"I slipped on a piece of ice the other day and busted my ass, I still can't figure out how I got my foot in the glass!". - W.C. Fields circa 1930 or so.
Throughout my Junior and Senior years of High School, I was dual-enrolled in a vocational-technical school and high school. I went to the Vocational school in the morning and then went to lunch and came back to High school in the afternoon. I loved it and had a pretty good experience in Machine Tool Trades (Machinists). When I started down that path I didn't see a way to going to obtain a 4-year degree and I didn't have the GI bill to fall back on, I couldn't get in the military. I tried but that's another story for another day. There was no way my parents could ever afford to send me to college, I could not qualify for any kind of student loan at the time, and I saw no path to a scholarship program that would pay for schooling or at least defer it until after graduation. The best option seemed to be the one that said learn a skill, get a good-paying job, earn some money and then if you want to go to college later, there's a way to do it on your own, maybe.
Then the opportunity came to go to Central 9 Vocational Technical school in Greenwood IN during my junior and senior years. My shop teachers (Including the Electricity teacher and I was certain he hated my guts), said I had a high aptitude for tool usage and had the basic skills necessary. To my great surprise, I got a school-sponsored recommendation to enroll there. I enrolled in the Machine Tool trades program in I think it was 1974. The teacher was a randy bastard named Mr. DuBois. I say randy because once the day began, and we had no women in the classes (none applied) he sometimes would tell dirty jokes and make the young kids giggle. They would be crude but subtle and without cursing and with his slight accent he could make just about anything sound dirty even if it was a clinical description. He was an ex-industry machinist who went back and got his teaching certificate later in life. You could tell he was having a blast and didn't really see what he was doing as work, yet he put a ton of energy into teaching 17-year-olds how to operate very dangerous equipment.
I remember one of the first things we learned how to do was to take a 1 inch cold rolled steel bar about 2 inches long and create an exact half-inch square end on it by using only hand tools, primarily files. Everyone received a blueprint design of sorts detailing the specifications of the project. Your grade on it, which by the way was the first quarter grade in the first quarter we attended this school, was determined by a micrometer measurement he did on the finished project. You could not go below the design specifications by the way or it was an automatic "F". The better you achieved the design specifications, the better the final grade you got. I think I received a B on this first project and was ecstatically happy as I was sure I flunked it because I thought my project was inconsistent, and it turns out that's why I didn't get an "A".
A guy that was in our class (whose Dad had a machine shop in their barn) named Wheatie (what we called him) was obviously upset and pissed off because he flunked the project. I was stunned because I was sure he produced a perfect part that exactly matched the design specification. Wheatie got called into the teacher's office and after a good bit of yelling, he came out of there, red-faced, mad, steaming hot and PISSED OFF. He left the class in a bit of a huff and we all heard his hot rod start up and leave the school. The car sounded like it was pissed off too.
He was back the next day and went into Mr. DuBois's office before class and turned in another rendition of the project where he received an A. He wouldn't talk about what happened for a day or two, but when he did we all learned a valuable lesson from Wheatie. You see it turns out Mr. Dubois wasn't stupid even though he looked and acted that way. When Wheatie turned in his perfect project, Mr. Dubois took it to the science lab and looked at it under a microscope found the milling machine marks he was looking for. He then flunked Wheatie because he cheated, he had used his father's Bridgeport Milling machine to produce the part. He then tried to clean up the edges with a file to remove the mill marks but wasn't successful. The reason Mr. Dubois was suspicious? He had never seen a teenager produce a perfect part, by hand with a file, on their first assignment in this class and he had been teaching for about 10 years. Wheatie gave himself away by trying to be perfect.
After 2 years in this school where we learned a lot of skills, some very valuable skills in several disciplines, we are all set to graduate. I had learned to heat treat, basic welding, running a lathe, running a milling machine, working with ESD cutting machine (Electro-Static Discharge also known as an underwater plasma cutter), finish grinding, machine maintenance and a ton of other useful skills, I was ready to join the workforce and make some big money. The school recommended me and I applied to a paid internship program at Western Electric in Indianapolis and an apprentice tool and die-maker. Things were looking good.
Then about that time three big things happened in my life, they seemed like at the same time, but who knows? A) a huge recession hit the economy B) Western Electric started closing departments and rescinded their offer. I got a pink slip before I had worked for one hour. and C) Steak `n Shake offered me a position in their entry-level Management Training program.
That's how I ended up running restaurants and not a Bridgeport Mill.
In Disney Lore, Goofy is a dog right? But He also owns a dog named Pluto? My mind is blown.
- Two dams have failed in Michigan in the last 24 hours. Geeze that is scary. You go to sleep all is ok, then wake up and you're drowning, poof you are toast. Over 10 thousand people have had to be evacuated overnight. Apparently Midland MI is under about 9 feet of water right now.
- I realized a time ago that nobody knows a lot about parenting or really about being a good partner.No One knows anything about raising kids, so when they have problems who do they ask? They ask other clueless individuals like brothers and sisters and cousins and Aunts and Uncles. The same people they have seen whip their own kid's asses with electrical cords they want to ask these clueless individuals how they should raise their own kids. They ask their own parents and grandparents whose conflicting styles only serve to confuse you more. They ask people who don't have kids, they ask complete strangers on the internet and write to advise columns. They ask teachers who have totally conflicted agendas and well-meaning but apparently stupid friends who advise them to use Benadryl to calm their kids down at bedtime.
It turns out that there is no preparation for being a parent as nobody knows shit. All this time, I found out, virtually EVERYONE is winging it from the first day forward. - I live in the country, I don't really have close neighbors and my house sits at the back of an acre and a half on the end of a 300-foot long driveway. All of this is purposeful as I can go from 0-Prison in 2 seconds flat, and it scares even me sometimes.I'm glad I live where I do. I am also glad I have not had to deal with a thieving MF'ing porch pirate package thief. I just know I would end up shooting one of them and I'm a very good shot.
- There are about 7 things you may never see in a restaurant again.
A) Pre-set tables B) Unwrapped straws C) Non Disposable menus D) Salad bars
E) Lemons/Limes or common garnishments at drink stations F) Self Serve Soda dispensers
G) Wall to wall customers
According to the publication "Eat This, Not That" - I have probably blocked more than 500 annoying ads on Facebook. I hate ads in general but take pleasure in blocking those like Time-Share cancellation services, all Medicines, and all the Upcoming class action lawsuits. They drive me crazy. Why do I need to see your pop up ad? NO NO NO.
I also take great joy in blocking dumbass memes that are so obviously one-sided or just wrong that it is stupid. I think those should be illegal anyway.
I'm irrational about some things, I know.
Same bat time, Same Bat station,
BigMike
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