I would be hard pressed to remember a more intense day at work in my last ten years on the job. My team and I had to track down potential problems with our newly released product. We received a batch of 30 units at 10AM from Santa Barbara and had to test, sort, diagnose, and repair them all by 3:30PM so they could be shipped to Europe where they are being distributed to the press for review. It took ten of us every second of the day and in the end we were able to ship 26 units which met our quality standards. The teamwork was amazing and reminded me of my Truevision days. I trimmed woofer gaskets and transported boxes from the 6th to 7th floor for shipping.
We use an electric containment fence for Nala so that she can stay outside as much as she wants to. She has literally worn a path along the perimeter which she patrols relentlessly and at very high speeds. Part of this path goes through one of our gardens and we have learned not to plant anything along her race track. When she reaches one of several observation points she pauses to survey her domain.
With Halloween around the corner, all the farm stands are displaying their finest pumpkins. The one pictured here is among the strangest I have ever seen, featuring peanut shell-like protuberances over much of the surface of an otherwise normal albiet pink pumpkin.
My team worked around the clock and into the evening today to find this workmanship defect in one of our new products that failed in the field. The device labeled 4703 is a resistor so small you could fit 50 on the face of a dime. The left hand side was not properly soldered to the pad below it and caused the unit to fail. My only contirbution to the effort was in capturing the photographic record for the failure analysis that will go back to our contract manufacturer in China.
For those who have never experienced a fall in New England, there is really nothing like it. The intensity of color variations that can be found is extraordinary.
My soccer game was cancelled this morning due to all the rain last night. I opted to skip an optional practice to enjoy a spectacular fall day. Jeanine and I drove Nicolai around town to gather the last of the leaves he needs for his science project and then spent several hours in the garden.
It has been cold and rainy all day. Between showers I took a few shots in the backyard. This bouquet of color is from our Japanese Maple tree. On an unrelated note, Nicolai set a new high school pushup record for freshman, sophmores, and juniors yesterday. Testing is done on a machine which ensures consistent form and adequate hold time. With 87 pushups he was two short of beating the senior record as well. Given how sore he was today I am sure it will be some time before he makes another attempt on the senior record.
President Obama delivered a speach on clean energy at MIT today. Given that MIT is just around the corner from my office and that the speach took place over the lunch hour, I decided to stroll on over and see if I could get a glimpse of the President. Through a combination of good strategy and a bit of luck I did mangage to get a photo of our Commander and Chief. The route of the presidential motorcade is kept confidential and it travels at very high speed, both for good reason. Unfortunately this does not facilitate photography. A quarter mile security perimeter when Obama was out of the limo made a good photo impossible.
