What milestone have I reached in my career?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ivan Seeking
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After twelve years of hard work, an individual has achieved a significant milestone in their career as a top-level industrial systems integrator. They recently completed a challenging project involving five networks, marking a turning point that may allow for a more balanced life after years of grueling 80-hour work weeks. The successful launch of the final system has resulted in impressive performance metrics, with error rates dropping from 3-5% to 0.3%, leading to new job opportunities. The discussion includes celebratory comments from peers, with suggestions for a group trip to Disney World to commemorate the achievement. The individual reflects on their work environment, which has evolved from a challenging setup to a more comfortable space, and expresses a desire for some well-deserved time off after the intense project. The conversation also touches on the technical aspects of their job, including the integration of various technologies and the challenges of working with different communication protocols. Overall, the thread highlights the importance of perseverance and the joy of reaching professional goals.
  • #31
I see so you are porting what you do to propriatry layer 6 and down protocols...
 
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  • #32
Mostly that is correct. And in my case the goal is usually either process control, instrumentation, or data collection, so the networking is a growing requirement for industry but still a secondary pain in the butt...I mean, concern, from my POV. :biggrin:

In fact, as the technology evolves I will probably have to worry about this aspect of things less and less; that is, as the various technologies used start to perform as advertised, and as standards like ODVA are implemented more generally.
 
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  • #33
Math Is Hard said:
working tirelessly in a little shed,
:smile: :smile: :smile: My 400 sq ft shed with DSL, two phones lines, satellite TV, a microwave oven, a 1 inch water line, 22KW of power, new high efficiency windows, and comfortable furniture?
 
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  • #34
Ivan Seeking said:
:smile: :smile: :smile: My 400 sq ft shed with DSL, two phones lines, satellite TV, a microwave oven, a 1 inch water line, 22KW of power, new high efficiency windows, and comfortable furniture?
My vision of you heading off to work was more like that of Yahoo Serious in Young Einstein. Ever see that? Remember when he decides to split the atom? He heads off to the little shed with a chisel in hand and a few minutes later you hear
cool person.. cool person.. cool person..

BOOOOM!
:smile: :smile:
 
  • #35
Math Is Hard said:
My vision of you heading off to work was more like that of Yahoo Serious in Young Einstein. Ever see that? Remember when he decides to split the atom? He heads off to the little shed with a chisel in hand and a few minutes later you hear
cool person.. cool person.. cool person..
BOOOOM!
:smile: :smile:

Seriously though, twelve years ago when I tried the first variation on my business, I started with a 1.5KW limit for power in my then semi-converted barn. The first winter down here I couldn't run the heater when I tried to solder or the soldering iron wouldn't get hot enough, and it was often near or below freezing during the winter months. So it was a real bugger in the beginning. The next year I got a wood stove and things improved quite a bit, but now I'm quite comfortable, and so far, no serious booms. Tsu does have instructions that if something happens, don't look, just call 911. :biggrin:
 
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  • #36
And in my case the goal is usually either process control, instrumentation, or data collection, so the networking is a growing requirement for industry but still a secondary pain in the butt...I mean, concern, from my POV.

hehe.. well as RFC's become more modular especially with regards to the IOS Stack, you'll find you are able to port stuff easier and easier, to our (networking) lovely open sourced protocols ;-)
 
  • #38
Yay, Ivan! WTG!

Just a guess but does Ivan Seeking = I-S = Integrated Systems or some variant?
 
  • #39
thanks, no, Ivan Seeking was a spontaneous choice...at about 3AM as I recall. :biggrin:
 
  • #40
Wow, Sheriff John hasn't wished me a happy birthday [or anything else] since I was five. :biggrin:
 
  • #41
I have had the distinct pleasure of entering the 400sqft office of Ivan's. Let me tell you it is a mess! A book shelf against 1 wall has range of fascinating titles, A couch, piled with books, sits in front of the book self, other shelfs are overflowing with a variety of hardware, wires, meters etc. Great stuff! Stacks of books and more stacks of books, his desk... there is a desk under there isn't there Ivan? Its not just a pile of books with your laptop on it,..is it? Then there is the ever present pot of coffee. Ivan LIVES on coffee, if something were to happen to his coffee supply he would be a total wreck, if you were to extract all of the caffeine from his system I bet he'd lose 30 lbs, and his hair would turn blond.

Even though I could drive right to the front door of his office I like to park by his house (where Tsu hangs out!) and walk the short road down to his office, this is just little bit of forest but enough to get the feel of the Oregon woods, magnificent, I envy Ivan his daily walk to work, what a way to start the day.
 
  • #42
Integral said:
Ivan LIVES on coffee, if something were to happen to his coffee supply he would be a total wreck, if you were to extract all of the caffeine from his system I bet he'd lose 30 lbs, and his hair would turn blond.

Ain't it the truth! :smile: :smile: :smile: I've had a coffee cup in my hand since I was about ten years old.

You know it is funny. My biggest objection to converting the barn to an office was the distance from the house. But as it turns out I do love my walk to work. And when I need a break I can step outside and hang by the creek for a bit.

A couple of engineers from Boeing now love to work here. At first it was like a big joke. The first time the one person came here, he called a number of people that we both know just to ask, "hey, guess where I am...[pause]... [Ivan's] barn!" And then he would laugh hysterically. :biggrin: But it is such a productive and comfortable setting that they come here now whenever they can justify the trip. But boy oh boy you're right about the mess. This place needs a serious cleaning. The last two months have been such a push that I haven't even vacuumed.
 
  • #43
For those who can appreciate this... The suckers made me run the system for the first time with no debugging and in full auto mode! The company manager, the president, and even some investors suddently showed up. Apparently our start-up was anticipated by management, and as a result the project manager was getting pressure to put on a show. So I was informed that void of the planned dry run debugging, we were going full auto, now, with product! Anyway, things went pretty well but I can live without days like this...or maybe not... it is fun when things work out. But it was eight hours of maximum stress.
 
  • #44
Ivan Seeking said:
For those who can appreciate this... The suckers made me run the system for the first time with no debugging and in full auto mode! The company manager, the president, and even some investors suddently showed up. Apparently our start-up was anticipated by management, and as a result the project manager was getting pressure to put on a show. So I was informed that void of the planned dry run debugging, we were going full auto, now, with product! Anyway, things went pretty well but I can live without days like this...or maybe not... it is fun when things work out. But it was eight hours of maximum stress.
I guess since you are posting smilies and and screamies that all went ok.

You ready celebrate this weekend?
 
  • #45
Things went well and I definitely think a celebration is in order. We made product today with last of five systems to be tested. Less a bit of the standard follow-up, there are just a few bugs to check out and I'm outta there.

I need some time off soooooooooo badly...
 
  • #46
We had a few more modifications to make but finally, for the first time in [I think] seventy-two days, I'm off. But I had to post this as a final comment. The old system error was between 3 and 5% error. Our final numbers are coming in consistantly at about 0.3%. And since these have all been consistenly high I think we can do much better yet. The results are so good that the customer didn't even believe them at first. Only after numberous runs were they convinced that the results weren't a fluke. Now the primary contractor is presenting me with two even larger jobs. :cool:
 
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