The central subject of this week's report will be the essential synergy between cell phones and hair dryers. I do not generally use a hair dryer, but I always use a cell phone - most often in fact to access the Internet through Verizon's excellent broadband network. So when I am away from Lamont on vacation - as I happen to be right now -
the role that the cell phone spends in my life is constant and critical. I am sailing up off Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard and have over the past 48 hours suffered some of the worst weather I have seen in July - 30 knot winds, torrential rain, and obviously very poor visibility. The upshot of this meteorological annoyance was that large amounts of water got into places in my boat where it was not supposed to get - and most specifically it got into my cell phone. The criticality of this situation - given that I am supposed to spend a further week away from the office - cannot be overstated. The drastic
action that this stimulated was the disassembly of the cell phone and sustained application of warm dry air from that great invention - the hair dryer. Thirty years ago I would have been embarrassed to admit that I owned a boat with a hair dryer on it - but not anymore. That device rescued the rest of my vacation - the cell phone lives again - so I can keep my finger on Lamont's pulse while the fresh clean rain falls on Nantucket Sound.
Maybe next week will bring some sunshine. Have a great weekend,
Mike