Do you prefer your suppliers to your daughter?

April 20, 2011

This last Sunday I told Mike, my son in law, that he should have asked for an instruction manual for Rosie as a wedding gift but that then he would have had to build a larger bookcase because such a document would be of encyclopedic proportions. But, for your benefit Mike, here are some late instructions: Don’t be hungry when she’s not, don’t even think of going for a walk when she’s tired and above all don’t you even dare to be asleep when she’s awake.

The volume on pregnancy would be particularly weighty: Well after four months of this condition I think you’re getting the gist of things….

Contrast Rosie to one of my favourite suppliers IMKO: A small, very high tech company which produces award winning equipment for the determination of soil moisture. This is a family business; father, son, daughter and in laws all seem to work together harmoniously to produce products of excellence. Kurt, the founder is far more interested in extracting the last one percent accuracy from his probes than he is in maximizing profits. If the slogan Vorsprung durch Technik had not been kidnapped by Audi it would certainly have been very to the point for IMKO.

We’ve been trialing IMKO’s profile probe. This is so new that we have the only one in existence and so far we’re very impressed; easy to install, this telemetrised system reports daily the soil moisture and soil conductivity from different soil horizons.

Of course we’ve a few minor teething problems but it’s a pleasure to speak to Kurt or Timo or Sven. They listen and respond kindly and politely and together we try to find a solution and, even if concepts such as attenuation, gradients, polynomials, baud rates and dielectric constants are a little hard to fathom first thing in the morning before the benefit to the mind of a stiff espresso it is all done swiftly, professionally and with harmony.

My wife is in the antipodes visiting my son who was requested by his sister to exchange parents so she could have the sympathetic one back. Well, bad luck Rosie! You’ve got two more weeks of me.

The midwife told Rosie yesterday that all is well and they were able to listen to the baby’s heartbeat. I’m glad the midwife agreed with me that it must be a girl: No boy could possibly cause so much havoc!

It has been said that I might have spoilt my only daughter a teeny bit and possibly I bear a little responsibility in the way she is but yesterday she was up early and even brought Mike breakfast in bed. Will I be so privileged soon? I somehow doubt it but I don’t mind because she’s my only daughter and to me she’s still the most beautiful girl in the world!

Vincent van Walt