"D.Duck" wrote in message
...

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ups.com...


"Eisboch" wrote in message
m...
I've been called in to help out today at.... (gulp) .... *work*.
A long-time customer is visiting and I have to provide some sense
of
corporate continuity.

Gotta get this over with so Sam and I can go back to the boat.

Eisboch

So how did it go?

Not bad. He awarded the company a $800+K contract for a new thin
film
system.

Eisboch (still got the "touch")

Wow! Hope you get a good chunk of that Went back to work myself
this week, gonna' work on a local farm for the winter to get loosened
up a little and trade off a little horsie time for my girls. Don't
think I will be making as much as you did though Of course our
work could be somewhat similar, I was off shoveling ****, how about
you?


Nah, I don't get any "chunk". I have a long term "consulting" deal
that
pays just about minimum wage, but keeps Mrs.E. and I eligible to
participate
in the company's health care program.

When I was a kid living outside of New Haven, CT., I had a summer job
mucking horse stalls for a guy that raised and trained thoughbred racing
horses. Not for me. In addition to the .... well .... you know, I was
also allergic to the hay dust. I swore I'd never do it again and I
haven't,
despite Mrs.E.'s three horses.

If you want to get bored to tears, here's what I ended up doing for a
living:

http://www.vptec.com/

Eisboch

Not boring at all. Brings back memories of my work at Bell Labs, about 20
years ago, as a CRT monitor design engineer. I worked with a West Coast
company, OCLI, on a custom CRT panel with an AR coating.

The process was great for no reduction in display resolution and
anti-reflective properties. The disadvantage, cost. The panel added
about
20 bux to an already too expensive, custom size CRT.

The zero loss is resolution was just not appropriate for a plain jane
alpha-numeric display. Now for something like medical monitors it was
justified.

I finally convinced marketing that a much less costly acid etch process
applied directly to the CRT glass was appropriate.


We built sputter deposition equipment for Tectonics, applying a conductive
coating to the inside of ceramic CRT tubes. That technology was obsolete
before it went to production, and a spin-off was started doing
electroluminescent displays. We built equipment for them as well, and the
company became what is now known as "PanelVision", a major supplier of flat
panel screens.

OCLI ? Very technically capable in their day, but a terrible company for
an equipment manufacturer like us to deal with. They had quite a reputation
of routinely sending out requests for technical proposals for systems they
said they were going to buy.
They would then review all the technical approaches taken by the various
responders to meet OCLI's requirements, select the best of them, and then
build the equipment themselves, using the technical specifications supplied
by those of us that responded.

In all the years that we dealt with them, they never bought a system from
anybody.

We have had more recent contracts with JDS Uniphase, the successor to OCLI.

Eisboch

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"D.Duck" wrote in message
...

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ups.com...


"Eisboch" wrote in message
m...
I've been called in to help out today at.... (gulp) .... *work*.
A long-time customer is visiting and I have to provide some
sense
of
corporate continuity.

Gotta get this over with so Sam and I can go back to the boat.

Eisboch

So how did it go?

Not bad. He awarded the company a $800+K contract for a new thin
film
system.

Eisboch (still got the "touch")

Wow! Hope you get a good chunk of that Went back to work myself
this week, gonna' work on a local farm for the winter to get loosened
up a little and trade off a little horsie time for my girls. Don't
think I will be making as much as you did though Of course our
work could be somewhat similar, I was off shoveling ****, how about
you?


Nah, I don't get any "chunk". I have a long term "consulting" deal
that
pays just about minimum wage, but keeps Mrs.E. and I eligible to
participate
in the company's health care program.

When I was a kid living outside of New Haven, CT., I had a summer job
mucking horse stalls for a guy that raised and trained thoughbred
racing
horses. Not for me. In addition to the .... well .... you know, I
was
also allergic to the hay dust. I swore I'd never do it again and I
haven't,
despite Mrs.E.'s three horses.

If you want to get bored to tears, here's what I ended up doing for a
living:

http://www.vptec.com/

Eisboch

Not boring at all. Brings back memories of my work at Bell Labs, about
20
years ago, as a CRT monitor design engineer. I worked with a West Coast
company, OCLI, on a custom CRT panel with an AR coating.

The process was great for no reduction in display resolution and
anti-reflective properties. The disadvantage, cost. The panel added
about
20 bux to an already too expensive, custom size CRT.

The zero loss is resolution was just not appropriate for a plain jane
alpha-numeric display. Now for something like medical monitors it was
justified.

I finally convinced marketing that a much less costly acid etch process
applied directly to the CRT glass was appropriate.


We built sputter deposition equipment for Tectonics, applying a conductive
coating to the inside of ceramic CRT tubes. That technology was obsolete
before it went to production, and a spin-off was started doing
electroluminescent displays. We built equipment for them as well, and the
company became what is now known as "PanelVision", a major supplier of
flat
panel screens.

OCLI ? Very technically capable in their day, but a terrible company
for
an equipment manufacturer like us to deal with. They had quite a
reputation
of routinely sending out requests for technical proposals for systems they
said they were going to buy.
They would then review all the technical approaches taken by the various
responders to meet OCLI's requirements, select the best of them, and then
build the equipment themselves, using the technical specifications
supplied
by those of us that responded.

In all the years that we dealt with them, they never bought a system from
anybody.

We have had more recent contracts with JDS Uniphase, the successor to
OCLI.

Eisboch

I heard rumors about some unsavory business practices and OCLI. We only did
business with them for a couple of years in the early 80's.

Ahhhh, JDSU. Back in the 90's when I was a very active investor, JDSU is
one I "wish" I would have dabbled in. Made quite a bit of money leading up
to the "bubble". Should have listened to Greenspan and his "irrational
exuberance" speech. Oh well, I did very well and never complain.

Now as I approach 70 it's much more conservative investments. I do have
quite a bit of Intel stock, but I feel that's reasonably safe. "When" is
gets over $30 I'll get out and buy a bunch of CDs. My have things changed
for me as I get older and more cautious.

"D.Duck" wrote in message
...


Ahhhh, JDSU. Back in the 90's when I was a very active investor, JDSU is
one I "wish" I would have dabbled in. Made quite a bit of money leading
up
to the "bubble". Should have listened to Greenspan and his "irrational
exuberance" speech. Oh well, I did very well and never complain.

Now as I approach 70 it's much more conservative investments. I do have
quite a bit of Intel stock, but I feel that's reasonably safe. "When" is
gets over $30 I'll get out and buy a bunch of CDs. My have things changed
for me as I get older and more cautious.



You mean the Telecom bubble? That period was an amazing example of a
technology based feeding frenzy based on hype. Companies were scrambling to
acquire other companies that had anything at all to do with optical
multiplexing filters. It's why OCLI is no more. I remember Corning bought
a company called "CoreTec" for 1.4 billion. (that's with a "B"). CoreTec
had been financed with a relatively small amount of venture capital money
and had never produced or shipped a finished product. I met with the
founder and president of CoreTec about a month before Corning's acquisition
of them. We were discussing a possible joint venture between my company and
them. He wanted to continue discussions but was up front and told me of a
possible major event for them in the near future and had to hold off until
after that decision.

Corning ended up having to write the whole $ 1.4B off and it did a number on
their stock. I had a feeling they would recover, so I bought in while they
were low. Turns out it was a good move. I also hold a bit of JDSU.

Eisboch

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"D.Duck" wrote in message
...


Ahhhh, JDSU. Back in the 90's when I was a very active investor, JDSU is
one I "wish" I would have dabbled in. Made quite a bit of money leading
up
to the "bubble". Should have listened to Greenspan and his "irrational
exuberance" speech. Oh well, I did very well and never complain.

Now as I approach 70 it's much more conservative investments. I do have
quite a bit of Intel stock, but I feel that's reasonably safe. "When" is
gets over $30 I'll get out and buy a bunch of CDs. My have things
changed
for me as I get older and more cautious.



You mean the Telecom bubble? That period was an amazing example of a
technology based feeding frenzy based on hype. Companies were scrambling
to
acquire other companies that had anything at all to do with optical
multiplexing filters. It's why OCLI is no more. I remember Corning
bought
a company called "CoreTec" for 1.4 billion. (that's with a "B"). CoreTec
had been financed with a relatively small amount of venture capital money
and had never produced or shipped a finished product. I met with the
founder and president of CoreTec about a month before Corning's
acquisition
of them. We were discussing a possible joint venture between my company
and
them. He wanted to continue discussions but was up front and told me of a
possible major event for them in the near future and had to hold off until
after that decision.

Corning ended up having to write the whole $ 1.4B off and it did a number
on
their stock. I had a feeling they would recover, so I bought in while
they
were low. Turns out it was a good move. I also hold a bit of JDSU.

Eisboch

That was an interesting period. So many supposedly intelligent people in
high places made some very not so intelligent business decisions.

On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 06:33:40 -0400, D.Duck wrote:


That was an interesting period. So many supposedly intelligent people
in high places made some very not so intelligent business decisions.

Seems to happen quite often. In the heady times of a boom, people forget bust is part of the
cycle. The sub-prime situation is just another example.

"thunder" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 06:33:40 -0400, D.Duck wrote:


That was an interesting period. So many supposedly intelligent people
in high places made some very not so intelligent business decisions.

Seems to happen quite often. In the heady times of a boom, people forget
bust is part of the
cycle. The sub-prime situation is just another example.


I have a theory about that, but I don't want Harry to get the idea that we
think too much alike.

Eisboch

On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:20:55 -0400, "Eisboch"
wrote:


"thunder" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 06:33:40 -0400, D.Duck wrote:


That was an interesting period. So many supposedly intelligent people
in high places made some very not so intelligent business decisions.

Seems to happen quite often. In the heady times of a boom, people forget
bust is part of the
cycle. The sub-prime situation is just another example.


I have a theory about that, but I don't want Harry to get the idea that we
think too much alike.

Eisboch

I know, the millions of new jobs are all crap jobs!

On Oct 19, 2:31 am, "Eisboch" wrote:
"D.Duck" wrote in message

...



Ahhhh, JDSU. Back in the 90's when I was a very active investor, JDSU is
one I "wish" I would have dabbled in. Made quite a bit of money leading
up
to the "bubble". Should have listened to Greenspan and his "irrational
exuberance" speech. Oh well, I did very well and never complain.

Now as I approach 70 it's much more conservative investments. I do have
quite a bit of Intel stock, but I feel that's reasonably safe. "When" is
gets over $30 I'll get out and buy a bunch of CDs. My have things changed
for me as I get older and more cautious.

You mean the Telecom bubble? That period was an amazing example of a
technology based feeding frenzy based on hype. Companies were scrambling to
acquire other companies that had anything at all to do with optical
multiplexing filters. It's why OCLI is no more. I remember Corning bought
a company called "CoreTec" for 1.4 billion. (that's with a "B"). CoreTec
had been financed with a relatively small amount of venture capital money
and had never produced or shipped a finished product. I met with the
founder and president of CoreTec about a month before Corning's acquisition
of them. We were discussing a possible joint venture between my company and
them. He wanted to continue discussions but was up front and told me of a
possible major event for them in the near future and had to hold off until
after that decision.

Corning ended up having to write the whole $ 1.4B off and it did a number on
their stock. I had a feeling they would recover, so I bought in while they
were low. Turns out it was a good move. I also hold a bit of JDSU.

Eisboch

Seems as though Corning has always been an up and down kind of
business.

wrote in message
oups.com...


Seems as though Corning has always been an up and down kind of
business.


After the telecom fiasco, Corning downsized, got rid of some weak product
lines and focused back on their core business. The stock has slowly
recovered from a low of about 2 bucks a share up to the mid to high 20's.

Many years ago Corning developed the ceramic "rice" used in catalytic
converters for gas powered cars. I was involved in the design, building,
test and installation of several sputter deposition systems that coated the
"rice" with the catalytic material.

In addition to LCD glass (their primary business) and fiberoptics, Corning
is the primary supplier of the catalytic material now required in the newer
diesel powered trucks. I think I recall reading that by 2012 it will also
be required in diesel powered boat applications. (Boating content :-) )

Eisboch

On Oct 19, 9:38 am, "Eisboch" wrote:
wrote in message

oups.com...



Seems as though Corning has always been an up and down kind of
business.

After the telecom fiasco, Corning downsized, got rid of some weak product
lines and focused back on their core business. The stock has slowly
recovered from a low of about 2 bucks a share up to the mid to high 20's.

Many years ago Corning developed the ceramic "rice" used in catalytic
converters for gas powered cars. I was involved in the design, building,
test and installation of several sputter deposition systems that coated the
"rice" with the catalytic material.

In addition to LCD glass (their primary business) and fiberoptics, Corning
is the primary supplier of the catalytic material now required in the newer
diesel powered trucks. I think I recall reading that by 2012 it will also
be required in diesel powered boat applications. (Boating content :-) )

Eisboch

Wow, that's a lot of heat to disperse from the boat, assuming the
converter will be inside the hull, which would probably be the case....