By MARK DEVOLDER
Los Alamos
What I find troubling in America today is that we as a people put too much emphasis on tearing everything to pieces – consumer goods, machines, other people, the environment – you name it. Tearing things to pieces is often meant to save time, save money (make money), or demonstrate some kind of power over something/someone. Tearing things to pieces is a sign of destruction/demolition and is opposite to building, fabrication or constructive behavior. Building or making something often requires planning and implementation in a “precise” manner. Almost anything can be “thrown together;” however, that demonstrates a lack of precision and such endeavors generally will not stand the test of time.
A number of years ago, I watched an engineer open a plastic wrapping around a rolled-up calendar. He ripped the plastic wrapping open. If you watch some people at Christmas time opening up presents, they rip the wrapping paper off the presents. There is no thought given to reusing or repurposing the wrapping paper. I can’t understand why presents are not wrapped up in discarded brown Kraft paper food bags from McDonald’s, etc. instead if the end use of wrapping paper is discard. Take a look at some of the items that get recycled. Envelopes and packages containing consumer goods get ripped open. There is no use of scissors, a razor blade or a pocket knife which demonstrates a certain lack of precision. It may take more time to carefully disassemble something but it takes less energy, creates less waste and allows for the recovery of raw materials. Importantly, it demonstrates a certain level of care and intelligence. A mountain lion can tear another animal to pieces for food. However, I have higher expectations for human beings.
The recycle bin at the Los Alamos USPS often contains USPS envelopes and packages which have not been used for mailing but have an address written on them. Now why is that? Is it because the items are “free” and therefore no planning is required for their use? Is putting writing or graffiti all over USPS materials a good use of the nicely manufactured materials? Are the users thinking about what they plan to do in advance? Among other things, this kind of wasteful behavior contributes to the steady rise in postal costs. Other folks think the envelopes and packages are useful as “filler” for packaging efforts. I thought that was the purpose of materials like Styrofoam peanuts, starch peanuts, crumpled up newspapers, flexible and rigid polyurethane foam, etc. Some precision is needed here.
I enjoy working on electrical and mechanical items. I see many used (pre-owned if you don’t like the term used) items which have been abused. The items are often covered with dirt, oil/grease, human/pet hair, adhesive-back labels, food deposits, orphan chemicals, etc. The same items may have been repaired in a clumsy fashion or sloppily with some packing tape, masking tape or glue poured all over it like a chocolate sundae. In addition, the items may be damaged somehow (for example, broken, crushed), missing pieces/accessories, etc. About 90 percent of the time there is no original box, no instruction booklet, warranty card, etc. In comparison when someone dies, the body of the deceased is typically sent to a mortuary and then acceptably prepared for a funeral and finally burial. An electrical or mechanical consumer product gets no such thoughtful treatment. It is also distressing that handyman books, repair books, and quilting books seem to be showing up at the Mesa Public Library bookstore by the bushel load. Such beneficial sources of information, which often contain step-by-step instructions/drawings/images, no longer seem necessary. Often, people no longer have the skills/training (or the interest) necessary to utilize such books. Of course, there is information available on YouTube. However, the quality of some of the information available on the internet varies all over the spectrum from being useful to worthless or even dangerous. Some precision, training and hard work is needed here.
A few years ago, I found some odd pieces of small wood which had been randomly hammered together with a variety of different size nails. Maybe it was a child’s experiment. Someone might say, “Oh, how creative.” However, there was no planning which went into it. There obviously was no parent, instructor or mentor around to supervise or demonstrate how something needs to be planned out and pieces carefully cut out, sanded, assembled and then painted. There obviously was no use of a ruler, a try square, handsaw, etc. Some precision is needed here.
Imagine if you went to a doctor and you as the patient were treated in the same way that most people treat their possessions. The doctor is going to rip you open, pour dirt, chemicals and glue all over you, and declare, “Aren’t I smart.” Right. I remember visiting a doctor’s office prior to having the doctor perform surgery on me. There was something interesting in the doctor’s examination room which caught my attention while I was waiting. All the cords for the electrical equipment were neatly coiled up, assembled with twist ties and were hanging on the wall just below the electrical outlets. Yes, there was quite a bit of attention paid to detail or some precision at work in the examination room. Who would you prefer to have working on your innards?
How about the news? I saw the following article on the internet recently.
Story by Brad Dress The Hill 3-6-2024
Plutonium pit ‘panic’ threatens America’s nuclear ambitions
“At Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where the U.S. tested its first nuclear bomb, work on a key component of the next generation of nuclear missiles is already underway.”
Wow! Were all of the Los Alamos “Scientific” Laboratory buildings and the community blown off the hill when the first nuclear bomb was tested? I don’t think so. The first nuclear bomb was tested at a previously-designated site in southern New Mexico. The article should have indicated that the U. S. “developed” the first nuclear bomb at LASL in Los Alamos and the testing was accomplished in another location. This kind of error begins to make all news information suspect to some degree. Much more precision in reporting is definitely needed.
When I visit the canned fruit and vegetable aisle at Smith’s grocery store, I often see packs of school lunch-type fruit containers lying on the floor of the aisle with spilled fruit and juice all over the place. The packaging is narrow on the bottom, wider in the middle and narrow on top. The packages can (and do) tip over easily. After years of seeing this, it is apparent that the supplier of the fruit container packages has no interest in upgrading their product so that it sits on the store shelf in a safe and secure manner. Some precision is needed here. (Note: This issue is on my “to-do” list. I need to write to the fruit manufacturer and suggest some potential solutions to the packaging problem. I don’t want to see the current practice continued.)
How about driving in Los Alamos County? Is staying in the middle of a traffic lane while driving so difficult? I don’t drink alcoholic beverages, talk on an i-phone, fiddle with some kind of sound system, look at electronic maps, yell at the kids in the back seat or shave while I am driving; therefore, staying in the middle of a traffic lane while I am driving is not too difficult. Staying in the middle of the curved traffic lanes on Diamond presents a severe challenge for some Los Alamos County drivers. Some precision is needed here.
I like to repair things with strips of tin can stock. I start by making a detailed drawing or sketch with dimensions. I use a dial-type caliper graduated in thousands of an inch to transfer the dimensions to pieces of tin can stock. The measurements are marked on the tin can stock as needed using a single edge razor blade. The various dimensions create a pattern or layout for a part. A pair of ordinary scissors are used to cut out the part. Various types of pliers are used to flatten, bend and shape the part. There is considerable planning and precision which goes into making each and every part. Maybe I learned this from watching my mother working with light-weight paper dress patterns when I was a child. Many Americans no longer work in factories to manufacture consumer goods and have lost the ability to do such work. I remember being at work one time and marking a line on a piece of paper and cutting along the line with a pair of scissors. Another employee was watching me and said that he could not do such a thing. I wondered how hard he tried and if he kept practicing at such an effort for an extended time period until he got it right. Some precision is definitely needed to help him with life challenges.
I read an article on the internet about “defective” pressure washers which were returned to a vendor. The items were being sold off to another company that refurbished the pressure washers if the pump assemblies were not damaged. The refurbishing company that provided the internet article indicated that men typically do not read instruction booklets. Consequently, they do not fill up the reservoir with water on a pressure washer prior to start-up. Without any water in the system, the pumps quickly burn up and it ruins the equipment. Some precision is needed here It is called reading and following the guidance in the instruction manual. Women who cook/bake (if they still engage in this activity) are pretty good at following recipes or modifying recipes as needed to achieve certain desirable results. In this regard, the score is as follows: Women – 1, Men – 0 when it comes to following instructional guidance. Some women are meticulous and have worked at jobs like assembling the ablative heat shields for NASA spacecraft. Robert Goddard tested rockets in southern New Mexico. Many of the rockets crashed. Goddard examined the remains for failures, built new/improved rockets and then tested them. When Wernher von Braun was asked, “How was your team of rocket scientists able to develop the V-2 rocket utilized with devastating results during WWII. His response was, “Robert Goddard.” Sounds like precision was at work again.
Women tend to engage in behavior which is safe. Men tend to engage in behavior which is risky. Perhaps that helps to explain why many women do not pursue college-level training in the science and engineering disciplines. Perhaps it helps to explain why many men do not perform household chores. Such work many be considered beneath their status as single-combat (armchair quarterback?) warriors. Both traits are needed to survive in our complex, challenging and fiercely competitive world. In this regard, men and women could learn from each other with some precision.
I saw a TV news broadcast where a reporter was asking teenagers to multiply a couple of numbers together. For the most part, the teenagers fumbled around, guessed, etc. What nonsense, did the teenagers ask to take a minute and get a sheet of paper and a pencil? No they did not. Some precision is needed here.
I believe we have many capable people living in America today. I strongly believe we need to embark on a 1960’s-type space race to build and rebuild our industrial/manufacturing capability regardless of cost – everything from toothbrushes to turbine blades for jet aircraft engines, hydroelectric dams and wind-powered systems. Not only is precision needed, we need to appropriately school a whole new generation of scientists, engineers, and technicians to staff the build-up of a Renaissance-type industrial/manufacturing capability in America. That is what has been happening all over Asia for decades now as America declines. In New Mexico, we can continue to make arts and crafts which are beautiful and implemented with precision. Or, we can make salsa which is tasty and made with precision. However, that is not going to have a major impact on our national debt situation or fend off hostile regimes in other countries who hate everything the America has stood for historically and stands for now. Wake up America, you should now know what the problem is precisely and what to do about it.