Unskilled Labor

I knew the logistical fallout from last week might be a bit of a hassle. Sure enough, in the inbox this morning:
We also need as part of the "lessons learned" from this incident, to evaluate if we can provide some sort of alarm or leak indicator around the hydraulic pump to prevent a similar accidental leak in the future.

Way ahead of you, Building Administrator.

We've often mused about installing an automated program to monitor the system overnight.
R. Heller: Ashley, let's build a ROBOT to relay us pressure information while we're gone.
P. Hagin: Here's a better idea-- let's just hire an undergraduate to ACT like a robot!
Me: Yeah! We could make a nice silver costume and keep whoever does the best electronic 'beep' noise.

Today I got my wish (sort of). We set up a laptop in the pump room, equipped with webcam and wireless G-chat. Now we can watch a live feed of our pump next door during experiments without the bother of walking back and forth between the two rooms! It's also safer; if something goes wrong we'll know immediately what we're up against.

So if anyone wants to live video chat with our hydraulic pump give a shout-out to mr.pump.room. Not that it would be very exciting. In fact, lets hope it stays uneventful for the next week or so.