Russ Waddell - Podcast Details

Shows

Smart Metals Podcast Navigating the Future of Factory Connectivity with Russ WaddellThis week at Smart Metals Podcast, we, the hosts Denis Gontcharov and Luke van Enkhuizen, had a fascinating conversation about the future of factory connectivity with Russ Waddell, an expert in industrial connectivity.We explored the challenges of integrating manufacturing systems, the importance of cultural and technological shifts, and how to leverage AI and data science to unlock the full potential of manufacturing processes.We delved deeper into topics like the evolution of industrial connectivity, unified namespaces, and strategies for starting your digital transformation journey. If your current challenge is connecting your manufacturing systems, scaling...

2025-01-1356 min

Ditching Hourly Russ Waddell - The “Secret” To Successfully Going Out On Your OwnGuest Russ Waddell joined me on Ditching Hourly to explain how he successfully went out on his own for the first time after more than a decade as a full-time employee. Guest Links:https://www.russwaddell.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/russell-waddell/ ----Do you have questions about how to improve your business? Things like:Value pricing your work instead of billing for your time?Positioning yourself as the go-to person in your space?Productizing your services so you never have to have another awkward...

2024-10-0856 min

The Happy Jōb Records 080 Where does the time go?Time stretches and distorts across the astral plane as one grows and matures. Perception morphs from baby days to adulthood, as awareness of time is taught and learned, then weaponized. Fight back against…something?...by accepting that some of the time you’ll be doing nothing. Teasing at tips and tricks for time management.0m 17s Nuggets and catch phrases.3m 29s Riding in cars with curious children. Who would win a fight between a hyena and an anaconda?5m 15s Time management techniques for the young of mind. Dating for the attractiveness-challenged. Runn...

2024-05-2332 min

The Happy Jōb Records 079 What are you doing Sunday morning?Terry can’t stop thinking about “Sunday Morning Coming Down” and Russ can’t stop thinking about whether to take the song literally, figuratively, or both. Come with us on a journey deep into the psyche, where we unlock hangover fantasies and fried chicken nostalgia. Also, helicopters.0m 45s Written by Kris Kristofferson, popularized by Johnny Cash. How Kris convinced John.1m 31s There’s something in a Sunday. And one of those things is Terry’s nostalgia.4m 45s What is God? Could be an omnipotent being, or could be a convenient one-syllable...

2024-05-2136 min

The Happy Jōb Records 078 What's the underlying cause? with Tim DawsonSurgeon Tim Dawson returns to deeply ponder surgery and its place in public health in response to difficult questions from Terry. An existential collapse is avoided, but only barely. The gang uncover the universal desire to do something that works. Terry can’t stop thinking about how America has turned into Thiccmerica while Dr. Dawson declines to surgically remove twenty pounds of Russ’s middle aged gains.1m 57s Difficult topics for difficult people. Being earnestly inauthentic. Re-recording the show intro.3m 7s Ep-pee-dee-mee-ology and other lesser know -ologies. It’s all Greek to me!4...

2024-05-0736 min

The Happy Jōb Records 077 What's in your mind? with John LipinskiApplied researcher, statistician, and friend-of-Terry John Lipinski joins to talk about job prospects for psychology PhDs, numbers and figures, modern (and old-fashioned) brain science, Iron Maiden, iron rods through the skull, and much more.2m 45s Terry finds his friends on Upwork.6m 26s Psychology as a fuzzy discipline. “People are messy. Societies are messy.”8m 15s Pressure, incentives, and results in the ivory towers of soft science.14m 17s Anyone can be a labor economist as long as they have a mouth and an opinion.20m 24s Why grad...

2024-05-0342 min

The Happy Jōb Records 076 What do you do on planes?Air travel. Faster than driving, but you’re confined to a metal tube tens of thousands of feet above the earth. Terry explains what he does on planes and Russ shares the one trick to turn a plane ride into a time travel machine.0m 37s Identifying the worst plane and deeply observing airline operations.5m 58s Drowning out the rabble is worth increasing your odds of being pickpocketed.7m 4s You haven’t truly lived until you’ve crossed an ocean overnight listening to the lavatory door slam over and over. Bold assert...

2024-05-0230 min

The Happy Jōb Records 075 What's wrong with blowhards?Sometimes when you know something, it’s okay not to share it. Other times, it’s not much use to know it and not share it. Still other times, everything we know is an abstraction in which we place blind faith and confidence until an inevitable shattering of our tenuous reality. Also, germs vs. feral pigs.0m 30s Clarifying whether or not Terry actually knows anything.2m 34s Publishing results doesn’t make you a know-it-all. Sharing what you know without showing off may be a constant tension.4m 21s When your motto is “Sa...

2024-04-1731 min

The Happy Jōb Records 074 Are you responsible for cybersecurity? with Larry GrateTerry takes the day off to deep clean his passwords while Larry Grate returns to coach Russ through his ongoing cybersecurity existential crisis. Robots, robot safety, and password managers are addressed (inadequately). Attempts are made to put good cyber hygiene practices into plain language.0m 45s How cybersecurity is like safety.3m 10s Waking up in the middle of the night realizing your robot might be set to “kill.”4m 17s Waiting for a painful cyber reckoning to change corporate culture.8m 49s At a minimum, it’s important to bring up cyb...

2024-04-1126 min

The Happy Jōb Records 072 What's the most prestigious vocation?Against his better judgment, Terry agrees to rank various jobs people do. They guys invent a ranking system, then test it out on a handful of different occupations. Judgment is passed, aggressively, mostly on finance bros and streamers. Upon further reflection, no apologies are made but perhaps strongly-held opinions begin to temper.0m 50s Nothing worse than having to learn as an adult.1m 45s Binge watching standup is more respectable than binge watching Netflix.7m 3s Introducing Terry’s Arbitrary Hierarchy of Vocational Respect or TAHVR for short.8m 30s Wh...

2024-03-2536 min

The Happy Jōb Records 073 Why are video games fun? with Pat McGuireIn the name of polite conflict, Pat McGuire (Attorney at Law, video game enthusiast) returns at Russ’s request to try and show Terry that gamers are people too. Learn useless trivia about iconic characters like Mario and Donkey Kong and Mr. Wonder. Are video games art? Are they pop-art? Does that even matter? There are only two types of people in this world: Those who know what a Nintendo Switch game tastes like, and those who don’t.0m 38s Building credibility as an expert by way of basic video game trivia.3m 50s A br...

2024-03-2233 min

2024-03-1130 min

The Happy Jōb Records 071 What's a life of leisure?This is a fun one! Russ probes Terry about his leisure pursuits and lack thereof. Amusement Parks get thrown under the bus. The coast of Spain comes out on top. Cheering for yourself. Jumping over park benches. Being jaded with playing live shows, or at least with loading gear in and out.2m 9s Band practice is for children. Adults go to band rehearsal.7m 40s “Lobsters used to be peasant food and now they’re a delicacy.” -Terry Miller10m 15s Life is a seven day weekend if you are always working. When w...

2024-03-0630 min

The Happy Jōb Records 070 No billing code for robotic surgeryTim Dawson, surgeon, returns to give a cursury education on robot assisted surgery with Intuitive Surgical’s Davinci robot surgery system. Honestly, this one is pretty self-explanatory. If you want to hear a robot surgeon describe robot surgery, then this episode is for you. Robot.0m 30s Tim came back and brought ART.1m 45s Diving right in to how much and who pays for surgical robots.6m 15s Night shift assistant to the surgical robot is a job requiring as little skill as it sounds like it does.12m 15s Su...

2024-02-2646 min

The Happy Jōb Records 069 Upbringing Part 1Russ talks how he was raised and how he’s doing the raising these days. Terry worries about prying but misunderstands the extent to which his cohost will happily dodge, deflect, and fabricate. Stay tuned for next time when roles are flipped and we hear about Terry’s “weird” family.1m 3s “When I became a man I put away childish things.” Or did I?8m 32s Contentedness and happiness as a kid.14m 17s Participatory parenting from the early 90s.26m 30s Feeling pressure and proto-Millenial parenting style.35m 45s Passin...

2024-02-2347 min

The Happy Jōb Records 068 Cam chat and ground warsHobbies are hard if you pick ones like photography that need skill and you’re uptight about the quality of your results. Doing stuff you’re pretty okay at can be harder than doing stuff you’re bad at, emotionally speaking. Letting kids use your stuff versus keeping your kids from destroying your stuff. Expensive stuff versus the stuff you have close at hand.0m 44s Kids making and breaking music stuff.2m 58s **Photography has entered the chat**7m 1s Regular people enlisting pro photographers.9m 54s Dating sites might be eno...

2024-02-2234 min

The Happy Jōb Records 067 More paths to doing music for lifeMan of many talents John Klaess joins to talk musical higher learning, primary research, career ending injuries, staying on the musical horse, and career switching while remembering where you came from. John’s book is Breaks in the Air: The Birth of Rap Radio in New York City. You can find some of the archival shows he used for the book on YouTube.0m 51s Mixing up rapper eras. It’s an honest mistake that could happen to anyone.1m 57s Pop music conferences are a thing that people go to. While there, they meticulously anal...

2024-02-2141 min

The Happy Jōb Records 066 Speculative wildlife operationsTim Dawson, surgeon, joins for a long and detailed adventure. Origin stories (Lite). Aggressive training and doctoral hazing. Path dependency and living free from regret. Dissociation from chopping open people’s bodies. The money side of medicine. Ignorance of kangaroo anatomy; enormous kangaroo muscles. Performing remote controlled surgery from the same room. Look forward to a return visit from Tim exclusively on the subject of robotic surgery.12m 30s Surgical pecking orders mean that operating room time is like ice time and lap lane time, for those of you who skate or swim.13m 40s Me...

2024-02-1448 min

The Happy Jōb Records 065 Still feeling wonderment about mathMultiple-founder Bindu Reddy (Abacus.ai, ex-AWS, ex-Google) weighs in on applied research, science and math vs product management, explosive interest in artificial intelligence, risk and diversifying the customer base. Remember: artificial intelligence does not have consciousness or agency.2m 27s Teach the machine if there's a hotdog in your image or not.4m 45s Building the artificial intelligence that will build artificial intelligence with Abacus.ai.5m 50s Taking “high level bets on where the world is going” is a pretty good strategy for life and business; looking for and sometimes finding inevitability as o...

2024-02-1229 min

The Happy Jōb Records 064 I've been obsessed with food since my earliest memoriesChef Ed Lee loves food and happy people. He joins the guys today to talk growing up in NYC, getting started young, parental doubts, the move to Louisville, and the benefits of learning by doing. Also, loan sharks and eel farms.Visit 610 Magnolia or Nami Modern Korean Steakhouse in Louisville, KY, Succotash Prime in DC or Succotash in DC and National Harbor, MD.The full rundown on his prolific output and press/social links are at https://chefedwardlee.com/.2m 12s Thinking about food, not thinking about food, and not not thinking about...

2024-02-0129 min

The Happy Jōb Records 063 Failure is an optionTerry grills Larry Grate and Russ on impossible to answer industrial equipment questions and they mostly deflect and dodge the questions. Especially Russ. It’s a no-holds barred contest initiated by ill-advised insults directly to Terry’s face and someone is going to end up looking the fool.1m 30s Knowing about fish isn’t going to help you here.2m 12s Industrial superlatives: Most Likely to PLC; Top PID; Best DNC3m 17s “Do I have to answer this question?” -Russ Waddell11m 13s A classic chicken and egg dilemma except the...

2024-01-3128 min

The Happy Jōb Records 062 Nobody calls me a movie set and gets away with itThese days there’s a lot of transparency into what people are up to, in a way our forefathers didn’t imagine. Is that a continuum? What else is there to expose? Will there be an end? Has it always been thus. Find non-answers to these questions and more in today’s episode!0m 58s A family of pilots.4m 12s Transparency today vs yesteryear. Seeing behind the curtain. Perpetual peeping.8m 31s Trusting the news man. Trusting the man in the van with the free candy. Scoffing at what we used to fall f...

2024-01-3130 min

The Happy Jōb Records 061 Patent protectionIn “Trolling for Patents” #2, the mundane is made interesting and the ‘shrooms are made mundane. Existential dread creeps in but never takes over. Terry does his homework during class. This episode features both mounts AND anchors!1m 3s Terry Miller’s non-patented idea for data encryption. Cryptologists, prove him wrong! Lack of hecklers hurts the patent process.4m 55s There’s not enough time to learn it all. There’s never going to be. Might as well start trying to get square with that now so you don’t just die frustrated.5m 54s Steerable en...

2024-01-2928 min

The Happy Jōb Records 060 The sun was just the startFresh off of taking in some glorious mid-winter sunbeams, Russ seals himself up in an interior room with inferior audiovisual equipment. Astronomy these days isn’t riding the high it used to. Terry wonders out loud about trusting the stars. And trusting anything.2m 8s We’re not in decline, we’re just in a trough. Or something.3m 50s Kids these days can’t name constellations.4m 53s Marveling at the overall shortness of time, if you’re measuring in generations.10m 30s “This is not a tangent at all.” - Russ Waddell...

2024-01-2729 min

The Happy Jōb Records 059 A skyful of sunWhen the little things are big flaming balls of gas hundreds of thousands of miles across sustaining all life on Earth, is it worth waking up early just to bask in the glow? That, and imaginary submarine missions. 1m 58s Feeling bad for those confined to solitary. 3m 30s SPONTANEOUS SUNSHINE SONG ROUNDUP 7m 21s Nirvana: They’re not putting out another live album. 😬 8m 56s Submarine missions and job assignments. Every submariner must wear many hats. 12m 16s Regional pronunciations. 22m 45s Early riser perks.

2024-01-2529 min

The Happy Jōb Records 058 Unsupervised explorationHow does one feel about the outdoors? A trivial question on its surface reveals deep, foundational worldviews and interpretations of self and society. Although when all is said and done, mayb just go feel the grass.4m 19s Raised by the woods.7m 10s Very specifically sky blue.8m 34s The salt life is calling and I must go.13m 28s Building the illusion of deep wilderness, starting with eliminating the people sounds.15m 16s Better to die at the hands of the wilderness than in a boring old...

2024-01-2432 min

The Happy Jōb Records 057 Dangerous gamesFresh off of a long series on learning (for adults), Russ has some scary questions for returning guest Larry Grate. A consensus is reached that doing is in fact the best way of learning; Russ remains concerned that his personal information may be compromised by some rookie mistake when “learning” cybersecurity. A questionable set of experiments are conceptualized.0m 20s Honeypots are real.2m 12s Making attractive targets for “hackers” then attempting basic cybersecurity hygiene.5m 40s Cost is not a factor for this particular contrived human-robot mousetrap, or more accurately it is strongly...

2024-01-2233 min

The Happy Jōb Records 056 Spinning yarnsStories come from everywhere, but if you’re Terry and Russ they don’t come from novels. Or poems. Or short stories. Or novellas. Or movies. Or TV shows. So where do these guys get their fiction and why are all the usual avenues falling short for them?0m 26s It can be difficult to coax stories from monkeys, birds, and other wildlife. But not impossible.3m 30s Not reading Kurt Vonnegut novels.4m 41s Questionable reasons to judge decorated music producer Rick Rubin.9m 6s Banjos and campfires make for bett...

2024-01-1927 min

The Happy Jōb Records 055 Cheat codes to mentorshipLearn from others. There are some things that must be done alone, but making it through life isn’t one of them. Today, the guys explore where mentorship comes from, the form it takes over a career and as you age. They come up thirsty in the end with more questions raised than answered.1m 27s Segue way school.4m 38s Where mentors come from. (The answer is “lunch.”)7m 43s The possible decline of institutional mentorship and whatever happened to the Masons.10m 50s Looking young vs being young.16m...

2024-01-1832 min

The Happy Jōb Records 054 Driving for chicksRuss fails a learning challenge but wins at Pokémon. Terry deflects and may or may not have even attempted a learning challenge. The guys wax nostalgic about having limited funds and the freedom of a semi-reliable vehicle. Golf carts. Making stuff up about Gen Z.1m 15s The Learning Challenge, updated.6m 25s Learning your limits is learning even if it just gets you to what you need to learn.11m 45s Changing the subject away from whether Terry has learned any specific skill in the last decade.12m 55s G...

2024-01-1729 min

The Happy Jōb Records 053 Punching at wood and other skillsOnce you’re done with your schoolin’, everything changes when it’s time to learn something new. Russ tries to take Terry to task about learning via methods other than osmosis, and about getting down to brass tacks rather than “high level” and “conceptual” learning. It remains unclear where new skills are actually acquired. Sorry.0m 50s How a grownup learns stuff (for example MIDI).3m 15s Beating up wooden boards with our hands.6m 32s Questionable decisions on squeezing learning into a busy schedule.12m 30s Succeeding and failing at trascendental...

2024-01-1733 min

The Happy Jōb Records 052 Innately a flutistLearning. Everybody does it, whether they want to or not. But is learning going out of fashion? Is Terry the last applied intellectual left? Bear witness to this first in a series on sometimes-reluctant skill building and knowledge gains for busy and important grown men.4m 0s A gift certificate for a degree in zoology is a selfless and generous offer.4m 17s Skills vs. knowledge. Mince vs. chiffonade.9m 13s Learning and boredom for busy adults.9m 50s Why doesn’t anyone ever learn how to email?21m 40s...

2024-01-1145 min

The Happy Jōb Records 051 Authentic-ishSteven Ramirez joins from California to talk about finding your way in life and work, leaving big companies, and what it means to be a communicator.12m 15s The nature vs. nurture of listening skills.17m 30s Benefits of “rigorous feedback” aka being told you’re doing a bad job.30m 58s Asking about the problem instead of asking about the solution.31m 27s You miss 100% of the pucks you skate to instead of skating to where the puck's gonna be.

2024-01-1053 min

The Happy Jōb Records 050 On startingThe guys seek wisdom for all the brand noobies out there, including themselves. Seamless segues from drums to guitar to ornithology.0m 8s Imagining the world before you knew what you know now.2m 34s Breaking out of the anticipation phase.8m 35s Uptight Beethoven quotes.15m 46s Aging into playing in “collectives” instead of “bands.”16m 50s The first stuff is not going to be good, so don’t quit because of that.24m 10s Thinking about birds.25m 44s Curiosity and missed callings.

2024-01-1035 min

The Happy Jōb Records 049 Creative mysticismWhen you have a day job that isn’t artistic or creative, that doesn’t mean you’re not artistic or creative. Sometimes you segment your worlds. Sometimes you just live like you’re an artist.5m 36s Chamber music for high schoolers7m 14s When professionalism isn’t enough10m 32s Paying for art19m 33s Terry’s vinyl record non-collection27m 50s Creativity is some mysticism that's been harnessed and captured. Or as Terry says, it's just hard work and discipline.40m 33s Being friends with artists

2024-01-0847 min

The Happy Jōb Records 048 I don't have a memory of ever wanting to do anything else but make musicIf you are compelled to make music, make music. The rest will come along with it. Ville Leppanen joins today and talks about missing meals, playing for pizzas, and weighs in on whether there will ever be “another Nirvana.”Ville cofounded and runs The Animal Farm with his brother Mat. Find artists on the label and blogs from Ville at www.theanimalfarm.co.uk/Read the full transcript at www.thehappyjobrecords.com.

2023-12-2142 min

The Happy Jōb Records 047 I used to have imposter syndromeThis one surprising trick will let you beat feelings of inadequacy and worry less about how you’re being judged: Do stuff. Either people will respect you for the stuff you do and the problem is solved, or they don’t and you’ll stop caring because you are too occupied doing stuff. Honestly the rest is just details but for the sake of consistency have some more notes:1m 47s Nobody cares4m 54s Defeat and victory for corporate slide jockeys16m 40s“I don’t like talking about myself in public...

2023-12-1949 min

The Happy Jōb Records 046 Trolling for PatentsIf you have any curiosity about invention at all, patent databases (and in particular patents.google.com) are a treasure trove of other people’s ideas expressed as succinctly as possible with no fluff whatsoever. Good ideas, bad ideas, crazy ideas, crazy-enough-to-work ideas. Find them all!11m 43s Patented anti wrinkle cream is patented; may or may not prevent wrinkles.20m 19s When you’re thinking about doing stocks and the money stuff now.22m 40s Patented dispensing mechanism is patented; may or may not dispense.23m 4s Automatic lens cleaner is p...

2023-12-1642 min

The Happy Jōb Records 045 Generalizing Data Science SkillsMechanical engineer turned quantitative analyst turned data scientist Dan Buttera joins today to weigh in on shifting from industry to industry while building up a useful skillset in tech and management. He brings some fresh perspective to the ongoing discussion of fitting in, finding where you can be effective, and the value of putting in reps to establish your knowledge base and credibility. Also, guitars and the unique oddness of greater Washington, DC.3m 16s Establishing a baseline for “desire to solve interesting problems,” and the often forgotten/hidden world of maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO).7m...

2023-12-1546 min

The Happy Jōb Records 044 Inside-outsiders7m 1s Breaking into academic publishing was just one example of credential-bucking. There are all kinds of areas where it can be hard to do the thing without being an insider, and getting inside is daunting. Then again, there are a lot of backdoors to this stuff hidden in plain sight.13m 36s “James Cameron is also an undersea explorer.”18m 7s A signature Terry Yardstick, applied to how the filthy rich spend their money. This one is surprisingly wholesome.20m 40s Having the experience where you really respect someone and then get real...

2023-12-1438 min

The Happy Jōb Records 043 Citizen soft scientistsDoing will always beat talking, which is why the guys always talk so much about doing. Russ perceives himself as a sometimes-researcher in technical field(s) with semi-technical publications. Terry puts the pressure on to walk the line between sufficient rigor and democratized access to the rarified air of R&D. Questions arise as to the actual quality of that air; many go unanswered for now.2m 4s Regular humans trying to interact with academia7m 6s Hostilities, battle lines, staking turf, taking sides. No matter how you want to phrase it, people “from industry” and...

2023-12-1335 min

The Happy Jōb Records 042 Lunch pails and Zeniths and GeckosShakers and Movers (the segment formerly known as Movers and Shakers) returns, where recognition can’t be bought and the rules can’t be explained.1m 5s The first honoree is…the same company for both esteemed judges. What’s the company? Of all the companies how did they arrive at the same one? Is this whole thing rigged?11m 35s Toolpath Labs does automated design for manufacturing for machined parts.15m 40s Char.gy is helping build out electric car infrastructure by making portable charging stations.20m 35s Solving range anxiety...

2023-12-1251 min

The Happy Jōb Records 041 Things a dog lover would sayRuss tries to keep Terry’s foot out of his mouth and pet lovers everywhere from being mildly to severely offended. The results are mixed.5m 30s “A dog is not a personality.” Remember this point because it keeps coming up.14m 15s Rules for friends and families with dogs. Maybe “it’s me or the dog” is a trope for a reason.16m 0s It is not common for a human to feel compelled to pee on your leg. And that’s what separates us from the animals.24m 39s Picking on Cla...

2023-12-0947 min

The Happy Jōb Records 040 10 Questions #2Hey Terry how many did you bring? Seven. Round 2 of 10 Questions goes mildly absurdist and earns the unofficial subtitle “I obviously smell songs.”2m 59s Movie magic5m 31s 10 Random Questions 2. The ground rules are laid.9m 16s Terry is the man in black15m 10s Who wore it first15m 16s Flag boobs24m 20s Pet color names34m 22s How do you feel about snakes?39m 1s Fly like a bird or swim like a fish44m 4s Glasses

2023-12-0856 min

The Happy Jōb Records 039 New friends until proven otherwiseToday, Larry Grate on going from conveyor belts in a kaolin mine to hardening industrial systems against cyber attacks. Spoiler alert: Email phishing scams put things like water supply and power grids at risk. Russ is unusually concerned and pessimistic about fixes and progress but encouraged by Larry’s visible enthusiasm for industrial cyber security. A lot of good stories (and sage wisdom) get left on the table and plans are made to try to retrieve it.4m 30s Some useful acronyms for those following along at home, all of which broadly are “industrial controllers” which means comput...

2023-12-0738 min

The Happy Jōb Records 038 Reading scienceScience gets filtered before Regular Joes read it. But why? There’s nothing innate to academic (or commercial) research and development that makes it too complex for the average person to follow the basics. Maybe it’s just easier to assume a bunch of big brained geniuses have it under control. Maybe there are some perverse incentives to overcomplicate communication on research and results. 1m 37s A proposal that all college students take a class on reading research papers.7m 40s Applied versus theoretical knowledge is not so much a competition as a continuum.11m...

2023-12-0653 min

The Happy Jōb Records 037 Hurricane Katrina plus covid but everywhereRuss rebuilt a speaker and Terry makes the logical jump from there to postapocalyptic wasteland survival skills. The guys spend the day as tourists in doomsday-prepper land.0m 15s Drums and guitars are instruments that most players can work on themselves, but are much more likely to if they are already mechanically inclined.5m 24s Russ describes rock n roll guitar tone and effects like your slightly-stoned uncle describes his weekend of motocross.11m 1s Every minute you spend tweaking and perfecting your gear is a minute you didn’t spend writing a so...

2023-12-0548 min

The Happy Jōb Records 036 Flat earthed reader mailDefying all odds, someone listened to the show. But then it turned out Terry trusts the “experts” that the Earth is “flat” instead of doing his own research. Maybe that spells the end of letting readers boss us around and divide us against each other. Then Russ lightly grills Terry on why bother anyone should bother writing music, making records, playing shows, and the rest. The answer is simpler than it first appears.9m 50s Why make music? Putting the “creat” in “creativity”12m 4s There is a path to follow that might lead to rock and roll fa...

2023-11-3057 min

The Happy Jōb Records 035 Sackcloth and ashes and global soft sabotageWhere did Happy Jōb even come from anyway? It came from Terry’s mind, that’s where. After getting that background out of the way, it’s a day of talking shop about data and numbers in industrial settings. While this one’s pretty technical in some of the details, most of the concepts generalize to basically anyone responsible for data collection, standardization and cleanup, reporting, or usage of any kind. Which is a pretty broad brush at this point.1m 51s The guys play another round of AI or Not AI? Trains edition. Conclusion: “It depends.”

2023-11-2855 min

The Happy Jōb Records 034 Disciplined philosophersAfter days talking discipline, the guys look to the classics. They wonder how much of this stuff is timeless vs. modern. Will it help you win wars. Is getting out of bed in the morning a war. This is all a sideways approach to analyzing individualism vs. collectivism, self-worth, society and identity, and cultural expectations.4m 11s You don’t hear much about pamphlets anymore.6m 57s Marcus Aurelieus says get up and get out of bed.9m 8s The world’s greatest pocket lint collection may be equivalent to the life of a sh...

2023-11-2851 min

The Happy Jōb Records 033 A series of hoursRuss wants to know what happens to Terry’s routines in the face of distractions and Terry gets philosophical: “A day is just a series of hours.”0m 28s Drums end songs.6m 54s The stage is set: What happens to discipline when faced with distraction?14m 50s Neck tattoos get a bad rap and are at the center of an alternate universe timeline for our lives.25m 30s “The ingestion of food is the hardest thing for so many people.”29m 13s Everyone is trying this new thing called sle...

2023-11-2549 min

The Happy Jōb Records 032 Measures of discipline (that we don't actually use)The numbers don’t lie unless you don’t bother tracking the numbers. Today, Terry gets some semi-solicited advice on how to keep track of things that matter as the number and breadth starts to grow.1m 1s Russ’s unsuccessful attempts to supplant self discipline with expensive notebooks.7m 20 Golf carts and bicycles and fitting in. “I’ve been asked more times than I’d care to ‘Why don’t you have a golf cart?’”16m 44s In an inexplicable turnaround from their counter cultural roots, someone on the show reveals their mild infatuation wit...

2023-11-2345 min

The Happy Jōb Records 031 Questionable life coachingRuss puts his life in Terry’s hands and gets a line by line rundown of what to cut out and what to really lean into. Like good advice usually does, today’s work takes the form of a half hearted quiz game.0m 55s Ground rules and introducing the categories: House and home; Leisure suits; Emotional acumen; Aging gracefully aka clean living for hard bodies; I prefer to spend on experiences.3m 55s Terry on pursuits of leisure worth pursuing and on journaling. Rigorously.7m 29s Clarifying Terry on doom scrolling and regu...

2023-11-2259 min

The Happy Jōb Records 030 Terry's prizeTerry grudgingly accepts an episode about how he lives his life, which is different from how Russ lives his life. Russ plays interviewer and provocateur.1m 30s Coming strong out of the gate, Russ presses Terry on nature vs. nurture and Terry deflects the question. Unsuccessfully.4m 44s Any time age based feuds arise, please remember that “My Generation” by The Who was released much, much closer to the end of WWII than to today. WWII(1945) -> “My Generation” (1965) -> today (2023)8m 0s Terry again unsuccessfully changes the subject; Russ gets distracted and allows h...

2023-11-2049 min

The Happy Jōb Records 029 Medium-est failureFailures of discipline and the consequences/non-consequences. Advice from Terry on how to tighten up a person’s life to find and enjoy the good stuff.2m 45s Framing and ground rules for discussion.7m 15s Discipline and food from a regular, non-dieting person.14m 0s Running past and present. Failures in consistency over years and years.19m 30s Terry probes Russ’s mind(set).24m 9s Chasing wooly mammoths meets pseudoscience and bad fitness advice.31m 0s Moving on from diet and fitness, Russ makes a soft...

2023-11-1953 min

The Happy Jōb Records 028 The discipline discussionAt long last the willpower vs discipline debate kicks off. Terry leads a disciplined life according to Terry. Russ probes this assertion. The stage is set for a future Discipline Challenge.1m 48s Discipline, dedication, and Juggalos.9m 41s Russ has a bone to pick with “discipline” as we know it.16m 51s The crux of the debate: Is humanity more or less disciplined than 150 years ago?17m 38s Discipline and performance creep in baseball as a tortured metaphor for the rest of all humanity.26m 41s Terry plants a fl...

2023-11-1851 min

The Happy Jōb Records 027 Majorly Pro-SpaceWelcome back to another round of Movers and Shakers, where arbitrary kudos are granted by a pair of non-authorities on much of anything.0m 18s The worst startup idea that keeps coming up.7m 59s Elicit lets you auto-analyze research papers. Get learnin’!17m 3s Formant is the data platform for robot companies: management, telemetry and monitoring; teleoperation. Get robotin’!17m 44s Asteroid Mining Corporation. Space mining. For real.24m 34s Pliant Energy makes the Velox wave-motion amphibious robot.26m 16s Tempest Therapeutics impresses Terry with both prod...

2023-11-181h 07

The Happy Jōb Records 026 10 QUESTIONS #1Today marks the inaugural TEN RANDOM QUESTIONS. A savage beat down of rapid fire inquiry into things imagined and real. Terry survives, barely. Russ may not be so lucky in the end.0m 36s Ground rules.1m 16s The questioning begins: Bob Dylan and singular greatness. Snowflakes or ants. Useless talents. Drum fills (in music).8m 40s Revisiting broken ground rules.26m 34s The questioning continues: Optimism. Lima, Ohio, Peru. Aliens on Earth. Top earners and bad math.41m 58s Turns out Terry can’t read (fiction).42m...

2023-11-1554 min

The Happy Jōb Records 025 Out of the laboratoryBell Labs has a storied history that sometimes borders on legend among a certain type of nerd. The guys marinate on what the heck happened, if we should want a successor, where inventions get invented, and national competitiveness in the late-early twenty first century.19m 59s Turns out Reddit already answered “What is the nearest modern equivalent to bell labs” on r/AskEngineers. Well, time to retire the podcast.21m 21s Product life expectancy of computer parts.31m 6s Terry gets a rough introduction to Fast Fashion.34m 33s Russ steps on a...

2023-11-1452 min

The Happy Jōb Records 024 Thank your little incubatorsToday is the three way showdown of the century: Startups vs Corporations vs Viral Pinkeye.0m 1s “Terry I’ve fallen ill.” Germ talk commences. There is comiseration and gratitude that it’s not worse.9m 5s On to the definitions. Investopedia is a bit of a crutch for this one because it’s quick, easy, and not full of glaring errors.31m 6s Terry makes the bold claim that Teams has formally, officially, and completely overtaken Slack. Slack super user Russ disagrees but holds it back for the sake of conversational flow. This time...

2023-11-1455 min

The Happy Jōb Records 023 Pro duck tivityAfter some quick musings on productivity, pronunciation, the meaning of life and work, and habits versus accomplishments, today marks the first of Movers and Shakers: companies of note based on arbitrary criteria set by us.09m 22s Ground rules and Terry’s criteria for inclusion. The companies must be unique and solve an emerging problem.10m 5s Regent - electric sea gliders23m 49s Russ’s criteria for inclusion. Today’s keywords are “robots” and “developer tools”24m 19s Sunflower Labs - autonomous security drone26m 53s Ready Robotics - the Windows...

2023-11-1345 min

The Happy Jōb Records 022 The most interesting man in KentuckyThe guys catch up with Sorin Farc, freight pilot and ex-seminarian, Friend-of-Terry, and most interesting man in Kentucky.2m 12s On visiting family back home across the Atlantic.5m 8s Exploring the idea that “kids today” might actually be “kids today, here.”9m 6s Flying vs. Romania. Is it a forced comparison? Yes.12m 14s Decreasing staff on the flight deck over the years.13m 1s Manual, mid-flight lubrication.31m 17s On human curiosity, dedication, and distraction.41m 13s “Tabula rasa” refers to a theoretically clear and bl...

2023-11-1148 min

The Happy Jōb Records 021 Soft-handed stoicsTerry makes an earnest attempt to educate Russ on some basic philosophy; today it’s Seneca and stoicism.5m 5s It’s a tough time to be a news hound.10m 30s Some differing opinions arise on how and whether to trust (but verify?) the media in 2023, and things land on the sane side of wild conspiracy theories.15m 15s Informal stoic-ness self-assessment time.17m 47s Unhappy workers, resilience, office culture, and taking cues from classical teachings.22m 8s The disenchanted well-to-do embrace manual labor and pursuits of the body...

2023-11-1059 min

The Happy Jōb Records 020 Specialization, generally speakingThings get off to a bit of a spicy start when Terry triggers Russ with the mere mention of “specialization.” Measuring progress across a society is hard, but might be slightly easier if you’re measuring the average of all of civilization. Some conclusions are nearly reached, and it becomes clear the guys might not think of themselves as podcast specialists yet.11m 33s Basemarks and Benchlines25m 20s Terry: “The general population is further removed from the technology transforming their lives than 30 years ago”40m 48s There is little question that the internet c...

2023-11-0958 min

The Happy Jōb Records 019 Robots are a cultural phenomenonDrawing on nearly several decades of adjacent experience, the guys dig in deep on industrial robots. If you haven’t memorized the wikipedia page like Russ, pop in for a history of mechanization as the term “robot” was coined and used to popularize a once-failing machine.1m 42s Not all mechanization is robotics. Are robots just mechanization…with a face?3m 14s Guess the hot dog dispensing robot’s name. Hint: It’s not “Weenie Mate”11m 34s Where did robotics even come from, anyway.13m 30s Obligatory commentary from Terry on the artistry...

2023-11-021h 02

The Happy Jōb Records 018 Sportstalking with Pat McGuireToday we bring in a person best described as the middlest reliever of all former podcast hosts and talk podcasting, baseball, lawyering, and life skills.1m 46s Patrick is a huge baseball fan “in the American sense,” but came to it as an already grown man.3m 44s Terry is a huge baseball fan in the 1986 Red Sox sense. 8m 17s Russ invents an alternative history of racist team names in which the Washington Redskins were renamed the Washington Comanches. 14m 15s Baseball fandom in the age of FanGraphs 28m 0s Ru...

2023-11-0249 min

The Happy Jōb Records 017 The lyrical dunce (and Terry)Terry makes a simple request to bring song lyrics to the show prepared to discuss and hand out some superlatives and Russ’s effort gets a solid “sounds like you mailed this one in” from Terry.1m 52s Russ’s approach is to work from memory.4m 9s Terry’s approach is to bring a couple of winners, then throw darts at the Top 40, which actually ends up working pretty well…5m 0s …except for Doja Cat whose lyrics are not permissible on a family podcast.6m 6s “Puttin’ On the Ritz” by Taco, 198...

2023-10-301h 00

The Happy Jōb Records 015 The future of talking about the future of work0m 18s Putting “the future of work” into some very brief historical context.15m 53s Playing video games doesn’t mean you know how to code.23m 0s The debate rages on: Was there in fact a time when the average person better understood the technical workings of the products or services they sell or support? And if so, when?35m 50s Someone had to make STEM and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) a thing.46m 21s A return, as often happens, to “selling pickaxes in a gold rush”58m 17s...

2023-10-091h 02

The Happy Jōb Records 014 Coal-fired power plantsToday we learned of Terry’s unabashed love affair with coal-fired power plants, which are arguably the most impactful technology of ever. Arguably in the sense that Russ is happy to argue against that claim. Where there’s no argument is on the importance of systems thinking and the role of complexity in modern society and work.0m 57s Coming strong out of the gate, you CAN build an autonomous AI research agent. Russ wonders out loud if he should and what he can actually do with it.12m 36s Russ aggressively pursues statistics and quan...

2023-10-081h 02

The Happy Jōb Records 013 Walking down dumb memories laneIn today’s episode, find cultural references that are old enough to be decidedly not-current, but not old enough to be classic. There’s a chance that it gets redeemed with some heavy philosophy in the end. It’s hard to avoid the feeling that Russ is just trolling Terry as he attempts to host a serious show.20m 33s Mean-spirited former television host Bill O’Reilly is also a former mean-spirited radio host, having his Radio Factor show in syndication from 2002-2009. This happened to overlap with the time that Russ was spending hours a day in a car...

2023-10-061h 01

The Happy Jōb Records 012 I can be your hero, maybeTerry watched Wolf of Wall Street and it really stuck with him. Which is to say, it made him ponder deeply on the heroics of being selfless by showing the complete opposite. The guys both hesitate to name their heroes directly, which is a slight cop out.14m 9s Check out “On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History” by Thomas Carlyle if you’re looking for a take on the cultural role of heroes contextualized across history.17m 24s Jeffrey Wigand was a corporate whistleblower whose story was captured in the film “The Insider” and also o...

2023-10-051h 04

The Happy Jōb Records 011 Double-translating beautyA conflict arises in the detail and nuance of comparing societal epochs. In other words, Russ accuses Terry of being a grumpy old man and Terry clarifies that he is not, in fact, grumpy.2m 23s Utilitarian buildings and looks vs. design intent.7m 49s The futility of mid-Atlantic palm trees.19m 45s Creativity: Time was spent; a thing was made. That about sums it up.44m 20s Filling the gaps left by declining institutions, or at least declining institutional participation.52m 15s When quiet despair is a lifestyle...

2023-10-051h 04

The Happy Jōb Records 010 Jelly roll moralityToday Terry asked to talk about morality in arts and culture. Whether intentionally or not, Russ dodged and deflected that topic almost entirely and instead casually wove an analogy of biscuit making as artistic production. Try to enjoy, and go grab a cat head while you listen!14m 57s Terry confirms that country music phenomenon Jelly Roll “is on things.” In the sense that he is known, not in the sense that he is recreationally medicated.18m 28s Kid Rock tearjerkers20m 12s Autotune is a trade name for automatic pitch correction. Songs that...

2023-10-041h 08

The Happy Jōb Records 008 Be the dollar bill, not the lighterMetrics are hard but flying blind is harder. Take your seat-of-the-pants measures and quantify them with aggregate metrics when you can.19m 8s Americans are dying from “diseases of despair” like overdose, suicide, and liver failure. What gives? How does this compare to past times?20m 28s Economic data are readily available and centrally documented in the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank’s FRED online database. So shoot your mouth off on the internet all you want, but snag a chart to back it up and cite your source!33m 41s Terry hasn’t read “...

2023-10-011h 14

The Happy Jōb Records 009 Cultivating beautyWhenever you’re looking for a convention center foyer in downtown Atlanta, GA, be sure to check out the Georgia World Congress Center Building C. There’s some water features, tropical plant installations, and plenty of brutalist concrete and glass!This road episode covers beauty as a cultural institution.6m 46s Pockets of beauty outside the rest of regular life. Is there any room for part-time beauty?9m 18s Creators’ intent versus final product.22m 41s Church hymns were contemporary to somebody, but that doesn’t mean they were ever equivalent to pop m...

2023-10-011h 05

The Happy Jōb Records 007 Talking Turf With Your Neighbors“Eloquent commentators” William Buckley and Gore Vidal occupied opposite ends of a spectrum and arguably kicked off a decades-long skid towards talking heads shouting insults over one another on television. Which is to say that by contemporary standards they held a long running civilized debate between intellectual foils. Check out the 2015 documentary Best of Enemies if you want to know more. Today, hear a couple topics that our hosts are NOT mortal intellectual enemies on.15m 0s Who is buying from As Seen On TV mid day cable news ads? This is a question that probably has an a...

2023-10-011h 03

The Happy Jōb Records 006 Gentleperson ScientistsToday’s episode sees the guys name check intellectuals, thinkers, philosophers, scientists, and randos like they were rapping a diss track in 1996. Enjoy!4m 45s A couple of people you might want to check out include Albert Einstein, Max Planck, and Isaac Newton. Drop their names at social events and people will automatically like you. 17m 14s Check out Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s longform hot take on IQ testing…if you’re smart. The series is “Incerto” and you can find many good summaries and re-hashings.39m 0s Seminal TEDx talk “Be suspicious of stories” did...

2023-09-301h 05

The Happy Jōb Records 005 Surveys show cardboard pizza underperforms9m 24s: Black Swans are not to be trifled with and also were a weirdly specific cultural thing in a few different spheres for a couple years. Snag the Nassim Nicholas Taleb and get inside the brain of Terry circa 2010 13m 25s: J. Patrick Doyle, savior of Dominos (sp?) cruddy pizza 15m 31s: The Dominoes Pizza Tracker is in fact patented number 10,262,281 B1, April 16, 2019. Yum…? 25m 0s: New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated, better known as NUMMI, better known today as the Tesla plant, was a joint venture between GM and Toyota and produced Geo Me...

2023-09-2959 min

The Happy Jōb Records 004 Cheapest and fastest aka Competency CrisisIs everyone less competent these days? Is that a crisis? How does one measure such things anyway? Find none of the answers to these questions and more in today's episode.2m 5s Go find Sebastian Maniscalco’s masterclass on quoting repair work: “buff it out”12m 50s Terry introduces the Competency Crisis for the first and not last time.28m 15s Intergenerational trash talk might be timeless, but that doesn’t mean society today hasn’t lost its way.22m 30s The trashy future33m 47s What are the numbers be...

2023-09-271h 04

The Happy Jōb Records The busy executive's guide to AI (and also Gwar)This one will go down as "The Kenny G Episode" because it's about knowing who you're playing to.7m 31s: Terry paraphrases Andrew Ng - You don't scale solutions (services) you scale tools.28m 25s: Its not rocket science. It's *data* science!29m 12s: The computer-brain behind targeted ads figured out a teenager was pregnant before her dad, which the internet had a field day with in 2012.30m 8s: ~Editor's note~ Make a Spotify playlist of referenced artists and songs. Include at least Gwar, Sunvolt (Jay Farrar), Lightning Bolt, Hella, Kenny...

2023-09-2657 min

The Happy Jōb Records Applied AI use cases, Vanilla Ice, and autotune0h 28m Robotics wizard Rodney Brooks makes bold claims about the future, then actually revisits to see how wrong he was.0h 32m: "Bowling Alone" is a seminal book on the collapse of social institutions in American as they are replaced with millions of people (figuratively?) going to bowling alleys by themselves.0h 37m : DALL-E is an AI that makes nightmarish generated artworks and spawned a thousand ad-choked web portals.0h 37m 39s: Hugging Face is less dirty (but more nerdy) than it sounds; brings AI and data science practitioners together to pretend...

2023-09-2652 min

The Happy Jōb Records Thinking about the cotton gin a lotThe threat of AI taking over society is probably overblown, but the threat of conversations about the threat of AI taking over society is very real.

2023-09-2345 min

The Startup Defense Innovation in Action: The Role of Manufacturing in Realizing Ideas with Russell WaddellEpisode Summary:In this captivating conversation, host Callye Keen engages with his guest, Russell Waddell, in a deep dive into the world of manufacturing. Their discussion explores the evolution of manufacturing and the inherent need for collaborative work environments. The duo also underscores the significance of fostering talent and staying adaptable in a rapidly changing industrial landscape.Topic Highlights:00:00 - Rejuvenating the Manufacturing SceneThe duo delve into the resurgence of manufacturing, with Waddell noting that the focus should not be on competition, but on creating quality products and...

2023-06-2832 min

Behind the Ops Episode 18: Taking the Magic Out of ChristmasHow would Santa produce and deliver presents to all of the good children around the world in a modern manufacturing environment, sans magic? He would face all of the same problems you do – an elf shortage, increasing consumer demands, quality management. In this episode, Russ and Madi propose an elf-centric approach to digitizing Santa's Christmas operations. See ChatGPT's answer to the prompt "How would santa optimize his production processes?":

2022-12-2211 min

Behind the Ops Episode 17: Demystifying GlitterGlitter. It’s everywhere. But since at least 2018 there’s been a semi-dark corner of the Internet turning over a revolving door of conspiracy theories about shortages of the sparkly stuff. Lately, Tik Tok has been awash with armchair detectives trying to find out who the top buyer is. Nevermind that Boston-based podcast “Endless Thread” have already done a full investigation based on a Reddit r/UnsolvedMysteries post back in 2019 claiming to identify the buyer. Assistant Host Russ makes the case that the vagueness and secrecy in Big Glitter might not be as rare (or mysterious) as it seems...

2022-12-1515 min

Behind the Ops Episode 16: Sometimes You're Just Going to Get WetThings go wrong constantly in manufacturing. It’s a competitive environment and a lot of businesses have slim margins. Amazing manufacturing organizations are good at building relationships at scale, which is much easier when you have information close at hand and easily shared. Sometimes, you’re going to get rained on (metaphorically) so prepare the best you can and make your mind up about how you want to face it. Madi coaxes a two-step plan out of Assistant Host Russ on how to accept and plan for everything being mostly broken, most of the time. LINK...

2022-12-0110 min

Behind the Ops Episode 15: How to Be Cool at Dinner PartiesDo your non-manufacturing friends think about where things come from? Or when? Or how much? In this episode, Madi and Russ discuss mainstreaming of manufacturing technology problems from supply chain management to skilled worker shortages. Manufacturing has accounted for less than 10% of all US jobs going back to the 2008 recession, which means limited reach for shop talk at the dinner table. But the 2020s have been weird, and these days you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a manufacturing-related headline. LINK DUMP Shortages of all kinds of things have gone mainstream; also, shortages of pe...

2022-11-1712 min

Behind the Ops Episode 14: The EGOT's of ManufacturingFresh out of the judge’s panel reviewing the 2022 Tulip Groundbreaker Awards nomination submissions, Russ and Madi could not wait to discuss the who, how, and why of the program. This leads to a discussion of the evolution of problem-solving in the digital era of manufacturing, and how this year’s nominees embody dynamic engineering thinking and the spirit of citizen development. Learn more about the Tulip Groundbreakers Awards Program Tune into the Tulip Showcase on November 17 to see a virtual showcase of the latest features in the Tulip Platform and livestream of the 2022 Tulip Groundbreaker Awards ceremony Chec...

2022-11-0312 min

Behind the Ops Episode 13: Internet Friends, Jetpacks, and Augmented Networking Live from IMTS 2022Relationship building and maintenance is multi-faceted in business and in regular life. The hosts take a middle ground stance, but take it firmly. Old ways of selling heavy equipment are applied to a new crop of younger buyers, but hope springs eternal for virtual showrooms. Internet friends become once-a-year friends thanks to experiential selling, and an attempt is made to pry out the “versus” from “digital versus physical” and segue ways to an inadvertent indirect plug for Behind the Ops’ big brother podcast Augmented with Trond Undheim. LINK DUMP Academics making the case for virtual airplane and parts...

2022-10-2020 min

Behind the Ops Episode 12: Lifelong LearningPart 1: Pop Quiz! Madi and Russ answer difficult questions to prove their personal worth. Failure is an option. Part 2: Community Service From the Tulip forum, Russ presents recent top posts. The hosts discuss the relative merits of Dark Mode, and infinite looping steps in software. Preparations are made for opening an interdimensional portal. LINK DUMP The Tulip Glossary of Industry Terms, but make it a nice flashcard game. Hubspot’s marketing trivia quiz might break you. Top posts from Tulip Community are release notes with new features. Dark mode is sometimes user-configurable, so...

2022-10-0722 min