The first week in Course 1 is just about done. We've been over precision measuring and I've gotten pretty good at it, I think. We've gotten to tear down a small motor a few times to measure things like piston size, piston ring gap, cylinder size and such. Taking out the valves was easy. Getting those damned little keepers back in there is another story. Once you get the hang of doing it, it's not too bad. I'll just say there were some colorful words flying around the room, from all the tables, the other night when we first started doing it. Large fingers are NOT your friend when doing this sort of task. I'm starting to calm down and get a little more comfortable with the whole process as is most everyone else in the room.
I did have to blow up a little last night on 2 people for bugging me to death. They kept asking me for help on something that I was not working on and it was messing me up and I sort of lost it on them. I told them I didn't mind helping them learn something but not when it was going to interfere with what I was doing and trying to learn. I stick by my previous statement that I'm paying to go to school to learn how to do this stuff myself and not to learn how to teach others how to do it.
Madden 10 came out for the XBOX 360 last night so its a good distraction for my brain. Nothing like a little football game for 30 minutes or so to take the edge off during a study session. It helps to unlock your brain.
