[art]

Some of you have already found out that we have not been around, the last 3 weeks or so. Our "customer service babe" had surgery, in preparation for brain surgery, this coming Tuesday. The preparatory operation was supposed to be a "Oh, you will be back at work on Monday, no sweat!" affair. Well, turns out they decided it would be best to do more work, than they planned on, to make the outcome of the main surgery much better. So, I ended up being nurse, as no one from her family made the trek from Houston. (There was not supposed to be a need, so no one planned to take off work, to be here.)

As a result, there is a stack of 98% finished Legatos, waiting on me to do all the final testing and assembly. I hope to finish those very soon, but I can not say when.

Now, as bad as all of this sounds, there are some bright spots.

1.) We knew all along the tumor is benign, so there is nothing to worry about. Other than someone cutting off the top of your head, and rooting around inside of it. So, she should be back at her real job, first of the year. Hopefully, she will be able to start helping us, sometime after that. (Assumes this really does something to ease her vision and head ache problems. Which remains to be seen. They obviously are not making any promises!)

2.) We had plans, for some time now, to move our production facility, out of where my lab is. Never was enough room, to support both activities, and well, no one wants to be around me that much. (Can you blame them?) We have a place for this, but never got around to making it useful. It needs a lot more lighting, and "HVAC" work. So, we started in on that project, a few days ago. We hope it will be usable (though not 100%), in the next few days.

The good news is that, even though this place is over in the next county, it is close to where our "CSB" lives. So, only being 5 minutes away from her place, hopefully means I will be able to get some work done, will I am playing nurse, this time around. Not sure how much, as the times 24 hour presence will be needed, I will not be able to sneak away. But, it should allow things to start flowing, again. At least, a lot sooner than if we had procrastinated some more.

Obviously, her family will be here. Some. Just between us, she is probably better off with Nurse Ratchet, er, ah..........I mean Nurse Uncle Pat, than some other folks, I can think of. (I sure hope none of them know about this place, and read this.)

So, unless you hear the contrary, assume things are under control. I will have my hands full, so I may not find time to give updates.

Besides.........what would you rather have.............updates, or me doing final test, on your pending Legato?

Yeah, I thought so!

Hopefully, no parts will got lost, in the move. And we will have enough room, to store everything. And no more "Hey, what happened to all the 1/2" heat shrink tubing?  Did someone use it all, and not tell me?"
"No, last we saw, it was in that pigsty you call 'the lab'. Deal with it, bub."

Thanks to all for your continued patience and understanding.

Pat

[rollo]

she is in our prayers. speedy recovery and God bless.


charles

[Stu Pitt]

Some people lose sight of what's important and what life's really all about.  Glad to see you have your priorities straight.  Like everyone else, I deal with too many people who don't.

Best of luck to all of you.

[cryoparts]

Very sorry to hear that Pat.  My family has been going through the same thing going on three years, it is not fun, I feel for you.

Sending some positive thoughts your family's way.

Peace,

Lee

[art]

OK, brief update...............tumor is all out.........vision fine..........turned out to be a tricky maneuver. A few anecdotes, I will share, when I have time.

Thanks to all for your support.

Pat

[art]

Our CSB came home, on Friday. Yes, only 3 days after having the top of her head cut open, she was able to come home. She is doing much better, after this surgery. Partly due to some better pain meds, some steroids (to control the swelling), and mostly because no one took a Dremel tool, to the base of her skull. (They had planned to do that, this time. But, for some fortuitous reason, they did it the first procedure.)

The operation turned out to be a bit more tricky than was hoped for. Seems the tumor was wedged between the optic nerves, and was actually stuck to one of them. How they got it out, without damaging her vision, is a marvel. The surgeon also remarked the optic nerves were "stretched about as far as they were going to go." So, a very fortunate turn of events. Had she waited longer, the outcome may not have been so pleasant.

I don't know what experience most of you have with surgeons, but most can not wait to start cutting. It is that old "If all that you have is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail" syndrome. Some of the ones I know will immediately go "Oh, there is a procedure for that. It is a relatively straightforward one, but an interesting one. The first thing that you do is to make an incision, here, along this line, and then.............etc." This surgeon was the opposite. He advised waiting, and see how things developed. He clearly stated there are risks to both waiting and cutting. He would not say one way or the other which way he thought was best. I can assure you, most surgeons do not show that degree of restraint. Anyway, after having poked around, and getting a "look see", a few weeks back, which provided a better idea what he was up against, he finally said, right before the operation started "I think we are doing the right thing."

Turns out, he was right. And were skilled, at what he does. Her family, and all of us, are very grateful for his abilities.

Now.......as to that other matter......................

I have re-wired the place, we plan on moving our production to. Everything from a new distribution panel, to outlets, every possible location. And possibly enough lights, to do brain surgery by. (OK, yeah, a cheap pun. But, there are lots of lights. So, when I get stuck doing all the work, by myself, at least I will be able to see what I am doing.) Put down new tile. A large portable AC/heat pump. Just about all done with that. Hope to start moving stuff in, maybe today. Maybe not........still want to put up more shelves. We never seem to have enough room, to store all the stuff it takes. We should have lots of room, to not only build lots of Legatos, but burn them in. (Yes, each one is burned in, with a real computer, playing real music files. Takes time and space.)

So, having said all of that, we should have things rolling, first thing, Monday. Which will make some folks in Canada and Germany, very happy. And England, and a few other guys, who I can not think of, just now.

Once again, thanks to all for your support.

Pat

[art]

OK, so I thought we would be open on Monday. I was wrong. (Tar and feather me for the fact we are under-capitalized. Use the search feature to find the joke, in that snippet.)

Wednesday...............CSB gets the staples taken out of her head. It will take great restraint to not laugh, or cringe, or both, during the procedure.

Yeah, the sick-o that I am.............mostly laugh!

Oh, the facility I am trying to move everything into.............can't remember being in a place where the walls seemed to let in air, from every possible place. But, not your problem. Unless I waste time trying to seal them all up.

Pat

[art]

Not sure anything is going out, today, but we are ready to roll. Again. Finally.

CSB is looking good. Especially in light of what she has been through.

Ok, enough frivolity...........time is money, back to work.

Pat

[art]

In case no one has figured it out yet, yeah, we have been snowed in (iced in, technically), all week. No way to get into the office, and if we had been able to, not much chance anything would ship.

Four days, of subfreezing temperatures, and inch of ice, on the roads, and now, 6" of snow, on top of the ice. With more snow on the way.

I just talked to a manufacturer buddy, who was fretting over his latest Mouser order. Seems they have not shipped anything, for 3 straight days.

So, it isn't just us! All the schools have been closed, since Monday. This is a real mess.

For all of you who are waiting, just hang in there. Hopefully, this will all go away, and things will be normal, next week. Assumes there are no broken pipes, when we do make it back in. (A real possibility.) And the heat works. (It should, but who knows.)

Please send all complaints to Jerry Jones, and the guys who thought it would be a good idea, to have a Super Bowl, in Texas. Or, maybe it is the fault of the Packer fans, who wanted to feel at home!

(I already blamed the part of the family, that are Steelers fans, for their contribution.)

Pat

[art]

Just made it to the lab/office. Yep, broken pipes! Someone passing by turned off the water, around 11 AM. It was gushing everywhere.

So, guess what we will be doing on Monday!

Pat