Thursday, April 07, 2011

A couple of tech things that came to mind

They're running a new gas line down the street(both sides) and instead of cutting a trench(followed by rebuilding streets and driveways) they use a boring tool that cuts at an angle- and the bit is steerable- so they dig a hole to start it in, holes every so far to check alignment, make the hole and then pull the line through(some kind of polymer, weatherproof and tough as hell). Some of the digging being done by a backhoe that would almost fit in the back of my truck(God, there have been times I'd have loved the use of that!).

The other is my mother had her second eye surgery Tuesday to take care of cataracts. First one was last month: go to the doc, and about two hours later Dad drives her home; couple of followup checks and that's it. Not only are the cataracts out of the way, now she'll only need reading glasses.

Anybody who whines about modern technology can kiss my ass.

4 comments:

Ted said...

I love modern technology, but there is no amount of application of technology that can fix stupid. Or carelessness for that matter. Those "slant drilling" boring machines are awesome and can be used to run all manner of pipes through the ground cheaply and efficiently. They can still go boom. In Minneapolis a little over a year ago they discovered that they'd accidentally run a gas line at the same depth as many of the sewer lines for a few residential areas. No problems were noticed for years until someone's plumbing backed up and the guy running the roto-rooter got aggressive enough to nick the gas line that had cut through someone's sewer line.

I love modern tech, but man it is still fun to watch careless and follish people bypass the miracles.

Keith said...

completely o/t
a British Fort Hood?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-13014640

no indication of a mohammed coefficeint yet.

Arthur said...

"some kind of polymer, weatherproof and tough as hell"

Is it rodent proof? I've found that the jacket material they use on network cables, usb cables, power wires, etc draw mice, squirrels and rabbits like hippies to patchouli.

Firehand said...

Gawd, I hope it is!

Dad wound up with some of this stuff a few years back, and it took a hacksaw to cut it; hopefully it'll discourage the critters.