January 5, 2012

• Thursday, the last day of my mid-week "weekend" before heading back to the stalag (here comes that part where I do some bitchin' about work...).  it just gets better and better!  over the holiday break they installed alarms at every work station on the assembly line.  now each station has 34 seconds to complete that stations task, and hit the button making the next guy's timer begin. it's annoying as hell.  they're not gentle reminders by any means.  I understand the big push, but quality issues are gonna rise...and, our numbers haven't seen an increase.  we still build around 8-900 per shift (goal being 1100) due mostly to the testers (which also alarm a lot) not working properly. it's a damn mad house! I'm thinkin' it's not fair that we get alarms, yet the line support (production handlers) can take their damn time fixing the testers and not getting the product we need to keep the line running (screws, bushings, rails, etc).  our line support has such an uppity attitude, that most times she'll just blow off any request for parts you ask her about that you happen to be getting low on.  some peeps don't even bother to ask anymore, they'll simply run out of supplies then stand there until she storms around asking why the line isn't running?  she prob'ly has no idea why we don't cooperate.  you can only ask so many times before you say fock it.  I'll go get what I need myself.  it's frustrating.  she's always late too.  we're at our stations, trying to get rolling, while she wanders in when she wants (apparently), usually drinking a pop (a shop floor no-no), ignoring the tester alarms while she chit-chats with someone (prob'ly about something other than work).  we all get tired of it.  we have a "downtime sheet" at each station that I'll write something to the effect of "line support busy chatting while tester alarm goes off", then put the amount of downtime next to that.  she prob'ly doesn't like this, but I'm not there to be her best friend.  do yer damn job and I'll write something else.  I used to like to leave my station and help on the testers, but since she isn't doing her job at keeping us supplied, I'm not gonna help her with her alarms.  it isn't just me. you hear this across the board, yet she prob'ly thinks she's doing a awesome job...did I mention "madhouse!"    alright, I already stressed far too much about work on my day off.

   

   

  I find a new website that sort of compliments Hulu.com, and Netflix.  it's called 'vudu.com'.  it's pretty much a streaming movie website (much like Netflix) but with a better choice of new releases.  they give you $5.99 credit for free to try 'em out. I use it on the latest "Planet of the Apes" (awesome flick!!) and "the girl with the dragon tattoo" (what? I wanted to see what the hype was all about?).  it's simply pay by the movie with no monthly fees, or contracts.  I like it (so far).  now that I've signed up I'll prob'ly run into something that pisses me off (like hulu and netflix did).  but for now, it looks like a winner!

  my sis asks me a question about music creating. I don't know where to start.  it's a long steep learning curve (well, it was for me anyway). I guess there are a ton of ways to make music on the computer. I've never used a real mixer board before, so I can't help ya there.  I can throw you what I use and you can glean what you want from that.  also, it's been a good 6-8 years since I've even tinkered with music making, so I may not be much help.  anyway. I'll start with the software (good of place to start as any?).  I was using Acid Pro 4.0 (the newest versh is prob'ly in the double digits by now). it's an awesome chunk of software that you can record, mix, add loops, etc to.  there are many other brands by now, but Sony does a great job (IMHO) on the software end.  hardware (again, this is my set-up, there's many different ways to set-up) included an Aardvark sound card (which I've since replaced with an M-audio Fasttrack Pro USB).  it's an external device that one plugs into the 'puter via USB, that has 1/4" cable ports for guitar cords, and mics on the front.  and from the back of that device I have a left and right studio monitor (speakers) hook up.  that's about as simple as it gets.  it's a loop based (wav) software, so if you, for example need a drum track and you have no real drums, you find the right drum loop (you can hork loops off the internet, or go to Sony.com and buy 'em).  I used drum loops a lot, since I don't have a kit...I generally started with a simple drum loop track, more as a metronome while recording the other tracks one by one, then maybe went back and replaced the original drum loop with something a bit more intricate (wait, there's nothing intricate about my cheese riddled songs!).  other hardware includes a couple of Shure microphones, a couple 1/4" guitar cables, a guitar, a midi keyboard, a bass guitar, and a couple of pre-amps/effects boxes.  I don't know if any of this helps, but if you wanna barrow any of the above, you're welcome to it....hoohah, you can bust in anytime since you're the guru (hoohah is my friend from Mini soda who makes awesome computer music!).  feel free to leave a comment or two...

   

   

  • 10:18 am
  • 3 Comments