For future reference in what I babble about from work, I'll explain it here.

The plane is often divided up into FWD, MID and AFT. And of course, Left Side (LH), Middle (CTR) and Right Hand (RH).

Now, you all know I'm Seat Crew. 

If I'm correct, the order of our events kinda goes like this (I don't have a lil seat card w/ SOIs on it)

-Unload seats from cargo containers

-Install 'Life Vests' (can't believe they call it that, not PFDs)

-Load seats onto plane

-Install seats onto plane

Uh, I think there are like, 2 more steps. Each of those steps above have MULTIPLE steps to them. 

Now, this might seem odd, but the SOIs are further broken down. So there's LH AFT and LH FWD. Which usually means, 5-6 seats in AFT and then 5-6 FWD on left. For those who can spot it, I already said AFT and FWD refer to sections of the plane. 

Well try this. We do a lot of installs based on the doors or stations. Doors are easier to recognize. So we'll do DR 3-4 LH FWD then DR 3-4 LH AFT. We know this as Left side of plane, in the aft section of the plane and well, that area is divided into 2. 

Therefore, last Wed, when looking up SOIs to see how they were doing, I was looking up DR 3-4 LH FWD, LH AFT, CTR AFT, CTR FWD, RH FWD, RH AFT... And keep in mind, RH AFT has 4 steps to it (see above). We'll be getting laptops at some point so we won't have to run up and down as much.

Lastly, I believe it was on Wednesday, I had a chance to speak to a couple of the big wigs when I was finishing all those steps. I can't go into the conversation but hey, at least I wasn't standing around doing nothing. ;)

Isn't it funny how 4 weeks doesn't necessarily mean 1 month? For example, I started in the factory on the 1st or 2nd of this month. I just finished out my 4th week but there's still practically 1 week to go before the month is over, right?

It's had its ups and downs. I'm quite happy that, well, I've been designated as SEAT CREW. Not just Interiors, but seat installation specifically.

This last week has been nutty. We started installed seats in the AFT, MID and FWD. Recap...

Wednesday. The big bosses (ie; the 2nd & 3rd mgrs) wanted the Business Class seats in as well as the rest of the Economy seats in the FWD section. But usually, we have to make sure that everything in AFT (or the other area of the plane we had worked in) was fully finished. So that day, I was up and down stairs getting all the SOIs (work instructions) in order to see what steps we missed or weren't finished. So I went thru each SOI (technically, this is the lead's job, ahem) and kept on finding random places that we hadn't bought off. It was only a few lil things but with a crew of approx. 15, communication gets lost.

In this case, we couldn't find the seat track covers (these lil things that cover the installation bolts). 1st shift had finished doing a bunch of stuff but hid the covers. The original people who were looking for 'em didn't find 'em. Then I looked (after doing some other stuff) and didn't see them. Matt finally found a bunch of 'em. Being new, I didn't actually know where to look (I'm used to economy seats where you put them on the outer installation bolts, not the centers). Once found, I put 'em on, waited for QT to pass it, etc.

So we installed a couple of seats with the help of a couple of terrific guys from the EMC. The business class seats weigh in around 500 lbs. That's significantly heavier than the 2-seat economies that I can actually lift. (economy 4-seat for mid aisle I ran away from) I spent a lot of time on the computer and chilling with QT. At least I'm getting to know them...

Thursday was more of the same. Cuz we were homeless for a time (no work for us, we go help other crews), I learned how to install Sidewalls. Then later that day, we put in the FWD seats. (I'm going off memory from a busy week...). I think on Wed, they were starting to install FWD seats...  I just know by Thursday nite, I stayed till 1.30am to get all those seats in with Sean and Josh. (A few others stayed but left a bit earlier thinking everything was done) Our manager promised us a bbq if we got them all done.

Friday was a slower day. Seats were in so some of us worked on #67. In the end, I stayed busy helping teach a couple guys how to put EDWs (windows) in. So I stayed busy those last 4 hrs. The 1st 4 were hell in that I was tired and my legs weren't happy with going up and down stairs...

I learned a bit more about installation. We took care of a lot of jobs this week. I know I txt'd fuller stories to a friend that went into more detail.

So it's Saturday now. Lost in Space was just on and now it's old skool Star Trek. :D

Kind of a nutty week.

Finally reported to the factory after 10 weeks of training.

I think, to a certain degree, I'm getting the hang of at least 2 things that us interior crew types do. I'm also the first of the group that came in Friday/Monday/Tuesday to have been victim of hazing. I won't go into details here.

Come monday, we'll see if I get in trouble or not. Hopefully not. (I accidentally took a tool bag key home, returned it early saturday morning) The lead/managers on 1st shift seemed to think it was no big deal. But as noob, I don't know what the protocol for such things is. Gee whiz, I had things to babble about, but I'm not remembering much.

I'll find out if the concept of 'atta-boys' are really destroyed by a single 'oops'.

It's finally over.

Training. Boeing Training. 10 weeks.

Let me back up here to clarify a tiny bit. After I graduated from Bellingham Technical College (BTC) with an AS in Civil Engineering, things didn't pan out. I moved back with my parents and picked up two part times jobs with a 3rd doing yardwork. I dinked around on AdSet at Kohls (working truck and in the end, other random places) and was an on-call janitor for the Riverview School District.


Late in 2010, we heard that Boeing was on a hiring spree. Sure, I had tried to get on but didn't know what sort of job I was looking for. They didn't have a 'civil engineering' position. I had no clue where to start and their job site is hell to navigate in the first place. Sometime in Winter, the Seattle Times ran a couple of articles about Governor Gregoire spending millions to get this Washington Aerospace Training & Research Center going. It was to be an aerospace training facility/program to help get people the novice/beginner skills that would help them get a job at Boeing (who was hiring cuz they need bodies for the 787 plane). We got more information about this program and by late July, I started the online portion of the Assembly Mechanic certification program. The AM program lasted till 10.21.11.


Fast forward a bit. I officially started at Boeing 2.17.12. That's after a month or so of getting all the paperwork in order. Now, one doesn't just start at Boeing. There's a training period. For some, it's a 10-week standard program. For other's they get a week or 3-weeks. (I won't get into the WHYS of that).

The 10 weeks of paid training was a mix of computer-based classes, instructor led classes and hands-on work. The last 2 weeks (w/ the exception of 2 days) was in the High Bay (aka Lab). Last Thursday, I had finished up my projects and took the written exam (04.26.12) which was a bit harder than expected. (Mind you, none of us really knew what was on the exam and it's not like we could study for it.)

Last Friday (04.27.12), we started the hands-on final project. It was to be a 10-hr project but I doubt we were really given that proper amount of time. That Friday, things went to hell. I oversized holes. I countersunk holes in the wrong place. I couldn't focus, couldn't move my butt out of 1st gear, etc. The whole weekend, I had it over my head (now, others still had to retake the written so they had 2 things over their head...). I kept making plans in my head of what to do. How much time to allow for each step. Literally, I was thinking, "ok 5 mins to get the holes by the Winslow passed off, IF they are passed off...  Then 5 mins to install the nutplates w/ the cherry puller. Get that signed off. Install fasteners, 15 mins most..." Supposed to have h ad 2.7 hrs to complete. I finished with 20 minutes to spare.

Now, this project allowed one to only get docked 12 points before it was a fail. 90% + was passing. Seeing how my friday was wasted on drilling holes and REWORKING holes, I wasn't feeling at all confident I could pass and/or finish. (hence me trying to assign time limits on each step) In the end, I moved with a purpose and zipped around the high bay to get stuff and take care of business!

In the end, I passed. 95%.

Tomorrow (errrrrrr, later today), I head to the factory to see where on the 787 line I will be assigned!

Thanks to Andrea, Shannon and Jessica for giving me support. As well as several others in class who knew I could get it done and pass. :D

TOTALLY crazy day.

In an earlier post, I gave a run down of all our projects from the week. Come today, I get to work and nobody knows what is really going on. We have people who want to just get into the factory and start working. We got people (like me) who still had unfinished assignments. You had others stressing over the written exam and final project. As it turns out, we were sent to the lab to finish stuff and/or practice.

Safety Wire. I had this sitting over my head since  last week! I wanted to get my shamrock bought off so I could concentrate more on the safety wire. But alas, the bosses wanted things the other way so I had to do safety wire first. It was just 1 lil part of the whole project. It was a situation where I had to do it upside down. Now, I already suck at safety wire so...  Let's just say by break, I hadn't done a damn thing except end up with sore arms and was really unhappy. Fortunately, I got some support from others and I busted out the 1st part of the assignment. In the end, it took me over 3 hrs! :(

(John asked if I received my check yet. what check? My retirement check! Cuz i was taking so long... lol)

After I got it signed off, I ran upstairs, got the Shamrock bought off. Did some last minute taking apart of it, took my tools back to the shop and it was pretty much lunch time.

After lunch, it was time for our written test. Because it's Boeing, we don't know what to expect. We were thrown into a rather hard exam and while I passed, I would have preferred to do better. 90 minutes to take it.

With the exam over, I returned to the lab and what do I do? I go do the safety wire portion of a shamrock. After 3 hrs of utter frustration, that'st he first thing I go do??? Well, yeah! I know I can drill holes. I know I can countersink and put in fasteners. But safety wire wasn't something really covered (with emphasis) at WATR. I did the shamrock in about a half hour (that includes renting out the tool kit). When I did it the week before, it took a very long time.

By the time I was done, it was clean up time. While almost half the class didn't pass the exam, I was in a fairly cheery mood. I got the unfinished stuff done. Got home and I had 2 packages for me. Got my Footloose figure from the GI Joe club (part of the subscription) and from Amazon, I got the extended/full version of Red Cliff (which I've been wanting since it came out like 2 years ago?) and the latest Misfits cd DEVILS RAIN.

:D

Been kind of a busy weekend.

Bought some plants for my lil garden area out back. They probably won't last long, but hopefully the grasses will. The freeze from the winter knocked off a few of my plants. Mainly landscaping plants over flowers. I'm never been a big fan of annuals. I prefer stuff that comes back each year.

A few months ago, Andre Bynoe suggested that I rework an old GI Joe diostory. It's been stuck in a pdf format due to the crappy version of Comic Book Creator I had. The version I had didn't change the final product to jpg, only pdf. Other friends had versions that gave them a 'save as jpg' option. So I went thru tonite, made copies of all the original shots and well, spent 3 hrs fixing up the Teaser and Prologue for the story THE ISLAND.

I met a fellow GI Joe fan at the comic book store he works at on Saturday. Kind of nice to meet a fellow Joe fan in person.

Sunday was Earth Day. Took a few pictures, went for a bike ride (albeit short, soooooo out of shape), blah blah blah...

Currently in training at Boeing. It's a 10 week training at the ERC for 5 days. We got to spend some time in the factory shadowing other people. It was 1 day a week for 5 weeks; the day we went on shifted each week.


I am now in the home stretch. Week 10 starts on Monday with the finals at the end (when everyone is finished).


This last week was really hard on me. I felt my confidence level plummeting faster than a relationship! For 3 days, I wasn't getting stuff finished, couldn't focus, was overthinking, getting frustrated, etc. The projects are timed and they have to be bough off by an instructor in which, we have several. Fortunately, I managed to turn things around on Friday. :D


Monday was my last day in the factor for shadowing. I stayed busy. Which is rare. ;)


Tuesday was the beginning of the 4 days of hands-on. It's no secret that I get out of shape really quickly. When I was at WATR, the hands-on was 4 straight weeks so imagine my skill level becoming consistent and accurate. In this training, it was mostly classroom settings so months later, whatever drilling and countersinking skills I had, they went south.


So on this day, we started with Sealing and ended with Safety Wire (which I didn't finish). The class was split in half and the group I was in was split again. Sealing went ok. Pain in the butt to clean. And Safety Wire, I got stuck on project2, then got thru 3 & 4 just fine. Didn't get to start #5 tho I could've done it if I had an extra 20 minutes or so. Confidence level started to drop during those 4 hours of Safety Wire...

Wednesday, I started the Shamrock project. It's a stack up project (aluminum, cfrp, aluminum) with various drilling and safety wire to finish it off. I got frustrated at the beginning cuz I couldn't draw my layout. Needless to say, I was again in last place when the day ended. Confidence level dropped even further.

Thursday, I started the Drilling & Countersinking project. I got thru a bit of it, but couldn't finish in 8 hours. I already had 2 other projects unfinished so you can prolly guess how I was feeling that nite. Yup, confidence was even lower by the time I went home. Of course, I'm thinking, "just put me back in the cargo bay where I don't drill or safety wire or seal..."

Friday rolled around and because the Drilling/Countersinking is alotted for 1.5 days, I got it done. May have been the people I was around too. Different energy, we were all closer to being in the same place, etc. I got the D/C project done and was able to put in some work on the Shamrock before lunch. With the Shamrock, I got a lot done so that last thing to do next week is the safety wire (and of course, to take it apart). That boosted my self-esteem quite a bit right there. (One of the steps to buy off was to correctly torque a bunch of bolts in front of an instructor. When I took the torque class, I was a bit heavy on the torque. When I did it on the project (weeks later), it went really well. May have over-torqued 1 or 2.

After lunch, Mike and I were hoping to finish up the Shamrock (we teamed up so we could get stuff down faster. We'd grab fasteners for each other, set up huck pullers, cherry pullers, etc) but alas, tis not to be. Cuz the other side of the class, when they did it, they had to do 2 other projects after the C/D. We were hoping the instructors would forget and let us finish the other stuff. Nope. HAHAHAHAHA.

The next project Mike and I were put was 90 degree drilling. This is where you use a 90 degree drill motor (as opposed to a classic pistol grip). We set up everything we needed beforehand so we could blow through it. The instructor recorded us at about 1.5 hrs or something, but cuz they round to the quarter hour, we did it in under an hour. Easy project, even with all the stepping up we had to do.

Project 2 for the last half of the shift was gun barrel drilling. There's no stepping up. Just blast right through. And that's what Mike and I did. Blast right through it to get it done. Again, we had everything set up and laid out. Because we had 3 drill kits between us, we set up like this.
-500 rpm pistol : 190 (that's .190" drill bit)
-500 rpm pistol : 250
-90 degree : 190
-xxxxx (had to switch out the last drill bit cuz we didn't have an extra gun.

The drill guides were ready to go and we made sure we were drilling the correct rows and BAM, we were done. :D

Those easier, smaller projects worked wonder for me. I felt a lot better (even good) coming out. I'm not the only one who was starting to get bummed out about stuff. Some say I'm a bit hard on myself but it's like, I know how to do this, I just can't get it thru to my hands to do the work well/right. Anyway...

So I haven't been here for 4 years. Last time I was here was in 2008 and I believe at that time, some things were going bad on an old GI Joe photography website.

In a nutshell, over the last 4 years...
-Started the Surveying Program  in the Fall of 2008; tho i was taking pre-reqs before that thru Bellingham Technical College.
-Earned an AA in Civil Engineering from Bellingham Technical College in 2010.
-Also got into some problems with the law in 2010.
-Moved back home due to crappy economy. Found work for the Riverview School District as a sub-janitor and part-time at Kohls. Also did yardwork for $$$.
-2011, went thru the Washington Aerospace Training & Research Center to get a certificate for Assembly Mechanic.
-2012, got hired on at Boeing and start date was 2.17.12.

Course, a lot of other things happened, but those are the big things, I suppose.

I haven't been here for like, 4 years! Wow.