Darrin Hillas

7.00 AM

Before Work 

I wake up to my alarm at 7 and instantly get out bed, no snooze buttons get pressed in my life. I get ready for the day and spend some time studying a second language before heading off to work.

I’ll sometimes walk to work if I have half an hour to spare and the weathers good, otherwise I usually drive or carpool.

8.30 AM

Arrive at work 

I step inside the building and place my work laptop on my desk, boot it up then head to the kitchen to grab some coffee. I then get to work on some AutoCAD drawings. I’ve been spending a lot of time in AutoCAD lately, drawing up schematics and device layouts for substation hardware upgrades or new equipment installations.

10.00 AM

Time for smoko! I go for a quick walk outside with a coworker and eat a nutbar and some fruit.

Up until lunch I’m continuing updating drawings, researching the hardware to ensure its fit for purpose.

12.00 PM

Lunch

Around 12 I grab my packed lunch and go outside to sit and eat with some coworkers. I also like to mix it up and stay at my desk looking at the news while eating lunch. I finish off my break with another quick walk outside, before returned to the kitchen for another cup of coffee.

Back to work! I set down to continue my work from before lunch, but during the afternoon a coworker asks for some help with his project. It’s an extension of some previous work I’ve done so we spend some time talking and discussing about what he’s read so far and how he’s using the models for calculations.

3.00 PM

I usually go for another walk at this time, but a coworker and I have a meeting with a senior engineer to review our drawings. The two of us step inside a meeting room, sit down and wait for the senior engineer to appear on the big screens. He’s based in another office. We spend the next hour reviewing drawings, asking questions and discussing any recommended changes. The most significant change discussed was about the central hardware unit that takes inputs from several devices and passes it to radio equipment. Our initial concept used a unit that was overdesigned for the job, so we needed to downscale the complexity and capability of the hardware.

With half an hour left before I finish work, I tidy up my notes from the meeting and start looking into the suggestions from the senior engineer.

5.00 PM

Leaving work 

I cook up a quick and easy dinner, I’m not that interested in spending a lot of time preparing food. After dinner, a couple of friends and me hop on a discord voice chat and talk for a while, catching up and hanging out.  

8.00 PM

It’s a Wednesday, so today instead of lazing out all evening I’m going to play social futsal and get some exercise. After half an hour of running around I head back home to relax for a couple of hours and go to sleep.