Thoughts on Commissioning

I have been spending a lot of time working on my home lately.  It has been very rewarding work, and opened my eyes to how simple it is to do a lot of the things yourself that would otherwise cost you a fortune.  All you really need is some can-do attitude, a bit of mechanical aptitude, and access to the internet :).  Seriously, how did people do it before the internet? Youtube has become a part of my toolbox, right next to the cordless drill.

I recently completed the shop commissioning of the massive new drill rig project I designed.  It was, as always, a great learning experience in addition to being very rewarding.  Some of the recurring truisms from the commissioning:

• You just have to try some things.  A few minutes of real world testing is worth weeks of time in front of the computer in some cases.  Now not all cases!  Thank you Finite Element Analysis!  But software, for example, almost cannot be tried soon enough in the development process.
• Its never the problem you expect.  This one is rather obvious, but rears its head frequently.  Fact is, if it was a problem you expected and didn't do anything about, you are kind of an idiot, right?  Well, not exactly.  Engineering can be an iterative process, and there is a degree of uncertainty with any new creation.  As engineers, we try to think of all the things that could go wrong, and I would bet that 90% of the time what actually goes wrong is not on that list.  This is likely due to the fact that if you are able to anticipate a certain type of problem, you eliminate it from your design the best you can.  If you are creating something new though, expect a few of these "gotchas".
• Sometimes, entropy wins.  Sure, there are a few problems you run into and think: "yeah, this happens all the time".  A leaky hose for example.  Some problems, however, are almost impossible to track down and are completely unique.  Like a faulty bus bar from a manufacture with a tiny piece of plastic covering the conductor in one of several hundred terminals.  Yeah, $2 part, 4 hours tracking it down.  Entropy 1, Engineer 0.
• Running a new piece of equipment can bring the hind-sight engineering specialists out of the woodwork.  "Why didn't you do this?" or "Why wasn't that considered in the design?".  The fact is, when building a prototype, some things are going to get missed.  Don't let it bother you, instead try to create a culture of jumping in and fixing problems rather than just pointing them out.  Remember that a toddler can spot an oil leak, it takes an adult to fix it.
• Nine women cannot have a baby in one month. I think this is a German saying.  It may be my favorite thing to remind managers who want to solve a technical issue by pulling in more resources.
• Perspective can be a big blessing.  After spending about 25 days straight working on something, that thing can pretty easily creep steadily higher on your shit list.  Every problem you encounter can seam insurmountable because it gets jammed into your crowded brain with all problems fixed and outstanding.  Get someone new involved when this starts to happen!  For my project, I called in a drilling supervisor to see what he thought of the rig.  He reminded us that we are doing stuff that has never been done before and SUCCEEDING.  All of a sudden building a small step to change a filter seams like the minute task it is.  
• Telling people what they want to hear when it comes to timing is a mistake.  This one is easy to fall victim to if you are a people pleaser (a terminal problem I deal with, along with Irish guilt).  If someone asks you when it will be done, give your honest estimate.  And don't forget to double it.  Adding time to your estimate is NOT unscientific, it is what experienced professionals do (see entropy).  It is always better to take the heat for the timeline now and be a hero if all the stars align and by some miracle you complete your project early.  
• Beer is good.  Having a beer with your team after a hard days work is good for everyone.
• Lists rule.  keep one running punch list.  ONE.  That is the key.  Maintaining multiple lists is impractical and causes things to get missed.  Don't get too hung up on categorizing your list either.  Just write it down.  You can always organize it later! 
• Things seam easier when they are done.  Don't forget all the heart-ache you poured into your creation.  People will look at it and it will appear simple to them.  Remember that it is easy to make a convoluted and complex mechanism to do a function unreliably.  To create something simple and reliable is the pinnacle of engineering achievement.  And when someone looks at it and says "duh, of course that is how that is done", remind yourself that if it was really that obvious, people would already be doing it that way.  You have created something simple and innovative (prepare to be copied thanklessly :) )

I am so excited to be at this phase of the project.  My team, which was pulled together from Australia, Canada, and the US, worked very well together!   Lots of exciting new developments and innovations.  I will post a link as soon as the info goes public!

Amy has done an amazing job documenting our family life!  Let me know if you want access to that blog, as it is set to private.  I will just say here that having a baby has been by far the greatest thing to happen to me.  I couldn't be happier with my family, career, or home.  Life is good.  Cheers, friends.

Music:  I am digging the new Queens of the Stone Age album "...Like Clockwork"
Reading: I am reading "Dune Heretics"...  Frank Herbert awesomeness.

Software Blues and Fantasy News

Sometimes I really don’t like deploying software. It has been my experience that software tends toward the dishonest. As an example let’s examine status bars. They used to fill up gradually, allowing the users excitement to build until finally, when the bar was full, the task/install was complete! Now, the bar fills countless times, only to start over again. I get the feeling it is Microsoft’s attempt to please a society that needs constant stimulation and enjoys an empty bar cycling to full at an obnoxious rate of 30 times a minute. Sorry for that rant, but when you delve into software to the extent I have been, it starts to change your concept of reality. I need a break from this sort of thing before I move into my parents’ basement, lose all remnants of a sun tan and eat cheetoes while having web debates with people about the superiority of .net to VB.

Thankfully, I have been doing more than just software deployments. Amy and I (mostly Amy truthfully) finished painting the bedroom and the bathroom. It is amazing to me what a real difference paint can make. I should have known though because as we say in machine design, paint covers a multitude of errors.

Life and work have been more eclectic than a Beck song lately. At work my duties have been ranging from developing new CAD standards to some pretty intense product modeling. Product design is something I rarely get into as most of my functions here are as a machine designer. This project has been given “priority one” status, so I have been given resources (people and software) to get the job done. Also, I have been given freedom to set up the project and file structure how I see fit, which has resulted in a system that is easy to administer, manage releases, and manage resources. I really have enjoyed it; it is a new and unique experience. I don’t mean to ramble on about my job, but I have been putting in a lot of hours lately and I also wanted to clear things up for people who thought I was a train driver.

It is fantasy football season! I hopped on this bandwagon last year and I am hooked. Our league includes work buddies and some randoms. It has some top-notch smack talk, and my skills on the digital gridiron are legendary (in my head).

Amy and I have turned off our cable TV. This bold move is in response to the ever-increasing amount of programming available on the internet and the quality of Netflix service as well as the rising price of cable TV. Netflix on demand is great and, working through the Xbox, provides an easy way to view programming including TV shows, movies, and specials on your TV. Also, the Media Center extender allows us to view torrents on our TV through our Xbox. This hooks your computers media library to your living room, so it also includes all of our music, pictures, and home videos. So far, the only thing I miss is Sports Center in the morning, but I can roll with the free podcasts. I just have to be better at downloading them. Also, I am going to consider mlb.tv next year. This is all sort of an experiment, so I will be posting updates under the heading “Cut the Cable”.

Listening to: My iPod on random. There is just nothing like going from Queens of the Stone Age to Queen. It is a bit of a change of pace going from Homme’s growl to Mercury’s howl. When I haven’t been on random, I have been revisiting Stadium Arcadium by RHCP. This two disc set has some serious grooves, jams, and some of the only songs I have ever heard by Anthony that are not in some way making reference to his self-proclaimed bedroom prowess. Check it out, Stadium Arcadium that is. You can’t have my iPod. Sorry.

Gadgets: For an early anniversary present, Amy got me the Bose in-ear headphones. These things are BA. I don’t know how much of a true Audiophile I am, but I listen to my headphones an average of 6 hrs a day and my ears never get tired of these ergonomic headphones. They are keepers, and so is the purchaser.

Thanks for the comments everyone! If you comment in the box titled “Lambastings”, be sure to sign your name or something that would ID you to me (unless you want to do it all covert-like), because anyone can comment there and unless you are a follower your name appears as Unknown. Unless someone following named Unknown has been commenting, then I apologize and acknowledge the legitimacy of the name.

Coming up: I am attending more nuptials this weekend, this time at a winery in Gold Hill known as Del Rio. This winery is really beautiful and has some delicious varietals. I am not going to drink any F’ing Merlot though (see Sideways, I am not just going off here)! Most of the time I just drink wine at a wedding, but I applaud this couple for going right to the source and cutting out the middle man. I am as stoked as that guy in Undone (The Sweater Song). It will be a great time. Our friends are more fun than ping pong.