Today I find out

[yoda313]

the letter i sent to your boss explaining everything should have helped --

sorry about being on the usa watch list now though

Hello,

BJ_M - INTERNATIONAL MOST WANTED!!!!!

Kevin

-- --

[thecoalman]

Hello,

Caps back! How'd it go???

Kevin

Here and gone

[yoda313]

Hello,

Here and gone

RED ALERT!!!! Somethings up!!!

Kevin

--STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER! --

[Capmaster]

No $20,000 raise. No Corvette. No Swedish assistants, although I would have settled for a couple of Russian girls, or tgpo

First of all, it didn't help that while I was out back behind the dumpster whammin my ham like there's no tomorrow, that he was just returning from another building for our meeting and happened to walk behind the building to use the west entrance ......

He had a few things he said "I'd like you to work on":

1) Stop jerking off in the ladies rest room

2) Stop jerking off in the men's rest room

3) Stop jerking off in front of the cafeteria at lunch rush

4) Take down the posters of the Olsen Twins in my office

5) Take down the poster of Dolly and myself ("a nuclear weapons lab is no place for untoward deviant behavior - especially displayed on a 6 ft. by 10 ft. poster in the hallway")

6) Remove the 16" inflatable clown from under my desk. Some recent Dept. of Energy visitors saw it and were embarassed

7) "Stop touching yourself in meetings"

8) "Stop touching Darrla in meetings"

9) Stop jerking off in meetings

10) Limit the number of trips outside the building to ten times a day

Seriously, all went well. My raise blew, but all raises here blew this year. They bump it up larger every three years and let the market catch up a little. Then bump it again. Last year we got bumped larger, so this year it wasn't as much.

My non-base raise was larger than last year. That's the one-time per year check we get in late September. For us it's usually used for Christmas (or Egypt ).

He's happy with my work and said my project "is in capable hands". If he only knew what occupied my "capable hands" most of every workday

[Capmaster]

the letter i sent to your boss explaining everything should have helped --

sorry about being on the usa watch list now though

You're always such a big help BJ_M ...

Oh yeah ...no mention of redwingers, Olsens or post whores, so the chair remained with the boss' office

[yoda313]

Hello,

Well all's well that ends well cap! Glad it wasn't a big problem!

Kevin

[shoozleboy]

Sounds great there Cap!

So you can send me your furniture for use as my home heating agent this winter?? (I figure your non-base raise can buy you some new chairs - I need your old ones to keep my house warm! )

[Capmaster]

Sounds great there Cap!

So you can send me your furniture for use as my home heating agent this winter?? (I figure your non-base raise can buy you some new chairs - I need your old ones to keep my house warm! )

Thanks for the support

Since the base pay raises sucked this year, I still have some hostility, so I'll send you the boss' desk. It's hand-made mahogany and ought to burn for a while

Here are actual excerpts from my official evaluation - I just got the electronic copy of it from my boss:

Kevin has continued a good job as lead design and product engineer for the XXXXXX radar. He is well respected by the staff at the Kansas City production plant for his calm, professional way of resolving issues and problems. This year, Kevin published a C&DR SAND report on the radar and a C&DR SAND report on the redesign. He is also working on a C&DR Addendum for the XXXXXX. In summary, I continue to feel that the XXXXXX is in good hands under Kevin’s stewardship.

This year, Kevin also worked in the design area for the WXX-X XXXXXXXXXXXX. He worked with John XXX on test board design as well as subsystem-level issues. These efforts have been beneficial. Kevin also assisted by providing diagnostic evaluation for WXX radar ASIC tests at ACRR.

Key:
C&DR = Characteristics and Development Report
SAND = A formally published report that gets wide distribution, including all labs, all agencies of the govt., and the White House
ACRR = Annular Core Research Reactor

All in all, I feel pretty good about it

[BJ_M]

sounds real nice --

also sounds, reading between the lines that the first design was a big f** up and back to the drawing boards and a lot of finger pointing went on and everyone still covering their ass over that one .. but you pulled one out of the fire and saved a lot of embarrassment to someone and that the cost of version 1.x went into the r&d of version 2 and everyone says that what was planed from the start and v2 is really only v1.2Bxxxxxx ..

[Capmaster]

sounds real nice --

also sounds, reading between the lines that the first design was a big f** up and back to the drawing boards and a lot of finger pointing went on and everyone still covering their ass over that one .. but you pulled one out of the fire and saved a lot of embarrassment to someone and that the cost of version 1.x went into the r&d of version 2 and everyone says that what was planed from the start and v2 is really only v1.2Bxxxxxx ..

Not too far off the mark. But a bit on the harsh side. The first design was superb even with the low-probability flaw, and since the radar has two identical redundant channels, the failure probability was only 1-in-40,000.

The first design ( 3 years before I took it over in 1995, I might add ) failed to take into account the coefficient of thermal expansion for 20 lb/cu. ft. polystyrene foam potting.

As the unit cooled to minus 65F the potting contracted, placing a 50 pound side load on a large 68-pin LCC ASIC SMD that had been modified with s-leads to compensate for kovar/alumina Tce mismatches in the substrate assembly, which itself had caused solder cracking upon thermal cycling.

It stood up off the thick film hybrid substrate and was particularly susceptible to side-loading. When the potting cracked, the rebound force cracked solder joints at the base of the s-leads, traveling down under the pads and causing electrical opens.

Polystyrene was chosen because of the ease of rework, requiring only toluene to depot the unit. You may think that being polystyrene, or "styrofoam", it would be flimsy. But keep in mind that polystyrene coffee cups are very low density. This stuff was more like solid plastic when it cured. You had difficulty making an impression in it with your thumbnail.

The redesign involved thoroughly exhausting all the possible fixes through testing, finite element analysis and modeling. Three of the final four design fixes were discarded for various reasons leaving one. Fixing the design included defining a potting void around the ASIC, among many other things. The sheer number of robust leads it had allowed mechanical environments to not be a concern, as it turned out after exhaustive testing.

It was still only a 1-in-200 occurrence per channel, 1-in-40,000 per radar (dual-channel probabilities are single-channel probabilities squared), but it was my call, and I chose to correct it, since we had the opportunity. Good engineering practice and all

It must have made some people happy because the Dept. of Energy awarded my team this:

[Capmaster]

Here are pictures of my "baby". All images are unclassified, and are not sensitive at all. The "SECRET" stamp on the actual radar refers to the classification of the radar itself, not its visual classification

This is the non-rf side of a single clear-pot channel. The large IC is the one that gave us the solder joint trouble:



This is the rf side of a single clear-pot channel. Two of the RF hybrids have had the kovar covers removed to show the insides. The hybrids that still have their lids are the visually classified ones because their geometry gives away several different specifics about how it works. The RF deck includes both thick-film (TKN) and thin-film (TFN) hybrids. TKN are produced by oven-curing an ink paste that has been screened onto the substrate. TFN are formed by electroplating pure gold. These are the higher-frequency hybrids:



This is the whole radar as it exists in the stockpile today. It is two channels welded together as mirror-images. The hermetically sealed enclosure is cast stainless steel. Both channels are electrically independent and either can function the weapon:

[makntraks]

It must have made some people happy because the Dept. of Energy awarded my team this:

Hey, I just saw one of those at the local Goodwill......

makntraks

[Capmaster]

Booooy, I hope not

It's a very formal ceremony with the undersecretary of energy presenting them. Gotta be all dressed up to receive it, with an audience of about 500 people. We all got certificates and personal letters from the VP of our company. We also got a write-up in the Lab News. It was a very big deal.

[IAIHMB]

Hey Cappy if you need some references for your boss we will put in the good word in for you

no seriourly good luck .... you will have pm

Or you could introduce your boss to your "daughters"




makntraks

Haha, nice picture, if only it were real. Anyways, good luck on the review Capmaster.

[Capmaster]

Thanks.

That pic makes me feel better about the sucky raises this year

Raises? Whaaaa .....

[indolikaa]

Congrats, Vinyltarian!

[Capmaster]

Congrats, Vinyltarian!

Thanks, fellow sheep afficionado

[northcat_8]

congrats cap. Always nice to hear how rich people live.

[BJ_M]

the scary part is:

1. i understood everything you said completely and you do technical writing very well i bet.

2. i love that stuff .... techno geek (me) maybe ?

3. i had a huge failure in Mexico city with polystyrene foam -- one of the stiffest substances available for the weight -- we took into account outside use and was completely stabilized for UV - good for 25 years .. but failed to account enough for the worse air pollution you can think of - Mexico city , population no one knows , surrounded by mountains with no real wind .. the air pollution destroyed the polystyrene foam in 4 years ..

Well it was a trial application with no guarantees.

[jimmalenko]

You have just given the phrase "It's not rocket-science" new meaning for me, Cap

[Capmaster]

the scary part is:

1. i understood everything you said completely and you do technical writing very well i bet.

2. i love that stuff .... techno geek (me) maybe ?

3. i had a huge failure in Mexico city with polystyrene foam -- one of the stiffest substances available for the weight -- we took into account outside use and was completely stabilized for UV - good for 25 years .. but failed to account enough for the worse air pollution you can think of - Mexico city , population no one knows , surrounded by mountains with no real wind .. the air pollution destroyed the polystyrene foam in 4 years ..

Well it was a trial application with no guarantees.

Thanks BJ_M. Yes I've written a few dozen formal reports here and countless less formal appraisals, analyses, etc.

Glad you liked it. Anytime you wanna chat in techno-geek, you know my PM address

Was the substance attacking the polystyrene a benzene-chain molecule?

[BJ_M]

Not really sure -- it was some element of smog soup ....

i don't think anyone really analyzed what the exact cause was after the whole thing started to disintegrated and pieces started to fall on the field ..

btw -- the application was a new type of flat planer speakers - offering a point source sound in a large suspended helical array over a soccer stadium - this was many years ago now.

[Capmaster]

Not really sure -- it was some element of smog soup ....

i don't think anyone really analyzed what the exact cause was after the whole thing started to disintegrated and pieces started to fall on the field ..

btw -- the application was a new type of flat planer speakers - offering a point source sound in a large suspended helical array over a soccer stadium - this was many years ago now.

And it started dissolving from the air pollution ..... :P

The reason I asked is because benzene-chain molecules are volatile organics and they readily attack polystyrene. They're commonly found in industrial pollution of the sort Mexico City has. Not so good to breathe either

[BJ_M]

officially the population is 22 million , but un-officially it is more like 30 million as there are vast areas of slums and cardboard houses ..

so basically equal to about the population of all of Canada .. :

it is ranked as number one for pollution, you don't want to spend much time there --- they also still use leaded gas .... !

Mexico City has the worst air pollution in the country and ranks among the most polluted cities in the world. Its ozone levels exceed World Health Organization standards 300 days a year, and SEMARNAT has estimated that the air in Ciudad Juarez is 40% less contaminated than in the capital. Exhaust fumes from Mexico City's estimated 4 million motor vehicles, many of which are old and especially environmentally damaging, are the main source of air pollutants. The city's air problem is aggravated by its unique geography. Mexico City resides in a basin more than 7,400 feet above sea level and is surrounded on three sides by mountains. These isolate the city from regional weather disturbances and trap pollution.

[northcat_8]

I think this is the Plaq you and your hand...errr.... ...I mean "team" really received.

[BJ_M]

that took you all morning didnt it ? :

[Capmaster]

NORTHCAT





Another gem

Now ....to get that one made up in walnut and brass like the original ....

[indolikaa]

Damn northcat... Wow!

I bow before you, master of the photochop.

[DVD_Ripper]

Sweet work.....

Regarding the National Slackatarian Society.... how does one go about joining? Who's the current president?

[Capmaster]

Sweet work.....

Regarding the National Slackatarian Society.... how does one go about joining? Who's the current president?

Frank Spanquer