They Took My Stapler

I got moved. I'm Pissed.

Ok, here's the story. I used to be in an offset room from the majority of the other people in the building. This had its pros and cons. Pros include the fact that we (about 14 of us) had a nice think tank room. We also didn't have as much ambient noise as other areas, to a point. We do have the uber-obnoxious cell phone ring guy, and the loud Russian guy, but beyond that it was fairly tame. Oh, well we do have a set of doors which lead out to the shop, but that was convenient, and when people would shut the door you really didn't hear anything from out there. The worst thing is that it was a very anti-social setting. Noone in the building knew where I sat, and I met very few people through mindless wanderings.

So now we got moved. There are 7 of us. Myself, the HHP Service Tools Engineer, Josh, the Heavy Duty and Midrange Service Tools Engineer, 3 drafters, and 2 techs. The room is a closet that was never designed to be an office. How do I know? I asked. When the building was built the room was originally used for painting. Thus, it has excessive ventilation, and I may develop a slight twitch from fumes that got stuck in the walls. It hasn't been a paint booth for quite some time. "What has it been since?" you may ask. Well, it has served proudly as the janitor's room. That's right, the janitors were kicked out of the space that I now occupy for 8 hours a day. . .

So. . . . Onto JWAMS Engineering. JWAMS is my initials, if you go off what my dad used to call me. Justin Wade Allowishous Mahoney Short. Most of you only know me as Justin Wade Short, if at all. In my spare time, I have been designing high performance suspension components for my Mustang, which work for model years 1964.5 - 1970. My goal was to have a set prototyped and installed on my Mustang for testing, and eventually sell them on eBay. Well, you can only push me so hard before I push back . I am going to finalize my designs and get a set prototyped . If they work well, I am going to talk with some of the Mustang restoration and/or performance catalogs (there are tons of them) about getting some product placement in their catalog/webpage.

If I can be competitive in the market place, I am going to move on to Mustang II (not a popular car, but a popular suspension for people with 1930's hot rods) classic Camaro, Corvette, Chevelle, Charger, Challanger, etc. Then perhaps newer vehicles. I don't want to sit idly by being stuck in a closet designing close to what I want, but not exactly.

"But Justin," you may ask again, "didn't you have to sign an intellectual agreement when you started your job?" Yes, however, it is rather specific in what it applies to. For example, I cannot engineer parts for diesels or natural gas engines, or use company time or company resources for my own personal venture or gain. Suspension components for classic cars is completely acceptable.

So, as soon as I finish my taxes (I am getting a lot of money back, but I am not done with the paperwork yet, stupid government) I will be back on the engineering kick.

As soon as I can, I will take my camera to work and get you a picture of exactly where I sit. Your sympathies are welcome.