The CNC Saga, Part 2... y otras historias

Despite the title, this post has very little to do with the CNC machine. Actually, I don't want anything else to do with it either. That's why "and other stories" is tacked on to the title. But I can't exactly have a part 1 without a part 2, and that's where this comes in.

At this point, I have one more half day of actual work. None of it will be with the CNC. Even as an engineer, that makes me very happy. I've been spending the past two weeks testing different materials on the machine, finding the voltage, current, and feedrate (how fast the torch travels over the material when cutting) that will give the best cut quality for the material at hand. If it sounds slightly impressive, I guess it is, but really I just followed the process laid down in the manual. Today I typed up a table with different materials and their appropriate settings, so that when they decide to cut out actual stove parts instead of lines in scrap metal they'll know how to set the cutter to do the best job. At least, I hope that's what happens. But when you're cutting two or three sheets of metal thick, there gets to be problems with accumulation of dross, or molten metal that solidifies again, and bevel, which is where the cut doesn't go straight down but the sides slant inward underneath the torch. Basically, when we cut several sheets at once, the top sheet is awesome but the bottom one isn't so good. Also, the heat generated from cutting also sometimes welds the plates together, but not too much. You can usually separate the plates with a screwdriver.

But moreover, I spent the past few days helping the new engineer build a stand which my boss has taken to Santa Cruz for an exposition. I have to say I'm pretty proud of it. It's made from lengths of 1/2 inch galvanized steel pipe, threaded and put into elbows and T-connectors and fittings. I spent almost all day yesterday polishing the tubes with a buffer and they shine. We actually used the plasma cutter for something useful and cut circular bases out of thick sheet metal with a 60-amp tip, which was pretty cool to do I guess.

I leave for La Paz tomorrow to spend some time with Alex and Kim before my plane home on Sunday. Actually, I couldn't be more excited to get out of here, although there are some people I'll definetly miss. Andrea, for one, has been my older sister of sorts and talking to her at times has kept me from going completely insane. I'll miss the rest of my family, too. They were great.

Last night we had a farewell dinner at my house with people from the office and the family who could make it. They got something called pizza interminable - the endless pìzza. Andrea told me it was as big as a table and they had to call a taxi to get it. I didn't believe her until the pizza showed up, and sure enough, it was as large as a small table. Probably about 3 feet across (36 inches! Enormous!) and it had four sides of toppings. There's still pieces in the fridge, but apparently Bolivians have not yet discovered cold pizza for breakfast because I haven't had any yet. It actually is bigger than the Beast from Snappy Tomato. It's huge.

Over the past weekend in between working like a dog on the banner stand I've been going out to clubs, dinners, and birthday parties with Mike, Colleen, Mike's relatives John and Ryan, and Ruth, a new arrival from England who's a university student interning with Climate Care. It's been lots of fun, and I was sad to see the Americans go on Monday night. They took the night bus to La Paz, and even as I write today they're flying back to the States. I've still got a lunch with Ruth tomorrow, and shopping with my host mother and Ruth the owner of Sobre la Roca.

In five days, I will trade the insane climate of Bolivia (it drops to below freezing at night to a dry heat in the day) for the hot, muggy late summer of Northern Kentucky. I'll have the advantage of being used to high altitude, but I haven't run since I got here and I'm not acclimated to humidity yet. But even still, all that heat and humidity will never feel better.

Ciao,
Drew