I've decided to write a NYC memoir, my tell-all book about what it really was like at Nevis Labs. A couple of the key NuSTAR people know about this blog, but I have nothing negative to say about anyone. I'm just going to describe what happened from my perspective.
Trish, Carl's wife, told me about the NuSTAR opportunity. The first person at the lab I had contact was Bill, a scientist who had apparently been demoted into a management position. Carl, who is one of the most intelligent people I have ever known, told me that Bill is far more intelligent than he, which is an amazing compliment that I have no reason to doubt. It has always amazed me, however, that management is somehow considered superior, and that exceptionally skilled people are "promoted" there, where their skills are dulled, if not lost entirely.
When Twila and I flew to NY to look things over, the first person I met was Todd, the Assembly Engineer. He had invented the process used to build the optics. When we met in the lobby of his hotel that first night, he didn't smile, which I noticed. And now, thinking back, I don't think I ever saw Todd smile. He just isn't that kind of guy. He is very intense and serious. He is also the one person who understood everything, the one we needed when anything went wrong. Twila and I went to dinner with him that first night and learned some things about his life.
I met Bill the next day for my interview. It wasn't really much of an interview, actually. Bill had originally wanted to get a student to do my job, but was dissuaded of that by whatever powers there were. By June the assembly of the flight optics modules was fast approaching, and Bill was desperate to find someone willing to do a relatively mindless job at a very early hour, but who would be diligent and precise. I qualified easily, so my interview was mostly Bill selling the job to me. He told me that he thought I might be able to make improvements in the process, including upgrading the software that controls the lathes. It sounded intriguing and exciting, so I accepted.
Bill was very friendly that day. He and his wife were staying in an apartment in Manhattan, and he suggested that we might get together sometime. I think he was hoping that his wife and Twila might get together to do some exploring, but that didn't work out. Twila was willing, but she's very independent and she didn't want to get tied down. I eventually decided not to pursue the concept further.
Twila and I flew back to Colorado and began the madcap process of preparing to move to NYC for six months. It was a stressful but exciting time.
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