4.10 AM
Alarm goes off to wake up, groggily roll out of bed and stumble downstairs for first coffee.
4.20 AM
I have some coffee and breakfast to kick start my brain, usually overnight oats I’d made the night before to save brainpower in the morning. Sit and relax for a bit watching some Sorted Food videos on YouTube. At this time of the morning, the cats are just as tired as me, so I don’t have to entertain them or berate them for jumping up on the kitchen bench – again.
4.45 AM
After I have finished breakfast, I pack my backpack with the essentials – laptop, lunch, water bottle and headphones.
5.00 AM
Get dressed, using the KC30A polo shirt, a pair of cargo pants and my steel caps. Remember, safety first!
5.20 AM
Making sure not to forget my pass (I have done this a lot), I chuck everything into the car, set up my music, and commence the drive into the city. Most of the time it takes around 30-35 minutes to get to work, depending on the temperament of the Gateway Motorway.
6.00 AM
Get to BMMC right on time, find a park, and then make my way to the engineering office inside the hangar. After I drop all my stuff off at my desk and plug my laptop in, I take my lunch and put it in the lunchroom fridges, and get my second coffee of the day. I need at least 100 mg of caffeine in my system before I can even think of doing work.
6.20 AM
Whilst sipping my coffee, I start going through my emails and writing down my task list in OneNote. This allows me to roll tasks over if I’ve missed any the day before, and add new ones as they come in. Usually, when I’m out at BMMC, I’m working on answering Request For Technical Support (RFTS) documents. These generally are raised when the maintenance crew come across a different configuration to what is shown in the maintenance documents and require engineering approval to make sure that they are disassembling or repairing something correctly. It can also occasionally be to come up with new repair instructions for damage that hadn’t been captured earlier.
6.45 AM
After I’ve gotten all my tasks sorted, I start some general admin, like updating documents on the various databases, uploading correspondence from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), or giving my comments on how a task is going. There are at least three different places for me to do this depending on the type of work I’m doing, so it’s a lot to keep track of. I also set up my web browser with all the tabs I need for the day – program home page, all the database sites, and the Guardian live news blog, to keep track of the major events of the day.
7.15 AM
I generally start to get into the weeds of tasks at this point in the morning. At the moment I’m working on trying to get installation instructions approved for some of our galley equipment. The current maintenance documents don’t show the actual installation or removal instructions, so we’ve had to reach out to our OEM to get support for that system. It’s a bit of a struggle, especially with the main OEM (in our case Airbus DS) having to communicate with other companies who manufactured the parts and trying to get them to give us the correct information. It’s a great way to learn how to communicate what you need effectively and concisely, which sometimes as an engineer can be difficult to grasp.
8.15 AM
I have hit the caffeine high from the second coffee, so I’m hyper-focused. If I can, I like to go out into the hangar and check out the aircraft as they are repairing bits and pieces and putting things back together. For example, last week I went out to measure the thickness of a couple of rivets within the engine, which just happened to be out on the floor being reassembled that morning. Can’t get that sort of hands-on experience at a desk in the city!
9.30 AM
I get a snack, usually, some type of protein bar, because my body can only survive on two cups of coffee for so long (that and I haven’t eaten since 4:30, so I’m a bit peckish). I can also fill up my water bottle, in an attempt to get my 2.1 L over the course of the day.
10.30 AM
I go through my task list. If I can, I try and finish one task to the best of my abilities before starting another one, but sometimes I find that I lose steam on a certain task if I stay on it too long and I’m not getting anywhere with it. Being able to switch between tasks to maintain that momentum is something that is really useful in the workplace, especially as a grad.
11.00 AM
Sit in on a maintenance meeting, give updates on the tasks I’m working on, and listen to the other tasks that are being completed by various engineers. A lot of the time, the process for the maintenance tasks can take anywhere from a week to a whole month. After the initial RFTS has been raised, an engineer needs to assess it and provide their recommendation, then depending on the requirements, start work on documentation to support the use of additional maintenance instructions or approve a repair. Once the documents are completed, a reviewer needs to go through them and make sure they are up to the standards and certifications we uphold and provide any comments or feedback to the original author. Once the author and reviewer are in agreement, the documents are approved and uploaded for distribution, and the maintenance crews can use the new documents to support their maintenance activities.
12.00 PM
Once the meeting has finished, it’s time for lunch – sometimes I might wait a little later before I grab my lunch, mainly so I don’t have to wait for a microwave. I heat up my lunch (usual leftovers from the night before, my favourite is homemade quesadillas), and take it back to my desk. If I can, I like to listen to YouTube videos while I eat to get my brain to relax from working.
12.30 PM
After lunch, I get right back into the grind. I take the opportunity to fill up my water bottle again. If I need to, I’ll answer any emails that have come around during my lunch break, and update my manager on how I’m tracking with my tasks.
1.00 PM
I keep going through my task list, if I can, I like to switch between different task types. If I’ve done a bunch of the maintenance tasks, I might try and switch over to database updates and update some internal work instructions for procedures. There’s always more to be done.
2.00 PM
Start to wrap up major tasks for the day. Generally, I’ll try and send off any emails I might have missed or upload things to the various databases. Since I started working at 6.00 am, I can sign off around 3.00 pm and head home. It’s definitely a lifestyle, but it allows me to do more personal stuff in the afternoon/evening. Northrop Grumman has quite a flexible timetable, as long as you complete your set of hours for that week, you can move around your schedule quite easily.
3.00 PM
Pack up all my gear and start the journey home. At this point in the afternoon, I miss most of the traffic, so it’s a breeze home. Might stop by a shopping centre to pick up some groceries on the way home, but most of the time I’ll go directly home.
3.45 PM
Put my feet up for a bit and relax. Might watch some TV, read a book, or play with the cats. If I have enough energy, I might even pick up some sewing – one of my hobbies is a historical re-enactment, so I make a lot of my own clothes. It’s a piece that I have been sewing for years, and I’m wanting to finally finish it off.
4.45 PM
Start getting ready to head to a group fitness class near the city – it’s a way to get my exercise in, and what’s even better is my health insurance covers the cost. I take my time getting ready, usually making sure I have enough water, I’ve eaten a snack so I’m not feeling woozy when I get there, and making sure I have matching socks.
5.30 PM
Pack my stuff in the car and head to the class. It follows most of the same route that I take to get to BMMC, so it’s an easy drive.
6.00 PM
Participate in my fitness class – whilst it’s some really basic exercises, my exercise physiologist really knows how to get me to work muscles I didn’t know I could use. For example – doing a wall push up, but with an exercise ball. Way tougher than you think.
6.30 PM
Finish up the class, guzzle about 1 L of water to make up for the sweat, then drive my way back home. Usually, my husband will have started working on dinner and have it ready for when I get back, which is always sweet to come home to.
7.15 PM
After feeding the complaining cats, we sit down for dinner with some TV. At the moment it’s either Deep Space Nine or Inside Job on Netflix. If I’m feeling like it I might also have a drink with dinner.
After dinner, I’ll try and make my breakfast for the next morning. Overnight oats for the win!
8.00 PM
If I haven’t already had a shower before dinner, I have a quick one now, then get into comfy PJs and settle down in bed. If I don’t have too much of an early start in the morning, might hop on and play video games for an hour or so, but a lot of the time I like to read in bed for a bit to relax my mind.
9.00 PM
Lights out, and hopefully drift off to sleep within half an hour. Depending on how loud the cats are as they fight on the staircase.