THE LOONS ARE HOOTIN' AWAY! Grimsmo paints a beautiful picture of his family vacation thus far. A couple of spy-thriller books, canoes, campfires, and marshmallows will take the place of machine hum for now. Just make sure to stay away from "Snake Island!" BREAK ME OFF A PIECE OF THAT...FOOTBALL CREAM? Does taking breaks decrease productivity? According to Forbes and many other studies, it has the opposite effect. Working for long stretches without breaks leads to exhaustion and burn out.  If that's you, it's time to Kit Kat! Parenting & Entrepreneurship Kids grow up in the blink of an eye and if you don't want to miss it, don't! Balancing time between being an entrepreneur and a parent can be tricky. Is it more about quality time rather than quantity? Elon Musk, what do you have to say about this? Admiration for childhood energy, imagination, and carefree attitude stems a tangential but relevant debate topic: Is it better to follow dreams and passions or find a line of work that produces income? The Depths Grimsmo declares an insightful statement about life and expectations. Are you the person who needs to be away from the computer and phone to recharge or are you the one who would rather not? However you relate, keep Grimsmo's point in mind. LEX & GERP 3 weeks have passed. LEX (the newest name for the custom-built ERP system thanks to Jonathan George) was born. Saunders shares the progress SMW has made in this short period of time. Bar codes, inventory, emergency inventory, job scheduling, purchase orders, and receiving are all necessary components of a high functioning manufacturing business. GERP, which stands for Grimsmo ERP may have started as a joke but this acronym has staying power! GERP's come a long way in the last few weeks in terms of development with a heavy emphasis on inventory and job scheduling. New Face and New 5th Axis Project By the time you read or hear this 182th podcast episode, a new intern will have started at SMW! Saunders details an upcoming project that coincides perfectly with phases 3 & 4 of rebuilding the shop. Lockwood AU Class on NYCCNC MetalQuest's INDEX MS40-8 If you haven't heard of MetalQuest, you can watch the tour here. If you're into reducing your machining time by 7/8ths, rigidity, thermal stability, and impeccable surface finishes, this is for you! Scott Harms, President of MetalQuest, and Saunders are working on a remote video collaboration to show this incredible machine and its capabilities.