Ongoing Letter - Allan's Place
Allan's journal to the world. (Sounds important, doesn't it?)
All things architectural, civil, mechanical, geographical, structural … the whole engineering world.
I posted this yesterday afternoon, then my server hit a snag. I lost this entry. I’ll enter it again. It won’t be as eloquently, wittily, or interestingly put as it was before.
I’ve been back at work on the teardrop trailer (teardrop 1). Floyd and I looked at length at the ribs I created for the galley hatch several weeks back. I determined that they weren’t usable.
The electrical panel is now in. It somewhat mimics the Sprite’s panel. It includes a two-way radio (11- & 10-metre band SSB), a stereo with CD player, a solar charge controller with volt & amp display, a 120VAC GFCI plug (15 amperes), a 12VDC / USB plug, and four lighted, coloured switches (for the cooler, water pump, cabinetry lights, and galley lights). All the electrical guts of the trailer will be directly behind that, accessible through the berth via a sliding panel.
It have started calling it teardrop 1 as it is the first one being built. I thought of giving it a name but later thought otherwise.
Morning is here. I was awake at 5am and tried to sleep a little more but finally got up at 6am. It’s now 7:15am, and we are to meet at 8am downstairs for breakfast.
The event is done. At 4:30, I went down to meet T, C (T’s “old lady”), R, & S (R’s sister). No one was there. I wandered back and forth for a while and, eventually, received a text from Tyson. “on my way” I said, “I’ll message Randy, see if he needs help with his tie or something.” Turns out I messaged T instead. I called R. “Yup, yup, we’re on our way.” Everyone was in suits and gowns.
I’m in the hotel room now in Edmonton for the ASET event. We pulled up to the hotel via the new van’s navigation flawlessly and found that they had valet parking. The front desk said that parking was $35 per night plus $10 for valet if we should choose, but apparently the payers of the room also covered parking. Randy’s sister came by car on her own, so her parking was taken care of, too, along with valet service.
I went up to my room after arranging with everyone to meet downstairs at 4:30 in the Ballroom. I seriously needed a shower. I used scented antiperspirant, and it bothered me the entire trip and only got worse near the end. I’ll never do that again! The room is nice. There’s one king-size bed, a desk, a chair with table & lamp, & a bureau for the coffee, TV, fridge, safe, and such. It’s a standard hotel room, I guess, except nicer. Shampoo, body wash, hand soap, shower soap, face cream, shoe polish stuff, all that.
I’ve completed the walls for the latest project, the teardrop trailer. Unfortunately, I broke a jigsaw blade and had to go buy some more. Fortunately, the shop is close. Unfortunately, those little suckers are expensive. Fortunately, I get AirMiles. Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out how to use my AirMiles – just keep collecting them. Fortunately, however, all my AirMiles points are toward cash value from now on instead of travel / merchandise. Life is full of ups and downs.
My students have been improving considerably. Two in particular, M & F (no, not Mom & Floyd, but another M & another F!), have caught the I-want-to-learn bug.
M has improved his mathematics skills considerably (among other skills). It’s not easy to do ‘mental math’ without guidance and practise. We’re using the practices of 1) using fingers to count, 2) memorization (as in the multiplication table), 3) writing out problems long-hand, and 4) using a calculator for complex calculations or to check one’s work. Because M is in a Montessori program (and, no, it isn’t just for playschool, preschool, and kindergarten – it’s valid all throughout elementary school and beyond), it involves practical life (understanding everyday activities), sensorial (tactility, sound, vision, etc.), academic (mathematics, language arts, histories, the sciences), and societal (creativity, games, group work, social activity). It’s not just reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic anymore, folks. So, part of yesterday’s homework is fractions and their uses. What’s the good in knowing fractions unless you can use them? He’s a creative fellow, so he could go on to use this skill in everyday life.
No, he’s not helping me build the trailer. He’s reading the tape measure in the pictures.
F has improved his reading skills. It started with not knowing the phonics of letters and combinations of letters of the alphabet, having difficulty writing letters in patterns, and knowing sight words. Now he’s sounding out words he doesn’t know and breezing through those he does. It’s about not being intimidated by the written word, I think, and he’s come a long way in this. He says he enjoys writing, so hopefully this will pull him along in the reading thing, too. Plus, I promised him a prize (a notebook from Korea) if he reads really well – something to shoot for.
Congratulations, Tyson Baldrey and Randy Holmberg, on our selection as recipients for ASET’s 2019 Capstone Project of the Year Award! Thank you for your dedication, hard work, and professionalism! I am part of the best team in Alberta!
We were chosen to represent Lethbridge College at Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta (ASET) for their Capstone Project of the Year Award. Our nomination put us in competition with other institutions across Alberta for this year’s Award.
Wow. Long time since I’ve updated anything here.
I’ve been at ISP as a drafter for a few weeks now. The first week I was there, there were no new orders. Well, maybe a couple. But not enough to get my feet wet with my trainer, P. P was quitting at the end of the week; drafting was not for him. But, with no new orders coming in to cut my teeth on, I didn’t get a lot of practise in. I did calculations, practise drafting of previously done orders, and getting used to AutoCAD again.
A couple of days ago a few things happened – I bought a new toaster, I found a printer on sale and bought it, and I got an offer for a job and accepted.
First things first – I am now a Drafting Technologist for ISP. I applied last week, had the first interview earlier this week, a phone call to come in for a second interview on Thursday, and was offered a position during that interview. I start Monday, Nov. 19, 2018 and will be reviewed after 3 months.
I also got an email from ASET congratulating me on being a Technologist in Training. Now I must work for two out of the next three and a half years go obtain my C. Tech / C.E.T. designation.
I bought a toaster. Thanks to Walmart’s Rollback price, I got a Black & Decker toaster for $18.88. Pretty cheap. It even has a bagel button.
And, finally, a printer. I thought I’d drop by the printer / scanner area to try to replace my dead machine. I was looking at a printer, and a Walmart guy came around and asked, “You’re looking for the one on sale?” “Uh … yah, I am.” Eh? I found a pile of Canon PIXMA MX492 boxes. I wasn’t expecting to pay $34 though. I’d be an idiot to not buy it.