Lately, I've been comparing the arrival of EEStor's first Zenn Motor EESU production unit to the arrival of Godot. This has greatly delighted some and troubled others depending on the depth and breadth of one's educational background. Admittedly, my use of this metaphor has been somewhat ambiguous because even I don't know how it is functioning when I use it. Remember what I said about educational background?Starting over. Ahem. Ian Clifford participated in a virtual chat today over here. Inevitably, the question arose about the status of the EESU expected to be delivered this month and of course, the answer was a non-material one. This troubled some observers who are a bit jittery at this stage in the game. Perfectly understandable. But rather than picture Ian Clifford fighting investors in court several months for now, I'd like to offer an alternative vision of what could be transpiring this month. This is a speculative piece not to be confused with a history since it has to do with the future (inserted here for legal experts reading this). This is what I envision and I offer it to those of you tempted to fall into the pessimistic court room drama fantasy. Cheer up, mate.
It's a cold December (2008) day outside the offices of Zenn Motor Company headquarters when the UPS truck rolls up not so stealthily due to loud, party music emanating from front cab. Strangely, no one emerges until a couple songs play out. Then two or three similarly dressed individuals emerge from the truck and spend a few minutes extracting and loading up a large shipping crate. Whistling as they go, they work together to move the shipment to the front door where it is greeted by Ian Clifford, Brian Cott and 30 or so other interested persons. The delivery leader asks, "Who will sign for this?" Calmly, Ian Clifford takes one step forward and although his hand is shaking, he somehow manages to scribble out his own name, smudging the ink a bit due to some drooling and a diminishing control over his central nervous system. He hands the airbill back and after a deep breath and exhale, he manages to squeak out the following, "I give you the EESU. May it transport us to the future. " (oh wait, that's the flux capacitor--sorry).
With this, what ensues is something no UPS delivery team has ever experienced upon dropping off a simple package, ie, the package celebration to end all package celebrations. The Zenn staff erupts into screaming, jumping, high fiving, convulsing, swearing, cart wheeling, fainting, laughing and crying and even some angry angry growling. Some have brought alcohol and the overall scene quickly puts the shipment at risk. After a wrestling match determines the happiest particular individual, the cargo is shuttled in very awkwardly to a conference room that's been made over into a banquet setting. It is unboxed and placed in the middle of the table. A disco ball drops down from the ceiling at the precise time of the unveiling. More music. People are running all over the office, in and out and around and overall it seems as if the World Hockey Championship was just won by Zenn Motor Company. Some actually have hockey sticks with them to shake in the air.
At this stage, the rest of the scene that plays out can not be described on a family oriented blog such as this. Suffice it to say, some individuals crossed the line and now must survive on vested stock options the rest of their lives. (won't be a problem)
15 days later, the human sized energizer bunny, that's been packed with lead to weigh 4 metric tons, and which is connected to the shiny new EESU is still going and going and...............................GONE!!!!!!!!! ;-)
Note: this story was not written by Godot....or Beckett.
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