crazy old man

I miss the old guy at work. He was a retired employee of "company X" that came back as a contractor (basically like me) to fill some time, make some money and offer some expertise. I don't really know a lot of people where i work because i only actually do work with a few of them. Also, as we all know, engineers don't make very exciting friends, and i'm surrounded by hard-core desk-jocky engineer types. Frank, as he was appropriately named, was not only a constant presence, but also a good guy with which to discuss the nothings that you discuss to fill the day. Unfortunately, as of the first of this year, he is re-retired.

Since we were both contract workers for the worst engineering group in the company (leadership-wise) we had (or "have" in my case) a lot of empty time to fill. When we got bored, we'd wonder around our huge engineering complex, discussing for the most part, cars. I can say without a doubt that he had some degree of experience with every aspect of automotive design and manufacture. Also, he was a former supervisor, so it made me feel a little better when he agreed that our immediate higher-up was a useless mass and most of the industry is not as we live it. If it hadn't been for this old guy, i would have learned very little in the past 6 months. Worse, the bit that i picked up on my own was the real trivial stuff, like "how to fill out form Z" or "where to request access A." You know, the type of stuff that the losers above would ask me to do as my part in the cogs of the corporate gear system. Even still they pretty much leave me to fend for myself on that info. Frank, on the other-hand, was preaching the good stuff; how to get ahead in the business, how to interact with the factory workers, ways to subvert, side-step or weasel around the system. He could talk to angry plant/quality/whoever managers and tell them not what they wanted to hear, but what he need to say in a way they'd want to hear it.

we would often find ourselves working at one of the many local assembly plants and end up walking the lines. He had such a wealth of knowledge it's just spill out. Then, when the topic of work wore out, we'd turn to the topic of cars in general. He was working on an old MG... i can't remember the year. He'd offer advice for the Fiat and even go as far as offer up use of his son's car hoist, should the need arise. Sure, occasionally he'd forget what topic he was speaking on and would require a reminder and yes, it was pretty hard to interject my own thoughts once he got rolling, but what can you do?

My old guy emailed me the other from Florida. He said the weather was wonderful and he saw a bobcat from his patio. He asked for an update on my current job prospect, which he was advising me about (still outstanding) and mentioned that he hasn't had a chance to go fishing yet, but you better god damned believe he's gonna. (the last bit were my words, not his)