United Way Car Show

My Volvo in the corner of the car show

I guess you could say I’m a quirky person.  Being a quirky person, I might just choose to drive a quirky car.  If you don’t already know, I own a 1991 Volvo 240.  It has timeless styling, designed by an inspired fellow whose favorite instrument was a ruler.  The Volvo 240 is known for its bullet-proof construction, its ability to turn over many hundreds of thousands of miles problem free.  Mine leaks oil, has overheated, and lost its exhaust while driving.  Yet, she shines up nicely and drives well with a few new parts.

Would you believe that I entered this fine vehicle into a car show?  Well, I did.  There was a car show in Erlanger, KY today to benefit The United Way.  I paid the entrance fee and signed up ‘Misty’ (my Volvo) for the “LeMons” class of vehicles.  These are cars valued at around $1,000 USD.  I got a lot of compliments.  I also got a lot of stories about so and so’s aunt who used to have one and how they remembered the goofy handles on the inside to open the door.  A lot of folks recognized it as one of the safest cars ever built.   Few know, however, that the founder of IKEA still drives his Volvo 240 and that a 240 wagon is driven off a covered bridge by the Maitlands in the movie Beetlejuice.

I didn’t win a prize at the car show, there was a 1984 Camry with over 250,000 miles there.  Somehow that was more impressive than a vehicle that weighed more than two adult elephants and was painted to look like a World War II battleship.  I still had fun and The United Way got a few extra dollars to support their activities from a guy who wanted to share a pinch of his quirkiness with the car show crowd.

Apply yourself

Let me get the obvious out of the way:  I haven’t posted in years.  On to business.  I’m posting to give an update on my current situation and to provide historical record for my future self to gain insight in any potential transformations or life-changing events.

At least one item I should mention was my time spent in Washington D.C. at the beginning of this summer.  With everything going on at Toyota, there was a need for technical support and business process documentation at our headquarters in Washington.  I was selected to fill this role and for two months I saw first hand how our company was inundated with requests and inquiries from The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  I also saw how a huge organization, which typically moves in incremental stages, quickly changed the company culture to be more safety focused.  Essentially, you had one of the world’s largest automobile manufacturers focusing in on individual customer complaints – I mean single incidents!  Historically a manufacturer has to prioritize the issues it investigates and resolves based on the number of customers impacted, the severity of the issue, and so on.  Yet, in a relatively short period of time, I witnessed Toyota scrap the mindset of ‘biggest trend,’ in preference of listening to each individual customer’s complaint about safety and then investigating that complaint.  From the outside, of course Toyota’s PR statements may have come off as lip service.  Underneath all of that, however, working directly with safety investigations I can attest that significant changes are afoot.  Moreover, sitting in front of the Vice President of Quality, I can also say that there is nothing disingenuous about  our leadership’s attitude towards improving quality and safety.  For now I will continue to observe and learn about how large companies deal with crisis, but will also be involved in helping to reshape our quality and safety practices.  It’s an interesting time to work in Toyota Quality.

Outside of work, I am trying to get more involved in Cincinnati.  I want to feel connected in some way – I want my energies to make a difference, to leave a mark.  I had the idea to volunteer at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital since it is a well respected institution and because I love kids.  At first I was wait-listed due to the shear number of people itching to volunteer there, but after a few patient months I got the call for an interview.  The interview went well, I suppose, because I am not assigned to volunteer on Thursday night’s in the bone marrow transplant section.  The volunteer coordinator told me that these are some of the sickest kids in the hospital and most have extremely weak immune systems.  Right now I’m undergoing all the necessary shots and tests to volunteer at the hospital and will participate in orientation in the coming weeks, but basically I will have to get suited up to provide bed side play time to children who can’t leave their room.  They are facing extremely difficult procedures and circumstances.  I am so grateful that I might have the opportunity to provide healthy development and play time to these kids – especially to help take their mind off everything going on around them in the hospital.  I think I will want to write most about the time I spend with these kids.  They may teach me a great deal and I’m excited for this experience.

Finally, I need to schedule a vacation!  That would give me a good reason to post some pictures along with my text.  More on that later, but for now, I am off to enjoy some sun.

Me in Redwood Tree

Me in Redwood Tree

Originally uploaded by coryhoffman.

Howdy Folks,

Today was a day of legend, at least, it seemed that way.  I went with a co-worker, Chris-san, to Muir (pronounced mear) Woods in the Golden Gate State Park.  We had heard about it from a friend who said that the dark woods of Muir were something to see and that redwoods are really as big as they say.  I did not see any of those that you can drive a car through, but if you look at my picture, you can distill the visual cues to imbibe a bit of the mystique and wonder of the redwoods.

It was about a 5 mile hike, the path we took, although for sturdier adventurers you can make it last up to 8 miles, or 13 if you’re interested in a double-view loop.  Somewhere along the twisting paths and tripping roots, you become quite small, smaller than you were before and the near stagnant air was thick with parfume du redwood.  Beyond the feeling and smelling, there were pretty sites.  I stopped by some streams to see the fish, can you believe there were fish in there? and even some deer.  You can see all these things if you just click that picture up there – I seem to repeat these instructions a lot, but it’s only to help you to see my other pictures in case you would forget to click, click along.

A neat feature of Muir Woods is that it’s a stone’s throw away from San Francisco.  It’s a matter of fact that you actually need to drive through San Francisco to get to the park.  On the way there, you can stop in Saucelito (that’s my spelling) and enjoy a nice meal outside with a great view of the bay.  There are plenty of restaurants and things to see.  If you are ever in the mood for a forest and a spot of metropolitan life and you happen to be in the San Francisco area, maybe you should check it out.

Tomorrow, it is the mountain again.  We’re meeting Jim, a retired chemistry professor, at the peak for lunch; we had met Jim last week at the top and had a good talk about covalent bonds.

Take the time out to tell someone that, indeed, you really do care.

Love,

Cory

Me on Mountain Top

Me on Mountain Top

Originally uploaded by coryhoffman.

Hi Folks,

This is going to be quite short, but I just wanted to post a picture of me on that mountain on a sunny day. It’s harder to hike up this mountain when it’s hot and I actually got sun burn. There were some crazy squirrels up there today that were surprisingly friendly and I saw some spiney lizards – strange. Oh, and Jarrel almost lost his life to a gopher snake.

Over and out,

C-note

Me and Pete at Mountain Top

Me and Pete at Mountain Top

Originally uploaded by coryhoffman.

What’s up my PMPs and Hoshins? There’s some Toyota humor for you. Today, Nick, Pete, and I went to Mission Mountain to hike up its 3000 foot height and to see what we could see. There are several trails that go up and beyond it toward the Sierras, but we opted for the 5 mile trail to the summit. This mountain is basically in our backyard for your reference.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t do very much hiking. In fact, I hardly ever go hiking and certainly not for a few miles up a mountain. Yet, I still think of myself as having a good level of cardiovascular fitness. What I found out was, that after 500 feet up this thing, I was huffing and puffing as though I had been bed-ridden for the past 3 months. And, it’s about as difficult to go up the mountain as it is to come down, possibly more dangerous to come down.

Along the way there were cows and things to moo at. There are more pictures of my hike on my flickr account (just click the picture of me and pete at the mountain peak). It’s really interesting, because the further up the mountain you go, the more noticeable the change in temperature. Near the top, it was freezing and my hands were turning white. The unfortunate thing of the summit, though, was that we were right at the level of the clouds; the view was less than optimal and really we couldn’t see more than 25 feet. At other elevations where the clouds were above us, the view was pretty neat and I took some pictures there. You could see the bay from up there, and I imagine on a clear day that you could see San Francisco and on the other side you could see the Sierra Mountains. I think that we are going to try to go back on a Sunnier day to roast closer to the sun.

And so that was my trip, I enjoyed it. It’s very good exercise too – there was one fellow that actually jogged up the somewhat rocky trail…and he was about 40 too. I really need to exercise more.

That will about do it for me today folks. Chores await.

Be kind to others,
Love,

Cory

Me in Wyoming

Me in Wyoming

Originally uploaded by coryhoffman.

Greetings folks. I don’t know if I told you this, but I drove across the country to Fremont, California. I guess not ALL the way across the country, but 2,500 miles from Cincinnati to Fremont is fairly substantial.

The picture posted is of me in Wyoming. There are more pictures at my Flickr account – however, I took 268 pictures and I don’t have time (or the account space) to upload all of them. So what you get is a few savory pieces of my trip, enjoy.

Now you could ask, and probably would, “why would you drive all that way when you could fly, are you crazy?” Yes. But, I would challenge you on the fact that this was really a life experience. I had never before been west of Cincinnati – how best to see what is out there than to drive through it? I am very glad that I did. My dad drove out with me to keep me company and we had a good time enjoying the new sites.

How can I be brief and give you a good picture of what happens west of Kansas (because all Kansas really is, is flat-ish fields of nothing-to-see). Yes, well, there are a lot of mountains in the Rockies: pretty mountains as you will see in my pictures. The mountains are basically the same except the stuff on them changes. OK, so that was Colorado through most of California. Then you get to the San Francisco Bay Area. Still mountains, but, with water – lots of water! San Francisco is a very pretty town. Tremendously built up and heavily populated. All of the homes are very nice looking and the streets are exactly as expected, super crazy. It would take you a long time to explore all of the unique streets and places of San Francisco. I mainly went through China Town and the financial district. And of course, from my photos you will more than likely deduce that I visited the Golden Gate Bridge and was within a canoe’s trip of Alcatraz.

So what did I get out of all of this? A numb butt from being in a car for 37 hours. But more importantly, I have amazing images and experiences deposited into my memory and 4 quality days with my dad. Would I do it again? Yes, but maybe when I am 65 and have a Winnebago. Although, I still need to see the Grand Canyon and all of those neat types of things. That could be coming up.

That is all you get out of me today folks. I hope that in your days you take the time out to just see. Drive the mind-rotting miles to realize how small your world actually is and how much there is that you don’t know about.

Love,

Cory

Toyota EiTs Playing Pool

Toyota EiTs Playing Pool

Originally uploaded by coryhoffman.

Hi All. Did you enjoy your Labor Day weekend? I cleaned my room and organized and thus spent most of my day indoors. That’s OK though, because I needed to clean for sanity sake. And then on Tuesday, I went to Ann Arbor for a tour of Toyota Technical Center. It was a long bus ride there – too long. In fact, it was 10 hours of bus time, for 3 hours of tour. 10>3 not = fun. However, it was neat to see the things that went on there.

Now the picture that I have posted is not exactly a high quality one; it’s blurry. Yet, there’s something I really like about the picture. It’s a group of Toyota EiTs playing pool at this pub in Michigan. I forget the name, maybe it was Sticks? They have very good food. If you’re into pizzas, that’s the place to be. I had a chicken club sandwich though because I didn’t know how good the pizzas were going to be.

Our bus driver ate a lot while driving and drove with her elbows. She liked to talk on the cell phone too so that she could curse out her son or some other member of her family. Mary Nelson, my supervisor, said that our bus driver smoked like a chimney and could put down the food like a pro. This bus driver doesn’t wear a helmet when riding her Harley hog and likes to bite the fingernails off her large, dirty man-hands. When she’s not steering a bus with her elbows, our bus driver likes to take her hands off the wheel and turn around to crack her back. Often, she’ll lick her fingers after a round of Doritos and put her slimey fingers back on the wheel. And while I’ve painted a nasty picture, she’s actually somewhat nice, but still pretty abrasive. Thought I should tell you that.

It’s dinner time friends, so be good to others and don’t forget to call mom.

Love,

Cory

Me and Vicki at Wedding

Me and Vicki at Wedding

Originally uploaded by coryhoffman.

Happy Labor Day folks. Although, according to wikipedia it is actually tomorrow because it’s supposed to be the first Tuesday of September (Sept 5th). At any rate, you still have the day off unless you attend RIT.

In other news, this past Friday I flew to Rochester to see my good friend Vicki get married to Jason Warner. She looked very pretty and it was a good day for her outdoor wedding at Hickory Ridge Country Club. It was a bit awkward not knowing anyone there, which makes for an uncomfortable night, but I was very glad to be there for her once in a lifetime day. Right now, I think she’s on a cruise honeymooning somewhere, pretty neat for her.

And on Vicki’s wedding day, I also was informed of my next rotation assignment at Toyota. I was assigned to the New United Motor Mfg. Incorporated plant (NUMMI, Toyota’s joint venture with General Motors) where they make the Toyota Corolla, Pontiac Vibe, and Toyota Matrix. While I’m there for 9 months, I will be in the Quality division working as a quality engineer. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the plant is located in Fremont, CA which is just east and south of San Francisco. I’m looking forward to the new experience and surroundings. So if you would like to visit the home of Rice a Roni, let me know.

I’m going to clean my room now, you should do the same.

Love,

Cory

Me in Krohn Conservatory

Me in Krohn Conservatory

Originally uploaded by coryhoffman.

In my last post, I talked about the Krohn Conservatory which is on Mt. Adams in Cincinnati (I think). Above is my picture in front of a big cactus there. Krohn has a lot of neat exhibits: dessert, bonsai, tropical, etc. And, if you can believe this, it is actually free to the public, although you should give a donation because the place is really neat!

I also took my parents to Overlook Park, as promised, but didn’t manage to post the picture to Flickr. Maybe I will work on that later.

But, folks, I wanted to tell you about my day of training. Did you know that Toyota trains its Team Members (individuals who work on the production line) to be able to tell if a bolt is fully tight or not just by tapping it with a hammer and listening for a certain sound? And that they will expect you to be able to visually discern between 2.5mm and 3mm? Maybe that doesn’t surprise you because you are super skilled at everything, but I was impressed with the level of sensory acuteness you needed in order to build a Toyota. So for about 7 or 8 hours today, we tried out all these different skills sets since we’ll be doing the ‘line experience’ in maybe a week or two. And then for 2 weeks, I’ll be on a bus at 4:45 a.m. and won’t get back to my room until around 7 p.m. You can send your sympathy cards to the Residence Inn, Erlanger.

I’m feeling like its a tomato soup night, don’t you? Of course you don’t, you had a wrap.

Over and out,

Cory

Me at Newport Aquarium

Me at Newport AquariumOriginally uploaded by coryhoffman.
You should be in bed folks, but when you wake up, you can read this post.  It’s still Saturday, and that’s funny because it feels like there were more than 24 hours in this day.  It’s rare because I was actually awake before 7 a.m. and I am still awake now at 10:49 p.m.  I have eaten three full meals today (which takes up more time than you would think).  My parents and I were at the Newport Aquarium by 9 a.m., see Figure 1.  For a Kentucky based aquarium, it is actually quite a gem.  The aquarium has an extensive exhibit with some unusual collections.  It is also home to ‘Sweetpea’ who is a sharkray (guitar fish?) which is basically the lovechild of a shark and a stingray.  Sweetpea is very large for something that you would expect to be not-so-big.  I took a photograph of her, but it wasn’t up to my flickr standards – so if you want to see her, I suggest just asking me to e-mail the picture to you.  Oh, and I’ll share some knowledge with you; Sweetpea is one of 6 sharkrays on exhibit in the entire world, she’s a very rare fish indeed.

For lunch today, we ate at Johnny Rockets; it’s a 50′s style burger joint if you’re not familiar.  I had never eaten there until today and although the wait-staff was very nice, it’s somewhat of a creepy tourist dining space.  Every now and again an old song will come on, for example My Girl, and then everyone in the restaurant will stop to do a choreographed skit: the corn-rowed cook adding a little something special to his dance, some urban flair.  And after that otherworld display, we moved on to the next event of the day.

The Freedom Center (National Underground Railroad Museum) is a beautiful building in downtown Cincinnati.  Its exhibits consist largely of video documentaries with very few static displays, but if you take the time out for the storytelling, you’ll find the presentations more helpful and vivid than inanimate artifacts of pottery and clothing.  The museum should cost you about two hours of your time, but by 2 p.m. we needed to be back in Kentucky to catch the boat: event 3.

B&B River Tours runs a decent operation from Newport on the Levee.  My parents and I had a sightseeing cruise that departed from the levee at 2:30 p.m. on the River Queen.  While the RQ reminded you of an 80s bar on a big steel raft, the commentary from Frank our 79 year old pilot was actually very good.  Did you know that 1/4 of all steamships ever built were made in Cincinnati and that in the 1930s the Ohio river crested to a record 83 feet?  It sits at a calm 26.5 feet today, for your reference.

Tomorrow, I think I’ll try to get to Eden Park, Mirror Lake, the Krohn Conservatory, and Overlook Park.  These are all great places that I’ve already previewed to you before with the exception of the Krohn Conservatory.  Cincinnati has some neat things to offer, so if you’d like to come down and visit (notice how my entries have highlighted my wonderful travel/entertainment skills enticing you to come visit me…), you should come visit.

And at this point, it’s 11:07 p.m. and I would like to think that all smart people are in bed.  Good for you.  Over and out.

Cory