The Midwesterner Chronicles

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Friday, May 16, 2008
All that remains...
Topic: School

The concrete beam that remains from my capstone project.

Four years ago, I had a decision to make.

I had a job, and it wasn't a bad job, but it also wasn't something I was happy with either. I was a draftsman at an architectural firm, or more accurately, I was the draftsman at an architectural firm. I had flunked out of the University of Illinois twice, and had managed to scrape up enough classes at the College of Lake County to get myself an Associates Degree in CAD Drafting Technology. I was treated alright at the firm, and had developed friendships with my co-workers that go on to this day. But as with all things in life, things changed. Friends had left to go to other companies, new people were brought in, new projects, new offices. But one thing remained constant; I was the man in the corner that drafted, and that was it.

And after a while, I got sick of it.

I had no upward mobility, no matter what changes happened. The first, and only time I was given my own project to be responsible for, I was pulled in so many directions by everyone else in the company that I ended up working 17-hour days to get it done on time. But those delays meant that I would never be trusted with managing a project again. Then I decided to take the initiative and develop a plan to help standardize how the company put a set of construction drawings together. My bosses praised me for my effort. My friends cheered me, believing that this was going to get me to the next level, and then a bunch of middle managers chastised me for overstepping my boundaries in the company.

I was burned out, and needed to change something. I realized that I had one of three choices to make.

  1. Get a new job elsewhere. Even if it was still a drafting position, a change of scenery might be all I needed.
  2. Start my own business. My brother and I constantly talked about starting a game store, and even got started on a business plan. Though we never got around to finishing it.
  3. Go back to school and get my degree, which was the biggest thing separating me from my co-workers.

So four years ago, I filled out an application and got accepted to the Milwaukee School of Engineering. I uprooted my entire life to go from a three-bedroom apartment in the Chicago suburbs to a dorm room in Milwaukee. I had more or less cut off my old life and bet my entire future that the three years I would spend in the land of beer and cheese would lead to something better.

Along the way, I made new friends, both in and out of school. I did well in my classes, and became a tutor to help others. With my stepfather's help, I managed to organize a tour of the roof of Miller Park. I joined ASCE and went to Purdue with their Steel Bridge Team. And along the way, another opportunity opened up. I got the chance to go for my Masters as well as my Bachelors with only one year added to my time in school.

I said, what the hell.

Then I was told I had two choices, do a short research paper and take a lot of graduate level classes, or find something to research and do a long capstone project.

After a summer of debate, I went with the big project.

Now classes are done. Finals are next week. And I have a seventy-seven page paper that, should all go well, will end up in MSOE's library for future generations to learn from. Eight days from now, I will graduate, bringing the last four years of stress, classes, projects, presentations and yes, drinking to an end.

And on the day after Memorial Day, my new job begins as an Engineer-In-Training (EIT). My next goals will be to get my SE and PE licenses. And I've left the door open to go after a PhD when the time comes.

But for now, all that remains are a few exams, a presentation, a hard drive full of research, and a concrete beam sitting in the Construction Lab.

Here's to the future. 


Posted by David at 10:10 PM CDT
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Friday, April 18, 2008
5.2 Earthquake hits Illinois
Topic: News

My grandmother felt it. My father didn't. But the United States Geological Survey confirmed that a Level 5.2 Earthquake hit the Midwest early this morning.

Thank goodness I passed Structural Dynamics this fall. It's starting to look more and more that structural engineers will have to do seismic design even if they don't live out of the Left Coast. We've been told for decades that the New Madrid Fault could give us some problems. It appears that they are coming sooner than later.

The L.A. Times has downplayed the event compared to their usual earthquake activity out west stating:

The shaking may not have been strong enough to quicken the pulse of quake-blasé Californians, many of whom won't head for the safety of a door frame unless the Richter scale inches closer to a 6.0.

But what Californians don't realize is that an earthquake out here in "flyover country" can be more dangerous than out west. The ground around the San Andreas Fault is pretty broken up. The gaps and cracks in the earth allow the shockwave of an earthquake to dissipate, reducing the range of the event.

But in the Midwest, the ground is mostly solid. So a quake that hits here can travel a lot farther than it would in California. This means that more places, and people, can be affected by an earthquake out here.

9/11 already increased the need for structural engineers to deal with loads from shockwaves due to explosions. Now with the threat of an earthquake in the heartland, it will need to be made an even higher priority. Seismic design in no longer California's problem anymore.


Posted by David at 3:30 PM CDT
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Thursday, April 17, 2008
The drawbacks of interconnectivity.
Topic: News

From Breitbart.com


VIENNA, Austria (AP) - The world has never been more connected, but in some corners, it's developing a real hang-up over the ubiquitous cell phone.
 
Taking a cue from France's national railway, which offers phone-free "zen zones" on high-speed trains, Austria's second-largest city this week began ordering public transit commuters to keep their phones on silent mode.

On one hand, we now have the technology to be in communication with whomever we want at any time. This would normally be in Column A of the "Is this a good thing?" debate. But the lack of civility on this planet has created a downside in that people are constantly having these private communications in a very public manner. The lack of regard for whether anyone within 50 feet wants to be subjected to this loud half-converation has reached it's limits for some communities.

While I certainly sympathize with anyone that would like some places to be cellphone-free. I have been known to respond to those that answer their phones in public restrooms by hitting the plunger on the nearest toilet, just to let whoever is on the other end know where their call is being taken. But on the other hand, cell phones provide a convenience that shouldn't be denied people just because of a few thick-headed jerks. Heaven forbid that a person not be made aware of a family emergency because some entity bans long-distance communication.

I think France's SNCF has the right idea when it comes to tackling this issue. They have cars designated for no cell phone use. If you choose to sit in that car, you accept the fact that you will not be using your phone in that car. If you get a call and you have to take it, you get up and move to a car that allows you to answer it. The car exists as a convenience to those that want to ride without being bothered by others, not as a punishment to everyone because of a few people's rudeness.


Posted by David at 4:13 PM CDT
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Monday, April 14, 2008
I have way too much crap in one little room.
Topic: Personal

Tax Day is tomorrow, and while I have already filed my Federal and Illinois returns (and collected the refunds) a few months back, I have held off on doing my Wisconsin returns for no good reason whatsoever. Because I am a part-time resident of Wisconsin, I had to fill out a paper return instead of using TaxCut. But because I put things off, I also managed to lose my W-2s in the see of papers that fill my desk and shelves.

Part of the problem is that I don't throw things out. Some of these papers are notes from old classes, which still come in handy from time to time. Others are financial info, bank and credit card statements, loan documents, etc. The rest are bills and junk mail that I should throw out, but I would rather wait until I can shred them just in case someone decided to go dumpster diving and do some damage to my already mediocre credit.

Unfortunately, my shredder is collecting dust at my brother's apartment. And I sure don't feel like taking all my junk mail to my mother's house to shred stuff there. I feel bad enough bringing home dirty laundry let alone junk mail. Fortunately, school is almost done and it won't be long before I have my own place where I can dispose of unwanted paper products at my leisure.

Man... you know your life is pathetic when shredding paper is something you look forward too. 


Posted by David at 11:48 AM CDT
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Saturday, April 12, 2008
Well... that wasn't TOO bad.
Topic: School

As I mentioned yesterday, today is the day I took the first step in becoming an engineer by taking the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam. The day started with me getting pretty much no sleep. I was pretty worked up over taking the test and didn't start to nod off until about 3 or 4 in the morning. My alarm was set for 5:30.

So after a couple of hits of the snooze bar, I managed to get showered, dressed and  have all my essentials put together. I had my review manual, a sack lunch, all the paperwork I needed to get access to the testing facility and some medication in case I started to feel under the weather. A brisk walk from my dorm to the parking garage was enough to shake off some of the sleepiness and get me on my way.

The travel from Milwaukee to West Allis wasn't too bad, especially since the  City of Milwaukee has had pretty much every road torn up since I started school four years ago. Also, I had been in the general facility of the testing location before. We were taking the test at the Wisconsin Expo Center, and my senior design project was located on the other side of State Fair Park. I managed to get there in time to grab a quick breakfast at McDonald's and still bethe first one to get checked in.

Now for the test itself. Pretty much the only thing I was allowed to bring for the test was a calculator. Everything from the test form to the pencils were supplied us. Now, I can understand not allowing cell phones or MP3 players. And I can also understand only allowing calculators off an approved list. But for the life of me I can't understand why we couldn't bring our own pencils. The guy next to me had three #2 pencils and had to have them confiscated by the proctor before the exam. If there is some way to cheat with only a wood pencil, I have no idea how.

Though on the other hand, we were all mailed a set of documents detailing where the test was an what the rules for taking it were. And the fact that we would not be allowed to use our own pencils was part of that mailing. It amazed me how some of the people there should have known better and left the non-allowed stuff in their cars while the test was going on. What was even more surprising was the fact that some people didn't realize that we had to pay for parking, even though we were told parking at the Fairgrounds was going to cost us $5. As I was trying to get into the place, the guy in the car ahead of me had to scrounge up 3 handfuls of change to pay the collector in the booth. I was getting kind of ticked at this point, because the thought that went through my head was that I would be late for the exam because of this person, and I was only about 50 feet away from the building.

But getting back to the test, it wasn't that bad. The morning session was 120 multiple choice questions with a four hour time limit. The afternoon session was 60 questions with the same four hour time limit. In both cases, I was done after about two to two and a half hours. And that included going over every problem carefully. I also tried to make a concerted effort to not second-guess myself as that has always hurt me in the past. But with finishing the morning section early, I had to leave the building until the afternoon section began. So I went to my car, ate my lunch, and then decided to go back to the McDonald's across the street and get some coffee and do a little last minute studying.

Now here's where the fun begins.

First of all, McDonald's now has this deal where they add the cream and sugar to your coffee for you. which would have been nice, if they hadn't forgotten to add the sugar I asked for. However, they did have two leather chairs that looked very comfortable. Perfect places to sit and drink coffee for an hour or so while I reviewed differential equations and material properties. Or so I thought.

As I was sitting, with my book wide open, another person sat down in the chair next to me. That shouldn't have been a problem. Then the guy felt a need to talk about his cup of coffee that he had just ordered and how he was going to read the sports section of the newspaper. Again, just small talk. Then this individual felt the need to tell me about how he couldn't find German Chocolate, how there was a government conspiracy against hom getting a job, and how he doesn't speak English despite speaking perfect English.

Maybe it's just me, but don't you wish crazy people had a sign on them that would warn you that they were a little off-kilter? Some people you can avoid, because they have that 'that boy ain't right' look to them. But this guy looked perfectly normal, and felt the need to bend the ear of a man that is busy trying to do something else.

So I got up and left McDonald's, with this guy thanking me for letting him "tell me the truth" and I made my way back to the Fairgrounds where I managed to drink half of my bitter coffee and do a bit of review before meeting up with the other MSOE students that had just finished the morning session and were having their lunches before the afternoon session began.

The afternoon session was a little harder, it took me the same amount of time to do half as many questions. But once I was done I was able to head back into the city and had a couple of beers and a burger at my favorite local spot. A four-hour nap later and I'm somewhat back to normal. Which is good, because next week is Midterm Week for me.

I think I need to get another drink. Hell, it is Yuri's Night after all. 


Posted by David at 10:44 PM CDT
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