Today I was asked by the chief of the apps department if I wanted to do apps work.

This kind of blindsides me. Our apps department is the ne plus ultra in the industry. Our guys are the best, and they are so heavily sought after, that they are booked through the next year, if not more. There are only six of them, and they are all incredible individuals.

Our whole company is pretty tight, and we do any number of things better than anyone else. Quite often I hear our customers saying “We never have any trouble with (my company). other servicemen come in and spend most of their time on the phone. (our company) comes in, does the job, and gets out”

We do. Even our worst serviceman makes most other serviceguys look like pikers, and our apps guys make other apps guys look like gophers.

This job is a little bit about programming (Which I understand, I’ve done wood and nonferrous programming for years; I’ll have to learn a few things but not many)and a lot about understanding materials, tools, machine capability, etc. which is an education in itself.

The work that I do, is mostly outside the norm- I’m not “service” and I’m not “Apps” but i do a little of each type of work. I do a lot of things that fall through the cracks in both areas, and I rely heavily on fifteen years of robotics engineering as well. I will never completely stop doing the things I do now, but… wow.

It’s a little like being asked to join the Seals. At this point in my career it’s unusual for someone to get a gig like this, and while it may be about them trying to change my workload, it ‘s also at least partially because they don’t like the idea of hiring the kind of people who are available at the moment. So they’re willing to train an old fat man. I don’t think there’s any of it I can’t handle. I don’t think there’s any of it I won’t get good at. I feel honored to have been given this chance. Watch this space.