 

So, I figure, I can buy a box of (60), split off a full set, and be just a tad ahead of the game.  Research concluded, I realize that if I open all the bags and sell, I am excluding 50% of a potential customer base.  Therefore, building my feelings skills is mission critical to being the most efficient Lego mini figure seller possible.  I am an OCD robot, therefore, I must build skill (also, I played MMO’s back in the day and need to build skills, such as 1-hand weapons).  

3.5 hours later into a box of CMF series 16 (thats relatively halfway through the box at about a 90% capability level - I’m a Quality Engineer. What can I say?  I deal in capability and process failure! [I may also be drinking...shhh]) I have realized that...this shit sucks.  For effing real.  I feel much better about providing my customers the product they are ordering than I do about my ability to go through the motions of breaking out (60) count boxes to inventory my BrickLink store (Agent Bricks on Bricklink...shameless plug).  The biggest bang for the bulk buck is definitely minifigs.  I can’t speak for others, but I the bulk (no pun intended) of my expenditure is minifigs, because of the cost/profit model.  Minifigs are the normal, Lego figures that everyone associates with Lego.  They are the biggest selling pieces out of a bulk lot.  Why buy bulk lots to sort when you can sell mini figures?  Why cancel 50% of your potential customers when you can feel instead of open?  Thus...brings me to today...me bitching about doing work.  Yup, I am totally bitching.  IT is hard work to run your own business.  You do stuff like feel bags (sacks in some people’s world...although, I will totally make fun of you for calling it a sack, especially given some sexual jokes I can make at your expense.

[agenthurt]

The Instance - Interview with Chris Metzen

I’m listening to The Instance podcast episode 470:  The Chris Metzen Interview.  For those who don’t know, Chris Metzen is the recently retired Blizzard Entertainment Lead Creative Director.  His storytelling has shaped most of the Blizzard games for the last 20ish years.  At age 42, a new child in his life, Mr. Metzen decided to retire.  I am sure that his success gives him the ability to take that plunge at such a young age.  I’m 5 years Mr. Metzen’s junior.  Chris is speaking to Scott Johnson about the life change and the lead up toward his decision, and it is really resonating with me.  For most of my working life, I have been a very driven and career oriented person.  A few years ago, I started to notice just how burnt out I was getting at work.  More out of frustration than drive, I started getting very angry in general.  The pressures self expectation really caused a lot of rifts with personal relationships, both at work and at home.  Fast forward a couple of years and I am so beaten down by lack of control that all I can do is feel terrible about my lack of drive or application toward my job.  It is very challenging to feel invigorated.  More importantly, I notice such a high anxiety level just centered around work.  It creeps up on you to the point that you shrug it off until you have that day where you break.  The day you call in and lay in bed all day, or maybe the day you just shut off your alarm and roll in after 9am without caring of the repercussions.  Chris is speaking about that crash point.  He’s a self proclaimed introvert, loves to be at home, but can flip the switch and rouse a Blizzcon crowd or invigorate a team of people.  I feel my personality is very similar.  I’m an introvert that plays at an extrovert all day long and does a decent job at it (except my approach can use some help at times).  But really, the point is that for males (maybe females?) in our age bracket, there is a ton of pressure about your job defining you and the need to be successful no matter what.  It seems that folks like us have such high expectations of ourselves that we just blow the creativity well right out of the water and don’t realize that it needs to be refilled.  Some people need to heal, need to recover, and need to re-energize.  Sometimes that can take years, even though our societal build is go full blast 10+ hours a day and staff within arms reach through technology.  For myself, Mondays are much easier than any other day of the week, at the cost of spending 2 days doing nothing but sleeping, relaxing, and some light work.  Full blast Monday doesn’t leave much in the tank for the rest of the week.  Add the fact that I terribly sleep, and that creative well is dry much faster than the regular individual.  Like Chris, I have realized in the last year or two that I need to slow down.  At nearing 40 (keep in mind Chris is 42), it is a very hard thing to realize.  We have to take care of ourselves, our minds, and our bodies.  That doesn’t mean we can’t cram pie into our face or be a bit overweight, but you have to take the time to recharge.  The time that works for you, not a company or group of people.  Do your best, but make sure you keep a steady focus on the important things like family and health.  At the end of the day, money is money.  None of it will matter if you’re walking through life like a zombie.

[agenthurt]

Blizzcon 2016 - Day 1 (Thoughts)

Opening Ceremony - Great start to the weekend.  I think the Overwatch section was probably the best put together execution.  I literally thought that there was something wrong with my livestream as they transitioned to the Sombra “announcement.”  I am really excited about the Overwatch League and the potential impact on esports.  What Blizzard is attempting to do is a complete game changer for esports, offering the ability for normal schlubs to hone their gaming skills and try out for a chance to be professional “athletes” with contracts, team owners, and salaries.  Kind of exciting if you think about the potential down the road.  In 5 or more years, we may actually see a considerable popularity around the sport of pwning nooblets for a living.  The only other thing that really excited me about the opening was the Diablo announcements.  First, I’m willing to give the updated Diablo a spin.  The nostalgia of being 15ish and playing Diablo is enough to get me interested.  Like some of you, I have been playing Diablo 3 seasons for awhile.  I really like it when there was a month or more split between the seasons, just because it let me plug in a good month of fun and then switch gears to other time wasting hobbies.  Since Blizzard has increased the pace of seasons though, I’m kind of burnt out this season.  I rebirthed a Monk for this season and I have probably only played 30 minutes or so.  Just way too many gaming choices in the Fall 2016 time.  However, the announcement of the Necromancer pack coming in 2017 has gotten me really excited to play Diablo, especially to create a Necromancer.  It looks really fun!  Hearthstone is fine. I’m sure the new expansion is really exciting for players really into the game.  Heroes of the Storm is fun for me, but I just don’t have the time to apply any focus, so the announcements were interesting, but not as exciting as the aforementioned games.

Contests - The music is always...eh, it’s cool.  For me, and probably a lot of other people, the cosplay contest is the best.  I like to see all the crazy things that people have invested time and money into.  And of course, all the smoking hot girls in skimpy nerd regalia!  Where can I even find a slightly attractive girl that dresses up in nerd gear and plays video games?  By the way, the guy dressed as Chris Metzen was probably the most epic out of the whole bunch. 

More to come as I’m able to watch.  I’m currently watching the Hearthstone segment, and it is getting me interested in the game.  Cool designs and interesting cards.

[agenthurt]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ovKHnn2hEA)

[agenthurt]

Nothing to see here...

Last night, the Chicago Cubs won the baseball World Series. I made it to the 8th inning, tied with Cleveland 6-6. When I awoke this morning, I knew in my gut that Chicago had won. First, I'm not a Cubs fan, but I appreciate all of the emotional impact that happened last night. My first thought this morning, upon confirmation of the win, was "I wonder if this was all set up to draw Americans away from the utter shit pile we are facing next week in the election?" Now, in my youth (i.e. - teens and twenties, I am now 37), I was very much into conspiracy, supernatural, occultism, and all things unknown. Nearing middle age, I'm too worn down by bills, work, stress, and a constantly growing lack of care to worry and dwell on the potential that a reptilian race meets in a grove and plots to turn us all into cattle. Let's take a step back and analyze my thought process: I have asked people of all ages, from 80 to 20, if they can remember a time when the world was such an utter mess. Most of the responses, especially from 60 and up, is that they have never lived through such a mess. You have to remember that these are people that lived through Vietnam, the gas/oil crisis, multiple recessions in the 70's and 80's, the dot com and real estate burst, fear of nuclear war with Russia, and on and on. So when folks of this age bracket tell me that things are much worse than they ever have been, I take notice. It validates my personal opinion that it's not the fact of being an adult and more invested in economical and political issues, it's the fact that things are seriously fucked up! So, come back to the recent present and I think everyone can agree, no matter who you are voting for in the election, the government, economy, racial tensions, and American problems are all idealized by these two asshats running for election. Harken back to that episode of the Simpsons where Kodos and Kang, the two tentacled aliens in glass helmets, pose as our wonderful 2012 electoral candidates. "It's a two-party system!" This election has been an utter shit show. Email scandal, racist/sexist comments, corruption, and hubris of power by the few. America is truly an oligarchy. Where I'm going with this is that over the course of the last year, there have been numerous, media-driven smokescreen events/stories force-fed to the generally ignorant American population. Take Zika for example. Do some research on the history of the virus. It's interesting. How about the Russian hacking "threat"? In general, the media has come up with a laser precision focus on everything BUT the main fact that people died on Hillary's watch, Sanders was cowed and used by the DNC leadership, bunches of emails were purposefully and maliciously deleted, and that the Clinton Foundation verges on the edge of campaign ethical violation. I'll be honest, my rage of Clinton is greater than my rage of Trump, but let's not forget that every syllable out of Trump's mouth has become a focal point for all media news feeds, taking away from the real issues that should be discussed during a Presidential election. Digression aside, there is a paranoid populace that believes all major sport titles go to the highest bidders. Could the NFL be as fabricated as the WWE? It's possible depending on where your medication levels exist. My personality tends to be able to see the big picture very well, a lot better than most people. I just find it "interesting" that the same electoral year of the biggest world shit show experienced is the same year that the Cubs break a century long losing streak, almost a week to the day before an election that will likely determine whether Americans will live under severe oppression or at least continue with lasseiz faire" life. Just consider the implication. Is it possible? The short answer is, "yes." Is it probable? That's up to your own belief systems.

[agenthurt]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b12mbkprNng)

[agenthurt]

Hello

Hi!  Welcome to my blog.  Coming in the future, you will experience my thoughts about LEGO, video games, movies, television, and anything else that piques my interest.  Thank you for viewing.  Follow me on twitter (agenthurt), twitch (agenthurt), or youtube (agenthurt).