No Coasting, All Brake, All Gas (Featuring Melanie Brewer)

In Part 2 of our conversation with Melanie Brewer, MI Authority at Third Coast, hosts Branden and Greg dig into the practical realities of standing up a mechanical integrity program in a startup-like midstream environment. After nearly 30 years at a single facility, Melanie made the deliberate move to Third Coast specifically for the challenge and opportunity of building an MI and reliability program from scratch. She walks through how she prioritized fixed equipment as the highest-risk starting point, developed a foundational MI document covering engineering, design, and fabrication standards, and why getting the documentation framework right from day one is non-negotiable for long-term program sustainability.

A recurring theme in Melanie's approach at Third Coast is that more than half of her time is invested in training and cross-functional collaboration — because even the best MI standards are only as effective as the people implementing them. She shares how building a receptive, aligned culture requires consistent education at every level of the organization, and how industry events like the API Inspection Summit have been essential for stress-testing her ideas and staying current with evolving best practices. The conversation wraps with a look at the person behind the program: Melanie's passion for road course racing, and how the discipline, risk assessment, and split-second decision-making she applies on track parallels the mindset she brings to mechanical integrity every day.

If you missed Part 1 of our conversation with Melanie, you can listen here [insert hyperlink] or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe to Upon Further Inspection so you are notified as soon as the new episode drops.

00:00 Risk Based Priorities

01:41 Building MI From Scratch

02:31 Fixed Equipment First

03:04 Engineering Practices And Codes

05:02 QAQC And Welding Surveillance

05:52 What Toll Manufacturing Means

07:56 Batch Ops And RBI Limits

11:28 AIM Systems And Knowledge Transfer

13:55 Educating And Winning Buy In

17:50 Remote Oversight And Independence

19:23 Where MI Should Report

22:51 Why Standards Matter

26:31 CUI Lessons And IGGN 30

28:34 MI Roadmap And Documentation

30:52 SharePoint Framework And Less Paper

33:20 Joining Third Coast

34:11 Nimble Culture Benefits

35:23 Shared Language and Veterans

36:46 Startup Feel and Growth

37:23 Resume and Career Shift

38:27 No Coasting Mindset

40:19 MI Advice Foundations

41:49 Build Your Network

44:25 API Summit and WIMI

45:45 Track Racing Hobby

51:25 Endurance Race Dreams

54:40 Wrap Up and Thanks

Episode Acronyms & Abbreviations

AIM – Asset Integrity Management

API – American Petroleum Institute

ASME – American Society of Mechanical Engineers

CAD – Computer Assisted Design

CCDs – Corrosion Control Documents

COFs – Consequence of Failure

CPDs – Continuing Professional Development

CUI – Corrosion Under Insulation

CWI – Certified Welding Inspector

F1 – Formula 1

HSE – Health, Safety, & Environment

IOW – Integrity Operating Windows

MI – Mechanical Integrity

MT – Magnetic Particle Testing

P&IDs – Piping & Instrumentation Diagrams

POFs – Probability of Failure

PSM – Process Safety Management

PT – Penetrant Testing

QA/QC – Quality Assurance/Quality Control

RBI – Risk-based Inspection

R-Stamp – Certification of repairs issued by the National Board of Boiler & Pressure Vessel Inspectors

WIMI – Women in Mechanical Integrity

UT – Ultrasonic Testing

944 – Porsche model

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Note:  The views and opinions expressed by the guest are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the hosts or the Upon Further Inspection podcast. This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Listeners should seek their own qualified advisors for guidance.

Transcript

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Melanie 0:00

you can't fix everything at one time, and so, um, risk certainly comes into my thinking almost on a daily basis, um, to basically put the effort where it's needed right now

Greg 0:09

Well, that's a really cool segue. how do you prioritize coming into a, a new place that needs all this help and guidance, how do you prioritize your programs or your initiatives?

Melanie 0:40

It's tough. I mean, I, you know, when you walk in you think, "Okay, we just gotta figure out the equipment and start inspecting equipment. Like, we- we're just gonna do that." But then you really start looking at what a true MI program is, and I, I remember I was so mad at the people at INEOS. They wanted me to write, like, this overall MI document, like, to talk about the whole program. I'm like, "Oh my gosh, we've been doing this for 30 years. Like, why do I gotta write it? Like, I've got procedures. Like, isn't that good enough?" They're like, "No, no, no, you gotta write this overall document." And I was so mad about it, but oh my goodness, never was I so thankful for that document than when I got to Third Coast, because that really set kinda my plan for how I was gonna do it, because you cannot do it all at one time. Because, I mean, you guys know MI starts at design, and it starts at construction and fabrication. I mean, it starts all the way back then, and, you know, then it goes into inspecting the asset that's running, and I mean, then you also end up live. I mean, it's the, it's the whole circle of life. But, um, you know, when I got to Third Coast, like, they- we didn't have standards. We didn't have piping specs. We barely had P&IDs, and what we had, they weren't awesome because a lot of people were making changes but no one was centrally housing that information, so stuff was all over the place. So honestly, when I got there, the, my first big task was just finding everything and putting it all in one spot. And what I have found is that they had a lot of pieces of what we needed to put together for an MI program, but they were all over the place and with, you know, five different people. And so finding all that information and just putting it all in one place was just kind of... That was really the first effort, and that's what got me put in charge of the CAD department. You know, at a small company, you end up wearing a lot of hats. But, uh, anyway, we implemented document control, got our P&IDs cleaned up, so that was great. But I did start with fixed equipment because I felt like, you know, those things are in operation. Those pose the biggest risk. Like, we've gotta start with fixed equipment. And so I got all the information together I could for that, um, put a five-year plan together to get our internals and externals, and they had some done, just not all. And so, um, we're working on that and on the piping on stream stuff first, 'cause to me that was the biggest risk. But then also, as we're, we're constantly... I mean, Third Coast is growing so fast. It's just the most amazing company, and I'm just so happy to be here. But, um, it's just neat to be, it's, with something on the ground floor. But, you know, they're building constantly, so I knew that even while I was doing the fixed equipment stuff, I better get ahold of the design and engineering. And so thank God for Equity because, again, we were early adopters of all the Equity stuff. And the Equity practices, of course, were, um, refinery practices and then chemical practices. I mean, so I knew all about the practices, but now we can just, like, subscribe to them and use them for our own purposes, you know, whether we're still working for Ineos or Third Coast. So one of the first things I did was get with Suzy and get some Third Coast engineering practices set up. And although they didn't let me buy the entire suite, I bought the things that I thought we needed the most help with right off the bat, which included piping. And so, um, got piping specs introduced and, um, also got them access to codes and standards which they've never had access to. So they weren't aware of 510 or, you know, 653 or, you know, all those things that we kinda take for granted. They knew about them but didn't really know what they were, and there was certainly no one implementing them or using them. And so, um, that was the second thing, you know, was to get a, a subscription to getting all those codes and then kind of bringing all the engineers up to speed. And so, um, you, you gotta start there. And so I'm still doing a lot of policing in that, in that area. They like to build and build fast, and we love to use, uh, used equipment and repurpose it. And so we actually own a fab shop where we can do our own, um, ASME stamped modifications, and so that's been a lot of fun too. And so, um, you know, but when you're a toll manufacturer you gotta move fast. And so when the customer has a need, you, you need to provide it. So I think one of our owner's biggest fears was that I was gonna inject too much thinking time into these things and make everything take too long. And so y- you know, you gotta be nimble, and I think that's where a lot of that risk comes in is like, okay, they're putting some tanks to hold water. Like, do I really need to get mixed up in that when I need to be spending my time over here? No, I don't. So you, you just really start to prioritize those efforts. And so that's kinda where I'm at now. Now, now I'm actually... In fact yesterday I sat down and tried to figure out, like, do we even have welding procedures? Like, have we tested our welders? Like, we're not really doing surveillance. We need to start doing that. So I'm kinda moving into that realm, um, this year since we've got the equipment and piping kinda rolling,

Greg 5:18

So you guys have an

Melanie 5:18

it starts...

Greg 5:19

Do-

Melanie 5:20

the fab shop has an R stamp. Yep, absolutely. So yeah, that's been very handy.

Branden 5:25

Wow

Melanie 5:26

And it really, I think it kinda gives Third Coast the advantage 'cause we are able to get things to market I think a lot quicker than some of our competitors because we keep this stash of used equipment. 'Cause I mean, oh my gosh, like our owner and a lot of the engineers, they, they have a lot of foresight into what chemistries we should be targeting and where the business is headed and what customers should we court. And so we're just trying to always be in a position when they have a need to be able to provide it. So we move fast.

Branden 5:52

you mentioned that Third Coast is a toll manufacturer. For, for folks who are listening who don't know what that is, can you, can you kind of explain that?

Melanie 5:59

Sure. So, um, there's a lot of niche chemistries that maybe aren't in great volumes, um, that a lot of bigger corporations could take advantage of, but they don't wanna spend the time or have the plant. Like, it's not gonna be feasible for them to build a plant to make some of these niche chemistries. And so we actually then can take their raw materials, and a lot of times it's just a byproduct or something, but we're then able to make these downstream products with them that then they sell. So we're just basically, like, they're, they're contracting us to be a part of their plant and to help them get a product to market where they can actually make some money from maybe something they used to just have to throw away or, you know, couldn't really capitalize on. So it's just, it's not always feasible for them to build a, a facility to do that, but they can hire someone who can, and that's where we come in. And so boy, for me, this has been really eye-opening, 'cause, like we just talked a little while ago, I worked my whole career in a plant that had very well-known damage mechanisms, very well-known failure modes, all that stuff, and now I'm in a plant where I have no idea what's happening. Half these chemicals I can't even say. Like you know, a lot of it's for pharmaceuticals and just some really niche stuff. And so, and then too, in the same assets, we may run, you know, four or five different processes that have extremely different damage mechanisms. And so if you do have damage in a vessel, you don't really know where it came from. And, um, y- you know, you can just kinda speculate. And of course, we use a lot of used stuff too, so you don't know what the past sins were of that equipment either. So for me, it's fascinating because I'm, I'm learning a lot. In fact, I sat down with, um, a guy from equity just a couple weeks ago about amines. I'm like, "Okay, I realize amine corrosion is a really bad thing, but I don't know anything about it, so I'm gonna need you to give me the CliffsNotes for that 'cause I think we're having some problems," you know? So, um, yeah, to try to come up with a damage mechanism assessment for my equipment is next to impossible, but I can come up with, you know, things to maybe watch out for.

Greg 7:54

Well, yeah, that, that's interesting. So you do have batch run operations there, it sounds like. And so, and you've got a great background in RBI, risk-based inspection. You know what that looks like. do you believe that RBI is applicable to batch run operations?

Melanie 8:12

I'm having a hard time making that connection right now. Um, I, you know, right now I'm gonna say no. And there are people all over the RBI world screaming right now when I say that. But for me, um, especially, I mean, we're just in the infancy of, um, an MI program, so certainly we are not ready for RBI principles, but it's gonna be really hard to try to come up with, you know, COFs and POFs when you've got, you know, five or six different processes in the same piece of equipment. And so I think what you would have to do in that case is try to come up with what you think are your worst case scenarios, knowing that tomorrow we may run a chemical or, you know, produce something for a customer that we weren't anticipating and now we gotta redo it all. And so I, for me right now, time-based is working in my favor and we've got really short intervals because of the amount of times that we change and the cyclical nature. You know, now we're, we're dealing with cycles and stuff that I never had to deal with with the, um, continuously run process. And so right now, being on a short interval time-based program is gonna serve us well, and then maybe we'll eventually, you know, mature enough to where we can start employing some of those principles. So it's, for me, it's like going way back in time. Like I, I really have to just stick with the basics for a while and just kinda let it shake out while we learn how our equipment's gonna be affected by this. And then we can start adding in some RBI principles, maybe on a unit basis. Like maybe everything doesn't need it, but maybe there are certain things that could really stand some benefit for that. Um, and then, you know, trying to get into more things like IOWs and all that stuff. But, like, we're not ready for those things yet. We're not ready. You can't just blow everybody out of the water with all these things. They're all great things, and we'll get there eventually, but you just cannot do all that stuff from the start.

Branden 10:00

I'm just trying to think through, like, some of the special emphasis program like RBI, IOW, CCDs, like those types of things. In, in that batch world, it's... That, that's gotta be really...

Greg 10:11

It makes it even difficult to, to estimate end of useful life because you have a hard time predicting what the future operation is going to look like, when it's gonna... You can always look backward and take an average corrosion rate per year, say, but that's not helping me project forward if I don't have a firm handle on what it's going to see

Melanie 10:31

That's it. And so that's why I think short intervals are gonna serve us well, um, because, you know, we do have, you know, six or eight different discrete units, and each unit only runs so many different types of chemistries, a- again, until we add more. But like, you know, we, we don't just run every type of chemistry in every unit. Like, they're, they're built for purpose units 'cause some have a distillation tower, some don't. You know, some have great heating capability, some don't. And so, you know, you do kind of fit your products to the equipment. And so I think over time we may find that, well, you know what? We're really only ever running five different processes in this particular unit. And so, you know, we, you know, maybe run an even number of batches of each- product in a year, so then that corrosion rate does start to make sense. It's just a conglomeration of, of d- different things, right? It's not just a result of one thing, and so I think that's the way you have to think about it, and so that's what's kinda leaning us towards these shorter intervals. And we are, you know, starting to... I've got lots of spreadsheets. That's the next thing I need to work on, is an AIM system, and I've got some buddies helping me out with that. But, um, you know, it's hard too. I don't have that many assets, so to, to go to the expense of having an AIM system is, is hard to justify, you know, to somebody. But boy, I can't spend my life doing spreadsheet after spreadsheet after spreadsheet to calculate remaining life for everything either, so... And I'm trying to think of the guy that gets this when I retire. I mean, I I'm no spring chicken, so I'm not gonna be there for another 20 years, and so I'm trying to set this up so that when I do retire, it just keeps moving regardless of who's sitting at the desk. And so I, I think about those things a lot because I never saw myself leaving the Green Lake plant, ever. I mean, it just was not... I just was never gonna leave it. And, um, you know, when I did decide to go, which was just a complete out of the blue, like crazy... I, it's just crazy how all this happened, but it just happened kind of at the right time, and I thought, "You know, that does sound just really, really interesting. Like, I think I wanna do that." But, um, you know, I had three or four weeks to take 20 years' worth of MI stuff that nobody else was doing but me, 'cause I was really the only guy in charge of that stuff. You know, of course I had a boss that kinda knew what I was doing, but, like, he didn't do it day to day, and so trying to train someone in two to three weeks for all that stuff was just... You couldn't do it. And I realized how bad some of our documenta- I thought it was great, but, you know, my own documentation was not great because everything lived in my head. And so how do you get it out of your head and onto a piece of paper where someone can actually do something with? And I mean, three weeks just isn't enough time for 20 years' worth of stuff, plus everything else I was doing. 'Cause when you stay in the same plant for that long, you never really lose pieces of your old jobs. And so, I mean, I was still, you know, training process technicians and I was still, like, you know, asked process questions. And of course, I've climbed into every piece of equipment, so, you know, you still got pulled into a lot of those discussions. And so there was a lot of that kind of knowledge too, that you just couldn't get out of your head, and so I felt bad for that. So it's made me very mindful of it at Third Coast, because I want everything very well documented, very well set up, so that when somebody comes and takes this chair in five to 10 year- 5 year, I don't know what to say, but, you know, sh- shorter rather than longer, like, they can pick it up and keep moving, and that's really my goal. So I'm very deliberate about what I'm doing and not trying to do a scattergun approach, 'cause I wanna really document what I'm doing as I go.

Greg 13:55

percentage of what you're doing now do you think involves educating the folks at Third Coast?

Melanie 14:03

Oh, 50% at least, I think.

Greg 14:05

All right, that, that's not surprising, yeah

Melanie 14:07

it's not... But, you know, I'll tell you what's been really interesting is that these guys know these things. They know they need to do them. They just couldn't do them. I mean, you know, especially the maintenance guys, they knew they needed to do this stuff, and they tried to do a lot of it on their own, which is why there are some inspections, and, uh, apparently there are some welding tests and stuff that, you know, I'm still getting. But, I mean, unless that's your full-time job, like, you can't put it all together and manage it as one. And so, you know, the HSE guys had different pieces of it, and the maintenance guys had different pieces of it. And so they understand what was needed. They just couldn't ever do it. And so I'm always worried that I've got to do quite a sales job. So for example, last week I sat down with maintenance 'cause now I'm into the QA/QC part of my, um, MI manual. So I'm doing things like welder surveillance and process welding surveillance and bolted joint surveillance and how to do pressure tests. And, you know, it's things that's kinda getting in their business. And so I was like, "Well, I gotta tell these guys about these procedures, and I better be ready to do a good sales job." Like, I'm thinking I'm gonna have to do a lot of persuasion because this is gonna be a lot of paperwork that, I mean, maintenance hates paperwork. It's just the nature of the beast. Like, no one wants to take the time to stop and do that kind of stuff, and I get it, but we gotta have it too. And so there's gotta be a trade-off. And so I'm super mindful of only bringing in things that truly add value and not just bringing in things for things' sake. But, um, anyway, I really thought I was gonna have quite a sales job ahead of me, and when I got in there to sit with them last week, they're like, "Oh my gosh," like, "We've been wanting to do this," or, "We've been doing something similar, but we just couldn't keep up with it." Or like, you know, "We know we need to do that." And they were so receptive, and I... It's really been like that since the beginning. I kept thinking I was gonna have to come in and, and really persuade people to do these things, and they're just... They're like, "No, no, no. We, we want this." Like, "We're so glad you're here." So it's been really refreshing to have basically allies, you know? Especially when I'm not at the plant every day policing

Greg 16:04

So just to confirm, Melanie, the fab shop has its own Section 9 welding program, uh, naturally, so they have an R stamp, so I'd assume that. And they were there before you joined the company, correct?

Melanie 16:18

Yes, for sure, and they definitely have all that figured out on their end. I mean, Jim, the owner, actually bought that fab shop. Um, it was already a working fab shop, and he bought it and then kind of brought it under the Third Coast umbrella because we needed a, a way to be able to modify this used equipment. And I mean, you know, our owner is really savvy to stuff like that. You know, we actually move products between a couple different plant sites, and he got tired of paying the shipping costs, so we actually also own a trucking company. And yeah, I mean, j- just all the things. But he was just really strategic on how he did that. So yeah, the fab shop has had that stuff figured out. They've had their U stamp and their R stamp forever. Um, but we just didn't have any of that at the plant. And so we, we do have maintenance welders at the plant. And funny enough, we do actually use the fab shop to help us staff up. They're kind of like, like a in-house contractor for us, and so if we do need, um, extra welding support and everything else, they will bring in, um, extra fitters and welders for us, and they, they kind of act as if they are a maintenance contractor or capital contractor for us as well. And so they have a lot of this on their end, we just never had it in our maintenance side. And so of course, we need to have this on our own paper, and we need to have our own welders tested and surveilled and all that stuff, and we just hadn't really been doing that. And so, uh, again, the maintenance guys knew they needed to do it, they just didn't have the bandwidth to be able to handle it. And so they're, they, they, they tell me to my face that they're thankful that I'm here to do it. Whether or not they complain about me behind my back, I don't know. But they've been really, really supportive, um, to me. And so, um, Greg, I think too, we had a, a question about just, you know, how do I manage this when you know, they're at the Pearland plant and I'm down here, um, in the home office or working remotely? And it, it is interesting. For now it's, it's, I'm managing it fine because they, they are doing what I'm asking, and I am using, you know, third-party inspection companies to come in and make these inspections and all that stuff. So certainly I have full purview of all of that. But, you know, now that we're getting into the maintenance-type things like bolted joint QA QC, and certainly when we get into welder surveillance and stuff like that, we both agreed, the maintenance manager and I both agreed, we're gonna have to bring somebody in to, um, to manage that day-to-day because that's not something that they can or really should do, right? They probably shouldn't do the QA QC of their own stuff. And, um, certainly I'm not gonna be there every day to do it either because I can't get... I love doing that stuff, and I, I mean, still when they need things, I still climb through equipment and do things because I personally love to do that, but I need to be at a level above that to make sure the whole program is moving forward. And so I can't afford to spend time kind of getting stuck in the weeds. So, um, we're gonna talk about how we do that 'cause we are gonna have to start bringing someone in, um, to help with the day-to-day

Branden 19:04

Wow.

Melanie 19:04

Preferably from a third party. We haven't talked about that yet, but I'm like, you know, it probably... And if it is a Third Coast person, and it could be, they really can't report to maintenance. So we're gonna have to figure that out too, because we do need to keep, you know, that everything, church and state needs to be separated. Like we, we gotta have some boundaries there.

Branden 19:23

you mentioned before that, um, that where, where you were before MI was under maintenance, and in that case it worked really well. In some cases it doesn't work well. Are you guys set up like that now? And why was it that it worked so well?

Melanie 19:39

So I'll tell you, it worked very well for a while, and then it wasn't working well at all. So there are pros and cons to it being under maintenance. It just always was a maintenance function at the Green Lake plant. Um, and it worked well when you had a maintenance manager that understood what you were doing and, and dovetailed it into everything else and prioritized it with everything else. But, um, if you get a management team that doesn't think MI is important, then that can really become a roadblock. And so I think, um, you know, it, it works just fine under maintenance, unless you've got a s- you know, a maintenance manager. And, and I'm not saying we had that at Green Lake, but there were just shades of it, right? Like management just had a different focus there at the end. And so where I had a really good manager that was kind of a Green Lake lifer like me, and he understood how it fit into the picture, well, then we started getting a lot of turnover in management, and they didn't always understand how it fit into the puzzle. They were just, you know, faced with this awful task of trying to manage this maintenance budget that wasn't anywhere close to being enough to maintaining what we need to do, especially in a 40-plus-year-old plant. And so, um, that's when things like backlogs for inspection items got out of hand and all that stuff because you're, you know, you're just trying to squeeze blood out of that turnip. But I think too, if you don't have supportive management there, it could be a problem. And so I think that's why a lot of places will put MI under HSE or sometimes it's a straight line to the plant manager. You know, somewhere where your voice is heard and it's not just kind of subdued, you know, with the next level of management. And so I think that sometimes, you know, plants can do it however they want, but you got to have the right managers in place to be able really to manage that, to make sure the MI does have a seat at that table. Um, again, they have to make hard decisions with what they've got, and so MI isn't always gonna be the first thing they think of, and that's fine, but we at least need to have a seat at that So at Third Coast, it's interesting. They asked me, where did I want to be? Where did I want to report to? Which is really weird when you're getting hired. They-- you don't often get that choice. And so, you know, for us, I mean, yes, there was a lot of stuff under the maintenance, um, department already, and I'm like, I just, I don't feel like that's where that needs to be. Knowing that they were gonna tap me for some engineering things too, 'cause I'm also helping them develop a project execution process and some other stuff, um, it ended up that I actually report through engineering, which is kind of interesting, but because of the way I work, it, it works 'cause I am an engineer, and I also do that with MI. I'm just kind of a weird... I'm a weird person. And so I don't really fit in that traditional box, you know? And so that's why a lot of people are like, "How did a chemie get involved with MI?" You know? I mean, it just, it's just a, a matter of circumstance, but I think it gives me a leg up on a lot of MI people because I truly do understand the processes that are involved, and I understand the chemistry, and so I know where to look for certain damage mechanisms because sometimes they're only in the vapor space. And sometimes, you know, I mean, and so it, it does give you a really interesting background to then employ the MI things. And I mean, let's face it, everybody has to learn MI on the job, whether you're a mechanical engineer or not, because it's just not something that you learn in college

Branden 22:51

Mm-hmm. you said something there that, that I kind of caught was that you've been writing... It sounds like, seems like you've been writing a lot of standards and processes, and at the beginning you said you, you liked being able to see, like you, you got into projects because you really liked being able to see your project come to, come to real life. Writing processes and standards are really boring. What-

Melanie 23:14

You might think so, but I think it's really cool. I mean, you're right, I don't always see tangible things I can hold in my hand from this stuff, but I mean, I'm changing the way this company thinks and the way they do business, and I'm changing it in a way that hopefully adds to their bottom line and prolongs their business. I, you know, it's really neat because our owner has a son that is gonna take the business over, and so he's, you know, you can see him kinda being groomed or whatever. And so a lot of times when they don't want to, you know, maybe they don't understand why I'm telling them they need to paint stainless steel under insulation or, you know, they, they're like, "Well, we'll just replace that if it fails." I'm like, "No, like, preserve the asset so that your son doesn't have to spend that money replacing hundreds of feet of stainless pipe when if we would just spend a little money now to paint it, he would never have to think about it again." I mean, it, and so knowing that I'm gonna help kinda prolong the business gives me that same satisfaction I think that seeing things get built in the field did back then, if that

Branden 24:16

was,

Melanie 24:16

sense.

Branden 24:17

it, it, it does. It 100% does, and I think as we get, as we get further on, right, I, I was in this place, like, coming out of college, like, yeah, I like seeing stuff get done, and now as I've progressed, I'm like, we gotta have standards. We gotta have processes. We gotta Right? Was there s- was there a point for you where all of a sudden that, that, that light switched on, and you were like, "Oh, this is important. This is, like, this is, this is the path forward for us"? Or did, or was, did you always kinda just understand that from having pro- working in projects and always having specs?

Melanie 24:47

I mean, certainly the spec thing I always understood, but like the importance of the documentation and paperwork was always kind of just one of those annoying things that you just had to do, like hurry up and get it done or I, I was the world's worst about making inspections, taking really great field notes, but then not actually writing the reports for like several months, especially in a turnaround. Like it just, no one wants to sit down and do that part, right? Like, you wanna do the fun part. And so, um, you know, but an MI program does need to have good standards, and it needs to be very transparent to everyone, and I think that's where I got to, um, especially with INEOS. You know, my INEOS former counterparts will appreciate what I'm about to say, but um, INEOS came out with a INEOS group guidance note, IGGN, and they've got these group guidance notes that, you know, on lots of different topics on how they want everybody in INEOS to do certain things. Um, and they're great. And so one came out, um, not too long ago. It's called IGGN 30, and it's basically this is how INEOS wants all of their inspection programs to look like across all their sites, and it had some very It was written by an MI guy, uh, really a team of them, and it had some very specific things. Some were gonna be hard to live up to, but it gave us all kind of that same framework, and a lot of that was documentation. So of course, when we all first saw it, and especially if you were not in MI, but like s- a lot of my maintenance guys, my manager, they're like, "Oh my gosh, this is gonna be awful. Like, yuck, we, we don't wanna do all this stuff." But I'm like, "You know what? I-" I see the benefit of this. So to a chief inspector, it was like, "Yes, finally," like, "someone's speaking our language, and these things are important, and we do need to spend some money on some of these things." And a lot of that was documenting. I mean, we all said we did those things, and I mean, certainly at my plant we did a lot of things. Uh, like CUI for example. You know, CUI was always just a, a matter of course. When you did an external you kinda looked for it, but you really didn't have a, a program that was specifically looking for and prioritizing where you would find the CUI. So like if you found the CUI at your CML location, like great, but if it was somewhere else you were never gonna find it and nobody cared until it started to become a problem, right? I mean, we're all fighting that battle right now. And so we had to sit down and write a CUI-specific inspection program. And it's very different than just tacking it on to an external. And I mean, certainly at Green Lake we've had our struggles with CUI. We had a pretty big failure that probably partly led to IGGN 30. They certainly talked about it at the big kickoff meetings, and so they were nice enough to preface that before the meeting, like, "Hey Mel, we're gonna talk about one of your issues globally. Like just be prepared." But, uh, but you know, it was a big issue. I mean, we had a massive CUI failure on the one piece of equipment in the plant that was required to run the whole kit and caboodle, and so we were shut down for about six months, which is never where you wanna be. But we had done our due diligence, we had found some CUI, we knew we were gonna have to do a remediation, and we were trying to decide what turnaround to put it in when we had the money and time to do it, and it got to us before we could get to it. So I mean, it wasn't really anybody's fault. We thought we were doing the right things, but we still had the failure. And so, um, I think when all that started to come about and we had to really start documenting these things in a different way, it started to kinda solidify in my mind just the importance of having these things documented and then actually doing what you said you were doing. And I mean, certainly audits got tougher and everything else as these things evolved, and so you needed to have your ducks in a row. And so, um, like I said, I kinda balked when I first had to write that overall MI document, but man, I don't know how I went so long without having it, um, because those things have really come to the forefront. And, uh, really even if somebody else could read it and maybe understand what it is that you're doing, even if it's just for that benefit it's good, but you just, you gotta have that stuff documented

Greg 28:34

was the first document, Melanie, that you created when you got to Third Coast? Or what's... Yeah, like what's your hierarchy of priorities?

Melanie 28:44

So I basically wrote a document that said, "This is what our MI program includes." And it was everything, and I, I mean, I'm, I'm barely scratching the surface with it, but you had to have that document to really provide the roadmap. And so it started with engineering, design, uh, fabrication, construction, and then it got into taking care of fixed assets, piping, um, you know, equipment, valves, tanks, um, uh, and also rotating equipment, instruments. I mean, it's because my title isn't just mechanical integrity, it's also reliability. And so that's everything. That's, that's preventative maintenance on everything at the plant, you know, basically to, to be able to run it successfully into the future. And so it does encompass more things than just fixed equipment. And so I have a fixed equipment background, not so much... Uh, when things start moving, I go away. So I have no rotating equipment background, but I know lots of good people who do. Um, same with instruments. And so I am gonna have to bring that to bear as well. And so I've, I've targeted later this year to start looking at those things. And I mean, Thirco certainly has, um, they do PMs, but we don't have them documented. And so that's where I'm just gonna have to help them. I mean, we've got a lot of PMs, but we don't have a lot of, like, procedures, especially like here's what we're gonna do when we PM a pump, or here's how we calibrate these instruments or whatever. And so we're gonna have to write down how we're doing that, and then of course, be able to show the evidence that we're, we're doing it. And so it... Basically, I wrote a document that says, "This is how we're gonna do all these things," and now I'm having to go back and write down exactly how those things are gonna get accomplished and how they're gonna get documented. So I had one big document, and now I'm starting to write individual documents for each piece.

Greg 30:30

a big job. And, and Yeah, and, and I g- if I caught you right earlier, you wanna get things running and get the documentation and everything in place so that whenever you do decide to hang up your hard hat, you're gonna... These things will have been institutionalized there and sustainable.

Melanie 30:50

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And so, you know, there's a bit of training involved in some of that and, you know, having it organized in a way that everybody understands where this information is and everybody can actually save to it. I mean, that's been a godsend. Third Coast is really good with SharePoint because so many of us work in different locations, and so that's the first thing they had set up was a SharePoint site. Um, somebody even before I got there saw the benefit in that, and starting to collect all the equipment information and everything else. And so I'm just dovetailing into that 'cause everybody already knows where that is and what is in there. And so just cleaning it up and just having a really solid framework for data is, is really important, and then having those procedures behind it. And so, um, but it just, it needs to run whether I'm there or not, and so trying to get it set up that way where you, A, have the buy-in. I mean, you could put every kind of plan up in the world, but if you don't have buy-in to do it, it's never gonna go anywhere and you just find yourself fighting an uphill battle all the time. And so the key is to write it in such a way that everyone agrees with the path forward. And I mean, am I doing things at Third Coast the same way I did at Green Lake? Absolutely not. Um, but you, you, you have to tailor it to your environment because it's gotta be self-sustaining. And so if you don't have the buy-in of everyone that feeds into it, um, you're just never gonna be successful. And so I've been really-- I, I'm purposely moving through some of this really slow because you've gotta have that buy-in, and you gotta take the time to hear what it is they're already doing, and then figure out how to dovetail into it to still meet the intent of what you need. But, you know, you may do it in a different way than what you did, you know, at a prior position.

Greg 32:26

Again, human factors, understanding how people work, what their workflow's like, what you're dumping on them. Uh,

Melanie 32:33

Yep,

Greg 32:33

gotta think about people

Melanie 32:35

Oh, you do. I mean, Third Coast employees, I think last I saw was 309 people. I mean, it's small, and so you can't just saddle people who are already wearing multiple hats with all this extra stuff that may or may not add value to them. And so I think the first big sales job is making sure they know how much value this truly adds, you know, but then also just don't overburden it. You know, meet the intent of what you need to do, but just don't add a lot of stuff just to make yourself feel better or, I don't know, some people think that the more paper they generate, it just proves that they're working that much harder, but I am not that guy. The le- less is more, so

Branden 33:10

Sorry, that makes me laugh 'cause

Melanie 33:14

You all know people like that

Branden 33:16

Yeah, yeah, I'll leave it there. But, um,

Melanie 33:20

Well, and that's what's so cool about Third Coast is, um, the owner's done a really good job of collecting people. And I mean, boy, you know, if we know a guy or, like, if we need... Like, somebody always knows a guy, and so then you try to get that guy to come, and that's certainly what happened to me. I mean, the guy that was starting the PSM program, um, there at Third Coast, I worked with at Green Lake. And so he called me and said, "Hey, I need to build an MI program at this plant. Like, do you know anybody in Houston that could help with this?" I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I know a lot of people in Houston that could help with that. Like, let me get back to you." Well, then he calls me back and says, "Hey, um, I mean, would you be interested if you could do it from where you are and not have to move to Houston?" I'm like, "I mean, that's out of the blue, but I might be." And he's like, "Well, you know, meet the owner, meet some people, and just tell me what you think." And oh my gosh, I was just sold. It just sounded so fun. But my point to all that is that, you know, a lot of people that work at Third Coast used to work at Lyondell or used to work at Exxon or BA... You know, we're from these bigger, a lot of us are from these bigger corporations, and so basically we can bring in all those things that we knew brought value, but we can leave all that red tape and bureaucracy out, and it just, it makes us so nimble, and it just, it's really easy to get behind all those things because we all know why they're important, and we're not belaboring the point, you know?

Branden 34:39

When you get, you get to bring in all of those different knowledge sources as well. Like I, I used to coach... I, I talk about this a lot. I used to coach baseball, college baseball, and one of the, the other assistants with me said, "If you really wanna coach, like you need to go work for other guys so that way you can learn and understand how they run their programs, and then you can, you can learn all those, bring it back, and now you become more valuable." So what, what you guys have been doing at Third Coast, it sounds like, is, right, you're collecting from all of these different places, bringing all of that knowledge together now, and as you said, with, with a little bit less red tape, you're able to take some of the best pieces of those and, and, and implement them.

Melanie 35:22

Yeah, you got it. And so we all have that base language. Like, everybody knows what PSM is. Everybody knows, you know, some of these initiatives. We all have that base language, and so we can all kinda work together to see, okay, well, how does that translate to this? 'Cause it is... I mean, and like we talked earlier, I mean, batch processing is very different, and it's not something that a lot of us have ever dealt with. And so there are definite differences in your approach, um, for something like that. And so the fact that we all kinda speak that base language is really helpful, too. And then you do have people that have been at Third Coast for a really, really long time and have just like, shoot, our maintenance manager has been there for 31 or 32 years, and so I mean, he knows where the skeletons are, right? He knows where the bodies are buried. But he knows how it has evolved and how, why things are built the way they're built or, you know, you know, okay, that piece of equipment came from here, right? He just, he has all this wonderful knowledge and background. And so, I mean, of course you have to have him in the room when you're talking about this stuff because he knows Third Coast. And so just having all of that together has just been so fun. Uh, you know, it's just, it's fun to, to have a team like that where you can bounce ideas off of each other and just create these things. I just... When you stay at the same plant for 30-plus years, you don't get to do that very often. And so for me, this has been really fun and kinda takes me back to the beginning of my career when we were all just trying to figure it out, you know? Now we're all figuring it out, but we have a lot of knowledge behind it.

Branden 36:45

That's right. That's right. You're, you're the expert within, uh, basically in a startup,

Melanie 36:50

Yeah, it's really fun. I mean, third coast has been around since the '90s, don't get me wrong, but this reaction chemistry really since the '80s. Oh gosh, yeah, since the '80s. But anyway, but this reaction chemistry is, you know, within the last 10 years, and so it's still relatively new and it's, it's going in different directions every day. And now we're talking about maybe co-locating at sites and, you know, not having it all right where we are, and so there's just a lot that comes with that. So we're trying to make sure we're prepared for the future, for sure

Branden 37:18

That's great. Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean that, Third Coast was a startup, but I meant it has that feel of

Melanie 37:22

that feel of a startup. Oh my gosh, It was funny. Like, so I told you guys that I got hired basically out of my co-op program and then stayed with the same place, so consequently I never had a resume. And so when my friend called me from Third Coast and said, "Hey, you know, we'd love... Like, come, just come interview. You can tell us no, but just come check us out 'cause I think you'll really like it." He said, "But just send me your resume." And I just started laughing. I'm like, I mean, literally the last resume I made was to get that co-op job, and so it was typed on a typewriter and had all my high school accomplishment. You know what I mean? Like, it was nothing professional. It was really funny. And so I had to build a resume from scratch. It was just kind of crazy to kinda start, you know, way back then. But, um, but it, it really, it... I, I didn't realize maybe burnt out maybe isn't the right word. I, you know, I listened, I was... Oh my gosh, I was so nervous about this podcast, and so anyway I was listening to some old ones to just get caught up because I had listened to some, but not all. And so I just recently listened to Chad Patchpkes, which I think was the last one you did, and he actually used a NASCAR analogy, which I thought was great, and he was right on the way he said it. But I'm gonna give you all a Formula One analogy because I was terrified in that interview that they were gonna ask me, like, "Why are you leaving this plant that you've been at for your whole career?" Because I mean, that's a valid question, right? And I, I mean, I wanted them to know, like, I wasn't leaving 'cause I was mad or, you know, y- it just, to me, you know, and I do a little bit of this kind of racing on a very small scale, but when you're racing on a road track, um, you basically are all gas or all brake all the time. And if you're coasting, you're just wasting energy. I mean, that's just the nature of a road course. Like, you, you have to have the car engaged at all times because that's how it sticks to the track, that's how you make the turns, and so you're all brake, all gas, all the time. And if you find yourself coasting, you're leaving something out on the track. And so, you know what I realized after, um, Edgardo called me about this job was that I just was kinda coasting I was kinda coasting, you know, there at Green Lake. And I mean, I was getting the job done, and I was doing it, and I mean, I, I thought I was happy. Like, everything was cool, but I, I just wasn't as engaged as I wanted to be. I was coasting. And so getting to be able to do an opportunity like this at my stage of life I hate to keep telling y'all how old I am, but I mean, at this stage in your career, you don't often think that you're gonna make a massive career change when you've got five or seven years left, you know, in your career. And so I... But I'm so glad I did it. You know, I really, I miss my friends, and I see them a lot, but, um, I, I just feel so invigorated and just so alive, and it just, it's making me remember why I love this career so much, and I'm able to really make a difference. 'Cause I mean, yes, I was making a difference at my old job, but not actively every day like I am here at Third Coast. And I mean, that's really what keeps me rolling, is just I, I can't just sit back and coast. I need to be active. And so, um, I'm just so thankful for the opportunity to do it.

Branden 40:17

awesome. That's

Greg 40:18

is. I have a question. What's your best piece of advice for others that work in this realm of mechanical integrity?

Melanie 40:28

Oh, that's a daunting question, isn't it? There's so much advice I could give to people, but I think my, because of what I've experienced in the last year and a half, it's just don't lose sight of the little things. It's so easy to focus on the next shiny thing, and I mean, certainly especially in the MI field, there's so many shiny things. I mean, every day there's a new inspection method, and every day there's a new way to do it, or now we're getting into the robotic realm and AI, and I mean, even our AIM systems are getting so smart where it does a lot of your thinking for you, which is great because you need that bandwidth, and we talked about that earlier. But man, you, you can't lose sight of all those little things that make a good MI program great. You know, like the documentation and the drawings and all that stuff, and as soon as you start losing sight of those things, everything else is gonna follow. And so it doesn't matter how sparkly, shiny, and up-to-date you think your MI program is, if that foundation starts to crumble, you're gonna be in trouble. And that's where I think I worry about AI the most is I feel like people are gonna start employing it on some of those things that aren't the sexy, shiny things, um, in the MI world, and we may lose some of our insights, I think, at that level. And so I, I think I would just really caution people to, like, don't lose sight of all those small things that make your MI programs what they are

Greg 41:49

Thanks. And from something you said earlier too, Melanie, I think you have been blessed a lot with having the, the, the people you can go to to vet things properly. 'Cause I think so often I see bad decisions made unintentionally just because somebody was in a hurry and they didn't have time to go talk to two or three other people about this, 'cause that's only gonna slow them down,

Melanie 42:14

Gosh, that's so true. That's so true, and that's wonderful advice also is, man, h- build your network. You know, it doesn't matter... You know, INEOS were really bad about being in these silos. Like, every plant was, you know, it was every man for themselves, and so we didn't... You know, in the BP days, we'd have these big technical exchanges and all this stuff, and with INEOS, we kind of lost track of that because we were all kind of siloed up in our business units. But, you know, we chief inspectors really never bought into the silo. Like, it didn't matter if you worked in an olefins and polymers plant or an oligomers plant or a nitriles plant or a... We're all fighting the same battles. You know, the damage mechanisms may be a little bit different, but we're all fighting CUI. We're all trying to, you know, figure out how to best manage the risk and how to communicate to management and how to, you know, work your programs with dwindling budgets. And I mean, you can't do that stuff by yourself. You, it really takes a village to, to do this. And so don't discount your network. And so to that end, I really encourage people. I mean, my network grew exponentially when I started attending the API summit. Um, and now with these API sub-committees, I mean, my network has grown exponentially, and it's so heartening to find that everybody's fighting the same battles and you're not alone. And so if, if, for the MI people who are listening to this podcast, if you're not attending some of these industry... Even if you can only go to the summit, like, take advantage of that stuff because you don't have to do this by yourself. I guarantee you what you're seeing in your plant or what problem you have today, 10 other people are fighting that same problem or have fought it and beat it, and they've got some wonderful, um, advice for you. And so don't discount your network. That, that's... I'm so glad you brought that up because that is really important. to go all the way back to the beginning, women are so much better at that, by the way.

Greg 44:03

I won't argue with

Melanie 44:04

I certainly have a lot of men in my network, too, but, like, usually the catalyst is, "Hey, let's all get together for dinner," or, you know, whatever, and then those conversations will ensue. And so like, you know, don't let your, um, your upbringing, your, you know, your, your natural tendencies, you know, don't let that keep you from, you know, fostering a really good network, 'cause it's very helpful.

Greg 44:25

Well, I'm glad you brought up the summit. So just to remind our listeners, this July in San Antonio, we will have another API Inspection Summit.

Melanie 44:34

Yes. Biggest bang for the buck. You got it. Biggest bang for the buck. I mean, if I had to spend my own money to go to the summit, I would. It's that important, and it's been that big of a driver in my career because you can just get so much knowledge in a short time. And, you know, I've been to millions of different types of conferences and, um, you know, always you wanna take something back and implement it at your site. I mean, it's always hard to do, but not at the summit. I always take back four or five different things that I can immediately start using and do. I- it's just, oh my gosh, just like the best kept secret. Like, we need it not to be a secret. People need to come

Greg 45:09

That's right

Branden 45:10

When will be the WIMI event?

Melanie 45:12

Oh, so our WWAMI dinner will be Monday evening. So come Monday, there's some great training courses that are gonna be put on, so it's a great way to get your CPDs, which we all need for our certs. But, um, after the training courses at 5:30, we're gonna have a reception and panel discussion right there at the Hyatt. And so, um, yeah, would love to have everyone come and join us, male or female. So it'll be Monday evening, and you can actually, there's a link on the summit registration page straight to our page to get signed up for that.

Branden 45:41

Awesome.

Melanie 45:42

Yeah, we'd love to have more people attend to that

Branden 45:45

I have one last question. Um, I wanna know more about this open wheel racing

Melanie 45:50

It's not open wheel, and it's Oh my gosh, I didn't even wanna bring it up, but that F1 analogy was just too good. So, um, so we are a car family, and have been really I, my husband and I are pretty sure we met at a drag strip in the early '70s, unbeknownst to each other. Our dads were very involved with drag racing, so we've both just grown up with that. I think, um, rural Ohio, not a lot of things to do, you

Branden 46:13

Norwalk?

Melanie 46:14

stuff. But, uh, no, but I've been to Norwalk, which is amazing, but no, we were kind of on the northwest side. So the big race in our area was at Muncie, Indiana. Like, if you got to go to Muncie, like, that was awesome. But we had a little drag strip just south of Van Wert, Ohio, and, um, I'm pretty sure it's just farm fields now. Most people probably don't even know it was there, but I spent a lot of time there, I, I'm told, as a young child. So anyway, cars have just always been part of our thing. And so, um, when my son got old enough, he caught the bug, and, um, wanted to do some car stuff. So we, um, was kind of looking at, you know, he didn't We didn't really wanna drag race. Like, you, you gotta try to find those things that don't cost more than the fun you're having, you know what I mean? Like, you don't need it to be a money race, for sure. It's supposed to be a hobby. And so anyway, we, we kind of lucked into this, uh, road course racing bit, and like, you could literally put any car that you wanna drive and do a track- weekend. I mean, just really anything. It's just amazing. Like, you can go to these track events and see just, like, the fanciest Ferrari, um, tricked out Porsches. I mean, just crazy stuff, and then you'll see somebody in a Volkswagen Golf. Like, I mean, just... And there's a, there's a group for everybody in between. It's just about people going out and having fun. And so, um, we bought a Porsche Boxster, a used one, for, like, seven grand. I mean, people think, "Oh my gosh, you race Porsches, like, you must be made of money." You can get these old Porsches for, like, nothing. But, um, anyway, we started. The Boxster was the gateway drug, and so we started doing, um, autocross, which is kinda like a road course track that's set up in a parking lot with cones, and really good for your hand-eye coordination. But we started going to these track events across Texas, and, um, primarily to get my son involved, and he was certainly doing that. Well, then, um, I thought it was pretty cool, too. And so, um, we then decided that we needed to take the Boxster and turn it into a real track car. Like, gut it, put a roll cage in it, like, really do it right. And, um, that was gonna cost about 10 grand. And so, I don't know, we started looking into it, and it's like, "Well, crap, we can buy this 944. It's already track ready," and they're really fun on a track. I mean, they're low horsepower but low weight, too, and, um, super fun. And so we bought a 944. And so then the Boxster became what I like to call my Friday car. So I would take it out on Fridays or whatever, but then I started tracking. And so it's now evolved into a... We've got two 944s that are race ready, and, um, my son and I drive. My husband is an amazing mechanic, so he does all the pit crew, back, you know, home stuff. Uh, my son is also a fabulous mechanic as well. So they, they tend to work on the cars. I just show up and drive. Like, I, I, you know, make sure we get lunch, make sure they're working safe. They actually hate me in the shop because I'm always like, "That's not safe," or, "Where are your safety glasses?" Or, "Hey, did you torque that?" Like, you know, uh, sometimes being an MI, like, ruins you for other things, but it just makes you a lot more attentive to the details. But, um, yeah. And so we, um, we, we've actually kind of been on a hiatus a little bit. But, um, there are several tracks in Texas, and so you go, and based on your skill level, you get assigned to groups. And so my son very quickly went up the skill level, and actually has a competitive racing license. And so he's competed in some 944 races, um, here with, uh, Porsche Club of America. I'm still in what they call high performance driver's ed, which is fine with me. And so the last time I went out, um, well, really the last year I went out, I finally got qualified to be a solo driver, which is super cool and also scary. But, um, basically I just kind of... I don't know, you... They try to put you in like horsepower groups. And so there are always Corvettes in my group where they, you know, beat me like crazy on the straightaways, but then I catch up to them in the turning parts, you know? So, um, but it's just super fun, and it's just you and the car, and it's, it's basically,

Greg 49:56

coast, right?

Melanie 49:57

No coasting. All brake, all gas. Oh my gosh, all my instructors will tell me, like, "Yay, I'm so glad you said that." But I mean, that's a, a good life lesson as well. And I mean, there are some really neat instructors, um, in the, those, those racing. We s- it's not truly racing, but it is very competitive. But in those driver's ed, um, high performance stuff, there's some wonderful instructors. And a lot of them are engineers or technical people. It's kind of funny. And so I think we all just have this weird bent towards certain hobbies. But, um, it's really fun, and it's, it's great because you can only think of that one thing. And so to be able to do that for a weekend where you can really just kind of clear the mechanism you know, and just, like, think about you and the car, because it's very mental and physical. But, like, it's just, to me, it's such a stress relief to not be thinking about 50 other things at a time, but just to be single-focused and just... I- it's very cathartic, and it's super fun, and it's just a great adrenaline rush, and you meet some amazing people. And so, um, and, and how cool for a middle-aged mom to get to do something with her son. I mean, that's amazing as well. And my daughter's not left out either. She's not the car nut that we are, but she is a wonderful photographer, so we have some amazing pictures, um, of our weekends and stuff. And so, and she definitely, she knows how to use a torque wrench and is definitely great pit support, too. But, um, yeah, we've got some wonderful pictures from some of that, too. So we're looking forward to hopefully getting back into that this fall when things get a little less busy and cooler.

Branden 51:24

Yeah, yeah. Uh, any family endurance races? Two of you guys switching out as, uh, as

Melanie 51:30

So my son and I wanna do that so bad.

Branden 51:34

Yeah.

Melanie 51:35

They have this thing, and I don't know if it's everywhere, but I, uh, it- I know they have it in Texas, but it's called, instead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it's called the 24 Hours of Lemons. And so basically you get a $500 budget to go buy and build a car that you hope will make it 24 hours. And of course you can upgrade it, but with all the money you spend over $500, you get like, like points taken away, you know, or whatever. And so, um, oh my gosh, my son and I wanna do that so bad, but my husband is like, absolutely not. You know, or we'd even love to take our 944s and do an endurance, um, deal 'cause, oh gosh, we just think that'd be so fun, and we're gonna talk him into it one day. But, you know, it's hard on the equipment, and since my husband is really the guy that works on all that stuff, I suppose I need to give him a say. But

Branden 52:20

Nah

Melanie 52:20

we, my son and I wanna do that so bad, and we're, we're gonna do that some, at some point.

Branden 52:25

You should. You should. That'd be great. That's awesome.

Melanie 52:28

You speak from experience maybe. How do you know about these things?

Branden 52:31

No, I just know a lot about a little, that's all. Or a

Melanie 52:34

that right? You should go do it. So many people are like, "Oh my gosh." Literally anybody can show up and do it. Like, if you've got a fun car or something you love to drive, go do it. I mean, it's also really cool just to learn how to drive your car the way it's meant to be driven, and you won't get a ticket. Like, that, that's probably the biggest benefit to it. But like I, you know, I thought I was a great driver going into this. Like, everybody kind of goes in like, "Well, how hard can this be?" It's hard. And I mean, it's a very humbling experience those first times you go out there, because you think you know everything, and then you quickly realize you know nothing. And so with that then comes the ability to truly learn how to, to become better. You know, you, you gotta know what you're bad at to be able to really get good at something. And so, and they actually talk about that. 'Cause when you go show up for these track weekends, there's course instruction on the course, but there's also classroom. And so you, you know, you sit in on that and you actually learn quite a bit. There's a lot of people very passionate about that, and I'm very thankful for them because it is a wonderful, wonderful thing to go do. So everybody needs to go check that out too.

Branden 53:34

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, so I gr- I grew up, my great-grandma was a big Formula 1 fan, so back in the Sh-

Melanie 53:41

Nice. Yes

Branden 53:42

And, uh, so I've, I've been watching for a long time. And then my parents used to go, um, over to, to Mansfield. There's a, a track there in Mansfield and, um, they'd sit down there weekend after weekend before they had kids. And so big, big racing stuff. And then eventually, eventually I was a carnie for a little while working at, uh, at different race... working the, the circuit at the racetracks and stuff. And so, yeah, I, I guess it's not until now I really realized that, uh, yeah, there's been a decent amount of, of racing. Not actually doing, but being around everything- Yeah uh, in my life,

Melanie 54:16

we're so fortunate here in Texas to really have all of it kind of coming to us. I mean, we love, love, love the track in Austin, the Circuit of the Americas, and they not only get Formula 1, but they get World Endurance Championship, they get MotoGP, they get NASCAR. And so within two and a half hours, we can be there. And I mean, we just, we love it all. I- we'll go watch it all. Anything that's moving fast, we're there.

Branden 54:37

That's awesome.

Melanie 54:38

Yeah

Branden 54:39

awesome. All right, Greg, anything else out of you?

Greg 54:42

no, I don't have any more questions. I really enjoyed it, Melanie. Thank you

Melanie 54:46

Me too. This was so fun. I... Oh my goodness, it was just a really neat conversation, and I just, I don't know, when you're so passionate about something, it's really fun to be able to talk about it with other people who are equally as passionate. 'Cause I mean, I, you know, a lot of my friends that don't do these things, they don't understand. But I, it just, it's, it is a calling, and I think it's a calling for all of us on this call. And, um, it's just, it's so nice just to sit and talk about it for a while.

Branden 55:09

all right. Well, Melanie, thanks so much for joining us. Uh, it's been awesome. It's been really awesome.

Melanie 55:14

Yeah. Thank you so much for the opportunity. I just, I c- I'm the biggest fan of Inspectioneering there could possibly be, and I tell y'all that all the time. But I mean, there's just no better way to stay in touch, so I've just been a huge fan of the magazine. And so to see you guys now reaching out, y- so what you've always done a good job at is basically meeting us where we are because we don't always have time, right? And so, like, there used to be a printed magazine. Well, shoot, if you were found sitting at your desk reading a printed magazine, you got the side eye like, "Wow, you don't have anything better to do?" Like, "Wish I was busy," you know? Whatever. And so then you started sending it electronically, so you could do it via email or while you were waiting to pick up kids at school or, you know what I mean? And so now with the podcasts, with the, um, the webinars, oh my gosh, that's been huge for me to keep up with CPDs. Like, y'all have just always done a good job of giving us the information we need to stay current, because that's really important, but also doing it in a way that meets us where we are. And so I just, if nobody ever tells you this, like, we really, really, really appreciate what you guys do.

Greg 56:16

Thank you, Melanie. We appreciate that tremendously. I would- We've got a tremendous team here at Inspectioneering, and, and my son Tyler started building that team. He was a real visionary. And, um, I don't know, we're just trying to keep doing things in the same spirit we always have, and appreciate those kind words

Melanie 56:36

Yeah, absolutely. So, I mean, if this podcast in any way helps somebody else, I will consider that job well done. If there's one nugget that will help someone, I am just really, really happy, so

Branden 56:47

Awesome. Awesome. All right. Well, thanks so much. Thanks so much for joining us, Greg. Until next time, all right?

Greg 56:53

Sounds good.

Melanie 56:54

Yep,

Greg 56:54

now.

Melanie 56:55

take care. Thank

Greg 56:56

Thanks, Melanie.

Melanie 56:57

Of course. Bye

Branden 56:59

Thank you for listening to Upon Further Inspection, a Mechanical Integrity podcast. This episode was co-created by Inspectioneering, and CorrSolutions. Our producers are Nick Schmoyer, Jocelyn Christie and Jeremiah Wooten. This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or professional's advice. Listeners should seek their own qualified advisors for guidance. If you enjoyed this episode. Please join us next time wherever you listen to your podcasts. Until then, stay safe and stay informed.