I’m lucky enough to be able to split my time between Virginia and Cape Cod, MA. There are many wonderful things about both places but the sad fact that unites them is the third-world power supply. Constant outages plague both places when the weather turns. Just a little wind or rain can cut off power for days. In Massachusetts my neighborhood owns our roads. We maintain them ourselves. We buried our power lines. But a blow on the main road? Out go our lights.
America is failing in its battle to maintain its aging infrastructure. Too little reinvestment, too many profits being skimmed, too many lobbyists paying off politicos. There is zero pride in doing a good job and every task is completed to the minimum standard, at the lowest price, and with the minimum of foresight and a great deal of red tape.
Yesterday, a flagship company of the United States, United Airlines had to shut down its entire fleet. It was only for half an hour but if this had happened just ten years ago it would have been the only story on the news. No one would understand how it could happen. In 2023 it’s just another crappy thing that’s happening in a country full of crappy things happening.
United’s excuse was the software update glitched and ground their system to a stop. That’s a pitiful excuse. Using aging software is very common – part of the transatlantic cable is still run on floppy disks – but it is unforgivable in a company whose one job is to get people from A to B safely. It’s time for big companies to put their hands in their wallets and spend it on some capital expenditure – not go begging from the government. Fire some diversity trainers to pay for it.
My buddy just went through United Pilot indoc training, the first day they just scolded everyone for being too white & male. Sad, but not surprising.
— Dale Stark (@DaleStarkA10) September 5, 2023
It’s as bad as being British!
Watch this “Computer says no” sketch!