OT - Do you still get the buzz from completing a project?

I remember the buzz I used to get when I successfully commissioned a project.

All the stress of commissioning is instantly lifted once the machine/process begins to run as intended.
(Sure, there will be minor bugs that need to be ironed out, but those are mere details to be sorted out another day.)

That buzz was the drug that keep me going back for more.

However, I no longer feel the buzz anymore! What does that mean?

I remember feeling tired and relieved after the last major project I commissioned.
But I didn't feel the buzz anymore, no great sense of accomplishment.
I didn't feel like laughing out loud and giving everyone around me a huge (like I used to).

What the hell happened?

My question to the battle harden members of the forum. Have you lost the buzz as well?

Yes, I too always relished the buzz as I progressively breathed electric life into each section of a machine and the guys who'd carefully put it all together looked on with trepidation as various mechanisms whizzed back and forth, (intentionally) missing each other by a hair's breadth. I really lived inside those things and often talked to them too, when they misbehaved or defied the design. For the last couple of years though, I've been pushing milk 'round pipes- can't even see the thing the program's controlling; one step removed from the action. The projects are now plants or sections thereof, and nearly all require a prolonged presence on site that dwindles but often doesn't seem to have a defined finish. The sense of acheivement remains, (I've had to learn about a whole new industry) but the "buzz" isn't quite the same as watching lumps of metal being hurled to and fro, coerced by the invisible hand of ladder logic.

im not sure i get a buzz from completing commissioning. At that stage all I feel is relief. of course, that part is the best learning experience.

The best buzz I get is once the code is written an tested/simulated. I love that part.

Sometimes (not too often, alas) I manage to do a thing which makes me feel I may be worth something. That is a buzz.

Of course, there is always a buzz taking a check to the bank

H E double hockey sticks NO.

I am now >50 doing this for 20+ years and still get the buzz when I walk into a plant for a follow up visit and no one wants to talk to me. That tells me all is well.

The joy I get now, is passing on my knowledge to up and coming juniors within our company and see the joy and amazement in their eyes when a valve turns on when it is supposed to.

No buzz at the end of commissioning - big buzz when I get paid!!!
I might add that if I ever get called back to a job I am very disappointed as it means I have missed something during commissioning.

I still get the buzz when I do training with operators on a new system. When they make comments like "You can do that?" or "I wish we'd had this years ago!" it generates a lot of satisfaction.

Still new at this so the buzz is alive and well:beerchug:

How long have you been doing what gave you the buzz? 2 years or 30 years?

I have been doing it for 15 years - have done some 500 odd jobs of various types in that time including base load HV power stations, fuel systems, emergency power systems (generators), co-generation systems, cranes, gantries, HV/LV switching systems, building monitoring and control systems, swimming pools (commercial), water features etc etc. Have not done process control and only a little machine control.

Needs to be something a bit different to give me a buzz these days - apart from getting paid ontime or early.

Different priorities when you work for yourself than when working for a boss.

Scott180zip said:

How long have you been doing what gave you the buzz? 2 years or 30 years?

Click to expand...

About 3 months (still in school)

Over a quarter century. (OMG - doesn't seem like it!)

No Buzz at the end, relief and the thought of getting paid along with no stress till the next one !

edit:doing it for 23 years now.........

I admit to getting a buzz from being a man that can! I come across a lot of people/processes who struggle along in spite of their machine controls. I don't pretend to have the knowledge of the person who wrote the code originally but I get a good feeling by making the operators job easier.

It's often the simple things that make the biggest difference.

Yes, 23 yrs is a long time. Sounds to me like your not being challenged enough or your incentives are gone. Go to Eng-Tips.com and check out their Motivation Section. ( note: I am not an Engineering Psychologist but I play one in Cyberspace).