The drive today was less trafficky than yesterday’s barely-rolling crawl-fest. I’m going to assume that this means that most of the weekend’s Vegas traffic has now filtered through to points south. One rule that should always be religiously adhered to: never return from Vegas on a Sunday afternoon. I guess it becomes religiously mandatory, though, given that it appears that many who left Vegas last Sunday afternoon did not arrive home until sometime Monday.
So, what’s on today’s menu? Oh, here’s a little something, on the side: it is well-known that the Pope rides around in a vehicle known as the “Popemobile.” I just learned the other day what Muslim’s top guy rides in: The Allah cart… and only by himself.
It was recently announced that they have found more “software issues” within the countless computers that operate the 737 Max. You are certainly aware that the entire fleet of that particular model has been grounded for some time, as they work to fix some electronic “glitches…” “Glitches” that dropped a couple of those airliners out of the sky and straight into the ground, killing all aboard both planes. Well, with NEW errors found, it looks like they’ll be grounded even longer.
Electronics are great… as long as WHEN something goes wrong, the worst that happens is that I lose the pictures on my phone, or the 42” flat-screen needs to go back to Best Buy for a replacement. However, electronic glitches are not really an “if,” but pretty much a “when,” and knowing that, the idea of getting into a jet freakin’ airplane that has KNOWN problems seems crazy. Sure, we take chances every day, in countless ways… but the 737 Max seems like it ought to be grounded at least until the day that technology in general has reached a point where we can dispose of the word “glitch.” Until THAT day, I’m not seeing the 737 Max as anything more than maybe an interesting restaurant, maybe a weapon; maybe a super-giant paperweight/boat anchor; or… convert it to high-speed rail for Jerry Brown. It just seems that filling it with decent people and then increasing its altitude by even 10 feet seems imprudent.
We see failed technology all the time. Like when you call a business, and the electronic voice requests that you state what you are calling about: “I need to ask about my bill,” which results in, “Thank you for placing a new order. Your next bill will increase appropriately, possibly exponentially. Thank you for calling! Good-bye.” Or when you use the automatic self-flushing toilet, it WILL flush three times as you are trying to lay the seat protector down… and the resulting rush of vacuum, sucks that gas assket away every time. Oh, it’ll flush three more times as you are, uhhh, “taking a sit,” playfully splashing your bum with cool, refreshing, totally-sterile water… but will it flush once you’ve done whatcha came to do? Nope… it’s done working. Hell, it already flushed six freakin’ times. Whaddya expect?
Then there’s self-checkout, which is a blast at ANY store. It takes three times as long as when a human is running your purchases through. Well, three times for the basic scan operations. Then, you gotta deal with the errors, the problems, the does-not-computes, the discrepancies, and the fact that your can of sardines does NOT weigh what a can of sardines is SUPPOSED to weigh, ‘cause maybe you left a fingerprint on it. So, you summon an attendant. The attendant, once a shift starts that has one on the schedule, will do all of the EXACT same things that you just did, only a whole BUNCH of times, before admitting to being really stumped, and then advising that you just go through the regular line.
Now McDonalds has joined the self-check revolution. Right here in Crestline, I recently spent about 10 minutes trying to work my way through the automated kiosk. Finally, as victory seemed at hand, the machine announced, “It is not possible to complete the transaction. Please place your order at the counter.” At that VERY moment, the teenage Cheech behind the register said, “Oh, sorry, dude, I shoulda told you those are broken.” Okay, so that was a failure of technology AND of screening techniques in the hiring process.
We now have self-driving cars… but sometimes they drive directly into big rigs or pedestrians, no big whoop. We’ve got GPS directions that have actually caused some folks (granted, not intellectual giants) to drive into lakes, oceans, or non-vehicle-friendly wilderness areas. We’ve got software that won’t allow a package to be delivered to my house, because my house doesn’t exist, according to the computer (admittedly, my house was only JUST barely finished in… 1943… so maybe they just haven’t updated the program since then). Even my ONE THOUSAND DOLLAR “smart” phone needs to be completely shut down and then restarted every few days, in order to make it resume mostly-right operation… because the tech-sperts can’t figure out any way to make THAT not necessary?!?
Nope… when it comes to riding in the 737 Max, I find myself skeptical.
I just read on www.mountainreporter.com that Jamboree Days in Crestline will feature a beer garden. I am going to visit, and beg them to sell me some seeds. In fact, I want to buy a LOT of seeds… my dream is to start a full-on beer freakin’ FARM. Of Coors, ale need to hire a Miller, one with Pabst experience in the field, not just a couple of Hamm’s who are full of Schlitz. Oly the best will do… and while it might be sort of a Ballantine act, we’ll have a Blatz trying! Come to think of it, Bud… I might just get Lucky!
So, tomorrow is Wednesday… and in a way, it’s sort of like a Friday, since a lot of people will be off work on Thursday for Independence Day. Many will return to the office on Friday… but many will not. Dang… these middle-of-the-week holidays just don’t have the same oomph as the ones that give you three days off SIMULTANEOUSLY. Still… one day off is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick!