China

As promised, a post on China.  China is a very interesting country.  They are in the midst of rapid modernization, with buildings being built all over the place and people being transferred from the outlying countryside to the growing cities, at a 20 million/year clip.  I see more English written here than in South Korea.  Not just at airports, but in the small cities (4 - 8 million people!!) that I've traveled to.  This present trip I've been to Beijing, Changzhi, Jinan, Rizhao, and Qingdao.  I've had to travel by planes, trains, and automobiles (great movie for one-liners).  Even in the more remote places, like the Wang Qu Power Station outside of Changzhi and the last remote power plant I was at, Zhundi Generating Station Ordos Inner Mongolia, there were quite a few signs that were in English.  It's almost like modernization requires that English be used in society.  Even in my trips to Germany, great place BTW, it has been rather easy to communicate with local people.  It makes traveling easier, especially when not having to be fluent in the local dialect to get around.  Eating in restaurants on the other hand is interesting when the menus haven't a letter of English on them.  Just point and hope it tastes good.  On a side note in a similar vein, ever wonder what a Chinese keyboard looks like?  Look down.  All computers use the US layout and have a program that converts English letters into their spaghetti-against-the-wall characters.  It's really neat to see an accomplished typist create documents in Chinese.  I'll try to grab a video the next time that I am out.
The people of China are very kind, at least one-on-few.  Once you get into a crowd, it is everyone for themselves.  Boarding a airplane here is an experience.  In the States, people crowd around the entrance of the gate area and wait for their assigned seating area to be called and then get in line.  In China, once the doors to the jetway open up, the whole crowd of passengers form a big blob of humanity to board at once.  It sure is funny to see a China-bound plane board in the States.  The airllines should have signs up in Chinese at the boarding area to avoid confusion and/or hurt feelings.  But, the sadists behind the counters need to have their fun too.

One-on-few is very nice.  Most do not understand a lick of English, but through pantomiming and pointing one's point gets across.  Learning to say "Thank you," and "You're welcome," in the local language is huge to these people.  Come to think of it, that comment would apply world-wide.  Walking through the shops and restaurants in Rizhao, many people like to stare.  Not many Americans, or any Anglo-Saxon/Germanic people for that matter, make it to that town.  Just a kind nod and a smile, and you may have changed someone's opinion of Americans for the better.  Not like there aren't enough American jerks that I've encountered on my travels.  Overall, I'd have to say that the people that I have interacted with in China, so far, remind me of the folks in the Upper Midwest.  Kind to strangers.

I guess since there are 20 million people moving into cities around here, there are a lot of strangers.  The newcomers are fairly easy to spot:  they have ragged clothes and a complexion of a farmer that's been in the field all day (probably that's because they had been).  The Rizhao power plant is rather clean and well kept.  Makes sense, as there is a huge abundance of manual labor around:

Pulling weeds in a 2 square mile facility

These people are often "unseen," by the plant's personnel.  The plant people just walk by or through them as the laborers are getting things done.  Sad to see.  Their faces do light up when I smile and say "Nihao!" to them.  Again, trying to make good impressions here.  At the end of this current visit, there was a group of laborers that have been working around a scupture in the middle of the plant.  Every morning I'd wave in greeting.  When I walked by today with my Pelican case and a bunch of other crap, they all stopped and said "Bye!" in pretty good English.  I was touched.

On the other side of the spectrum are the ones with power.  They are the plant managers and the mucky-mucks in charge of stuff.  They are too easy to spot:  chubby, sunglasses, and driving Audis (usually).  I had to hang out with the site manager during the two-day visit to Wang Qu power station.  It was funny watching everyone of his underlings vie for his attention and laugh, more than I'd think normal, at his witty comments. This guy understood English quite well, but rarely spoke anything but Chinese.  Turns out that he is a friend of Steven Chu (Energy Secretary of the US).  Too bad I did not know this fact when I mentioned that Chu was probably culpable for the Solyndra scandal.  Oops.  These guys love to talk politics and geo-political events.  Right up my alley.  Nice to talk about the Communist system (of which they love) with these guys, especially when I bring out certain Libertarian views.  Makes for intense converstaions, to say the least.  More so when I throw in historical facts to support my cases.  Anyway, I digress.  Currently they are all hopped up about the South China Sea and the Philippines.  Gonna be some action soon, as they've forbidden their citizens to travel to the PI as of the 15th and imposed an embargo on all goods from the PI.  Gonna get some long-awated territorial gains I suppose.

Light lunch with Wang Qu's Site Manager

In talking with a couple of people that understood English and spoke it fairly well, there is a sense that change is afoot.  There is a transfer of power happening this fall (2012) and people are afraid that it'll be more of the same.  As they gain more knowledge from the internet, about the way of life in other countries and the corruption of the people in charge in China, the more likely that there will be rebellion of sorts.  Many have forgotten about Tiannamen Square from the 80's, and are willing to stick their necks out to bring about change.  Hard to comprehend the fact the 9 people control the power and direction of a country of 1.4 billion people, but that is the way things are currently.  We sure do live in interesting times.

It is getting late here in Qingdao and I have a early flight.  I'll leave you with a few pictures from this most reecnt trip:

Chinese Power Plant Guard, wearing Chucks!!!

A Roman Catholic Church in Jinan, who knew?

Another day at the office.  Pucker up!!

Thank you for reading.

Kev

Wrapping Up This German Trip

I've been back in the States for just under a week, and finally have the gumption to write the last post for the most recent trip to Germany.  I must say that coming home to see family once again was met with great anticipation, two sleepless nights, and a wonderful smooch from my wife at the airport.  I sure do appreciate the fact that she came to DIA in order to meet me after a long trip and a late flight (we didn't land until midnight).  Seeing her and the kids is my secular Christmas.  The last time I came home at the end of November 2011, I was greeted with the following:  Alan Jackson singing "Remember When," (one of my favorite songs about the future (hopefully)) and this ~

It sure made the pain of being away intensify and quickly melt away.  Sure made things seem to be more worth it.  I guess that is what made leaving for Germany at the start of January so tough.  That and the fact that I was going to be returning to Germany in short order after getting back.  Supposed to be going back to Niederaußem this Saturday, BUT it turns out that I've been redirected to Texas next week.  Then I am off to Rizhao, China and Yeoungheung-do, South Korea.  For those of you jonesing for posts from the "other side of the sandbox," your wish is my command.  Thank you to Will Kent for showing me how to get around the Chinese censors.

So, visits to Niederaußem and Neurath generating stations finished up the last trip.  Four boilers in three days.  Noooo problem, right?  Riiight?!?  Shit no.  At least the drive into these places was nice, Neurath is to the right and Niederaußem is to the left:

Neurath turned out to be a fairy easy visit.  Had to field-repair the temperature controller in the MDC, align some sensor heads, and diagnose a failed sensor head.  Please check out the posts on Keystone, if you haven't the foggiest notion what I am talking about and your interest is piqued.  Moderate troubleshooting at Niederaußem Unit G and a rather easy walkabout around Niederaußem K were the "highlights," of our visit to Niederaußem.  However, Unit D was a whole new beast.  My hard hat is off to the install team.  Not sure how they did it, but they did.  Amazing work by Scott and Glen.  Allow me to elaborate...

There are these thingies at German power plants called overfired air ducts.  True, these things are at American plants, but they are different in Germany.  Think of this system as the EGR system on a car:  Exhaust gas is redirected into the combustion zone for better combustion and improved emissions out the exhaust (allegedly).  Here is a picture of what is inside of these pipes:

The protective glass is broken, so you can see the 2000+ F "air," glowing orange-hot inside this pipe.  The pipe has a wall thickness of maybe a foot, so it is radiating much heat.  In order to get to three of our pitch sensors, one has to climb up, over, around, and through scaffolding, pieces of scaffolding, these hot pipes, a buckstay (I-Beam), and wooden planks.  Not much fun to say the least.  I thought I had slayed the fear of confined spaces.  Turns out not so much.  I actually had to ask Glen to move out of my way in order to get myself under control.  Nearly freaked out.  Here is where I was standing when I did:

I'm standing at sensor 3, and had to move between the boiler wall (left), overfired air (right), and an I-Beam to get to sensor 4.  The width was about half my body's width, and I would have had to Army crawl under that I-Beam to get to #4 (which you can kinda see in the background).  Needless to say, the walls closed in quickly, with the accompanying tightness in the chest, racing heartbeats, and major pucker factor happening you know where.  Glen was kind enough to move when I said that I needed to get out.  After spending a few minutes outside to get myself under control again, I made a second attempt at getting to #4.  This time I looked for a way to get there from the other side, by #6.  This is where the over, under, and around trek takes place.  I counted 8 sequences of going up and down in order to reach #4 and #5 sensors.  Twasn't much fun, even after the 8th trip.  Here is a picture of Glen working on sensor #4:

The round pipe to the left is the overfired air duct.  Being away from family is very difficult, and working in these conditions amplifies it even more.  Let's see, we work in other tight places:  There's the "Tunnel of Love," at Ottumwa, "Frying Pan," at Amos, "Hell," at Cane Run, and "The Pits," at Clay Boswell.  I'll try to get pictures of these places the next time I'm there.  I guess we can call the front wall of Niederaußem Unit D "WTF???"   As in what were they thinking???  I guess we'll go anywhere to get our job done, all in the name of customer satisfaction.

Talk to you later from Texas.

Thank you for reading,

Kevin

Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness

Pensive at times, and most often melancholy is the overwhelming feeling that I feel starting the second week of an install. Pensive: trying to ensure that I am doing the best that I can for my family, moreover that I am providing for a better future for Katie Jo and Kyle. Is the job enough sacrifice of the body and mind to ensure that they're future selves are going to be okay? Can we mentally survive the self-inflictive pain whilst apart? It is tough, waking in the middle of the night, after a bad dream, or wandering thought, to wake up and find only a cold side of the bed for "comfort." The thought that my better half is awake and busy at work provides some comfort, knowing that she is slogging through her day, providing relief and sometimes angst for the patients seen at her clinic. Some comfort, but I am not able to talk to her, let alone reach out to her. All I can do is answer nature's call and keep the goal in mind: Successful completion of my mission, on time, such that I am able to escape this segment of my life, for the time being. Nothing provides a better motivation than missing one's family. Knowing that I have a goal to getting back with the ones that I love, provides me with the strength to carry on. Be it through sickness, bloody hot conditions, or tedium in the repetitive days, insomuch as that the days of the week mean nothing. Each day that I wake up means the same, damn thing: quick breakfast of whatever, some caffeine plus the adrenaline-rush of the Autobahn, followed by a brutally hard day at the office:

Cold and dreary it is. Perfectly suited for my mood. The trip started difficult enough: a large lump in my throat, tears just behind the eyelids, as I bade farewell to my wife and kids. I am not sure why it was so tough this go-around, it just was. Even now I am torturing myself with music that affects my mood: "Pictures of You," by The Cure; and "Tangled Up in You," by Aaron Lewis. Reinforcement of the mood, and who knows what dreams may come.

Times like these are tough on me, and for my wife. We both understand our situation and do our best to put the best face on things. Truth is, that being away from her and the kids is probably the hardest thing I've had to deal with, and I do so often. Harder than saying, "Tootles," to my family and Uncle Larry at the airport when I left for boot camp; harder than saying goodbye to family after a visit to MN; and as hard, yet less acute, than saying farewell to a family member just before they pass on.

Infinite sadness, as such there is not much I can do to alleviate the pain. Talking with my wife every day is the de facto highlight of said day and the ever present drive to finish the tasks at hand, are all that I can do. But no matter what, the sadness remains in the background. In the background, that is until I lay down to rest for the evening. Luckily I am exhausted from a long day at work and usually have an adult beverage, or four, in my system to help with the transition from the waking bad dream to others after the world gets dark. Nights are the worst by far. Just imagine if you will: A bad dream occurs, in which there is much despair around you. You do not know why things are down, or what you can do about it. The feelings intensify to the point that you awake to a dark room, cold pillows next to you, when all you want is a familiar warm body next to you, to hug, to make the feeling dissipate. Then fucking reality sets in: you're all alone in a strange hotel room, thousands of miles and up to 14 time zones away from the one person that can alleviate the pain.

** SIGH ** sorry for being such a Debbie Downer, but I just need an outlet for the way that I am feeling at the moment (shut up already, Robert Smith!!!). Just got word that I get to come back to Germany not long after getting back home from this current trip. Long enough to get back to Mountain Standard Time and long enough to enjoy being with the one, and ones, that I love.

Is it all worth it???

Time will tell. I pray often that the choices that I make pay off to the betterment of the kids and of the family. If that means that I suffer a heavy heart for a weeks at a time, then it will be well worth it.

Thanks for reading,

Kev