99-08-05        0700   Morning routine.  . . . .

          Today I had an interesting conversation with Larry FOGG.  He had asked me to view the IFEN wires that were laid out on the table.  He had noted that some of the wires had a black residue.  From the morning burn, the ETFE had resulted in black residue, and could this be the same.  We then went on to discuss the wires further, and the rush on doing the lab analysis.  He then mentioned that he thought that maybe they should hold off on the AUGER test for these wires.  He was sounding me out, and when I didn’t object to the idea, he went on to say that he thought they should wait until after the final vacuum so that they had a better idea of everything.  I agreed with him that similar to the frame, we have re-examined pieces several times because needs and ideas change and evolve.  He said that once we have all the wires up, perhaps we will want to examine for something else first and won’t be able to once the ends have gone through the AUGER process.  He stated that this was a conversation between us only, that he didn’t want FOOT to know that we had discussed the matter.  I said something to the fact that TSB seems to want to get it wrapped up quickly, and he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded his agreement.  He said that there is a lot yet to do, especially if the vacuum is successful.  He suggested that there was a potential problem in the sorting of the vacuum debris.  By their own initial estimates, it would require three months but TSB is giving the contractor two months.  What happens if it doesn’t go fast enough and they run over the allowed time?  Will we have bucket loads of material bypass the sorter and go into the end pile while no one is looking?  It was agreed that quality control would have to be closely monitored.

          It has been noted this week, since the decision for us to get involved in the tests independent of TSB, that both FOOT & FOGG have approached me in a different manner.  FOOT came to me to ask if I wanted to video the wire burn.  FOGG came to me to ask my opinion about the wire residue.  Perhaps we are over the hump.  Perhaps FOGG is sounding me out.