Friday, October 30, 2015

It was an uphill battle

But I won. Cannibalized the servo cable from the machine with the bad motor to try on new machine. Alarm went away and I was able to move the b-axis, somewhat. It had limited movement. I worked it back and forth and freed it up, so it now homes out. I hope to start doing fluid changes Monday. I believe the b-axis needs a good flush and fill. I think some sediment in the oil may have settled on the gear during shipping. Machines don't like truck rides, especially old machines. Good to know it all works before going through the hassle of all the fresh filters and fluids. Looking forward to playing with it.

One more 4AM work day tomorrow. Supposedly my 3rd shift guy will be back after his latest two week hiatus on FMLA leave. Have to check out that gravy train. Anytime I feel like not going to work, call in a FMLA. Machine gun shoot, FMLA. Gunshow, FMLA. Run out of vacation and just not up to work, FMLA. I just have to figure out how the abusers of the system still manage to pay the bills. A part of it I just don't understand. House payments, utilities and such. Every place has at least one, we have two abusers. OT is nice, I just wish it was the second shift gone and not the third. I don't mind staying over, I hate going in early, and 4AM is just too early to get up. Second shift guy has a couple vacation days beginning of next week so I get to go in at 7 and stay late, so that is sweet. OT and sleep in.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

What a week

Used CNC grinder arrived last week. Monkeys they hired to move it in shouldn't have been allowed to move a gumball machine much less a heavy piece of equipment. Still trying to put the pieces together. The guards were piled on top of the encoder cables, chewing them to the point of uselessness. I went out to help them figure the orientation of the machine when it came in the building. They are lifting the machine by jamming forks under the machine instead of through the lift points. Driver starts lifting, the entire interior of the machine starts lifting off of the ways. I holler for lead monkey to stop lifting. Apparently, someone hollering stop and waving their hands does not mean much. Go over and holler at him to stop and come look. He reluctantly follows. He looks dumbfoundedly at machine and finally realizes they left the shipping bolts out of the x axis. They set it down, finally, and I find bolts for securing bed. They still don't lift it according to the machine diagram lift points, but do successfully pound machine into place.

I told them before bringing it in, dry fit the coolant unit outside where you have room so you know where to place it seeing how it has to go in first. No, too complicated. They place it where they think it goes, place machine, realize it is in wrong, pull machine, flip it around, place machine, find out it is wrong again, pull machine, flip again, place machine, manhandle unit into location. I swear it looked like a three stooges movie. Machine is very large and heavy. It wasn't an easy in out. It was quite entertaining to watch. I learned years ago, if people don't want to listen to reason, sit back and watch the entertainment.

Next up, our maintenance man. The only guy I know that every single time he hooks up a machine, the phase is backward and motors run in reverse. Every single time, including this one. It did have a new twist though. He hollers over, it's all hooked up, see if it is running the right way. I flip the main power. Big bang and flash. He didn't hook up the wires to the coolant tank. The people who shipped it unhooked the wires, twisted the stripped ends together and threw them in a  plastic bag. 480 dead shorted a couple feet in front of me when I throw the mains on the machine. Maintenance guy gets the coolant tank hooked up and tells me it is ready. I tell him to flip the mains. Screen lights up. Pumps won't start, emergency chain is not closed. I am very familiar with this machine as I have run one for several years, and, in order to run one, much like a English car, you better know how to work on it. It was fun. Some yahoo decided to tie in on one of the relays to trigger an auxiliary piece of equipment. Other than the fact that they used undersize wire, didn't tag anything, rerouted a few of the factory wires to added relays and had almost no documentation, there was also a bad part thrown into the mix. Once I rooted out their added relays and got the wiring back to spec, it still wouldn't work. I send a message to the people we bought it from and call the service tech I deal with at Hardinge. I tell him about the way the circuit was butchered and how I put it back to normal and it still wouldn't work. He aims me at the digital outputs for the relays. The output for the relay I couldn't get to come in was bad. I grab one of the ones out of the other machine and try it. She fires up. Pumps are running backward as expected. Have maintenance guy flip wires. I am able to home out two out of three axis. Third one, servo error. When machine came in to building, they threw guarding and all sorts of junk in on the b-axis motor and banded them on top of wiring. I look at cables. Looks like a beaver gnawed on the servo cable. Tomorrow, rob cable from other machine to try out and see if that is the only problem with the drive. Unfortunately, I am able to rob parts from other grinder as it decided to eat the motor that drive the wheel head. No cable in stock in America. Cable has to ship from Switzerland. They may make a hell of a watch, but their machines suck to put it mildly. I have three machines I run and work on, constantly. They all come from Switzerland. So, with any luck, the cable works, the machine runs, and I will be up to two out of three machines working. Motor is out being rebuilt for the other one and should be back early next week. Hopefully I can get the cable and a replacement siemens output card by then. Been a heck of a week. Only two more days to go. Hopefully my third shift guy gets back next week as he is suppose to. He loves FMLA. I hate it. Never know when he is going to be at work and when he is going to take a couple two or three weeks off. Only been back from vacation a few weeks and I swear it feels like I haven't been off for months.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Hard to believe

Sure is hard to believe it was only a week ago I was on vacation. Seems like months. What a week. My new machine is suppose to be in Wednesday. Christmas comes early. Should give me time to get some long overdue maintenance done on the other machines once I get it up and running. We are buried with work, so the maintenance keeps getting pushed down the road.

 Going to try and make it to the club tomorrow to get some hours in. I feel pretty run down. Just relaxing a bit sounds like a winner, but want to get my hours in before it gets brutal out there. I finished painting the fence last week before going back to work. Need to finish a bit of yard work tomorrow as well. Running out of nice weather, although it is much more pleasant not sweating while getting chores done. Debating on getting a couple loads of gravel. I can do it now or in the spring. Spring sounds better, but  I would like to get it done and out of the way.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Thanks Obama, can I have another

Had our benefits meeting for next years insurance. Only went up eight bucks a month. We no longer have to pay a copay when we go in to the doctor. Under the new policy, doctor bills you at whatever discount you get for the insurance we have, then, you pay the whole bill, not just a copay. Once you reach the new, much higher priced out of pocket limit, then the insurance STARTS paying. Yep, thanks Obama. On my way out of the meeting, Herb is walking out with his head hung low. So I ask "What's the matter Herb". Herb says "this really sucks. Can't wait until Sanders get in as president, maybe he can straighten this out."  I told Herb I just didn't understand what he was upset about. He voted for Obama in 08 and 2012. He voted for the benefits we are getting now, and apparently, he is ready to bring the next socialist in to help remedy the situation. Rarely a day goes by old Herb doesn't rant about just how great Obama is. Really don't understand the liberals voting in their leaders and then getting all hurt when it effects them negatively. He still has no real idea of what it has to do with Obamacare. Walked away bewildered and hurt, not sure why his hero is getting blamed for the mess. Most of the auto workers are in talks for contracts. I am interested to see how they make out now that the Cadillac tax is starting to kick in full force. I highly doubt the companies are going to eat the whole bill. Unions wanted Obama and Obamacare, now I am hoping they get to share in the aftermath. Hopefully, enough people get effected by the parts that are now kicking in so maybe they actually think before going to the polls. Unfortunately, most of the people at work that can't stand Obama and hate the way it effects them, don't vote. Alternately, the few Herbs we have never forget to vote. How I dread next year.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

That flew by

Only one day left before having to head back in to work. Darn it. New guy called up this morning. He jammed the machine against a hard limit switch. The other machine, he couldn't remember the sequence for starting it up. Headed in to get them going so they would not lose a couple shifts production. What should have been a five minute fix turned into a couple hours. Limit switch has never been hit before. Twenty years of accumulated grime, it went down and didn't come back up. I had to disassemble and clean switch to get machine back on line. Still, not the worst vacation damage. Usually go in to find one machine needing repair after being gone a week. My new machine still hasn't come in yet. Maybe next week.

While driving home yesterday, I noticed a shimmy in the truck at highway speed. Tires look like they are about toast. Getting kinda squirrely in the rain as well. Been researching brands to what people are having the best results with and getting prices. Truck tires definitely get your attention on price. Been meaning to do the brakes as well. Nasty dust on front wheels and don't like the way it brakes. When I bought the truck a year and a half back, they said they put new brakes on it. I noticed at the time how the rotors looked a grooved. Apparently new brakes on a truck they're selling means they threw a set of pads on it. Pads looked good when I pulled them, but I went ahead and put the ceramic pads that I bought on it. Put some heavier duty rotors on while I was at it. An extra thirty bucks per, but I want to see if they hold up better than the cheapies do. She brakes smoothly now, no pulsing and a clean stop. Back looked good so I let them go for now. Tomorrow, I will paint the fence.....

Friday, October 9, 2015

machine gun shoot day

Eight years of going to the shoot, sometimes to both the spring and fall shoots. I finally got to park topside for the first time ever. It is awesome. Shop, buy, drop off at truck and go back for more. Last shoot, I was the first car they diverted to the back lot, which is a heck of a walk or bus ride to the shoot area. Weather was a bit damp, but not too bad. It rained hard for several minutes. A few times, it sprinkled extremely lightly. All in all, quite doable. I picked up some AR stuff. Found a couple guns I was interested in. I even brought money. What did I forget. My FFL license. I keep copies in my glove box so I always have them handy. What I did forget was that my license expired October first. I renewed, but, I didn't have updated copies in the truck, just expired ones. Grrrrr. Pop back by the bank tomorrow and drop some money back into the account.

Start the day off with gunpowder in the air, finish it up with the smells of a steam show. Hit it on the way home. Saw what was open of the flea market. Not completely setup yet. Some of the engines were running. Saw mill won't start until tomorrow. I did pick up some BBQ for dinner though. Probably hit it again tomorrow when everything is up and running. It was on the way home and only three bucks to get in, so it was worth a stop.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Lots of cleaning out of the way

New pressure washer works great. Knocked the green growth off of the siding, prepped the fence for painting and cleaned the walkway. Garage floor will probably be in the spring. I was a bit worried when I read the reviews. Had quite a few bad ones as well as a lot of good ones. I usually have good luck out of craftsman and brigs and Stratton. I figure the bad reviews are the people who fired up the motor without turning the water on and purging the air out of the line. It doesn't take much to burn one of those pumps out. If you follow directions, they usually perform well. Probably hit the machine gun shoot tomorrow, the steam show Saturday, and paint the fence on Sunday. Week off is going by a lot quicker than the work weeks do.

Better,not perfect, but better

Time Warner got my complaint and is refunding my money. They said they never turned it into the credit agencies. They just have a standard way of shutting down accounts. They send it through their collection service, which has a third party name and the letter states that you have been placed in collection. So, I made out better than I thought I would. I get my money back and my credit is clear. Maybe when the Attorney Generals office gets done with the complaint I filed through them, they may see the error of their practices, but it is doubtful. They still think it is alright to scare people into paying an extra fee by threatening them with collection. How a big company like that can behave in such a way is beyond me. I will never do business with them again.

I am enjoying the new service I have through WOW. I just use internet, no cable. I picked up Netflix for entertainment and sling tv for the few channels I do watch. It gives me History, AMC and I picked up the EPIX channels as well. My cable is faster and only twenty five bucks a month for two years. Huge savings and a better selection than before as I only watched a few stations on cable anyhow.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Runabout day

Spent the day running about shopping for a pressure washer. List of things that need cleaning has been mounting. Want to paint the fence and it is a mess. Thought I could just hose it and paint. Not. Throw in the moldy siding on one side of the house and some spots on garage floor, drive and walkway, time for a new tool. I had it down between two washers after hitting the top three box stores and sears. I wound up back at Lowes, where I started my search. The only boxed one they had that wasn't on top shelf looked like it fell from the top shelf. After looking for help, I snagged an employee from a couple rows over. He was stocking Christmas ornaments (yuck, too early to even think about yet). I told him what I needed. He tells me they are down already. I explain I would like one that didn't fall from top shelf. He looks rather put out and tells me he can get one down, but, it will take about a half hour. He stands and stares at me trying to see if this will be alright. I tell him he can go back to hanging ornaments, I will just go to sears. He waddles off.

I get back in my car and notice the driver in the next truck over is a bit overly hairy.


He didn't move at all, not even his head when I walked by. Looked like he was posing for the commercial with the driving dogs:)

I hit sears up and picked up a craftsman with a briggs and Stratton motor. Has about the same psi as the one I was going to get, I just like troy-bilt better. It is about $60 cheaper as well. I hit up the auction to see what they were selling tomorrow. They had nothing I was interested in so I will be blasting my fence tomorrow morning. I want to take a couple rifles to the auction house to go in their gun auction in December. Want to test the waters a bit. I get some good deals once in a while, but, usually the December one, being close to Christmas, people tend to go nuts on bidding. Last year, I was looking at a couple guns I was going to buy new and figured I could pick them up cheaper there. They went for a higher price than new. Figured I would gamble with a couple of guns I don't care for. Lever actions do quite well there for bidding. I have a Rossi I can't stand. It will be one of them going on the block. Most of the day will be cleaning the fence and siding. Probably try painting on Saturday. Figure after power washing, I will have to let it dry out good before painting it. Friday will be the machine gun shoot, weather permitting. Have a steam show to fit in there as well. Spot shoot at the club Sunday, maybe. See how everything goes. Lots happening this weekend.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

It is fall, right?

I would swear it is Spring, and a rough one at that, going by lawn equipment. I go to fire up the edger. It usually fires up on the first pull. I end up pulling the carb and cleaning it after not being able to get it to start, even bringing starting fluid into the mix. Get my edging done. Pull out the weed eater. Guess what, no start here either. Pull carb and clean it up. She fires on second pull and runs good. Knock out half the yard, and, the coupler at the end of the shaft that houses two worm gears, strips out. Hosed. I put it away and pull out the lawn mower. She always starts first pull even after storage through winter. She actually fired up as per usual and I finished up most of the yard. All but the weed whacking. That was yesterday. Today, I pulled out the lower end of my old (20 year old) Ryobi weed whacker and pop it on my troy-bilt  weed whacker. The old head for the Ryobi died a few years back, but I kept the attachments. Wish I had just bought another Ryobi. Did have to hit up Menards for a new real for it as the old one was trashed. I quit using the lower last year because I couldn't find a reel. They are easy to reload line onto and last almost forever, but they do wear out. Fired up the whacker and knocked out last of trimming. Shouldn't be too many more mowings left in the year. Lawn gremlins must have attacked with a vengeance. My spring usually goes smoother than this mowing cycle.

Haven't heard back from the better business bureau on Time Warner yet. They said it could take until mid month. Today I filed a complaint with the consumer department of the attorney generals office. Want to see them change their practices more than giving me back a few bucks. Fined heavily would be nice as well.  I turned in the collection agency they deal with as well. There has to be, or should be a minimum waiting period before turning someone in for nonpayment. I would think it would extend past a couple weeks time. Sure hope they enjoy their sixty bucks.

Tomorrow, start painting the fence. Last work day around the house. I will start fun the following day. Thursday is the auction. Machine gun shoot starts Friday. Steam show starts Friday as well. Not sure of the order I will hit them in yet, but there is lots to do. Including  a huge festival downtown with lots of food.

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Gun shows not so big anymore

Hit one last weekend and another today. They both had a lot of empty tables and empty space. Still lots of people, just less on display. Looking forward to the machine gun shoot next weekend. Take my money with that I saved at the last several gun shows. Only a few weeks out from the Indy 1500 again as well. Lucked out and lined my vacation up with the fall festival downtown. It's like taste of Chicago, only in Evansville. They line up a few blocks of downtown with food booths from all sorts of restaurants and organizations. You can definitely find something you like. It runs all day, everyday all week long. They have a decent carnival ride area for the kiddies of all ages. Usually have some decent live entertainment as well. Suppose to be a good week weatherwise. Probably hit the club tomorrow and get some of my work hours in. Not too much time left in the year.

Friday, October 2, 2015

vacation time

Get to start vacation off with another gun show. Last week, the armory, this week, the 4H center. Next week, the machine gun shoot. Freakin awesome. Throw in a midweek auction and things are looking good.
Do have some business that needs handling. Last month, I did away with cable. Had Time Warner Cable. Seems they have a real screwed up way of dealing with people leaving them. I turned in all my equipment on the last day of my monthly billing cycle and got a receipt showing I was good with the world. Owe nothing. One week later, I get a bill for $60. The bill, dated 9-1, was billing me for services up to 9-12. I call and talk with the incompetent people at customer service. After going through a horribly long automated push this button for this service menu, I finally reach a talking head. After putting me on hold several times while he checked on things, talking head tells me that the bill is a mistake, ignore it. I should receive a updated bill showing zero in the mail. I put my new bill and my receipt from disconnect away in desk. I receive a note from a bill collector on the 25th. The idiots at Time Warner turned me into collection for nonpayment. Nonpayment of a bill they told me not to pay. The original bill was typed by them on the 1st, I receive it on the 5th, they turn me into collection on the 21st. After telling me not to pay. I paid them to end the bad things happening to my credit, now, it is time to repay them in other ways. I already hit them with the better business bureau, mainly seeking them fixing anything the nimrods did to my credit rating. Monday, I am calling the consumer department at the Indiana state attorney office to file a complaint. I find it hard to believe it is legal to smudge somebodies credit in a matter of a few weeks. More than the money, I am thoroughly aggravated at the nonchalant way they can destroy somebodies credit and just not care. The lady I talked to on the phone the second time I called Time Warner said she saw the note left by the first guy I talked to and it said he told me not to pay. She didn't see what my problem was with just paying the bill. The collection agency shouldn't be any problem if you pay. What idiots. Totally done doing business with them. I have internet through one of their competitors and am done with cable. Way too much money for way too little service. Have a Roku player and Netflix. More than enough to choose from. Have converted a few people away from Time Warner already, so hope they enjoy their sixty bucks blood money. Unreal.