Black sheep

Week was frustrating and a pain. If this keeps up I'm definitely gonna look harder at leaving here. Which is not totally a bad thing as I really should get my arse in gear. Thing that really ruffled my feathers this week was having my hard earned OT money "taken away"

I say it in inverted comas cos legally it wasn't but let me explain n just form your own opinion. Every month I am allocated a minimum number of hours to work. If I do over that figure I get paid OT. If I do under, that minimum is what I get paid. So I work out a weekly average of hours I got to work to keep me on track to hit OT money. So far this month it was going pretty good. As every week so far I did at least 6hours OT. All except this week.

It was well known that there was no official aircraft for me to work on. So at the start of the week I volunteered to work on an aircraft at another hangar complex a short drive away. But the management decided to keep me at my current hangar. with no official aircraft to fix, rather than take my suggestion or move me onto another aircraft to assist as an unlicensed engineer or as a mechanic or attaching me to another maintenance dept, they chose to send me home. Come the next day, I had barely signed in to work, scarcely finished putting my stuff away in my locker when I was told to go home, no effort even to see what work I could do. In for a mere 30mins. But in a graceful act of generosity my foreman told me to clock in for an hour instead! Wow... what a nice guy... of cause this is the same guy who is not even bothering to make an effort to get me a job to do. Next day? Same shit again, sent home with just a few hours under my belt. By the following day I really could not be bothered to stay at work and try salvage my OT as I would have to clock 17 extra hours to get a reasonable number of hours above that minimum. So I was all up for going home. Which sure enough I was. And today I stepped into work fingers crossed for the same but as luck would have it, no chance. I had gotten my request which I had made at the start of the week and was sent to the other hanger from Friday till Monday. Hardly worth it, as it was just 2 days, but no complaints as that would allow me to skip night shift next week.

So to salvage my OT now if I still wanted to I would have to do in excess of 20 hours before sunday... Ain't happening. My working hours could have been so easily sorted this week if even an effort was made to get me any old menial task to do. Just no such effort was made. But I might add, that was just for me as the other engineers on shift were sent to different depts or working as mechanics... guess that tells me how I am viewed by my foreman. Also his comment I over heard seemed to show his disdain for me. Commenting that I had made no effort at getting my security pass sorted out. No effort??? Its not even my job to get it sorted... Someone else gets paid a wage to sort that out, so am I supposed to do their job while they sit about doing dick all? Oh wait, I suppose I am, after all it does seem to be what this company is built on.

Gorilliaz

My 1st night shift in a long while. Was a little apprehensive of the workload as I was told this plane is covered in defects. Just shows that all these months here have taught me nothing. Most of the night was spent waiting for equipment to turn up. So most guys passed their time sleeping eating or watching movies in the crew room. "The Transporter" was tonight's prime time.

And when the equipment turned up I set about the job on my own. Didn't really need many people to do it plus I really didn't want to hold someone's hand thru the job. I rather have someone who knows what they are doing then someone I have to walk thru the job with. But later on in the job people decided to help. Which lead to the Chinese saying of "more help, more problems" As while I was recording down a reading from a test I was carrying out, I commented to 1 of the guys that the reading showed a system failure. Said guy then believed that tapping the gauge would some how give a "pass" reading. And when it didn't, he just tapped harder. And when that didn't work either. He decided to give it a good smack.... smashing the gauge... y-a-y... Can't carry on with the 3 remaining tests. Neither can we trouble shoot the failed test cos the gauge is broken... oh and its the only test kit in the whole company... well no more jobs to do tonight then...time to head home... So all in all was a pretty good night.

I know I joke about smacking things with hammers to make em work... which we, in reality do frequently... not many people take us seriously when we say there is a skill to hitting things with a hammer. Not just any old monkey can do it. Today was case in point.

Yorick

A few weeks back I began reading a graphic novel called Y: The last man. A story about the last man on earth following a plague that kills only males, human and animal. Been a long while since I ventured back to western style comics. And this was probably an excellent step back. Thing that got me above all else as the story telling. Each chapter had a fresh take on things. Nothing ever grew stale. Every reveal to the main plot was totally unexpected. Bit by bit you started feeling so deeply for the characters. When the story finally draws to a close and the final reveal happens it was like a sledgehammer to my heart. Won't give away the ending but it was extremely sad. So sad it left me shocked, frustrated and depressed all at the same time. Making me think thru the story's end over and over. Secretly hoping another special edition episode would be issued. Just to say it didn't end in that way. Even the author had 2nd thoughts about ending it the way he did. He actually asked the other staff working with him if he should make a different ending. In the end he decided to stick to his guns and end the story as he originally wrote it almost 6 years ago. To be honest it was probably for the best. So many (almost) great stroies are let down by mediocre endings.

Apparently it is currently being scripted into a major movie in the future. Its pretty much a given it wont do the comic any justice. Thou if they made it into a mini series and just lifted it, 1 chapter per episode, it would surely work well. Really wish there were more comics made of this calibre out there.

Move on up

Work here has always been an uphill struggle. Most of the mechanics are either clueless, lazy, demotivated or not at work at all. Which means the hard working few get lumbered with most of the jobs most of the time. Which makes me appreciate them all the more. Working on without protest knowing that their colleges will be sitting on their arses all day but still getting the same pay as them, yet they soldier on.

Add to that the distinct lack of certifying engineers. A measly 3 compared to other places where 8 is not uncommon and 20 not unheard of. Then to top off the cake, comes the icing... The management. Which will be today's bone of contention.

Narcissistic, dangerous and clueless. Lets tackle narcissistic first. Totally in love with themselves, they only listen or acknowledge others who love them as much as they love themselves. As far as they are concerned how could anyone not love em, they are sooooo great. They view anyone who ever tells em how reality is, as a heretic. Very swift with the "orf wiv iz ead" they are. As such whenever the truth needs telling, either a sacrificial lamb is chosen to report the news or they are simply told "yes no problem, will do" but instead, just do whatever. Unsurprisingly, those willing to work OT sucking those dicks and licking those cracks find themselves on the fast track.

And if there is 1 way to make yourself faster while on that fast track to the top, is being dangerous while you are at it. Like for example ignoring findings such as structural damage on areas the aircraft makers deem as a no damage zone. Or ignoring multiple structural failures of parts of the aircraft so the part is pretty much held on by the last threads. Just ignore it, concoct some BS to make it sound less serious then throw in a random maintenance manual quote to round off the report. Any quote will do, it doesn't need to be related, just needs to sound technical enough. With that done send the plane out to fly with paying customers.

Lastly cluelessness. Summed up well by decisions like the following genius call. If working on something like an air-conditioning unit takes 50 man hours then if we allocate 25 men to work on it, it will take 2hours...orrrrr if we double the manpower to 50 men it will take just 1 hour!!! Yes lets do that, never mind the access panel to work thru is just 2m squared, I'm sure we can get 50 pairs of hands in there. Below is an artist serialisation of a possible office encounter with the above manager types.


So what happens when several people with all those traits come together in 1 aerospace company? Things happen... things like the casual over looking of around 40 or so manufacturer and government issued tasks to be carried out on a single aircraft. Those manufacturer and government body issued tasks are more often than not all safety related. Good job on the quality dept for picking up on it and grounding the plane before anything horrifically (emphasis on the horror) embarrassing occurs. But it must make you wonder how so many important tasks get over looked. I don't know how it happened but I'll warrant specimens like the aforementioned persons certainly didn't help things.

Sell out

The other half went thru it not long ago. Now its my turn. And much like her, its not the first time. Because of my chosen professional path, inevitably people have a certain image in their minds of what I do and the life I lead. There are of cause varying degrees of their projected flights of fancy but they usually have a very common under tone.

There is the usual image of being a lazy waster. The idea that we are there to cream the money and do as little as possible to get it. There are always the masses that become blind as a bat when we are running round like blue arsed flies. But become sharp as hawks when there is nothing to do and we are doing bugger all standing by.

Also hand in hand with this one with the above is,we get paid loads so there fore we should do most of the work. We get paid loads for a reason. Usually the company has insufficient man power or expertise and needs an instant fully trained work force. Factor in the reality that we get no OT pay, no public holidays, no annual leave, no sick leave, no pension, no medical, no insurance, no staff perks and to cap it all you can legally be told tomorrow your are out of a job... Not to even mentioned that our life is on a totally different continent. There is a reason at my age I can count my friends on 1 hand. I see my friends once a year, usually for only a few days. Be lucky if it's longer than a week. Don't forget same goes for family... Can you imagine only seeing those you care about for just a few days a year? Also your life... your car, your house, your belongings, everything that makes up your life, you will hardly ever see. Along with the ever present knowledge your employer need not give you more than a few days unemployment notice, you have to be forever ready to fit what little of a life you have left into whatever suitcase is at hand and leave the country. If you had a monetary figure you could place on all the listed terms and conditions, what would it be? I know for those who could assign a sum of money to it, it would probably be a figure close to what we get. I say close, cos in all honesty it should be higher. Your employers are basically asking you to put your life on hold for your working life, for most people that would be a good 10- 20 years. Surely the money must reflect that sacrifice.

For many thou a sum cannot be placed to such a sacrifice. And as such they have chosen their lot in life as have I. Like with all things is life, we are given consciousness and free will. Anyone can do what I do. It is not required to be privileged or special to do my job. All that is required is a choice to do so. There is nothing wrong with being envious. I get how people become envious of my earnings. It is the same feeling I get when I see them meeting up with friends after work, visiting the folks at weekends or even taking time out to work on the house or buy the latest home gadgets, taking a nice drive in their new car. But I have learnt to be content with my lot in life. I just wish others would learn that lesson too.

If only people thought about and considered the above points. They would be able to hear themselves when they say " but you earn so much, losing that amount is nothing compared to how much you earn" Basically saying to me, "your life, your family, your friends, the house you worked so hard on,everything you know, it's not worth as much as you think it is." Anyone reading able to see how its a bit of a slap in the face? I really hope you do, cos I am getting sick of hearing it.

Shysters

Had a plane limp into the hangar on Friday with a fuel leak. Nice one for a bit of OT. Even more brill that there was OT on Saturday too. Nice boost to the lagging pay packet of the past months. Had the pleasure of working with "E" again. Job wasn't too bad, it was just long winded. But with the never ending cheerfulness of "E" by my side, just made the day so much lighter. Infact despite the set backs and lil surprises the plane threw at us I reckon we made good progress.

Was a bit taken aback when I stepped into work today to still see the plane sitting there. Was even more taken aback with the grilling that bordered on a bollocking. Which most undeserved. As everything had been pretty much in order when "E" and myself left on Saturday night. Term mountain out of a mole hill was coined for just such a situation. As expected was stuck back on the job. And as one would expect the plane threw yet more curve balls. Causing what steps forward I could make, step back. Also didn't help that the management threw out a few wild cards that required what few completed tasks that were done to be redone.

The real straw for the camels back came not from all this, but by those working with me. It seemed every question and suggestion was a stab at poking a hole. Or finding a slip up. And sure enough any lil inconsistency or mistake on my part was met with stern glares and much tutting. Jeez no one ever gets it right 100% all the time. Which was why I love working with guys like "A", "J" and "E". They understand that everyone makes silly slip ups some times and that is why we work together. To help cover up each others short comings.

Here is 1 example from today. Had to reinstall a very big panel to a wing. Big as in 1.5M x 0.75m x 0.5m. More to the point it was the front edge of the wing so kinda obvious it was there. But it wasn't fully fitted. 90% of the screws were not installed. In the official work log I had left an entry stating to install that panel. Just to receive a stern talking to that I did not specify the panel was only partially installed. Surely asking for someone to install a panel means it is not fully installed? So where was I going wrong. Was also given what for because I did not state where the panel to be installed was kept. I had written the location it needed to be installed to in the work log. Citing this I tried to explain surely the person would read where the panel needed to be fitted and find the panel on there. But no, they insisted anyone taking up the job would see no panel at eye level and abandon the job, so the panel's whereabouts needed to be specified. FFS...

Things like this make me hate my job somedays. People out to shovel shit on the closest person to hand and with a bloody great broom rub it in. Only to weave, duck n dive the moment anything resembling responsibility came their way. I totally lost count how many times they used the old " just do xxxx once we do that, it will be time for home... night shifts problem then" That attitude doesn't fuckin work. Cos night shift says the same thing. So nothing ever gets done. Everyone lunges for the quickest and easiest job and palms off anything that is a lil tricky for the next lot. I also hate the attitude of "we are inspectors, we don't get our hands dirty" which was going around today. 1 of them pretty much refused to walk up a set of stairs cos he felt he had walked up them enough for 1 day. Another actually called for a car to drive him about cos he didn't want to walk anymore. What the hell... God gave you arms and legs. If ya don't use them maybe He should take em back...

In case ya didn't guess... majorly cheezed today. Unfortunately it will continue tomorrow. Hence the blasting of steam. Lest I let loose with the safety off tomorrow.

Slow New Year

New year has come and gone. And thou there is a definite lack of blog entries it is mostly due to bugger all happening. Work has seen an old face reappear. "E" has found his way back to the fold after several mths of absence. It'll be nice working with his forever cheerful aura about. And his colourful, quirky life stories. Classic lines like " As I sat by my friends bed side watching him die from a gunshot wound, I thought... I must get myself a wife" will always mark him down as one to listen to when his "grandfather" stories start rolling.

At home, starting to get sucked into my xbox again. After completing Fable2 I've moved onto Call of duty world at war now. God knows how I'll be able to do it on the hardest setting as I'm finding it difficult at a notch before hardest. On another gaming note been sucked into a certain game that exists on a social networking site. At its peak I was camping by the lap top to progress the game. But now... due to the limited size of my team, the game is somewhat losing its charm.

Also be making my way thru the Harry Potter series of books. Already steamed thru the 1st 2 books. Now mid way thru the 3rd. All in all not a bad read. Pretty easy going and nothing too complex or boring. Its always nice to see how the movies shape up to their book counterparts. Its almost like seeing the cut scenes when you read the book.