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Thread: Time to shuffle things around

  1. #1
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    Time to shuffle things around

    That time has come once again.

    I find that you get into a rut and allow yourself to flow and become complacent with everything.

    The shyte builds up ... by this I mean storerooms end up full with crap that you haven't used or might use in the next 20 years ... but actually has no real value.

    Bad habits become a way of life.

    The belt moves out a notch or 2 or 3 ... the chin doubles up.

    Eating junk becomes the norm.

    You get lazier as you go with the flow.

    Time to look at were to from here ... this business has run its course ... I have reached my goal ... its time for a new challenge.

    I was going to shut it down in Feb when I reached the 30 years ... but like everything else ... it has become like a bad habits ... not actually going anywhere.

    I need a kick in the nuts ... some new goals (too old to make 30 year goals) they gonna have to be way shorter ... a new challenge.

    One thing I have learnt in my life ... anything I set my mind to achieve ... I do it ... living like this ... waking up every morning doing the same routine.

    I am going to start by stripping and packing my workshop storerooms and office ... I am thinking I need to travel light ... what doesnt fit in the vehicle or trailer must get sold.

    I have a few options:

    Go find a job ... I doubt I could work for any electrical company.

    Look into a partnership ... also a bad idea ... I dont know one company that doesnt have partner issues.

    Become a sub contractor to big companies as I have done in the past ... when the company is in shyte and they need someone to get the job done ... go in and work for a couple months ... makes some good money ... then go on holiday until the next project.

    All I know is I need to pull finger and change my current situation.
    Comments are based on opinion...not always facts....that's why people use an alias.

  2. #2
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    The problem with trying to change for me is that I find I go forward 1 step, sideways 100 steps and then back to the same rut.

    THE MOST DIFFICULT to change for me is my own mindsets (Autopilot) - I know what needs to change but my own mind kinda goes back to default mode very quickly. Its as if the new path is forgotten 5 steps down the line.

    I've read a lot about how our minds work (don't work) and I am yet to find a way to reprogram the silly thing effectively. My failures are not due to any external factors (I have loads of opportunities) The failures are due to my own inability to alter my own programming (I want to get rid of the ineffective default behaviors)

    One of the books I'm reading right now is called "Kluge* The haphazard evolution of the human mind" by Gary Marcus. He explains extremely well why we go back into the rut - Our "Deliberative mental system" (the conscious decision maker) is not only lazy but also secondary to our "Reflexive mental system" (the autopilot system). It seems that one needs to continually override the autopilot system with deliberate thought so as to lay a new path (habit)

    Anyway, I write all this because I am in the same place as you - I am slowly making changes in my life. I just find that THE BIGGEST stumbling block to putting the changes in place and keeping them there is my own mind.

  3. #3
    Platinum Member Derlyn's Avatar
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    Ian

    I was the electrical foreman at Voermol Feeds in Tongaat. Lived at Westbrook Beach. All the perks one could think of. One of the finest recreation clubs one could wish for. Sounds good ne.

    Then 1 day about 25 years ago, I woke up feeling like what you described in your post. Life was too lekker and I was in this rut.

    Decided then and there to make a plan.
    Both wifey and I resigned the next day.
    We sold our house, furniture and all our possessions. Bought a bakkie and caravan and hit the road, destination unknown.

    What followed was the best 4 years of our lives. We found ways of earning a buck or 2 while touring.

    We arrived in East London by accident about 21 years ago. It was not one of our intended stops, but it was late at night and I just could not carry on to our intended destination, Port Alfred, so we stopped and booked into a park. 21 years later we are still in East London and having a jol.

    Small 2 bedroom low maintenance lock up and go house, close to the sea, with a single garage.

    I can strongly recommend taking a good break, hitting the road, destination unknown, like we did. You never know where you might end up one day.

    As long as you have water, food, shelter and power. That's all one needs. As little stress as possible and only enough possessions òne needs in order to survive.

    Thats my essay for the day.
    .
    Peace out .. Derek.

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  5. #4
    Diamond Member tec0's Avatar
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    Change is a process.

    If i may explain a bit.

    Example. do you have 5min a day? What can you do in those 5 minutes? Not much but you can do something.

    That something is where things start. See people plan ahead and make themselves tired even before they start. I would recommend committing to use something that is already part of your life. Example When i started out i had to go into town to get the basics. So i parked at the one end of the parking lot and had to walk all the way into the shops and back again. i wouldn't recommend this for safety but the concept is clear. If you can do something for 5minutes a day then that works out to about 2.5 hours you did something beneficial in a month Next month try for 10min a day and by the end of the month you would have done something for 300min or 5 hours. Next month go for 15min a day every day and the hours start to add up. By the end of the year you would be closer to your goal without stressing your body mind and looking for time and or excuses not to do it.

    The trick is healthy choices. just make 1 healthy choice a day for the whole month next month make 2 healthy choices.

    The point i am making is little by little you can win your life back and make it consistent and sustainable. See you want to be healthy and be consistent at being healthy. Do not push yourself!!! You simply don't have the energy. Remember you are not trying to win the next "whatever" competition. No you just want to sustain your health and that is the key here. Make one choice at a time and eventually it does add up. Everything adds up.

    The point here is to start slow but be consistent.
    peace is a state of mind
    Disclaimer: everything written by me can be considered as fictional.

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    Also feeling the rut.

    I know what causes my situation - can never let go fo the reins - not for a second.

    I have worked all over the world (been to pretty much 70 countries and worked in quite a few of them) and in all them you can let go - your work mate will take the load for a bit.

    Here - turn my back for a second and I go from being an electrical contractor to a manager of "stuff ups". You have to be on it 24 hours a day 7 days a week 48 weeks a year. Never felt I can let go of any aspect of the business. Someone else does the paper work and then the accounts are a mess, hire electricians and some are fine for a while then just when you think its safe to organise something else - stuff up. Some are a stuff up from the moment they start.

    I find it staggering you can watch guy install (for example) 20 down lights - explain the spacing, the reason for the spacing, the number you want installed, supply them with chalk lines, lasers, tape measures, pencils for marking up, a drawing - everything. Those first 20 whilst you are standing there will be laser straight and perfect - an even spread of light which is as appealing to the eye as aurora borealis. You come back a few hours later and the next room looks like Picasso has had a bash at it.

    Only person who hasn't dropped me is my supplier who I have been buying of the same guy for 12 years. That's the only area where things are smooth in my business.

    The rest - Not a chance. Just finished invoices for the week and, oh look, its 1.53a.m. on Sunday morning.

    Really want to get out of this game. Not because I don't enjoy but because, here, its all consuming.

    Thats why its draining working here. Not sure if you guys have worked else where but there is no where else I have ever been that works like S.A.

    Thats why I'm sick of it. Rant over

  7. #6
    Diamond Member Justloadit's Avatar
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    Feeling the same, and in my business, I need some 200 to 400 individual parts.
    Short of one part, cost 2c and I can not deliver a R 2,500.00 finished product.
    To top it up, how about placing an order for a component, and confirmed delivery is September 2022. How do you plan and manufacture with this type of lead time?
    Just heard a client ordering some CPUs, and confirmed delivery was 2026! Maybe the manufacturer is telling you nicely to use something else, but that now means redesign, and testing again to get approvals.

    I think the word is worn out, I feel worn out. Just finished some software about 20 minutes ago, took me a better part of the last 2 hours to figure out that I should have used 'xorlw' instead of 'iorlw', by the way this small program is already 1400 lines long. Incidentally that means exclusively or a byte with the accumulator as opposed to inclusive or the byte with the accumulator. The exclusive or basically makes all '1's a zero as opposed to inclusive or making '0's a one. It may not sound logical, but each one of these commands are very useful in micro processor programs.

    This is for a new project which will feed mains and any PV panel into my solar inverters, much like a hybrid power supply. Great for energy saving for koi pond pumps, or pumps that run 24/7, at least you can save about 7 hours of mains when running off solar.
    Victor - Knowledge is a blessing or a curse, your current circumstances make you decide!
    Solar pumping, Solar Geyser & Solar Security lighting solutions - www.microsolve.co.za

  8. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Justloadit View Post
    I think the word is worn out, I feel worn out. Just finished some software about 20 minutes ago, took me a better part of the last 2 hours to figure out that I should have used 'xorlw' instead of 'iorlw'
    Its amazing how these little things waste so much time and effort.
    1. I do a lot of design work for a huge national food manufacturer. I designed a whole lot of stencils that are used to die cut flat sheet food (I'm not going to go into too much detail) They've been using the dies for a while but they decided to have stainless steel die rollers CNC cut so that they could speed up production. The one engineer contacts me about a problem with the new rollers: the circle dies are oval. So after looking at his cad drawings it was apparent that he projected the cirlcle (as a flat plane) directly onto the roller....I went through the geometry and showed the guy how the projection should have been curved. Anyway, they decided that it would cost too much to correct the problem so a particular food item is now a little oval.
    2. The cnc machine is kinda my bugbear in that mistakes translate to serious problems. Sometimes the CAM software just creates odd toolpaths that don't make sense for any real reason. I run all the toolpaths through a really good simulator and I catch the little issues most of the time. Sometimes the actual CNC software (Mach 3) just acts weird (also for no apparent reason). I'm always kinda on edge when I do cnc work because there is always some thing or the other that creates problems.
    3. The same company as in point 1. contacts me on Wednesday saying that I have to do laser cutting for them. In passing they say that the material has to be 4mm thick (we always used 5mm) So I look all over and find a piece large enough for their emergency (They have to have the the stuff on Thursday) I also oder more material to be delivered on Tuesday. So I do the cutting and the driver collects on Thursday...No problem....well not quite.. I get a frantic call on Friday asking whether I cut the stuff on Thursday - I say "Yes of course" ....oh fxck is the response...the guy says that they gave me the wrong drawings so the stuff has to be re-cut. ...so that is the problem for next week. The one thing I've learned is that when orders are "push n shove" there is going to be a stuff-up somewhere.
    4. (I do lots of different work) So 2 weeks ago a regular client asked me to CNC 10 boxes little boxes (which I've done for them before) They manufacture queue control systems with Raspberry Pi and LoRa etc. The boxes are for the Lora teller controls. I cnc the boxes using the cad that I did a while back and off they go. Saturday night 10pm I get a frantic call "The buttons don't fit" - I go "well that's odd - I just can using the existing cad" - I check and the toolpaths are fine and I used the correct diameter cutter etc. So I tell the guy to bring me the 3D printed buttons - [I am sure you know already where the problem is] and the boxes so I can check. The guy is totally frantic because they have to do the installation the following morning that he pitches up at my place at 10:45pm with all the boxes and two buttons. So I measure the buttons and they are slightly oversize. I file the edge of the buttons off slightly with a needle file and the buttons now fit....the dumb@$$ only brought 2 of the 30 buttons. I tell him that if he brought all the buttons I would have filed them all quickly. So anyway, he slinks off with all this stuff and my little file as well. I don't know whether the installation was successful...I doubt in knowing how they operate.
    5. I did some cad today for a jig and started the 3D printer. For some reason I thought the print was going to take 11 minutes. So after about half an hour and the thing still on 10% I rechecked....."11 meters of material" and 6.5hours of printing....eish...

    So anyhow....I thing that f*ckups and time wasted is just a part of life - It certainly is a big part of my, and the people I work with's lives!

  9. #8
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    I decided to put the ladder against the wall and start climbing out the hole I am in ... yesterday I spent the day sorting out bicycles and stuff ... linking devices ... replacing batteries on sensors etc ... cleaned out the room were the rowing machine and indoor trainer is kept ...even had to repair my edge 520 (power button broke off) it took me a better part of the day.

    It is sad to think I was clocking 200-300 km a week on the bicycle ... monday to friday doing cadence classes ... this morning I battled both physically and mentally to complete 5 km on the indoor trainer.

    The excuses we think up at 5 am when it times to get up and start ... one important thing I did forget ... a decent playlist to keep me motived during the session ... nothing worse than slow depressing slit my wrist type song starts playing 10 minutes in

    I got up did ... its a start ... now to keep at it for as long as possible.

    I already have everything in place to make it happen ... the eating plan ... the equipment ... the gear ( a little tighter ... at 112 kg ) Been ther done it before ... just need to the get the most difficult part motivated ... my mind.
    Comments are based on opinion...not always facts....that's why people use an alias.

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  11. #9
    Platinum Member Derlyn's Avatar
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    Good luck, brother. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that we are urging you on.

    Keep us posted and remember what Tim Noakes says " you cannot exersize away a bad diet "

    Diet 80%
    Exersize 20%

    Peace out .. Derek

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  13. #10
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    You might ask yourself ... what has this got to do with electrical work ... I find with doing a little exercise ... it starts improving you work .. your mental health ... you feel better about yourself and people notice it.

    What Tim Noakes forgot to mention ... as the exercise increases ... so it motivates you to improve your eating habits ... I am not a fan of banting ... I am not saying its bad... all I am saying its not for me ... I have tried many many different eating plans ... including banting ... it is the only time I have actually collapsed after a MTB race ... I have found the weightless eating plan is the best for me ... I get to eat what I enjoy and loose a ton of weight.

    You would think as a hands on sparkie ... you wouldnt need to do any extra exercise ... I work hard ... climbing ladders scaffolding and just generally move around a lot at work ... I still have to exercise ... be it a 5 km walk every single day or riding the bicycle at least 200 km a week ... I find that as you exercise more so it gets easier to get into healthier eating habits.

    The worse thing you can do as a sparkie who spends the bulk of his day out on the road or on site ... if you dont make lunch and the right lunch .. .you gonna put on weight ... eating 4 bread sammies is not eating right ... eating 4 sammies as part of your lunch ... not such a bad idea ... so long as you have your fruit and other stuff.

    I am battle to drink enough water everyday ... packing a 750 ml oros and a 750 ml water makes it easier.

    Let us know what you eat everyday ... do find you have enough energy to get by the whole day ... I got into a bad habit of stopping at the shop every morning for a coke and pie or chips ... I had to stop doing it ... after blood test results indicating I was digging my grave even faster.
    Comments are based on opinion...not always facts....that's why people use an alias.

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