the plan.

she has left me.

my lovely, funny, talented lab partner left me and automotive school behind. I came into class last tuesday and found an empty seat and an crumpled lab coat left on the table. oh, stephanie! why oh why have you forsaked our partnership? who will be there to laugh at my creepy man voice saying "i'll break that bolt free for ya, little lady" ? who will be there to understand the need to use a 16" breaker bar on everything? or to be repulsed by every ass crack we see and plot to buy suspenders for all the guys? suspenders with theme prints on them. sigh.

i am all alone. me and 14 men. sigh. I spent two days working by myself and now have a new partner. he's lame. he keeps crowding me and doing stupid stuff. then there are the other stupid, annoying guys that i have no one to laugh at with. the old dude almost backed into a customer's car i was driving. the other talkative annoying kid was directing him right into me. they separately came up to me later to apologize and blame each other. in reality, they were both at fault. ugh. my new lab partner gets irritated really easily when I'm able to do something that he can't. such as, break a bolt free or push out a strut tower from the car. both take some strength. he's not so thrilled that i have some.

there are only two weeks left in this quarter. thank god.

so i came up with a plan:

how i will get the electrician's apprenticeship by kt

this plan will help to break down the roadblock the men have with being able to imagine a woman doing a "man's job." i finally came to the conclusion that if i'm ever going to get past this simple-minded barrier i need to pull out all the ammo i can. I need to really focus on what i really want - working in the building trades. So, i made the decision to enroll in the oregon tradeswoman pre-apprenticeship class. it's a seven week program that will teach me the things woman need, but don't always inherently have, to succeed in an apprenticeship. doing math. reading a tape measure. using power tools. seeing job sites. talking to contractors and tradespeople. work site culture. weight lifting for strength. besides all those things, we will be working on a habitat for humanity house in the afternoons. That is one of thing i'm really excited about off the list of skills women-need-but-don't-have. Then I will re-apply for the electrician's apprenticeship. maybe even chose another trade to work in.

what about automotives? well, the class will run three days a week from 8am - 5pm so I'll be taking a break from automotive school. I will re-enroll for april unless I have some amazing prospect in the building trades close at hand. I am not quiting (yet). just a break. and don't worry. I'll have plenty to write about with a new set of circumstances.

Class begins Jan 22nd. see you there!

#61 out of 200ish.

It's been a month since I sent a shout out to all my family and friends about my adventures in picking up a trade. For that I have no excuse other than laziness.

I'm taking Steering and Suspension I right now and am BORED. We've been learning how to align different cars and get used to the multitude of alignment machines the shop has. It's not rocket science and yet we've spent three class periods on four different cars. Needless to say, there is a lot of standing around. Yawn. I think my boss is going to let me work on his old jeep and give it a new suspension...until then....boredom.

I've been getting to know my classmates better and really enjoy them. I have to remind myself that going to school in Portland is so much different than what it would have been like if I continued in Denver. For one, most of the guys lean towards the left side of the political spectrum. I had a conversation with one guy about female stereotypes in the media, birth control and the treatment of women's biological functions as a medical condition rather than natural. Despite what people may think, this guy brought up most of the subject matter in the conversation. I went with it. It was informative. Also, about half the class rides bikes around town on a regular basis. Interesting dichotomy that I would never have seen in Denver. There is a flip side to the good classmates that see women as their equals and can have an intelligent conversation about it. I don't talk to these guys often, but when they rear their head, it disturbs me.

One example is the tool room guy. S and I often go into the tool room together to get tools. This time S wasn't wearing her lab coat and had on a cute t-shirt that I'm sure she'd slept in the night before. No matter. We walked up the counter and the man gave her a look up and down that made my skin crawl. He says, "that's a nice....shirt." It was immensely creepy. Not only is it sexual harassment, the creep is around 40 and S is only 17 years old. After talking it through for a couple days with some classmates, she made the bold move to tell our teacher. This resulted in a meeting with the chair and adviser for the department. Our discussion wasn't perfect but the creep has been warned. One thing the chair couldn't seem to comprehend was how difficult it is to speak up in the moment. He kept telling S that she should feel empowered to tell someone what they do makes her uncomfortable and that they should stop. But what about saying that to someone that has more power that the victim? What about retaliation? It's a tough call to make. S chose to report him to his higher ups. She should have never had to say anything to begin with. It's shouldn't happen. Period.

Another quick example of male weird creepiness: I was walking through the shop holding a ratchet and deep socket, twisting the socket to make the ratchet make it's clickie noise that is addictive to make. A guy walks by and says "that's hot..." Um. Creep. Why is this perceived as appropriate?

Speaking of the male patriarchy. I have been trying to get an apprenticeship with the electrician's union. I had my interview about three weeks ago. I was extremely nervous about it and felt prepared. Boy oh boy, was I wrong. I spent 15 minutes in a room with 4 guys and felt like I did a horrible job of showing them that I'm the right one for the job. They asked questions about a multitude of things, but the ones that caused me strife were the typical male bullshit ones. "I'm have a problem with one thing. You are going to have to use tools on a daily basis in this job. Saws, hammers, drills. How are you going to be with power tools?" The man made the assumption that I can't handle it. I told him that I use tools right now on a daily basis. Air tools, hand tools, hammers, etc. One of the male interviewers reminded the small minded asshole that asked the question that I'm currently taking classes in automotive technology. Another guy asked me if I knew what a construction site really looks like. I was upset when I left the building. I'm not quitting though. If anything I'm more determined. I got my letter in the mail with my rank about a week ago. I'm #61. This isn't horrible, but it isn't good either. They will probably take roughly the top third of applicants and 61 out of 200ish puts me just in that range. I see it like this: I stand on one side of a canyon and what I want is on the other side. There is no clear way over. I have to figure it out. The tools I've been given up to this point aren't going to cut it. It's time to rethink things. I'm still thinking on what exactly I'm going to do, but as soon as I know I'll fill you in....Soon. My plan is taking shape.

My skin is getting thicker. My naivety runs deep though...

For christmas I dream of tools and prescription safety glasses. what about you?

I miss you all. How's the world where you are?

love, kt

gravy suckin' pigs.

Profile of today's car: Chevy Venture. 2002. Gold, just like in the picture. Got about 160,000 miles on it. As soon as you open the door it becomes evident that the owner is a smoker. A major smoker. The smell wafts over you like a brick wall. You think: does this person ever open the window when they smoke?!? There are ashes all over the place. On the seats, the floor, the dash. I'm sure if a rag was taken to the windshield a nicotine film would be evident. To add to the misery, the car is primarily used as dog transport. Upon looking (not rummaging) we found three trash bags filled with god knows what, three empty bottles of power steering fluid, a full bud light can, ashes and more ashes, and a lot of dog hair. When we came in this morning to start work on the car, we found a fairly big puddle of power steering fluid under the car. Did I mention that when stephanie drove the car in the power steering sounded like a dying cat? Check engine light is on. Brake pedal is soft. Customer complaint is a grinding noise when they hit the brakes. Boy oh boy. gonna be a good one.

Did i ever mention the car i got in when working at the major tire shop that had a barbie straddling the shifter? Well, it was awesome. People do awesome things in their cars.

This car is just straight nasty and neglected. Let me count the ways. 1. Bad wheel bearings. Give the tire a little wiggle, wiggle, wiggle. It's not supposed to do that. It could equal a wheel coming off the vehicle. seriously dangerous. 2. Are those metal spikes coming out of the side of that tire? Yep. Sure is. equals = potential for a blowout. 3. We took off the tires and went to remove the brake pads. Oh, the grinding you are having? Comes from the fact that you DON'T HAVE ANY BRAKE PADS LEFT!!!! We found one brake pad on the right front side where there should be two. In the missing one's place was a strip of metal that looking like a crushed aluminum can. It used to be the shim for the brake pad. The grinding? The piston on the caliper pushing against the rotor. (This is what is should look like. Notice TWO brake pads.) It's not built to stop the car that way.

I suppose that mechanics see stuff like that on a regular basis. The crazy thing is that a mechanic can't keep the car off the road. Our teacher said that the brake job we are doing on the car would probably cost the customer around $1500. (People get the luxury of getting the work done for free by students when they bring it in to Portland Community College.) Granted, mechanics can make a lot of money off brake work, but they can't make the customer buy the brake job. Brakes are a serious thing. It may seem like as assload of money, but imagine the consequences of not being able to stop a 1 ton automobile when headed for the crosswalk. Or with kids in the back. Or having a wheel come off while you are driving down the interstate, sending a 50lb wheel bouncing towards oncoming traffic. Not to lecture people, but come on. Have your car inspected every once in awhile. Hearing grinding? Bad, bad, bad. In the automotive world brake jobs are seen as gravy work because its necessary and once you get it down, you can do it faster each time. This is where gravy suckin' pigs comes from. Our teacher called stephanie and i that today. Sucking it down because we keep getting the easy jobs. Kinda cool. The scary part would be seeing something that bad and not having the customer buy the brake job. I'm sure my day will come.

Then there is my new-old car. My subaru wagon is stuck in a weird political limbo that I didn't know existed. The transmission class says it's not the axle that's bad but the wheel bearing (my class's domain). My teacher says it's not the wheel bearing but the CV joint (transmission's domain). So, this calls for a confrontation. Who is right? Who will fix it? Right now it is sitting on jack stands in the shop quietly waiting a decision. Who knew that even cars could be caught up in office politics.

Observation: The boys in class are moody. They have bad days and it's apparent to everyone around them. But the refuse to talk about it. Instead they sulk. There is absolutely no telling when a bad day is going to hit. No cycle.

I have a huge interview coming up in about a week. The day has finally come when I'm interviewing for my ranking for the electrician's apprenticeship. I've been stressing about it for awhile and am really hoping it goes well. Mostly about the image i portray. I know that most people look at my experience and schooling and think: no way is she going to do manual labor and get dirty. The way I dress is important, what I say is important, the evidence of the work i'm doing now is important. Sweat beads are forming on my forehead just thinking about it. I'll keep you posted on the outcome....

g'night.

School is in session.

It's that time. Time for new bookbags, dusting off my textbook (note the singular), and cracking open the toolbox. That's right - school time! Automotive school time! The summer has flown by and I am fully engaged in school again. In fact, we just finished our third week. It's been a rough three weeks. On top of getting back into the routine of rising out of bed before the sun peaks out behind the mountains in the east, I am working a more-than-full-time job as a manager of a cafe in Portland. The cafe went from 5 mph to 90 mph at the very same time as school started and I barely slept, ate or studied for the first two weeks. The cafe is attached to the biggest theater company in Portland and they kicked off their theater season the day after classes started. I went from having 3 employees to 12. EEK! I DO NOT like being the boss.

So....school has been rough because my brain capacity is limited. I think I may squeeze out a 'B' from Brakes I which will make me elated! I've been really upset with myself for the last week or so about my performance thus far. I got a 'C' on my first test and then a 'D' on one of my homeworks. I got freaked out enough to talk to the teacher who assured me that I'm doing ok and he told me, considering how much I have on my plate, I'm doing great. Phew.

We've been working on a brakes inspection this week and I get really frustrated being one of the slowest students in the class. At least that's the perception of myself. In reality, we are barely behind most other students. Considering I didn't even know the names of most of the brake components until two weeks ago, that is pretty gosh darn good.

By "we" I am referring to me and my partner in crime, Stephanie. She kicks ass and I really don't know how I would do all the school work without her. We even got together this week and did our homework together. Just like college the first time around. Except she has a curfew. :) It was really good to see her back in class. Most of the my old classmates came back and we even picked up some new students. For the most part they all seem to be decent people.

Also new developments, I am selling my beautiful '06 Jetta TDI (diesel) soon. I bought a car from a good friend of mine for $1200 and am on the road to no car payments. I'm going to be extremely sad to let it go. I highly anticipate that the Jetta will sell for a good chunk of change since it's a diesel and Portlanders are high on the bio-diesel craze. My housemate actually drives an older model of the exact same car and dons the recognizable "BIO_DIESEL" sticker. There are probably between 5-10 diesels in a 2 block radius from my house. Crazy.

My new-old car is a Subaru wagon. It's been well taken care of, but like a lot of older cars needs a little bit of attention. Luckily I attend automotive school and can have it fixed for the cost of the parts. Gettin' a new front axle this week and a look-over from the HVAC class next week. Gonna be a dream when I'm done with her. Including climbing underneath and putting on a new muffler. I am excited to have a car that I can work on.

That's about it for now. I did write a few memorable lines down in my class notes in the last couple weeks. It's still a shock how ridiculous the naming of the parts and procedures is. Rod. Shaft. Just call it the drive penis why don't you?! My lab partner keeps me young and constantly on guard for new ridiculous statements. Last weeks: "Just take your hammer and POUND IT OUT FROM BEHIND (my emphasis added)." giggle. giggle.

Then the newest lingo on the street: How's the angle of your dangle? Use instead of "How's it going?" or "How's it hanging?"

Go forth and spread the good news of the little automotive girl that could.

an unannounced absence.

Hello everyone.

So it's come to my attention that I kind of left everyone out of the loop for the past month or so. I've dropped off the radar because I'm not in school for the summer, so really, there isn't much to tell. I'll be back in the game at the end of sept so, until then, you are just going to have to read a harry potter book, or something, to entertain yourself. For now, I'll wrap up the end of my first quarter in school....

As expected I finished my first quarter with all A's and achieved Portland Community College's highest honor of President's List. My last teacher for the quarter was agonizing and it made me really happy that the classes are only three weeks long. If I had to spend more time with the guy I was going to hurt him. He had never taught before and was in charge of teaching us our second electronics class. Electronics are the building blocks to most of advanced automotives these days (not to mention my favorite subject) and he botched it. It was apparent that he didn't prepare for the class and he spent most of his time referring us to howstuffworks.com. I did not pay $350 for a reference to a website that I can look at for free. There were a few times where we spent more time looking for a car that had working components to test than actually doing the labs. To preface, the cars we work on have been butchered and left to rot in a parking lot for most of year, complete with mice and bums, so they are maybe one step above junkyard cars. I would have appreciated if he had found us cars to do our tests on, like other teachers had in the past. But i guess they were a little more like real life, huh. I shouldn't be complaining.

My hatred for the bad teacher culminated when we got in a conversation about careers. It was the same old bullshit. He asked me why I chose automotives in a demeaning tone that really pisses me off. Like he's just asking because he's curious but because he is judging me. He then told us about how the ability to make money in the field is a lie that they feed students. He tells us his story about working for a place for $12/hr and managing it for $14/hr. He stayed there for TEN YEARS. Like a chump that was willing to put up with such a tiny wage. He had also told us that he never wanted to specialize. Stephanie, extraordinarily perceptive gal, commented on the conversation after we left the room. She said that she didn't want to sound mean, but his real problem is that he was stupid for working for such little money and not moving his way up in the business. Way to be an encouraging mentor for the students dude.

So I looked for a job in the automotive industry, and when it came down to straight-up needing a job, I took what was offered to me since nothing was panning out at any of the auto places I applied. I'm managing a cafe downtown, which gives me the flexibility to make my own schedule when classes start up again in the fall. I'm not enjoying the small shit that goes with being a manager - like phone calls on my day off saying we ran out of quarters in the register (location downtown = banks on every block, figure it out). It's a good experience though, and I'm learning from it.

Also on the horizon, I applied for the electrician's apprenticeship with IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for those who aren't savvy with union acronyms). It's a long process to getting accepted and they online take applications twice a year. I'll keep people posted on how it works out....

So until then, have a great summer. Thank you so much to the people who write me back. I wish I had more time to write each one of you back. It's great to hear from you.

a little introspection.

School has been pretty quiet. We had a week off and then one last 3 week class. We are almost halfway through it. I've been acing class - rocking the big 4.0. AND, I got a scholarship from school. Giant pat on my back. I am still loving my electrical class. Which brings me back to my original thoughts about why I decided to go into automotive school in the first place....

I love houses. Always have. I think the scale is interesting and the techniques for putting them together is fascinating. Thinking about houses reminds me of my dad. There was a time when my dad and I would ritually watch This Old House and New Yankee Workshop on Sundays together. In fact this is one of my fondest memories. Just 2 days before he died, I made a special trip to visit him in the hospital and spent time just hanging out. We watched both shows together and just kept each other company. It's crazy to see so much of him in me as I struggle to find my place in this crazy world. My dad loved his workshop in the basement. I hold great pride for the numerous projects he worked on around the house. I always believed he could make anything. Hell, he made this amazing playhouse for me and my sisters (he called it our birdhouse), complete with a deck.

I wonder, what would be his guidance now? What were his dreams that he never got to see come to light? My mom talks about how they dreamed of rehabbing houses together. How often does that dream get passed down generations when the children didn't know the parents had the dream in the first place? Like he is sitting on my shoulder.

When I picked to be a mechanic I just PICKED something. I have never been IN LOVE with cars. There was even a brief period of time when I believed they cause a lot of harm to society. I am driven to study them because I yearn to make a living with my hands. Because I love knowing how things work. Even sewing intrigues me because I like looking at the construction of garments. I knew the desk job wasn't working for me. I looked at the other trades and wasn't so sure I was super interested in any of them. Then I took my electrical classes at school and something clicked. It left me thinking....should I really be studying to be an electrician? What about solar power? And wind power? Cool lighting? Home automation to increase efficiency? There's some cool shit out there people. Remember my story about the burglar alarm I made?

So....

This video makes me filled with glee. It resonates with me. I keep coming back to the building trades time and time again. Maybe I should fill out the application to the electrician's apprenticeship program...just in case.

Don't worry. This doesn't mean I don't like working on cars. Just means I'm refining my search and trying to stay true to myself. I hope you will all do the same. :)

postscript. This unemployed girl finally found a job. Not automotive related. Just a good old fashioned job making money to pay bills. Nothing fancy. I'm glad the stress is gone though.

a list.

noticed similarities between my fellow students:

1. Refining their ability to look at a bolt and determine what size wrench or socket they will need.

2. Got a little grease permanently embedded in cracks in their hands.

2a. After scrubbing with the gritty soap, their hands are as smooth as a baby's butt.

3. LOVE Mythbusters, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Mr. Wizard, etc.

4. Notice variety in coveralls. See it as a way to expand the wardrobe.

5. Need better sized pants and/or a belt or suspenders.

6. Lack a sense of humor. This one needs explanation. I don't know what is wrong with people, but a get a lot of flack for finding the humor in things. S. and I were even asked if we were tired of laughing - like it's a bad thing?!? We've been snugged when we crack jokes and take things lightly. I feel like we are constantly looked at like we are crazy. Another guy snubbed me because I was asking people to join me in a bike ride that is part of a bike festival here in portland - the ride is the donut tour. We ride around town and sample donuts. Good stuff. Well, apparently not for the kid in my class. I could see him rolling his eyes from the back of his head. His response was, "Pishhh...You're obviously from out of town...." "Um, it's a donut ride. Is that offensive?" No. Sense. Of. Humor.

7. See the joy in a quick nap while lying under a car while removing a starter for class. (Something wrong with that? I mean class starts at 7am for gods sake....)

8. Drink large quantities of energy drinks ranging from mt. dew to crazy looking drinks with claw marks and day glow pictures on them. I wonder if the liquids glow from the crazy chemicals (radioactive?) they put in that shit to PUMP people up.


(I'll keep adding to the list as time does by.)

counting my blessings.

Just a quick entry before I head to a fun filled evening of midget wrestling (yeah, you got that right!). I picked up the last of my paychecks from the former job yesterday. I got trapped by the weirdo manager that wanted to tell me all about the large quantities of tires he has sold to a bunch of used car lots (his bonus is based off the number of tires he sells each month). Ick! The man is a creep. He hasn't found any new help (surprise, surprise) and I've noticed how the company is CONSTANTLY looking for new employees in the paper and on the web. If that doesn't tip you off to their turnover I don't know what will. I stopped my car in front of the service bays and the three guys that still work there came out to say hello. I made a mistake not saying goodbye to the guys when I quit, but I had way too much adrenaline pumping from giving the piece of shit manager a piece of my mind that I couldn't pull together the energy to see them. Shame on me...I liked them all for the most part. Anyways, they were all glad to see me and sad I left (or so they say :) ). As I was about to leave one guy told me he had a good job interview with a dealership in town. He's a promising tech and I'm really excited he is getting out of there. How the hell is the creep manager going to handle all that with only 2 guys? He's already got the three employees working 6 days a week! Glad I left when I did.

Homophobia in automotives. Anyone ever heard of a gay male mechanic? When I was working at the above tire shop I was amazed at the amount of shit talk that involved homosexuals. Like they were overcompensating for someone possibly thinking that they are ok with someone being gay or *gasp* themselves be gay. One guy, who joked less about gay men than some, would always bring up a loyal male customer that he commonly referred to as the "Power Puff" guys. He said that the interior of the car was covered in pink fluffy stuff and Power Puff paraphernalia. OMG! That is CRAZY! (read: sarcastic tone). My coworkers would laugh and laugh and laugh. Then they would tell their jokes and on it went. The manager threw a fit when he found out they advertise in the LGBT phone book (yep, Portland has one). I guess I shouldn't be that surprised by their homophobia. This is america after all....sigh.

I applied for a scholarship today along with one other person (the only other girl). There are two scholarships. Do the math.

Heeeeeeeere's Testy!

I've run across some old copies of Import Service they were giving away at school. The articles are informative (despite being old as sin...) and I'm amazed what I'm starting to understand because of my well invested education. It's kinda cool to see my knowledge growing. Though, the best part of the magazines is their covers. Someone on the editorial staff had a good sense of humor. Here are a few for your enjoyment....



this next one reminds me of all the discussions we had about "CRAFT" in architecture school...







Be sure to read all the items in the pantry....they make the picture...



This one could be a Dateline special.



And are beloved friend....



I hope you enjoyed these as much as I do each time I look at them.

Battery acid does a body good.

I've finished about a week and a half of my first electrical class. We cover the basics like electrons are negative, protons are positive. Ohhhhhhhhh, ahhhhhhhhhhh. Exciting stuff. It's not really that bad. In fact, I enjoy the electrical side of things, so far. We've soldered a couple of jumper wires and made a logic probe (has a tiny LED light in it that glows red for positive and green for negative, logically). It all reminds me of a time long, long ago....

In KY they have a program called Governor's Scholars. It's basically a 5-week dork camp for high school juniors. It's crazy to think there was such an abundance of kids that WANTED to study stuff for the summer. I was one of the chosen dorks in my day. Each kid got to pick a major to focus on studying while we lived on a college campus during the summer. My major was physical science. Besides taking home extra weight from the cafeteria food and numerous shirts that screamed "I AM A DORK!", I made a little burglar alarm. I soldered all the bits and pieces together and programmed a tiny chip to send a loud signal to a speaker whenever the light on sensor got too low. Super dorky. That summer is what drove me to start studying engineering in college. Electrical engineering specifically. So now I sit in my electrical class loving every minute of it. Everything comes full circle.

My new teacher is great. Each one of the teachers has been drastically different from the previous one. This guy specializes in alternative fuels. He rides a bike to work. I find it amazingly ironic that a guy that teaches automotive service for a job doesn't drive a car to work. Anyone else? Kinda like me going from not owning a car to seeking to repair them for as living. Good textbook irony here. The guy also has the driest sense of humor. I often have a hard time catching his jokes. Sometimes I can't even tell when he's joking. Like the instance when he asked a kid who shaved his head over the weekend if he did it because he had lice. Who asks someone that? Was he serious? God only knows.....

I quit my job at the corporate tire service place this week. I made a point to tell my manager when I started that I couldn't work more than 35 hours a week because I'm in school full time. As the schedule came out my hours were creeping up higher and higher. Then one of the other guys quit and my hours jumped some more. And the manager was looking for more and more business. And I was leaving 2 hours late from work. And I wasn't getting breaks. And I was the only one scheduled to close (how does that work....me, by myself, as the only tech on staff for 2 hours a night....you know my experience level...). So I walked in and told the manager that I can't work 50 hours a week and go to school. School comes first. With no sympathy or willingness to change the schedule, he said he can't turn business away, and that was that. Out the door I went. I miss the work, but not some dumbass redneck of a boss that views his employees as a slave to getting his bonus check. I'll find a better job. Anyone know a good shop in Portland that's in need of an entry level shop helper?

ps. Battery acid is seriously not a good thing, in case you didn't know. ;)

for god sakes, just stay current on your oil changes.

Enter into the world of seeing customer's cars. The joy of seeing how crappy one person can treat a car. Oil changes? Who needs 'em?!? Right now at work I am the scrub that mainly just does oil changes. It's ok with me, but you definitely get a glimpse of some interesting stuff when you hop into the driver's seat of a stranger's car. I hadn't really thought about the variations between how people treat their cars until this week. And what I saw was nothing....just the tip of the iceberg. One had a thick layer of pet hair. On everything. Every surface. Hair. Lots. Ick. Then there was the car that had a Barbie straddling the shifter. For those got-to-play-with-dolls-NOW urges. Ok.

Beyond oil changes I've started repairing and replacing tires on cars. I changed out a worn out tire for a new one where the old tire was TOAST. There was steel coming out of the tread. The customer only bought one tire but upon further inspection needed another front one. Ever seen a balled tire? Did they buy another new one? Nope. Anyone heard of fix-a-flat? The shit is supposed to....ready for this genius.....fix your flat. From the inside of the tire the shit looks like watered down elmer's glue. I don't really see how something that looks like it should be used for paper maiche is supposed to hold together thick rubber at high speeds. And, then there are the people that use it on tires that are completely separated into all its little pieces. The tire looked like a cutaway diagram of the layers of the earth....."this layer was formed 20 million years ago with pressure and heat." Not going to work.

Then there was the car that was my peak of under maintenance for the week. When I checked the dipstick it was dry, and when I drained the oil, barely any came out. The tire pressure on each tire was in the teens when it should be in the thirties. The best part was the result of this abuse to the car. One of my co-workers took the time to point out valve clatter on the engine. Valve clatter is a sign of under maintaining your vehicle and goes to the heart of breathe-ability of your engine. (Engine basics: fire goes boom to move car. Fire needs air and fuel.) Without going into the mechanics of what it is, lets just say it's something that can't be fixed by adding more oil, weird additives to your fuel, or driving the car differently. This is damage that can only be fixed by overhauling the engine. Read: $$$$$$. The car was a VW Passat with 72k on it. Crazy to me that a car with mileage like that can be damaged that much. But, don't do oil changes, or even worse, run your car to the point of having no oil and you can kiss that money you paid for the car bye-bye. The customer told our manager that he figured it was time for an oil change when the oil light came on for a little bit. FOR GOD SAKES DUMBASS! Stop the car!!!!

OK, so I know not everyone has knowledge about cars inherently in their brains when they are born. Education is needed. Some people have to learn lessons about cars the hard way. So this led me to ask my co-worker about how much education they do with customers. "None." I was disturbed by this. I mean, if you're a medical doctor (Erin?) do you let your patient walk away without information to prevent major problems? Don't you at least try to explain the basics so that you can hope they make informed decisions? What people do from the point of knowing better is their problem. But do you just assume that every person has the knowledge already? The girl that bought one tire but really needed two....couldn't someone explain to her that she is close to blowing out the other bad tire. And that the blowout doesn't always happen pretty and easy. How enjoyable is blowing out a tire while you're flying down the interstate? An interstate with no shoulder to move onto. Granted, I think the manager at my shop is creepy and I probably wouldn't buy a tire from him, but there are other people that work in the shop. Other people that aren't so creepy.

You are my friends and I am going to be straight with you. Do your car a good deed and get regular oil changes. Check the air pressure on your tires (air pressure low = lower gas mileage, premature wear of the tire, excessive load on the engine). Check the dipstick on your car when you fill gas. Basics. These are the tiniest things you can do that will keep your money in your pocket. Don't be embarrassed if you didn't know....I don't think I've always been the best at it.

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I got into an argument with a friend's husband about unions and workers about a month ago. He's a manager at a big box store and has been pumped with anti-union BS since day one. He said if people don't like their job/pay they should quit and get a new job. Not form a union. I asked him if he could quit his job tomorrow. He's got a kid and a house. This would be a problem? His statement is in the same category that if people don't like their job doing hard labor for little money and getting no respect then they should go to school and get a better job. I'm single, no kids, no house payment, and I'm telling you that I am struggling with going to school full time and working for $10/hr. How is a person who is trying to raise a family, keep a roof over their head, and food on the table supposed to find the time/money to do all that and go to school to "better themselves"? Why should someone have to leave a job rather than making the job sustainable? And for god sakes, where is compassion for other people and their struggles? On the flip side of that, if you hate your life, I do believe work can be done to make it better. Some people are lucky and privileged enough to be able to search for a better life. I am one of those people. I have very little holding me back. Thank god I'm single, have no kids, and don't own a home. And have access to a great education and a supportive family (thanks mom!). Phew.

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On a lighter note: The engine my lab partner and I have been rebuilding reached it's moment of truth. The big thing started up and ran! For only a few seconds but just long enough for me to start jumping up and down with glee!

Underneath this grease and grime is a lady.

Again, another exhausting week. I don't know how I'm going to keep this pace up. Keeping up writing about my experiences is difficult. I've stopped showering everyday (hard to believe since I am in love with hot showers)....my eating habits are in the toilet....it's getting bad. All work and no play makes katie CRAZY ASS TIRED.

Got my uniforms for work yesterday. They are dead sexy. Especially the navy jacket with my name on it! When people do the double takes to check if they are really seeing a female in the shop, the name on the uniform makes it stick as reality. I'll try to get a picture out to show people how amazing unattractive men's pants look on females. The bottom of the pant leg is tapered and they are pressed by the laundry service to have neat creases in the front. Snazzy. I keep all sorts of implements in my shirt pocket: air gauge, tread depth gauge, pen, tiny screwdriver for prying. What I really need is a pocket protector.

And then there are the black carhart overalls I bought this week. They are heaven! I no longer have to worry about destroying all my t-shirts at school. love love love em!

One thing I've noticed about the work clothes thing is that I feel weird wearing my real-life pants now. They are tighter (partly my eating habits tanking I think) and made for women, but they feel foreign. I don't dress up for school so I rarely put on anything other than grubby men's pants I bought at salvation army. A big benefit is that my laundry quantity is at an all time low. All work uniforms are washed commercially and hung on nice little hangers in the break room at work. Changing into these uniforms has been interesting, since everyone uses the break room. We take turns. However there isn't a lock on the door, so I usually end up changing frantically, worried that one of the guys is going to bust in on me in my panties. (Just a thought, but I think with all the masculinity in my life it's time to upgrade to the most feminine underwear I can find.) My hands are becoming anything but beautiful. My thumbnail is purple from smashing it this week. My arms are black and blue (so many of you have seen my narly bruises before - remember my bike bruise on my inner thigh? Definitely bruise easily). I'm not sweating it though. I barely had nails to begin with.

So, to add to another reason to hate domestics, my teacher pointed out that a lot of GM's use faux gauges on the dash. Let me explain. Everyone familiar with the oil light or gauge? It comes on when your oil pressure drops below a level that the engine needs to operate correctly (read: light comes on, SERIOUSLY bad for the car. May be too late. PULL OVER IMMEDIATELY!). The gauges typically show the amount of oil pressure the car has and will fluctuate just a tad when you accelerate. There is a valve that handles the excess pressure and brings it back into an even range. The light works by a little diaphragm that pushes against a switch to hold open a circuit. Not enough pressure the circuit is closed and the light comes on. Get it? Anyways, long explanation to bring me to tell you that GM puts gauges in cars that operate the same way the light does. Either is has pressure or it doesn't. On or off. Just an tad bit deceiving. I told a tech at work about it. His response: all cars are garbage. Ok then. He sees it like this: garbage = job. Simple enough.

Class is moving along. We are almost to the point of putting our engines back together and running them. Keep your fingers crossed cause our engine has all sorts of problems. Can't even begin to explain....I'm very nervous.

One guy at work is quitting. He's inexperienced and in school, like me. The manager yells at him constantly. They have done very little to show him how to be good at his job. I asked him if, above all, he thinks they treat him differently because he's mexican. Response: yes. I was EXTREMELY disappointed to hear this. The manager is a total redneck. What is this going to mean for me as a woman? I'm going to miss the guy. He's becoming a good friend and is extremely supportive. He told me just yesterday how in awe he is to watch a woman work in the shop. Blush. Ah shucks....

I'm sure there is more to tell, I just can't think of anything else. All I can focus on is food and sleep. And my aching feet.

Oh, there was finally talk about hosing out the bathroom at work. One step in the right direction.

I got this awesome t-shirt and some union swag.

So, the Oregon Tradeswomen career fair. It was awesome! Stephanie and I noticed the ad in the paper on Friday and decided that attendance was an absolute MUST. There were all sorts of employers there for every trade imaginable. And the best part, lots of women from all sorts of trades. There were different workshops on all sorts of things - welding, sheet metal fabrication, pipe bending, etc. We made a flower pot out of sheet metal and MIG welded one piece of metal to another piece of metal. Cool. I was so pumped up and excited when I got out of there. We discovered the Association of Women in Automotives group which meets monthly (funny, because the women's architecture group I started had the same acronym, AWA). I bought an amazing t-shirt with a woman carrying a giant wrench on it. And I got a free keychain that is a miniature hardhat with a headlamp that lights up. Oh, and a cardboard penny bank that folds up to the shape of a bus. Cool. Hehe.

One of the things that impressed me the most was the diversity of women at the fair. All ages, ethnic backgrounds, sexuality, femininity, etc. It made me think about how much I wish I'd been exposed to the trades when I was younger. A lot of the jobs are great union jobs with good pay, benefits, training, etc. In fact, I think I'm going to apply for a job with the local transportation authority. They pay for your school, your time while you're at school, benefits and time at work. Oh, and a free bus pass. Portland has one of the best public transportation systems and are running diesel hybrid buses. How cool is that.

School is going well overall. I got an 'A' in my intro class and Stephanie and I got the best grade in the class on our aluminum block project (we tapped out threaded holes and sawed off a corner on a piece of aluminum). Our old teacher came in and bragged on us to our new teacher. I'm a nerd, I know. We've been learning a lot of tricks from our female teacher about how she gets around some things she can't muscle through easily. Key word: leverage (think seesaw on the playground with a fat kid on one end). Big long tools get the job done easier.

Something that was pointed out to me a week or two ago: how many things in a car have names that are synonyms for male genitalia . Shaft. Rod. Nuts. You get the point. If they didn't have those synonyms would everything be called penis? Just like the idea that tall buildings are a representation of penis envy between male architects. Would women name the pieces and parts the same if they had been the primary designers for cars?

My class right now makes me daydream about rebuilding my motorcycle. It was inherited from my dad and I get really excited thinking about how what I'm learning in class can be directly transfered to taking apart and rebuilding the engine. How I dream about getting that thing running...You know, it might be kinda cool to be a motorcycle mechanic....So many opportunities.

On being a woman...I get asked every other day why I am in automotives. That, and the guys at work (really this only comes from the management) try to say things to discourage me. Like,"You know your going to be dirty all the time." Or "You know how much money you're going to have to spend on tools?" For once I want to hear, "This profession has been good to me. It can be good to you to." Something like that. I guess it has something to do with where I am working right now. This kid at work that is in training for management (note: he has never worked on a car but yet he is being primed to manage a shop. Does anyone else see a major problem with this?) tried to get me in trouble with the higher ups. He told them I refused to do something that he asked me to do, when in actuality I had jokingly said no, laughed and then did what he asked. It must also be noted that said it in context of a conversation where we were all joking around with each other. Management = assholes. I suppose that's why people end up owning their own business. Maybe one day....

will someone give me a footrub?

This week has been a long one. I started work on Monday so now my days consist of school from 7am to noon then work from 1pm till 7 or 8pm. I'm tired. No, EXHAUSTED. I am not used to being on my feet and working my ass off for 12+ hours. I get home and can barely pull enough brain power together to find food. I've been so busy that I had to take notes on the things I wanted to write about so when I did find enough time to post something, I'd remember all the awesomeness.

Work, so far, is pretty good. The shop has it's good points and bad points. My coworkers are nice, but mostly inexperienced. One of the guys has been there 11 years and another one 2. Everyone else is either in school or just graduated. There are also two smart-asses in management. I don't find the shop especially all that clean and the variety of work that comes in is nil. Lots of oil changes and mounting tires. It's a good beginner job and give me the opportunity to be around cars and gather experience to get a better job down the road. The head boss sees it as important to try to schedule me for as many hours as possible. I can't figure out why bosses see running their employees to the bone as a good thing. What about turnover, dumbasses? Although, my last job definitely showed this oversight, so I really shouldn't be surprised. Each of the guys is extremely supportive when it comes to teaching me things.

Cristo taught me about "Sancho." He says this to Jacobo every time he sneezes. In Mexican culture, apparently, by saying this, he is referencing the man who "takes care" of men's wives why they are away at work. This man is called a Sancho. Thus, when they get home, the wife is tired and not interested in sex with her husband. By saying "Sancho" when another man sneezes he is saying that it is a signal that Sancho is enjoying that man's wife at that moment. He then told me when a man comes home and questions his wife about what the man is doing under the bed his wife responds with, "I don't know what that man is doing under the bed, but on top of the bed, my-oh-my." Sancho.

The biggest complaint I have about work: the bathroom. It looks like someone died in it....10 years ago....and it hasn't been cleaned since. There is NO women's restroom, except for the customer multi-sex bathroom I'm discouraged to use. I've been working on timing my restroom breaks to before and after work, so I minimize the chance of having to step foot in the danger-zone. My coworkers use it like a break room, easily spending quality time handling "personal business" on a regular basis. I can't understand men's ability to look past the cleanliness of toilets.

I've had some amazingly educational moments and stupefying scary moments this week. I had one moment that scared me so much my stomach did a huge flip. I'd rather not talk about it in detail....but let's just say I'll think twice about following coworker's orders. My biggest highlight was helping to pull the rear differential out of an Explorer and re-seal it. It was a great pick-me-up from rough morning.

This week has been a challenge emotionally because I'm fighting my competitive streak and perfectionism. My lab partner and I are the slowest in the class, which drives me crazy. I can't seem to let go of my desire to be first. It's torturing me. And on top of it, I feel completely out of my element. I know almost nothing about what we are doing in class (engine disassembly and reassembly) and have this nagging part of me that can't seem to deal with that fact. I can't seem to put these two traits of mine to rest for now. They are traits that can come in handy at times and be a nuisance at others. For now, they have to go, because, of all things, they are disturbing my sleep. Nothing will come between me and the rare chance I get to sleep.

which, leads me to say goodnight. There is so much more, but for now it will have to wait. I MUST go to bed. Tomorrow I'll type up an big spiel about the Oregon Tradeswomen career fair I attended today....I got a chance to WELD! Yeah, so more to come, I promise....

g'night!

the little engine that could.

The first class is finished. Phew. I took the final this morning and am moving on to Engine Repair. We will be talking about engine basics and tearing down and rebuilding an engine. In three weeks. The engines are super basic compared to what is in today's cars, but it's a great primer for understanding how it works and getting experience with our tools. I am SUPER excited about it!

This past week has been long. We've been working on labs that were challenging for me and I had a moment of nervousness and panic. It was brief but noted. These feelings were a result of frustration I got when I was required to identify parts on two different cars. Of these parts, I knew how to find two and the rest I didn't even know what they looked like. I felt extremely stupid. When I asked the teacher for help he gave the classic response, "Look it up." Ugh. I had already looked it up and still needed help. Eventually he helped me, but it was a struggle. I reminded myself that it's ok that I don't know everything right now, and that I need to be patient and keep asking questions. It feels really weird to start all over again. It's not like my past experiences where I built on knowledge I have gained before. This time, 99% of it is foreign to me. There is also the fact that I am slow (not mentally, despite snickers coming from the peanut gallery). Cautious. Lacking confidence. Insecure. Yeah, the list can go on and on. It will get better. It will probably get worse before then.

My gal-pal in class has been a great comfort. Thanks. (I let her in on my blog....she's now a reader. Welcome.)

Now on another note.....let's talk about crack. Butt crack. Three out of the seven guys in class have a serious problem with it (this converted to percentages is 42.86% of the males in class...now look at those math skills). It's not just when they are bending over either. The crack is prevalent even in the standing position. For god sakes. Get a good belt, pants that fit, or just go straight to wearing coveralls. I've debated buying suspenders for them. My partner in crime recommended that we start sticking pencils in their crack to deter the behavior. eww. I want to stay as far away from it as possible.

Then there is the guy in class (the worst crack offender) that moved from the back row to sit DIRECTLY next to me for the past two days. He could have sat anywhere. There is even an empty seat at the end of our row. He passed that one by and sat cozied up next to me. He takes regular 10 minute smoke breaks every half hour and then returns smelling like a cigarette butt. And the worst part, he burbs. Like the kind of burp you have when you are about to throw-up. It makes me feel ill. Why, of all the seats, does this guy have to sit by me? Oh, and have I mentioned his safety practices leave a little to be desired? He hooked up a battery backwards and shot sparks everywhere when trying to jump a car yesterday. He scares me. I want to stay as far away from this kid as possible.

I've also attracted the most annoying student. He's an older guy out of the army. I can't pinpoint what it is about him that is like nails to a blackboard. He got first pick for lab partners for our oil change lab, and guess who he picked? Me, me, me. You know it's bad when other students that you barely know are mouthing "I'm sorry" to you because they can feel your pain. He enthusiastically approached me later to tell me he picked me because he thinks I'm the only one in the class that seems to know when I'm talking about. Ok, so it's a compliment, but I really don't know jack shit about cars. For the lab he pulled in his 1996 camero with 150k miles on it (it has the original clutch and engine....I was shocked) and asked for my "expert" opinion. "So for a car with 150k miles on it, how do you think it looks?" "Um, I have no idea." Burst his bubble. He thought he'd discovered a great sage of cars that could guide him in mastering the art of automotive maintenance. Ha. The fact is that I can read a book and do math, so thus far, the class has been pretty easy.

I start my job on Monday. Oh, and my engine red toolbox arrived today. Alone, it weighs 20 lbs. I have to take this thing loaded with tools to and from school and work every day. I'm gonna have muscles. Grrrrrr.

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I'm in the midst of moving my blog over to blogger.com. So far posting everything on myspace has been a challenge. This week someone hijacked one of my posts and made everything link to an ad for a cell phone. So, heads up, I'll send out a notice when it's ready. Since I'm not ready to have the blog open to everyone in the world, I'm going to allow people to read it on an invite basis only. If you are interested in continuing to read it, then I recommend you message me with your preferred email. Sorry for the inconvenience.

2 out of 3.

I am 66.67% done with my first class in automotive school in Portland. It's been an amazing change from the overly dramatic, extremely expensive, overly glorified tech school I was in back in Colorado. The class is well organized and, rather than spending time talking about resume techniques and the intricacies of getting a job when you don't have a license and tried to commit murder, we actually talk about the basics of cars. I think the kids in the class are smarter too. I haven't seen them struggle with the basics as much and there isn't a struggle when it comes to getting the work done. People just do it. The teacher is friendly and TEACHES rather than let powerpoint teach for him (I personally think powerpoint needs to become obsolete. I have never seen a presentation done with it where I felt enlightened at the end. Bring back the days of slides and/or overheads). I learned how to how actually use a micrometer. If anyone needs some precision measuring done, I'm your gal. Need to end that argument about who's hair is thicker than who's? Call me up. I'll end that squabble in an instant.

Today we started on the "block project." This is where we tap out holes for fasteners (ie. for all you non-automotive students: bolts, screws, etc), cut out pieces, and re-thread holes in a chunk of aluminum. It's like my entry architecture studio where we learned how to use the wood shop. Lessons on tools. Cool. The coolest thing we've done is over-torque (ie. tighten it down too much) a bolt to the point of breaking it or stripping it. I actually didn't break mine. Instead I torqued it too slowly and destroyed the washer under the nut. The washer "squished" under the nut so much that I couldn't get the socket around the nut anymore. It was a good lesson - be less timid. I needed to just go for it and the break the damn thing. I did get to use an air hammer to break another bolt that someone had stripped out. power tools....fun....hehe.

After taking advice from mechanics and non-mechanics, I made a decision about tools. I'm making the big purchase tomorrow. The winner.....drum-roll please......snap-on. One thing that did cross my mind, but not necessarily the biggest reason I'm going with snap-on, is that they come with a reputation. The reputation that you care about working on cars and want the best tools possible. With all the factors going against me, buying tools that show people I'm serious about this profession could be a serious advantage. Is it worth the money? Hard to say right now...I'm mostly sure they will be.

I took the physical and drug test for my new job today. I will be working for a major tire company doing small maintenance jobs and, most importantly, getting experience. I was told my pay scale last week. I hadn't thought much about it until later. They offered me flat rate. For those that don't know, flat rate is when you are paid for a flat amount of time for a job you are doing no matter how long it takes you. A brake job is supposed to take you X amount of time. If it takes you less then you can move on to your next job. With this you can get paid for more than the number of hours you actually are there. Or the opposite of that is that you can lose money by being there longer than the job is supposed to take you. I think it's great that your pay is in your hands to some degree. If you are fast and accurate you can make more money. For a "green" tech like myself, flat rate should be avoided. I won't know enough to be able to make any money. It sets me up for failure. I talked it out at the corporate office when I did my paperwork today. I'm now hourly. Phew.

Just to be safe, I've been filling out more applications at other places. I want to make sure I have options if I need to bail out of tire-company gig. I laugh at myself sometimes. Almost two years ago I sold my car and used a bike as my main mode of transportation for seven months till I had to buy one for my job. Now look at me...I put in an application at the Cadillac/Hummer dealership. The thought of working under a gigantic Escalade or Hummer is ironic. Sometimes that the way the world spins I guess.

shopping man-style.

I'll tell you, once I decided to come back to portland, everything fell into place. School is going well. Nothing really to report in that area. I guess that's a good thing and a bad thing. I mean absolutely NO crazy stories yet. I that fact comforting in some ways and boring in others. One guy joined the class has a facial and neck tattoo....that's all I got it's not even really that "radical." yawn.

Good news is that I found a job. In three days. In downtown portland (on the bus line and easy to bike to). In a shop on the line (lube tech, here I come). It's a sign.

The job interview went well. The manager is a good old boy from Tennessee. How many interviews have you had where the manager asks you if you are offended by bad language? I told him that I don't have the cleanest mouth myself. This was looked upon as a good quality as long as I don't use it around customers (obviously?). It's important also to note the number of times the guy compared me to his fiancee - 3. Slightly creepy but I think the fact that this woman also works on cars gave him the ability to be realistic about the possibility of alot more women in auto shops. As for his service manager....could be a different story. I think this job could be where I really test my thick skin and inner strength.

I have to buy tools next week so I can get to work. I bet most of you have no idea how f*#@ing crazy expensive this will be....how about dropping $1000-2300? EEK! I'm freaked out....just a little. I wish my dad were around. This would be one of the first times in my life where he could help me with shopping. Fun man shopping. It's the stuff most men equal in excitement with women and shoe shopping (disclaimer: not to say men/women can't have an excitement about shoes/tools...I'm all about dumping the usual stereotypes...I like shopping for BOTH). The hardest decision is to weigh what brand to by. Snap-On (most expensive, highest? quality), Matco (mid expensive, great quality) or Craftsmen (cheap). All of them have lifetime warranties. Most mechanics I have met so far adore Snap-On (imagine drooling mouths and googly eyes). And I can get them at 50% off the normal price while I'm in school.

This decision is giving me anxiety problems.

jumping back in.

Faithful followers, I am sad to the report that the level of felons (ie. entertaining characters) is down. This is both a good thing and a bad thing since I'll no longer be fearful that any of my classmates should find out where I live however, I no longer have a plethora of crazy prison stories to share. This doesn't mean that all crazies are out, but the numbers are dwindling.

I started school again yesterday. Overall its kinda like groundhog day except I am much better looking that Bill Murray. The class day is the same - 5 hours long (much like architecture studio, except I'm building engines, not ridiculous models at every scale imaginable). The class length is three weeks, which means by July 6th I'll have finished 4 classes - Intro, Engines, Electrical I and II. Pretty cool. Tuition is CHEAP. The class size is super small. There were 9 people there today and 3 are women. This time I have little doubt they are all women, unlike my class in Denver, where I didn't discover the gender of one of the girls till I saw her come out of the bathroom (oops - I guessed wrong!). We are using the exact same textbook. Best part - there are two female teachers on staff, compared with zero in Denver. Also, the uniform requirements are a lab coat with my name on it. NO hideous polyester ill-fitting pants. I can wear coveralls too, which I'm excited about.

Rundown on the classmates - They are all younger than me except one old army vet and everyone is white (huge demographic change from Denver to Portland). My new buddy is a 17 year old girl I sit next to. I don't know how much younger my friends can get at this stage. I'm going to be desperate for some drinking buddies by summertime or I'll just be chilling at some kids house with the parents playing nintendo games much like my time spent in high school. The other girl needs to learn how to shut her mouth. I can't stress the level of irritating things that come out of her mouth. She started out by responding to the teacher's role the first day with "what's up" instead "here." She doesn't shut up about her fiance and how important she feels because she's retaking the Intro class (truly daunting). I wish I could stress how grating she is through this blog, but I don't think you can truly appreciate it unless you're here. One guy has no teeth (meth anyone?) and another guy admitted to spending $2000 on mini bike parts.

Sadly, this is all I've got for now. The campus is nice and much better than the warehouse place we were in in Denver. It actually feels like a college campus. I like it - hehe.

Today we talked about buying tools which made me giddy. I can't wait to go shopping. Yippee!

Next step: Job hunt.

Big, big change.....blog temporarily suspended.

Ok, before the big news I have to pat myself on the back. Fri we had our midterm and I rocked it. The little nerd that I am got a 98 on the exam and, when grades were posted, was ranked #1 in the class. At school this status is called "Gold." The guys in class weren't happy. One of my friends made a great suggestion that I wear a tiara to school. Oh would that burn those guys up!

So, big news. I'm moving back to Portland. Now before anyone gets upset, I'm still continuing with automotive school. In fact, the timing works out quite nicely. Portland Community College has a program that looks good and I can start on April 9th and will cost me about a third as much. This means very little down time on the girl-in-mechanics-school blog. It will continue with a whole new group of characters. My decision was quick and based in my gut (seems like a lot of my decisions have been that way lately). I think that I belong in Portland and can't really imagine living in Denver for the next two years. So, to all my Portland friends: see you soon! To all my Denver friends: Let's get a drink soon! Everyone else: Get your ass out to visit!

Also, there is a space in my car for someone looking to take a road trip and see the expanse of Wyoming and Idaho. I'll probably leave around April 5th, so let me know.

it's about time.

I've finally came home with oil in my nail beds, grease and grime on my shirt, and smelling like exhaust. The past two days have been awesome. We've lifted 2 ton automobiles 6 feet into the air with the touch of a finger and then walked underneath them (my new superhuman power), diagnosed lots of leaks, identified worn parts, and adjusted brakes.

Yes, folks. My automotive training has officially begun. And I'm loving it!

I'm glad we got a moment to learn a few things hands on. It's been amazingly boring covering safety info over and over and over.

Oh, and that reminds me. I've been so inundated with safety facts I almost forget to share my lesson of the importance of safety glasses. This is why they are important. We were granted the luxury of being scared shitless by watching a video displaying close to a hundred different ways you can mess your eyes up. After a butt-puckering 20 minutes I concluded that everyone should wear safety glasses AT ALL TIMES. In the shower, to bed, at the movies, walking the dog. What if that squirrel drops it's nut from the tree and it hits you in the eye? Or your pillow case rubs your eyelid the wrong way? And do we even need to talk about the effects of shower spray in the eye?

I have a secret. Not only did I get offered a job, but I interviewed at a BMW dealership! I got the phone call right after my last post and sat down with the service manager yesterday. I think the interview went well. Working for a BMW dealership's service department is a hard job to get and he's not in a big hurry to hire anyone, so I asked if I could come in on my own time and shadow a tech for awhile. I'm going to work for this job. Constantly be around and showing my enthusiasm. I need to make myself standout. I'm still taking the other job.

In fact today I had to go for a physical and drug test. No worries, I passed everything. I was shocked though at how strict the guy was about the piss test. The very second I checked in I realized I left my i.d. in my car. The guy at the desk wouldn't let me go to my car by myself. It wasn't like I had been searched or unloaded my pockets or anything yet. So I couldn't figure out why this man was being EXTREMELY hyper-vigilant about making sure I didn't pull a fake piss sample out of my car or something. Weird.

I made a trip to the auto parts store near my house tonight and made a note to never return to this location. I'm required by class to purchase a tire tread depth gauge. It's not a complicated instrument. It just gives the tread depth measurement in fractional inches and millimeters. A lot of times the gauge is included in the tire pressure gauge. Costs about $6-$10. A lot of people use a penny as an imprecise makeshift tread depth gauge. I went into the auto parts store and asked the sales person for it to save time hunting. He reacted like I was asking where they kept the toothpaste.

"Huh? You mean a tread gauge? [my thoughts: Did I stutter, yes, EXACTLY what I said] Nobody uses those. I don't think they even make them. [me: well if that's the case then where did the other 25 people in my class come up with one? I should have bought the one at Target I passed by last week, that would have saved me the headache of dealing with this jerk]. You can use a penny for that [me: and then what do you tell your customer who's tire you are checking? 'Sir, your tire tread looks ok. In technical terms, the depth is to the hairline of Lincoln's forehead.'] I've worked here for three years and never seen one [me: I wonder what else this place doesn't sell or take seriously]. This gauge (costing $38.99) will measure that."

I left the store. Empty handed and annoyed.

So, enough procrastinating. I've got my first midterm tomorrow. I need to study....

movement in the right direction.

So, big news....I've been offered a job!!!! After taking a gruelling 1.5 hour test (personality bullshit, letter scrambles, pattern ordering, etc. - which in turn says I'm management material) and having an impromptu interview with a manager, I have been offered a position as a receptionist/parts cashier at a trucking company. The hours are perfect for my class schedule and the pay is good for someone with no experience ($12/hr), so barring any complications with my physical and drug test I should be joining the workforce next week. Long term, I'm not expecting to go to work in the big-rig diesel industry, but who knows - I may like it. Time will tell. And interacting with truckers on a daily basis is definately going to add some colorful stories.

I've been thinking that I need to find my "attitude." What I mean by this is that I need to be sure I don't take flak from some asshole trucker, student, employer, etc. because I don't know everything (yet) and because I'm a girl. I've been nervous about entering the job force because I'll be walking into a playing field where I'll be surrounded by people that know a whole lot more than me and I'm sure aren't going to be afraid to show it. I need to make sure I learn to stick up for myself when it's needed and not by too timid. I'm not always good at comebacks and have a tendancy to let people steamroll me when I don't know them. I've got to keep my head held high.

Classes:

I've been smoking the homework, and flying under the radar when it comes to having good scores. My study-buddy has been taking all the flak for having the highest score and I'm glad it's not me in that position. One former prisonmate has lightly joked around that Study-buddy shouldn't be surprised to find his car not starting on homework due dates and test days. He's also said that Study-buddy needs to watch his back.....I'm sure the threats are in jest, but with this crowd you never can know....

Suspended-license Thug is car shopping.....

A potential employer from Montana (learned it's considered Montucky - cute) toured the school and spent some time hovering outside our classroom observing. He didn't like poeple's hoodies and skull caps. People didn't like that too much - "He don't like my dress, fuck 'em. He's just some white dude from Montucky."

For all those people who aren't Nascar addicts (most of my friends): I learned that Dale Earnhart died in a crash back in 2001 because the G-force of his car hitting the embankment combined with the weight of his helmet caused him to be decapitated with the skin on. Visualize that, suckers!

Somehow there was a discussion about women getting their hair done (I stay out of these discussions). One guy was complaining about when his wife gets her hair done, "She says, 'Don't touch me!' and lays in the bed as straight as a board." Another helpful gentleman chimed in, "That's why you do it doggie style!" Good to know.

My education is worth every dime.

Tomorrow, we learn how to put a car on a lift and change the oil in a car.

Terminology.

Real quick, before the glossary lesson, I had a great interview yesterday with a service manager at another domestic dealership. The drive is far and the pay is crap, but I got a great vibe from the guy and think it would be a good place to get my feet wet. Hopefully I'll hear something back early next week. I'm feeling better.

Now for a little commonly used terms:

Lube tech - not to be confused with specializing in the application in sexual lubes, this tech changes the oil on the car. It's the next step up the ladder from lot attendant. Get your mind out of the gutter people.

Wrenching - doing the work of a mechanic on cars for a living. Since there are a million job opportunities out there for auto techs they refer to the actual on-the-line shop job as "wrenching." Example: I was only wrenching for 10 years before I moved into running training for BMW. Sometimes I miss working in a shop everyday.

Drug test, piss test, random drug test, hair follicle drug test - Most places require regular drug tests. A lot of them even require a hair follicle for you to get the job. This includes even your neighborhood Goodyear. Kinda hyper-vigilant on the anti drugs, but I guess insurance for places is out of this world and making sure shops have a drug free environment helps to bring premiums down. I have to supply one for the place I interviewed yesterday. I was honest with the guy - I've used drugs a little in the last six months. I've never been that into it. He seemed cool with that. message here: don't do drugs, period. Even school has random drug testing....

sleepy eyes.

School starts at 7am. I usually have to wake up early to walk my pup, take a shower and eat some breakfast. Getting up at five in the morning is killing me. I ask, is a shower optional for automotive school? What's worse is that this weekend is daylight savings time and next week I'll be getting up at five which will really feel like four. i don't think i've been up this early since high school. Thank god for coffee!

a lesson learned.

Today is International Women's Day, and I figure what better day to write about being a woman in a male dominated field than today. This week has had it's challenges, that's for sure.

As you know, I've been looking for a job in the automotive field. An entry level jobs that gets my foot in the door. There are lots of them out there. It's just a matter of finding one. I applied last week at and upscale dealership for a lot attendant job. The job isn't glamourous, and I'm ok with that. I realize I have no training or experience and that I'm going to have to start somewhere. I went in on Tues this week to inquire about the position in person since the service manager wasn't available to talk when I put in my application. I had noticed the employees were dressed nicely so
I pulled out the old business-cassual attire to show I am serious about getting the job. I was lucky enough to get a quick 10 min with the manager. He told me the job had been filled but wanted to know what my strengths are. I gave him a bunch of quick bull-shit answers. "I'm a quick learner with a strong mechanical and mathematical background." "I'm very detail oriented." The typical crap. He responded by telling me that while they don't have any positions open, he appreciated the fact that I came in to talk to him. "Shows tenacity." He explains that they might have a position as a greeter available. The greeter would involve getting there before customers, MAKING COFFEE, and, you guessed it, GREET the customers. Crazy, I know. I explain I'd be fine with that if I have the opportunity to shadow technicians in downtime. He looked perturbed that I said this. I can't understand why. I told him I am going to school for automotives. He says, "well your job is to greet the customers. That is what you will need to be doing." I would have appreciated more of a response that stated something along the lines of "We definately like to promote from within...blah blah blah." Or even explaining that I am welcome to shadow techs in my spare time. Nothing. I left a little discouraged. To top it off, the guy told me he had called me the day before. There is no record of missed calls on my phone and it's not known to miss phone calls altogether. Liar.

So moving on....Went to another dealership dressed in my professsional kiss-ass dress. This one was a domestic dealership. (Note: Katie has complete disdain for the design of domestic automobiles. Pieces o' crap, in my opinion.) The lot manager took one look at my resume and kindly told me that I'm too overqualified for a lot attendant. He remembered my voice from a message I left for him the week before and commented on how professiona I sounds. "What about a sales position?" I AM GOING TO SCHOOL TO BE A AUTO TECH! Did the sales thing. Not my thing. He asked me if I realized how little a lot attendant gets paid. I explained that I am willing to make that sacrifice. This guys wasn't a total slimeball like the previous guy, but I still left frustrated and jobless.

So. What is holding these people back from hiring me?

Lack of jobs?
Professional background?
Being female?
Lack of experience (I'm not applying for jobs that require skill. Most require washing cars)?
Good communication skills (blogs entries excempt)?

Which one takes the cake?

On the flip side I'm blowing it up in class. Yesterday we started a 12 page math packet which is due in a week. He gave us the classtime to work on it. I finished it first out of 30 people. My new friend next to me was about a page behind me and he double checked all my work. I got most of them right. Pat myself on the back. By the time class was over a lot of people had finished half of the packet. Some people had barely made it past the second page. The teacher posted grades for the class up to this point at the end of class. All the students clamoured to find their status. I waited it out. The crowd called for my student number - they wanted to know if I was at the head of the class. Turns out I'm not. I'm about 0.7 points behind the number one guy. The head of the class is my new friend that checked my math packet. I laughed and told him that he's going down. I will be ..1. He laughed in return. Good old fashioned friendly competition. Good thing we've been doing our homework together.

Murdurous Thug got pissed at me today. We had one week to type up our graded rough drafts of our resume and they were due at 7am today. At 9:30am, our half-hour break time, the thug approaches me and asks me if I type well.
"I type ok. What's up?"
"I'm slow at typing and need to type up my resume and I was thinking you could...."
"I'll help you, but I'm not going to type it."
"Nah, I don't need your help. Fuck it. I'm failing this anyways."

Lesson learned: Do not help these guys. The fact that he didn't do his resume is not my problem. If I help and give them an inch, they'll take a mile, like I owe it to them. I don't need to earn their respect by bending over backwards for them. Instead I need to earn it by being a damn good mechanic.

basic concepts.

Everything today went smoothly. We covered basic physics concepts. The overview they give at the school is so watered down I found it almost a little confusing. I'm going to be sure to not fully trust the book and do a little refreshing on these concepts on my own. Best example I've ever heard on convection came up today though. Convection is the process of moving heat suck as through hot air rising and cool air sinking. You warm you seat when you fart - blowing hot air. Physics meets bodily functions. I don't think that this is probably the best example but it sure was amusing.

So, why do I talk so much about thuggery and prison? Is it a new obsession? Maybe a little. But mainly this is happening because it comes up almost as much if not more than actual talk about cars. We managed to get off subject today when the teacher made a comment about a cop that was parked outside the building. The class FREAKED! This brought about a great conversation of the exits in the room, statute of limitations in most states, being expedited, and that a plastic fork can make the best knife when prepared correctly.

Tomorrow we are taking a field trip to a jeep dealership in town. It was asked if we can take a field trip to the jail. "I wanna visit my dad."

I had a long conversation with a guy that is going to automotive school so he can make enough money to attend architecture school. He's like my mirror twin. Kinda.

He did three and a half years in prison and is trying to start over. It's heartbreaking in a way. He committed a crime seven years ago. His initial time spent was three years and then he was out for 11 months before he broke his parole and ended up locked up again. During his last lockup his fiance got pregnant with someone else during the time she was living in his parents house. He just got out in December is trying to stay clean, find a job, and attend school. He can't seem to understand why I would walk away from the architecture world and I can't understand why he would want in. How do I explain it to him? All of these conversations make me wonder what most of these guys' chances are of making it through school....time will tell I guess.

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I've recently had the luck to meet a female Master Tech for BMW. We had a chance to sit down for coffee on Sat and discuss the industry. She's been in the business for quite some time after leaving a career in Sports Promotion (she was encouraged to sleep with the clients in order to sell season tickets). She believes that most harrassment battles aren't worth the fight. She said she just tries to set the stage off right as soon as she gets on the job. The guys are watching and waiting for a female to screw up the minute she walks in the door. Instead, she says she takes her time and proves herself. She does have a hard time getting raises and training sometimes but her recommendation is to take the bull by the horns. The best thing that came out of the conversation is that she is going to try to get me a job at the BMW dealership. "Women gotta watch out for each other in this industry." Cross your fingers...

BMW prospects led me to their website. If you have never checked it out, I recommend it. If you only have time for one thing check out the video of their new factory in Germany (a popup will come up and you can follow the links to the Leipzig tour or choose to go to the "Explore the Ideas are Everything microsite" link). It was designed by Zaha Hadid. Pretty cool.

Also, check out this great calendar of female mechanics. It was made by a female photographer from KY no less. Good inspiration.

quotes.

Clarification: These statements happen in downtime not classroom time.

Thug ..1: "...who really wants to be here...i don't wanna be at no school...i wanna be chasing pussy..."

Thug ..2: [singing] "...you can come on over baby. First we'll start with some foreplay..."

Thug ..3: "...I don't commit to no one but myself. All these women i date want me to fix their cars.
Her: Oh honey come over. You can drive my car when we go out.
Him: This car drives all fucked up. What's wrong with it?
Her: I was hoping you could look at it.
Him: sigh.
He then told me that he and I could never date cause we'd argue about how to repair the car.
Damn. I shed a tear.

food, jobs and safety.

First, it has come to my attention that I need to clarify the professional dress example. The teacher was making a point that what you wear in your personal time is your business but that what you wear while you are at work is extremely important. He was pointing out that he doubts I wear my uniform out on the town. He did a good job of painting the picture for everyone. Just to prove him wrong I'm going to hit the town in my standard issue blue-on-blue ensemble. I've got five shirts - anyone want to join me?

So I've finished my first week. It's been interesting and boring at the same time. Anyone who has ever started a new job or school most likely knows what I mean. Often the first week is the slowest. We haven't covered much of anything that concerns the mechanisms of an automobile. We have however covered safety, mapped out all the locations of the fire extinguishers and first aid stations, raided the coffee machine in the lunchroom, and prepared our goals for the next ten years. There were plenty of times I wanted to put my pen in my eye to dull the pain of class.

I have come to realize that I'm going to have to develop a rap about why I'm going to school. Unlike most people I don't have a PASSION for cars. My reasons for starting tech school amount to more of a hunch or experiment. I've changed the oil on a car once in my life. This hardly qualifies me as an automotive mechanic. THIS is why I'm going to SCHOOL. I'm having a hard time with the personal nature of the question "why are you here?" It's a common question, but I'm beginning to think it's a little too invasive. People that ask me this don't know me yet want to understand my deep personal reasoning. They then pass judgement when the don't hear the answer they think I should give. I need a story.

We covered OSHA and EPA guidelines this week. They teacher expanded on the importance of following the rules. It was apparent that the majority of class thinks rules are made to be broken. About a month ago a close friend of mine gave me an article that addressed the issues of machismo in the workplace. The author of the article is a female working in a male-dominated union shop in NYC. She deals with the attitude that safety rules are for sissies on a regular basis. Most people don't realize so many of the rules came out of years of struggle. Prior to regulations protecting the safety of workers and our environment, companies treated them as disposable. Why worry about safety when there are no consequences for your actions? Safety goggles - how many eyes were lost before they were required or available?

Speaking of a feminist perspective. The teacher made a suggestion for those wanting to own their own shop: Put everything in your wife's name. Women-owned businesses are not in abundance, so often there are special grants and loans for minority owned businesses. Response from white guy: "That's bullshit sexism!!!!" Sigh.

I'm on the job hunt. Without any experience, my opportunities are limited. I will probably end up at a dealership washing cars, running errands and shovelling snow. In the long term my options are vast. I can work on any car out there, work in Antarctica, fix tour buses for band on the road...sky is the limit. check this out...oh, to be pit crew for them....intense....don't forget to look at their winner's circle photo album

Recipe of the week:

JAILHOUSE BURRITO
Prep time: 3 minutes Total cooking time: 33-63 minutes

1 bag of chips, Chili flavor preferable
package of ramen noodles
1 cup hot water
miscellaneous meat product, whatever is on hand

Empty bag of chips, setting content aside. Save the bag. Pour half of the chips, ramen, water, and meat into bag. Mush up. Roll bag closed tightly. Place the package under mattress or other object that can provide pressure. Leave for 30-60 minutes. Remove from under mattress, cut top of the bag. Remove log of food. Enjoy!

Yummy in my tummy!

Next week we tackle math. We will be covering decimals and fractions for two days. For a girl that once majored in engineering and mastered Calculus 1,2, and 3, Differential Equations, and Linear Algebra this should be good times. It will take all my strength to not put my pen into my eye. Wish me luck.

criminals.

So about half the class has been to prison. here are a few more interesting tidbits from the classroom today...

The guy that doesn't have a license - He just got out of prison. Everyday he brings up the question of whether or not it is going to be possible for him to find a job without a license. He won't be able to get it back until.....drumroll please!.....2011. That's right. 4 years from now. So the teacher was amazed and asked what he did to lose it. I think another drumroll is in order here......he has 38 charges of driving with a suspended license! I can't even imagine being pulled over that many times. The career people have been very frank with him. They've explained that while it will be difficult, there are a few jobs that he can start in that won't require a license. Today he threw a tantrum. The career lady wants a TYPED resume in a WEEK. There ARE computers available at school. he got so pissed that he wanted to quit, then and there. "I was told i wouldn't have to buy a computer! If I'm going to have to type things then I can't do this." Huh? People make their lives so much harder than they have to be.

Big topic of discussion today: prison tats. I've got the dumb 18-year-old-girly tattoo. Good thing it's not some butterfly or dolphin. Do you think they will think I'm a pussy?

What's going to happen to me while I'm in this class? I have a mantra I like to spew when encountering people who are irrationally afraid of urban spaces because they fear "getting shot": If you spend time with violent people then your chances are pretty good of getting shot, but if not then you need to face reality. i think I just increased my chances. Big time.

An awkward moment today was when the teacher used me as an example of professional dress. He wasn't pointing out how nice my light blue shirt looked with my work pants and steel toe boots. No. He had everyone (all the guys) imagine what I wear when I'm not working. What I wear when I'm getting ready to go out on the town. What I wear when I'm looking for a little something-something. OK. Everyone got their mental image of me dressed like a hoochie looking for some booty? Great.

So tomorrow?

Safety day.

See you tomorrow!