Back pay

Back after a week in Salina. Had 5 different classes with a painfully simple 10 question quiz after each of them. All but one of the tests took me less than 5 minutes to complete. Except for the 1st day, the classes started at 1pm and ended at noon the next day. The tests were scheduled for 11:30am, but luckily most started them early, so I was able to take off to lunch early, and take a much needed nap. I had a hard time staying awake in the morning classes. They made all the people taking the class for the first time sit in the first two rows, so I was front row center, since I arrived right on time.

Today had a class on traffic control. It mostly went over specs, which is a good thing, since I probably wouldn't have read the specs on my own. Then we watched a cheesy KDOT made video on how to flag traffic. Then we all received cards that certify us as flaggers. Luckily I will never have to flag traffic.

My boss told me that I have some back pay owed to me. Apparently I was in fact promoted back in November, like I was supposed to, so I'm getting that money. It's a nice chunk of changed that I can use on my upcoming trip to Japan this summer, if work doesn't interfere. I will actually be the project coordinator for two projects this summer. One is a 10-day emergency bridge repair in May. As long as it starts on time, I'll be able to go to Japan. The 2nd one will be let in May, so it'll probably start in July. It's actually two separate projects tied together, because they're right by each other and the same contractor is doing the work. It'll be a bridge overlay. Surprisingly there's 3 nights jobs, and I'm not none of them. I think I'm the only person in the office that likes night jobs.

I won't have any class in March, so it'll give me time to read the contractor for this bridge project that I'll be helping out on until my starts. I need to quickly finish/catch up on my tv shows, because I won't have lunch breaks in the office soon.

hurray

Yatta! I finally got my keys back. It almost caused me a problem after my class on Tuesday, because I'm supposed to put my state truck back in a fenced yard. For some reason the gate was closed, but the lock wasn't latched so I was able to return my truck. The asphalt class wasn't too bad, learned quite a bit and was able to relate almost all of it to my past experiences. I was the first person to finish test, but I didn't get 100% like usual. Felt a little stupid because of the questions I missed. Though a couple of them I just didn't feel like looking up the answers, it was open book. That's a lazy attitude and I shouldn't be way when dealing with specs. Currently I'm answering the phones, and immediately I get 4 calls. I hate answering the phones, because most of the people are gone, and I'm not really capable of answering their questions.

Level up

I finally got promoted today. I'm now an Engineering Associate II. Good thing I didn't have them put EAI on my business cards. I had my evaluation this morning, same results as the other ones. My boss finally gave me an idea of what I'll be doing spring. He'll put me on a bridge project with the other engineer initially. It's unknown if I'll stay on the project the whole time or not. It'll depend on what comes up. I think there's some nights jobs this year, so he might put me on those, since he knows I like those.

The concrete class wasn't too bad, had a good teacher. A lot of repetition so the all specs are drilled into my head. I passed all 7 parts of the lab exam on my first try, and I have to wait a couple week to get the results of the written portion of the test. I was actually 1.5 hours late to the first day of class. I had my alarm set for PM instead of AM, and work up 10 minutes before the class started, which was 100 miles away. That's the 2nd time I've been late for a class, and it's only the 4th class I've take so far. My next class is tomorrow, QC/QA asphalt. It's a two day course, but it's in Hutchinson, just 50 miles, so I have to drive home afterwards. I'll be sure to get there on time. I try to be on time, but never early.

Field Trip

We had a field trip a cement manufacturer in Humbolt, KS yesterday. It wasn't too bad of a trip. It's a little over a 2 hour drive, and I slept for 3/4 of it. Half of the plant was shut down for maintenance since we are having a surprisingly cold winter this year. The plant actually runs 24/7, 365. In case you didn't know, cement is what's combined with water, sand, and gravel to make concrete. Sadly I lost my keys there, and didn't notice until I was back in Wichita. I had to get a spare from my dad. I called our tour guide today, and luckily were able to find the keys. They were exactly where I thought they would be. They fell out of my pocket while sitting the van. I had a brochure rolled up in my pocket, which gave it a tunnel to slip out of. The other half of the office is going on a tour next week, so Ms. Engineer will pick them up for me.

Tomorrow is the concrete field tester course, three days of boring classwork. Hopefully we have good teacher. The teachers I've had so far have been good. I've actually tested concrete before, and I really don't like it. Dries my hands out terribly. Oh well, it gets me out of the office, and I get per diem.