Konrad has a degree in engineering. You can tell. Not only because every cable is neatly routed and every piece of documentation is in its place, but also because he holds a firm conviction: There are exactly two kinds of work—proper and wrong. To him, sloppiness is about as acceptable as a RAID without a backup or an array without a cold spare.
He carries out his administrative tasks with the same precision. When managing the phone system, for example, an incorrect employee code is simply out of the question. After all, a mistake in the phone directory would be to him what the sound of fingernails scratching on a chalkboard is to other people.
The hat-wearing tech expert is a family man through and through—he has a whole brood of children and is now a proud grandfather. When Konrad isn’t planning networks or entertaining his grandchildren, he can be found in his garden or in the orchard. He is, quite rightly, an amateur fruit grower. While others search for cherries at the supermarket in the summer, Konrad simply brings them along—fresh from his own tree. Sometimes they’re turned into juice, which is then served as delicious sweet cider in our staff kitchen.
He still has plenty of energy left for other activities after work. For example, he once swam 14 kilometers during the DLRG’s 24-hour swim. 14 kilometers! A distance that many people today aren’t even able to cover on foot.
And few people know that his musical talent is nothing to sneeze at either: Around the campfire, he likes to pick up his guitar and sing along. He simply doesn’t fit into ordinary stereotypes. Just as surprising is that, behind his meticulous engineer’s facade, you wouldn’t expect him to be such a talented dancer: The tango awakens his passion—with poise and precision.
Here at Starline, we’ve been benefiting from this poise and precision for 20 years now—which is practically an eternity in the IT world. Technologies come and go. Operating systems change. Hardware gets upgraded. Trends come and go.
What remains are people you can rely on. People just like you: Here’s to the years ahead, Konrad—may your hat never fly off, your cherry tree never topple in a storm, and your nut corners always be enough.
