Where is everyone #5

If I said that looks like fun would anyone think me weird?

 

Oh lord....

 

Dang....hold my beer....

 

okay so that wasn’t you this morning

 

Now that I'm home and at an actual keyboard I'll spit a couple pieces of worthless currency into the mechanic discussion...

Like a lot of people I had a fair amount of wrenching experience that was never documented by an accredited institution of higher learning. Shade tree learning from my dad working on old trucks and the occasional tractor. Never really counted the certificate I had from the "Regional Occupational Program for Automotive" that I got in high school. Later in life I decided to get a piece of paper from some place that "mattered".

So I have an Associates of Applied Science in Diesel Technology and a Diesel Specialist Certificate from the local Community College. Graduated early from the program because the department head waved a couple courses as a result of me showing I already had the aptitude and thus didn't need to sit through classes I'd of slept through. My overall assessment of the program is that it was what it was... Entry level training. The most "Modern" engines I worked on were Cummins N14, and I did an in frame on a 12.7 Detroit Series 60. Everything else was mechanical Cummins and Caterpillar. Editing in: This was 2012-14, so let that sink in. Can count the number of Big Cam Cummins and 3406 Cats I touched after school on zero fingers.

Got a job working in the Power Generation/Allison Transmission shop at one of the big places here in the area. The main shop was a Freightliner Dealer, and when things were slow for a bit in my shop I had to do some rotations over in the Dealership. Can't say I was a fan of that at all, and it may just have been specific to that location, but the overall attitude regarding training was poor. "If we put two people on that job it affects our bottom line". Impression I got was that they didn't care about quality workmanship or having techs that weren't parts changers.... Just churn through jobs as fast as possible. Can't think of a single thing I did in that shop that made me a better mechanic, in fact some days I felt like I went home dumber for the experience. Long story short on that, it was a stark difference to what @pushbroom and @AModelCat were describing regarding to what it takes to get qualifications up in Canada.

Was glad when those rotations stopped and I spent all of my time in the shop I'd hired into. The guys there were excellent mechanics and good teachers. They'd put me on jobs they'd done a thousand times so I could get my hands on them and get the experience I wanted, and they left me alone unless I had questions about something I couldn't find the answer to on my own. Got sent to a couple Allison schools and got a few more certifications etc. etc.. Started getting experience working on Gensets and got taken along on field jobs ect. Difference was night and day despite both shops being owned by the same company. My time there ended when the parent company sold out and the new owners got rid of the "Off Highway" division.

Went to work at a restoration/hot rod shop after that and that's where I really got to sink my teeth into doing what a lot would call "old school" mechanic work. It's too bad the owners were so bat-crap looney that working there was a pathway to alcoholism. Also learned that I only actually enjoy doing mechanic work when I can do it by "beer time" rather than "book time".

 

I wish you went in rambles like that more often, personally

too much wisdom and history to be keeping such a low profile

 

Looks like someone's at Sharis.

Edit: No, I didn't see the "Sharis" above the pie selection until after I posted this. I just have that menu ingrained in my brain because I go there a lot.

 

tillamook cheddar burger blew me away...


I’m thinking Washington apple