You know what really grinds my gears?

There is a group of students in my classes that are starting to piss me off. Each one in this particular group behaves in the same manner (hence referring to them as a “group”) – each of them have the same frustrating social dyscrasia that makes them similar to each other. They dress exactly the same in one of two outfits that the group seems to coordinate between days. On Monday-Wednesday-Friday it’s a dress shirt and tight – look at me, I can show you what my balls look like with out dropping my pants – slacks. On Tuesday-Thursday it’s a WWF tee shirt with stone washed jeans circa 1984.

I can get past 10 guys walking, talking and dressing alike; I can even see humor in it (believe me I’ve laughed). It does bother me however, when they disrupt class by talking to them selves and then blurting out wrong answers. Its even worse when they give wrong answers in unison – it sounds like an auditorium right before they tell everyone to be quite and pay attention... murmmor, murmomor, mmmmurmorrr.

In contrast, when you have a one-on-one conversation with them they stand to close and (take into consideration how close they’re standing when I say this) talk below the audible decibel range.

Obviously if there were such a group of people that you had to deal with everyday you’d have come up with a nick name for them. If anything just to make referencing their actions to others easier. It makes sense. Moreover you’d pick a name that highlighted their similarities as a single entity. Basically, something like: “The Wrestling Fans” or “Team Tight Pants.” Shame on you.

I lovingly refer to them as “The Indians.” It was a natural choice for me as in addition to their aforementioned parallelisms they are all of Indian nationality.

All racism aside about the way they smell (even though the stereotype holds), I wouldn’t label them as “The Indians” if they all were not of the same nationality, and I wouldn’t be writing this rant if there wasn’t something they did as individuals that pissed me off.

Today we had a quiz. I was done quickly – not the first done but nonetheless admittedly fast. So I had a chance to sit around with nothing to do but observe those who were still working. When the professor called time and picked up the remaining quizzes it appeared as though most students stopped on queue and handed 'em in, some even uncompleted. The Indians kept working.

The prof asked again, “Quizzes? Hand them in.” He paused. “Ok, I have all the quizzes?” He then began to go over the solution on the chalkboard. At this point, one by one, the Indians would stand up and sneak in their quiz papers into the pile at the front of the room or something to the effect of working on it some more and then trying to hand it in after the solution had been posted. Point being they knew they were in the wrong they were sneaking. Sneaking!

Finally, the prof who now seemed upset (and rightly so), flat out stated he was NOT going to accept ANY more. And at the brink of yelling he said: “I realize there’s a language barrier here but you guys need to be way more responsive to the things I ask. When I say turn them in now, I mean NOW.”

A good 2 minutes later the last one turns one in.

To conclude this rant I’ve got some anonymous comments I received after doing some pre-blog venting:

Sent at 4:59 PM on Wednesday
********: Well, don't call Dell for help, they'll send you to a call station in India where the mother fucker on the phone knows so little English its really just to piss you off to the point that whatever was wrong with the machine seems moot.


Sent at 10:44 AM on Wednesday
******** ******: Yeah, there were tons at my school. They used to hang out all night in the computer lab and the whole place reeked of ass and curry.
They changed the chairs out my senior year, and suddenly the computer lab didn't stink. It was real gross, those chairs were vile.

Street Legal Sofas

Say it with me now... "I Am Sofa King We Todd Did." But seriously did you know the current Guiness world record for top speed on furniture is on a street legal sofa? An impressive 87 mph at that - thats almost fast enough for time travel ladies and gentalmen.

Right now you're thinking, alright then - good to know. But wait there's more! "The wonks" at www.sofa.com, a British based online sofa retailer, are building a sofa to beat the existing Furniture Land Speed Record. Reportedly all they need is "someone brave enough, fast enough, daft enough... They need a driver." The best part is you can head over to www.sofa.com, take a guess at how much change they found between the sofa coushions and are keeping inside a glass jar pictured on thier website, and enter to win a weekend of racecar driving, followed by the ultimate prize - drive the sofa for the win!

Semester Beer Fund

So this morning I received an email from my brother. For the full effect I've included it below in its original form:


Dude, Leif, I'm speechless.

Indiana vs. Belgium

I just got back from Columbus, Indiana. I was there for about a day and a half on an interview for a full time engineering job with Cummins. The interview went well in my opinion and I should here back from them with an offer by next week.

One of the things that stayed with me the most was the similarity in landscape of Columbus and Belgium. I’ve provided some quick google-image-search results. Like I said, the likeness is incredible.

INDIANA:

BELGIUM:

INDIANA:

BELGIUM:

INDIANA:

BELGIUM:

INDIANA:

BELGIUM:

Una conversación muy extraña con Borracho Brooks

Today I recieved an email from John. Here's what it said:

hheeeyyy raven. I was wondering if it'd be possible to swing by later and pick up the remaining cake from your chante?

So I replied:

mi torta es tu torta. confieso, yo no tengo gusto chocolate.

To which I recieved:

hahaha. por que no? y por que you tengo chocolate at your house for soo long and no say nothing?

And so I sent:

eeee, no se. is probablemente porque una muchacha asked me to keep it there.

The converstaion then ended with:

aye es funny por que this muchacha and myself had a convo and she said that its probably todo seca ahora porque ella no put a cover on it..so its most likely dry. i ella quire her plate as well. bien? no bien? what are you up to tonight? I dunno if i am going to go tomorrow bc i think that I will be picking up my car...hopefully anyway.

My 3rd grade spanish teacher (Senora Perez) would be proud!

Nurburgring Webcam

I just found a great new way to waste time!

http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/webcams.html

It refreshes every minute. Here's a good one:



Also, this one looks just like New Mexico at night:



Heres a few more links that could be of interest:
Google Satelite Map
The Official Website
Wikipedia Entry

Symposium 2006: Highlighting Student and Postdoctoral Research

Every year I’m asked as an intern to participate in the Annual Student Symposium. I had a choice between a poster presentation or a technical talk. Unlike years past, this summer I’ve opted to go for the technical talk.

Upon submitting my registration I received a phone call. The caller informed me that he’d received my registration. He then told me:

“The objective of a technical talk is to communicate information to other scientists.”

I was also instructed that mumbling, monotone speech and use of obscure terminology are not effective methods of communication.

This brings up the question: Does this guy say this to every one? What the hell!

Further more now that mumbling and monotone speech are out I have no idea what I’m going to talk about. Any one got any good ideas?

German Humor

The company that manufactures some of our electrical equipment is based out of Germany. After some repeat reliability issues and unacceptable service from the American based support team the company has sent in an “expert.” I’m a little confused as to why the American support team does not include any of these so called “experts.”

As such I spent most of today with a technician from Germany. He never mentioned his name and from the paper work it seems mostly unpronounceable, I’ve been calling him Expert (he seemed to like it). There was a lot of red tape that I had to cut though in order to get Expert into the facility – a process that could have been made easier in my opinion had any member of my team ever escorted a foreign nation into the building before. I can just see it, this is what all of them were thinking: “Just let that summer student figure it out, if he gets a security infraction it’ll matter less.”

Throughout the day I learned a bunch of cool stuff about Expert.
1. He speaks three forms of German – Regular conversational, formal written, and technical.
2. He has a daughter my age that is much better looking than any of the girls we ran into today.
3. His wife is over-weight, the diet pills don’t work for her.
4. His first car was a Renault (french - what the hell, wheres the german pride), now he drives a Passat TDi.
5. He becomes upset if a restaurant (Quizno’s) doesn’t serve beer.
6. He carries a book in his tool box entitled “German Humor” all pages of which are blank.

In the end he did not have the right tool with him to finish the job and it will have to be over-nighted from the American support company.

I was afraid to ask but I speculate that the reason he did not have the particular tool with him was because the required storage space was taken by the blank joke book.

Looking to be getting busy, I think… well, maybe.

I spend a lot of time at work with nothing to do. There is a specific reason for this. The reason is most of the work I’m assigned to are design improvement projects that hinge entirely on the contractor that’s scheduled to come in and make measurements or do work. These are by no means small projects and most times involve operation critical equipment. They should keep me busy except the problems are the gaps between projects that are too large and thus leave me with nothing to do between them. I’ve done every thing in my power to expedite the arrival of these contractors and schedule the next project just within completion of the last but it continues to be an unsolvable problem.

During these periods of nothing I’m still required to look busy and put in my time at the office. This is especially the case as I share an office with my Mentor/Supervisor/Boss Man and when we’re both present I feel the need to appear like I’m doing something I’m supposed to – something important. I like to call these periods of looking busy Interim Project Preparation Engineering Analysis and Planning (IPPEAP).

Although I receive nothing but praise from my current Mentor my previous Mentor and now good friend was outraged upon hearing about IPPEAP. He insists I ask for more work to do when I have nothing going on between projects. It seemed like a good, honest suggestion, plus if it worked it would relive the boredom and the stress of being caught just looking busy. So I did.

I then had “escort responsibilities” which is far worse than IPPEAP. I actually had trouble staying awake. I’d escort workers into basements and other mechanical/electrical rooms where they them selves do not have access. Then I’d sit around (there’d be a chair if I was lucky) and wait for them to be done. I’ve since complained about this enough that I’ve been relieved of these duties as they did not contribute to the educational goals of my engineering internship. It was back to good ol’ IPPEAP until I could come up with a better way of telling my Mentor I needed something to do.

Yesterday I thought I had the answer. I made the proposal to my mentor and received an entire list of things to do! Half the items on the list looked extremely difficult and like they’d suck unless I got some help. I thought: “this u’ll take me forever to do.” Boy was I excited (and wrong).

As of 2pm today I’ve completed everything on the list and then some. I feel really good about these accomplishments and the timely manner in which they were completed, yet part of me thinks I shouldn’t have worked so fast cause you know… now what?

I’ll think of something to do I’m sure of it. I know I’ll write a blog entry.

Ok that’s done.

The return of the Tri-pod

The last time I went auto-crossing was in El Paso. I took the Corrado out and had an unfortunate run in with a very pissy individual in a Grand Am. I’ve kept track of his participation with the pan am region; in general he continues to suck and I never should have relinquished those points. What an ass.

This last Sunday the Rio Grande region hosted an event in Santa Fe. A load of Volkswagens were in attendance. As far as I can remember there were: two R32’s (one red one blue), a 1.8t Jetta with NMTARC (hey, I started that club) badging, a grip of mkII GTI’s, a 4 door Rabbit with an 8v turbo, and everyone’s favorite 1983 bone-stock diamond silver Rabbit GTI.

When I walked up to the registration desk I was greeted by a few familiar faces, one of which said: “ahh, the return of the Tri-pod.” (For those of you that don’t get the joke, this is in reference to the rabbits tendency to lift its inside rear wheel when cornering.) Another guy said: “What no rental car?” (I went almost an entire year racing Enterprise rental cars) Next, Tom asked me if I wanted to be a Novice director – to which I answered: “Hell, yes!” What a way to make an entrance, I love racing with the Rio Grande region.

I had a blast being a novice instructor. Basically, you sit in the passenger seat of a sports car with someone who has either little or no idea what they’re doing and hold on for the ride of your life. Afterwards you suggest areas/methods for improvement. It’s everything I love all rolled up into one (squealing tires, roller coaster rides, and pointing out peoples flaws).

Over all I did very well. I got a few comments along the lines of: "Good run!" Results here.

Project Rabbit Update

I've been stalling to do this write up because I wanted to make sure I did it right, read: "I was out drinking with friends last night and the night before and only got around to it now." At any rate, once again last weekend the confines of Konstruct Performance were invaded by our crack team of first time body work "professionals." The rabbit saw it's first real coat of paint in over 4 years, and if I didn't know better I'd say it was done by the real professionals. (notice the intentional lack of quotations on the later - indicating no sarcasm towards the hard working men and women who paint cars for a living)

Ambitiously we started working Friday night in an attempt to have the booth set up and ready to spray first thing Saturday morning. That said we didn't get that far until late Saturday night, and even then Sunday morning brought to light even more scratches and pit-holes that needed attention before the first coat of primer could be laid. We crunched to get the last of the filler applied and sprayed the fist mist of primer at 10:25am. Notice how healthy looking Leif looks in the above pic; it was clearly taken before any painting had taken place. Right so enough BS, on with the pics!

First coat of filler primer, notice those sexy flared fenders. Sick.


Leif and Jack, tag teaming the rabbit into submission using a sealer/surfacer. "No Runs, No Runs, No Runs... Focus!"


Thats right folks, that can says "Imola Yellow" as found on the S4, RS4, and 20th AE GTI.


This was our view from the outside of the booth.


I snuck in and snapped a quick pic while the rear was still gray.


After four thick coats (~2 qt) of yellow, on goes the clear. The clear coat was hard to spray because it was almost nearly impossible to spot where we had been even a second ago.


This is a good action shot. There's actually clear comming out of that gun. See what I mean.


Looking over the finished product.


I like my rear hatch like I like a good Simpsons' caracter, bald and yellow!


Leif cleaning up, not looking very healthy and deffinatly a few brain cells less than when we started. Next time we're getting a full paint suite and the expensive resperators.


It still needs to be color sanded and buffed, but god damn it looks good already.


I'd eat soup of of that, that's right I said soup.


One last shot of the car before it getts color sanded and buffed.


More updates to come as the car gets put back together this comming weekend. I'll have lots of pics of the rear badging as well as the install of the rear spacers and the new wheels. Also a shot of the entier car! There's talk about driving up to the ski area for a photo shoot Sunday followed by a BBQ at our parents house for everyone that lent a hand on the car.

Staying Active

I've been doing really good lately at staying active. After work on Monday I went to the gym with Nate and did some light lifting just to get back into it with out being to sore the next day. I did some curls and was able to put some real weight on the bar (for me anyway) – which I feel really good about. On bench it was a different story, I did a little warm up using just the bar and was already feeling like I wasn't going to be able to add much weight. I ended up doing 3 sets of 10 with a 10 pound-er on each side of the bar, I was then only able to do a few with the 25's (read: not able to lift it very well at all).

Yesterday Cisco asked me if I wanted to go swimming. So of course I said yes, but only if we could play water basket ball after the laps. The hoop was over-run with youngsters and I ended up only swimming laps. I did about half a mile (15 laps) in half an hour, with only a few brakes to catch my breath. I thought Cisco was going to die, that kid is out of shape.

This morning I met Doug at 5:45 am at the YMCA in Los Alamos to play racquetball before work. If racquetball were an Olympic sport Doug would probably be on the US Olympic Racquetball Team. I've never thought it was possible to have worked so hard, sweat so much, and lost so badly at a sport where all you have to do is hit a little ball up against a wall. We played 4 games to 15 points, my highest score being a 4.

Today after work Cisco and I are planning on going to the Wellness Center to lift. I'm going to have to remind Cisco to go easy. Last time we lifted together he told me he hadn't lifted in over a year – then his legs stopped working and Rob and I had to carry his fat ass. Now he tells me he hasn't lifted since then… that was two years ago and he's not looking any lighter.

Party at Nate's House!

This summer is a little different from other summers in that, although I continue to work in Los Alamos, I’m now LIVING in Los Alamos. I moved into a spare bedroom at Nate’s house. I’ll spend a lot less money fueling up the Corrado and also keep some serious mileage off her. I’ll probably end up spending more money on things like food and beer, and there is a rent payment, but over all I should be able to come out ahead in my savings. That means money for car parts!

My plan is to stay at Nate’s on week nights and unless there’s a party or something going on in Los Alamos head back over to my parents’ house on the weekends. We’re on Thursday of week one and so far it’s been really nice. I especially appreciate the 3 minute - 1 mile commute versus the 1 hour - 50 mile commute.

In other news, I’ve been doing some job hunting. The idea here being I could take a job instead of going for my masters degree. I have several options I would be excited about if I were to actually receive an offer letter. I’ve listed them in no particular order:

1.Automotive consulting firm based out of sunny California.
2.Design engineer for major diesel engine manufacturer in tornado warning Indiana.
3.My current boss’s job or other government job in high altitude/attitude (WMD building) Los Alamos.
4.Desk/cubical job at NASA (just submitted a resume online for the heck of it) in bad accent Texas.
5.Worse desk/cubical job at Raytheon in hot and dry Tucson Arizona.
6.Parts counter at the Volkswagen dealership in artsy Santa Fe.
7.The fall back plan: Grad school in scorching hot Las Cruces.

So I haven’t applied to very many places, but among the ones I have applied for I defiantly have my preferences. Ultimately I’ll make a decision based firstly on the work, secondly on the geographic location and the opportunities to travel, next on proximity to friends and family, and lastly on the pay or cost of living.

Fender Madness

So I’ve been meaning to post up progress pictures of the car but have been unable to do so for a number of reasons. With that I present to you the following excuses:

1. To busy to post up cause I’ve been working on the car
2. Fire wall issues/prevention at work
3. 56k dial-up at home
4. My dog ate it

Basically the car isn’t even done yet and it looks the pimp. Not only did we role the fenders but we managed to flare them as far out as they could go without adding metal to them. This resulted in an additional inch of width up front and an impressive 2 inches in the rear. The front wheels look great in the wheel wells with just a little poke. The rear wheels however have enough room for a loaf of bread between the edge of the wheel and the new fender line. Leif has ordered a set of 25mm wheel spacers in order to give the car that proper euro-look.

On Saturday we set up a paint booth inside the shop. Our Dad even came by to lend a hand; he also brought a grip of thirst quenching bevs with him, nice! The booth was constructed of 1” pvc and large sheets of plastic, it measured 10’ wide, 20’ long, and a few over 8’ tall. Ventilation was taken care of by a large box fan set up to blow all the fumes from the booth outside and 3 home furnace grade panel filters were cut in on the opposite side. After the booth was set up we got to work washing the car, per a recommendation of the guy at the paint shop we used Tide laundry detergent. Once fully de-greased we taped off all the rubber and glass and hit the car with its first coat of paint – a light grey etching primmer. By the time that was done it was 12:30 am and everyone other than those directly involved in shooting the car was wasted (read, everyone except Leif and Jack). We called it for the night.

The next morning was the first time we’d seen the car not black, and everyone at the shop agreed that the lighter color did a much better job at highlighting/complementing the lines of the car. After much deliberation Leif has changed his mind about the final color of the car. The new choice is Imola Yellow. Imola Yellow is a VW color first used on the 20th AE GTI and the thought is it’ll make a great match with the aforementioned badgeing.

Next step is some light body filler. After that we’ll have to set up a day to spray the rest of the car in one sitting this will include a sealer, the yellow, and finally the clear.

Pics coming eventually, bear with me.