For the past couple of weeks I have been participating in the Prairie City Race Series.  It’s a mountain bike racing series that last for 12 weeks.  Each week the course changes and you get points based on how you finish.  Since I came into the series late, I really have no chance of finishing decently.  However, this is not my focus.   I am way out of shape and figured this would be a fun way to get svelte.

For the first week, Rob from Body Concepts followed me around the track giving me pointers.  Thanks to him, I could have finished 8/14.  Thanks to me, I finished 9/14.  I missed a shift going into a hill, stalled and crashed.   Second week I raced minus Rob’s influence and managed to get 9/14 again.  I think I could have gotten 8th, but I crashed again!  Managed to plant my wheel in a deep ditch and went right over the handle bars.  This is how cyclists break their collar bone.  I got lucky and walked away with a scratched finger.

Racing a mountain bike takes a lot more out of me than I thought it would.  The competitive atmosphere, speed and hills cause you to push very hard.  While it is hard, it is a lot of fun.  Here are some pics of me at the races.

CDS

Okay, our friends Rob and Linda had me do some web design for their business (Body Concepts) while I was career hunting.  In exchange for my services, Rob gave me his old Pro-Flex mountain Bike!  It’s not the latest 100% carbon fiber bike, but it works great for me and I love it!  The bike comes with everything except shoes.  I had to purchase a pair of the clip in shoes to work with the pedals.  Sounds like a scary idea, but you have better power output since you can push and pull with your legs.

Now so far, I have managed to crash twice on the bike.  Both times I was at a standstill just resting.  First time I was sitting on the bike (clipped in) while post I was holding with my left hand supported me.  I went to sit up right in the saddle and let go of the handle bars.  The front wheel turned ever so slightly and took off into to my left.  Since I was no longer balanced over my center of gravity, I fell to the right and landed in some star thistle.  My right shin took most of the abuse and as a result of the hard packed earth/gravel.  Several scrapes covering the area of a small dinner plate serve as a reminder of the first incident.  Michelle had a great time dowsing my leg in rubbing alcohol.

The second fall came during another rest break at a scenic overlook.  My right foot was clipped in and my left foot was on the ground.  Ready to finish my ride, I used the bike and my left foot to turn myself around.  Somehow I managed to get all my weight over the bike and couldn’t un-clip.  As a result, I landed right on some rocks in the same exact place on my shin.  I managed to open the scrapes up once again and required another gallon of rubbing alcohol to clean up the area.

Moral of the story… if I am going to rest, un-clip both feet and get off the bike.

CDS

That’s right, Michelle and I made our first major purchase as a married couple, a new car!  Well, it’s used, but this is the most money we have spent as a couple.  It’s a 2006 Volkswagen Jetta TDI… that’s right, a diesel Jetta.  Great way to beef up a girl car, add a diesel engine and a turbo.  Michelle’s father, Mike, helped us through the buying process and made sure we weren’t getting scammed.  Very much the Obiwan Kenobi of the car purchasing game.

The first place we stopped at had a TDI Jetta, but it was a manual, had a fair amount of dings/scratches and had some issues with the Air Conditioning.  Surprisingly, the manual was very zippy for a diesel.  Next place we went had two Jetta’s, a blue/charcoal automatic and a silver manual.  Both had the extra options and where in great condition.  We test drove the blue automatic and it felt great.  Unfortunately, the dealer couldn’t find the keys for the manual, so we couldn’t drive it.  We did some formal negotiations and left the dealership with a indifferent attitude.  Came back today, talked a little more and decided to buy it.  Check out the pictures!

CDS

After many months of searching and lots of resume submissions, I have finally landed a job! I will be working for Lockheed Martin in their Space Systems division down in Sunnyvale as a Mechanical Engineer. Specifically, I will be working in the pointing mechanisms group doing a variety of tasks such as design, analysis, procurement, testing and support. I am very excited about this opportunity and can’t wait to get started.

The hiring process was somewhat expedited. I received an offer based solely on a ten minute phone interview and my resume. I had to ask for an in person interview. However, the background check has not gone as smoothly. Back in 2005, I received a ticket for operating a vessel within 100ft of another operating vessel. I forgot to mention this to HR and the offense came back as a conviction. Luckily, a conviction is just as often a speeding ticket for 5 miles per hour over the speeding ticket. HR reassured me that this shouldn’t be an issue and has solidly planted my start date for May 18^th.

During the job hunting process I received a couple of offers. Mostly, I got a lot of rejection. I remember asking “why are all of these companies not recognizing my talents? I would be a great employee!” In hind sight, I realize I wasn’t suppose to work for those companies. To illustrate my point, I applied for a position with Schilling Robotics back in September of 2008. Schilling is an underwater ROV company based out in Davis. I had a pretty mediocre interview and was not selected for the position. Since then, I had been pretty bitter about the whole thing and was very upset with myself. Fast forward to last week, I saw a newspaper article saying that Schilling was planning to lay off 95 of their 200+ employees. I don’t know for a fact, but my guess is that person who got the job I applied for will be a part of that layoff. Someone was looking out for me.

Now the question is, do I blow my first paycheck on climbing equipment, an Iphone, or do I buy a road bike?

CDS

My buddy Mike and I went down to the Alabama Hills just outside Lone Pine to do some climbing.  The Alabama Hills is most famously known for the number of movies and commercials shot there.  In addition to the stunning scenery, the “Hills” happen to have some great climbing as to.  Well, I guess I should so it’s great if you like sharp decomposing granite.  However, the some what poor rock quality is made up by the supper short approaches.  I am not kidding when I say you can get out of your car, walk 50ft and be at the base of climbs.

Since it was just Mike and I, it was really hard to take pictures and climb.  So, as a result, all of our pictures are not climbing related.  You can see mine by clicking here.

The drive from rainy Northern California took us about 6.5 hours.  We arrived in Lone Pine at about 2am on Friday night.  Slept in Saturday and took pictures the rest of the day.  Sunday, we finally hit the rock and managed to get up 5 routes.  Any more than that and our hands would have been bloody stumps.  We then hit Lone Pine for some lunch followed by some route reconnaissance.  On Monday we got in 4 sport routes and I managed to squeak out one trad climb for a total of 5.  The guide book said I could lower off with a 60meter rope, but just barely.  Mike had to stand on a block to make sure I had enough rope to get on the ground.

All and all, a great trip and I can’t wait to get back.

CDS

For the past couple of weeks, I have been taking photos at the Prairie City Mountain Bike Races.  The pictures are far from professional, but I am getting better.

Click here for the first week.

Click here for the second week.

Click here for the thrid week.

Click here for the fourth week.

CDS

Hello all,

Things are looking up, I got a call from Lockheed Martin two weeks ago. I had a brief phone interview with the hiring manager and he said he would get back to me. This morning he called again to say he would like to make an offer if I am still interested. I have no idea what the salary, benefits or job responsibilities will be. Come to think of it, this is beginning to sound a lot like the Offer with the Seattle company not too long ago… hmmm. Hopefully they would like to have me come out and meet them before I say yes. Here’s the job description.

Standard Job Code/TitleE1411:Mechanical Engineer Asc

Required skills: Basic understanding of mechanical components including motors, ball screws, bearings, bushings and fasteners. Familiar with analysis of mechanical systems using standard tools. Familiar with structural and thermal design as it applies to mechanisms.

Specific Job Description: Researches, plans, designs and develops mechanical products and systems such as instruments, controls, robots, engines, machines and mechanical, thermal hydraulic or heat transfer systems for production, transmission, measurement, and use of energy. Applies research to the planning, design, development, and testing of mechanical and/or electromechanical systems, instruments, controls, engines, and/or machines.

Standard Job Description: Researches, plans, designs and develops mechanical products and systems such as instruments, controls, robots, engines, machines and mechanical, thermal hydraulic or heat transfer systems for production, transmission, measurement, and use of energy. Applies research to the planning, design, development, and testing of mechanical and/or electromechanical systems, instruments, controls, engines, and/or machines.

Security Clearance: Secret Typical

Minimums: Bachelors degree from an accredited college in a related discipline, or equivalent experience/combined education. Entry level.

Other than that little gem, I have an interview with the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center. They are looking for people to work in there renewable energy program. Technically I would be working for the Navy… can you say, Honorary NAVY SEAL!!!

As for Aerojet, they can’t seem to do anything fast enough. I will inform them of my status, hopefully that will light a fire under their seats.

Stay tuned

CDS

Got my diploma from Davis today!  I know, it’s just a piece of paper and I technically graduated in December.  But, it feels nice to have something saying I actually completed the requirements for a degree.  I don’t have to worry that I forgot to take a class .

CDS

Hello once again,

Last weekend I helped my bother in law Matt move his girlfriend Christine up to Seattle Washington. She got a job as a structural engineer up there and will be designing bridges. It will be nice for both of them because they no longer have to do the long distance relationship thing.

We started at 4:15 am on Saturday morning and got to Seattle around 7 pm, just in time to drop off the car trailer at the U-Haul store. All of us were pretty motivated to get to Seattle so stops and breaks were kept to a minimum. The next day, Matt and Christine took me to the world famous Pike Place Market, the church Matt has been attending and over to Christine’s place to finish up the last part of my moving duties. We had one of Matt’s roommates and his sister gave us a hand. With 5 people working on it, the unpacking went really quick. We concluded the evening with dinner at Marconi Grill at the Northgate Mall.

On Monday Christine got the duty of playing tour guide and showed me the sights. We went back to Pikes Place Market to see the other half of the market and visit the first and Original Starbucks. After that we met Matt for lunch across the street from his office. After that, all three of use went to the Flagship REI in Seattle. I could have easily spent an entire day and small fortune there, but we had to move on. We then hit up a grocery store for some ingredients we needed for dinner. Oh, I almost forgot, over the course of Sunday and Monday night we played Risk: God Storm. During the third round of turns I played the biggest blunder in Risk history.

Tuesday Christine took me to the Boeing Museum of Flight. I could have spent all day there as well, but I had to catch my plane back to Sacramento. I wish I had spent more time in Seattle, but I wanted to leave some activities for when Michelle comes up. Due to work, she was unable join us on the drive up there (not that she would, she hates driving). So, as a substitute, I take a picture of Michelle and tied it to a stuffed animal… a horse of course. I got some pretty strange looks caring that thing around… oh well. Click here for the pictures.

CDS

Wow,  It’s almost been on year since my last post… sorry.

Well, I graduated from School in December and have been looking for a position ever since. I have had three offers but each had something about it I didn’t like. The first was working for a electronics company in the bay area and was a manufacturing engineering position. Not a lot of design and mechanical work associated with the position. The second was with a company based out of Seattle Wa. They manufacture equipment to build planes (Boeing, Airbus…). The down side of this offer was the company itself. The hiring process was very nontraditional and sporadic, and made it difficult to accept the offer. The third company was a HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) company here in Sacramento. While the people, environment and benefits were great, I don’t have a big interest in HVAC and couldn’t say yes to the position knowing I would change jobs in a year or two.

So, what is happening now? Well… not a whole lot. I have ton’s of applications in with various companies, but I currently have no interviews set up or offers to consider. Aerojet continues to be the one wild card in this whole process. I have had many discussions with HR and hiring managers and they seem like a great group of people and I would love to work there. But times are tough for them and the one department where I would fit in great just doesn’t have a need for a new engineer. To at least get my foot in the door I have been applying for other positions that seem to be a good fit. HR told me the end of March looks good for new work and interviews. So we will see.

Some people might say I am being too picky and should take what I can get in times like this, and they have a good point. However, I don’t want to accept a position and have to sacrifice my criteria just for the sake of having job. What are my criteria? Well, the position has to be exciting and challenging to me, the position has to have good (not great) benefits (monetary, retirement, working environment…) and the position has to be located in a great (not good) place for Michelle and I to live. So far, the previously mentioned offers have not satisfied these criteria.

On that note, if you know anyone whose is looking for a mechanical engineer, please let me know.

CDS