Tiramisu Day

10 years ago in November 2003, Tom & I joined the company TVIPS in Gauting on the southern outskirts of Munich. Tom called last week to say he was organising a get together at the office to celebrate the event. At TVIPS one doesn't have "parties" on birthdays etc but traditionally coffee & cake in the afternoon - today being POETS day, afternoon starts at around 11:00am so we met at 13:00. Two particular birthdays are favoured - Tom's and Kostas' as they both bring a wonderful creamy, calorie bomb, Tiramisu. Today Tom produced another example. I was sadly only able to try a teaspoonful but managed to get a takeaway portion. Late tonight I took it out of the fridge to relish the creamy delight but thought I ought to offer Angie a token mini teaspoonful, relying on her "Nein Danke". Well that was the last I saw of the Tiramisu! Tom - Angie says "Griaß di', guad wars need, aber zu wänig!" - she is starting to schwäbel!

Apart from myself, representing the company pensioners (total 1), and 10 of the 12 "active" employees, Tom bought his baby daughter Josefine and Christine who is on motherhood leave, her husband and baby Leah - both babies were born in April/May this year. It was my first time seeing them all as I haven't turned up to work since 24th February 2010. Still on the books and today I cleared out my desk drawers - honestly! Tea bags, calcium tablets, calculator, hand cream, golf putter..... I wonder if they noticed I was missing!

Oh boy do I miss the team. TVIPS is a company that ought to be included in every management handbook - I won't even attempt to try and give a glimpse in to its workings. 12 highly qualified, passionate physicists/IT bods who know everything about everything and not just technical things, simply everything from Art to Zen. In my time I was the only non technical employee so while most project meetings were like listening to Finnish, our lunch/coffee/kitchen discussions were like being in a living Wikipedia. Unlike me, they all speak fluent English, feel at home in Seoul, San Francisco, San Paulo or Manchester. Never tried working out how many languages they can cope with.

In summary, the company designs, builds, sells and services a range of cameras for Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEM). One of the first invoices I wrote back in 2003 was for over 500,000 Euros and that for a single camera! Shipping it to Japan was a challenge, some 120kg of high tech gear. The cameras are built in to tungsten housings, surrounded by lead x-ray shielding and cooled by circulating water. The biggest chip the company designed is 128mm² and has 64Mpixel of 16µm². One is talking about taking photos of single atoms! Even I know that's a bigger macro function than my Nikon. Customers are a mixture of research institutes, universities and companies in the Life Sciences (health: cancer etc) and Material Sciences (cement to nano electronics) and includes the very best names worldwide.

As everyone there is NSA/GCHQ shy - privately as well as business - I didn't even try to take a Blip of the get-together. This one is of Yves a slightly more relaxed Frenchman, with his house in Brazil, who has been living in Tokyo for years but now camping here & there and one of the team travelling the world installing and maintaining cameras, attending conferences etc etc. He is sitting at the smaller of the two TEMs at the offices, testing one of the smaller cameras which is mounted and just visible next to his left knee. On the left monitor, a photo he has just taken. 50,000 Euros or so for a black & white photo! But there is a histogram which Bliper Dave informed me on the phone this evening, is a very important tool in photography.

Thanks Tom and of course, Hans, Uli, Kostas, Peter, Chris, Reza, Ingo, Thomas & Yves. Perhaps next time the two "new" ones Mandy & Jens will be there. Christine & I will have to try and return for a Thursday lunchtime pizza. If Mathias (semi ex, self emplyoyed) could join us it would be complete. It was wonderful to see you all but I must admit I don't miss the 100km drive to work and even less the 100km home in the Friday evening rush hour.

PS Uli -I fogot to sign out - can you put my card in the machine Monday morning. Perhaps Carola will think I worked over the weekend and pay some overtime.