Straight flush?
Nothing's sacred. Now, in Ohio, we have hoodlums (allegedly) stealing automatic toilet flushers. Crikey, turn your back and they steal your pipes, your wiring, even your penny jars for copper. Geez, who needs gold?
It did bring back a concept I used to observe in the IT world. I called these things geek traps. Geek traps are minor mechanical blips in the ordinary world that manage to attract an inordinate amount of attention from people who are well paid to do far more sophisticated things.
I well recall half a dozen software engineers standing around a toilet flusher--mechanical, I think it was. It had fallen prey to the ailment common to all such devices: once it began flushing, it wouldn't stop. This problem exercised over half a million dollars worth of IT talent for close to half an hour.
More recently, I've wondered if there are geek traps for surgeons, orthopedic surgeons in particular. The line between orthopedic surgery and This Old House can be vanishingly thin. Dentists too appear vulnerable to geek traps. In short, the smarter the male, the more likely he is to forget what he's paid to do and become a little boy in a sandbox.
Possibly this, as much as the scrap value of the toilet flushers, is what explains the appeal of this form of larceny.
It did bring back a concept I used to observe in the IT world. I called these things geek traps. Geek traps are minor mechanical blips in the ordinary world that manage to attract an inordinate amount of attention from people who are well paid to do far more sophisticated things.
I well recall half a dozen software engineers standing around a toilet flusher--mechanical, I think it was. It had fallen prey to the ailment common to all such devices: once it began flushing, it wouldn't stop. This problem exercised over half a million dollars worth of IT talent for close to half an hour.
More recently, I've wondered if there are geek traps for surgeons, orthopedic surgeons in particular. The line between orthopedic surgery and This Old House can be vanishingly thin. Dentists too appear vulnerable to geek traps. In short, the smarter the male, the more likely he is to forget what he's paid to do and become a little boy in a sandbox.
Possibly this, as much as the scrap value of the toilet flushers, is what explains the appeal of this form of larceny.
posted by Uncle | 00:18
3 Comments:
Oo oo, WABAC. Over a decade ago, the telecomm/modem/chassis geek palace were I worked got a new coffee machine. It made all manner of caff/decaf/hot cocoa/latte/cappuccino and on and on. The works were entirely visible, showing various bands of coffee pellets that moved into position by your choice. The guts lit as the order prepared. Sometimes a dozen engineers, VPs, testers, programmers alike would jostle to watch. They laughed at themselves and the others, but stayed watching.
"The line between orthopedic surgery and This Old House can be vanishingly thin."
This. I remember way back in college, doing a clinical and being invited for the first time to watch an ortho procedure. I was like, "Dude! Those are carpentry tools, not surgical instruments!" Blew my young lil mind. :-) Though they've probably become a little bit more sophisticated in the past almost-30 years. I don't get to the OR these days.
Based on the op notes I've been reading lately, orthopedic instruments are still carpentry tools.
Mr Marrier, you remind me of another instance, when the IT place I worked got one of the first Keurigs. Now *that* was a geek trap!
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home