Far East Cynic

I’m still here!

My brain is full.

This week has been so full of information, I don’t know if I can remember any more. Important safety tip-make sure when you accept a job you are not going to work for engineers!

Thus my current prediciment. I have found out the people that I will be working for and whose interests I will be representing -are primarily engineers. The problem with that? I am not an engineer. Therefore I do not have an abiding fascintation with how the electrons in a radar beam get to a target. My interest is simply that they do, the target gets destroyed, and I get to the bar before 5pm.

So you can see my concern-these guys are smart-I’m not so smart, technically. Never have been. There was a reason my minor was in political science and my Masters was in International Relations.  These guys have been knee deep in the hard core technical stuff for years and they are very good at what they do.

Out of here tomorrow and back to Shopping Mall. Like that is going to be an improvement. I need a vision of Hari’s! That’s not happening any time soon.

However on the good news side-the Secretary of the Air Force got fired. And the Chief of Staff. Is this a great country or what?

 

  1. …and BB Bell has retired if that means anything to you. Personally, I had tremendous respect for Bell.

  2. Actually, I liked Bell-but the one thing I could not abide was the “1984” type state that he allowed to be created in USFK.

  3. 1: Drive to Airbase in red sports car

    2: Fly to target

    3: Drop ordinance

    4: Return to base, start BBQ, drink beer, talk s#it about Navy

  4. Yeah, for now. The “plan” calls for a 15% cut in salaried costs. This will include agency personnel, purchased services, and a layoff. We don’t know what my organization’s task will be yet, but it has to be accomplished by 01 AUG. I will keep you posted…

  5. So bullnav:

    What’s the 411 on the eco-tec? When’s the hybrid Fusion hitting the streets & is it linked to an I-4 or V-6 for the IC portion of the drive train – enquiring minds want to know 😉
    – SJS

  6. Ah, you mean ECO-BOOST. That would be GTDI, or gasoline turbo-charged direct injection on our 3.5L 4V V6. Higher output with better fuel economy.

    I am not sure on the Hybrid Fusion timing, but I think it will be this fall. The engine will be an I4 (same as the Hybrid Escape).

    I’ll send you a note…

  7. bullnav:

    Thanks — momentary brain fart on the engine designation… Hearing on eof the applications may be for the V-6 Mustang that would put it in the same HP category as the GT (though how is the V-6 ECO-BOOST torque-wise?). My beef w/the hybrids I see around here (mostly of the Prius and Civic types) is (1) acceleration s*cks (just simple, normal merging acceleration) and (2) toss in hot weather and running the a/c and they can’t get out of the way of their own shadows on anything other than level pavement. Hope the Hybrid Fusion won’t be like that…
    – SJS

  8. SJS – no published numbers yet. I will say that with our new engines we have had good success with providing around 90% of usable torque at around 2000 RPM. From there up to the torque peak, it is relatively flat, so you get good drivability in the RPM ranges that most folks drive.

    I have not driven a Hybrid, so I cannot comment on off-the-line starts. I do agree that acceleration is a concern. I don’t ever want a big engine for anything other than being able to merge or pass on the Interstates. The hybrids will certainly have a difficult time getting there due to the smaller engine and higher vehicle weights.