jmra wrote:12 years ago I had this same meeting in a foreign country which shall remain nameless . Sitting across the table from me were representatives from:
1. State owned company
2. Fortune 500 company (running the facility)
3. Fortune 500 company (that built the facility)
4. Government official (holding my passport)
They called me in (under false pretenses) and demanded that I fix a problem that didn't exist. After several weeks of insisting that there was no problem, I designed, built, and installed a piece of equipment (that did absolutely nothing) to fix the problem that didn't exist. I got my passport and returned home. I left the company not long after (wasn't interested in future such meetings), but I often wonder if the problem ever "returned" and exactly how someone would go about repairing the "device".
Did it have lots of flashing lights, dials, buttons, and meters?
No, I couldn't find a Radio Shack. It did have coils, capacitors, resistors, steady lights and a voltmeter. I thought about including a switch but I didn't want them to turn it off to see if the problem returned. Basically as long the the equipment had power the light was on and the meter read the AC voltage. They believed it to be a miracle worker. I'm sure it is part of some poor fools routine to verify the light is on and the meter is reading the proper voltage.
I hope that you used a Duracell. Otherwise they might come looking for you.
jmra wrote:12 years ago I had this same meeting in a foreign country which shall remain nameless . Sitting across the table from me were representatives from:
1. State owned company
2. Fortune 500 company (running the facility)
3. Fortune 500 company (that built the facility)
4. Government official (holding my passport)
They called me in (under false pretenses) and demanded that I fix a problem that didn't exist. After several weeks of insisting that there was no problem, I designed, built, and installed a piece of equipment (that did absolutely nothing) to fix the problem that didn't exist. I got my passport and returned home. I left the company not long after (wasn't interested in future such meetings), but I often wonder if the problem ever "returned" and exactly how someone would go about repairing the "device".
Did it have lots of flashing lights, dials, buttons, and meters?
No, I couldn't find a Radio Shack. It did have coils, capacitors, resistors, steady lights and a voltmeter. I thought about including a switch but I didn't want them to turn it off to see if the problem returned. Basically as long the the equipment had power the light was on and the meter read the AC voltage. They believed it to be a miracle worker. I'm sure it is part of some poor fools routine to verify the light is on and the meter is reading the proper voltage.
I hope that you used a Duracell. Otherwise they might come looking for you.
I only needed it to work long enough to get out of the country. Ironically during my trip someone from New Jersey with my name (first, middle initial, and last name) and same DOB committed a felony. So I got held up at my point of entry for 8 hours. Finally someone got a description of the guy and I wasn't a match. Just glad they didn't send me back.
Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid.
John Wayne
NRA Lifetime member
SQLGeek wrote:I recently moved from a technical role in industry to a sales engineer position with a software company and can sympathize with many of these stories. So even though I'm now in sales, don't hate me too much because I'm trying to do things the right way and keep our account managers in line.
Don't let the sales guys pull you over to the dark side over time.
I'm afraid it might be too late for me. People keep telling me I have a knack for sales which makes me wonder if that's a compliment or not.
I hope that you used a Duracell. Otherwise they might come looking for you.
