I cannot make this shite up

Newton Newbie called me this morning. He has finally come to grips with the fact that he is not gonna get replacement parts of better quality. He has somewhat come over to the dark side and tomorrow we will be doing the stretching of the parts. This is not an exact science or even an engineering directive.

This is "look, this is the only shit that might fix your problem."

So we are going to make a ridiculous drawing on a piece of cardboard to kind of gage the stretching of the parts so we can kinda measure how this is gonna work out. This is called a raggedy ass template.

There are no guarantees with the stretching.

I love this job.

Next up, the cutting up of the metal part because they are too lazy to take it off the vehicle.

The Queen of the diplomatic email.

Yep, that is me.

Here is how it works, I get called at 6:30 from Newton Newbie whining about my short parts. I try to explain that they are not short and explain the engineering changes and then I remember Newton is a box of rocks. At this point I tell Newton I will be there in 12 minutes. He cannot comprehend the 12 minutes. I arrive, stow my stuff and go see Newton.

There are some launch guys staring at the car and Newton is in the conference room hard at work on his computer. I explain everything to them once again and half an hour later all everyone understands is that they used a part shipped in for the next build to fix this car and the fix did not work. Also they are now short a part. And then I explain why they are not going to get another part. I point to all the shit they hate on the part and say, remember how you wanted me to fix this? And they say yes. And I say, well we had to send the molds out to the toolmaker and they are cutting steel and this takes time. Days and Weeks, not a couple hours.

Then the mean prick, AKA Mr. Scrooge walks up and starts in, he is one of those that starts quietly and builds into a crescendo. "I am tired of hearing about this shit part and damn excuses . . ." then he finishes with "I cannot ship cars with this shit part and I do not want to hear anymore bullshit excuses." Then he turns on his heel and walks out. So I turn to Newton to tell him that I am serious he is not going to get better parts or any parts until August 29 and I notice he is quivering. I am serious. Quivering. I have never seen a person quiver in person. It is disconcerting.

That kinda ruined his day and he did not speak up at the daily meeting, probably scared shitless and now I have to wonder if he is going to have a nervous breakdown on me. It has been known to happen. People take this stuff way to seriously.

So once again I had to send out the email about how everything is a mess and what can you do about it or who is gonna tell the customer just how damn bad this is.

I forgot to mention the good thing about getting to work between 6 and 7 am is some days I am sitting on my porch enjoying the day at 2:30 to 3.

This has been a busy week

The kids honeymooned in Maine and brought us goodies as a thank you for helping with the wedding. Quite unnecessary but lovely to receive. Big Daddy can't wait to use the espresso rub. They also had a bar of salt soap in the bag and I cannot wait to savor that in the bath. It is not to be wasted in the early morning get out the door shower.

We are building pilots again this week and things have not been going well. I have got to say this is the sorriest launch I have ever seen. So far I have only worked 2 hours of OT this week and it is quite enough thank you. I am not a glutton and can do nicely on my 40 hours. This is going to change in the near future.

Funny of the day:

When I pulled into the lot and looked over at the pickum up truck parked next to me there was a guy inside brushing his teeth. I have never seen a person brush their teeth in public, much less a vehicle. Where the hell did he spit the toothpaste?

One of my plants was supposed to ship me a part because they shorted the releases. They could not tell me why but agreed to ship a part overnight to my house. This would have been for Saturday delivery. The box was delivered Monday morning and of course I was at work. I got home and tossed the box in my car. When I got to work Tuesday morning thank God I checked the box before handing it off to the customer. There was a lot of weird shit in that box, none of that shit being the missing part. We had to build shy on the line and overnight parts again. This is so embarrassing.

Today another plant did not ship to requirements and not only did they not tell me, they refused to call the customer back. And we wonder why people talk bad about us. Maybe because we are idiots.

Life goes on

The tacky fireplace in the tacky Hilton in tacky Niagara Falls. Yes, it is a picture.

Well, yesterday I got my hair done and let the apprentice cut my hair. I have never let anyone but the Pro cut my hair for over 15 years. But I decided, I want hair that I don't need to fuss with unless I feel like fussing. Some days I have to be at work at 6:30 in the morning and I do not feel like fussing on those days. So the apprentice cleaned up the horrible haircut and gave me some pointers. She said to comb out my hair when it is sopping wet, scrunch to get the curls and then put in the product. And do not touch it again. I can try this. It also looks great blown out if I do decide to fuss.

I bought new jeans for work. Technically we are not supposed to wear jeans, but these are brown and black and as the only woman in the group I can get away with more. Yep, in this day and age the only woman in the group. The Corporate QM is a woman so it is just me and her. Anyway I am now between sizes and the jeans can be thrown in the dryer so maybe they will shrink as I shrink.

Monday I have to go to work and build new pilots. And I do not think we have enough parts. And I am wondering just how I am supposed to deal with this little snag.

Punkin Head is so excited about his new job. He found out that he does not want to live in Felony Flats as one of the neighborhoods is known. That is good information. I gotta find out exactly when they are leaving, but right now it just makes me cry. My boy is moving across the country with his new bride and it is a monumental change. I will buck up and be fine, but I will miss him so very much.

The rest of the wedding story

When we finally arrived at the Inn the lovely staff got me a glass of Pinot Gres and I inspected the room the rehearsal dinner would be held in and everything was wonderful. Then we got into the ancient elevator, only staff is allowed to operate it, and we went up to our suite.

It was lovely, this is the same rooms the Dalai Lama stayed in when he visited Middlebury College in October.

The next morning I went with the Mother of the Bride to get out hair done. Yes, I got Snooki and yes it could have been traumatic if I was not a strong woman. First, the salon was not open when we arrived and no one showed up for 30 minutes. The MOB almost had a meltdown but I was able to calm her down as that is what I do for a living. I put BD on the job of finding a new hairdresser for the bride, and just in the nick of time the wayward Jersey girls showed up.  As the hairdressers were setting up their stations I was able to note that Snooki had curly hair and highlights. Only her highlights were kinda orangey. I got the too fussy and glued hairdo. I was able to make it look better later in the day.

These are the ugly wedding shoes. I never looked at them after Big Daddy picked them up, they were delivered from a different store as I needed a size 7. Well, I started getting this niggling feeling that maybe the were the wrong shoe or 2 different shoes, or some such nonsense. I looked and they were fine. Just as I was walking away I thought I should try these on and thank goodness I did because they were tight. The right size but on the tight side. And I tried on the 7 and 1/2 and knew what that felt like, and the black 7 fit. Anyway-I had to send BD out for pantyhose. Huge Queensize pantyhose in nude. Now this was a hard find back in the day when everyone wore pantyhose. He came through like a champ and I could wear my shoes.

The bride was beautiful, the wedding was fabulous and a good time was had by all.

Sync my ride, or chatting with a guy from Calcutta

Upon re-entering the US at the Rainbow Bridge, Niagara Falls, we promptly missed the turn-off for the by-pass to I-90 East. I-90 takes you clear across New York State. Things I learned on I-90 included how to tailgate, passing on the right is the law of the land, if 20 cars are bumper to bumper traveling at 75 miles an hour some asshat will pull up behind and flash his headlights for you to pull over so he can tailgate the person in front of you. And it works. I saw very agressive guys in huge trucks move 20 cars in minutes. It was truly amazing to watch.

 I-90 is a four lane divided toll road and got boring after a while. Punkin Head called to let us know that we were not required to attend the rehearsal so we decided to take a side trip. Big Mistake. It made the getting lost in Tonawanda look like child's play. Out first clue should have been the Sync my ride operator from Calcutta. I did ask myself why we were asking someone in India to route us through the Adirondacks, but Big Daddy wanted to use the technology. Then as a back-up he also figured out how to route us through my phone. The route was from Utica, New York to Middlebury Vermont.

We of course picked the most desolate route through the mountains. No tourist stuff here. Also no gas stations, restaurants, human beings, etc. Only snow plow turn-arounds and deer. Lots of deer. I only almost hit the deer once. Missing them was a vast relief. I did however pummel Peter Cottontail with the underbody of my Ford Fusion and I had to duke it out with Tom Turkey. Tom Turkey was the largest wild turkey BD had ever seen and he was sitting in the only lane open on a bridge in an abandoned construction zone. I did not swerve but I did hit the brakes to avoid hitting him. He was taller than my front end. BD said if I had hit him at speed he might have flipped up and broken the windshield.

Just when my blood sugar hit bottom and I was ready to cry we stumbled onto the Oxbow Inn. It was pretty scary but at this point I was beyond caring. I was reminded of those horror films where the innocent tourist goes inside and is never heard from again. After some fried clams, french fries and a glass of Pinot Grigio I was much better and we continued forth.

And we only got lost one more time. We made it with 45 minutes to spare before the rehearsal dinner. And a good time was had by all.

Niagara Falls fell flat

If I had made the falls a destination rather than a pass through my disappointment would have been HUGE. Those are the portion of the Canadian Falls I could see from our room.

That is because the view was mainly of the Casino, the Casino put on quite the light show all night long.

The view of the American Falls from our room. These were lit up for a couple hours after dark and were okay, but not worth the room. Thank goodness we used points for this room, the rate was 600 plus taxes a night and I would never have paid that for this room. Worst Hilton I have ever stayed in. Macaroni Grille was in the hotel and we were exhausted so went there for a bite. I have eaten at Macaroni Grille before and it is not horrible for a chain. I don't eat at many chains. This was the worst food ever. And we only got apps.

The town is a tourist trap full of people with children in tow, and after the Maid of the Mist I cannot imagine what else is left to do. I would advise to avoid this place at all cost, unless you are just passing through.