Helloo

Well its been along time since I have updated this blog. I will attempt to correct that right now. I've been really busy,(the likely excuse)with work and studying for the Fundamentals of Engineering test (FE exam). I recently took the FE exam, and I have to say it was the hardest test I have ever taken, 8 hours of pure calculation hell. Anyways to better understand this test I will explain why I took the monster. The FE test is the first out of 2 test in attaining your professional engineering license (PE). This is a highly regarded license which not everyone gets, due to it's difficulty and prereqs. are pretty stiff also. After/when I pass the FE which is offered twice a year, I will have to wait until I attain 5 years of engineering work experience to sit for the PE exam (which of course is 8 hours also). For me the PE is not required it is more of a personal goal and will look good on my business card.
If by the luck of God I pass the FE (which would have required outstanding guess work on my part) then I plan on starting my Master's in Material Science Engineering at NC State University. They have a distance program which should be nice. After that I should have enough time in the company to pursue my next goal which is getting an MBA at Duke university. It's pretty expensive so, I would try to get work to pay for it. After that I would be right around the time I can sit for my PE exam, and that will be all the schooling I will ever want in two lifetimes.
On the work front I have been involved in some fairly interesting things, mostly hydro plant work (supports the nuclear sight) and pressurizer weld overlays. To wordy to explain those in details here. Anyways, it's been busy. I will start working day shift at Catawba nuclear station as the welding contact for the pressurizer overlays. It will be a long two weeks, I work a 6 to 6, six days a week, and will have to miss most of Thanksgiving. I don't feel too bad though, most of the workers will have to work the entire outage and might miss Christmas.

Besides all of that I have been riding on bicycle on the indoor trainer that I bought. It works really well. Paige has been busy at school and playing intramural soccer with her classmates. She is trying to get her 1 month clinical this spring in Gastonia which is right down the street. That would be really nice, I would like her to be back at the house with me again. Hope all is well, send my love to everyone and I'll talk to you soon.

P.S. Milfab investment idea, how about a beach house somewhere? I think it would see some use.......

Nick

"Lost" Marathon Weekend

Jason and I began watching the television show "Lost" when we bought the first Season on DVD. We loved the twists and turns in the story line and couldn't wait for Season 2 to begin. We also passed our copy of season 1 on the the Bryants who were equally as impressed as we were with it. Having a new Brooke and working often resulted in a spotty viewing of Season 2 for Kris and Jay. With Season 3 beginning last week, we all decided that a Season 2 marathon was in order to prepare for the newest season of 'Lost'.
We watched a total of nearly 18 viewing hours, from Thursday night till Saturday at midnight when we finally finished Season 2. We had such a good time. Brooke was a perfectly behaved baby. She slept at night and was so patient with the grown-ups glued to the tube.

Busy

Hello everyone, it's been awhile since I made a blog. I have been very busy recently. I have been down at Keowee Hydro station in South Carolina trying to help out with their broke generator. Hydor plants typically do not get this much attention from the nuclear side of the house. However, since this hydro plant is one of the emergency power supplies for Oconee Nuclear Station, it is very important. So anyways, I have been down there since Tuesday morning. I will have to go back again soon, I suppose. I've probably worked 60-70 hours this week, and it will only get worse going into back to back outages. I have been asked by one of our Welding SPOC'S (Single Point of Contact)to work their outage. Which their outage runs through December into early January. Not sure if my boss will approve me going out there for a month. If he does, I might not get a X-mas break. I also have the sore throat thing, I hope it goes away soon. Talk soon.

Hello

Gram,

Great to see that you made it on there. Yes, tell Gramp happy birthday. I'm sure he won some texas holdem in honor of his day. Can't write much now, but glad that you can make it on and look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for the card also.

Nick

Not much activity on the blog

Well, I have to say that, although limited, the adoption of the family blog concept is quite ahead of most people/families in the nation. Unfortunately, there is a huge gap between the Milicia participation and the Buchan participation. Is is this a result of life or are there other issues keeping family members from reaching out?

I will be visiting on Aug 4th for the Vintage Ohio festival. We are thinking that a nice swim would be the perfect end to a hot day of wine tasting so I will at least be there Friday night.I plan to look at Gram B's computer when I am there in a couple of weeks. Mom told me that Gramp's birthday is being celebrated on Saturday. So, I will try to be there for that as well.

Anyway, I wanted to share some critters that have been living in our flowerbeds.

MS Bike Ride

Hello everyone,

It has been quite awhile since I have posted. Paige and I just got back from a vacation in Ohio, visiting the Columbus area relatives. We spent 4 days with Paige's mom in Dayton, and the rest of the week with the Columbus and DeGraff relatives. It was really nice to see everyone.

Currently, I'm in training for the MS 150 bike ride. It is a two day event that covers 150 miles. If you are interested in donating to the event, my personal goal is $500.00 dollars. They have a bandana that you wear, that signifies that you are riding for someone with MS. Of course, I will be riding for Ang. I will have to get her to sign it for me. (Some people ride for people they don't know, the MS person signs it and they meet at the end of the ride.) I am riding for the Areva team, (Duke doesn't support sport teams, so I'm riding for one of our vendors). Here is the link to my page for the MS ride, you can make online donations etc.

Hello everyone,

It has been quite awhile since I have posted. Paige and I just got back from a vacation in Ohio, visiting the Columbus area relatives. We spent 4 days with Paige's mom in Dayton, and the rest of the week with the Columbus and DeGraff relatives. It was really nice to see everyone.

Currently, I'm in training for the MS 150 bike ride. It is a two day event that covers 150 miles. If you are interested in donating to the event, my personal goal is $500.00 dollars. They have a bandana that you wear, that signifies that you are riding for someone with MS. Of course, I will be riding for Ang. I will have to get her to sign it for me. (Some people ride for people they don't know, the MS person signs it and they meet at the end of the ride.) I am riding for the Areva team, (Duke doesn't support sport teams, so I'm riding for one of our vendors). Here is the link to my page for the MS ride, you can make online donations etc.

https://www.nationalmssociety.org/NCP/personal/default.asp?pa=55160225&pd=NCP1EMS120060916CHN

Thanks for any support, and hope everyone is doing well.

Nick

Thanks for any support, and hope everyone is doing well.

Nick

Summertime

Summer is here! I love it. We are looking forward to the remodelling party next weekend. Jason is chronicling the stages via written commentary and photos on his personal blog, Section J. Check it out. He will be adding more installments until the ultimate completion.


School is going pretty well. I am learning about Inventory managment this week and how to account for various events. I was feeling very overwhelmed after the last class. I said a prayer before studying yesterday and a miracle happened! I started to 'get it'. I was able to finish my homework virtually painfree! I am thankful and will be saying another prayer tonight as I move onto the next Chapter.

Hope everyone is doing well.