Stupid Things I Have Done

[MossRoad]

Is it better to have buried the bodies, or know where the bodies are buried? The latter, I suppose…

The problem with buried bodies is someone eventually comes along to 'develop' the land and boom! there's an investigation.

 

[MossRoad]

You should know at least some of the answers, but overall knowledge of where to find all of the answers is more important in life, I've found.
Most work doesn't require instant recall - most of life is an open book test.
The most common things in your work & life of course you should have that knowledge right in mind.

Well said.

 

[WinterDeere]

Most work doesn't require instant recall - most of life is an open book test.

Einstein was mocked a bit for not having memorized the speed of sound, when taking the “Edison test”. He replied with, “I do not carry such information in my mind since it is readily available in books.”

It’s kind of ironic that the man who may have been the greatest mind of all time, certainly of modern history, was even being tested by the standards of a comparative idiot like Edison.

To set the record straight, few people have worked harder in their lives than Edison. He was a successful inventor because he was relentless, out-working basically every scientist and engineer of his time, not because he was exceptionally smart. He may have been even of slightly above-average intelligence, but comparing him to Einstein is like comparing a sporty version of a Toyota Corolla to an Indy car.

 

[paulsharvey]

Often the answer is you need to know the answers to the simple stuff, And that there are answer, and how to find them, for the more complex stuff. In my work, there are 1000s of pages of spec, and you don't need to know the exact detail; although for stuff you do daily, you really should. On stuff that maybe comes up 1/month, you should be pretty sure What the answer is, and where to find the details of that answer.

The problem comes when someone either A; doesn't know that there is an answer, so assumes it doesn't existing or
B; kinda knows in general there is an answer, but doesn't know the details or how to find them; and pull answers out of their butt

 

[ponytug]

Einstein was mocked a bit for not having memorized the speed of sound, when taking the “Edison test”. He replied with, “I do not carry such information in my mind since it is readily available in books.”

It’s kind of ironic that the man who may have been the greatest mind of all time, certainly of modern history, was even being tested by the standards of a comparative idiot like Edison.

To set the record straight, few people have worked harder in their lives than Edison. He was a successful inventor because he was relentless, out-working basically every scientist and engineer of his time, not because he was exceptionally smart. He may have been even of slightly above-average intelligence, but comparing him to Einstein is like comparing a sporty version of a Toyota Corolla to an Indy car.

There is a similar story about Feynman being astounded that biologists memorize the anatomy of a cat.

Samuel Johnson once wrote;
"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it..."
(Boswell's Life of Johnson )

All the best,

Peter

 

[MossRoad]

Anyone here play along with Jeopardy? Wife and I do several times a week. Pretty fun.

 

[Alan46]

Anyone here play along with Jeopardy? Wife and I do several times a week. Pretty fun.

We never miss a new show! We don’t watch the celebrity version!
It will be interesting to see how, Ryan Seacrest does as the new host!

 

[WinterDeere]

It will be interesting to see how, Ryan Seacrest does as the new host!

This may by the first time I've ever seen "interesting" and "Ryan Seacrest" appear in the same sentence. That guy has all the talent and appeal of a Kardashian without the T&A.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

One thing I've pondered over many times is the question of is it better to know all the answers or know where to find the all the answers?

Engineers are taught to find answers, and discouraged from knowing things beyond universal knowledge like conversion factors, gravitational acceleration, etc. which don’t change. The most critical things engineers do, are governed by codes and standards which get revised every three or four years, and may have interim updates if something really critical comes up. So, they stress looking things up, and recording where you looked it up.. If you end up in court because something you designed fails, you better be ready to defend your decisions.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

The problem with buried bodies is someone eventually comes along to 'develop' the land and boom! there's an investigation.

Not if you bury them under something with a 100-year design life like a major waterline, or natural gas transmission line.

 

[Jstpssng]

Not if you bury them under something with a 100-year design life like a major waterline, or natural gas transmission line.

You guys are starting to make me nervous.
How do you know these things?
>
>
>
>
>
Have you been following me around?

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Well I did something thing(s) stupid.
I remember what a friend said when we were kids: "everything you do takes 5 minutes or 5 hours, no exception". The temperature sensor was bad on an engine and when I replaced it that last little tweak snapped it off. Thankfully a screw extractor got it out. I ordered one shipped overnight and in a hurry to install dropped it...but where? After taking radiator, fan, pulleys, etc. off I spotted it inside harmonic balancer, last place I looked. Small forceps got it out.
Installed it works fine.

 

[MossRoad]

You guys are starting to make me nervous.
How do you know these things?
>
>
>
>
>
Have you been following me around?

Why follow you? Let the electronic trackers do the work.

 

[Dftodd]

The problem with buried bodies is someone eventually comes along to 'develop' the land and boom! there's an investigation.

That's why you bury them on the neighbors property

 

[Dftodd]

Often the answer is you need to know the answers to the simple stuff, And that there are answer, and how to find them, for the more complex stuff. In my work, there are 1000s of pages of spec, and you don't need to know the exact detail; although for stuff you do daily, you really should. On stuff that maybe comes up 1/month, you should be pretty sure What the answer is, and where to find the details of that answer.

The problem comes when someone either A; doesn't know that there is an answer, so assumes it doesn't existing or
B; kinda knows in general there is an answer, but doesn't know the details or how to find them; and pull answers out of their butt

I've run into that latter when dealing with new engineers when working oil field.

I rent water pumps and related items.

We had an oil field customer (new engineer, fresh out of college) that was put in charge of setting up his first water transfer.

He sends over this huge list of fittings they need for this job. Quite a bit of it we had to purchase, so my boss worked it out with them that we would supply the items for purchase.

Me, getting all this stuff together, and being part of these jobs before, I had a pretty good idea what they were trying to do.

So when I took them all the items they ordered, plus the equipment, I also threw on a couple manifolds we had built and rented for similar applications.

So I get to the jobsite, and sure enough, I was right and those manifold would work perfectly for the job.

So.... I sell them all the fittings they ordered, plus rented them the manifolds that I brought along, since the employees stated we're gonna use the manifolds since they could tie into them with a short hose and be up and running.

The engineer learned a lesson that day. Instead of trying to figure it out all on your own, consult the folks that do it on a daily basis. Chances are good they have done similar before and can come up with a quick solution.

 

[Dftodd]

Anyone here play along with Jeopardy? Wife and I do several times a week. Pretty fun.

That channel fades in and out too much at my place.

I have an antennae for local TV.

 

[Dftodd]

We never miss a new show! We don’t watch the celebrity version!
It will be interesting to see how, Ryan Seacrest does as the new host!

I thought Seacrest is the new host of wheel of fortune???

 

[Dftodd]

You guys are starting to make me nervous.
How do you know these things?
>
>
>
>
>
Have you been following me around?

 

[MossRoad]

I thought Seacrest is the new host of wheel of fortune???

See the thread about pill organizers....

 

[WinterDeere]

I've run into that latter when dealing with new engineers when working oil field.

I rent water pumps and related items.

We had an oil field customer (new engineer, fresh out of college) that was put in charge of setting up his first water transfer.

He sends over this huge list of fittings they need for this job. Quite a bit of it we had to purchase, so my boss worked it out with them that we would supply the items for purchase.

Me, getting all this stuff together, and being part of these jobs before, I had a pretty good idea what they were trying to do.

So when I took them all the items they ordered, plus the equipment, I also threw on a couple manifolds we had built and rented for similar applications.

So I get to the jobsite, and sure enough, I was right and those manifold would work perfectly for the job.

So.... I sell them all the fittings they ordered, plus rented them the manifolds that I brought along, since the employees stated we're gonna use the manifolds since they could tie into them with a short hose and be up and running.

The engineer learned a lesson that day. Instead of trying to figure it out all on your own, consult the folks that do it on a daily basis. Chances are good they have done similar before and can come up with a quick solution.

There are a lot of things that separate a good engineer from most, and near the top of that short list are:

1. Wrench-turners. If you were the kid fixing everyone's bicycles at age 13, and then all of your friends' cars at age 17... you're going to be a better than average engineer.

2. Talk to the production and service folks. If your short list of best friends don't include the people who've been producing and servicing the product for 20-30 years, you're doomed to repeat all the mistakes of the past.

3. Work in manufacturing, or if you don't have the chance to do it, at least hang out there. E.g., if you're designing machined parts, you'd better have a pretty good idea of how the machinist is going to fixture and mill or turn that part, so you don't come up with designs sensitive to tolerances they can never hope to hold.