Surprise surprise!!!

This Philippines trip has so far been anything but short of a surprise. Nothing seems to be going according to plan, not as if it ever has. The 3 systems that I am suppose to perform a filament change on are all DOWN!

The 1st system that I had worked on is experiencing a minor leak. It can still pump down just that it cannot attain the required vacuum status. Now this is what I hate most because troubleshooting a leak takes a long time. There are many things to try & the worst of it is that you have to wait for it to pump for a certain period of time before you can conclude something.

The 2nd system that I touched on is having a major leak now! I've requested my manager to send some parts over since Monday but until now it is still somewhere out there. It is already nearing the end of the week, so I am left with exactly 6 more days to create a miracle. I don't think that is possible but I do hope to at least kick start 1 of their systems. Having 3 systems & yet none working is not a consolation. This is reflecting very badly on me. It makes me look downright incompetent. Sigh...

By the way, the 3rd system is down too because of a failed power supply. Now this should be easy to rectify right? Just change a power supply. Right. Except that this is a Pentium 1 & the power supply box is not the same as what we use on a P2 to P4. There are 4 more cables extending out of the power supply box to connect to a ON/OFF switch. Without this, the customized motherboards in our old system will not work. Such wonderful technology this is.

This is a real bad trip...