On the Grind

You probably thought I've been on vacation right? Just sittin on the beach sippin a cold one, worrying about nothing but how my tan will look this summer...

You'd be wrong, very wrong. 4am is when the coffee is hot and I'm warming up machines by 5am trying to get some cycles in before the power flashes again. Yes, again but that's for later. Monsoon season is here. I've got Novel Carry Delta Tiles to make, Knafs scales, quick releases for the last Mukama order and not to mention the shelves are looking a little empty. Where did all those beads go?

Somewhere in that mess I've gotta print shipping labels for website orders, pack them, and get them to the post office. Don't forget I need to stop and eat something once in a while and of course, make more coffee. 

This week I'm running at least 3 machines at a time and trying to keep up. The big lathe seems fine on it's own until it runs out of bar. The mill is about 20 mins between cycles and the second op machine needs each part loaded individually so I'm standing in front of it the most. I try to wind down around 6pm since 12 hrs seems like a nice round number cause I like to spend some time with the family. My son is almost walking and my daughter is in full discovery mode and wants to catch all the lizards, snakes and tarantulas in the area. I like to give the wife a break and let her have some personal time. Of course it doesn't always work out like that. sometimes I lose track of time and notice it's dark out for some reason. I try to leave my phone in the office so it's not so distracting so I don't see the time as much.

It seems this spring has brought thunderstorms as a daily serving. Let me assure you that I'm not complaining since some years we've had 80% of the rain in one week but it seems this year it's much more spread out but in the form of lightning producing thunderstorms. 3 and 4 a day! The old cobweb-like network we call the power grid around here is finiky on the nice days and we've had sub stations go down, trees catching on fire from touching and the usual lightning strikes that seem to interrupt machine cycles. In the past I usually just wait it out cause some will pass in 30 mins but we've had some storms lasting 4-5 hours and I end up cleaning or sitting in front of the computer updating CAD models, checking email and surfing Reddit for dumpster fires. I can't risk burning up a machine just to add a few cycles to the day. This has put production behind to say it mildly. Though customers seem to understand and be patient, I can tell some folks are getting a little thin. I'm getting many emails a day asking when this or that will be back in stock.