This week (M-F) I was up in Eastern Pennsylvania for a series of meetings and plant visits.  This was my first road trip trip since late February.

I chose to drive up from Atlanta, partly because of C-19 and partly because the schedule was rather fluid and I needed to visit multiple locations throughout the week with a constantly changing schedule.  I was also then able to come and go as I pleased.

Just as Duke Ellington wrote, I don’t get around much anymore.  This boring business trip review will have to serve for what would otherwise be a narrative of us all crawling through the jungles of Central America or describing what new, horrible thing we just ate in Asia.

I did manage to sneak in some fun… I’ve already given a full trip report to Arge; I’ll keep it brief for the rest of you who really don’t care who was shooting at whom and where they stood and fell..

The first visit was to a power center in Hazleton, PA.  Those lights in the ceiling are ours; we were there to finish what is called “Commissioning”.  All of the lights in the building have small bluetooth transmitters/receivers installed in them.  They can all communicate with each other and we are able to control all lighting aspects (on/off/dim/when/where,etc) using a simple laptop for iPad control App.  All fixtures have sensors in them to track motion and light.  For advanced users, we can also write special applications that use the bluetooth capabilities to track motion and location of any asset they want tracked.. The fixtures were purchased and then sent to my plant in Tijuana to have all of the special electronics installed in them and set up in “the cloud” prior to shipment.  They are then sent to the location and installed.  The final bit on the site is to make sure they all work and to set them up in groups and/or zones so that the facilities manager can control and monitor all activity.  

These lights are hanging from an 80’ ceiling.

The next day I drove to a PPL center in Allentown, PA.  It seems neither Jason nor I managed to avoid doing work in the energy/electricity business.

Same procedures as the day before.. doing the final work, bringing everything on line, training the facilities managers on how the system works and then closing out the project.

Yes, we all had to wear masks all day long.  In PA, every building, restaurant, etc requires masks and they all check temperatures at the entrance and require folks to sign in.  That this particular location (Allentown), they just had one employee come down with C-19 so they were extra paranoid and we had to sign a waiver both exempting them and us from any legal rights if we wanted to enter and do the work required.

There were some people working, but most places were empty.  Those able to work from home, do.

Final location was at Pride Mobility (motorized scooters, wheelchairs, other medical equipment) in Duryea, PA.  I also spent time in Bethlehem and Scranton, but no photos there.

This is photo of Paul, a guy who works for me as a project manager.  This shows one of the screens where he is identifying specific lighting fixtures and sensors and getting everything set up.

I did manage to steal away and spend a wonderful morning at Gettysburg.. my first visit to the site.

I was there on a Tuesday; the visitor’s center is closed on that day and, what with C-19, I practically had the park to myself from 08:00 until around 11:00.  Even afterwards, it was not busy. 

Gettysburg is the largest battle to have taken place in the Western Hemisphere.  More than 170,000 soldiers participated – with 53,000 total casualties after 3 days’ fighting.  Mid-way through the battle is considered the high water mark of the Confederate’s success; historical distance shows this was the turning point of the War.  There were so many back and forths and close calls during these 3 days that create endless speculation and “what if’s” that would have dramatically altered the future course of the U.S.  Want to know more?  Go look it up.

Lots of monuments set up on Cemetery Ridge

Polishing the statue of Major General Meade (the horse’s hoof, at any rate..).  He was the head of the Union Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg.  Even though Meade won the day, he wasn’t aggressive in following up and hounding Robert E. Lee and his routed and retreating Army of Northern Virginia.  This pissed off Lincoln who ultimately brought in U.S. Grant from the West to take over command of the entire Union Army.  Another big what if about how things would be very different if Meade had only chased after Lee for awhile on day #4.

Union canon pointing west from Cemetery Ridge toward Seminary Ridge.  The park has done a wonderful job of keeping the terrain almost unchanged from those 3 days in July, 1963.

Gettysburg National Cemetery; individually numbered granite blocks serve as tombstones.  The large monument is placed where Lincoln gave his (famous now) Address 4 months after the battle.

The Devil’s Den.  Many books have been written just about this fighting that took place on Day #2 among these boulders.

View from the top of the Devil’s Den toward Little Round Top.  That’s my black buggy down in the parking area.

The Wheatfield.

View of “The Cut” back toward the center of Gettysburg.

Rebel canon from great defensive positions on Seminary Ridge.

This is where George Pickett’s Charge originated on day #3.  It’s about 3/4 mile from where I stand to the line of trees in the distance (heading east) on Cemetery Hill.  With a rebel yell, nearly 12,500 Confederates headed across this open ground and up the hill toward the entrenched union troops.

The union lost about 1500 killed and wounded; the Confederate casualty rate exceeded 50%.  This last ditch effort failed and what eventually forced the rebels to realize the loss and begin retreating that evening.

View from Little Round Top to the west; The Devil’s Den is on the left.  Here, Union repulsed another very unique uphill attack on Day #2 which is the focus of the movie “Gettysburg” about the defense and subsequent downhill bayonet charge of Union officer Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.

After around 11:00 more people started arriving.  There were guides giving tours, but the group sizes were small and everyone was masked up.  The Gettysburg park is huge and one could spend several days there and not see anything.  I downloaded an app for my phone that uses GPS to automatically play little sound bits and videos as you drive around.  Everything is accessible and it’s well worth the visit even for folks who can’t walk miles.  The new technology and good roads allow you to get around and see everything from your car.  I sure hope to return again someday; I was only there for about 4 hours and had to rush through lots of things that merited more time.