As happens so often, the sales department sold a high tech still to IBM, not knowing how to do it or how much it would cost. Since it was high tech, I was chosen to head the project and do the controls. There was not enough money to buy the right equipment for the job so I had to program the controls from scratch.

I went to Texas for the installation. While adjusting a still, you need to get the process just right or sometimes a little vapor comes over the top. Well I was tweaking the process and the customers were there too. Suddenly, I was alone. Then I smelt just a little solvent vapor. I decided that the customers were better than canaries to test the air.