Posted On: Thursday - December 4th 2025 2:04PM MST
In Topics: Artificial Stupidity Big-Biz Stupidity
I decided not to even add the Curmudgeonry tag to this post. I don't think you have to be "plain sick of all this newfangled stuff" to be miffed, if not upset, by incompetence. This is not ordinary people incompetence but incompetence of the Artificial Stupidity we are forced to deal with daily. Other than the people who set it up to begin with, with this kind often no actual humans must be involved.
It started off with some minor human incompetence. Our electric power was acting very wacky, and eventually I determined, by looking in the right place finally(!) that this was due to the ground/neutral wire of our standard 2-phase power being on the ground.* (It is also the structural support for the 2 insulated hot wires, so it's pretty important in that way too.)
Well, though we could have used more of our appliances working, especially the HVAC unit, this was no emergency. The lady on the phone at (I think) the power company treated it as such. OK, well, better yet, a guy would come that evening. I explained to her that we knew what the problem was, that neutral wire. She listened supportingly and said "You'll get a text message..."
Oh, I got text messages all right. First, I was texted that "Hey, we (at the power company) see you have good voltage on your lines. Perhaps you should check your circuit breaker box.", to paraphrase.
I went back to the phones. "I told the lady that the neutral line is off the house. That's the problem. I guess your fancy system can't tell that." Well, we talked for a bit, he got it, and we both agreed that "no, that lady you talked to knows nothing about electricity." Sure, except I did ask her to enter that note... "OK, when will you be here?" "No, I'm not in a truck - I'm the guy that sends the trucks out." It was all perfectly pleasant. "He'll text you when he's on the way."
Next text, again to paraphrase: "It looks like you have good voltage on your lines. Perhaps you should check your breaker box." This one WAS from the guy in the truck, or at least it came from a number that got him... somehow... "Yeah, didn't the guy who sent you out tell you that the neutral line is off the house?" "No, this stuff is automated." Errr, wouldn't you think the other guy could update the "ticket" in the database with this note, say for this guy driving over? Nah, it's just computers automatically doing their thing, based on their knowledge from sensors or other computers. No humans were involved, so nothing was learned by the computers... who are there to inform the humans. Perhaps the system didn't LET humans interact with it... or the humans didn't have to interface with the computers like I did.
It was dark, but the 2 guys arrived, got their ladder in place, and winched the neutral line back up and connected it.* Good power was restored. Again, it was all very pleasant. Besides an electrically-destroyed clock, power strip, and some bulbs, nothing much was harmed.
The next day I got a series of text messages from the power company. Each one informed me that a guy would be out to the house to fix the power by 5 PM.
* They'd taken it down for tree work but not connected it well enough - a guy later said they'd put too much tension on it.
Comments:
Adam Smith
Friday - December 5th 2025 6:44PM MST
PS: Always happy to help, Mr. SafeNow. Happy Friday! ☮️
SafeNow
Friday - December 5th 2025 5:07PM MST
PS
Thank you, Mr. Adam Smith. Your first URL works to pull-up an image of my card. It was very nice of you to find this so that Peaksters can use it as a kind of time machine.
Thank you, Mr. Adam Smith. Your first URL works to pull-up an image of my card. It was very nice of you to find this so that Peaksters can use it as a kind of time machine.
Adam Smith
Friday - December 5th 2025 4:12PM MST
PS: Good evening, Mr. SafeNow,
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71krXU6ZyFL._AC_SL1250_.jpg
https://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Drive-Movie-Christmas-Cards/dp/B0FG9KQ9RB
Is this the card? ☮️
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71krXU6ZyFL._AC_SL1250_.jpg
https://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Drive-Movie-Christmas-Cards/dp/B0FG9KQ9RB
Is this the card? ☮️
SafeNow
Friday - December 5th 2025 9:46AM MST
PS
Thank you, Mr. Moderator, for having an interest in actually seeing the retro Christmas cards I ordered from Amazon. You could google: “Retro Christmas card drive-in movie Amazon” and then click image search and it will pop-up. I think it originated at a company called Retro Christmas cards. My fellow geriatrics* will appreciate the metaphor of this card, because they lived through the sweet time.
Which leads to the larger issue…which you noted…the old vs. the new. You are as cognizant of the “the old,” Mr. Moderator, as anyone could possibly be who did not actually live through the heart of it. But still…stated bluntly…you are not old enough to fully appreciate the “life feeling” of it. I THINK that is true. But I realize that your empathic ability, and, your knowledge of the underlying historical facts, might possibly be sufficient to place your brain - - and your heart(!) - - into what it FELT like.
*I was graduated from high school in 1966. (Which you have probably guesstimated by now. ) Adding to my vista of the feel of the era : My school was a combined high school and junior high. Thus, when I was a mere middle schooler, I was observing it…able to closely see it. By the time I was a h.s. junior and senior, I could tell that the feel of life was already on a downward course.
Thank you, Mr. Moderator, for having an interest in actually seeing the retro Christmas cards I ordered from Amazon. You could google: “Retro Christmas card drive-in movie Amazon” and then click image search and it will pop-up. I think it originated at a company called Retro Christmas cards. My fellow geriatrics* will appreciate the metaphor of this card, because they lived through the sweet time.
Which leads to the larger issue…which you noted…the old vs. the new. You are as cognizant of the “the old,” Mr. Moderator, as anyone could possibly be who did not actually live through the heart of it. But still…stated bluntly…you are not old enough to fully appreciate the “life feeling” of it. I THINK that is true. But I realize that your empathic ability, and, your knowledge of the underlying historical facts, might possibly be sufficient to place your brain - - and your heart(!) - - into what it FELT like.
*I was graduated from high school in 1966. (Which you have probably guesstimated by now. ) Adding to my vista of the feel of the era : My school was a combined high school and junior high. Thus, when I was a mere middle schooler, I was observing it…able to closely see it. By the time I was a h.s. junior and senior, I could tell that the feel of life was already on a downward course.
Moderator
Friday - December 5th 2025 8:18AM MST
PS: Good morning, M. "Insufficient Domain Knowledge" I get that. It's possible there's no way to enter special notes. Maybe there are only check boxes on the interface (portal) the lady at the power company used. Would "erratic power" or something not be one of the options? With all the possibilities, wouldn't "wires separated from the dwelling", even if not specific, be one? (You'd think not the programmers but those who specified it would have accumulated some experience.)
If not, they've got their system to measure voltage of, I guess, each of the 2 phases of +/- 120 V, but if the system relies on that, then why even send any truck over until you figure it out? Was that for people that don't know how to get into their breaker box or even where it is? That's possible, I suppose.
Yes, those are good questions/points in your last 2 paragraphs.
If not, they've got their system to measure voltage of, I guess, each of the 2 phases of +/- 120 V, but if the system relies on that, then why even send any truck over until you figure it out? Was that for people that don't know how to get into their breaker box or even where it is? That's possible, I suppose.
Yes, those are good questions/points in your last 2 paragraphs.
M
Friday - December 5th 2025 4:27AM MST
PS
Insufficient domain knowledge on the part of the people who said "What problems could occur?" when programming it.
The programmers ask someone who's presented to them as the guy who knows this stuff. That guy comes up with a list, and the programmers put that list in.
If someone forgets that this could happen somewhere along the way, that problem doesn't go on the list.
I suspect the person on the phones is about like that lady in Idiocracy who had a bunch of buttons to push to come up with the ticket. No button, "does not compute", no ticket.
Hired for the ability to be patient with callers who are idiots. You aren't, but it only takes a half dozen people calling the power company thinking it will fix their toaster or something for some people to quit.
Is there even a comments section in the ticket? Does it have useful comments often enough that the lineman even looks at it these days? Who knows.
Insufficient domain knowledge on the part of the people who said "What problems could occur?" when programming it.
The programmers ask someone who's presented to them as the guy who knows this stuff. That guy comes up with a list, and the programmers put that list in.
If someone forgets that this could happen somewhere along the way, that problem doesn't go on the list.
I suspect the person on the phones is about like that lady in Idiocracy who had a bunch of buttons to push to come up with the ticket. No button, "does not compute", no ticket.
Hired for the ability to be patient with callers who are idiots. You aren't, but it only takes a half dozen people calling the power company thinking it will fix their toaster or something for some people to quit.
Is there even a comments section in the ticket? Does it have useful comments often enough that the lineman even looks at it these days? Who knows.
Moderator
Thursday - December 4th 2025 10:05PM MST
PS: Good evening, SafeNow. In my very first Peak Stupidity post, I asked "Am I a curmudgeon". It's hard to separate out the reasons we don't like the new America, the new world, new ANYTHING. It is because we just don't want to learn anything new, as things get different but not necessarily worse, or is that they are truly getting worse.
I think the posts here tend toward the latter idea. I guess you can't send us your Christmas card here, unless you want to put it up somewhere where I could screen-capture it. How about on TUR?
I think the posts here tend toward the latter idea. I guess you can't send us your Christmas card here, unless you want to put it up somewhere where I could screen-capture it. How about on TUR?
SafeNow
Thursday - December 4th 2025 6:25PM MST
PS
Thanks, I share your pain…having to endure these maddening new forms of incompetence: Computers talking to computers, plus the implied assumption that if their text is involved, they must be on the ball and smarter than you. Ah, for the old days…which reminds me…I just ordered, in protest of the new, my Christmas cards, which I located by adding the words retro and vintage to my google image search. The card I selected depicts a drive-in movie, wood-paneled station wagons, and, a snack bar located near the big screen. Ah, drive-in movies…a great family evening out…but of course my thoughts also turn to - - you already guessed it - - Me and Susie had so much fun.
Thanks, I share your pain…having to endure these maddening new forms of incompetence: Computers talking to computers, plus the implied assumption that if their text is involved, they must be on the ball and smarter than you. Ah, for the old days…which reminds me…I just ordered, in protest of the new, my Christmas cards, which I located by adding the words retro and vintage to my google image search. The card I selected depicts a drive-in movie, wood-paneled station wagons, and, a snack bar located near the big screen. Ah, drive-in movies…a great family evening out…but of course my thoughts also turn to - - you already guessed it - - Me and Susie had so much fun.