New News

My new roommate is super! She's going to be a lot of fun, yay!

Things have been picking up at CAT; I am in training for two days and I work afterwards, so I get to be busy and I LOVE what I am learning in Investment in Excellence training. It is so rewarding and revealing; psychological stuff that makes you think about how you think and why and what you can do to change it. Good stuff.

Got my first ticket, boo. :( I'm no longer upset about it, but paying it off is a hassle.

I had my outdoor adventure quota for the year when I went hiking, fishing, and swimming with Toby on Sunday. Here are some pictures of me as a fisherperson. I'm a pro! Didn't catch anything, but just wait til next time!














I can fish!














Nature. Doing its thing.



















I really can't aim.



















There's a good one. Nice big cheesy smiles.



















Is he in pain? I think he likes it.

TTFN! Tee eye double guh err. ;)

Internship

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to visit Mapleton Foundry, where all CAT engine blocks are poured (including the race car engines, pretty cool). It was pretty amazing...a fun tour and a day to spend somewhere new. Peoria is a 2 hour drive, so I got to leave the Decatur office at 10:30 that day. It was cool to see how the foundry worked, but the best part was when we were watching the furnace and something went wrong. There was too much scrap metal in the furnace (magnesium in this instance, I think) and the electrical cord caught on fire. We got to see them extinguish that fire, and then they had to pour the ladle of molten metal back into the furnace, which is unusual and difficult to do without spilling. Another fun part of the tour was when we watched the crane operators break the metal parts out of the sand castings on a vibrator belt. The operators have one hand in a sleeve, and whatever their hand/arm does, the crane arm does as well. It was amazing! One operator used his crane to wave at us, which was neat to see.

I visited Grace Baptist Church today. It was alright, but I think I will look around some more. The people were very nice, but they don't seem to have anyone around my age, which is a little awkward.

Next week I am going to Peoria on Wednesday for a business etiquette seminar. Business suits are required and from the agenda it looks like the meal is going to be very formal (completely foreign to me, in other words). I'm excited to try this! It's going to be very new and different.

Mom and the kids came to see me Friday/Saturday! Thanks, guys! I really enjoyed having some visitors, especially on the first weekend with nowhere to go. You all really filled up the apartment, it was a nice feeling! Alright, it's primetime tanning hour. Later!

Work Stuff

Lots has been going on! I am finally official at CAT. Got my employee tags today. They get me into and out of the security gate without having to call security every time; and it allows me to carry a camera onto the shop floor to photograph problem machinery.

Tomorrow I am taking a trip to Peoria for an intern activity. I'm excited to meet all of the other interns! Right now I only know one guy from Rose besides the guys in my worktools group. They're fun, though, and a lot closer than Peoria interns, so maybe I should get used to an older group of friends.

I spent the weekend in Ohio, and came back with a cell phone! If you want my #, just email me. I am still figuring it out...I'm a lil cell phone illiterate, but I'm catching on quick!

Luke, one of the things I can work on at CAT if I want is a website just for our team to use. When you are designing a webpage, do you do the coding by hand or do you have a favorite program you like to work in? I kind of work on this in my spare time, so let me know what you think. Thanks!