Engineering Lessons

I've officially been working as an engineer for two-and-a-half weeks now and I have learned a lot.  Not only have I learned things that I need to know for my job, I have also learned things about engineering in general that are good to know:

• There are few things as cool as engineering when it's going well.  On the other hand, there are few things as frustrating as engineering that is not going well.  When I'm working with an analysis program, I live a life time in the seconds it takes between hitting the "go" button and getting either an error message or a confirmation that the program did its job.  Most of the time I get an error message but that makes the elation from success all that much better.
• Engineers are always thinking critically about everything.  When I'm shooting the breeze with my co-workers, I am amazed by the observations that are made and the analysis that goes on.  I am fortunate to work with people who never "turn their brains off".
• For salaried workers, the 40 hour work week doesn't exist.  I haven't worked an 8-hour day since I started.  I would say that I average about 8.5-9 hours a day and there are people who are headed into design reviews or other milestones that are at work much longer than I am.  I don't mind because I'm paid to get a certain job done and so it makes sense that I stay until I do the job.

These are just the beginning but I can't imagine doing any other job and liking it as much as I like engineering!

-Lane