Amy's Blog

As Steven grows, so does his vocabulary and sense of humor.  This is obviously a good thing developmentally, but it can also lead to more embarrassing toddler moments, as most of us are painfully aware.

For instance, now that he is potty trained, he loves being able to ask to go POOPIE at any time, knowing he will immediately be whisked away to the nearest restroom.  I'm starting to believe he saves it for when we are out of the house, probably because:

A) He finds it funny watching me panic, wondering if we'll make it in time.

B) He enjoys inspecting the wonders of each new bathroom facility:  Will the toilets flush automatically?  What color soap will come out of the dispensers?  Will there be towels or an air dryer?  Will there be a drinking fountain nearby?  

C) Most of all, I think he just loves to say that word in public.  Loudly.  And on purpose.

This weekend, he brought it to a new level that I didn't see coming.  Being in separate stalls since he doesn't need my help anymore, we carried out this fascinating dialogue:

"Mommy, do you have to go POOPIE TOO?" 

"Um, no, Steven."

"But... WHAT ARE YOU DOING, POOPYING?" 

"Um, no I'm just going potty, Steven."

"Oh... YOU DON'T HAVE TO POOPIE?" 

"Um, no Steven."

"JUST POTTY, NOT POOPIE?" 

"Yes, Steven."

I'm glad we were able to clear that up for the entire female clientele of restroom goers.

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In addition to our existing McIntosh gear, the voicing room downstairs garnered some new toys last week.  Here we see Product Guy Jim running room correction software for the new Palladium sub, getting ready to take the new toys for a test drive with the baby floorstanders.  All I can say about the room after that is, it was loud.  Stupid loud.

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If I were a security camera in the corner of our engineering office space, this is what I would see.  Day in, day out.  Except Kerry's head would not constantly be in the center of the room. 

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This silly arrangement of singing frogs is found on the desk of one of our Program Managers in the engineering center.  The sense of whimsy is actually quite fitting, considering the job is a bit like that of a Ringmaster: 

Please direct your attention to the first ring, the Product Development team!  Daring to suggest the most colossal project known to man!  Swinging high overhead in ring two, the Vendors!  Convincing us of the magic that can be done in the most insane timeline you've ever heard!  And in the center ring, the most daring acrobats of all--the Engineers!  Who must defy the laws of physics, and logic, to design and build the most colossal project known to man in the most insane timeline you've ever heard!

I think Program Managers need silly, singing frogs to keep themselves grounded in reality. 

I just received word that the last dog I owned passed away in her sleep last night.  Although I hadn't seen her in almost 5 years (long story), I have missed her often.  Great dog.

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This was taken a few months ago in one of our listening rooms.  Made of styrofoam, technically it is called an acoustic diffuser panel and is based on fractal mathematics.  Interesting, but I didn't feel it was a compelling enough photo to use in my blog (I know, you're all--how is it different from any of the others), but as I was flipping through my photo stash, it brought to mind something that some of you may find interesting.  Or maybe not.  Judge for yourself.

I have a brother, Jeff, who is 18 months older than me.  When we were kids, we fought like most siblings close in age do.  He would tease me to the point of mental breakdown, including the systematic torture of my favorite stuffed animals.  If you were to ask our mother, she would probably tell you the only complaint she had during our entire upbringing would be that Jeff and I could not be in the same room together, let alone the backseat of a car, for two seconds without him causing me to scream "Mooooooooooom, Jeff's teasing me!" followed by uncontrollable sobbing.  We had very little in common, and most personality traits he had, like savage meanness, I lacked, and vice versa.

During our college days, Jeff and I found that we sort of enjoyed hanging out together, although neither of us would admit it.  Or perhaps he just liked hanging out with my roommates, I'm not quite sure.  As the years march on and he and I have started our own families, it has become quite apparent that we care about each other very much, and the more we talk about it, the more fond memories of our childhood can be found than those of relentless teasing that I focused on for too many years.  

Anyway, back to the daily photo.  Jeff has made a very successful business out of providing industrial noise and sound control products (that's him in the picture on the home page).  In fact, it was his company that installed the Klipsch anechoic chamber floor a few years back, which is a spring-type contraption that allows for complete vibration isolation necessary because we are very close to major highway.

I think it gives our mom a chuckle when she thinks about how I've made my living out of making noise, and Jeff has made his out of muffling it. 

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In marketing, we are all about the "out of box" experience.  In other words, how does unpacking their new toy make the customer feel?  Giddy?  Annoyed?  Impatient?  Bored?  Special?  We aim for just below giddy and above special, and hopefully come out somewhere in between.  A step toward that is including a simple box which contains pretty, shiny things.

You are looking at accessories for Palladium:  2 sets of spikes, 1 set of spike discs, 1 set of spike lock nuts, 1 Allen key and 1 pair of 2-position binding post straps. (3-position straps are also included but are installed on the speaker and thus, not in the kit.)  And for those of you who may be as clueless as I was, the 3-position straps are for single wire hookup, 2-position straps for bi-wire hookup, and no straps allows tri-wire hookup.

Life is like a box of accessories.  You never know what you're gonna use.

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The Nanosat Prestige Satellite is one of the more recent products from Mirage, a brand we acquired a couple years ago and are continuously learning about.  This little guy (about 6" x 4" x 4") has a magnetically attached dome grille, but I thought the unique design underneath made for a more interesting photo. 

The real wood veneer (yes, real wood) is lacquered by hand in a high-gloss finish to look and feel very cool.  Made with a patented Omnipolar technology, they sound great no matter where you are in the room, are surprisingly powerful, and also surprisingly heavy. 

The most compelling thing about these for me, however, is the sheer cuteness.  They are so doggone cute, I found myself cuddling with this one like a puppy as we walked around looking for interesting photo opps.  If it had the ability to look up at me, I probably would have taken it home, powerless to resist.

$175 each. 

Steven was actually able to understand the Easter Bunny concept and hunt for eggs all by himself this year, instead of wandering aimlessly around the yard chewing on his Easter basket.  Ah, the milestones.

Happy Easter, Everyone! 

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Last night was the unveiling of the Palladium P-39F at Indy's new Ultimate Ovation store.  I wasn't there long, but I did manage to find these happy faces, belonging to Colterphoto1, IndyKlipschFan, and Bill H.

I think they liked them ok. 

By the way, this was the closest I could get them to holding still for the photo, they were mighty fidgety from all the excitement.  Subsequently, you'll have to trust me that Bill doesn't always look this out of focus. 

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Yesterday I took a much needed day off, and, since we're in the middle of a monsoon, we decided to take a rainy-day trip to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.  If you haven't had a chance to visit and you're passing through this way, be sure to stop.  Even if you don't have kids.  I've been going there for over 30 years and never grow tired of it.  It's truly amazing.  And it doesn't hurt that the spectacular Dinosphere is outfitted with Klipsch speakers (I knew I could incorporate work into this blog somehow!).

One of the highlights for me on this particular trip was found on the basement level.  There is a large, round rotating seat in the lounge area where you can recline to look up at what you partially see here, which is the underside of the base of an enormous glass tower extending to the top of the museum's four levels.  I wanted to lay there for the rest of the day, it was so mesmerizing, but Steven was having none of it.  You know how those pesky three-year-olds can be.  Go, go, go, with no appreciation for fine art.

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Completely undoctored and unstaged.  Even the drawer was pulled out as if a display at True Value (shameless plug for the company which gave me my first job).

I wonder if any of our engineers have houses this tidy.  I'm thinking no.

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Proof positive that nature does exist inside the I-465 loop, which can be seen through the tree...  

The morning silence of the marketing department (yes, we do have silence occasionally, especially when George is gone) was shattered when Jill, who has an excellent window view, exclaimed, "There's a squirrel in my face!"  Definitely a statement which requires further investigation and camera in hand.  Sure enough, we find this little feller perched a mere few feet from the building...not exactly "in her face," but close.  

It quickly brought to mind one of my all-time favorite scenes in one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies.    

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The long lost ducks managed to curb their renegade ways and keep a lunch date with Roy Delgado at Hope's Amigo Juan's.  Perhaps they are the inspiration for his next horn design?  I have to assume the sad face is because the ducks had to bid him farewell en route to their next destination.

Roy is a 21 year member of the Klipsch family, and Principle Engineer for Commercial Design and Manufacturing.  I think the longer you work here, the longer your title becomes.  You can sometimes catch Roy lurking on the forum making off-hand remarks, and even though he likes to try to make it appear otherwise, he really knows his stuff.  After all, his designs have been patented...

In addition to being a horn genius, if you get past the dry-wit, you'll find Roy to be a very thoughtful and caring person.  A genuine apprentice to PWK, there's no BS about him.

Photo courtesy of DaddyDee.  Next stop:  Connecticut! 

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Now that the Orange County Chopper episode featuring the Klipsch Bike has aired, I'm finally allowed to post some of the hundreds of pictures I took of our company unveiling.  One of my favorites is this one, not necessarily because it's a great shot, but because you can see most of our employees with camera in hand.  It reminds me of parents filming their kids at an elementary school holiday program while none of them actually watch the show.

That's our director of sales, Alvin, on the bike.  Thinking he's bad. 

(More of my photos can be found in the OCC Gallery.)