the eternal student "¥

Tragedy happens when you turn your back

Maybe it's time to move the frog tank out of little boys' reaches.

Ahhh, let the warm weather come on. I'm taking a half day tomorrow to go camping with Gideon and Isaac. We'll be headed to Three Island Crossing State Park and the Bruneau Sand Dunes where sand skiing occurs.

A great Idaho early Spring Saturday

Last Saturday we decided it was time to start the exploring season. The snow was melted enough in the mountains to go out and hit one of our favorite hot springs. Check out the Flickr pictures by clicking on the picture.

Also, checkout the video.

Snowshoe Buddy

It's been nearly a month since I got some good snowshoeing in with Arlo. So, on Sunday while the rest of the family napped, Arlo and I headed to the nearby Boise National Forest. While a good amount of snow has been melting, the snowpack above 5000 ft was still great and it was a gorgeous 50 degrees outside. Watching Arlo bound through the unchartered snow is 80% of the fun for me. Check out pics of his cute blue booties too.

A new division for me -Aptina

I've been under wraps for a while now, but things are finally in the open. On Tuesday Micron officially announced a new division for its Imager business. Aptina.

Essentially, Aptina makes the imager chips that go into digital cameras, both high end DSLR's and low end cell phones. About 1/3 of all cell phones have Micron imager chips. I'm sure you've heard of the iPhone. I work in the Research and Development side of things in figuring out how to make things smaller, cheaper, and in a way that can be done in high-volume. There is huge global competition in the imager market. It's not as volatile as the DRAM/NAND memory market, but it could be soon as more companies try to capitalize on the market growth.

This is pretty exciting stuff for me as I am part of this new beginning. It's been a great experience being part of something new- and a lot of pressure on getting things to perform well and work. But I find I'm enjoying this extremely competitive global environment. At first it was extremely scary thinking about the fact that my job or myself could be outsourced to another country. That is much less scary now as I think about the opportunities that abound overseas and in the U.S. I have this growing conviction within me that I am meant to create exciting jobs and opportunities for people to live and make money to feed their families in honest ways. Somehow I can have a hand in improving work environments both overseas and in the States. I don't know how this will take form for me in the future. It could be as a university professor, or going overseas to a developing country and working in a semiconductor country. There is a lot to be worked out yet, but I do know I love what I do and I am meant to thrive at it.

So, watch the video Wafer Level Cameras to see what I do research on. You will see a silicon wafer come up with text that says 'Through Wafer Interconnect' in the video. I know, it sounds boring, but that is only because we are so dang use to technology accelerating at a faster and faster pace- and now I'm along for the ride. While meaningless to many (and for good reason), these words create a buzz in my brain. What they mean for you is smaller camera/chips with more functionality and cheaper prices.

Additionaly, Micron announced they will build their next 300mm wafer fab in Boise. This is huge news for the Boise and the US. Most semiconductor companies have given up on the US and have chosen to go overseas to due labor costs and more favorable business environments. Consider that it takes around $3 billion dollars to build a 300mm wafer fab and you can see why it might be nice to keep that money in the United States. Also consider that the US owes $3 trillion dollars in debt already to Japan and China, and you think we might want to build up our own local economy before building up others. Of course, it gets tricky with global companies like Micron who are based in the US, but actually make most of their money in foreign markets.

I'm still wrapping my head around the whole global thing. In the meantime, has anyone wrapped their head around the $9 trillion dollars in debt the US is in? Can we just ignore that and hope it doesn't bite us? Can anyone say 'subprime mortgage'? What if other countries view us as a 'subprime nation' and don't value us as an economic force anymore and give up on the dollar? I know it sounds doomsdayish, but are you prepared to lose our comfy economic status to China or India? I used to be scared of it, but now I'm more comfortable with it. Not that I won't fight for US jobs and the economy, but ultimately God resides everywhere, and someday my comfy Western lifestyle may be turned topsy-turvy. There's a good chance us Perkins' could be going overseas for a time. No details, but it is a possibility.

Brothers

Sledding Jubilee

My trip to Austria

Finally a chance to report on my trip to Austria. I spent 12 days in Scharding, Austria for a business trip. I stayed at the Hotel Gugerbauer and had an incredible time of eating and drinking local fare. Europeans definitely know how to eat and drink in style. I missed the food, especially the meats, as soon as I came back to the States. I don't have to mention how good the beer was.
Europeans are of a heartier blood than Americans. They have to be with the dark cold winters. The Christmas markets in Salzburg and Passau were great fun. I picked up a perfect necklace for Lynn (ask her for a picture) in Passau.
I was also introduced to Gluhwein which is a warm spiced wine. A bit sweet for more than one -but it was great drinking them at the Christmas markets outside and socializing with the locals.
I was definitely ready to see Lynn and the boys after 12 days. I was pretty lonely the first few days in Austria as I really needed someone I knew to share it with. I'm glad I don't travel much on business trips. I was held up an extra day in Chicago on the way back and I thought I was going to go crazy. Alas, I made it back Sunday by flying standby. It's taken me about a week to adjust to being back. I was in kind of a bad funk, but cleaning the house and using my new snowshoes (thanks Lynn, Gerry and Cindy, and Dad and mom) helped bring me out. I think I'm hooked on snowshoeing- more on that later.

Enjoy the full set of Austria pictures on Flickr

Scharding and the Saturday market with yummy Austrian meats and breads

The River Inn right outside the Hotel Gugerbauer


A trip to Salzburg to see the Hohensalzburg Fortress

The Alps were definitely impressive. I happened to catch some reare sun peeking through the clouds here. This was taken from the top of the Hohensalzburg Fotress.

Snip Snip Time?

Having #4 on the way makes me think about having the old snippity snip. But I don't think it is quite time yet. I feel like some part of my manliness would be lost if I did it this young.

I'm in Austria now and about to head into town for dinner. I'm not sure how much sightseeing time I will have, so I'm enjoying every glimpse of Austria I get. Not knowing German right now is a big downer. 'Ich verstehe nicht ' and 'dunkles' is about all I know right now. They translate to 'I don't know' and 'dark beer". I think that should get me through most situations.

Maine-Chicago-Boise-Chicago-Austria

In 24 hours I will have been from Maine to Chicago to Boise back to Chicago and finally to Austria. I get 3 hours in Boise to make sure Lynn and the boys are okay before heading to Austria for 11 days. I will be in Scharding, Austria on business. Go ahead, be jealous.