Oh and you can just start calling me:
Quality Weenie, The Road Warrior.
I most likely will be back in Ontario on Monday and another trip to Saginaw, Mi might take place next week also.
So most of next week I will be on the road, traveling to suppliers and kicking some butt.
I think I am going to enjoy this job. Traveling and being a bitoch and getting paid for it.
I will be visiting the wonderful area of River Falls, Wisconsin next week sometime.
Does anybody live near there?
I have to visit a bad supplier and will be flying in the night before. Don't know how long the visit will or when it will take place.
I am thinking maybe Wed night to Thurs.
Let me know.
1945 : Porsche is arrested
Born in Bohemia in 1875, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche devoted himself to mechanical engineering early in life, providing electric light for his family at the age of 15 after constructing everything from the necessary generator to the light bulb. Porsche soon became involved in automotive design, climbing the ranks at Daimler, the Auto Union, and Mercedes-Benz. Famous Porsche-designed cars of this period include the Prince Henry Austro-Daimler, the 38/250 Mercedes-Benz, and the P-Wagon Auto Union Grand Prix car. In 1930, Porsche established a successful auto engine design company of his own, and, in 1934, submitted a design proposal to Adolf Hitler's new German Reich government, calling for the construction of a small, simple, and reliable car that would be affordable enough for the average German. Nazi propagandists immediately embraced the idea, coining the name "Volkswagen" or "people's car," at an automobile show later in the year. The first completed model was introduced in 1938, available for $400. The simple, beetle-shaped automobile was sturdily constructed with a kind of utilitarian user-friendliness scarcely seen in an automobile before. But the outbreak of World War II prevented mass production of the automobile, and the newly constructed Volkswagen factory turned to war production, constructing military vehicles such as the "Kubelwagen," a jeep-type vehicle, the "Schwimmwagen," an amphibious car, and the lethal "Tiger" tank.
After the Allied victory in the war, Porsche, like other German industrialists who participated in the German war effort, was investigated on war-crime charges. On this day, Ferdinand Porsche was arrested by U.S. military officials for his pro-Nazi activities, and was sent to France where he was held for two years before being released. Meanwhile, the Allies approved the continuation of the original Volkswagen program, and Volkswagen went on to become a highly successful automobile company. As his brainchild Volkswagen grew, Porsche himself returned to sports-car design and construction, completing the successful Porsche 356 in 1948 with his son Ferry Porsche. In 1951, Ferdinand Porsche suffered a stroke and died, but Ferry continued his father's impressive automotive legacy, achieving a sports car masterpiece with the introduction of the legendary Porsche 911 in 1963.
Yesterday we found out that Mr Weenie's Great Aunt died on Sunday evening.
She was 93 and sharp as a tack. Sweet, loving and always ready to offer up a prayer for anything.
She was a retired Nun.
She went into the Convent at 15 years of age and just a few years past celebrated her Golden Jubilee in the Convent, that's 75 years of being a Nun. We were happy to be asked to be her guests for the celebration and let me tell you those Nuns knew how to put on a good shindig.
So Sister Paschel we will miss you greatly. Your job is done here on earth and your lord has called you home.
1944 : An accused collaborator dies
French automaker and accused Nazi collaborator Louis Renault died on this day in a Paris military prison hospital of undetermined causes. Born in Paris, Renault built his first automobile, the Renault Type A, in 1898. Inspired by the DeDion quadricycle, the Type A had a 270 cc engine (1.75hp), and could carry two people at about 30mph. Later in the year, Renault and his brothers formed the Societe Renault Freres, a racing club that achieved its first major victory when an automobile with a Renault-built engine won the Paris-Vienna race of 1902. After Louis' brother, Marcel, died along with nine other drivers in the Paris-Madrid race of 1903, Renault turned away from racing and concentrated on mass production of vehicles. During World War I, Renault served his nation with the "Taxis de la Marne," a troop-transport vehicle, and in 1918, with the Renault tank. Between the wars, Renault continued to manufacture and sell successful automobiles, models that became famous for their sturdiness and longevity. With the German occupation of France during World War II, the industrialist, who had served his country so well during World War I, mysteriously offered his Renault tank factory and his services to the Nazis, perhaps believing that the Allies' cause was hopeless. The liberation of France in 1944 saw the arrest of Louis Renault as a collaborator, and the Renault company was nationalized with Pierre Lefaucheux as the new director. The 67-seven-year-old Renault, who likely suffered torture during his post-liberation detainment, died soon after his arrest.
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1973 : America gives Toyota its full attention
Only five days after 11 Arab oil producers increased oil prices and cut back production in response to the support of the United States and other nations for Israel in the Yom Kippur War, Toyota U.S.A. held its first national news conference in Los Angeles, California. Central on the agenda for the three-day conference was the discussion of the remarkable fuel efficiency of Toyota automobiles. In the days following the oil crisis, concerned American consumers suffered gasoline rationing, a quadrupling of prices, and huge lines at gas stations. The small percentage of Americans who owned a Toyota, a Honda, or a Nissan found themselves the envy of other domestic car owners, whose American automobiles typically averaged less than 15 miles per gallon. Even after the oil embargo crisis was resolved, American consumers had learned an important lesson about the importance of fuel efficiency, and foreign auto manufacturers flourished in the large American market. The public turned to imports in droves, and suddenly Japan's modest but sturdy little compacts began popping up on highways all across America. The Big Three rushed to produce their own fuel-efficient compacts, but shoddily constructed models like the Chevy Vega and Ford Pinto could not compete with the overall quality of the Toyota Corollas and Honda Civics. It took years for the Big Three to bounce back from the blow, eventually winning back American consumers with their introduction during the 1980s of quality compacts like the Chevy Cavalier and Ford Escort, that proved on level with the quality of the foreign competition.
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Well, here I am at work.
I finally got a computer, it took 3 weeks. But the computer hasn't been "set-up" yet, so I can access my email and the internet.
I didn't think we were able to get internet access but we are. So I am a happy camper and things should be getting back to normal around the Weenie World.
I travel next week to Canada, yes I was suppose to go this week but it got cancelled. So next week it is.
Saturday starts the World Series! Yea! It's a repeat of the 1968 World Series, in which the Tigers won. Lets hope history repeats itself!
1965 : End of an era at Volvo
The Volvo PV544 was first introduced in 1958 as an updated version of its popular predecessor, the PV444. Like the PV444 with its laminated windscreen, the PV544 featured an important safety innovation--it was the first car to be equipped with safety belts as standard fitting. But the PV544 was also a powerful automobile, boasting a 4-speed manual transmission option and power up to 95bhp. Shortly after its introduction, the 544 became one of the most successful rally cars, dominating rally racing into the 1960s. Yet, the PV544 was also affordably priced, and its first-year sales put Volvo over the 100,000-exported automobiles mark. The PV544 was successfully reintroduced every year until 1965, when it was decided by Volvo that production of the model would cease. On this day in 1965, the last 544 was driven off the Volvo assembly line at its Lundy plant in Sweden by longtime Volvo test driver Nils Wickstrom. Gustaf Larson, the engineer who had co-founded Volvo with businessman Assar Gabrielsson in 1927, was present at the ceremony. An impressive total of 440,000 Volvo PV544s had been produced during its eight-year run, over half of which had been exported.
THE TIGERS JUST SWEPT THE OAKLAND A'S ....
WE ARE ON OUR WAY TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!
GO TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WE ARE FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!
I am alive folks, just tired and busy.
I've been at my new job for 2 weeks now and I still don't have a computer. I can't do work without a computer and the wonderful IT people it could be upto another 2 weeks before I get one. That sucks and it's boring.
I was able to borrow my bosses computer for an hour on Friday and found out that they don't allow employees to have access to the internet so all posting now will be done at night and until I get into a groove posting will be sporatic.
I will be doing a lot more traveling for this job, visiting suppliers. Most of my suppliers are local but I have a couple out of state/country.
This past Thursday I visited a couple suppliers in state and it was neat seeing a process different from Injection Molding. Stamping is cool but loud.
Tuesday night I leave for Ontario for a supplier visit on Wednesday and then back home. Seems I have quite a few suppliers in Ontario, so that means a Passport is needed for plenty of trips to Canada.
I am still gettng use to getting up before dawn, somedays I am at work before I wake up.
How bout those Tigers!
1857 : Birth of an inventor
Automotive pioneer Elwood Haynes was born on this day in Portland, Indiana. After training as an engineer and a chemist at John Hopkins University, Haynes returned to his native Indiana and began experimenting on a carriage powered by an internal engine. In 1894, he completed construction on one of America's earliest automobiles, a one-horsepower, one-cylinder vehicle, and on Independence Day of that year drove it through the streets of Kokomo, Indiana, on its trial run. Today, this automobile is preserved in the Smithsonian Institution as the oldest U.S. automobile in existence. For the next few decades, Haynes continued to make improvements to the new science of automobile manufacturing, including a successful carburetor, the first use of aluminum in automobile engines, and the first muffler.
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The Detroit Tigers just beat the pants off the NY Yankees!
The Tigers won 3 straight games after losing the first game to NY.
Nobody gave the Tigers any hope of winning and yet we are going to the ACLS!
GO TIGERS!
I Believe!
Holy God, I never knew a women could create a man-stink crap.
Yet I work with such a women.
I have never seen her, but I have smelled her.
Every single day this week at work, around 11am I would go to the bathroom and gag because of the smell in the bathroom.
I am not joking, I have actually gagged from the smell and let me tell you I have put up with plenty of smelling shit being married at all that.
That women needs to visit the doctor because something crawled up her and died.
Gack
1919 : Enzo Ferrari's racing debut
On this day, 21-year-old Enzo Ferrari made his racing debut, finishing 11th in the Parmo-Poggia di Berceto hill climb in a Costruzioni Meccaniche Nazionali (CMN) vehicle. Ferrari became a professional driver after World War I, and joined the CMN in Milan as a test and racing-car driver in 1919. The following year, Ferrari moved to Alfa Romeo, establishing a relationship that lasted two decades and a career that took him from test driver to the director post of the Alfa Racing Division. In 1929, he founded the Scuderia Ferrari, an organization that began modestly as a racing club, but by 1933 had entirely taken over the engineering-racing division of Alfa Romeo. In 1940, Ferrari transformed the Scuderia into an independent manufacturing company, the Auto Avio Costruzioni Ferrari, but construction of the first Ferrari vehicle was delayed until the end of World War II. In 1947, the Ferrari 125S was introduced to the racing world, and it won the prestigious Coppa Enrico Faini in the same year. Thus began an impressive 40 years of racing success under the leadership of Enzo Ferrari, a tradition that saw Ferrari vehicles earn 25 world titles, and win over 5,000 events at race tracks around the world.
I started my new job on Tuesday (drug test wasn't back until Monday afternoon) and let me tell you, just walking in the door I could feel the difference between this place of work and my previous place of work.
The people are great, very friendly and more than happy to help me. I have already been teased a few times.
My gut feeling tells me that I will be in this job for awhile.
I am being treated with respect and they treat me like they already know I will do a good job. My boss says he's just going to throw me in the fire and I can get help when I need it, because he knows I already know the job just not the parts.
I forgot what working for good people and a good place feels like.
And of course the 9 minute drive to/from work doesn't hurt either.
1983 : The end of America's speed domination
After nearly 20 years of domination by Americans, Briton Richard Noble raced to a new one-mile land-speed record in his jet-powered Thrust 2 vehicle. The Thrust 2, a 17,000-pound jet-powered Rolls-Royce Avon 302 designed by John Ackroyd, reached a record 633.468mph over the one-mile course in Nevada's stark Black Rock Desert, breaking the 631.367mph speed record achieved by Gary Gabelich's Blue Flame in 1970. Previous to Gary Gabelich there was Craig Breedlove, the American driver who recorded a series of astounding victories in jet-powered vehicles during the 1960s, breaking the 400mph, 500mph, and 600mph barriers in 1963, 1964, and 1965, respectively. In 1997, Breedlove and Noble returned to Black Rock Desert again, this time in a race to break the elusive 700mph barrier. On September 25, team leader Noble watched as British fighter pilot Andy Green set a new land-speed record in their Thrust SSC vehicle, jet-powering to an impressive 714.144mph over the one-mile course. But the greatest victory for the British team came on October 13 of that same year, when Andy Green roared across Black Rock Desert at 764.168mph, or 1.007 percent above the speed of sound. Appropriately, the first shattering of the sound barrier by a land vehicle came on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the first supersonic flight, achieved by American pilot Chuck Yeager in 1947.