I know I promised to update more
regularly, but a whole bunch of life happened real quick over here but I
finally found the time and motivation to sit down and resume my bloggerly
duties. So we'll get the real important part out of the way first:
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NASSCO
hired me. I accepted. I'm engaged I guess?
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Here's some more details on what
exactly I mean by that. NASSCO called me up a couple months ago to notify
me of a position they had available in their PDP program, which puts new hires
on a rotation through a bunch of different departments for a year or so.
That gives you a really good opportunity to get experience both in the shipyard
and in the office, and exposes you to a wide variety of fields before setting
your sights on something. To fast-forward through some irrelevant details
including "I technically forgot to apply," I got a call last week
officially offering me a full-time position starting in the summer. While I had
hoped for some time to weigh my options before deciding on what path my
immediate future took, I was told that I had two days to answer.
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| OH NO THAT'S TOTALLY FINE JUST LET ME FIGURE OUT MY LIFE REAL QUICK |
A couple freakouts and long life
discussions with mom over the phone later, I accepted the next day. And
with that, I officially cemented the fact that I will soon enter adult life
with a job and rent and bills and stuff.
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I
had to wash my hands after typing that.
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Now that the big part is out of the
way, I'll backtrack a bit and fill you in on some of the other events of the
past week and a half. When I first got to my apartment last year, I was
blown away that NASSCO provided free WiFi, cable, and landline telephones for
the duration of our stay. You could imagine my surprise when my first
night in town this year featured absolutely none of these things. I was
basically slumming it.
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I
thought the Amish were just...decorative, I guess.
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It turns out that Synergy, the
company responsible for pulling together our housing arrangements, made a
clerical error somewhere along the line and forgot to install everything before
our arrival. They apologized profusely for the mistake and then immediately
sent a representative on a half-hour journey just to drop off a mobile hot spot
so I could have internet while they figured out the rest of the
utilities. The following day I came home to a cable guy hooking me up
with more amenities than I'll probably be able to afford once I do this routine
on my own, which was already more than enough to make me happy. The next
week, Synergy called us up and said they wanted to give us gift cards to
apologize for the inconvenience.
I thought this was really sweet of
the company to do, but I was absolutely blown away to find out they gave me
$100 on a Visa giftcard to spend on whatever I want. By not having
internet for a day, I managed to earn roughly a day's pay.
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The
pain was immense, but I endured.
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It was shortly after this that Brian
Mills, class of '16, contacted me and said he'd be in town off an MSC tanker
stationed in Coronado. Brian, in a moment of brilliance, suggested
that I take a break from designing ships and he from living on one by touring
the USS Midway. Since it was not my place to judge Brian for
cheating on his ship, I decided to go along.
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Stacks
up with OG Mills.
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What got me was my change in
priorities from when I was about six years old to the current day. I was really
into Top Gun back in the day, but my parents weren't very supportive of
my oily beach volleyball phase. So I moved on to my second favorite part,
the awesome jets, and was mildly totally obsessed for a long time. Yet
with a flight deck full of supersonic fighter craft above me, I now found
myself geeking out over the steam catapult systems and the main propulsion
engines. Brian and I descended into the engine room to validate our
education, where we met a retired Chief Engineer from the Navy and introduced
ourselves as aspiring naval architects. We were promptly used as backup
in an argument the guy was having with his friend about how much the 448-foot
long propulsion shafts twisted while underway at full speed, with our new
friend insisting that a shaft could twist over 360 degrees along its
length. We were asked for our expert opinion, and I knew it was my time
to shine.
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With a solid month between the
day I was asked this and the last time I had to use my brain for anything
major, I basically admitted that it sounded like it could be fine in theory but
I'd have to double check once I became intelligent again. I lied about
the again part, but he didn't need to know that.
This past Saturday was John Malone's
famed annual pool party, although this year the pool was inoperable.
Despite that setback, a great night was had by all as we hung out with alumni
new and old not new. One particularly fun aspect was looking
through a collection of binnacles that chronicled the lives of friends,
professors, and bosses alike. What was a lot less fun was
realizing that anything that
goes in that book will forever haunt you like the Ghost of Stupid College
Decisions Past.
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