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Mark: I sent you an email did you get it?

From time to time I get emergency calls and I can get about half of them solved (at least temporarily) over the phone. Let's say I am in Norfolk and they have a problem in Bristol. (400+ miles away) If I can get them running on "backup" that'll let them keep until I can finish what I'm doing in Norfolk, at which time it's off to Bristol. If it's a problem where the screen is "down" I pretty much drop what I'm doing and head to Bristol. Also, in a case like this I might call the other guy in my region and see if he's any closer than I am. That's why I say I have made occasional runs to Kentucky or Georgia.

I am supposed to do training and things like that but it seems like there is never enough time. At each theatre I often take part of a morning and devote that to teaching a class on some subject like changing xenon lamps or how to check diodes. One of my favorite things to do is to thread up a couple of projectors and have the people play "find the mistakes". We have a few laughs and that gets them to thinking about things that havent been working right, etc. That usually leads us to a question and answer session. I've fielded questions from, "Why doees projector #5 make a funny noise?" to things like,"I heard that projectors used to catch on fire in the 'old days'... " We have a lot of fun and that's what keeps them interested in learning. Later on, I'm hoping to hold a series of "Projector Boot Camps". I'm trying to come up with a good program for it. I was thinking that on the next time around I would start... but who knows.

As to routine maintainence, we have a "rule" that says we can PM three houses per day. We are expected to put in an eight hour day unless there are "extenuating circumastances". Therefore I would be scheduled for three days at a 10-plex. We figure on a day to travel and check in at the theatre and a day to travel home. That actually leaves you two days "slop" in case you need more time. (eg: You can drive to the theatre on Sunday and leave on Saturday if you neeed more time.)

My strategy is to get things running the way you like and then take on a "project" at each place. For instance, the last theatre I was at had a problem with rust. They are in a high humidity area (Charleston, SC) and their focus knobs rust faster than usual. (I don't have that problem anywhere else in the region.) As I was doing my regular stuff. I checked all the focus mechanisms and gave them a little coating of light grease. (In hopes of using the grease as an anti-rust coating.)
At the theatre before that it was platter drive rollers. There were a lot of them that were getting flat spots. I ordered a bunch of them to arrive before I got there and made that my "project".

The main trick is to get a routine going. Once you have things running the way you like it's a lot easier. If you were the last guy to do A-Chains, for instance, you don't have to go through the whole routine. You can do a quick check on each. You'll only have to do the whole Magillah on the projectors you find problems with.

My main problem has been to stop tinkering by people who don't know what they heck they are doing. I've got that mostly under control now. It took a lot of yelling and screaming at people but I think I have it under control. If a theatre has a problem they are to call me or at least send me an e-mail telling me what happened. When I go there next time all I have to do is look at my list calls/e-mails from that theatre and take care of those things first. I am also trying to get people more in the habit of keeping better log books. That way I can go back and look at problems they have been having in the past. Usually, I send the theatre an e-mail and let them know I'm comming. They are supposed to have a "laundry list" of problems for me when I get there. Lately, I've taken to just dropping in unannounced. It seems that the booths are a lot cleaner when they know I'm comming. I want to find out what things are like in "real life".