Skip to main content

In Solar Time

In this episode - In Solar Time . . .

We are thrilled to present a unique surprise for this week's podcast. We have composed a special tribute to Cenergy's V-Team in the form of original lyrics to the iconic Beatles song "When I'm 64". 


One of Cenergy’s engineering team members is Vietnam’s Doan Vo (Dr. Vo). Dr. Vo - as we call him - is the team lead for Cenergy’s Electrical Engineering Operations. We want to thank the V-Team for their unwavering commitment and assistance to the US team. Your diligent efforts are truly appreciated.


In Solar Time


When I get older, losing my mind

many years from now.


Will you still be estimating power lines?

Calculating modules in Solar time.


If I'd been shocked at quarter to four

would you close the door (circuit)?

 

Will you still teach me? Will you still reach me?

When I'm eighty-four.


You'll be older too.

And if you say the word

I could just phone you.


I could be handy, changing the fuse.

When your power’s gone.

Calculating systems by the fireside.

Monday mornings, go for a ride.


Prepping the newbies, plantings some seeds

Who could ask for more?

 

Will you still teach me? Will you still reach me?

When I'm eighty-four.


You'll be older too.

And if you say the word

I could just phone you.


Send me an e-mail, or drop me a line!

Stating system size (kW-DC).


Indicate precisely what you mean to say!

Our nervous clients are calling today.


Give me your answer; draft me a layout.

Digital for evermore.


Will you still teach me? Will you still reach me?

When I'm eighty-four. Ooh!


I'm Patrick Ball; thanks for listening. I'll see you in the next episode.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular of All Time

The Language of Home: Building a Sanctuary

This episode is  for anyone trying to find their footing in a new place—whether it’s a new city, a new job, or a new country. The light in Florence, Italy, has a way of making everything feel like a Renaissance painting—the golden hue on the stone, the steady rhythm of the Arno River, and the feeling that you are walking through a history much larger than yourself. I was there to give a presentation to a class of Gemology students. I was prepared to discuss color grading and refractive indices, but not to be outed as a language tutor . Feeling very much like a guest in a storied land, a hand shot up enthusiastically. "You’re the guy on the podcasts," the young woman said, her eyes bright with recognition. "You’re the one teaching us English." I laughed nervously. If you know my flat Midwestern accent, you know the irony here. I am hardly an Oxford professor. But later, as I wandered the cobblestone streets beneath the shadow of the Duomo, the humor faded into a powe...
Post a Comment
Read more

Practiced Hands: The 50-Year Warranty

What Doc Burch Taught Me About Staying Active. We talk a lot about "life hacks" these days, but most of them don’t have a very long shelf life. Usually, they’re forgotten by the next app update. But back in 1972, I received a piece of advice that came with a 50-year warranty. It’s the reason I’m still on my bike today, still chasing a golf ball around Carlsbad, and still—mostly—in one piece. The Kick That Changed Everything It started with a literal kick in the pants. A kid at school in Cuba, Illinois, was joking around and caught me just right. By the next morning, my lower back was screaming. My mom didn’t reach for the Tylenol; she reached for her car keys. "Let’s go see Doc Burch," she said. "He’ll fix you right up." Harry E. Burch, D.C., was a fixture in Lewistown. He’d graduated from Palmer College in ’59 and had been our family’s go-to for years. He was a man of practiced hands and steady eyes. After a quick exam and an X-ray, the mood in the room s...
Post a Comment
Read more

On the Fly–Taking Flight

In this special 500th episode,  On the Fly  is moving to a new home. Here’s why—and what’s staying the same. For a very long time (since April 2012),  On the Fly  has lived on  Blogger . Blogger has been a reliable host—dependable, quiet, and never complaining when I arrived late with another half-baked idea, a guitar riff, or a story that needed a little air. It faithfully archived my thoughts, my music, and more than a decade of curiosity. But the internet has changed. It’s louder now. Flashier. More insistent. Every thought is nudged to perform. Every sentence wants to be optimized, monetized, or interrupted by something that really wants your attention right this second. I’ve been craving the opposite. So today, On the Fly is moving to Substack . If you’ve been with me for a while, you know my quiet obsession: the A rt of Seeing . I’m interested in the moments we rush past—the Aversion Trap, the discipline hidden inside a guitarist’s daily practice, t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Life OS: Version 2026

In this episode: Why Your Mind Feels Like It Has 47 Tabs Open. Back in 2017, I wrote about how your mind was a blank slate at birth. A Tabula Rasa . Clean. Empty. Ready for some elegant code. Bless my 2017 heart. But in 2026, that “blank slate” looks more like a cluttered desktop. Forty-seven open tabs. A “Storage Full” warning. A cooling fan that’s screaming for mercy. If our minds are computers—and I’m convinced they are—most of us are running cutting-edge, high-demand software on hardware that’s still trying to process a resentment from 2004. So . . . let’s update the experiment. This isn’t about reinventing your life. It’s about fine-tuning your firmware—without crashing the system. The Legacy Code  (Or: Why You’re Still Like This) We all run on firmware: low-level code installed early and rarely questioned. The Good Stuff: Breathing? Big fan. The Buggy Stuff: Ancient survival logic from ancestors who assumed every unfamiliar sound meant “ Run or Die. ” That same code now trea...
1 comment
Read more