Hey all, something happened today…something that will tear me away from the torture/self-immolation that is learning more about 3D CAD. (Yeah, we’re making that transition—all the new products will have chassis drawn up in real parametric CAD, which should speed up the prototyping cycle—yeah, you can start laughing now.)
So, about 3:00 this afternoon, I get a call from Alex. “Um, hey, I hit a sprinkler with the forklift. Can you give the building owner a call and see if they have a preferred plumbing contractor?”
(And yes, I was out of the building, and not planning on coming in that day—see my comments on “you can’t/shouldn’t do everything.")
Hmm.
Yeah, that sucks, I thought.
I’d had a sprinkler shoot out of the landscaping on the side of the building and land inside one of my cars (a convertible), so I knew how that could suck. And the forklift—an electric model—wasn’t so hot outside anyway, having about 1” of ground clearance.
I told Alex I’d call the building manager, which I did. They didn’t seem overly concerned, and said to use whatever plumber we wanted. I relayed this to Alex.
Crisis averted, right?
Well, no. What I missed from the original message was that the forklift had hit a fire sprinkler. As in,
inside the building. As in,
above the Schiit assembly area.
Yeah. A little different.
Rina texted photos to me about 4:15 or so, showing the shop floor covered in water and the fire department working in the background. That’s when the light went off.
Oh, you mean inside the building, I texted back.
Like, duh, she sent back.
And sent more photos. This time, I saw what we were really looking at. The forklift had tweaked one of the fire sprinklers that was directly above the racking where we kept some chassis parts, and where Eddie and Miles worked. Imagine turning on a proper 1950’s-style shower (before they did the damn low-flow thing that makes you have to drill out every showerhead you buy) above a bunch of products and workbenches.
No, imagine it raining indoors. Raining hard. That’s what happened.
Luckily, Alex, Rina, and Tony were on it. While Alex was calling a plumber, Rina started organizing everyone to move Schiit out from underneath the deluge. Tony called the fire department (they were fire sprinklers, after all.)
Fun fact: the fire department laughed and asked why we hadn’t called 911. Tony said, “Well, it isn’t really an emergency, sorry for bothering you.” But they laughed and said “Hey, this is the most exciting thing to happen today. We’ll be right out.”
(If the hillsides had been burning, I don’t think they would have been so bored…but hey, glad they could help.)
By the time I got there, most of the affected parts and product had been moved into Unit B, which we’re still in the process of moving into. Everyone was busy unwrapping stuff to let it dry. And unboxing products that got soaked.
Yeah. Products. All the Ragnaroks.
(Sorry, just kidding. I really wanted to see if you would have a heart attack, after all the hyperventilating in the Ragnarok thread.)
In reality, the only things really affected were:
- Aluminum chassis for a handful of products, which aren’t water-sensitive, but they were sorted and unwrapped as necessary.
- Steel chassis for a handful of products, which should not be water-sensitive, since they are powder-coated, but all were unwrapped and dried to be sure.
- Lokis. Oh darn, DSD suffers another blow. But perhaps we should ask why there were a ton of Lokis up on the top rack, boxed and ready to go. The brutally honest reason? Because they don’t move, even if we put Ex-Lax in the boxes. Lokis are a painfully slow seller. On the other hand, the DSD furore has not put a dent in the increasing sales of our other DACs, hence Mike’s recent pronouncement that we won’t be doing much more with that, unless Sony opens its vaults for real and we suddenly have 4000 albums to choose from, and not at $45 each—which Mike and I think is about as probable as Neil Young personally delivering a palletload of Ponos to me before I finish writing this.
So what do we do with the Lokis? We dry them out and see if they work. If they do, we’ll sell them as B-stock with full warranty. If they don’t, they don’t. Maybe we should have a special Schiit Happened Deluge Sale Loki model at a reduced price. I don’t know. Help me out here.
In the end, yeah, it sucks, but schiit happens…and keeps happening.
Special Bonus Section: Q&A
Q: So will this affect the Ragnarok delivery date?
A: We recommend you switch to a decaffeinated brand.
Q: No, seriously!
A: Or take a long constitutional in a relaxing, low-stress part of the world.
Q: Why can’t you take me seriously? OMGWTFBBQ! I’m gonna explode if I don’t get a Ragnarok in the next 30 seconds!
A: Or seek psychiatric counseling.
Q: Does this affect my current order for any shipping product?
A: No. Even if you ordered a Loki, we have tons of them on shelves not affected by the Great Schiit Deluge of 2014.
Q: Wow, how can you be so nonchalant about this?
A: Because:
- I know I can’t do everything. Nor can Mike.
- Everyone performed above and beyond the call of duty. They even ordered in pizza (Alex, please expense this)
- Schiit happens, get over it.
- I am probably (meaning certainly) drinking now.
Enough of the words. On to the pictures and videos!
, let's not go down the same path as the Rag and Yggy Thread, lol....you say tomato, I say tomató, Audiophilia is a very personal disease, be it cables, tubes, or formats (though DVD A, QUAD, HDCD, SACD, .........getting the picture), there are few absolutes.....just chill and enjoy the music....Peace.
