It would seem I have the kinks worked out in my rsync setup. I guess I herped before derping when setting permissions, not realizing that the only way to get the binary to execute with a new login group added was to restart the process. It’s okay, I have a helmet to protect me from myself. It’s padded and has hexagons like a turtle shell. Hurrrrr.

Aside from that, though, things are going. I’m working still. Always good to have net gain in funds week by week. My feet, arms, and come to think of it- everything hurts. Sometimes it hurts in a gratifying way. Body parts such as my feet, however, not so gratifying. More of a stinging, burning sensation. Cramping also sucks. Back cramps, foot cramps, overall horrible cramping. I’ll survive. I’m not here to bitch, dammit. I’ll cease this at once.

The installation of my virtual soapbox is now complete. I wrote a half-second bash script to take care of fixing permissions on my end before rsync-ing the whole load to the “web server” (term used loosely, here, as the janky garbage I have set up only took two whole seconds of deployment). Everything should be all set. No more XML: PARSER JUST HAD A GODDAMNED FUCKING SEIZURE, YOU RETARD style errors or 403 Asshat Has No Permission issues. Should deploy with two simple commands and let me stand on my little, virtual, audience-less, soapbox all day long.

My prior Jekyll setup was as such:

1. Jekyll installed on Amazon EC2 instance.
2. Template/files generated on EC2 instance.
3. Uploaded content to template/work directory as needed.

I’ve since decided that was “A Bad Idea™”, and have chosen to offload the work from the EC2 instance to my FreeBSD machine instead, updating content with rysnc as it’s generated. This poses a few minor annoyances for the moment. First, the DSL I’m connected to is currently crawling at a snail’s pace. However, the nice thing is that you, the reader, don’t see all my ugly fuckups as they happen. Instead, you only get to see the pretty pre-formatted pages as they’re ready for print. That’s a major advantage. As I learn Maruku, you’re not forced to watch me painfully learn it’s syntax. Good stuff, huh?

Things seem to be moving along. I’m working now, as you may already have noticed from blog posts. I’m working midnights, though. Pretty terrible shift, I’m hoping I can find something, whether at the same place or not, that’s days. Hopefully I can arrange something soon that will cease to destroy my ability to sleep. Sorry for the lack of blog posts lately. I’ve been busy as hell. In the very least, I have money in my pocket and a place to go every day. I’ll be grateful for the good things and wonderful people in my life. I’ll make sure to show them every chance I get, too. That said, I suppose I’ll trail off with a youtube video.

I was uncertain when I wrote the first blog post about my new job, but I’ve found out that CNC machines are rather diverse and quite complex. It would seem that numerical control panels and machines are actually interchangeable to a certain extent. The machine I’m currently running has a FANUC 18i panel and it’s attached to an Okuma 2SP-35H dual-spindle lathe.

The one in the image I found is fitted with a FANUC panel as well. I hope to learn more about CNC as I go along, machining is actually pretty fascinating to me. It also seems to be a pretty lucrative trade to get into.

Most of my life, I’ve either worked some stupid “McJob” or behind a desk. I’ve never had what you’d deem a real gritty job before. Until now. Now I come home every morning covered in carbon dust, coolant, and grease. It’s insane. My arms are sore every day, and are getting… Gruesome.

I work in a “cell” that consists of a grinder station, six-axis FANUC robotic manipulator, and dual-spindle FANUC CNC lathe. The grinder does exactly what the term I used implies, it grinds the raw material down to size. The manipulator takes the properly sized material and loads it onto the lathe chuck, which then uses tooling to shape the material into the finished product. The manipulator then sends the finished piece on down to me, where it’s gauged for accuracy and I can make corrections near the end of the line when necessary. The cell produces about a hundred pieces an hour. It’s overly complex for what’s actually happening, and has a tendency to reflect that in what can (and does) go wrong. I’ve noticed two tandem PLC’s, one to direct the manipulator and another that apparently controls the lathe. The cell used to consist of two manipulators, two lathes, and four spindles. It has since been found that it’s a freaking mess for just one person to handle with just one series running. I think I’d die if both were ever running cooperatively.