Just writing this to keep up appearances. I don’t really have anything new or interesting to add. I suppose the Trayvon Martin saga will be interesting to watch as it unfolds, I just hope people don’t treat the expert analysis like a fucking referee making a call. If an expert makes a determination, just go with it. Don’t yell and scream that the determination is wrong just because you don’t agree with the end result. That’s what retards do. Instead, learn to accept reality for what it is, rather than sticking your head in the sand whenever something becomes uncomfortable.

The installation of my virtual soapbox is now complete. I wrote a half-second bash script to take care of fixing permissions on my end before rsync-ing the whole load to the “web server” (term used loosely, here, as the janky garbage I have set up only took two whole seconds of deployment). Everything should be all set. No more XML: PARSER JUST HAD A GODDAMNED FUCKING SEIZURE, YOU RETARD style errors or 403 Asshat Has No Permission issues. Should deploy with two simple commands and let me stand on my little, virtual, audience-less, soapbox all day long.

Things seem to be moving along. I’m working now, as you may already have noticed from blog posts. I’m working midnights, though. Pretty terrible shift, I’m hoping I can find something, whether at the same place or not, that’s days. Hopefully I can arrange something soon that will cease to destroy my ability to sleep. Sorry for the lack of blog posts lately. I’ve been busy as hell. In the very least, I have money in my pocket and a place to go every day. I’ll be grateful for the good things and wonderful people in my life. I’ll make sure to show them every chance I get, too. That said, I suppose I’ll trail off with a youtube video.

Most of my life, I’ve either worked some stupid “McJob” or behind a desk. I’ve never had what you’d deem a real gritty job before. Until now. Now I come home every morning covered in carbon dust, coolant, and grease. It’s insane. My arms are sore every day, and are getting… Gruesome.

I work in a “cell” that consists of a grinder station, six-axis FANUC robotic manipulator, and dual-spindle FANUC CNC lathe. The grinder does exactly what the term I used implies, it grinds the raw material down to size. The manipulator takes the properly sized material and loads it onto the lathe chuck, which then uses tooling to shape the material into the finished product. The manipulator then sends the finished piece on down to me, where it’s gauged for accuracy and I can make corrections near the end of the line when necessary. The cell produces about a hundred pieces an hour. It’s overly complex for what’s actually happening, and has a tendency to reflect that in what can (and does) go wrong. I’ve noticed two tandem PLC’s, one to direct the manipulator and another that apparently controls the lathe. The cell used to consist of two manipulators, two lathes, and four spindles. It has since been found that it’s a freaking mess for just one person to handle with just one series running. I think I’d die if both were ever running cooperatively.

It’s going to rain soon. I can smell it. Summer is finally coming, and I have some damned fond memories of summer. My last one was a mind-blower, that’s for sure. Certainly can’t take summer for granted anymore. Too many fond memories, too much to look forward to. The Drive-in used to be a cool thing I did, I guess not many people really did it. These days, it has some significance to me. It will be a place my mind goes, whether times are bad or times are good. That place will always make me smile. I’m overly eager to visit again soon.

It feels good to be working again. I’ve missed having a place to go every day. I’ve missed being tired after putting in a genuine effort for eight hours, turning in and being able to pass out from exhaustion. When you’re sitting around all day, you don’t really get tired from anything other than the passage of time. It simply doesn’t feel half as satisfying as being tired from the expense of energy and the pleasure of having been productive.

It seems as if things are finally leveling off. We’ve got lunatics in the White House who want to carpet-bomb Iran, take away our right to protest, but at least some corporations are wising up at least a little. Still, we have a long way to go. Obama is no sort of hope at all, even incendiary writing has him pegged pretty well. It looks like we’re working toward a gigantic goal of “nothing”. Everyone who has a job is working hard. Everyone seems to be struggling towards this single direction. The sad part is that this direction leads to nowhere. The Dems are going to ruin us. The Reps are going to ruin us. Who will swoop in and save the US? No one. No one at all.

Working feels good. I fucking love being employed. I almost never like the tasks I’m charged with, but feeling like a productive member of society and enjoying the perks of this status is a deep requirement for me to feel like a whole person. It’s more than satisfying in a lot of ways, because being an adult is satisfying. No one tells you what to do, you simply commit to actions that will have the best outcomes for whatever it is you’re trying to achieve. I would never go back to being a kid, I don’t take adulthood for granted at all. Yes, it’s hard. It’s always hard, all the time. Sometimes to the point of making me feel like I’ll break under the pressure. But I’ve become accustomed to it, I use that pressure to feed into my actions and give me energy.