A Poem: The Engineer’s Spending Habits

May 18, 2012

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As an engineer of many years, I will have to say,

Never, ever suggest this thing -That an engineer should pay.

Pay for what? For what, you wonder, will an engineer balk at spending?

Well, the list is long – very, very long. It’s pretty much everything.

So, if you’d like him to buy the family a car, or a new TV to view,

Don’t get your hopes up. Don’t hold your breath. Or you will surely turn blue.

He won’t buy frivolous things like new clothes, so please don’t even ask,

He won’t buy pools, or hot tubs, or couches. Fiscal constraint he won’t mask.

Some may call him cheap. But to be kind, frugal is the word.

For the engineer won’t spend money on any items like this that he’s heard.

So, don’t ask an engineer to buy anything, it just would be a mess.

Unless it’s a cool, electronic gadget, then maybe he’ll say yes.

Call in the Engineer

May 11, 2012

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For the most part, the entertainment industry is against engineers. We will cover this in other posts.

But how are engineers themselves portrayed? For the most part, engineers are admired, as they should be. Sure, there is the bad example at the beginning of MI3, where spy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is at his engagement party and is explaining his cover job as a transportation engineer, then after he walks away, the guy in the group he was talking to pretends to fall asleep. A jab at engineers for sure. (Side note: When Ethan leaves the group, after the guy feigns sleep, the women all agree that they would marry him, even with his “boring” job. Of course, it is Tom Cruise.)

However, in movies when a person has the name engineer attached to his character, like on a team – good or bad – the audience knows one thing. This person gets things done. Yes, the engineer is the person they give the difficult, technical job to. If there is a bomb that needs diffused, an underground wall that needs breached, a computer security system that needs overriden, or an alien spaceship that needs destroyed, what do they do? Call in the engineer. The engineer will get it done.

A Wonderful Expert to Follow

May 4, 2012

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EngineeringDaze is all about fun, but at times, we will also inform.

If you are not following the work of David Pogue, you are missing a fun, informative, and imaginative take on all thing technology. Engineers will love Pogue as he educates on the newest gadgets, latest tech trends, and whackiest technology around. His writing and videos will definitely satisfy the techno-geek side of any engineer.

Pogue writes the tech column for the New York Times, a somewhat respectable newspaper on the east coast somewhere. He also has done a miniseries for PBS, writes for Scientific American, and does a weekly video for CNBC. His is all about fun and information – much like we are. Therefore, the recommendation is to check out David Pogue.

Great Website for Finding Satellites

April 27, 2012

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People will frequently ask me, “How can I know when I can see the Cosmos 2237 Rocket from my home?” OK, one time, someone asked me when to view the International Space Station. Whatever the satellite, there is one great place to go.

A great website is Heavens Above. Go there, enter your location – on a map for most people, some engineers may know their latitude and longitude from memory. Then explore the satellite passes that are visible from your home, as they have all the info you need available – which satellite, the time it appears, where in the sky to look, etc. Don’t forget to check out the Iridium Flares (especially the -6, -7, or -8 ones), the brightest satellites most people never know exist. But with the info from this website, you will amaze your friends as you act like a prophet or fortune-teller. You will not be disappointed.

Also, Heavens Above will give you great information that my friend, an NE (non-engineer) named Tom, may ridicule, but engineers may find fascinating: the altitude of the International Space Station over time, the location of man-made probes that are beyond the solar system, a plan view of the relative location of all the planets (even Pluto, though we all know it was defrocked), and so much more!

Thoughts of Tork, the World’s First Engineer

April 20, 2012

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This week at engineeringdaze, we are going to follow the exploits of the first engineer, the caveman named Tork. Tork was so advanced for his era, being an engineer, that he was frequently shunned by other cavemen. But that is another story.

Below are ten thoughts that went through Tork’s prehistoric mind on a typical day. You will see that even though Tork was a caveman, he was still an engineer, and the thoughts of an engineer are not much different today than they were back in Tork’s day.

Thoughts of Tork:

“If we not make wheels square, but round – big less in friction.”

“Maybe get water to caves through series of hollow tubes. No. Never catch on.”

“Stinks in cave. Got to work on waste disposal get-out (removal).”

“Water fall from upper pond. Could use energy to… to… do something.”

“Why cavewoman not want to be around me?”

“Not be able to talk to cavewoman anyway.”

“If only there was interconnected tubes that would bring all information of world to my cave and display on flat surface to watch.”

“If only there was magic box to hold in hand that would bring all information of world – without tubes. That be magic.”

“Hope Crog bring back rock abacus he take for hunt trip to hit animals. Need to calculate best opening size at side of cave to cool down best.”

“Got to talk at caveman meeting day after today. Nervous! Hope point with power work good.”

Think, not Feel

April 13, 2012

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For today’s Random Data Packet (Pot Luck), we will discuss simply and quickly the mantra of the engineer, the one that every engineer wants every non-engineer in his life to remember when having any sort of interaction with him. Here it is:

Engineers think, they do not feel!

(The exclamation point is even verging on expressing feeling and I am not sure I should have used it, but in order to make the point…)

Please, all non-engineers out there, engineers don’t feel. They don’t want to “share” or talk about feelings. The engineer will discuss logical points on a topic, even if that topic is something like love or relationships. But, keep the feelings out of it.  There are equations for those types of things.

The engineer thinks, he does not feel.

Thank you for remembering.

From the Places to Visit File…

March 30, 2012

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Many people may want to know: Where would an engineer want to visit on vacation? We have a number of great suggestions, but we will start with Washington, DC. The obvious choice for the engineer is Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum. But, as I said, that is obvious, and we will cover that later. Here is another great location: The Building Museum!

Yes, dedicated to understanding the engineering (unfortunately with some architecture and planning thrown in) of buildings and all their facets, systems, and fascinating features. Now, for the bad news. If you didn’t visit it between October, 2009 and July, 2010, you missed what may have been the best exhibit ever. An exhibit dedicated to parking garages. Tell me that isn’t cool.

This is from the News Release at the time:

“House of Cars: Innovation and the Parking Garage is the first major exhibition to explore the history of this familiar structure and open conversations about innovative designs and parking solutions for the future.”

We here at engingeeringdaze.com are dedicated to finding more gems like this, and, hopefully, before they are two years out of date. In case anyone ever brings back this exhibit, you will be the first to know. (No one has yet, to our knowledge. Don’t know why.)

Engineer – Defined

March 16, 2012

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I think it important to define: Engineer. To define the person may be difficult in one short post. There would need to be lot of writing to explain the person who is an engineer. But I’m talking about the word engineer.  From Oxford’s English Dictionary, it seems that engineer did NOT come from a word meaning geek, or socially inept, or poor public speaker, as some might think.  It originated from the Latin ingenium for which the original concept was ‘ingenuity, cunning’ (surviving in Scots as ingine). It’s where we get the word ingenious, which I take as a compliment. Engineers solve problems in creative ways. It is also where we get the word engine which is also a compliment. Engineers get things done.

So, for all the engineers out there, the next time someone asks you where your pocket protector is, or “pretends” to go to sleep while you explain something, or coughs while saying the word “geek” under his breath, well, I think it’s time for that person to learn a little Latin.

For the non-engineers out there, maybe now we can get some respect. Or else the next time you might need help with calculating the angle of trajectory to optimize your softball pitch, we just may conveniently not be around.

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