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.