Kidney Stones and studying.

Yesterday Morning around 4:30 AM as Ray was getting ready for bed, he started having a sharp pain in the bottom left side of his abdomen that spread around to his back and down to his groin. It was causing him quite a bit of pain but he was able to lie down & fall asleep for about 20 min, then he woke up rolling around in pain barely able to move and feeling nauseated, he went into the bathroom to throw-up. I went in to check on him a few minutes later and he was still rolling in pain and nauseated but had not thrown up yet, we decided he needed to go to the ER. When we got there he was in so much visible pain that they took him straight back and did a ct scan. He has a great big kidney stone, they are not sure he will be able to pass it on his own, they might try to break it up with ultra sound waves or he might have to have surgery, we will know after his visit with the urologist. Poor guy!!!

On a healthier note, I went and spoke with an academic counselor at SLCC about starting classes and whether or not I should enroll in the Materials Science Engineering program through SLCC and get an Associate of Pre-Engineering (APE) or get my Associate of Science (AS) and then enroll in the Materials Science Program at the U of U, both options have advantages and disadvantages. If I get my APE, which is designed for a transfer to the U of U, then I wont have an AS and may not be able to transfer my credits to any school besides the U of U, but the APE also has reduced General Education requirements so I wouldn't have to take some of those pointless classes people have to take just to fulfill their credit hours, plus I plan on transferring to the U of U anyway so I don't really know that it would make much difference to me that other schools may not accept my credits, I am new to this whole college deal though so People who have done this please feel free to offer advice. Anyway I have been studying like crazy and have this whole upcoming week off to continue studying for my accuplacer exam which I will take on the 6Th of December and then register for classes on the 7Th. Scary and Exciting all at the same time.

So please wish us luck as we strive to pass tests and stones.

Random Stuff

I love the fall colors and the cooler weather, it signals that my favorite season of the year is coming, WINTER!! Time for snow and turtlenecks and sweaters and I know I am jumping ahead a little bit but the cold in the night air when I am going to work and in the morning when I get off of work has the smell of winter.

It is very strange working while everyone else is sleeping. While I am in the Fab I don't really notice it because of all the fluorescent lighting and the fact that there aren't any windows, but it is very different when I leave for break and the streets are abandoned and it is so dark outside. It has been an interesting adjustment to make. I am enjoying my new shift, everyone has been very welcoming and I am having fun learning new things and having more responsibilities.

Colton is taking basketball at school and he has not really been very athletic in his life, besides wrestling, so it is a challenge for him, I offered to practice with him, I love basketball.

Some of my favorite memories are of my family having Bar-b-ques every summer and playing b-ball in the driveway. I miss that. We need to have a family reunion that is all bar-b-ques and basketball and some middle of the street football. Oh and we can't forget a friendly game of Mario-Kart 64. We also need to have a snowball fight where I start crying because my "sock" gloves aren't keeping my poor little hands warm enough so I have to go in and run my hands under hot water every 10 min, then Rochelle can call me a big baby and write "Brit stinks" on a wall somewhere, and then we can roast some marshmallows and gummy bears and sit so close to the fire that someones shoes start to melt, while we all laugh at the same old stories that we tell every time we all get together, jeez I miss my family. I wish we weren't all spread out so much and so busy in our own lives that the only time we all see each other is at a funeral. I love and miss you all!!!

Promotion!!

A few weeks back I applied for a new position at work, it is a lead position over four different areas in the fab. I was hopeful that I would get one of the eight positions but after finding out that 29 people, all with more years of experience than me, had also put in for the jobs I was a little worried.

Today the official announcement was made so I am excited to tell everyone that I got the job!! Hooray!!

The following is the e-mail that was sent.

Salt Lake Employees,

Recently, eight Production Fab Specialist openings were posted. After going through an interview process, the following individuals have been selected:

Photo/Etch
Diffusion/TF/Implant/Epi
Backmetal/Backgrind/CMP

Shift 1

Britteny Eggertsen
Becky Skola

Shift 2

Ponn Srey
Wes Howard

Shift 3

Tyler Socwell
Jeremy Hunt

Shift 4
Zach Davis
Kristi Miller

Please join me in congratulating and supporting these individuals in their new roles.

Regards,

Ken

The only downside is that the shift that I got is a graveyard shift, so that is definitely going to be a big change and will take some getting used to. Other than that I am super excited. I start on Monday so wish me luck!!!