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Da Inventor

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by sojourner, May 25, 2011.

  1. sojourner

    sojourner Silver IL'ite

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    I just came into my house, after talking to my next door neighbor, Craig.

    He is a very interesting guy -- an engineer's engineer. He can be unfriendly. On a given day, it is hard to predict what to expect from him.

    He is very skilled with his hands. He has two children -- perhaps about 9 and 12. He once came to our house to help us with something. This was when I was living out of town during the work week. His son and daughter each brought their own toolkits -- my wife was enormously impressed.

    There is a pond behind our house with an island in the middle. Geese use it as a breeding ground. Geese are fun for about 2 days when you see them for the first time. After that, they are seen mostly as a pest.

    My neighbor has a microprocessor controlled system that aims light which ends up irritating the geese such that they don't breed in our area. This is like shining a light in someone's eyes, he said. Our geese population has dwindled due to his efforts.

    He is now working on a rotating solar panel, again microprocessor controlled. As the sun moves in the horizon, the panel tracks it, thus getting energy from the sun.

    His son is helping him. That kid probably will end up at Caltech.

    By the way, this kind of inventiveness is a very American thing. One of my bosses used to kid me about Indians and Chinese with PhDs in aircraft propulsion but who have never been inside a plane or even a car.

    How can one compete with people like that?

    A solar panel factory is scheduled to open in a few months near our town. Craig is hoping that having his own solar array in his backyard probably will give him a leg up in getting a job there. I told him in reply,

    "And I will tell them that if Craig works 8 hours a day I will work 12 hours a day. This is my only selling point."

    He got a big chuckle out of this.
     
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  2. mssunitha2001

    mssunitha2001 IL Hall of Fame

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    Really impressed to read about the kids aged 9 and 12 going around with their dad with tool kits...something rare to see bcos not all kids are interested in such things at such young age. May be 'the american thing" as you've mentioned.

    OR

    May be they are quite impressed with their dad's talent...:cheers
    [​IMG]
     
  3. sreemanavaneeth

    sreemanavaneeth Gold IL'ite

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    Hai SOJO,

    Children initiative to help their father has to be appreciated. Nice one. Their Daddy's capability
    will be their in their gene always. Nice one
     
  4. SARASVADIVU

    SARASVADIVU Silver IL'ite

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    Hello sir,

    >One of my bosses used to kid me about Indians and Chinese with PhDs in aircraft propulsion but who have never been inside a plane or even a car.
    --The difference basically lies in the educational systems..there it's more of hand-on practicals..here we emphasise too much theoretically!

    Good one there ..like the ending specially!!

    Cheers,

    Saras
     
  5. ILoveTulips

    ILoveTulips IL Hall of Fame

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    >>One of my bosses used to kid me about Indians and Chinese with PhDs in aircraft propulsion but who have never been inside a plane or even a car.

    Simple same way as I became an IT Engineer...
     

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