I am a slagmonkey

First and foremost:  My thanks to Brett for inspiring me to write this blog.  I recommend reading his blog, Remarkably Unremarkable (http://remarkablyunremarkable.net/), as it is an excellent piece of literary work.  I have linked his blog to the right of my posts.

Okay, so what exactly is a slagmonkey?  First off it is a singular, subject complement noun (especially when used in a manner like the title of this post).  Now that the grammatical definition is clear, a slagmonkey is an active field service technician working for Zolo Technologies, Inc (http://www.zolotech.com/).  There are three active and one part-time slagmonkeys in the world:  Glen Kelley, the aforementioned Brett Littleton, Scott Schneider (part timer) and your humble correspondent.  Our job is to install, troubleshoot, and service a Boiler Optimizing Spectroscopy Sensor (BOSS) in the very harsh working environment known as the boiler at coal-fired, electricity generating stations.  Very harsh:  temperature ~   -10 F all the way up to 205F where we work; noise ~  greater than 100 db, especially when a steam pipe is being warmed up via a bypass valve; and dirty ~  coal particles the size of fine powder everywhere, asbestos, steam, and general grime from an industrial environment.

Some would say that I have a screw loose for working in this environment.  I contend that it is a hardware store.  However, this is the job I have chosen after being laid off from my last job.  I was unemployed for 6 months, starting November 2009, at the start of the depression that we are currently in.  I searched every single day for 6 months and submitted well over 200 resumes before landing this job.  It pays well, my coworkers are great, and I get to travel to new places (China and Germany to name two).  Not to mention that my Man Card is made from platinum.

My intentions are to update this blog regularly, especially when I am on the road.  While in the office, there is not much going on to report about, so I will not be updating this blog not too often while in Colorado.  Oh yeah, a little bit of personal info:  I am married to the woman that I love dearly and have two kids (12 and 10).  We've just celebrated our 13 wedding anniversary.  Being away from them sucks a lot, but using Skype and calling as often as possible helps.  Especially when on the road for greater than two weeks.

That is about it for now.  I will be leaving for the latest excursion in a few days, stay tuned. 

Thanks for reading,

Kevin

p.s.  I tend to use colorful language when I communicate.  Please pardon my French, for those of you with sensitive eyes.