It has been quite a couple of weeks. I know I've started of my blogs that way before, but this one takes the cake for a shocking turn of events.
I was laid off 2 weeks ago. It was pretty surprising, and I had no idea it was coming, but when you see a line of people streaming into your bosses office, with the blinds down, you kind of know something was going on.
The day started like any other, but the craziness started after lunch when one of the designers that had worked there for almost 7 years started to pack up his stuff. The rumours started flying around like wild fire, and work came to a grinding halt.
People started to congregate at each other's cubicles, wondering what was going on. And not 20 minutes later, the drizzle turned into a torrential rain storm.
My close colleague was called in, and we all knew then what was happening for sure. He came out, started to collect his stuff, well, what he could because he was instructed to leave immediately, and basically said that he was gone..
30 minutes later, I got my call. I will be honest, I was a bit nervous, and shocked because I had been there for a very long time, and was a senior of the department. I had no idea it was going to be my turn All of that experience and knowledge meant nothing when the "powers that be" looked at the numbers of the department.
As the meeting progressed and words like, "downsizing", and ,"budgets" were thrown around like shit in a monkey pen, my mind started to change. This was actually an opportunity for me to find something that I really enjoyed. I was free to take charge of my life again.
After I got the talking to, I walked out of the office, not upset or scared, but joyous. Yup, joyous. I got paid off to leave basically and find something that I am truly passionate about. I'm also starting to learn HTML5 and CSS.
I can't blame them, as that is what big corporate businesses do. They look at the numbers, and if they don't add up to what they like, they do what they have to do. I may be understanding about this situation, but I gladly take sympathy beer, even if it comes with a side of sympathy head tilting, and condolences.
Random scary thoughts of desolation, and homelessness sometimes come to mind, but, I know who I am, and I know that I will be working hard to find a new job. I'm not one to just sit around and play videogames. I always need to do something that gets my mind and body active.
So now, let's talk about the E-Crosser LMA(I used to call it LMP but now it's Le Mans Autocrosser-LMA).
The entire frame and shell has been designed, as well as the suspension and steering.
The shell will be using aluminum sheeting and draping it and riveting it to the frame.
The front suspension is complete now, with many alterations and changes from the original design. As I was designing the suspension in the last revision, I was finding that the dimensions were getting larger and larger. That was something I was not liking because keeping the frame as tight as possible would be advantageous when racing around the cones. A complete frame change was in order, to get the dimensions back to the Toyota Yaris territory.
A lot of my research has been with the
Formula SAE cars that are extremely popular with the university kids these days. Those damn kids tearing around parking lots with their crash bang music blaring, and leaving tire skid marks all over the asphalt...Cool!
It's a seriously cool concept. A fictional company has contracted these students to build a race car with a spec type engine, and limited performance rules. I wish I knew about this when I was in college.
Anyways, these students come up with some genius solutions for things. Some are a bit too complicated, and some are just not feasible at all in regards to manufacturing. What they lack in practicality sometimes, they more than make up for it with fly in the face to conventional tactics. I love it and I learned a tonne.
As for the E-Crosser LMA, my concept is about simplicity of concept. There's no push rod suspension here. For the E-Crosser LMA, it may look like a protoypre; at least a boxy prototype, but it is all about grassroots mentality. If something is damaged, it's easily fixed, and doesn't cost a fortune to fabricate a part using CNC, or 3D printing. It's sort of like the
Daytona Prototype concept over the
Le Mans Prototype.
The Daytona's are basically a tube frame using some high tech stuff, but it was not about aero. It was more about mechanical grip and simplicity and cost efficiency. The Le Mans Prototypes on the other hand, are extremely high technology pieces of jaw-droppingly awesome design. Nothing is cheap on those, and repairing one...well, let's just say, if you crashed one, you might not be racing in the next race because things take time and money to repair it.
The E-Crosser LMA is all about the steel frame, aluminum skin and rivets, and a lot of off the shelf parts from wrecked out cars (steering rack, and braking components)
Here are the renderings for what I've done so far. I really like where this is now heading. It looks cool (to me at least) and it is as simple as I can make it.
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| The Finalized Shell As Seen in Orange. |
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| The Rear |
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| In Red |
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| Front Suspension |
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| A View from the Cockpit |
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| Steering Wheel Hub |
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| Steering Rack and Column. Mmmmm Carbon Fiber. |
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| The Braking System |
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| Right Front Suspension, Sway Bar and Braking System. No braided steel lines yet. |
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| Left Front Suspension Shot |
Once I finish up the rear suspension, I will be posting up a supplemental graphic to show what is what. So right now, you have to just enjoy the pretty pictures without much explanation.
SIDE NOTE: Not Your Grandma's Cuckoo Clock
With having some time off of working an 8-5 job, I thought I would keep busy. I've had an ongoing log of random thoughts, and I finally got to one of them.
I wanted to build clocks using old used up car parts I had lying around. So I took a couple of days to design and build a couple of them. They turned out great, and hey, if need be, I could make a few bucks with these. I'd buy one, would you? Just make sure you anchor the hook into the wall...these are not lightweight.
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| TwinchRacing Disk Brake Clock |
