You got a drawing for that?

Exhibit 1 – I am an engineer.

Exhibit 2 – Proper Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.

So a lot of my time is spent planning, and planning. What is it I am trying to achieve, and how is really the easy bit (e.g. Install some stuff. In a box) the devil is in the detail. Last week I spent 3 days sorting out getting 2 holes drilled, tapped and countersunk, and 2 holes drilled, tapped and spot faced. Then I had to wait a couple of days for the work to be done. But it took me the three days to borrow the lumps of metal in which I wanted the holes inserted, and then find someone to drill the holes. I was asked if I had a drawing, to which I replied the negative.

This is really just a reflection of the work I am doing. My planning is not going through the appropriate channels. Its a very pink way of working (Pink as in the colour of the "Unplanned Labour" forms to allow the costs to be charged against my contract number. And of course I don’t have real drawings for anything, as that would just be more costs, and I don’t have access to any CAD.

So my way of working is based on asking foremen to slip a job through, with a verbal description of the work to be done, and doodles of mine on bits of A4 or A3. This is really bad in a number of ways, but then these subversive methods do in effect save the company money. In reality there is a cost of admin, so not having the same oversight on low value (both in terms of financial cost, and in terms of importance) jobs is one way of saving money….

What can take ages though is designing layouts in metal boxes for my wiring. Generally one would just add up the DIN rail space needed, and add some. But I have been backed into a corner by the space available for my box. As I don’t yet have some of the components, I am now led to making models of component units to check that it will fit in sensibly (with access for the wiring). Not quite the sort of 3D modelling most people think of, but if it works….