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And The Winner Is...
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Daily Photo
Some Halloween costumes take a lot of guts to wear. Especially to work.
Well done, Jill!
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Grille Cloth, or Berber Carpet?
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Daily Photo
As you can see below, the choice of grille cloths for our Heritage series was once quite diverse, not to mention sometimes unusual. I can only guess they were designed to match popular carpet patterns of the era.
Although we no longer offer special order grille cloth, you can get one of our current Heritage models in just about any wood veneer on the market. This is one of my favorites.
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Happy Anniversary, Dwight!
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Daily Photo
It was one year ago today that Dwight set off on his North American Tour to visit some of our favorite forum members. Which is amazing to me since I've only received 8 photos so far. Talk about your lag time!
But thank goodness those who did send me a photo sent me several, so I can pick up the slack with a bonus here and there. Like this one taken by fini in Napa Valley. Lovely.
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PWK: The Year of the Great Crash
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Daily Photo
Of all the pictures I've found in our archives, only two show Paul without a suit. It's hard for me to imagine dressing so formally every day since my favorite attire is my pajamas. I'm still waiting for the dress code change.
This one was taken in Tocopilla, Chile, where Paul maintained electric locomotives for GE, c. 1929.
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Leaves
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This weekend was a very trying one for me as a parent. Steven is becoming increasingly willful (and I use "willful" as a way to disguise outright defiance), and every clever parenting tactic seems to fail. He vehementally insists on performing every task by himself, in his own way, and on his own time.
My daycare provider, the wisest woman on the face of the earth, tells me this willfulness is a blessing in Steven's case because he is such a sensitive child, and it's the sensitive ones who need a strong will to survive the society-sanctioned rituals of torture known as elementary and junior high school. Perhaps, but it doesn't make coping any easier.
But I do find solace from time to time. If I look close enough, it is there, falling all around me.
For every leaf, that twirls the breeze,
May useful hints and lessons give;
The falling leaves and fading trees
Will teach and caution us to live.
----from "Autumn" by John Clare, 1821
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Rainy Days And Fridays
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Daily Photo
One of the Klipsch-logoed gifts we got to choose from at last Friday's luncheon was the umbrella shown here taking up half my cube, which definitely came in handy this dreary morning. I realize it's bad luck to open an umbrella indoors, but today is opposite day. So I'm telling myself.
Hopefully the weather will clear tomorrow so I can take Steven on another funtabulous road trip -- this time to the hills of southern Indiana (yes, we do have hills here) where we can munch on caramel apples, shop for handmade knick knacks, and ooh and ahh at nature's fireworks.
I'll be sure to take a photo or two in between Steven bemoaning about how he has to go poooooooooottie or "this is a loooooong looooong drive."
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Coming To A Popcorn Bowl Near You
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Daily Photo
I drove to Ohio a couple weeks ago, taking any non-interstate route available to enjoy the fall scenery and some Hoosier-Americana with Steven. Since my destination was north and west of Indianapolis, the landscape was limited to flat land and a sea of corn fields, but the route was not totally without charm.
For instance, one unique sight during this time of year is the occasional isolated dust storm seen floating ominously in the distance, like filthy smoke signals coming from someone lost in a corn maze. It became a fun game for us to "Spot the Dirt Clouds." It was especially interesting when the clouds were close enough to the road to see what was causing them, shown below quite clearly with this photo taken by blsamuel.
Thanks, Ben, for submitting your fall photo!
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Employee of the Year
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Daily Photo
If you happened to call us last Friday afternoon and wondered why no one answered the phone, it wasn't because we didn't want to talk to you. Really! Our annual Employee Appreciation Luncheon was held that afternoon, and we were treated to a catered lunch, some nice gifts, and half a day off work. It is at this luncheon where we also celebrate our Employee of the Year, who, through co-worker nominations, is recognized for outstanding service to the organization.
This year the award went to Rhonda, who is an exceptional member of our customer service team. Which is saying a lot, because in addition to handling the day to day customer and dealer issues, our customer service reps have the unique pleasure of assisting our sales guys and tolerating their quirky ways. No small feat. And Rhonda does it with efficiency and a smile.
Accepting the award by her side is her husband, Chuck. Lucky guy. Not only is he married to a special person, he also receives the prize of Palladium P-17B bookshelf speakers by default.
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Engineering Ghost Stories: Revenge of the Subwoofers
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Daily Photo
After years of obtrusive tweaking, this Palladium P-312W
subwoofer finally exacted revenge against mild-mannered electrical
engineer, Matt, by swallowing his head. Since then, a faint outline of a
headless body can sometimes be seen wandering the lab carrying a 12"
driver, and, when sealed inside the anechoic chamber, you can almost hear the
relentless sound of soldering.
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PWK: Beethoven and Handlebar Mustaches
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Daily Photo
I've never known anyone personally who sports "a hirsute appendage of the upper lip with graspable extremities," but I find it very cool to learn that the look is alive and well, and such a commodity that it has it's own club. If I were a man, I might be half-tempted to try one on for size, if for no other reason than to hang out at the Windsor Castle Pub in London with these guys.
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Nerd Offspring
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Daily Photo
Most people who know me know that I like to pick on our engineers. But take heart, as my mom always told me when I was a kid: "They only pick on you because they like you." The same applies here.
As I was walking around engineering this morning gathering subjects for my daily photo, I noticed how many great pictures of kids were proudly on display. I was inspired to post them in my blog, but rather than doing so in a series, I decided to feature them as a collage. So please take a moment to admire the sweet faces of youth, appreciate our future, and have sympathy for the years of embarrassment in store for these children because they are being raised by engineers.
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The Mornings Are Definitely Getting Darker
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Daily Photo
Just ask one of our engineers, whose feet are the subject of this photo.
I'll fess up, though. I've done this same thing...twice. The first time I rushed across the street to the K-mart to buy a pair of matching shoes, while the second time I was obviously more comfortable with myself and co-workers to not give a dern. But at least one of my shoes wasn't the lace-up style that would likely be distinctly different-feeling when putting them on, which of course gave me license to point and laugh. But I won't name any names.
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PWK: Looking Dapper
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Paul cleaned up really nice, didn't he?
Bonus points for anyone who can identify the other man in the photo. We are at a loss.
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Your First Assignment
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Daily Photo
It seems like such a short time ago that I posted this blog about the arrival of spring. Although I still feel the same way about fall as I did then--specifically equating it with the impending doom of winter--I can't help but be in awe of its beauty. And I can't really complain since I took this picture yesterday while it was 83 degrees out.
Art Class 101: I would love to see how the season looks for you personally, wherever you are in the world. If the mood strikes you, take some photos of your Interpretation of Autumn and email them to me. It might just give me a different opinion of fall completely.
