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It started out great. I dropped by a local school and watched Rainmaker & Mark Padgett work a couple rec league games. Got to meet Mark, harrass Juulie, watch some world class basketball(OK, it was 7th grade boys ratball)and listen to coaches & parents make a$$es out of themselves all at the same time - great fun! (pictures coming soon to a web site near you.....)
It went straight downhill from there.......
One of my clients has a ship coming out of overhaul - supposed to be ready for sea trials next week. Late Friday afternoon I get a panic call from the contractor - during the overhaul they removed one of the main reduction gears for rebuild & now can't get it to realign correctly to the main engine & tail shaft - they want me to bring my lasers down & work my magic, and I agree with contractor on a 1pm Saturday time. I've done this unit before & figure no big deal, right? So I get on board & within minutes it is apparent that there is a major problem. It turns out they had removed the gear mounting blocks while the gear was out to "clean them up a little". Unfortunately nobody marked which block went where, and they are physically identical except for thickness, which can vary as much as 0.625" - that's a lot when our tolerances are +/- 0.010". I casually suggest this possibility & the lead mechanic gets indignant, he was a "sailor" for 20 years, yada yada yada....sounded a lot like some of the coaches I've run into. Remembering the definition of a "sailor" (for those unfamiliar I will post an expurgated version if requested), I smile to myself & say fine, just humor me & let's check it to make sure, OK? So we make some quick measurements & compare with the shipyard "as-builts", and guess what? They get to spend the rest of the weekend removing/replacing the gear & mounting blocks...and I get to go back on Monday.
It's been a long day, so my wife & I decide to head for one of our favorite restaurants on the Willamette South waterfront. So we get seated, work our way through some fresh bread & salads, and are waiting for our meals when I get served my second salad - all over the back of my shirt & jacket - fortunately it's just an old crew shirt & windbreaker, easily washed so it's really no big deal. The poor young waitress brings me a wet towel & looks almost ready to cry, so I give her a big grin and tell her no harm done, that I really appreciate the offer of a second salad, but next time would prefer to eat it rather than wear it - poop happens, it's OK. I get a smile in return, which was the idea..... So another 15 minutes go by & we're still waiting for our dinners...waitress comes by & says she'll go check on it. She returns quickly & tells us there was a problem in the kitchen & that our meals will be right out. True to her word, less than 5 minutes later they show up - delivered personally by no less than the restaurant manager himself. He tells us that somehow the ticket was misplaced, apologizes profusely, and tells us that because of the delay (about 45 min total) dinner was on them tonight - guess it didn't turn out badly after all. So I leave the waitress her regular tip & she catches us on the way out & tries to give it back - says she feels bad about the salad incident. I tell her she worked hard & earned the tip - accidents happen, nobody's bleeding or dead, so let it go, OK? - I already have.
Let's just hope tomorrrow's less eventful!
Rant mode off!
[Edited by TimTaylor on Feb 13th, 2005 at 04:45 AM]
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Sun Feb 13, 2005, 04:39am
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