Thursday, May 15, 2014

Week one

It has been a full week now at the new job.  I am getting used to my surroundings now and starting to feel more comfortable.  I'm figuring out where everything is but I am sure there is more to find that I haven't thought of yet.

I worked on a Kubota RTV 1100 that overheated and now I am replacing the wire harness on an M125X.  I had to replace the engine on the RTV because it was up in the hills far from the owner's home when the water pump went out and leaked all the water out.  He had to drive it to get home and the little engine that could, couldn't.  I also got some new tractors ready that had been sold.

I like the change so far and I really can't see a down side.  I was getting pretty beat up at the old location working on so many big heavy jobs.  Eight Steiger axle seals in a row, in a sandy field and a Steiger with the park brake locked up in the middle of the field was a challenge.  I wish the old SM could have spread that around a little.  All that kind of work to one guy makes him find a new job.

I haven't got my service truck yet.  It is coming from Texas and should be here in a few days.  I saw a photo of it today and I think I'm going to love it.  The biggest challenge I've had here so far is separation from my tools.  I'm using a small chest that I bought in 1985 and there is not enough room for the tools I need.  I had to pick a few essentials that would fit in that little box to work with for a couple of weeks.  I haven't had to borrow tools for  a long time and I don't like it.  I'm praying for patience.

I am so used to being interrupted every day to go on  road calls and then driving from job to job that working in the shop continuously makes me beat tired by the end of the day.  I will never understand why anyone would want to work inside the shop all the time.

I miss my old friends.  I really enjoyed working with them.  The transition did not go as smoothly as I had hoped and some that had to stay ended up with hurt feelings.  I wish that wasn't how it happened but it is.  I only hope the new company that bought them out is good to them.  Me, I'm glad to stay with the company that has treated me so well for so many years.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

New Job

I started a new job today with the same company in a different location.  Are you confused yet? 

Ok, it goes like this:  I worked at Pioneer Equipment Company in Five Points, CA for 25 years.  Then I left for four years but I went back.  I have been there two years this time.  A recent sale of the company has given me the opportunity to transfer to the Fresno, CA location. 

I started as a Service Technician and worked my way up (or down, depending on how you look at it) to Service Manager.  I left to work with a friend at a Massey Ferguson dealer for four years.  I had the chance to go back to Pioneer and jumped on it. 

If you are following along you see that I started as a Service Technician, then I was a Field Technician, then Shop Foreman, then Service manager, then Field technician, now a Shop Technician for a while until I go back to Field Technician.

Now the weird part.  I started in May of 1983.  I left in May of 2008.  I came back in May of 2012.  Then in May of 2014 the Five Points location sold and I moved to the Fresno location. 

I want to tear May out of my calendar now.