This week has been quite a frustrating week. I missed a day and a half due to illness, and the two and a half days I was there were exceptionally challenging. I currently have two projects going and they've both had their challenges. One of them is a recoil pad installation fixture, the other is a thread checker use to determine the thread pattern on screws. The recoil pad fixture is a combination of three pieces which all had a fair amount of drilling and thread tapping on them. Unfortunately, due to some sloppiness in the drill press vise, the most intricate piece needed to be restarted. The final piece of that project has a couple of complex curves that need to be brought into spec and squared (in relation to the faces of the piece) and then all three pieces need to be polished to their final finish. Because of the restart, I will be over the allotted time for the project. Due to that fact and the fact that bringing the piece to its final dimensions wasn't going too smoothly, I was content to let that one sit for most of the time I was at school this week. I spent a lot of time on the screw checker, and had far fewer problems with that. I should be able to get both projects done early next week.
One thing I've really been trying to determine lately is whether or not I am being too picky with some of the work I do. I'd like to say no, because I want to do the best work I possibly can. However, other classmates have been speeding through projects (not usually with very good grades) at a pace that I cannot imagine is giving them time to get the level of accuracy that I'm striving for. Thankfully, I'm not the only one in my class that feels that way. The problem for me is finding an acceptable level of inaccuracy. For me, the largest incentive to get through these projects as quickly as possible is the time savings at the end of the program. This course is a set number of hours with a mandatory number of projects to do. If I'm able to bank a bunch of time at the beginning, I will have more time to specialize at the end and more time to do more detailed projects. Hopefully I can figure it out soon!
Since yesterday was Valentines Day, I should really express my appreciation for my wife. I know I mentioned her in the first post, but over the last month she has been incredible. She is so busy keeping everything in order between her job, the baby, and all of their appointments. I think it could be argued that Sara is sacrificing more for this than I am. I am eternally grateful.
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