Meanwhile on the North Fork...........

[Foggy]

Very cool, V.

[bill_g]

The LIRR is one of my success stories.

It's the 1990's. Telecom and communications companies were thriving. Our company had a strong presence in the west coast public safety market, but very little in the utilities and transportation markets. We also wanted a national presence. My task was to find something, and make a foothold in it. We're meat eaters. Go out, kill something, and bring it home. So I was taking on contracts** in Boston, Chicago, Birmingham, St louis, San Francisco, and closer to home Seattle.

In 1996 Orbital Sciences Corp (OSC) came knocking on my door. Literally. Our local transit agency Trimet had purchased a modern comm system from Fairchild. It was the cusp of TMS (Transportation Management Systems) that combined radio and data acquisition to provide tracking and on time service to a number of sectors including city buses. But, Fairchild shuttered before they delivered finished product.

Trimet had already paid for a significant percentage of the project, and risked having nothing to show for it. When OSC acquired Fairchild's assets, they also assumed their contracts, and Trimet wanted to be the first in line to either have the system delivered, or their investment returned. OSC elected to fulfill the contract, and were able to reassemble some of the team that developed the BDS (Bus Data System) that Fairchild created. They finished the manufacturing and delivery of the hardware, sent out integration engineers, and hired local contractors (not us) to do the physical installations.

That became a fiasco with a well over fifty percent fail rate aboard the buses. One contractor walked away, and the other claimed no expertise in troubleshooting such a complex system. That's when I met with them. I spent a week with their engineers and scientists reviewing what had been completed already, what needed to be done, and what efforts they wanted me to address. I had a contract in hand by the end of the week, a crew, a plan, and a sixty day deadline.

We were assholes to elbows working 12 hour days 6 days a week, and we brought the fail rate down under the agreed 5%. But, it was a hard 5%. And when our efforts stopped, that number rapidly escalated. There were some serious design and implementation "errors" in the equipment, and some equally serious training issues within the customer personnel who were tasked to support the equipment after we left.

That's when I signed our first one year contract. That included repair services for the hardware. OSC did not have a competent or timely repair depot. That was something I took on during our first contract. It became quickly apparent that anything returning from OSC needed to be tested before it went back into service. I didn't need their bullshit eating my target number. I swapped boards where I could to put working boxes on the shelf for the crews. I reverse engineered some of it. Found alternate sources for some of it. And I fabricated some of it.

That effort turned into multiple other contracts to support other OSC customers including LIRR. I published a piece work rate sheet - $20 to fix this, $50 to fix that, $100 to fix that, etc etc. They mailed us their broken things. I serviced them, and mailed them back ASAP generally within five days of receipt. That eventually evolved into direct mailing to and from the customers to cut out the slow turnaround at the OSC dock. It was a huge success, created a whole separate group within our company, and generated a lot of revenue for us.

Until Sept 11.

Within a couple years of that infamous date, most of the DOD contractors that had dipped their toes into the TMS market had spun off or sold their interests to return to a war effort. That included OSC. All contracts were cancelled, and suddenly that work dried up. The new players in the market sold their products to existing customers, and never needed my services.

I went after other markets, and got through a lot of doors, but never returned to the successes I had with OSC. I maintained a good relationship with Trimet supporting their infrastructure that few of their people understood. They just didn't have the degrees or experience. The union let me step aboard buses and LRV's (commuter trains) with tools to assist and train their techs. I got the hard problems. And that even grew into working with the coach manufacturers to support some of the advanced systems on their vehicles that Trimet couldn't.

It was fun.

It never turned into a trip to Long Island. Mrs and I would have enjoyed that.


** Mrs loved this period in my career because I brought her with me on several of my one to three week trips. She explored by day while I worked, and then she would curate a tour for me on the weekends. It was great.

[johnpcapitalist]

The LIRR is one of my success stories.

It's the 1990's. Telecom and communications companies were thriving. Our company had a strong presence in the west coast public safety market, but very little in the utilities and transportation markets. We also wanted a national presence. My task was to find something, and make a foothold in it. We're meat eaters. Go out, kill something, and bring it home. So I was taking on contracts** in Boston, Chicago, Birmingham, St louis, San Francisco, and closer to home Seattle.

I always enjoy stories about your career. Sounds like you have enjoyed a lot of widely varied and challenging adventures in your corporate life, just as I have. Keep 'em coming!

[Foggy]

+1

[bill_g]

I always enjoy stories about your career. Sounds like you have enjoyed a lot of widely varied and challenging adventures in your corporate life, just as I have. Keep 'em coming!

Thanks John. I'm trying not to be "that guy", but as I'm crushing 71, I'm becoming the old guy with stories of the past. It was a blast though. Loved it. I had no idea this is where I would go when I granulated with a double E in 79. Not a clue. I was supposed to design cars, and engines, and I ended up in the Eastern Oregon desert designing a telephone system, digging holes and filling them with concrete. I was a ditch digger with a degree. Whodathunkit.

A full service integrator. I pounded steel into dirt, and built the road that got there, with brief intervals of ground to air systems for airline carriers, training troops in SC as they head to the Iraq theatre, chasing a dredge on the Columbia River, scaling every dam on that river, a trip to the Aluetians for a Naval meteor bounce system, and a flight aboard a C130 on Sept 12 when all other aircraft had been grounded proving that your enlistment never ends.

Then I became an amateur wound nurse, patient advocate, and full time caregiver. And that was years after being a Land Use Board of Appeals member without a JD, and the governor's Citizen Liason ex officio. I put comms in Fed Res buildings prior to CYA2K. We worked on comms for efforts around the planet that we can't discuss in places and agencies we can't name. I've had to learn so many different protocols, it makes my head hurt trying to recall them.

I spent my whole career not knowing what I was doing, and got paid for it. God Bless America!

So, I guess I am That Guy now. Where's my rocking chair?

[Volkonski]

We have been back on the North Fork for 11 days and opening up the cottages is well underway.

Yesterday we mostly took the day off and attended the Spring Concert of-



Mrs. V. has played with them in the past and will rejoin them for their June 24th concert.

Summary of our NF season so far-

April 21st thru 24th- drove from Wichita Falls to the North Fork, 1700 miles.

April 25th- plumber came to book up water at both cottages. Gas stove repairmen came to look at living room stove, needs new ignition part which is taking about 2 weeks. Meanwhile making do with smaller kitchen gas heater and portable electric heaters.

April 25th and 26th- handyman came, cleaned lower front porch and painted it, helped open shutters and putting up screens.

April 27th- spent most of day online shopping for new refrigerator. Ordered Amana side by side. Mrs. V. went food shopping.

April 28th- Mrs. V. went to UU Fellowship in the morning and had online early music meeting in the after noon. I puttered about.

April 29th and 30th- unpacking and putting away. Installed bidet inserts on both toilets.

May 1st- refrigerator delivered, Mrs. V. went under cottage to turn on ice maker water line.

May 2nd- irrigation company came to turn on sprinkle system, one sprinkler head had to be replaced.

May 3rd and 4th- general puttering.

[Foggy]

I never do puttering without also muttering (and quite often spluttering).

[bill_g]

Crawling under the house to turn on the ice maker water must have been a blast. I put mine in the cupboard under the sink. It's in the back, but easier to reach than under the house.

Mrs insisted on an ice maker on the last fridge purchase some ten years or more ago. She loved it. And then the novelty wore off. I had to regularly empty the ice bucket in the freezer to force it to make fresh keeping the water in the line from going stagnant.

[sugar magnolia]

Crawling under the house to turn on the ice maker water must have been a blast. I put mine in the cupboard under the sink. It's in the back, but easier to reach than under the house.

Mrs insisted on an ice maker on the last fridge purchase some ten years or more ago. She loved it. And then the novelty wore off. I had to regularly empty the ice bucket in the freezer to force it to make fresh keeping the water in the line from going stagnant.

We have a fancy one that does cubed, crushed and shaved ice. We've never hooked it up to a water source so we just dump bagged ice in the hopper and go from there.

[bill_g]

We have a fancy one that does cubed, crushed and shaved ice. We've never hooked it up to a water source so we just dump bagged ice in the hopper and go from there.

I like that idea.

[Volkonski]

Temperature has risen to the mid 60s and the sun has come out so sitting on the porch listening to someone to the west running some sort of noisy machinery.

[Volkonski]

Our neighbor to the right broke his ankle today. He is 11 years older than we are.

Both his daughters are here. The younger one just brought him back from the hospital.

Mrs. V spoke with the older daughter. Neighbor should be OK but for a while he can't go upstairs.

[Maybenaut]

Oh, dear. Does he live there year-round?

[Volkonski]

Oh, dear. Does he live there year-round?

Yes. His younger daughter recently moved to a new home just four miles away so he has help nearby now. Older daughter lives up Island.

[Maybenaut]

Oh, dear. Does he live there year-round?

Yes. His younger daughter recently moved to a new home just four miles away so he has help nearby now. Older daughter lives up Island.

Oh, that’s good. Glad he has help.

[Flatpoint High]

seconded

[Volkonski]

Great sunny weather today on the North Fork.

Dew on the grass right now. High temperature today in low 70s.

Rest of the week will be rainy and colder.

[Volkonski]

As forecast, raining on the North Fork this morning.

Cold front on the way.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

My cat, Siri, loves the rain. Before she became a full time indoor cat, she would stay out when it rained. She was sheltered in one of her “spots” but she was out! Our other calico, Jacqueline, was the same way.

[Volkonski]

Local WLNG radio news just reported that only a small number of Peconic Bay scallops survived the winter. Spawning will be below normal this year. This fall's scallop harvest season will once again be dismal.



Scientists continue to study the causes of this.