Pics of My ex boss/asst. boss/production mgr.
Kinda' sounds like a Pa/Ma shop to me and no advancement. What keeps you there? Maybe it's time to take the leap to other opportunity.
VERY LONG!!
This was many moons ago, ran a cal lab on an aircraft carrier, got out and worked 4 years Depot level maint. on ground support equipt. MMF's (container sized mobile test and repair setups), repair/ calibration military aircraft engine test cells, load banks, aircraft gen, test stands, good job, but it was in California, I hated every minute I was in that state.
Return to Ga. no jobs, don't wanna commute, can't even get a job a Radio Shack ! LOL.
Get sent on a job interview in this little city, electrical assembly of what I would KINDLY describe as primitive test equipment, they're still using "ice cube relays" it's all analog except the A/D converter board for the computer, the lead electrician walks me around, walk past two guy's assembling a machine, every wire in it is RED, and NO wire marking's even at termination to help someone, eventually me, to trace wires or troubleshoot, later I find out that they don't even know what the components are they are wiring or what they do, they don't even have a wiring diagram, just sheets of paper saying a wire goes from here to here! come to find out that they have never assembled a machine that was sent to shakedown that worked ! anyway, I'm standing there and i see a temp probe with red and white wire's attached, I asked the lead elect. guy, "so You use J thermocouple's?, His eyes get big as saucers and he say's "come on", we go to the bosses office, I wait outside, he come's out, "When can You start?".
Turns out they want me to go on the road install, train, troubleshoot and repair these "mission Impossible" machines, OK, the present guy doing this shows me a few things (ex Air Force), a few month's later He electrocutes himself on 480 under a console, He's dead before he even slams against the wall acroos from the console, looks like i'm "the man" now.
So I traipse all over the US, South America, and even one trip to Norway, finally have a heart attack leaving Rutgers University in NJ, fly to Richmond with chest pains, can't make it no more, 3 days in the hospital there, fly back to Ga.
Second bypass, recuperate, back to work, new job, "Purchasing Mgr." My first question is, where is the spreadsheet?, uh, the shop sup always orders stuff when we run out! NO KIDDING !!! So I start a spread sheet and labor like hell to find all the items, suppliers, costs, lead times, etc. Months later I take it to the asst. boss who's astonished to find out they have actually been making money selling them at X amount of dollars (or so they say) they didn't even know what it cost to build one of these contraptions yet they were selling them!
Years later we move, I'l cloning a hard drive for a new machine, by now it's down to three in maint/assembly, I walk over to the door and I'm standing there and light a cigarette, big boss comes out, say's something to little boss, he says something the shop mgr. he's comes over and asks what I'm doing, uh taking a smoke break, uh boss wants you back to work, tell the boss i said go F himself, got my tools and never looked back.
From there I started a job in the big city, didn't wanna commute, 1 hour, but there's nothing around here, land a job in industrial tool repair, I ain't talking electric drills and table saws, computer connected torque drivers with go-no go and recorded torque values at a Mercedes factory transmission assembly plant and stuff like it, I was hired to repair all types of tools, pulse tools, air tools, hydraulic tools, some electric tools.
So I start and soon find my job description is ever expanding, now it's sign for and receive the tool, log it in, disassemble, troubleshoot, clean, order parts, send quote, receive parts, assemble tool, test and check, package tool, make packaging label and place for shipment, while receiving parts for other tools and placing them with the correct tool so it can be assembled when all parts are received, ordering supplies, answering overflow customer calls, receiving and stocking other new tools and various parts for customers, general clean up, NOW i'm picking up and delivering tools around the city of Atlanta! sheesh, I guess everyone can go home! I got this ! :), and pretty much it's true, large company in another state, our place? three people, inside sales and billing, I person, outside sales, one person, everything else, ME.
18 months go by, I have never asked for a raise in my life, they always came because i did what i was supposed to do and then some, never been fired in my life, but this time, I'm like, uh how about a raise?, how about a raise?, finally get one, 25 cents an hour, Ya'll shouldn't have done that, that's like pokin' a sleepin' dog with a sharp stick, went right back to the shop and typed my 2 week notice and told them I wouldn't stay in this gulag for 10 bucks an hour more.
Sorry if I ranted, never put this stuff down before, I have one thing left, my integrity, I sleep well at night, never have to look over my shoulder, ain't got much, but what i do got i friggin' earned.