Local Entrepenuers and the U.S. Open
9 Comments Published by Dr. Beyster June 17th, 2008 in Entrepreneurship.The big event last week was the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, which occurred on Monday night and took place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in La Jolla. A couple thousand people attended for this local Entrepreneur of the Year award. There were winners in five different categories. The business products and services winner was Valorie Seyfert, president and chief executive officer of Cuso Financial Services LP. The award for consumer products and services was won by Andrew Clark, CEO of Bridgepoint Education. The third category — the life sciences category — was won by Jay Flatley, president and CEO of Illumina Inc. Illumina is a manufacturer of many high-tech genetic products primarily meant for medical use. The high technology and defense award was won by Patrick Henry, chairman and CEO of Entropic Communications. The company is a pioneer in connected home entertainment technologies. The last category in which an award was made was environment and real estate which Alan Gold, president and CEO of BioMed Realty Trust Inc., won. The thing that distinguishes his products is the fact that the real estate that they have for sale is all environmentally friendly. All in all, it was a tremendous evening.
The U.S. Open golf tournament took place on South Torrey Pines golf course here in San Diego, and has just been completed. After 91 holes total, it was won by just one point by Tiger Woods, who played brilliantly even though he had an injured right knee. Everything is back to normal now up on Torrey Pines, including the military jets from Miramar, which temporarily diverted their path away from the golf course during the tournament.
– Bob
Dear Bob,
Everyone while underlining Tiger’s success in the 2008 U.S. Open seconds with hearty applause. Under the circumstances of Tiger’s injury it’s very difficult to believe that anyone could play the way he did to a successful conclusion. Which he did! Talking about Torrey Pines, it doesn’t seem like too long ago (a mere 48 years) since I took up golf in 1960, while working for you at General Atomic. Bob Bates and I played many a round together there, both after work and on Tuesdays, our common day off during the week. To my recollection he went to Bethesda, Maryland to supervise a new Linac installation. Bates and I played almost all the golf courses in the city and San Diego County, over the course of time.
The main reason I’m writing is to pass on some information about a local resident who will be attempting to swim the English Channel this August. Our former dentist, Dr. Kevin Anderson (retired), will be leaving tomorrow with his family for the challenge of a lifetime. Your being a mariner, I thought you might like to follow his progress. Just this morning I received an e-mail from Tom Anderson, Kevin’s son, who at 13 years old is in charge of a Blog about his father’s on-going accomplishments, as concerns the swim. I reviewed the associated Blog, and in my estimation, Tom has done a very creditable job. It will be fun keeping track of Kevin’s progress .
Back to golf: You may remember I talked sometime ago about a Grafalloy 45 gram driver shaft; to my knowledge, this is the lightest shaft in golf. I have ordered one of these, and look forward to what I believe it will contribute. I have pushed the envelope and prepared a driver at 48†(the maximum length allowed by the U.S.G.A.: United States Golf Association). You can surmise that it isn’t just a matter of gathering parts (shaft, club head and grip) and assembling these, and taking the club to a driving range or golf course for dynamic testing. The balancing of multiple parameters is all-important to the success of the various tests. That is where the many years of R&D come in…. For about two months, now, I have been running tests on a 48†driver using a standard weight graphite shaft. The basic performance is most encouraging, however, in all honesty, this club swings me, instead of vice-versa. This problem should be resolved with the above-mentioned 45-gram shaft.
Kris
Kris: Thanks for the message. Regarding your revolutionary new driver, don’t forget to patent it. – Bob
Bob: Thank you for your message, and you are quite welcome for my note. When I drafted the last posting on your Blog, I included the web site of Tom Anderson, Dr. Kevin Anderson’s 13-year-old son, who is doing all of the Blogging for his dad. I reviewed the posting after sending it, but it was found that the web address did not go through, and for that I apologize (it could be that your foundation has a filter that removes anything relative to Internet references). Anyway, I will try with one final attempt to give you the URL (web address), which gives interested parties a daily update that I personally find really quite interesting . When the golf project is finished, I’ll be very pleased to apply for a patent. It almost seems like the more I learn, the more there is to learn. But, that’s okay; I’ve got “plenty of time.â€â€“Kris
Kris: When it comes time to apply for a patent, I know a good legal firm that can help. Thanks for sending the address of Kevin Anderson’s English Channel Challenge blog. — Bob
Bob:
Right now, it is 1:18 p.m., August 8, 2008, our time: You are of course aware that Kevin is underway, presently (as of 2:30 p.m. BST [British Summer Time—as you know GMT, Greenwich Mean Time, is for the winter months]). I tried tracking his progress earlier today, and trouble was incurred; I haven’t talked to anyone in their party, but the progress of the pilot-boat didn’t move for hours; additionally, it didn’t show an update on their clock time. It looks like they may have the problem/s resolved, because, now, the pilot boat does show movement, as well as in clock time.
If you look in on the map, you will notice that right at the moment the Ocean Breeze (their pilot boat) is the only boat showing on the map. There are four boats shown, but they are all of the Ocean Breeze, for ease of plotting their progress, I would guess.
Thank you for your last Blog to me, Bob. I’ll keep in mind your offer for the name of a good patent attorney. I’ve been studying a book for the past couple of years, “Patent It Yourself,†by David Pressman, a Nolo Press publication. I might enjoy the additional challenge of writing the patent myself. Whichever way I decide to go, the magnitude of the patent application will be quite large. I know you have heard this before, and so has my wife, but there may be a sign of success as of today—on the eighth day, of the eighth month and the eighth year—that the final piece to the golf-puzzle is now in place. I’ve known all along when the final piece was placed, I would know it… I would recognize it as being such.
The only thing that comes anywhere close to equaling this thrill of accomplishment is when I put the final piece to the puzzle of the low-energy-tuning-procedure, when I worked for you. These two things are definite high points in my life. Like I’ve reminisced at other times it felt identically the same as quite literally turning over every grain of sand until I struck pay dirt. That procedure/technique was so much a part of me, if it were possible I could go right back into the control room and duplicate verbatim, and without hesitation, that which I was so privileged to contribute when I worked at Linac.
You’ll recall that I asked you early on for your permission to go in on my own time and just play with the controls until an infallible tuning procedure surfaced. And, after between four and five months, going in on a regular basis, my goal was accomplished. Pleased to High Heaven, I told you the good news, and you asked that I write up the procedure, which I did—in longhand. I was just happy to have had the opportunity to make that contribution to our cause.
– Kris -
Bob:
You have no doubt wondered about Kevin’s swim, as we have, also — checking numerous times each day to their web site, and I also e-mailed Tom for information. This evening — a few minutes ago — I found word. He had to pulled from the water, due to hypothermia. For your convenience I’ll copy the text to you contained in their Podcast, as of Friday, August 8, 2008, found below:
Today, Kevin started swimming the channel at 3:21 p.m. Unfortunately, after just under ten hours of high swells and winds, Kevin had to be pulled because of hypothermia. Every detail is listed below: Kevin was amazing! We started at 1521 (3:21pm) with rain and large swells. His stroke count was 65 and he looked great plowing through the uncooperative ocean. His support crew did an awesome job keeping him fed and on a good course. We were able to see Dori for most of her swim. At 6:30 Kevin tossed his cookies (glad I missed that visual). At the half way point, Kevin was 5 hours into his swim. On target for a quick crossing and looking strong. The support team spent the night at the rail cheering him on. Mary was in charge of feedings & Beth and Tom were very supportive. Kevin’s uncle and cousins came out on Neil’s boat to see the swim (a nice surprise). As the night progressed we watched the enormous container ships, cruise liners, kelp…I was so impressed with his determination to tackle the channel. Kevin’s stroke count started progressively dropping (54), his speech became slurred & he was starting to swim away from the boat just after midnight . His count was a 45 when I joined him in the water. After swimming with him a short time, it was time to be pulled. He was in 9hrs 14 minutes with 3 miles to go, the captain estimated another 2 hours. He still managed to argue the point but it definitely was not safe. He was drifting and unable to follow directions. He lasted far longer than I ever would have. A scary few moments helping him back on the boat. He re-warmed in an hour or so and looked a lot less corpse like. This morning, he is in good spirits. On discussions with Kevin in regards to what he would have done different. he points to the fact that he did not put on the 20 lbs that he set out to in order to help him stave off hypothermia. His intense daily training schedule simply burned more calories than he was able to consume. Mentally, he was prepared and not going to throw in the towel.
Kris’ closing comment: Kevin and his entire team gave the attempt a gallant effort. Maybe next time the task will be more successful. Thanks for your interest.
- Kris -
Kris: I’m curious about the cross-Channel swim. I hope that Kevin Anderson plans to try again, but I hope he waits until the waters in the English Channel have calmed down considerably if they ever do. I only know Dori Vogel, who is married to Scott Vogel — the usual bowman on Dennis Conner’s boat. I don’t know if that’s the same Dori you’re talking about, but she’s adventurous enough to make an attempt on the Channel. Let me know when either or both of them make their next attempt. Congratulations on your golf club, it looks like the development is done. I don’t know if you’re interested, but there is a very fine attorney here in town with Sheppard Mullin who can help you. They are very reputable and have a local office, so no reason to fear them. — Bob
Bob:
As always, it was good to hear from you. I’m glad you enjoyed the real life story of Kevin Anderson, his family and other support members on their attempt at the Channel. I’ll include the main body of the e-mail I sent to Tom Anderson, which inquires for you about Dori Vogel, as follows: “I hope you and your family, along with other support individuals, all made it home safely. Yes, the next time will be better. This attempt was an important part of your learning curve, and as they say, our best lessons sometime must come the hard way. One of the people I told about your family undertaking knows a Dori Vogel—the Dori he knows is the wife of Scott Vogel, the usual bowman on Dennis Conner’s boat. He also says that the Dori he knows is adventurous enough to make an attempt on the Channel. He also asks that he be alerted as to your future attempts on the Channel. So, please keep me apprised, and I’ll pass it on to him. He is a mariner, himself, and it was a pleasure keeping him up to date. We both will look forward to your next attempt.â€
Thank you for mentioning the golf. Yes, this is a happy period! Just today I tested my two main drivers—they are the 47†and 48â€â€”after having made very minor adjustments on them yesterday. Very, very briefly, I can say that at this time they are not pretty, but they hit equally as well as I could ever possibly hope for. It won’t be long until I get back to a driving range—most of my work for many years, now, has taken place in my garage/shop/studio/indoor-driving-range. And, I can finally see my way clear, sometime in the fairly near future to actually again play the game. I don’t mean to be overly persistent, but it would really be neat if you could, even in a small way, join me as we watch history being made. You, by all means, would not be expected to hit a ball, if you didn’t wish to. I would simply like to share some things I’ve found that I feel confident that you would find intriguing, and maybe somewhat exciting. – Kris
Bob: Regrettably, your inquiry about Dori Vogel has gone unanswered. The e-mail I sent to Tom Anderson has apparently been put on the back burner. The Andersons may have chosen to play this period low-key, and for that I respect their decision.
I did a follow up search on the Internet for Dori Vogel, but nothing turned up of any significance. My apologies: I did the best I could to get the information for you. The golf is still progressing well. Today, I finalize yet another two test clubs to take to the range in what I project as being very soon, now. The anxious anticipation should be over-whelming, but really it isn’t. Taking the proverbial one-step at a time, I’ll be thrilled, but all in due time. — Kris —