I got back home safe and sound last night. We landed at 7:20 pm. George called his wife, Brenda, to come pick us up and she drove us to Burt's Bees to get our cars. I was home at the apartment around 8:30 pm.
After putting all of my stuff away I crashed. I slept soundly.
This morning I got up around 8:00 am, showered and shaved, brushed teeth, and began to dress. I had a luncheon interview today.
Some background on this: On March 5 I was handling new hire onboarding at Burt's Bees. Michelle had called out sick, so I had to order the lunches. Jimmy Johns messed it up badly and when my phone rang I just assumed it was Jimmy Johns calling me back. Except, it wasn't. It was a recruiter named Sam Rezaeian and he works for Germer International, a placement agency that works with pharmaceutical manufacturers only. I told Sam, "Yes, this sounds interesting, but I really cannot talk right now." So we talked some more after work.
The client is Avista Pharmaceutical and they are in Durham, about 5 more miles down the road from Burt's Bees. I had my plant tour and interviews two weeks ago.
Today I had a lunch interview with the General Manager in charge or manufacturing. I felt like it went well. Indeed, as I was driving to Becky and Bill's house to get Bob and Buddy I took a call from Sam and he let me know that we had an offer and they agreed to pay me $25 per hour!!
My first days will probably be April 15 and April 16.
I will give notice at Burt's this week. I can imagine that after this trip to Atlanta, and all of the plans they have made, that they can only be pissed at me. Oh well. These things happen.
At Avista I will be doing work similar to the work I did at Cody Labs, but it will not be controlled substances, and it will seldom be the same product over and over again. They contract to scale compounds up from gram scale to kilogram scale and produce bulk product for clinical trials. Generally, I can expect to work on a new product every 90 days.
Our house in Wyoming had an appraisal today and the underwriting process has begun.
Lots of good change coming our way. Quite the turnaround from April of 2016!
Friday, March 30, 2018
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Forest Park
When we got off of the plane at Atlanta-Hartsfield International Airport, I had to go pee. With that taken care of we rode the train to baggage claim, got our suitcases, and then headed over on another train to car rental.
We picked up a Chevy Malibu and then had lunch at the very first Chik-Fil-A restaurant in the world - the restaurant in Hapeville, GA. Next we went to the Fairfield Inn, put our stuff in our rooms, and then headed over to the Forest Park Clorox Plant.
At the plant security checked us in and we met Kanak Patel, the Assistant Plant Manager. Kanak took us on an hour-long plant tour and then we discussed what things we would cover during our stay.
We went back to our hotel and met in the lobby at 7:00 pm. Sean took us to Spondivits for a seafood dinner. George had a chicken sandwich and fries, Sean had a big bucket of crab legs, and I had buttered shrimp, coleslaw, and a Bloody Mary. It was tasty!
This morning we phoned in an order to Waffle House, picked it up on the way to the plant, and ate it in the breakroom. Then we headed up to our conference room where we covered TQ material with Avery Dimery and Luther Simpson.
During lunch Sean took us to The Pit Boss barbecue restaurant. Again, it was very tasty. I had a nice brisket. Sean had ribs. George had a pork barbecue sandwich.
Today was a good day. We saw a few things that we really liked that we will try to duplicate in Raleigh. We also heard a few things that we did not like. We will address the things we did not care about with Rebecca when we get back.
Today I got my computer out and answered email. I also chatted with Ken and Gigi over Skype. I found out that Luis Guerra in Pre-Weigh quit right after we left yesterday. I predict that more people are going to quit.
This evening we had dinner in a nearby steakhouse called Malone's. I had a grilled chicken salad with an apple cider ale. George had a pound of ribs and fries. Sean had a glass of wine and a bowl of gumbo.
We picked up a Chevy Malibu and then had lunch at the very first Chik-Fil-A restaurant in the world - the restaurant in Hapeville, GA. Next we went to the Fairfield Inn, put our stuff in our rooms, and then headed over to the Forest Park Clorox Plant.
At the plant security checked us in and we met Kanak Patel, the Assistant Plant Manager. Kanak took us on an hour-long plant tour and then we discussed what things we would cover during our stay.
We went back to our hotel and met in the lobby at 7:00 pm. Sean took us to Spondivits for a seafood dinner. George had a chicken sandwich and fries, Sean had a big bucket of crab legs, and I had buttered shrimp, coleslaw, and a Bloody Mary. It was tasty!
This morning we phoned in an order to Waffle House, picked it up on the way to the plant, and ate it in the breakroom. Then we headed up to our conference room where we covered TQ material with Avery Dimery and Luther Simpson.
During lunch Sean took us to The Pit Boss barbecue restaurant. Again, it was very tasty. I had a nice brisket. Sean had ribs. George had a pork barbecue sandwich.
Today was a good day. We saw a few things that we really liked that we will try to duplicate in Raleigh. We also heard a few things that we did not like. We will address the things we did not care about with Rebecca when we get back.
Today I got my computer out and answered email. I also chatted with Ken and Gigi over Skype. I found out that Luis Guerra in Pre-Weigh quit right after we left yesterday. I predict that more people are going to quit.
This evening we had dinner in a nearby steakhouse called Malone's. I had a grilled chicken salad with an apple cider ale. George had a pound of ribs and fries. Sean had a glass of wine and a bowl of gumbo.
Monday, March 26, 2018
Business Trip
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| My Seats |
Outbound Flight
Delta Flight DL 1294 RDU > ATL
Departs Monday, 26 March 2018 at 11:20 AM
Arrives Monday, 26 March 2018 at 12:47 PM
Aircraft MD-85 Seat 28E
Return Flight
Delta Flight DL 2534 ATL > RDU
Departs Thursday, 29 March 2018 at 5:56 PM
Arrives Thursday, 29 March 2018 at 7:19 PM
Aircraft MD-85 Seat 21B
On the right I am showing the cabin seating chart for the McDonnell MD-85 airliner and I have circled the seats I am sitting in during the outbound and return flights. The flight covers 356 miles and takes about an hour and twenty-five minutes.
We are visiting the Forest Park, GA Clorox bleach plant this week where we are going to gather TQ information.
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Fiber Fest
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| Bob tours the 2018 Carolina Fiber Fest |
We are going to return to Chapel Hill in two weeks to have the mask created that Bob must wear during the procedure. They will also get the CT scan and MRI that they will need for the surgery on the same day. We will likely return for the actual procedure during the following week.
After the procedure, he will be given a dose of decadron, a steroid used to prevent brain swelling, and he will go home that day. He will have an MRI every two months during the follow up to check that the procedure worked and that the lesion is not bleeding.
Today we went to the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh to tour the 2018 Carolina Fiber Fest. This event is free and is full of vendors and exhibitors. We learned a little about wool shearing, carding, spinning, knitting, and weaving while we were there. Bob did not buy anything because the prices were a little high.
After a quick stop at Wal*Mart to get a few things we came back home.
Tomorrow we are going to Wilmington. I have to travel for work this week, so I am taking Bob and Buddy to stay with Becky and Bill. We have a few giveaways from Burt's to take with us. Bob will take his Kindle to read and he will take his knitting.
On Monday I am traveling to Atlanta with Sean and George to visit the Forest Park bleach plant. We are supposed to learn everything about their TQ program. We will return on Thursday evening, and I will go to Wilmington to pick up Bob and Buddy.
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Bye-Bye Winter
Today is the last day of Winter.
It was pouring down rain this morning when I took Buddy outside. We did not stay outside for very long.
It rained all the way to work.
Sometime around 11:30, something inside my head said to me, "You should check your Yahoo! email messages." So I logged in and found two email messages from Sherri Richardson, our realtor in Cody, WY.
Suddenly, it felt like the clouds parted and the sun came streaming down into my face.
We have an offer for our house! The closing is scheduled for May 1, 2018.
Now it feels like a heavy weight is lifting up off of me.
It was pouring down rain this morning when I took Buddy outside. We did not stay outside for very long.
It rained all the way to work.
Sometime around 11:30, something inside my head said to me, "You should check your Yahoo! email messages." So I logged in and found two email messages from Sherri Richardson, our realtor in Cody, WY.
Suddenly, it felt like the clouds parted and the sun came streaming down into my face.
We have an offer for our house! The closing is scheduled for May 1, 2018.
Now it feels like a heavy weight is lifting up off of me.
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Another Week
This week was extremely disrupted at work. Management about lost their minds because of the Rick McDonald and Tim Smith visit on Tuesday. George remarked to me that this would never have happened when Glen and Bill were running the place. I agreed. I said they would have had a lot more confidence. The whole thing smelled of panic.
I finished my presentation about the Line 320 Enercon Vision System and was trying to start the next presentation, but we kept getting interrupted. Sean came up to us, "Vince and George, I hope you guys aren't working on something else, but I need a big big favor... the Oakes Mixer was just delivered and I know we were supposed to train on it tomorrow, but the factory guy is here and he is starting the training right now!"
This continued into Wednesday with multiple meetings for this mixer, a huge amount of controversy, and a push to get documents, most importantly, the safety documents ready for the start of production on Monday. These meetings were worse than useless - people sitting around a table expecting and assuming other people are doing things and the other people have no idea that they are supposed to be doing these things. Even the managers do not understand how the processes are supposed to work! Rebecca thinks TQ writes all of the docs!
I called in sick on Thursday. I left Sean a phone message at 4:50 am to let him know, but he did not check his messages until the afternoon. I was probably marked absent and given points.
On Friday we went to breakfast at The Egg & I. To our surprise, we found out that they hired KC Jo from Bob Evan's! I am glad she found work again.
Then we headed to Chapel Hill for an appointment with Dr. Sasaki-Adams to discuss Bob's latest MRI images. Three of the malformations have grown and we had to discuss options for intervention. We want to try the CyberKnife radiosurgery. So, Dr. Sasaki-Adams made an appointment for us with Dr. Shen in radiation oncology. We will meet with her next Friday.
Our house in Wyoming was shown on Friday. The gentleman from Texas drove up by himself to see the house. He left his wife in Texas at their son's house. He liked the house. He took lots of pictures. He really liked the rooftop deck. Sherri said the weather was perfect and they were even able to walk the property line. He had a few questions that Sherri asked me and she will relay the answers to him. He left to drive back to Texas.
Sherri remains very optimistic that these people will end up buying the house. She may be right. This was probably the most promising showing the house has had.
This man is a 100% service-connected disabled veteran and he will be financing the house with a VA loan. He is using the equity from his home sale to pay off some medical bills which will hopefully bring his credit score up a little. He has a score of 640. The floor for VA loans is 615. Hopefully we will know something soon. On the drive back to Cody, he said,"Oh, I hope nobody else comes in and buys that house before I take care of all this!" Somehow, I don't think he has anything to worry about.
Today we went to BJ's Warehouse for bulk grocery. We renewed our memberships and then spent $247 on food.
Tomorrow I am going to do the laundry, vacuum the floors, and then go to Food Lion to get some more grocery before getting ready for another exciting and disorderly week at Burt's Bees.
I finished my presentation about the Line 320 Enercon Vision System and was trying to start the next presentation, but we kept getting interrupted. Sean came up to us, "Vince and George, I hope you guys aren't working on something else, but I need a big big favor... the Oakes Mixer was just delivered and I know we were supposed to train on it tomorrow, but the factory guy is here and he is starting the training right now!"
This continued into Wednesday with multiple meetings for this mixer, a huge amount of controversy, and a push to get documents, most importantly, the safety documents ready for the start of production on Monday. These meetings were worse than useless - people sitting around a table expecting and assuming other people are doing things and the other people have no idea that they are supposed to be doing these things. Even the managers do not understand how the processes are supposed to work! Rebecca thinks TQ writes all of the docs!
I called in sick on Thursday. I left Sean a phone message at 4:50 am to let him know, but he did not check his messages until the afternoon. I was probably marked absent and given points.
On Friday we went to breakfast at The Egg & I. To our surprise, we found out that they hired KC Jo from Bob Evan's! I am glad she found work again.
Then we headed to Chapel Hill for an appointment with Dr. Sasaki-Adams to discuss Bob's latest MRI images. Three of the malformations have grown and we had to discuss options for intervention. We want to try the CyberKnife radiosurgery. So, Dr. Sasaki-Adams made an appointment for us with Dr. Shen in radiation oncology. We will meet with her next Friday.
Our house in Wyoming was shown on Friday. The gentleman from Texas drove up by himself to see the house. He left his wife in Texas at their son's house. He liked the house. He took lots of pictures. He really liked the rooftop deck. Sherri said the weather was perfect and they were even able to walk the property line. He had a few questions that Sherri asked me and she will relay the answers to him. He left to drive back to Texas.
Sherri remains very optimistic that these people will end up buying the house. She may be right. This was probably the most promising showing the house has had.
This man is a 100% service-connected disabled veteran and he will be financing the house with a VA loan. He is using the equity from his home sale to pay off some medical bills which will hopefully bring his credit score up a little. He has a score of 640. The floor for VA loans is 615. Hopefully we will know something soon. On the drive back to Cody, he said,"Oh, I hope nobody else comes in and buys that house before I take care of all this!" Somehow, I don't think he has anything to worry about.
Today we went to BJ's Warehouse for bulk grocery. We renewed our memberships and then spent $247 on food.
Tomorrow I am going to do the laundry, vacuum the floors, and then go to Food Lion to get some more grocery before getting ready for another exciting and disorderly week at Burt's Bees.
Saturday, March 10, 2018
Flat Tire
On Friday morning we went to Famous Toastery at Tryon Road and Kildaire Farm Road for breakfast. We both had the 3-egg breakfast, over-medium, with bacon and potatoes. I had coffee and Bob had water.
After breakfast we took a long ride down into Harnett County. We ended up at Lillington, NC where we turned around to come back. We toured a construction site in Holly Springs where there were putting up some nice townhouses with garages. Unbeknownst to us, we picked up a staple in our back passenger side tire at this place.
We went home for an hour and a half while Bob showered and then rested. Then we were out again on our way over to WakeMed for aqua therapy. Bob had his session with Debbie and then we came home and had a dinner of Philly Cheese Steak Stuffed Peppers.
It became cloudy today. We stayed in and napped most of the morning. In the afternoon I went out to get the mail and then I was going to go over to Food Lion to get some things to start dinner. I found our back passenger-side tire flat!
The Fiat 500x does not come with a spare tire. Nosirreee. You get an air compressor with a can of fix-a-flat single-use tire sealant. We pumped the tire up to about 30 psi, and then carefully drove over to Hendrick Fiat Service Department to see if the tire could be repaired. Of course the staple was in the side-wall, and that could not be patched.
The service technician told us that he did not have that particular tire in stock, but could get it by Monday. "What do you mean, you don't have that tire? This is the Fiat Dealership! Take one off of another! You guys are the geniuses who sell these without a spare!" They had a Firestone that was the same size as the Continental and we certainly do not care whether all four tires are the same brand.
$208.33 was the total for that adventure. Oh wait! There's more! Because the fix-a-flat canister is single-use and screws onto the air compressor, I needed to replace that too. I stepped over to Parts Department to get that and was told that it cost $49.95 for a 500 cc can. I just started laughing and told him "Never mind". We will just get some at Wal*Mart.
Now we are back home, the dog has been walked, and there is chicken baking in the oven. Tomorrow I have to do the laundry, vacuum, and get ready for another exciting week at Burt's Bees.
After breakfast we took a long ride down into Harnett County. We ended up at Lillington, NC where we turned around to come back. We toured a construction site in Holly Springs where there were putting up some nice townhouses with garages. Unbeknownst to us, we picked up a staple in our back passenger side tire at this place.
We went home for an hour and a half while Bob showered and then rested. Then we were out again on our way over to WakeMed for aqua therapy. Bob had his session with Debbie and then we came home and had a dinner of Philly Cheese Steak Stuffed Peppers.
It became cloudy today. We stayed in and napped most of the morning. In the afternoon I went out to get the mail and then I was going to go over to Food Lion to get some things to start dinner. I found our back passenger-side tire flat!
The Fiat 500x does not come with a spare tire. Nosirreee. You get an air compressor with a can of fix-a-flat single-use tire sealant. We pumped the tire up to about 30 psi, and then carefully drove over to Hendrick Fiat Service Department to see if the tire could be repaired. Of course the staple was in the side-wall, and that could not be patched.
The service technician told us that he did not have that particular tire in stock, but could get it by Monday. "What do you mean, you don't have that tire? This is the Fiat Dealership! Take one off of another! You guys are the geniuses who sell these without a spare!" They had a Firestone that was the same size as the Continental and we certainly do not care whether all four tires are the same brand.
$208.33 was the total for that adventure. Oh wait! There's more! Because the fix-a-flat canister is single-use and screws onto the air compressor, I needed to replace that too. I stepped over to Parts Department to get that and was told that it cost $49.95 for a 500 cc can. I just started laughing and told him "Never mind". We will just get some at Wal*Mart.
Now we are back home, the dog has been walked, and there is chicken baking in the oven. Tomorrow I have to do the laundry, vacuum, and get ready for another exciting week at Burt's Bees.
Wednesday, March 07, 2018
Working
Lots of busy days at work.
The L320 Capper presentation and training are finished. Now I have moved on to the L320 Induction Sealer.
There was a 2-hour interruption today for me as we hosted three people from Durham Technical Community College to learn about training opportunities that the state would pay for. George made me lead the tour. I guess that was one of those "Stretch to grow" events for me.
Next week we have an EVP from Clorox visiting the plant. Christy has pulled out all of the stops to make this go well. I put together slides for the Axis TV welcoming Rick McDonald and Tim Smith. Michelle is having posters made with their pictures on them! She even had to get a (fake) tree and plant for the lobby! Like all dog and pony shows, it will be awesome when it is over.
The week after next we are having Mid-Level Leader Training in the plant. Bobby Berger, the WCO T&Q Pillar will also be visiting the plant. Bobby will be having one-on-one meetings with George and me as well.
March 26 - March 29, Sean, George and I will be flying down to Atlanta to visit the Forest Park Clorox Plant to see how T&Q handles Skill Blocks, myLearning, and other training activities.
I am going to leave Bob and Buddy and Becky and Bill's in Wilmington while I am out-of-town. That's funny! Everybody in the house - their names all start with "B"! LOL!
The L320 Capper presentation and training are finished. Now I have moved on to the L320 Induction Sealer.
There was a 2-hour interruption today for me as we hosted three people from Durham Technical Community College to learn about training opportunities that the state would pay for. George made me lead the tour. I guess that was one of those "Stretch to grow" events for me.
Next week we have an EVP from Clorox visiting the plant. Christy has pulled out all of the stops to make this go well. I put together slides for the Axis TV welcoming Rick McDonald and Tim Smith. Michelle is having posters made with their pictures on them! She even had to get a (fake) tree and plant for the lobby! Like all dog and pony shows, it will be awesome when it is over.
The week after next we are having Mid-Level Leader Training in the plant. Bobby Berger, the WCO T&Q Pillar will also be visiting the plant. Bobby will be having one-on-one meetings with George and me as well.
March 26 - March 29, Sean, George and I will be flying down to Atlanta to visit the Forest Park Clorox Plant to see how T&Q handles Skill Blocks, myLearning, and other training activities.
I am going to leave Bob and Buddy and Becky and Bill's in Wilmington while I am out-of-town. That's funny! Everybody in the house - their names all start with "B"! LOL!
Saturday, March 03, 2018
Weekend
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| Bob at Great Clips. |
It was very windy! It was much cooler.
We came home for a little bit. Bob got a quick shower, and soon it was time to go to WakeMed for therapy.
Bob had a better time this week. I think he likes the warm water in the pool.
I made a pan of red chili for dinner. After that I was beat. We went to bed early.
This morning I made eggs and sausage for breakfast.
We went out later. We went to Great Yarns to buy yarn for a ponytail cap that Bob is knitting. Next we stopped at Target to get razor blades, tooth paste, mouthwash, and a few other things.
Finally we went to Great Clips to get Bob's hair cut. Bob always has Julian cut his hair.
This evening we will have fried sausage with peppers and onions for dinner.
Thursday, March 01, 2018
Thursday
Yeah!! I made it through another week. I am tired. My days are busy.
Axis TV at the plant is now fixed. The slides are displaying properly on the TV monitors and we have uploaded new slides to the rotation. I want to set up a live weather stream from the Internet now. It should work now that we have an active server that is connected to the Internet.
We had a meeting with Todd Hyde, the Line Leader on Line 320 today. We explained how the training on the Serpa Cartoner will be working on Monday. After we finished speaking with Todd, we brought William upstairs to explain to him what we are trying to do. We are optimistic that we are going to have a successful training outcome by following the 5-Step OJT Process and training from our documentation.
I continued to work on the L320 Capper. I have about 85% of the text in the slide presentation, but I still need some photos and even a couple of movies. I will convert the movies to slow-motion GIF files to show how the parts work on the inside of the machine. I guess George, Gigi, Ken, and I will be spending quite a lot of time on the production floor on Monday.
Todd asked for a copy of the training binder that we created for William. I told him that I would make one, but he would not have it before Monday afternoon. I estimate that the binder costs the company about $140 when you consider the cost of the 3-ring binder, color copies, and my time.
I downloaded and installed Autodesk Fusion 360 earlier this week. I have been working my way through the free online training and tutorials. I have completed 10 lessons so far. This software is basically 3D modeling software and can be used to create physical objects with 3D printing (additive) processes, or Computer-Aided Manufacturing - CAM (subtractive) processes.
Tomorrow morning we will go out for breakfast. Then Bob has an appointment in Chapel Hill for an MRI and a neuro surgeon visit. In the afternoon he has his aqua therapy at the WakeMed pool. Tomorrow is also pay day. I need to make the house payment for March.
Axis TV at the plant is now fixed. The slides are displaying properly on the TV monitors and we have uploaded new slides to the rotation. I want to set up a live weather stream from the Internet now. It should work now that we have an active server that is connected to the Internet.
We had a meeting with Todd Hyde, the Line Leader on Line 320 today. We explained how the training on the Serpa Cartoner will be working on Monday. After we finished speaking with Todd, we brought William upstairs to explain to him what we are trying to do. We are optimistic that we are going to have a successful training outcome by following the 5-Step OJT Process and training from our documentation.
I continued to work on the L320 Capper. I have about 85% of the text in the slide presentation, but I still need some photos and even a couple of movies. I will convert the movies to slow-motion GIF files to show how the parts work on the inside of the machine. I guess George, Gigi, Ken, and I will be spending quite a lot of time on the production floor on Monday.
Todd asked for a copy of the training binder that we created for William. I told him that I would make one, but he would not have it before Monday afternoon. I estimate that the binder costs the company about $140 when you consider the cost of the 3-ring binder, color copies, and my time.
I downloaded and installed Autodesk Fusion 360 earlier this week. I have been working my way through the free online training and tutorials. I have completed 10 lessons so far. This software is basically 3D modeling software and can be used to create physical objects with 3D printing (additive) processes, or Computer-Aided Manufacturing - CAM (subtractive) processes.
Tomorrow morning we will go out for breakfast. Then Bob has an appointment in Chapel Hill for an MRI and a neuro surgeon visit. In the afternoon he has his aqua therapy at the WakeMed pool. Tomorrow is also pay day. I need to make the house payment for March.