Flying time...

Good frigging damn... where has the past 6 years + 1 month gone. Have been at new employment for durn near 4 of those years [this coming November], have been to SD, FL, Canada, Mexico, etc. on vacations, have watched our boys grow into young men, lost my poppa [RIP you old fool; miss you], gained a few (ok, a lot) of grey hairs, well,,, those that are still remaining on my noggin, acquired a drum set [Gretsch Renown Maple, Cherry Burst + misc snares & cymbals = mainly for youngest boy] and a '99 Celica convertible, couple Apples, and a Canon 50D... all nice toys to explore this wide world with, while dancing with my lady, eating at various restaurants, and finding new things to do, and discovering some awesome bands, seeing wonderful sites, including whilst flying a plane [well, ok,,, it was for only ~5 minutes, but still...] over northern Ft. Wayne. And now, here is to the next 6 years + 1 month!

41 Days IN The Hole

Well, so far... so not too bad. ;)

Been here ["here" being back in the soon-to-be-frozen tundra of NorthEastern Indiana] for six weeks, as I officially started on 01 August 05 at new job just East of Columbia City.

The position is much more in-depth, and potentially complex, than I expected - and trust me, I expected quite a bit. While the overall process is not that complicated, the details, and how they all interact with each other, is highly complicated. So many variables - so many means for the product to be compromised. And, as the head of the Quality Department, along with having the duties of Process Engineering manager, there is much to learn, do, and implement.

All this, coupled with the leading of a Six Sigma Green Belt team, selling our previous home in 'bama, buying new one in this area, moving the goods and fam from thar to here, accrimating to a new political and personal interaction scene, and supervising a diverse group of lab technicians is keeping moi semi-very busy. And of course, I desire to learn and know everything about everything... now! At times, would like to rid myself of this overactive analytical curious mind that I have...

However, all is progressing, hopefully, in the correct path. There have been some minor-to-frustrating issues, mostly regarded to the new home buying process. Have picked out one, has a small pond, semi-secluded house, ~3 acres, single-story w/ full walk-out basement. Schools for the boys seem to be very positive, neighbor is good. So, things there are going alright.

Just keep pluggin' away, learning and making it all happen and come together.

One Way Ticket To...

Finally e-mailed in my last and final official official notice of resignation before leaving work a bit ago.

The hills and valleys here are echoing, with the sound of tears having fell upon my feet.

Smell of burnt rubber still lingers around the Blazer, as drove with spinning wheels coming around corners up the hill to the house tonight, as desire to leave my mark coupled with pain and frustrations pressed the accelerator further.


While excited about the future and this new positition,,, with a hopefull look towards this one-way path that have now stepped officially upon, the thought of leaving the beloved terrain & good stuff of this area so pulls at my heart.

Enthusiastic about fresh start at new firm, and having a positive realization that the upcoming opportunities shall be great. Passions embedded within my veins regarding new career and this path are kindling a zestful eagerness at the thought of becoming a member with the proactive team to be found in this company that will be joining in just a few weeks.

Yet... As heart cries out with meloncholy, Sad is my soul.

Most difficult decision, to leave this awesome area, wonderful people and special friends.

While Career wins, Hope stays alive. As it must. For to truly live, must take chances, sail into the uncharted/unknown, and not let the potentially stormy and dark and dangerous waters have the upper hand.

So, watch out, for to the frozen, flat, and wind-swept tundra of northeastern Indiana, with a positive & an upbeat view, here I go - not as Eeyore, but with a twist of Tigger's tail, and the cleverness of a simple Pooh-Bear.

For, as written in The Tao of Pooh, "sourness and bitterness come from the interfering and unappreciative mind. Life itself, when understood and utilized for what it is, is sweet."

Altho' the pain of separating my body from these wondrous hills is heavy, my mind very much does appreciate the upcoming opportunity, as a serenity, one that is almost happy, encompasses me; as the potentials that life has to offer are indeed quite sweet.

With time, a rekindled and passionate vocation, and with visitations back here, the sorrow will decrease.

Memories of this so rich land & very special people shall always remain vibrant & colourful, while with passing days, wounds diminish.

Myself reminds my self of "The Way", while sitting upon "The Uncarved Block".

Life, offering opportunities, it is indeed what it is, fun, and... having a richness of being special, because, its all good.

And Sweet.

It is indeed.

Peace...

Pardon me boy, is that the Chicken-noodle Choo-Choo?

Due to a very massive conflict within my being, via the battle of a rich opportunity of the new position vs. leaving this beautiful area, the following song, one of my all-time favourites even before this recent mental war, is very fitting.

I tend to view choices such as this as being at a train station. You are there, you have the choice, the decision to make, 'stay here, or hop on board'. Problem is, the train track is one-way, its getting ready to pull away, with only in the most severe cases an emergency pull cord. Hop on board, leave everything you know behind, hope
for the best ride, to be able 10 or so years down wind of here to look back, and know that the right train, at the right time, was chosen - for all parties concerned.

While the final destination of the train currently blowing its horn is not the most desired, the opportunity that is potentially being offered once there is very positive. Much more so than staying in current situation. Best thing about keeping current job would be that could stay in this area. Yet, I have to know that this present train, and mainly the station its taking me to, in the long run, will indeed be the best 'it'.

While I really do not desire nor want to leave this station, I'm of belief that in the back recesses of my mind, that the realization is there that this is the best train to board. Time will be the final scorekeeper of that. Hopefully, Monday morning quarter-backs will have a positive report at that time too.

Cross fingers and knock on wood that the final destination of this train ride from Chattanooga to the flat-land of wind & snow will be not only good. But, be the best, and I hopefully have the right ticket in hand.


All a-board!






Styx - Crystal Ball
c) 1976 A&M

I used to like to walk the straight and narrow line.
I used to think everything was fine.
Sometimes I'd sit and gaze for days through sleepless dreams,
All alone and trapped in time.
All alone and trapped in time.

I wonder what tomorrow has in mind for me?
Or am I even in it's mind at all?
Perhaps I'll get a chance to look ahead and see.
Soon as I find myself a crystal ball.
Soon as I find myself a crystal ball.

But tell me, tell me where I'm going,
I don't know where I've been,
Tell me, tell me, wont you tell me
And then tell me again.

My heart is breaking,
My body's aching,
And I don't know where to go.
So tell me, tell me, wont you tell me
I just gotta know.

Crystal Ball
There's so many things I need to know
Crystal Ball
There's so many things I've gotta know
Crystal Ball

Wont you tell me please before I go.
Crystal Ball

Come back to the land of ice and snow...

Friends and family [along with any other fool that may be reading this, sick individual you are... ;)]:

This post is to inform all that I have accepted a position back in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area.

Starting August 8th.






Ok, now that you've placed your tail back on the chair after falling out of it upon reading the above sentence, I will now continue. :)

As some of you are aware, this decision has not been reached lightly, in any means, as some of you were bugged by yours truly for advice and comments... and to that, again, I say THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

The options in a nutshell were thus:

1. Stay employeed w/ the current firm, hoping that a positive alternative would rise in the near future, preferably locally, while our firm is being sold by its parent company. A little bit more background: my position here is a metallurgical engineer, where I have focused upon process improvement, plant support, alloy development, and related wire drawing issues, dealing w/ customer issues and supplier quality concerns. All of that coupled with a few other items that our firm is having issues with, that probably should not post on a blog. ;)

Now, I could stay here and just clock in, and enjoy the beautiful area, our very nice home, and all that there is to offer in the great outdoors here: my beloved caves, hills, hollers, streams, trees, waterfalls, etc. But... my engineering soul would suffer in the meantime, a part of me that needs to be challenged, that desires strongly to improve situations & products, to constantly strive to seek means to satisfy my strong curiousity.

...and then...

2. Take an exit now, while the path being offered is very attractive, via a firm that has managment and employees that are very proactive, progressive, and heading in positive directions - not just sitting on their collective duff, waiting for something to happen before they react, such as another firm that I know... Anyhow, we will return to the land of ice, cold, winds, snow, flatness, and OMG!!!... this sounds ridiculous... why am I doing this? To myself, and to my family??? ... oh, yea, that's right, because of the career thing. Ok.. So, anyhow, this position is managing the quality assurance department, supervising 6 employees, interacting w/ both internal and external customers, perform root cause analysis, improve and stabilize quality issues, and so on. Gives me a few feathers in my cap that I currently do not have, mainly supervisory skills [these poor guinea pigs!!! :) ], along w/ learning the techniques and tools that this firm offers internally.

From each and every employee there that I've talked with, old and new timers, they all have nothing but positive to say in regards to the management. Financially, the firm is actually performing very well. Stock is currently a "strong buy", along w/ having other positive rankings. This position offers a strong stepping stone to then go further, either within the company or even external, after acquiring more knowledge and skill sets, such as Six Sigma training, etc.

One semi-positive is that we know the area up there, having spent 3 years previous to our 2 year tenure here. Schools are quite good, shopping is more convenient. Clean and open area - nice people, boys and us have a few friends still up there, and will be good to see them, and see some of the areas that hadn't before [altho', the areas up there do pale in comparison to here... urrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh... sorry, cain't help not saying that... again...].

You'd think with all the rocks that I have [ohhhh, those poor packers and movers!!! ;) ], that I'd have a crystal ball, but alas... no such luck. Took two [yes, 2!] tractor trailers to move all the household goods from IN to here, and HA! that was before we had our pool table, my 2nd foosball table, a large wall cabinet, and a few other misc. items... You'd think with all the moves we've made, that by now we'd have fewer instead of more goodies... Terrible when you combine a packrat with a gypsy. ;)

I am literally torn inside w/ having to move, both in the aspect of leaving this wonderful area, and all of the related BS of house-hunting, preparing our house for sale, moving the critters to new schools, along with all the other misc. items that go with this. However, as I have rationalized this in the manner of life is similar to a one-way road, with exits appearing here and there, some you see far in advance, some just hit you, with little to no warning. And, then you must decide if that exit offers an improved path than the one you are currently traveling.

Hopefully for the better, I, with my wife's wonderful support, have decided after much grief and serious contemplation, that this exit, while having a higher than desired toll payment, does offer most likely our best route. Unfortunately, in a couple months to a year or so, hindsight and Monday-morning quarterbacking may differ to a strong amount as to what we think now. However, a person can only make their best decision based upon the facts presented to them, along with adding to that their desires, hopes, aspirations, and perspectives.

I'm the kind of person that has always been torn by that phrase "live to work, vs. work to live" - cause I've always wanted, desired, and demanded both. I need to have both a satisfactory work environment, along with a means to escape into the natural environment to purge and renew my soul with the beauty that nature offers. For those that don't know me, I'm the stereotypical anal engineer, analyzing everything to death, carrying paper & pen everywhere - writing down thoughts regarding means to improve and/or question current processes/products. Work hard, putting in many more than typical 40 hours [ha! usually have 40 put in by Thursday at noon...], always looking in literature and on the web at home in evenings and weekends, and even on vacations, for new means to acquire, produce, etc. materials. Yet, as those that have had the mispleasure of spending any time with me on travels, I likewise am the one that gets the closest to the edge of a waterfall, just for that perfect shot; the one that climbs the tree highest, on a semi-dead limb, just to get a tad higher for a better view of what's over that next ridge.

Anyhow, time will tell if the "correct" path has now been chosen.

Hopefully, the rearview mirror will bring a smile to our faces, as we travel down this new avenue.

One of my favourite songs by one of my favourite bands, Led Zeppelin's "What Is and What Should Never Be", contains in its last stanza:
'Everybody I know seems to know me well
but they're never gonna know that I move like hell.'

See ya - cause like the wind, I'm going down that path, in that same manner.

Wet and wild weekend

Should have known better, but alas, I still answered the call. Good friend of mine, lets call him "Bill", called and inquired as to what I was doing this coming weekend. Upon replying "ummm, I don't know, what are you doing?", he proceeded to virtually paint a wondrous picture of us rafting down a clear cool stream in the shadows of the beauty of hills near Erwin, TN. Long story, short, of course, I could not refust his offer to do that, along with hiking and camping in these beautiful hollers. Suffice to say, I owe Bill a big hug - was most excellent weekend, did wonders for and to my soul, as was able to forget for a brief time all the trials and tribulations of the 'real' world, and just get lost, literally and figuratively, within these ancient mountains.

We met upon the way to the campground, stopping for some petrol and fuel for our own bodies. Our goal was to be at the camp before the 1pm departure of the bus to take the troop to the put-in place upstream. Making that, Bill and I joined 4 others + the guide in a raft, there being three other rafts following our lead. Our guide was by far the best of 'em all, knowing very well the tricks and turns of the Nolichucky River. We traversed over some Class II and IV rapids, being tossed about at times. Two fellas in another raft immediately were dunked as they went overboard during the first rapid, so with us being downstream we paddled upwards to meet them. For more info, check out: http://www.e-raft.com/Regions/SouthEast/Nolichucky.asp

Suffice to say that the white water trip was very satisfying - only wish that could have taken more time, along with having my camera along for some beautiful shots. Only main negative was the piss-poor snacks and water served - cookies were Wal-Mart store brand, only one package to feed ~30 people, and then the water was dispensed directly into your mouth via the community nozzle... yummmm, share them bacteria! ;)

Anyhow, after the ~4.5 hour trip, floated back into camp, took a shower, grabbed a bite to eat, and then sat about the campsite. The campsite was quite good, flowing stream in the front, soft grass under our tent, the stars and clouds our ceiling. Later that evening, a semi-severe storm provided entertainment as we watched the random strokes of electricity discharge around the hills, booming thunder throughout the valley. The local traintracks also provided much auditory enjoyment, as the coal trains delivered their load down the steep valley, and then travel back up with other items.

After waking up the next morning, we buggered out after talking with some locals about ideas. We decided that Bill would follow me [me in my Celica, him in his Jeep SUV] as we made a very large triangle through the hills, up hollers, searching for the twistiest and narrowist and scenic roads available, as we desired to see the real countryside, while in search for waterfalls and related sights.

Will post the roads travled later as well as add some photos, but suffice to say that it was totally awesome! For now, can imagine a triangle, with Erwin, TN at the apex, going south then along the Cane River to Hwy 19, and then through Burnsville, NC and Bandanda, NC to Roan Mtn area, and then over to Tiger Valley, where Bill and I parted ways, him treking north, me back home via Erwin and Knoxville. Over this course, we scampered about wild and wooly hillsides to glimpse and wade amongst streams that danced upon rocks, falling waters here and there. Drove slightly more than just a tad way too fast, upon twisty roads neither had ever been upon, during intermittent rainshowers. Hiked upon Mt. Roan and its neighboring sister. Saw remains of previous storm's dumping of hail upon the ground in the bushes.

Was goooooooooooooooooooooooooooood.

Thanks Mister Bill!

I Think, Therefore I...

Have always been interested in philosophy and logic. Not that I'm that logical mind you. But, nevertheless, its of interest to me. Why? Well, see, right there, that is a query into the nature of the reason of the prior statement. And when you boil everything down, as in dividing matter into its subatomic components, a human brain still gets lost in the quanta of life, and the meaning to it all. Watching "The Matrix" trilogy a couple weeks ago, along with some friendly bantering of ying and yang at TSG, reminded me of just how much this subject is so amazing. Yet, I can likewise recall that when in High School and college both, the manner in which logic and philosophy was taught was so durn boring, and dry. However, in anycase, now, have discovered at least a taste of the richness herein. Maybe it has something to do with growing up, experencing more of life, seeing more of the world, meeting a variety of other people, having a family, seeing others changing, while swearing that you are still the same little boy inside, inside a body that features a noggin with a spot of increasing baldness.

What ever becomes of the fleeting hair upon my head, the brain within it still desires to know more. And one of the basic philosophical themes that is inherent in my nature is a healthy dose of skepticism - specifically, philosophical skepticism that questions the very nature of reality, and whether we can ever actually "know" anything at all, of any subject. Humours me when "experts" claim that such and such, when a few years earlier other just as esteemed authourities said the polar opposite, and then of course other people in the future seem to then either contradict both previous camps, or they side with one or the other. Yes, there are simple basic facts. However, sometimes we allow our knowledge and understanding of these "simple basic facts" to then to mislead in some degree our findings. Since of course, the majority of what is thought is fact is actually nothing more than opinion, tainted with a tad amount of facts, plus a wee dose of knowledge, and then topped off with personal experiences.

Anyhow, and especially to a person with a curious mind, philosophy can lead a person into so many other diverse subjects, be it religion, biology, physics, or vast number of other fields. Amazing that in so many ways, us so called modern humans are really not that much more advanced in our knowledge than those that have preceeded us by hundreds, if not thousands of years. Using The Matrix as the subject matter here again, in so many ways there is so much similarity to the premise found within this modern movie to that found within Descarte's jar of brains. True, the movie brings us special effects on a silver-plated disc that is read by lasers, but heck... Plato's cave had images projected via shadows, which are also cast by light. In the end, I think that no matter how deep we delve into the rabbit hole with Alice, the final question of what is real will always elude us. Just as physics brings us smaller and smaller particles, via Leucippus and Democritus ponderings [read "On the Nature of the Universe" by Lucretius for his take of this - written over 2000 years ago!], philosophy might also keep bringing us to larger and larger "realities", analogous to that shown in the movie "The 13 Floor".

Then again, maybe this post doesn't really exist.

Neither does this computer.

Nor this writer.

I'm gone.