What Do You Do For A Living?

[Gearzilla]

That sounds interesting. I'm not convinced of the long term ROI of things like wind, solar, etc. I've been thinking the solution has to be an evolution of nuclear, something highly efficient.

Think solar still needs a bit more efficiency. Orbital would be pretty cool except for the dual use purposes which could make it kind of dangerous. To me wind farms are pretty much an eye sore.

Solar might also be a lot cooler when there are solar house coatings or roofing materials that lend themselves to energy production more seamlessly to supplement things until Fusion is viable.

 

[Jarick]

Think solar still needs a bit more efficiency. Orbital would be pretty cool except for the dual use purposes which could make it kind of dangerous. To me wind farms are pretty much an eye sore.

Solar might also be a lot cooler when there are solar house coatings or roofing materials that lend themselves to energy production more seamlessly to supplement things until Fusion is viable.

The thing that I'm concerned about is, what happens at EOL for solar panels...can they be recycled or are they just going to a landfill. Same with wind turbines and electric car batteries and what not. It's easy to look at the savings when it's in service but if you look at cost of production and disposal, it doesn't look nearly as good.

 

[la szum]

Tried to carpool with Bob Lazar...he was just a little too out there for me though. Lol

Just kidding...worked strictly in STL.

Haha! Nice one.

 

[ucnick]

HW engineer. I'm THIS close to retiring! Right now sort of quiet quitting, I mostly WFH...

 

[la szum]

Think solar still needs a bit more efficiency. Orbital would be pretty cool except for the dual use purposes which could make it kind of dangerous. To me wind farms are pretty much an eye sore.

Solar might also be a lot cooler when there are solar house coatings or roofing materials that lend themselves to energy production more seamlessly to supplement things until Fusion is viable.

I feel like a diverse energy infrastructure is going to one day be viewed like a
diverse investment portfolio: both wise and necessary.

Putting all of our collective energy eggs in one basket makes us very vulnerable.
If we can get past looking for THE ANSWER and value diversity I feel like we will
be moving in an healthier direction than assuming it's either all this or all that.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

I have today (Tuesdays) off, but still have to do things like Mandated Reporter Training/Testing. Yay.

 

[Justincase]

I feel like a diverse energy infrastructure is going to one day be viewed like a
diverse investment portfolio: both wise and necessary.

Putting all of our collective energy eggs in one basket makes us very vulnerable.
If we can get past looking for THE ANSWER and value diversity I feel like we will
be moving in an healthier direction than assuming it's either all this or all that.

I saw this on the back of an old Ford truck the other day...I laughed my ass off.

 

[Justincase]

I feel like a diverse energy infrastructure is going to one day be viewed like a
diverse investment portfolio: both wise and necessary.

Putting all of our collective energy eggs in one basket makes us very vulnerable.
If we can get past looking for THE ANSWER and value diversity I feel like we will
be moving in an healthier direction than assuming it's either all this or all that.

Try salads!!! Bahahaha

 

[la szum]

Try salads!!! Bahahaha

That was my wife's Prius, Bro. And it's Carin with a C and an I.

I won't tell anyone you spend most of your time in a Minivan either.

 

[la szum]

I saw this on the back of an old Ford truck the other day...I laughed my ass off.View attachment 752

 

[hippietim]

I’m a typist.

 

[hippietim]

That is so kickass.

 

[DrewJD82]

Today at my job I proved that you can spend $25,000 to resolve a major issue or you can just try turning it off and turning it on again.

A couple years ago our chiller plant went down during a preventative maintenance visit, we traced it back to the automatic transfer switches that send power to the chiller from our generator during power outages. Apparently, transfer switches get into a specialized area where standard electricians don’t often visit and I had to track down a couple electrical engineers to resolve the issue. In the end I get a huge proposal for a full replacement of all the switches and related equipment.

I got it all approved first, then said “Just for shats and gaggles, let’s try wiring it back the way it was originally when the problem popped up.” We did that and everything came back on perfectly, tested the transfer switch and all is well. I just did the victory lap around the campus ala Bart-

 

[la szum]

Awesome! Work can be both a slog and so f'ing gratifying. I can feel the dopamine from here!!!

 

[the swede]

Great first assignment this morning, driving about 2 hours through nothing but woods and arriving on this hill with a view and a cabin. Closed down and emptying all the water things and stuff. I have a bunch of these each fall. And also get them up and running in the spring. It’s nice little jobs. A lot of driving though.

Its this old place that people walked to with their animals (cows, goats, hens and whatnot) for the summers, to live there and feed the animals, 100 years ago or something.

 

[HotRats]

Nice place man

 

[Piing]

Today at my job I proved that you can spend $25,000 to resolve a major issue or you can just try turning it off and turning it on again.

A couple years ago our chiller plant went down during a preventative maintenance visit, we traced it back to the automatic transfer switches that send power to the chiller from our generator during power outages. Apparently, transfer switches get into a specialized area where standard electricians don’t often visit and I had to track down a couple electrical engineers to resolve the issue. In the end I get a huge proposal for a full replacement of all the switches and related equipment.

I got it all approved first, then said “Just for shats and gaggles, let’s try wiring it back the way it was originally when the problem popped up.” We did that and everything came back on perfectly, tested the transfer switch and all is well. I just did the victory lap around the campus ala Bart-

Are you on Facilities Management? I am now, for the last 11 years. After more than 25 years on HVAC Controls and Building Management Systems (Johnson Controls, Sauter and Delta Controls), and also as HVAC Consulting Engineer.

 

[DrewJD82]

Are you on Facilities Management? I am now, for the last 11 years. After more than 25 years on HVAC Controls and Building Management Systems (Johnson Controls, Sauter and Delta Controls), and also as HVAC Consulting Engineer.

More or less. I work for a Property Management company that owns the campus we work on, we used to have a lot of 3rd party properties we managed but I just handle this one now. I run the maintenance department but really, that only takes up about 1/3rd of my actual job because I have my hands in everything here. A more suitable description is I’m a property manager that also handles the maintenance department, even though my job title is Chief Engineer.

I’ve been getting schooled on controls for the last two years; when I got here we have two buildings utilizing one chiller plant and had an old Metasys system integrated in it that no one knew how to operate. During a suite demolition, the contractor ripped out ALL the wiring in the suite and destroyed the communication trunk for the BMS. When trying to get it repaired I brought in multiple vendors but because of licensing issues and the way our system was cobbled together with random parts from various vendors, no single vendor could repair the system. I found a small company who could and we ended up going with an entirely new BMS, Siemens Disego.

This vendor has made my life hell because he talks more than he works. If it weren’t for his staff we would have sued his ass already for not upholding the contract we signed. Since Disego is so new, we’re doing the “early adopter” thing and have been a guinea pig for bugs in the system, which put us in a REALLY sh*tty position with the new tenants who moved in and didn’t have everything resolved until 9 months after they moved in. We still consistently have issues where the programming is resetting after power losses, so I start every morning by opening my ipad, logging into the system and checking that everything is running properly.

I could write a book about the issues I’ve had with this crap. Then after all the BS we went through with the first suite using Disego, our idiot construction manager ignored me when I said we had to replace the 35-year old pneumatic VAV’s from a new buildout because they all utilize that rubber diaphragm that dries out and fails after so long. Sure as sh*t, the tenant moves in and every pneumatic VAV failed within the first 3 months…..and lead times on new VAV’s? 3-6 months. It’s been a nightmare.

 

[la szum]

Great first assignment this morning, driving about 2 hours through nothing but woods and arriving on this hill with a view and a cabin. Closed down and emptying all the water things and stuff. I have a bunch of these each fall. And also get them up and running in the spring. It’s nice little jobs. A lot of driving though.
View attachment 1223
Its this old place that people walked to with their animals (cows, goats, hens and whatnot) for the summers, to live there and feed the animals, 100 years ago or something.

Dang! That is gorgeous and a great way to spend a day getting paid. :)

I do a lot of that same work, too. Still a bit early here for "draining the pipes....."
and no, not what you think that is @DrewJD82 . :

 

[la szum]

Another one for @DrewJD82 . Do you generally blow out the lines, @the swede ?