Yesterday Mom, Dad, and I met my brother, Eric, and three of my Dad's brothers for Caterpillar's 50th anniversary party. Eric works at Cat as a mechanical engineer. He is responsible for the design and installation of a specific part for the loader trucks. He has his own office but also goes out onto the floor to supervise the workers and to help troubleshoot. Cat throws quite the party; outside on the facility grounds there were all types of inflatables for children to play on, race cars, diesel engines, loaders, diggers, etc. that people could tour and climb on, balloonists, a hot air balloon with a raffle for a free flight, free giveaways such as ball caps, little work helmets for kids, magnets, etc. and all the free food and drinks you could handle! Holden would have loved it, but since it was in Aurora it would have been a long day for him. I decided to wait until next year to bring him along so that I could enjoy the day. (I was happy with my decision after viewing several Holden-esque meltdowns thrown by various toddlers passing us by!) Eric took us on a big tour of the building he works in and also the one next to it, so we could see the finished product. The piece that he is responsible for goes on the loaders and prevents them from having roll-over accidents. He was showing us the margin of error and it is only 4 millimeters, so it is a very important piece to get done accurately! Eric was a great tour guide and it was obvious that this is his niche. It was very interesting to see everything and how it works, and now I can picture him at work each day. I am proud of you, Eric!
Uncle Dave, Uncle Paul, Uncle Joe, Eric, Mom and Dad posing in front of the big diesel engine.
Uncle Joe and I switched places! =o)
Eric posing by a truck, Mom pretending to direct him at his desk, My little brother and me in the factory, and Dad and Eric in front of the Cat tower.
Eric at his desk, giving us the grand tour, Dad posing by a partially finished loader, and the group outside by one of the race cars.
1 comment:
Looks like you all had lots of fun yesterday. You are right, Colin would have loved every minute of the day! Holden will definitely have to go with you next year. Looks like Eric enjoys his job and now you know what he does at CAT. I can never really explain what Steve does there. Maybe someday I will have to tour his plant to understand better what he does...we'll see! :)
Post a Comment