Its One Of Those Weeks Again

I meant to add that usually when a customer annoys me to the point that I annotate I don't want to work for them again I call it a day so I don't make any mistakes in the shop.

Its not been a very productive week so far.

Today I decided I couldn't take another afternoon out of the shop, so machines are running again.

That's a large part of why I built prototypes as a company employee instead of for individual inventors. They were still inventors' ideas but running a company demonstrated common sense and patience, increased credibility and reduced risk.

I haven't had one in a while, but the individual inventors in my primary field that are most annoying are those who want me to do all the research & development, and taken on all the costs of production for a small percentage of their (almost always) stupid idea.

Not quite as annoying, but right up there are the gross restriction of trade agreements masquerading as an NDA, and NDAs who sole purpose seems to be to conspire to conceal unethical behavior, sometimes retroactively. LOL.

Okay, my attitude is improving. The longer steering cable for The Tin Can arrived today.

Get a pager , and only those who might need you in an emergency should have the number .

I'm pissed and still waiting on the couplers for my OA hoses . I've got the new 25 foot hoses , and once they're hooked up I won't have to drag my cylinders out every time I need some heat outside the shop .

Not quite as annoying, but right up there are the gross restriction of trade agreements masquerading as an NDA, and NDAs who sole purpose seems to be to conspire to conceal unethical behavior, sometimes retroactively. LOL.

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GM was nearly as strict as the Feds about secrecy, including between their own divisions.

An alternative where leaks can't be contained is to spread false rumors to dilute them. The Japanese did that before Pearl, planting hints of attacks all over. They had intended to block the Panama Canal by bombing the locks but found that impractical, partly because they couldn't refuel smaller escorts at sea or unfold and launch more than one bombing plane at a time from their submarine aircraft carriers.

My only real issue with a necessary and reasonable NDA is the increased liability typically with zero increased compensation.

The thing is in 23 years as a licensed contractor and 16+ years now as a mold maker I've seen one necessary and reasonable.

More than once or twice, I've had people say, "oh yeah, we're gonna rip-off all of our competitors designs. Oh, and by the way, we need you to sign this agreement not to tell anybody."

Others say I can't work for anybody else. In the same trade, which would mean. I'd have to tell all my other customers to go f*ck themselves.

Some claim, if I learn anything or any process that is used in any way in any of their product or processes or develop any tools for that purpose. I can't ever use them for the rest of eternity for anything else except for them.

Some are a lot worse and all of them masquerade as a, " simple boiler plate nda "

Now somebody who thinks they're clever is gonna say, "ell, those aren't NDAs," to which I would reply, "No s*it sherlock."

I was going to sell my dad's torch rig, but instead I put it out back under the work shade so I have heat out there without firing up the forge. Its a lot faster to set a rivet or smash a slide through handle end. I should sell it, but used torches don't demand much.

I got Dad's big Victor cutting torch . Not that I've ever needed or used it in 27 years . My everyday use torch is a Smiths A100 , got a couple of welding and a cutting attachment . Handles 99% of my needs . Forge/foundry furnace burners handle the rest .

Over the years (not 100% sure how) I wound up with 4 or 5 sets of regulators. Last year I tested several of them (after mine sprung a leak) and bought rebuild kits for all of them.

Some of the welding houses will let you turn in an old set for a discount on a new set of whatever their store brand is, but rebuild kits were still cheaper on-line.

Reminds me of a big old cutting head I had years ago. A local welding store told me they could rebuild it for $150 bucks. I got a new tip and some gaskets for under 30 and it took me less than five minutes to have it working perfectly. I'm not sure I still have that particular cutting head, but I do have three of four of them.

I have 2 victor sets and a Henros (aka Henrob) (aks Cobra). I use the Henros most. It took a bit of getting used to but it is very economical on acetylene paricularly for the small stuff I genereally need it for.

The size is one reason I like the Smiths . It's several steps up from the Uniweld I started with in a package just a tiny bit bigger . I still have the Uniweld , it's handy for the really small jobs I sometimes get .