Favorite Places around world

[GregPLC]

Hmmm, I really liked some of the pics posted.....If I were single, being a road integrator would be something I'd love to do....If I had a photo album here at work, I could post a picture of my wife and kids smiling because I make it home EVERY night. I don't miss bathtime, (with the rare exception), dinner time, or bed time. In my opinion, that is the best picture/experience ever. I cannot justify the couple extra bucks being a roadie.

 

[elevmike]

Greg,

You win the "best place in the world" contest.

 

[GregPLC]

Thanks Mike! Don't get me wrong, a part of me REALLY would love to be on the road...I often catch myself crusing the online employment sites, just to see what type of road jobs are out there. It's another life, that I'm afraid will be unlived by me. I do get a LOT of pleasure in talking with the occasional road engineer that comes to my plant. Listening to some of their stories are facinating.

Greg

 

[martyh]

One of my road stories

First off, let me use this as an opportunity to Introduce myself to the
board. I really appreciate all the valuable information here, and all
the gracious people willing to share it!

Well, I just moved into a full time "Electrical Engineer" position
with My company, after being a "Service Engineer" for the last
four years. I didn't really do any international travel, mostly all
in the states (though it was about every week).

One interesting story I have was for an emergency Friday night trip to
an isolated little town in the hills of northern California. I had
the problem solved by Saturday, but my company had booked my flight
out for Sunday night. There was going to be a ridiculous fee for
changing the flight, so I used Sunday to take a scenic drive around
Northern California. I hit Mt. Lassen, Burney Falls, and some various
roadside attractions. One of which was a "lava tube" cave (a cave
formed from a tube of solidified lava), which happened to be located
in the middle of nowhere. I pulled into the deserted parking lot, which is
about a mile from the main road, and proceded up to the entrance of the
cave. I started to enter the cave when I noticed a sign stating
"Enter at own risk, flashlight required". I thought, what the heck,
I've got a flashlight in the trunk of the Rental Car, so I went and got
it. So I finish my rather uneventfull, unguided, and rather boring
walk through the cave and head back to my car to proceed to my next
destination. As I reach into my pockets to get my keys, the preceeding 20 minutes
of my life replay frantically in my mind as I come to grips with the fact that
my car keys are in my trunk, next to the toolbox where I had gotten the
flashlight from. Deserted parking lot, several miles from any civilization,
and no phone of any kind. Luckily for me, a family pulled in about 20 minutes later
to the sight of me trying to pry a long, skinny tree branch between the door seal
of the car, willing it to reach the unlock button. The dad got out, looked at me
for a few awkward seconds in silence, and then said, "I have a coat hanger". Less
than 20 seconds later, I hit the unlock button with the coat hanger, and the doors
unlocked, but I now had the alarm going off. After about 5 minutes of
trying to figure out how to turn it off, it went off by itself, and I went on
my way. Well, every stop I made after there and I had to get out of the car, the
alarm went off, until eventually, a nice lady informed me I needed to put the key in the
door lock and turn it to lock, then back to unlock (lesson learned).

All this was worth it however, because my flight was out of Reno, Nevada and I still
had a couple hours to kill before I went to the airport. I stopped into a Casino to
hit one of the buffets, but the line was horribly long. I had $8 cash in my pocket and
decided I'd play the quarter slots until the line died down. Well, 20 minutes later, I
hit a $500 jackpot, and actually walked out of the casino with $540 more than I came with.

Ahh..good times, good times....

 

[PLucas]

I was 'on the road' in my previous employ, it only lasted for six months, by then I had had enough of living out of a suitcase from Monday to Friday.

I did get to visit some wonderful places here in the UK, like some of the remote places in the Yorkshire moors, Blaunau Ffestineog in Wales, the Isle of White, to name but a few.

There was another problem with staying in hotels all the time....beer!! I was drinking every night, just to help me sleep mind. So, after 6 months of enduring this I decided this wasn't the life for me.

Respect to all those who do it.

Paul

 

[ArikBY]

Paul

You remind me installation in UK.
It suppose to take 10 days. it took 45 days.The plant was in Corby,abouy 100 miles north to London.
We use to stay at family hotel at a village call Dudington,Just 6 rooms.
Restaurant and bar in the first floor.
Green grass view ships and cows every morning.very narrow roads.
It was my first time to drive in the "wrong" side of the road.
It scary in the bigining.I thought I will never get use to that, but it was not so bad.
We checked all the restaurants aroung and went to sleep with couple of beer every night...
The reason I rememberd in this place,They called me last week and asked for quote to remove the line to another place in the north.

 

[eastkodakguy]

AGUASCALIENTES MEXICO!!!!

I did the road bit for a little over a year, It was the best and worst experience of my working life. The only problem I had with it was being left out on the road for 3+ months. Well this thread is about road trips. My favorite place was Aguascalientes Mexico, at a brand spanking new Coca-Cola bottling plant, I was doing the startup and commisioning of a high speed case palletizer and a PET bottle depalletizer. Well I fly into aguascalientes(super small airport) from DFW in the middle of the night, get my rental car and the guy who rents the cars offers to escort me to my hotel, I agree because I barely speak any spanish and have no clue as to where to go. Well we get to my hotel and there are three beautiful women around my age (23) at the front desk. This is a 5-star hotel right on the square. I grab a quick bite to eat then head off to my room because I have to be at the plant in the morning. Some of the highlights of my trip were of course the abundance of young senoritas, all of them in shape wearing tight pants wheeewww! I have never seen so many beautiful women in my life. The machines I was starting up were awesome it couldn't have gone any more smoothly, which was extra good consindering I have never even seen either one of the machines before. The plant I was at was spotless, they were starting to bottle coca cola products in plastic bottles, but every where you went around town you got coca cola in an actual GLASS bottle. I don't know about you guys but it just taste better out of a glass bottle. What was also neat was every morning that I was in the plant I wouldnt have been there for 5 min and some of the guys working there would bring me 2-3 Glass bottles of coca cola and sit them next to my laptop. The people of Mexico were by far the best part, I learned a pretty good lesson that money isn't everything. I met people that didn't have anything and were soo poor but they were the happiest people alive, It was a great experience and one that I will never forget.
Thanks for listening
Dallas Smith