Dad, Tell Me About the Time…(23)

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

What is the most important thing you need to do to be successful in a career?

I firmly believe that you must feel a sense of purpose in any career and do what you do to the best of your ability. If you are a janitor, then you need to take pride in your work and understand how important your job is. You should want to make your floors shine and be proud of it. If you are an engineer, then you should want to make the best designs that you can and understand how those designs will make the world a better place.

I believe that our careers are a part of the Lords greatest commandment, Love God and love our neighbor. Our careers are no more than a way of showing our fellow man that we love them.

If you could start over, which career would you like to have?

I believe that I could be completely happy in any technical career and while I don’t regret spending most of my professional life at Hi-Z, I would love even now to get a job that would enable me to continue growing. After Norb died I believed that Jill would allow me to grow the company. Looking back I should have left Hi-Z the day after Norbs funeral and tried to get a job at JPL or NASA Ames, or Sandia National Labs. Maybe even Idaho National labs but then I would have had to have a PhD which would have also been fun.

What I am doing today is very fulfilling and is just like going to one of those other companies. It’s just a lot less money.

Who has helped you succeed most at work?

That would definitely be Norbert Elsner.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

In my current job of being self employed and working by myself, the greatest challenge is not having someone to talk to and bounce ideas back and forth.

In previous jobs, where I’m part of a team, the greatest challenge is having someone to talk to and coming to a concensus on what is the best approach to take.

Which tool do you use the most at work?

Right now I use my computer the most to create CAD files for my designs and to research information to make good designs. I also use the waterjet and other metal forming machines to make the parts after they are designed. Not as much now, but in earlier jobs, I used a lot of test equipment to measure material properties. A milliohm meter was probably the most important, but many others as well.

Any engineer will have a multimeter close by.

Which characteristics do you look for in a good employee?

The most difficult employ is always the one who keeps complaining to you about his problems and comes to you to fix them. You don’t want an employee who keeps you in the dark but the best employee is one who see’s problems, comes up with some possible solutions to the problem and then comes to you to discuss which of his solutions, we should go with to fix the problem.

You want someone who can problem solve, and work independently.

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Archiologist have found that fifty thousand years ago, humans had high levels of the ruminococcus bacteria in their stomachs. This is the bacteria that allows cows to digest grass. It suggests that humans from that time could digest grass. Because our diets have changed, we have extremely low levels of that bacteria in our gut, and have lost that ability. It is theorised that the lack of that bacteria could be partly responsible for much of our gut problems. 

Many modern day hunter gatherers still have a limited ability to digest cellulose. 

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