I thought I was close

I've been working on building a position sensor device for the industry, accurate down to a single nanometer. My friend, VP operations at a high-tech company, was to collaborate with me and make them buy this thing. I wasn't sure about patenting.

Twice lucky, I was assigned to instruct a project for an exchange undergrad student from MIT. So great, now I'm legally using all the lab equipment I want, and here's her project. She was doing a great job with the technical stuff, although sluggish at first due to lack of experience.

Everything was going well, we were about to make the first proof-of-concept this week. Yesterday my friend was fired.

It seemed that for the first time I was so f#cking close, to invent something and sell it. The greater sorrow of course is over him losing job. Losing or finding a management job is something very different.

To cheer myself up a bit, I decided to step on it with another thing I've been cooking. My girl's mother wants to set up a small candle production shop. I invited my neighbor who's a welder and showed him my drawings and assembly design. Stainless steel sheet structure, welding points, mounted heating elements, a thermostat. At first he was skeptic about doing this, but after some elaboration of the technicalities and a pint of Czech beer, we had the BOM (bill of materials) ready, he's taking it. Girl will be happy.