Seatac

December is in full swing here in Utah.  Temperatures are dipping below freezing, the mountains are covered in snow, and I have been skiing exactly zero times.  I hope that changes in the next month or so. 

Amy is substitute teaching and has been able to be selective on jobs and still manages to work every day.  It has really been a nice job for her; she really enjoys the flexibility.  The schools down here are pretty great with a lot of technology in the classroom.  The kids have been pretty darn good as well.  Best part of subbing in my opinion: not dealing with parents! 

I am sitting in the Delta Lounge at Seattle-Tacoma Airport. Note that I am not actually allowed in here on my own as I do not have enough miles yet; I am with a co-worker who gets referred to as "Mr. ____" by Delta staff and could actually probably redeem his miles and buy a mega-yacht or an iPad (yes, that is an Apple price joke from an avid Apple user).  I seriously think he is like a Diamond member or something.  I just got upgraded from lava-rock status.

We are headed home in December for Christmas with the family in Oregon.  We are very excited to meet our niece and see our growing nephew!  It will be really good to catch up with family and friends as well.  So if you are going to be in Southern Oregon at the end of December, let us know!

I just found out that I passed my PE exam!  I am stoked, this is very exciting so if you count yourself as a friend of mine, tip back a beer and celebrate with me long-distance!

Cheers and Merry Christmas!

Salute to General Nonsense

Can we all agree on revising politeness to include telling people they have a certain kind of distraction hanging out of their nose? You may be telling me the secret to life or a legit way to make millions from my couch, but all I can focus on is that bat fluttering around the cave entrance.

Now that we have taken care of that, on to other things. "What is going on with politics these days!?" is something someone who has the patience to pay attention to the current campaigning might say. I tire quickly of this stuff, so lets avoid this subject. So, what is there to talk about? Plenty.

My niece Josi Ann Teaters was born on November 10th! Mother and daughter are both healthy and happy! We are very fortunate to have a new baby girl in our family and I cannot wait to see what her life will bring. Amy and I really wish we could be there, but we will be home for Christmas, which can't get here fast enough.

Salt Lake area is currently in "mud season", the time between mountain biking season and ski season. I am really excited to get to the ski-hill this year as often as possible. In this downtime, I have been very busy studying for my PE exam, which I sat for at the end of October. It had been a while (4 years) since I had touched many of the subjects covered, so studying was quite the chore. Eight hour tests should only be used on enemies of the state... No fun. And eight weeks to get the results!? For a scantron test!? Maybe the robots are out occupying Wall Street.

Work is going great. It challenges me daily, which I have learned is a requirement for me to remain happy. I am now obsessed with mobile equipment. Drilling is a fascinating industry filled with passionate people. It is the perfect environment for someone who likes to learn. I find that truly competent people share easily and are very open to new ideas. I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by competent people.

Amy and I have been married for five years as of August 26th! Five years and two states later, I still cannot imagine my life without her. Thanks for everything Famous, you are amazing and life with you rocks!

Travelling for work: I have had some great experiences on the road and as usual, I have learned a lot from the people I have encountered. BUT: flying really, really sucks. My shoulders are a curse on an airplane, meaning I have to do this awkward sort of lean into the aisle on commuter jets so my neighbor doesn't have to use my shoulder as a chin-rest. And how bad is the feeling of walking down the aisle and waiting to see who you are stuck next to? I swear I could get on a jet 90% full of horse jockeys and get seated next to an NFL lineman.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We are very lucky to have guests travelling to SLC to see us. Enjoy your family and friends!

Mountain Biking and Reading

What has been up lately? Mostly, I have been working; which while interesting does not produce the most blogable material. For this reason, it has been silent on this front. There are a few things worth noting of late.

Mountain biking in the Wasatch front is unreal. Having never been into mountain biking, I felt no rush to get out onto the trails. For those moving to this area, do not make the same mistake I did! I am running out of daylight here, which is a bit of a bummer, but thankfully I have made it (thanks to my boss really) out the last 4 weeks in a row. These single tracks are the stuff of legend. After going a few times, I see why people develop such a passion for the sport. My boss has been known to say: “it makes you feel 10 years old again”. Truly spoken.

I will have to post some pictures soon, but for now just take my word for it: there is nothing like it and it is hard to imagine another place so perfectly made for it. Heres why: it is free, it is not crowded, it is well maintained, the people you do meet out there are very friendly, it is a great workout, the downhill, while only about 15 minutes after a grueling 75-minute climb, is about as much fun as you can have (legally at least, as far as I know). Some facts:

Average Starting Elevation: 7,200ft
Highest Elevation Achieved so far: 8,500ft
Air thickness at this altitude: comparable to the atmosphere of a small asteroid
Make you feel outta shape factor: 6.42 out of 6.43
Average temperature: whatever the perfect temperature is (72 F?)

Summer here in the valley has been awesome. Amy and I love the sunshine! We loved the Portland area, but have to admit that we are sun-seeking people. SLC suits us better in this regard. One other positive factor, wait, scratch that, another CRITICAL factor is that there are NO BUGS in the valley! I have not seen a mosquito in the valley since I have been here, except the one that was flying around confusedly asking for directions to a lake.

September and October promise to be about as relaxing as running a marathon while trying to type a manuscript on a touchscreen smartphone. We will be heading to Oregon for a wedding in September (my buddy Grant’s wedding, should be super awesome). After that, I have global engineering gatherings in Park City, studying 4 nights a week for my PE, on top of my work project. Should be a fun and exciting time, capped off by me sitting for my PE at the end of October.

Well this is a brief update, more to come soon I hope. A few more things to mention…

What I am reading:
A Dance with Dragons – George R. R. Martin
The most recent book in the Song of Ice and Fire Series. I have been waiting about 4ish years for this one to come out, but I think it was worth the wait. Interestingly, they have made an HBO drama about this series called “A Game of Thrones” (the title of the first book in the series as well). Status: 100% Complete

Bossypants – Tina Fey
A delightful read from a very smart and funny woman. Between laughs you even get some insight into management and the creative process. Highly recommend this read for men and women alike. Status: 75% Complete

What I am listening to:
Well, as usual, I am listening to a lot of music right now. The band I find myself navigating Rhapsody to most often, however, has to be Manchester Orchestra. These guys are a perfect combo of rock and “pretty” music. Very enjoyable rain or shine, and pairs well with beers or coffee.

Concerts, etc.

Hello all,

Life is good here in the great state of Utah! I am learning quickly just how serious people are here about their mountain biking and hiking. Everyone at work is talking about all of their exploits, and it has me pretty excited for the snow to melt in our gargantuan mountain playground. That said, there is sure a lot of snow up there still... I am glad we aren't in a flood danger zone, but rather just on the highway to it (anyone?).

I have partaken in a few site visits for work lately. It has been both eye-opening and encouraging to see our crews in action. My company has some pretty impressive people in its employ.

Amy has been in Kentucky visiting family for the past week, leaving me to batch it (had to throw in the phonetic "t"). I am not a big fan of her being gone in all honesty, but I have had some help getting through the week. I went to two concerts on two consecutive nights in downtown Salt Lake City! Both concerts were at a really cool small venue called "In the Venue". Pretty great open air patio upstairs for 21 & older folks who want to avoid the mosh (count me in).

Arctic Monkeys

The first show I went to this week was for the killer stoner/brit rock band Arctic Monkeys. I have been a pretty big fan of theirs ever since Pandora introduced us on my Queens of the Stone Age station. I had high hopes for this show, but I was doing my best to temper them based on an observation I made some time ago: High volume, high energy bands often struggle live due to a) trouble mixing b) fighting the tendency to just crank it and c) turning the vocalist down to the point where you just hear a murmur over the other instruments. Arctic Monkeys didn't struggle with any of these issues. The band was very tight and the vocals were excellent. Overall, this is as good as hard rock gets live. See these guys if you like them at all, because after seeing them you will like them more!

The Airborne Toxic Event

Ok, I don't like speaking in absolutes when it comes to art. Having said that, this was probably the best live show I have ever seen. Yes, thats right, EVER. I have never been to a show steered by such a fantastic performer as Mikel Jollett. I was frankly in awe the entire time. I have only recently jumped on their bandwagon, enjoying them often on Rhapsody for about the last two months. I saw they were coming to town, and thought, "why not go see them"? Holy carp am I glad I did! It would take one mean bump in the road now to knock me off this bandwagon. In addition to their battery of fantastic originals, their covers of "I Fought the Law" and "Fulsom Prison Blues" electrified an eclectic crowd including 50 somethings and people young enough to think Fulsom Prison Blues is a pretty cool song by Joaquin Phoenix. The standup base and the viola filled the room with sweet moans in comfortable contrast to the stellar guitar and drum performances. Despite the great musicianship all around, the most impressive thing about TATE has to be Mikel. This guy is not only a great vocalist, but can unify a diverse crowd under his unique brand of idealism and spirituality with apparent ease. This artist-as-leader of a crowd is a cool thing to experience... And damn, All at Once is a POWERFUL song!

Oh yeah, and he is a cool guy! Here is a picture of him with me after the show:

I am so thankful to be in a town that gets great shows like these. Well, I better go get ready to pick up Amy! Cheers!

Hello From Mountain Country

Hello All, it has been too long again.

Amy and I are doing very well. We are adjusting to the Salt Lake area nicely and finding it full of nice surprises. I am stoked to be attending two concerts this month: The Airborne Toxic Event and The Arctic Monkeys. Both are at the top of my iPod not only due to alphabetical order, but also musical preference. These shows are going to be incredible!

I have been playing softball on Monday nights. Slow-pitch softball is great fun, even for a former hardballer. Fielding the ball is the same after all, and the short base paths make for a pretty fast paced game when you have skilled players. You get the occasional guy who takes it way too serious… Come on Beergutsky, get "Glory Days" out of your head and stop yelling at the umpire who is paid like an indentured servant. It is for FUN! That doesn't mean I don’t get competitive, because I do, it just means that a dose of reality could be beneficial for these people. Those are cub scouts in the stands, not Cubs' scouts.

Work has been great! I am working on a very big project that I get to make my own. For this reason I love spending time on it. I think I was born with an entrepreneurial (thank you spell-check) mind that really enjoys a degree of independence. Lots of structural engineering and FEA to do on this job. ANSYS is the software I am using primarily; it is pretty stellar I must say.

SLC area is pretty great. We have been up skiing a few times and the resorts here are exceptional. It is so cool to be close to all these great mountains. I think I may go this Sunday, yes, that is right, Sunday May 29th. The mountains also double as a great backdrop for the city. I am still mesmerized by them, something I hope doesn’t go away. This is a great place to live. Amy has been substitute teaching and has found some very impressive schools.

On a more serious note, there are some really good breweries down here. Epic brewing is probably my favorite, with Uinta a close second. Epic's IPAs are fantastic, and Uinta's barley wine is exceptional.

We miss all of our friends and family! Come see us!

Did you hear some wack-job thinks the world is going to end this weekend? I think Bruce Willis will save us… (cue Aerosmith)

Middle-wing?

Why does every issue presented in the news have to be a polarizing issue? Republican or Democrat? They might as well conclude stories with a table, one column red, one blue, filled with sentences describing how you feel depending on your party. Sometimes I feel the most renegade, looked-down-upon affiliation is no affiliation at all. Picking this non-party is a tough call in a society where "picking a side and sticking to it" is viewed in such a positive light.

I am not sure why I have been thinking about this so much lately. I have seen blogs hammer this out many times in the past. I guess it just struck me the other day that I can scorn or respect a senator with an R by his/her name just as easily as one with a D.

Barring some drastic change, it is high fantasy to think that we will have elections in the near future where there are more than two parties who are legitimate contenders. I am not a fan of wasting a vote, so the only way I can see to get diversity and move a step closer to an objective government is to not have my mind made up by a party. Is this blasphemous for a red-blooded, rural raised American to not vote a party line? I don't think so, and freedom lets me decide.

You don't hear people referring to the crazy centrist movement, and you never will. Why is that? Because sitting on or around the fulcrum yields little motion, and motion makes news. So I will continue the unglamorous life of someone who makes up their mind based on facts rather than the formulaic, gut-stirring jargon puked by pundits far left and right.

Sorry if this offends some, but it really shouldn't. If you are reading this you are likely someone I particularly like, and your politics would never factor into your meaning to me. I value the people in my life and am amazed at their intelligent diversity. It takes all of us bringing our informed minds to the table to create effective legislation and a government for the people. I am just thinking and typing, something I thoroughly enjoy.

Safety

Last week I went through training for MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration). The course I went through was well taught and very thorough. It got me thinking about safety…

I am sure a lot of you reading this have gone through some sort of safety training, or even first aid training. I am usually struck with how important safety feels while participating in these classes. You don't want anyone to get hurt and the dangers of the job feel very real. The challenge is getting people to carry this feeling with them when they leave.

Safety is very important for engineers in a number of ways. Most engineers in heavy industry spend a lot of time in the field. Safety is perfected with practice. Going into the field with limited repetition and visiting many different sites/machines makes safety more complex. Add to this the fact that engineers are often testing automated machinery in a bypass/manual mode for commissioning and you have a perfect storm for an accident.

Also, operators are experts on their equipment. As an equipment designer I have often thought that, even if I spend a year on a design, give an operator three months and his working knowledge will dwarf mine. My point is: don't assume you're an expert on your own design… assumptions foreshadow accidents.

On a personal level, engineers are responsible for designing safety into their equipment. It is truly the first line of defense from an accident. Thankfully, the US has made a lot of progress in requiring machine guarding [sometimes struggling to find the practical limit]. We must continue to improve our designs to keep everyone safe. Bottom line is: it effects the bottom line. Stay safe!