Working there was an eye opening experience. It is my first time working in South Africa, and moreover, working with a group of locals from all sorts of backgrounds and age groups. 4 South Africans(including BOSS), 2 Zimbabweans, 1 Seleganese and not forgetting the 1 sotong Singaporean! I remember during the first day, I was chatting to Norman(my zimbabwean sensei, master, teacher) during this period. Norman said to me... " ....but you can teach me one thing" I was drilling my head for this 'one thing' that he was refering to, then after a long while, he said "KUNG-FUU!" Hahaha~ I was stunned`! After explaining the situation, he is convinced that I know-no-kung-fuu! haha~ the funniest/ridiculous part was that he had this disappointing look on his face...O.M.Goodness... my name did not even start with a "J" or "B"! Everyday's job was to massage these babies back to new, from 8am to 5pm... Blue opel's interior... a cocktail of wires , dust and dirt. You won't even believe what this pickup is originally... it is a 2005 mitsubishi... I wonder what it went through to end up like this! The rear end... the rear 'container' was detached to be panelbeaten and respray... so is the whole body of the pickup... @_@ To be honest, going to this workshop to work isn't the best way to gain experience regarding the school's required work content. But, what attracts me is this genre of business. If I never work here, I'll never knew that such profession existed! I am very glad that I've worked there. From waiter, cigarette factory, prymaid corporates, Mp3/Mp4 sales,telemarketing, textiles importing/exporting systems....now, I've added Auto body rebuilders to my lists of inside-informations...hehe... Although getting inside-info regarding each professions... info such as the truth and lies in the businesses, how much integrity is really executed in comparision to the words promised to the customers... HOW MUCH DO YOU REALLY NEED TO PAY FOR SERIVCES RENDERED! The fact still lies in the TECHNICAL EXPERTISE. I mean, in all I only worked for 8 days...learned so much so much, seen and heard too much too much... but if I were to do the job myself .... I will only make a fool out of myself. Somethings are just too technical. At least , I will do what I am there for... to learn Welding and Fitting(will do the rest probably sometime during my june hols). Probably the most dangerous equipment in the whole of work shop. The technique regarding welding metals together is very similiar to soldering. Basically, you will heat the base material to high temperature, then you will take a steel stick and touch the edges of the base metal, thus, melting the stick forming a 'metal glueing' effect...joining 2 pieces of metals together. Here Norman is trying to welding a small piece of metal to the car's shocks. Before this, he used the blowtorch to cut a small piece of metal off a scrapmetal before using it for the car.
Posted at » 4:24:00 PM
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Haha~ yet I doubt anyone noticed this aging signboard stuck above the office...
There is one thing that has been bothering my holidays ever since I wrote my last exam.... and that is none other than - Vacational training.
First year engineering student is required to gain experience in a workshop for a period of 6 weeks, the work should consist of welding, fitting, turning, electrical maintanence.
(It has almost nothing to do with my electrical field, but I believe it is for my future CV, as it would be better if I have basic technical skills)
Well, it is pretty hard to find companies that are willing to hire a newbie and spend time and effort to teach them skills ---->including paying them. The economy these days are so bad that my university collaborated with another university to form training courses for students who couldn't find company to hire them- for a price of R2000, and the 6 weeks will be shortened to 2weeks.
MAN~ No ways I am paying money to gain experience.
Thus, the moment I got back to PE, I started phoning companies after companies... even asked some friends(Lu-sisters) to help intro me to some companies around their factory... and the result is------ they took my CV and will contact me if needed. Till now, not even a ring.
Stressed out and I am nearing the middle of my vacation. I went out with Uncle chen to look around. Uncle chen is a businessman who opened a import company selling autobody(vehicle body) parts. He goes to garages, panelbeaters to delieve goods and I took the chance to intro myself and my situation~ well... as usual the same look on their faces and the same reply!
'Aiyaya~ things seems gloomy until we went to a panelbeating company a street away from his company.
Fouries Autobody Works.
The moment I step out of his car, I have this strong urge to work there... I do not know why but I just simply feel comfortable when I see this place. ( not that thing when ppl say "I've been here before..." -__-) But the boss said that he is very busy and roughly said something like "Come tomorrow, and tell me more about it".
---_______--- I was half-relieved and half-puzzled.
Didn't think about it too much , I came the next day-- ready to work. I arrived on time at 8am, but the boss isn't there, thus , I waited. Standing there , folded arms and observing the fellow workers doing their thing. Finally, the boss arrived in his stylish 1.6 Renault Senic ! But before I could spot the opportunity to talk to him.....ZOOM! off he goes again!! I was dumbfounded.
I STARTED TO TRY HOLDING MY COOL AND TREAT IT LIKE 三顾茅庐! 忍！ 
What a classic logo~I think it is one of those colorful lamps that was used back in the days when the company work during the night. Oh~ the signboard says "All cars driven and stored at owners risk".
By half past 10am, he finally shout across the room "You can help him(Norman) take off the bumper here!" Thank Goodness! I'll take that as "Yes , you are employed!"
Yosh, finally... you know, later I realise why he took such a long time to decide on it.
He love his money and he love to have efficency in his company! Thus, I believe he is observing my actions and my paitence. When he is satisfied, he can't wait to get me to help him FOR FREE. I offered my services for free, just work experience in return. 
Customers' babies~ and we are the "plastic surgeons". :)
So, what are bodyworks?
Basically, cars are covered by sheets of metal and when they got damaged, scratched or even being in a terrible accident. We will make them look as good as new. Simple?
Not actually.
Take for example, having a little dent on your door will require you to fork out at least R700 to fix it. Depending on the seriousness of the dent, the time to fix it will range from 2 hrs to a whole day's work. It is hard labour and 100% paitence!(haha~ I am trying to imitate Mr. Jacksader's favourite 口头禅...１００％....２００％!)
If it was a accident, there will be a need to change the specific part of the car's body. Changing the parts could be a brute-force job--->When you try and shapesmash the chassis back into shape for the parts to be properly attached and aligned....using something that look like the younger brother of a sledgehammer.
The only toilet oh~ haha` seriously, when I first came to this toilet, I question myself...........am I really going to work here...hahaha~~ it ain't as bad as it SMELL! haha~~~~ that blue writing writes " Please keep toilet clean".
A tap is for the water. So ~ at least the water is as clean as the one that flow through the tap in my house.
There are definitely bad storage management in this company...有一天真的会砸死人～不死也半死。。。
This is how it will look like after repairs. In fact, this silver opel is not as good as the blue one(model and engine wise)...unbelievable right?
This will be the repaired look. ( silver opel's interior)
Even getting such useful customer-valued info~ it is useless when you can't do the job yourself or you could not organise contacts to help you save some $$...you still have to pay the company to do the job for you, hopefully, the right man for the right job. 
This is a oxyacetylene welding process. First, open the valve releasing Oxygen, generate a spark near the mouth of the blowtorch using a used lighter to start a steady orange yellow flame, tune the valve down till the flame stabalised. Secondly, very slowly open the valve for Acetylene. The flame changes to a blue flame. Lastly, adjust both valves to reach desired flame strength. The tip of the flames' inner cone is the hottest- around 3300 degree celsius. 
When the metal is red hot like this, you will be able to start joining the two metal parts together using the steel stick. The black cloth was soaked in water, it serves as protection for parts close to the subject area. Probably to prevent unwanted expansion of the parts which will distort it's shape due to the immense heat. 
This is probably the most technical process that I've seen in my 8 days there. Problem was that one of this pickup's wheel are bent inwards and Norman will attempt to straighten the part of chassis....by literally pulling the core steel outwards. As seen in the pic, the 2 steel chains is attached to the core steel and in the center is a 'oil extender' powered by a compressor which will extend it's length on the body, exerting incredible amount of force/pressure on the body. The chain will in turn pull the chassis right(hopefully).
IT IS A SUCH A STRAIGHT-FORWARD AND SIMPLE SOLUTION. BUT THIS DAMN CAR MADE HIM REPEATED THIS LONG AND TROUBLESOME PROCESS 3 TIMES!!
It is almost impossible to pull the chassis into shape simple by using brute force, the chains probably will not be able to handle the stress or the compressor might not be powerful enough. Therefore, a little help from the blowtorch is needed~ simply heat both sides of the attached core steel body to red-hot and it will be easier to pull it , reshaping it. 
In the process of heating the steel. This is an extremely dangerous process. I've seen the chains break loose under tension, snapping off like a whip... some parts catching on fire(haha~ I have to take a pail of water and pour over it)... not to mention using a blowtorch without safety equipments like leather gloves, welding helmet...
Nissan Skyline 80s' under renovation!
Eric enjoying doing what he does best... preparing the procedures for spraypainting.
Being ordered around like a P.A was definitely something I can't accept. "Peter, find me a star screwdriver" "...find me a flat screwdriver" "open the bonnet" "open" "keep this" "keep everything" get me this, get me there.... I know there is nothing wrong with that. I am a student , his student , everyone's assistant. I know, I know.
This is the 'rubbish center' at the corner of the workshop...I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw this... haha~ you know~ that pickup is customer's vehicle... I've seen the workers each taking a car to put their belongings, have lunch and even taking a nap.... aiyaya~ I did the same too! :P
I call this place " The Graveyard" . This is a section of the workshop that all the spare screws, nuts, bulbs, nitty gritty parts are thrown and gathered. I actually manage to find the parts I need over here in this piles~~~ even found keys ~ (not car keys la!)
On Monday, it was my last day there... Norman and I were(for some forgotten reason) talking about money and thus, inevitably we chatted about the infamous Zimbabwean currency! Do you know? To go to the bank in Zimbabwe, you LITERALLY bring bags of CASH, BAGS OF CASH! The current exchange rate is 1 South African rand = 84746 Zimbabwean Dollar = 0.15 Singapore Dollar. He gave me these as a memento~~haha~ there was 1 joke regarding Zim currency... 1 Zimbabwean man was pulling a cart to carry his bags of cash home, and he met a group of robbers-----> the group of robbers left the bags of cash but took his cart. haha~ don't know if thats true or just a joke!
[On a side note, Shake called me moments ago to inform me that someone contacted him for that silver corsa!! Well, due to his money problem , I offered my help to help him post his silver corsa(That silver car at the top!) on Gumtree! IT WORKED! Amazing stuff, only 3 days! I bought my black golf on Gumtree too. Maybe I am just lucky or it is a really good site to utilize`it's free too!]
They are truely, the unsung heroes of every business...
When everyone sees this Renault Scenic, you can immediately hear the following changes.......conversation stopped like someone pressed the pause button on the Media Player...laughter dies down...the noise level of hammering and sandpaper-ing even increased dramatically, suspiciously dramatic ..... you know why. :D
Constantly on the phone.... constantly on the move... constantly shouting.... haha~ as typical as it can get!
"...YOU FCUKING TAKE THE WHOLE MORNING TO DO THIS BONNET!! WORK! WORK! MAN~~~~ PUSH! PUSH! COME ON PPL~ THE CUSTOMER IS COMING LATER TO FETCH THE DAMN THING MAN!"
"I'LL FCUK YOU(refering to Norman) UP IF YOU FORGET TO PUT IT BACK! ....AND .......I'LL FCUK YOU(refering to me) UP IF HE FORGETS!(grins)"
Whew. This man swears the "F" words like nothing body's business. It is always hilarious when he swears over the phone so angrily and passionately while he manage to end the conversation with a "Thank you, bye~~" .
He is afraid of his wife.
He is like a stray samurai... he loves to drink alot, frequently smokes a cigarette while working and talks with a cigarette in his mouth... shit... that looks kinda cool. And the main thing that I like the most is that even though his appearance is very rugged and shabby, he is a extremely hardworker----> No wonder the boss didn't fire him when he came to work on last monday- DRUNK. Respect for this man. 
Keep well, brother.
This man is from Senegal, he speaks 100% spanish, 200% french. Thats what he told me when I first met him. He is also the foreman(self-proclaim) of the company since he is the longest working staff - 5 years. A funny man but with alot of troubles in his head... (thats why I help advertise his car for him.) On the first day, the whole gang of workers were pushing the pickup outside, he suddenly raised my hand and exclaimed, " Ladies and Gentlemen, from today onwards, we have a new friend working together with us, his name is Mr chen!" -_-''' the boss hasn't even given approval at that time... and plus... I am not related to Mr chen. Yet, no matter how many times I explained to him, he kept refering Mr chen as " your brother". A truely funny man. Hahaha~~ no to forget his iconic verse---- "NO PROBLEM, I'LL MAKE IT 100%"
I've been calling him Charlton for almost a week till I spot his name on the time-book that read "Sheldon". He is one married man with eyes prowling for more women! But, he loves movies alot, we can discuss movies endlessly~ (Man~ this brother even went to change his top before taking pictures with me~ haha! he loves to look good~!)
Movies such as.... 007 Casino Royale ! HAHA~
LAST BUT NOT LEAST, the most important person I met... My SHI FU!!
I liked this pic the most. A good representation!
When I first met him, I thought he was a very sociable person, and he is! But when it comes down to work...DAMN---- HE IS A DIFFERENT PERSON! Shit! I mean, I never met anyone who could work like that.... He work NON-STOP from 8am-5pm , except for 15mins breaktime and 30mins lunchtime, you will find him working and working... he sometimes even go overtime.... this job is a very labourous kind. For the past recent months, he have been working during weekends and even public holidays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I ask him why..he says.... "I want $$"
Yet even so, people with such attributes of undying passion to do something constantly is something that I always strive towards to achieve myself. Finally, I've met someone who showed me... He is going to be a boss of his own soon, I hope that he will. He will be. And when he is, I'll definitely pay him a visit...I wonder what his company is like. When the head is someone who do things with a sense of integrity and passion.
Norman! I've learnt alot. I'll strive to grow that much too!
YOSH!
Smiling like the days I met you lot~ Take care everyone.
我/
Peter
A.D 1986 -
Adores
Life itself
Always glad to be alive and well. ^_^
DETESTS
Sickness & Death itself
It would be... meaningless. -_-'''
S pirit sings inside
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