The American Engine Part 1

The view from a co-pilots seat is always an interesting one. You always get to see things before the passengers do and you are privy to all of the information regarding the flight. Making a successful flight is not only landing the plane safely but also making sure the passengers are comfortable and have no idea about potential impending doom...

It was a beautiful day, and the view from 20,000 feet was fantastic. The pilot also our CEO was, as usual pushing the jet to the speed limit. When he went over the limit a beeping alarm would make an annoying "Beep" "Beep" "Beep".

"I wish there was a way to shut that damn thing off!", He said

"That reminds me of my dad's old station wagon", I said. "Every time he would go over 55 it would beep."

"Did he ever figure out a way to stop the beeping?"

"Yeah, he just pulled.....the...uh...fuse", I said with my voice level diminishing. I immediatly realised halfway through my sentence what he was going to do. So I thought by lowering my voice he would somewhow not hear me and instantly forget what we were talking about. Of course he heard...

"Paulie, get that fuse book out and see if you can find out which fuse it is!"

My factor of safety engineering mindset kicked in as I realised I was going to be pulling fuses out mid-flight at 20,000 feet, and the work day had only just begun! In the end I was able to find the right fuse, pull it out, only to have a secondary redundant alarm take over.

This is what it was like working for Joe Montgomery. Exciting, fast paced and addicting!

Two years earlier I was working in California for a small mountain bike company called AMP research. My mother had just passed away and I decided to go back to the east coast to be closer to my father.

I was looking through an issue of Mountbike Action magazine and thats when I saw it. The Cannondale prototype dirt bike. I instantly knew thats where I wanted to be, thats what I wanted to do. I wanted to work for Cannondale designing dirt bikes. I wanted to be part of an American revolution. I sent my resume in that night. I can still remember being at my friend's apartment and e-mailing it off. I was so excited. Then nothing. I followed up, nothing.

A month later I was all set to drive back to New England from San Clemente, CA. I decided to drive up the coast and drive across Canada. I was leaving the next morning. Right before I went to bed, my roomate said, "Hey there is a message on the answering machine for you"

"Hi Paul", that's me by the way, "this is Cathy from Cannondale, we received your resume and are interested in talking with you. Please give me a call back at your earliest convenience."

I was speechless... I was so excited I could barely contain myself. The next day I drove up to my friends house in San Fransisco. As soon as I got there I didn't even say hi. I just said, "I need to use your phone".

After a successful phone interview from a motel in Vancouver British Colombia, I scheduled an on site interview. This would be in three weeks to allow time to drive across Canada and get settled at my Dad's house. I knew that I would get the job. It was just one of those moments when everything just seemed to be working together to make some big machine run smoothly.