Maint shop and personal projects RANT!

[NPloysa]

I need to rant. Before I started a year ago here at the museum, the guys who used to work here were here from the beginning. The old facilited manager bought brand new Honda ATVs for work, registered them, took them to the mountains. Against the rules! Director found out, said no more of that. Tools were borrowed. Can't do that either. That stuff I understand being a no-no.



So, what if you need something from home fixed, but can't bring tools home? Bring the project to work! I have brought my radio controlled heli, jet engine, air ride, all to work, to work on during off-hours or on my lunch break. Now the director says I can't do that either. Some BS about liability issues. It's not like I am running the jet in the shop! Just a little welding and cleaning it up.



So, now I am back to where I started. Taking all my big machining projects all the way up to my parent's house in Conifer to work on, or to their neighbor's, who has all the big tools.



The director doesn't have anything personal against me, and I get the work done. I guess I should keep my projects tucked away and not on the work bench in plain sight.



Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!



Nick

 

[outlawram]

That sucks. Your boss should realize that being able to use the shop and tools is a huge incentive to keep you as an employee. If there are no incentives more than likely the company will experience poor attitudes and lack of motivation among its employees. But maybe you get other incentives, I don't know. If you are not risking others with your personal projects on your off time I don't see how that is a liability concern.

 

[cyborg]

I had a fire chief like that, didn't want us washing our vehicles on our down time. "didn't look right". But would have us pull his vehicle in the bay to wash when it was raining outside.

We would have to bring our own tools in to maintain the apparatus!

Good rant.

 

[The patriot]

We werent really allowed to do projects either.

The maint guys could do whatever they wanted, projects, go watch movies, sleep, etc.

Just us boiler operators couldnt.

That didnt really bother me, what did was they got payed more than we did.

I NEVER worked anywhere where maint got more money than the boiler operator. I'm not putting them down, they earned every penny, and so did we.

Hell, my last job I got more than the electrician.

Go figger... ... ... ... .

Eric

 

[NPloysa]

Well, luckily my jet engine will be kept at my parent's house, so it would be more of a pain to haul down here to work on anyway.



The air ride I can do here, as long as I can make it look like a work project and not bring in a ton of stuff, and hide it when I am not working on it.



Yesterday I was showing the boiler tech (outside vendor) my newest r/c airplane, tiny electric one, in the boiler room. Boss comes in, "I knew I would find you up here "messing" around!" He was joking, he knows I work hard. And when I put the airplane down to put the cover back on the exhaust fan, he smoked two cigarettes and BSed with the tech!



That's another thing I don't see as fair... . Smoke breaks. I don't care if you smoke 5 cigarettes a day at work, for 5 minutes each, but the non-smokers should get an extra 25 minutes to do whatever they want! Sometimes I do that, like type these rant sessions online!!!



Nick

 

[The patriot]

smoking............

Oh..... dont even start on that one.

I saved theyre bacon plenty times, even my bosses butt.

Whenever I saw a big boss coming, I'd let them know, so that it's not an issue really.

If they were caught smoking, it would make problems for all of us.

What they dont know wont hurt them.

Eric

 

[NPloysa]

Oh..... dont even start on that one.

I saved theyre bacon plenty times, even my bosses butt.

Whenever I saw a big boss coming, I'd let them know, so that it's not an issue really.

If they were caught smoking, it would make problems for all of us.

What they dont know wont hurt them.

Eric

That's just it. Our bosses don't care if employees take smoke breaks, but if I were to stand around for a total of 30 minutes outside, just breathing fresh air, I would be told to get back to work!

 

[TKingsbury]

We just got told no more personal projects too. A guy that transfered out was crying about not being treated fairly and sited one of the other guys doing a project as an example. Even though he has done his fair share of em himself, hell he even used our brake lathe to turn rotors for paying side-jobs! Even though he is long gone, no more personal projects. What BS. My thoughts are as long as you can carry it in and keep it on the down low it's ok. No more pulling in and using the lifts and stuff though, that really sucks. It's nice to know I'm not alone in my misery.

Travis. .

 

[lil red cummins]

nick,



don't feel bad. when i was a school bus mechanic 30 years ago, i was not allowed to bring my vehicle in to work on it. i could work on it in the parking lot during lunch but that was it. it was fair and across the board for everyone. even the superintendent of the school system could not bring his car in. i know, because he asked one day and as the "new" kid in the garage, i told him: "sorry, only board owned vehicles are allowed in the garage". he was not too happy, but realized i was right.



jim

 

[The patriot]

That's just it. Our bosses don't care if employees take smoke breaks, but if I were to stand around for a total of 30 minutes outside, just breathing fresh air, I would be told to get back to work!

When our maint. guys went to the smoke trailer (chemical plant... . designated smoking areas etc) they were gone for hours. Sometimes they wouldnt come back at all unless someone called them on the walkie talkie.

I wasnt allowed to go to the smoke trailer at all, as I was supposed to be by my boilers... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . that is unless I was busy taking care of the 20 acres of equipment that we were "responsible for".

I wont even get into what the state laws and codes say about the company requiring me to be away from my equipment or it can go on all night.

Eric

 

[nickleinonen]

i don't make too many home projects at work, but i do plan them out, aquire the materals, manufacture the parts... final assembly happens at home, which is ok, but the welders at work are better than my littke 120v miller mig box. there i can run the welds with their nice brand new miller top model migs, or stick weld them... [depending on if i am looking for speed or strength]

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

The other side of the coin: :-{}



Last week I had to do some ***** chewing for a couple of guys who I'm responsible for supervising. After feeding stock with the team, they were sharpening crosscuts saws, an art of yore, in the shop/warehouse. Since I work from 0600-1430, I happen by on my way to the work-out room and one guy, an intern here for one year, has his personal rig in the bay with the hood up. So I asked "What's gong on? Personal mechancing on government time?" That put the kaboosh on that.



So the next day when they come in I close the door and we have a talk about what can and can't be done on government time, how as government employees we have are held to a higher code of conduct, avoiding even the appearance of impropriety, how we have it pretty darn special here, and how there are folks just down the road who are jealous enough about what we have here that would relish an opportunity to snuff out any "extra-cirricular" benefits we do have.



Fortunately, since we are 40 miles from town and the weather can be, shall we say, challenging at times, we can use the shop for personal use - after hours. Plus, use your own tools or borrow personal tools.



Sometimes being a manager, foreman, supervisor has the RESPONSIBILITY to correct a situation before something untoward happens. But then again that's why I get the big bucks. :-laf

 

[NPloysa]

Yeah, I found out why yesterday, the real reason why. The director, who told his manager, my boss, this stuff in the first place, camy by as I was putting tools away and getting my engine ready to take home.



He came in, asked what it was, so I told him and then asked me if my boss had mentioned to me why it should stop. He said it was nothing personal, which I didn't think it was, but since we (the museum) is a non-profit, public-donation/funds place, that if one of the owner's friends, or the owner himself, came in and saw it, it wouldn't look right using donated money, which bought tools, for personal use. Plus the insurance/liability thing like Dan mentioned.



After the director said that, we BSed for a few about the jet, then about cannons and potato guns. Nice guy.



Nick