Historically stupid decisions, again and again
I may be going out on a limb here, but I think Dante reserved a special place in Hades for the ignoble designers that use non-standard (or multi-standard) connectors. We’ve all experienced the frustration that comes from trying to attach A to B and requiring C or D to get the job done.
Today I received a little bit of plastic and metal from a seller on eBay. Not his fault (or mine) that the name for this adaptor is misleading. The price was right. The shipping was rapid. The anticipation level was high. Doubly so for the deception. No, I don’t have the right size. No, I have no idea what that might be. This is to attach a Flip to my TV, and I’m still weeks away from the solution. Arghh!
Almost distracted me from the latest historical gaff from our environmental wizards in Ottawa. After more than forty years of hearing “That’s a dumb idea”, the government (not the Parliament) has given a green light to the MacKenzie Valley gas pipeline project. The actual job might not be completed in my lifetime (although I still have a few good years left).
How, though, do you undo the damage if things go south, suddenly. Greed is a powerful drug; it causes otherwise rational thinkers to do nonsensical things. A nation of slow learners! I would have thought that we’ve had a few “wake up calls” already. Oil spills are labour intensive (to clean up). A few years of well paid construction work, followed by a few decades of trying to fix the glitches.
