Henry's Web Log

For almost two years, we've been developing, testing and improving a fantastic innovation for the supermarket refrigeration controls industry. ACI, working under Zero3 Controls, has developed what I refer to as the BabelFish for refrigeration control. Not only does it translate nearly all commercial controllers to a universal XML format, but also puts refrigeration energy and usage data on the web. The protocol is clean, efficient and very much revolutionizes the industry at a time when energy management is big on everyone's radar.

We had some units in an Ohio store and Pennsylvania store, but not since April. Prompted by my immenant deployment, and motivated by our advisory board, we arranged a meeting with Greg Wade, the manager of a popular, independent group of 3 supermarkets in our own New River Valley. We learned that all 3 of his stores had electronic controls. 2 will make excellent demonstration candidates immediately, and the third will be refit soon.

Zero3 will perform an "eCommissioning" where Mr. Wade's stores are tuned for optimum energy performance, without sacrificing food quality. Supermarket electricity bills are the single largest expense on any store's balance sheet, after payroll. Even a 15% decrease in energy can save $2000 per MONTH in a store's expenses, plus the reduction in carbon emissions and improvement of our energy grid. One popular quote I've heard, but not been able to verify, is that supermarkets consume 10% of all generated power in the United States. So reducing every store's energy usage makes a huge improvement in our nation's energy posture.

We look forward to serving the Wade's Foods chain well, and to the subsequent stores that have been waiting for a real demonstration of this technology.

Once a summer we've always thrown an employee picnic, and our favorite venue has become Claytor Lake. With my deployment, our celebration took on an additional significance. We did have a great time, and I think it's important to celebrate with friends.

One remarkable accomplishment: everyone on the MatWeb team got up on water skis. Not simultaneously, but over the course of the day. The weather was already a little chilly, but the water was ok and it beats working!

Matt Gentry of the Roanoke Times joined us mid-afternoon and shot plenty of photos, which will likely wind up in the business section around the time I deploy.

I found out that the National Guard provides an infrastructure of regional family support advocates. Last Friday evening, I fired off an email to an address in Abington, and actually got a response within minutes, loaded with useful resources...including a reference to Elaine Dumler's "flat daddy" photo. The idea is that a life-size cutout of your soldier can be photographed with your family and shared with others, creating a virtual presence, and generally make life apart a little more bearable.
Well, what a good idea! So I shot several photos and fired off emails to several local graphics companies. Tech Express refered me to Radford's Sign Systems and a DC firm. The DC firm responded the next day with a decent quote, and agreed to go a little extra: we made a flat Henry with a big smile on one side, but precisely fit the back with an angry flat Henry! This one is for use at work: the flat Henry sits in my office, smiling his normal self, until some month in the future, I get a note that profits are down. I'd email Angela, our CFO, and say, "Turn the Henry around!" and out comes flat angry Henry. Angela was good enough to even practice: she held it in front of her and went office-to-office and in her best angry voice (well, there was quite a bit of laughter mixed in) said, "Get to work! Earn more money!"
Well, a few days later, the fine folks at Sign Systems in Radford generously provided my family with all three flat-henry versions: the "happy henry", "concerned henry", and "angry henry." They printed each and mounted them very professionally (of course), and got it done quickly.

A buddy from ILE sent me four of the Army's books from the Center for Army Lessons Learned" CALL. These unclassified publications have the Best Practices carefully compiled from the experiences of soldiers who have gone to Iraq before me. The first 100 days are when you're too stupid to know what's really going on, so these manuals, aimed at different levels, educate you. A little. I've read about the commander and staff, battle NCO, Supply Logistics, and basic soldier skills: each in it's own book, while I run on the eliptical trainer or exercise bike. I'll get this again: in class and in field exercises, at Ft Jackson, then more in Logistics school, some more with my unit, and a little more as we arrive in Iraq. Finally, we'll get a 10 day transition with our predecessor unit, 5 with me observing, 5 with me "driving". That's Army training.

The NewVa Corridor Technology Council found a great way to help promote technology in our region! The technology showcase on September 5th put all of us in a room and made us geeks talk to each other. Many companies brought their marketing folks, but for ACI and many others, everyone is front-line infantry! Proving that we can actually interact with other humans when you turn the voltage up high enough, I got to walk through the exhibits and saw that Dan Smith is establishing the Valley Business Front. He mentioned a PC problem with his email, and I must say I was reluctant to try to diagnose the issue. But I lucked out, fixed the problem and walked away with a virtual medal: he blogged about me. Cool!