All right, here we go again. Giving the world a piece of my mind through blogging has long been the best of intentions, with never the requisite level of motivation achieved. So let’s start over.
Welcome to the world of Pink Tools and Pearls, where I‘ll be sharing my experiences and tips from real life as an engineer. For those of you who are engineers, or who know engineers, you know that we see the world from a unique angle. If it’s not broken, it doesn’t have enough features yet, am I right? Never give an engineer a problem if you don’t want it solved.
Sometimes, you get to choose your branding. Other times it chooses you. My brand definitely chose me.
I’m an engineer. I was pretty much born to be an engineer, ask anyone who knows me in real life. I love building things, fixing things, and inevitably breaking them. I love solving problems. I love making the random connections between disparate concepts and ending up with an innovative plan. Yep, I’m a nerd, but there’s so much more than that.
I’m also a lady (sort of – more on that another time), courtesy of my southern debutante mother. I have a great appreciation for finer things, like vintage crystal and sterling holloware. I own about five strands of pearls (some are real, some are not, and I’m not telling), and they all have matching earrings. They tend to be my go-to jewelry on an everyday basis. I wear them with jeans, shorts, suits, and cocktail dresses.
So, like any woman in a technical field, I’ve had my fair share of issues with my male coworkers. I love them all, even when they drive me bonkers, but some recurring actions forced my hand. Over the years, I got a little frustrated with my pens, pencils, screwdrivers, and pliers walking away from my desk. Pens and pencils disappearing, fine. I can restock those from the supply cabinet. But hand tools? Really? As my mother always claimed, “A lady never gets angry; she gets even. She makes the bad situation work to her advantage.” I saw PINK-HANDLED tool sets at the local home-improvement store and pointed them out to DH as a potential Christmas gift. He hooked me up and then some, adding a pink flashlight and pink ballpoint pens to the package.
And I haven’t lost a tool or writing instrument since.
The legend has grown. With a pair of pink clipboards, pink post-it notes, pink sharpies, pink notebooks, pink peripheral cables, and pink USB drives, just about all of my work supplies are pretty much color-coded to be easily identified as mine. Many other women I’ve met in the industry think that my stash of pink hardware is ingenious. I’ve developed a reputation as “the pink engineer” on some sites as a result. That works for me; it means people know who I am, and they will be paying attention.
Come in, put your feet up, I’ll make some mimosas. Let’s talk some more.
