August 28, 2008
A long, long... long... long time ago, my father taught me that it was faster to just do a job by hand then it was to wander around looking for ways to make it easier (assuming the job could be done by hand). It took me a while to figure that out, and I still struggle with it. I enjoy thinking about ways to improve the efficiency or utility of a job. That is why I am an engineer, and I have even taught my dad a couple of things over the years.
This morning, though, I saw one of those strange things where people waste time because they really want to do something the easy way. After I dropped Annie off at school, I returned to the home office. The trip took slightly longer than it should, however. I got behind the garbage truck. The same garbage truck that does not actually go all the way down the road, which is why I have to haul my own garbage and recycling. Just for the humor factor, I would like to have followed him a little longer than I did. Our road is a fairly typical mountain road. The pavement might be in better shape than many, but it typically is only wide enough for one vehicle, and the once off the road the ground turns rough, and is far from flat.
The garbage truck pulled up to get the trash bin at a house that is located on a fairly steep part of the trek up the mountain. The bin was located on the side of the road, and looked like it might have been sitting on a decent sized rock. A pair of metal arms came out from the side of the truck, and tried to squeeze the bin so that it could be raised to its destination high above the truck. The bin impolitely twisted so the arms could not grab it. The arms came back in the truck, and then slowly came out again. I think the truck was trying to use the old joke of tapping someone on the opposite shoulder to see if they will look the wrong way. It worked. As the arms came out, the bin turned to the side, and the arms came together to attempt to grab the elusive trash bin. Again, no luck. The arms went back in the truck, and came out for another attempt. I was laughing my butt off. From the moment I saw the arms come out the first time, and I looked at the bin and the terrain on the side of the road, I thought it would have been a lot faster, if not easier, to just go out and set the bin in the arms, since it did not appear this truck was designed to allow for a manual dumping, which would have been the fastest solution. Fortunately, this third attempt resulted in the arms knocking the trash bin to the ground. A man jumped out of the passenger's side of the truck, grabbed the bin, stood it up on the road in front of the arms, jumped in the truck, and the arms hoisted the bin into position.
All this time, there was a guy sitting in the truck manipulating the controls. I figured it was a one-person operation. In that case, I might understand not really wanting to put the truck in park on this steep hill, checking the orientation of the wheels, setting the parking break, getting out and running around to the opposite side of the truck... No, this guy was in the passenger's side of the truck. He spent four times as long as necessary getting this stupid trash bin, and I be he does the same thing next week...
Trash-canned...
This morning, though, I saw one of those strange things where people waste time because they really want to do something the easy way. After I dropped Annie off at school, I returned to the home office. The trip took slightly longer than it should, however. I got behind the garbage truck. The same garbage truck that does not actually go all the way down the road, which is why I have to haul my own garbage and recycling. Just for the humor factor, I would like to have followed him a little longer than I did. Our road is a fairly typical mountain road. The pavement might be in better shape than many, but it typically is only wide enough for one vehicle, and the once off the road the ground turns rough, and is far from flat.
The garbage truck pulled up to get the trash bin at a house that is located on a fairly steep part of the trek up the mountain. The bin was located on the side of the road, and looked like it might have been sitting on a decent sized rock. A pair of metal arms came out from the side of the truck, and tried to squeeze the bin so that it could be raised to its destination high above the truck. The bin impolitely twisted so the arms could not grab it. The arms came back in the truck, and then slowly came out again. I think the truck was trying to use the old joke of tapping someone on the opposite shoulder to see if they will look the wrong way. It worked. As the arms came out, the bin turned to the side, and the arms came together to attempt to grab the elusive trash bin. Again, no luck. The arms went back in the truck, and came out for another attempt. I was laughing my butt off. From the moment I saw the arms come out the first time, and I looked at the bin and the terrain on the side of the road, I thought it would have been a lot faster, if not easier, to just go out and set the bin in the arms, since it did not appear this truck was designed to allow for a manual dumping, which would have been the fastest solution. Fortunately, this third attempt resulted in the arms knocking the trash bin to the ground. A man jumped out of the passenger's side of the truck, grabbed the bin, stood it up on the road in front of the arms, jumped in the truck, and the arms hoisted the bin into position.
All this time, there was a guy sitting in the truck manipulating the controls. I figured it was a one-person operation. In that case, I might understand not really wanting to put the truck in park on this steep hill, checking the orientation of the wheels, setting the parking break, getting out and running around to the opposite side of the truck... No, this guy was in the passenger's side of the truck. He spent four times as long as necessary getting this stupid trash bin, and I be he does the same thing next week...
Trash-canned...