This is more plaintive than funny, but this is the closest thing to the appropriate thread.
I worked in production at the Apt Corporation. Tom Holman had a very, very severe thing about not liking anodized black aluminum faceplates, so his products had a kind of gray enamel paint. I don't know why, but faceplates must be more difficult to paint then, say, cars, because we had about a 25% rejection rate (or so we thought) due to hairs in the finish or other flaws. BTW, these were reasonably priced products.
Our supplier, Bruce, was a great guy. We were suitably impressed that he learned Japanese so he could go direct to faceplate manufacturers in Japan who had clean paint rooms. But still rejections.
As you know, Apt struggled financially and organizationally, due to an over-educated, under business degreed cast of characters, including an odd autodidact who had several patents in color copiers, "FK". I digress.
"Natalie" was responsible for visual quality control, and, along with everyone else, was under a certain amount of pressure to ship "anything that doesn't move" near each month's/quarter's/year's end to help preserve our position.
Well, one day the faceplate supplier, Bruce, came all the way from New Hampshire to examine all these rejected faceplates. He, Natalie and I mulled over the situation together, and Bruce went back to his headquarters armed with new, firsthand, accurate information about the problem. This meeting happened to take place on the last day of a quarter. Bruce was satisfied that I was well informed about the situation.
Two days later, Natalie covertly called me over to her station, and sheepishly began pulling out an illegal, secret horde of personally rejected faceplates she had squirrelled away in the (correct) belief that $500 and $700 was too much to pay for cosmetically imperfect products, precarious finances or no. It was like just too many clowns coming out of a small circus car. We had more like a 40% rejection rate, it turned out. I think it broke Bruce's heart to learn of this later. He took up Chinese to forget.
So, first, Natalie, here's to you. You are fired or you are promoted memorially, I am not sure which. I will never forget your apologetic, demure, wary smile as you revealed your trove to me.
BTW, this reminds me, Tom Holman had a very, very severe thing about not liking spray painted metal top plates, so his preamp had a kind of gray, alligator skin-like fleck paint. I don't know why, but gray, alligator skin-like fleck top plates must be harder to paint than, say, gray enamel faceplates because....
I worked in production at the Apt Corporation. Tom Holman had a very, very severe thing about not liking anodized black aluminum faceplates, so his products had a kind of gray enamel paint. I don't know why, but faceplates must be more difficult to paint then, say, cars, because we had about a 25% rejection rate (or so we thought) due to hairs in the finish or other flaws. BTW, these were reasonably priced products.
Our supplier, Bruce, was a great guy. We were suitably impressed that he learned Japanese so he could go direct to faceplate manufacturers in Japan who had clean paint rooms. But still rejections.
As you know, Apt struggled financially and organizationally, due to an over-educated, under business degreed cast of characters, including an odd autodidact who had several patents in color copiers, "FK". I digress.
"Natalie" was responsible for visual quality control, and, along with everyone else, was under a certain amount of pressure to ship "anything that doesn't move" near each month's/quarter's/year's end to help preserve our position.
Well, one day the faceplate supplier, Bruce, came all the way from New Hampshire to examine all these rejected faceplates. He, Natalie and I mulled over the situation together, and Bruce went back to his headquarters armed with new, firsthand, accurate information about the problem. This meeting happened to take place on the last day of a quarter. Bruce was satisfied that I was well informed about the situation.
Two days later, Natalie covertly called me over to her station, and sheepishly began pulling out an illegal, secret horde of personally rejected faceplates she had squirrelled away in the (correct) belief that $500 and $700 was too much to pay for cosmetically imperfect products, precarious finances or no. It was like just too many clowns coming out of a small circus car. We had more like a 40% rejection rate, it turned out. I think it broke Bruce's heart to learn of this later. He took up Chinese to forget.
So, first, Natalie, here's to you. You are fired or you are promoted memorially, I am not sure which. I will never forget your apologetic, demure, wary smile as you revealed your trove to me.
BTW, this reminds me, Tom Holman had a very, very severe thing about not liking spray painted metal top plates, so his preamp had a kind of gray, alligator skin-like fleck paint. I don't know why, but gray, alligator skin-like fleck top plates must be harder to paint than, say, gray enamel faceplates because....