#electrical company Calgary | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mostlysignssomeportents · 7 months ago

Text

“Humans in the loop” must detect the hardest-to-spot errors, at superhuman speed

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me SATURDAY (Apr 27) in MARIN COUNTY, then Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

If AI has a future (a big if), it will have to be economically viable. An industry can't spend 1,700% more on Nvidia chips than it earns indefinitely – not even with Nvidia being a principle investor in its largest customers:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39883571

A company that pays 0.36-1 cents/query for electricity and (scarce, fresh) water can't indefinitely give those queries away by the millions to people who are expected to revise those queries dozens of times before eliciting the perfect botshit rendition of "instructions for removing a grilled cheese sandwich from a VCR in the style of the King James Bible":

https://www.semianalysis.com/p/the-inference-cost-of-search-disruption

Eventually, the industry will have to uncover some mix of applications that will cover its operating costs, if only to keep the lights on in the face of investor disillusionment (this isn't optional – investor disillusionment is an inevitable part of every bubble).

Now, there are lots of low-stakes applications for AI that can run just fine on the current AI technology, despite its many – and seemingly inescapable - errors ("hallucinations"). People who use AI to generate illustrations of their D&D characters engaged in epic adventures from their previous gaming session don't care about the odd extra finger. If the chatbot powering a tourist's automatic text-to-translation-to-speech phone tool gets a few words wrong, it's still much better than the alternative of speaking slowly and loudly in your own language while making emphatic hand-gestures.

There are lots of these applications, and many of the people who benefit from them would doubtless pay something for them. The problem – from an AI company's perspective – is that these aren't just low-stakes, they're also low-value. Their users would pay something for them, but not very much.

For AI to keep its servers on through the coming trough of disillusionment, it will have to locate high-value applications, too. Economically speaking, the function of low-value applications is to soak up excess capacity and produce value at the margins after the high-value applications pay the bills. Low-value applications are a side-dish, like the coach seats on an airplane whose total operating expenses are paid by the business class passengers up front. Without the principle income from high-value applications, the servers shut down, and the low-value applications disappear:

https://locusmag.com/2023/12/commentary-cory-doctorow-what-kind-of-bubble-is-ai/

Now, there are lots of high-value applications the AI industry has identified for its products. Broadly speaking, these high-value applications share the same problem: they are all high-stakes, which means they are very sensitive to errors. Mistakes made by apps that produce code, drive cars, or identify cancerous masses on chest X-rays are extremely consequential.

Some businesses may be insensitive to those consequences. Air Canada replaced its human customer service staff with chatbots that just lied to passengers, stealing hundreds of dollars from them in the process. But the process for getting your money back after you are defrauded by Air Canada's chatbot is so onerous that only one passenger has bothered to go through it, spending ten weeks exhausting all of Air Canada's internal review mechanisms before fighting his case for weeks more at the regulator:

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/air-canada-s-chatbot-gave-a-b-c-man-the-wrong-information-now-the-airline-has-to-pay-for-the-mistake-1.6769454

There's never just one ant. If this guy was defrauded by an AC chatbot, so were hundreds or thousands of other fliers. Air Canada doesn't have to pay them back. Air Canada is tacitly asserting that, as the country's flagship carrier and near-monopolist, it is too big to fail and too big to jail, which means it's too big to care.

Air Canada shows that for some business customers, AI doesn't need to be able to do a worker's job in order to be a smart purchase: a chatbot can replace a worker, fail to their worker's job, and still save the company money on balance.

I can't predict whether the world's sociopathic monopolists are numerous and powerful enough to keep the lights on for AI companies through leases for automation systems that let them commit consequence-free free fraud by replacing workers with chatbots that serve as moral crumple-zones for furious customers:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563219304029

But even stipulating that this is sufficient, it's intrinsically unstable. Anything that can't go on forever eventually stops, and the mass replacement of humans with high-speed fraud software seems likely to stoke the already blazing furnace of modern antitrust:

https://www.eff.org/de/deeplinks/2021/08/party-its-1979-og-antitrust-back-baby

Of course, the AI companies have their own answer to this conundrum. A high-stakes/high-value customer can still fire workers and replace them with AI – they just need to hire fewer, cheaper workers to supervise the AI and monitor it for "hallucinations." This is called the "human in the loop" solution.

The human in the loop story has some glaring holes. From a worker's perspective, serving as the human in the loop in a scheme that cuts wage bills through AI is a nightmare – the worst possible kind of automation.

Let's pause for a little detour through automation theory here. Automation can augment a worker. We can call this a "centaur" – the worker offloads a repetitive task, or one that requires a high degree of vigilance, or (worst of all) both. They're a human head on a robot body (hence "centaur"). Think of the sensor/vision system in your car that beeps if you activate your turn-signal while a car is in your blind spot. You're in charge, but you're getting a second opinion from the robot.

Likewise, consider an AI tool that double-checks a radiologist's diagnosis of your chest X-ray and suggests a second look when its assessment doesn't match the radiologist's. Again, the human is in charge, but the robot is serving as a backstop and helpmeet, using its inexhaustible robotic vigilance to augment human skill.

That's centaurs. They're the good automation. Then there's the bad automation: the reverse-centaur, when the human is used to augment the robot.

Amazon warehouse pickers stand in one place while robotic shelving units trundle up to them at speed; then, the haptic bracelets shackled around their wrists buzz at them, directing them pick up specific items and move them to a basket, while a third automation system penalizes them for taking toilet breaks or even just walking around and shaking out their limbs to avoid a repetitive strain injury. This is a robotic head using a human body – and destroying it in the process.

An AI-assisted radiologist processes fewer chest X-rays every day, costing their employer more, on top of the cost of the AI. That's not what AI companies are selling. They're offering hospitals the power to create reverse centaurs: radiologist-assisted AIs. That's what "human in the loop" means.

This is a problem for workers, but it's also a problem for their bosses (assuming those bosses actually care about correcting AI hallucinations, rather than providing a figleaf that lets them commit fraud or kill people and shift the blame to an unpunishable AI).

Humans are good at a lot of things, but they're not good at eternal, perfect vigilance. Writing code is hard, but performing code-review (where you check someone else's code for errors) is much harder – and it gets even harder if the code you're reviewing is usually fine, because this requires that you maintain your vigilance for something that only occurs at rare and unpredictable intervals:

https://twitter.com/qntm/status/1773779967521780169

But for a coding shop to make the cost of an AI pencil out, the human in the loop needs to be able to process a lot of AI-generated code. Replacing a human with an AI doesn't produce any savings if you need to hire two more humans to take turns doing close reads of the AI's code.

This is the fatal flaw in robo-taxi schemes. The "human in the loop" who is supposed to keep the murderbot from smashing into other cars, steering into oncoming traffic, or running down pedestrians isn't a driver, they're a driving instructor. This is a much harder job than being a driver, even when the student driver you're monitoring is a human, making human mistakes at human speed. It's even harder when the student driver is a robot, making errors at computer speed:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/01/human-in-the-loop/#monkey-in-the-middle

This is why the doomed robo-taxi company Cruise had to deploy 1.5 skilled, high-paid human monitors to oversee each of its murderbots, while traditional taxis operate at a fraction of the cost with a single, precaratized, low-paid human driver:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/11/robots-stole-my-jerb/#computer-says-no

The vigilance problem is pretty fatal for the human-in-the-loop gambit, but there's another problem that is, if anything, even more fatal: the kinds of errors that AIs make.

Foundationally, AI is applied statistics. An AI company trains its AI by feeding it a lot of data about the real world. The program processes this data, looking for statistical correlations in that data, and makes a model of the world based on those correlations. A chatbot is a next-word-guessing program, and an AI "art" generator is a next-pixel-guessing program. They're drawing on billions of documents to find the most statistically likely way of finishing a sentence or a line of pixels in a bitmap:

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3442188.3445922

This means that AI doesn't just make errors – it makes subtle errors, the kinds of errors that are the hardest for a human in the loop to spot, because they are the most statistically probable ways of being wrong. Sure, we notice the gross errors in AI output, like confidently claiming that a living human is dead:

https://www.tomsguide.com/opinion/according-to-chatgpt-im-dead

But the most common errors that AIs make are the ones we don't notice, because they're perfectly camouflaged as the truth. Think of the recurring AI programming error that inserts a call to a nonexistent library called "huggingface-cli," which is what the library would be called if developers reliably followed naming conventions. But due to a human inconsistency, the real library has a slightly different name. The fact that AIs repeatedly inserted references to the nonexistent library opened up a vulnerability – a security researcher created a (inert) malicious library with that name and tricked numerous companies into compiling it into their code because their human reviewers missed the chatbot's (statistically indistinguishable from the the truth) lie:

https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/28/ai_bots_hallucinate_software_packages/

For a driving instructor or a code reviewer overseeing a human subject, the majority of errors are comparatively easy to spot, because they're the kinds of errors that lead to inconsistent library naming – places where a human behaved erratically or irregularly. But when reality is irregular or erratic, the AI will make errors by presuming that things are statistically normal.

These are the hardest kinds of errors to spot. They couldn't be harder for a human to detect if they were specifically designed to go undetected. The human in the loop isn't just being asked to spot mistakes – they're being actively deceived. The AI isn't merely wrong, it's constructing a subtle "what's wrong with this picture"-style puzzle. Not just one such puzzle, either: millions of them, at speed, which must be solved by the human in the loop, who must remain perfectly vigilant for things that are, by definition, almost totally unnoticeable.

This is a special new torment for reverse centaurs – and a significant problem for AI companies hoping to accumulate and keep enough high-value, high-stakes customers on their books to weather the coming trough of disillusionment.

This is pretty grim, but it gets grimmer. AI companies have argued that they have a third line of business, a way to make money for their customers beyond automation's gifts to their payrolls: they claim that they can perform difficult scientific tasks at superhuman speed, producing billion-dollar insights (new materials, new drugs, new proteins) at unimaginable speed.

However, these claims – credulously amplified by the non-technical press – keep on shattering when they are tested by experts who understand the esoteric domains in which AI is said to have an unbeatable advantage. For example, Google claimed that its Deepmind AI had discovered "millions of new materials," "equivalent to nearly 800 years’ worth of knowledge," constituting "an order-of-magnitude expansion in stable materials known to humanity":

https://deepmind.google/discover/blog/millions-of-new-materials-discovered-with-deep-learning/

It was a hoax. When independent material scientists reviewed representative samples of these "new materials," they concluded that "no new materials have been discovered" and that not one of these materials was "credible, useful and novel":

https://www.404media.co/google-says-it-discovered-millions-of-new-materials-with-ai-human-researchers/

As Brian Merchant writes, AI claims are eerily similar to "smoke and mirrors" – the dazzling reality-distortion field thrown up by 17th century magic lantern technology, which millions of people ascribed wild capabilities to, thanks to the outlandish claims of the technology's promoters:

https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/ai-really-is-smoke-and-mirrors

The fact that we have a four-hundred-year-old name for this phenomenon, and yet we're still falling prey to it is frankly a little depressing. And, unlucky for us, it turns out that AI therapybots can't help us with this – rather, they're apt to literally convince us to kill ourselves:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkadgm/man-dies-by-suicide-after-talking-with-ai-chatbot-widow-says

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/23/maximal-plausibility/#reverse-centaurs

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

#pluralistic #ai #automation #humans in the loop #centaurs #reverse centaurs #labor #ai safety #sanity checks #spot the mistake #code review #driving instructor

853 notes · View notes

rebelsandtherest · 2 years ago

Text

Home for Christmas

Words: 4,049

Summary: Matthew falls ill just before the family Christmas bash, and thinks he's missed the entire thing. However, once he hears that his baby brother is sick, Alfred concocts a bit of a holiday surprise. —— this fic is a little late, but Merry Christmas, everyone, and here's to many more!

Warnings: langauge, talk of family during holidays, nothing else that I can think of.

Author’s note: a belated gift to a dear friend, @draw-a-circle-thats-the-compass

------------------

For however many hundreds of winters Matthew Williams had endured in his home, be it in the warmth of an electric-heated home, or warding off frostbite in the untamed wilderness, he would never truly get used to the speed with which the solar night crept down from the pole. It was the dark especially that always sent spikes of dread into his bones, stealing away his warmth and setting pallor in his hands and feet, spreading chill upwards to his whole body.

This year, when he felt the frigid fingers of depression reaching through his chest with the 4:30 sunset, he mustered his willpower and on a spiteful whim bought tickets to Calgary. He had a seldom-used mountain cabin tucked away within the confines of Banff, and while he wasn’t sure the new park rangers still received the memo about him and his cabin during orientation, he was willing to invoke the Minister’s ire if it meant he could dust off his best skis and escape his mind on the slopes.

The cabin was just as he’d left it, and the radiators crackled their way to warm almost as soon as he turned them on. His wool blankets had a few new holes in them, but the quilts were warm and the fireplace clean, and he didn’t even have to replace any lightbulbs, not even in the groaning old icebox. His great snowy-white dog, Buddy, quickly found his favorite bear-fur rug and curled up by the fire, ready to dive into the snow alongside his human the next day.

It was only Matt’s luck that he woke up with a sore throat. He lived in denial for a whole day, basking in the perfect weather and flying down every slope he could get his skis on. But as the too-early sunset crept below the mountains, he began to realize he was swaying on his feet, and moreover, that he’d stopped sweating.

“Shit,” He huffed into his scarf. By the time he was back at his cabin, he could taste the fever on his breath.

Matt wasn’t sure what he’d managed to pick up on his journey westward, but whatever it was, be it cold or flu or covid or tuberculosis, within a few days it had him in a death grip and refused to let go. As he lie in bed, fever-dreaming his vacation away, the darkness grew and grew, and soon Matt felt himself falling into the well of despondency that refilled every winter.

Buddy kept him company, and he’d mustered the energy to call his Dutch beau, Jan, once or twice, but the fever had stolen his ability to tell time, and both times he’d spent about half of the call apologizing for waking him at two in the morning, and the other half repeating himself when Jan got lost in his feverish amalgamation of English and French. He had some anxiety-inducing number of unread text messages waiting for him in the corner of his phone, but reading was a doomed endeavor with his puffy, aching eyes. He watched whatever public tv stations still reached his ancient bunny-eared set, but ended up falling asleep nearly as soon as he sat down.

After some untold number of days, his fever broke, and while he was rationing the NyQuil he still had in his cupboards, he’d taken a full dose the first few nights after his fever and had been mostly comatose since. He’d been sound asleep on the couch one afternoon when his phone began to ring, buzzing loudly against the window sill just above him, until it vibrated its way fully off the sill and directly onto Matt’s head.

“Fucking putain,” he groaned and was shocked at how gravelly his voice came out. The offending device had fallen into his lap, buried somewhere in the folds of his blanket, still buzzing away. He fished it out and stabbed at the screen with squinted eyes, looking for the ‘ignore call’ button, but ended up hitting the ‘answer’ button instead. Only then did he see the caller’s name.

“...Mattie? You there?” asked Alfred from the other line. Matt sighed and sank back into bed, rubbing at the spot where his phone had hit, knowing it would be a lump by the end of the hour.

“Yeah?” he answered, trying to rein in his annoyance at being woken up.

“Holy shit bro, you sound terrible. Are you okay?”

“Sick,” Matt told him.

“Sick? I thought you were going skiing!” Matt closed his eyes, which made his head feel like he was spinning.

“I did. Skied. Got sick. Et voilà. ”

“Aww jeez Mattie. Do you think you’ll be good for our flight on Thursday?” Matt blinked.

“What flight?”

“...To London? Dad’s annual fussy Christmas bash, you know the drill.”

“That’s not until the 22nd.”

“...Matt, it’s December 20th.”

“What?” Matt’s voice cracked with his incredulity. “No, it’s… I got here on the 10th, it’s only been a couple of days, the 22nd isn’t until… I mean I don’t know when but it’s more than three days away.”

“Wait you think it’s only been—Mattie, how many days did you ski before you got sick?” Matt hesitated, embarrassed of the answer.

“One.”

“Oh my god,” Alfred sounded genuinely surprised, and it took him a moment to say, “ Matt, you’ve been sick for a week? And you still sound like this? You don’t still have a fever, do you?”

“No, it went away… I can’t remember.” Matt rubbed his face, and every inch ached. “Listen, it’s not December 19th, I swear, if you’re fucking with me–”

“Look at your phone.”

“What?”

“Look at the date on your phone.”

Matt did.

“Fuck,” he said, staring at the giant calendar date as though it would change if he stared long enough.

“Yeah,” Alfred’s voice was tinny away from his ear. Matt finally blinked and sank further under his blankets, and eventually brought the phone back to his face.

“You’re going to have to apologize to dad for me,” Matt said, “I thought it was… Jesus, I missed my flight back to Ottawa, shit.”

“Wait, you're still in Calgary?”

“Banff.”

“You didn’t leave the dog at home, did you?”

“No, he’s with me,” Matt could feel his voice getting more hoarse.

“Well that’s something. Man, you picked a helluva time to get sick, huh.”

“Apparently,” Matt wished he were comatose for all of this.

“Listen, slam some water—or gatorade, if you have it—and get some rest, okay? I know you’re feeding Buddy, but feed yourself too, alright?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Matt.”

“...I’ll try.”

“Good. Listen, I gotta go, but I’ll talk to you soon, okay? Don’t die.”

“I’m not going to die.”

“Glad to hear it. Gotta go. Love you, kiddo, feel better.”

Matt began to respond, but before he could finish, Alfred hung up. Matt watched his brother’s smiling icon disappear from the screen, leaving only the giant, damning calendar. Matt stared at it and sighed, heart sinking down through his bed and the cabin itself and into the frozen ground below. There was no way he’d be in shape to fly to Ottawa in the next three days, to say nothing of flying to Ottawa and then across the Atlantic to London.

Buddy, though far too large to be a lapdog, leapt up onto the couch draped himself across Matt’s body, crawling on his belly until he was able to nose the man’s chin, giving it a lick.

“Yeah I know,” Matt sighed, petting the dog’s soft ears and wishing it could make him feel better. “I guess I should tell dad.” The thought made his heart sink even further. “Uncle Alisdair was going to bring his homemade whiskey and everything. Even Aunt Bridgid agreed to go this year. But I guess it’s just,” Matt craned his neck to look over into his small kitchen. There was an old, half-empty bottle of whiskey and a small bag of miniatures he’d picked up while waiting on his flight. “…that, you, me, and whatever the fuck is left in the fridge. Merry fucking Christmas, eh?” Buddy whined, and licked Matt’s face again. He sighed.

“Yeah, me neither.”

-----------------------------------

December 22nd came and went, and by the 23rd, Matthew was less sick than he had been, but still far from healthy. “I imagine Uncle Rhys has already played referee to five fights by now, what d’you think?” He asked his dog. Buddy sneezed. “You’re right, maybe only four.” Matt tried to imagine it; Alfred and Dad, probably, Brighid and dad, certainly. If they were drunk enough, Zee and Uncle Alistair would fight about who was the better skier. Jack wouldn’t hurt a fly so long as he had a beer or cider in hand, though Alfred was certain to seek out arguments for sport—Matt really wished he could get his brother to understand that most people didn’t view arguments as fun.

In past years, he’d spent weeks complaining to Jan about the chaos that accompanied his family’s holiday’s reunions. Now, left alone in a cabin with nothing but his dog, whiskey, and his own thoughts, he realized that he missed it dearly, in the strangest way.

“I’m going to sleep,” he told his dog, who was practically asleep himself. “Hopefully until the New Year.”

It was an ironic cruelty that it was more difficult to sleep while sick than while healthy. It was as if his body was in a civil war over whether it needed to be asleep and miserable or awake and miserable. So, when Matt finally fell into a deep sleep, the half of his body that preferred to be asleep and miserable fought tooth and nail to keep him that way. Unfortunately, someone was trying to break into his house.

It was actually Buddy who finally roused him. Though the banging on the door was difficult to ignore, Buddy’s frantic barking was even harder to ignore. Head pounding, Matt rolled himself bodily out of bed, taking half of the quilt with him. He dragged it behind him, half draped over him, as he trudged to the door. Behind the old white curtain hanging over the door’s window, there was an imposing, human-shaped shadow.

“Fucking park rangers,” Matt groused, and glared down at Buddy. “I thought I told you to remind me to turn the lights off last night.” Buddy barked at him, and Matt sighed. “Listen,” he unlocked the door and pulled on the handle, “I’m allowed to be here, call your superintendent, I’m sure they’ll—Alfred?!”

“Finally!” beamed his brother, clad in a designer parka and what looked like a home-made toque, “I was beginning to think you were dead, which you promised you wouldn’t be. Can I come in? Fucking freezing out here.”

Matt stared for a prolonged number of seconds before he blurted, voice cracking: “Shouldn’t you be in London?” Alfred looked affronted.

“While my baby brother is on his deathbed in the bumfuck nowhere, Alberta? No way!”

“Banff isn’t bumfuck nowhere, and I’m not dying.”

“Banff isn’t, but this cabin sure is, and I’m glad you’re not dying, now can I please come inside? I’m freezing my nuts off out here.” Matt stood aside, still processing the sight of his brother in the flesh. Buddy’s tail was wagging wildly as Alfred came inside, jumping at the chance to sniff the newcomer, dancing happily around the American in a way he did for no one else.

“You should be in London,” Matt said again, head aching.

“I wasn’t about to leave you here, you dumb fuck, jeez, it’s freezing in here, too.” Alfred cast a look down at Buddy. “You let him live like this?” a singular, insistent bark. “Ah, that tracks. Never was good at looking after himself.” He looked up back to Matt, shedding his mittens and shoving them into his coat pockets. “Alright, kiddo, let’s get you packed.”

“Packed?” Matt’s voice squeaked, and he realized even the small amount of talking he’d done with Alfred was killing his voice completely, “Alfred, I can’t go to London, we talked about this–”

“Who keeps talking about London? Not me—we’re going to my place. Idaho!”

“Idaho?” Matt’s brain took a while to buffer. “Wait, at your—”

“At my ranch? Yup!”

Ranch was not the word Matt would have used; Alfred was as rugged a rancher as any rancher alive or dead, but he also had what Matt could only refer to as a Kardashian sense of luxury, and enough money to blend the two lifestyles together. Matt realized all at once the expense Alfred must have spent to abandon the family Christmas, travel north, and prepare his Idaho mansion for his company. “Alfred, you don’t have to, really—”

“Dude, cut the apologies, I’ve broken like, at least four international laws to park my cessna out back, so get your shit and let’s go. No arguing!”

“You what?!”

“C’mon, we’re wastin’ daylight!”

-----------------------------------

If Alfred weren’t already breaking laws north of the border for skipping customs, the FAA south of the border surely would’ve surely had complaints about the alterations he’d made to the rear seat of his plane. Where once there had been two passenger seats with requisite seatbelts and safety features, there was now a cozy, cot-sized bed with enough pillows and blankets for two king-sized beds. By the time Alfred had convinced Matt to “just get in the goddamn plane”, Buddy had already found the fluffiest pillow of the bunch and fallen asleep.

“Here, take this.” While the engines warmed up, Alfred leaned back to hand Matt a handful of gummies from the pilot’s seat.

“What is it?” Matt squinted at the candy.

“Delta 8 and melatonin,” Alfred said, replacing his specs with aviators and pulling on his headset. “Now make like your dog and sleep , kay? You look like you need it.”

Matt scoffed. “Thanks,” he said, and chewed the candy together. It was the last thing he remembered doing before Alfred shook him awake and gently informed him that they’d arrived in Bumfuck Nowhere—and it was actually bumfuck nowhere—Idaho.

-----------------------------------

Matt had visited Alfred’s Idaho Ranch-Mansion plenty of times since it’d been finished sometime in the late 90s, and the mountain drive from the airport to the wide-windowed lodge was an unexpected source of nostalgia of birthdays, holidays, and drunken benders past. Matt hauled himself to the window once the familiar hand-hewn wooden fences appeared, squinting against the blinding snowy paddocks until the first blanketed horses came into view. Matt couldn’t help but smile, maybe the first smile he’d entertained since falling ill. Alfred’s horse herd was made up of innumerable bloodlines, nowadays, but at the center of their pedigree was the blood of some sturdy old Morgans Matt had gifted to him during his civil war. Alfred kept a book that traced their sires all the way back to their Canadian forefathers, and seeing the newest generations never failed to swell Matt’s heart. As if sensing what his brother was looking at, Alfred said,

“Bonfire foaled twins this year—really late, too, October. I can’t remember if I told you that.”

“Really?” “Yeah, both little stubborn shits too, probably why they both lived. I’ve got them up at the barn to keep warm.”

“What’d you name them?” Matt asked. Alfred grinned, uncharacteristically sheepish.

“Pumpkin and Sweet Potato.”

“Alfred, you have to stop naming them after food.”

“What?! It was October! They’re cute.”

As they pulled up the house, Alfred was still defending his food-inspired horse name choices when Matt spotted something strange in the driveway.

“Who’s car is that?” He asked, eyeing the plain white SUV parked to one side of the massive driveway.

“Oh, I forgot about that,” Alfred bent down to peer at the car. “They didn’t all fit in the Bronco, so I had to rent a car for ‘em.”

“For who?”

“I’ll explain later,” Alfred said, shifting the car into park. Matt didn’t miss the small smirk his brother tried to hide. Immediately, a knot of dread formed in his stomach. “Let’s just get you inside and situated, yeah?”

Alfred didn’t have to explain, because the moment he unlocked the front door, the familiar sounds of pointless arguments flooded his ears.

“-bloody fucking ridiculous,” said the very drunk, very Dad voice somewhere deeper into the house. On the doorstep, Matt froze halfway out of his shoes and shot a look at Alfred, who responded by smiling a bit wider, all-american dimples peaking through

“Well how about I conquer you for a century or ten and then I can tell you you’re ridiculous, you bloated fucken Gobshite! Oi, Jackie, back me up on this!”

“Is that aunt Brighid?” Matt asked, eyeing Alfred again. The American busied himself with physically helping Matt out of his boots.

“I have some slippers for you just inside—watch your step.”

“Oh shite, I think I hear someone at the door,” said a much closer, much more Australian voice, “I’ll be just a minute there, one second!”

“ Alfred how the fuck did you—” The door swung open in a rush.

“Save me,” begged a younger, freckled, brunette version of their father. The white puff at the end of his Santa Claus hat jumped when he did a double take at Matthew. His green eyes lit up like Christmas itself.

“Matt!” He greeted, smile spreading wide as the sun. “You look like shite, it’s so good to see you! Oi! You angry cunts!” he shouted over his shoulder, “Matt’s here!”

“What?”

“Oh, thank Christ. Matthew, come tell this woman—”

“You’ll not drag him into this! The bairn’s ill,”

“Are they,” Matt looked over at Alfred, who was still smiling like a smug bastard. “How did you—you’re—” He looked over at Jack, “I thought you were in London?”

“What?” Jack seemed honestly confused, glancing between Matt and Alfred. “Did the Yank seriously not tell you—” he gave Alfred a look, and upon seeing his smug expression, scoffed. “London was a wash this year,” he laughed, “Happy Christmas, mate, come on in.”

“How’d you get here?” Matt reiterated.

“Like I said,” Alfred piped up, pushing Matt towards the doorway. Looking down, Matt realized that, in his shock, Alfred had been the one to actually remove his shoes for him, “they didn’t all fit in the Bronco, so most of them got here by the last Grand Cherokee Avis had to offer. Go on, we’re letting the cold in.” Before Matt could step fully into the threshold, Buddy had bolted in between his legs, tail alert and wagging, eager to see the rest of the family.

“Buddy!” A feminine voice cried, “C’mere you big baby, say hello to auntie Zee,” a series of happy yelps followed, accompanied by drunken laughter.

“Well the dog is here,” Uncle Alisdair said in his loud brogue, “where’s the rest of the circus?”

“We’re here too,” Alfred said, walking behind Matt into the main living area.

“Och, there they are!” “Matthew, so good to see you,” Father looked genuinely happy to see him, soft smile creasing his eyes in the way that reminded Matt of the happiest parts of his childhood. “Come here, let me look at you.”

“Matt! Croeso ! What’s your poison? Mulled wine? Whiskey? Cider?”

“The bairn is sick, Rhys—”

“Alcohol never hurt anyone on Christmas,”

“Mary and all the saints, how have you lived this long—”

“Come over here and give us a hug, you muppets!” cried Zee, spreading her arms wide, a nearly-empty bottle of wine in one fist.

Matt was frozen in place, still coming off his melatonin and wondering if he was feverish again. He was dimly aware that his jaw was hanging open as he took in the gaggle of family packed into Alfred’s living room—dad, both uncles, Jack, Zee, even aunt Brighid. There were twinkling lights hung all around the vaulted ceilings and reflecting on the tall windows, a fresh-cut Christmas tree lit in the corner with a haphazard collection of presents and duty-free bags piled below, punch and whiskey and wine and beer stacked in disorganized bunches along the nearby bar counter.

“—sure he’s alright?” Zee was asking, when his ears decided to work again.

“He’s fine,” he heard Alfred say, and a warm hand rested on his shoulder. “He’s just a bit surprised.”

“You’re,” Matt said, looking around at them all, and everyone went quiet to listen to him. “You’re not. You’re meant to be in London,” Matt insisted.

“Nonsense!” Alisdair spoke up first. “We go to London every year, it was old enough a century ago, time for a change of pace.” He ignored it when Arthur glared at him. “‘Sides, you brother Money Bags over here promised he would take care of everything, else your dad wouldn’t have ever let TSA so much as look at his Christmas pudding—”

“ Alisdair,” Arthur hissed.

“You didn’t think we’d leave you alone, did you? On Christmas?” Jack was completely earnest when he said it. Seeing his baby brother’s face, and the faces of his ridiculous, loud, chaotic family, Matt suddenly found himself with watery eyes threatening to spill over.

“The kid’s on a few drugs right now, give him a little bit to recover,” laughed Alfred, arm around Matt’s shoulders. “He needs some rest. Come on, kiddo, let’s go get you set up in your—” Alfred paused and looked at their little brother.

“Jack, did you get your stuff—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jack waved dismissively. “I moved rooms.”

“Awesome. Come on, kiddo, let’s get you in bed before you fall over.”

“We’ll be here when you wake up!” Rhys called.

“Unless we all have hangovers,” Zee amended, and she and Rhys laughed together. Alfred shook his head and led Matt to his usual room, the only bedroom in the house that had a heated bed.

“Upsy-daisy,” Alfred said, helping Matt up onto the cushioned mattress, pulling out the duvet before Matt sat on it and pulling it immediately over the younger man’s body up to his neck, cozy and warm.

“Hey, hey,” Matt hadn’t realized he’d let tears fall until Alfred was sitting on the bed beside him, brushing hair behind his ear and speaking to him softly in the way that had meant safe since he was a baby. “I wanted to surprise you, not incapacitate you, are you alright?”

Matt wiped his eyes, remembering his lonely cabin and the escape he’d been too sick to enjoy. Alfred’s house was warm and safe, and smelt of Christmas spices that harkened back to his earliest years. “Thank you,” Matt managed, gripping Alfred’s sleeve. “I don’t know how you—I didn’t think—” He sighed, feeling exactly how tired he was. “Thanks, Al.”

Al responded by wrapping him in a hug, warm and tight and safe and everything Matt needed to finally let himself rest. Over Alfred’s shoulder, he could see his dog sneak into the room, hopping up onto the foot of the bed.

“Get some good rest, okay? And don’t worry about anything,” Alfred said into his ear, bending down until Matt was lying back in bed. “We’ll all be here in the morning.”

“The fuck I did! It was your goddamned idea in the first place!” Alisdair’s bellow echoed down the hall and their brotherly moment broke so they could both whip their heads to the door to listen.

“My idea?!” countered their father, in the self-righteous tone that said he’d been at the rum punch a little too much that night, “The entire stupid thing was your doing, beginning to end!”

“You know,” came a third voice, “ I’m fairly sure that—” “Shut up, Rhys!” Shouted Alisdair and Father at once.

Alfred sighed. “Well, we’ll all probably be here in the morning. I’ll tell them to keep it down.”

“No,” Matt said, letting out a tired laugh. The bickering of his father and uncles blurred together in a familiar, lulling haze as sleep beckoned. “No, it’s okay. Merry Christmas, Alfred.” Matt was almost asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, mind’s eye filled with twinkling lights and familiar smiles, morphing into pleasant dreams of holidays past. He was still just awake enough to feel it when Alfred bent to kiss his forehead and brush a hand over his hair.

“Merry Christmas, Mattie. It wouldn’t be the same without you.”

202 notes · View notes

calgaryservice · 4 months ago

Text

Maintaining the right humidity levels in your home is essential for your health and comfort. Dry air can lead to a range of problems, from dry skin and irritated respiratory passages to static electricity and damage to wooden furniture. At Shift Air Mechanical, we offer top-of-the-line humidifiers that help you achieve the perfect indoor environment. Here’s how a humidifier can benefit you and why you should consider investing in one.

Benefits of Using a Humidifier

1. Alleviates Dry Skin and Irritation Dry air can cause your skin to become dry, itchy, and irritated. A humidifier adds moisture to the air, helping to keep your skin hydrated and reducing the discomfort associated with dryness.

2. Reduces Static Electricity During the winter months, dry air can lead to an increase in static electricity, which can be annoying and even damaging to electronic devices. A humidifier helps to maintain the right humidity levels, reducing static buildup.

3. Supports Respiratory Health Dry air can irritate your respiratory passages and worsen symptoms of allergies, asthma, and colds. Adding moisture to the air with a humidifier can help soothe irritated airways and make breathing easier.

4. Promotes Better Sleep Proper humidity levels can help you sleep better by reducing dryness and irritation in your throat and nasal passages. This is especially beneficial for those who suffer from snoring or sleep apnea.

5. Protects Wood Furniture and Floors Dry air can cause wood to crack and split over time. A humidifier helps to maintain the right moisture levels, protecting your wooden furniture, floors, and musical instruments from damage.

Choosing the Right Humidifier

When selecting a humidifier, consider the following factors to ensure you choose the best one for your needs:

Room Size: Choose a humidifier that is appropriate for the size of the room you intend to use it in. Larger rooms may require a more powerful unit.

Type of Humidifier: There are different types of humidifiers, including evaporative, ultrasonic, and steam vaporizers. Each type has its own benefits, so choose one that suits your preferences.

Maintenance: Regular cleaning and maintenance are essential for the efficient operation of a humidifier. Choose a model that is easy to clean and maintain.

Noise Level: If you plan to use the humidifier in a bedroom or other quiet space, consider a model with a low noise level.

Why Choose Shift Air Mechanical

At Shift Air Mechanical, we are dedicated to providing you with the best solutions for your indoor comfort. Our high-quality humidifiers are designed to improve your indoor air quality and enhance your overall well-being. Here’s why you should choose us:

Expert Advice: Our knowledgeable team can help you choose the right humidifier for your home, ensuring you get the best performance and benefits.

Quality Products: We offer a range of top-of-the-line humidifiers that are reliable, efficient, and easy to use.

Professional Service: Our commitment to customer satisfaction means you can trust us to provide exceptional service and support.

Transform your indoor environment with a high-quality humidifier from Shift Air Mechanical. Contact us today to learn more about our products and how we can help you achieve ultimate comfort in your home.

#hvac services #hvac repair #hvac installation #hvac contractor #hvacparts #ac maintenance #ac repair

2 notes · View notes

mightyflamethrower · 10 months ago

Text

The far-left Washington Post is awfully excited about an electric vehicle (EV) driving 20,0000 miles from the Arctic to the South Pole and just as ecstatic to bury the inconvenient facts about this ludicrously dumb legendary trip.

“They drove from the Arctic to the South Pole – in an electric car,” screams the excited headline from one of the most dishonest publications on the planet.

“Scottish adventurers Chris and Julie Ramsey wanted to prove their electric SUV was as rugged and reliable as a conventional car. To do it, they decided to take it on a drive,” the Post reports.

“That drive started in March on the frozen waters of the Arctic Circle near the North Pole. It ended in December, about nine months and approximately 20,000 miles later, at the south pole in Antarctica.”

“The couple … hoped their feat could inspire other adventurers and any consumers considering electric vehicles,” the Post adds. “We could have failed at any moment, for whatever reason, and you just don’t know if you’re going to make it,” Julie Ramsey told the Post. “It just proves that EVs can go the distance.”

Yep, those amazing EVs, currently stuck in what is far from the coldest of cold weather in Chicago, certainly can go the distance. Who wouldn’t want to purchase a battery-powered car capable of driving 20,000 miles in nine months? After all, such a miraculous accom— Wait. According to my public school math, that’s an average of only 80 miles daily.

Hey, maybe 80 miles per day is impressive, considering the harsh environment.

Or maybe not…

As they continued south through Calgary, Alberta, and Vancouver, B.C., before entering Washington state, the couple said they faced another challenge: unreliable charging stations. The Ramseys praised the size and coverage of the electric-vehicle charging network in the United States but said they often encountered stations across the country that weren’t working.

Maybe I’m being too cynical. Maybe averaging 80 miles daily is a way not to rush and enjoy the trip.

Or maybe not…”The Ramseys stopped to sightsee but spent much of their time on the road, nervously watching their speed and battery levels to avoid getting stuck.”

Hey, at least they made it without any special treatment, right?

Or maybe not…

Before the trip, the couple partnered with an energy company, Enel X, to arrange the installation of more than 20 new electric-vehicle charging stations in countries including Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, where they spotted gaps in the coverage of existing stations[.]

But let’s not pick at nits here. The only thing that matters is that no fossil fuels were burned during this trip.

Or maybe not…”The remote location meant the Ramseys couldn’t eschew fossil fuels entirely – they recharged the vehicle using a gas-powered generator[.]”

Do you have any idea how stupid this all is? The Post wants us to believe this is like Charles Lindbergh’s historic non-stop flight from New York to Paris. Well, it’s not. What Lindbergh accomplished improved travel, sped it up, and made it more convenient than it was before, when the only way to cross the Atlantic was on a slow ocean voyage.

EVs do not improve travel. EVs are a step back in convenience, stress levels, and speed. Driving an EV from the Arctic to the South Pole is more like Lindbergh paddling a canoe across the Atlantic. Great job, Lindy, but I believe in progress.

It’s like these stupid high-speed trains. Hey, you can travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco in two hours. That’s not progress. I can do that now in an airplane without spending a trillion tax dollars.

An EV that allows you to unplug at home, make your daily commute, and then plug back in at home… That makes sense if you live in a warm climate. An EV for anything is nothing more than an invitation to stress, breakdowns, and inconvenience.

Maybe someday EVs will become more practical, but even then, why? You power the EV battery with electricity generated by fossil fuels. Won’t somebody please explain the upside to me — other than a sense of smuggery included with each Prius?

5 notes · View notes

canadasnowbirds · 2 years ago

Text

Choose us to Get best experience in Snowbird RV resorts

With the introduction of Covid-19, more individuals in Canada are turning to nature for its unmatched therapeutic and health advantages. Being surrounded by nature and the trees is beneficial to us all. The same is true for snowbirds. A rise in demand for RV facilities that can meet and accommodate to their unique RV, leisure, and health and wellness demands has resulted from Canada's rising Snowbird community.

Across the nation, new RV park resorts are springing up, with Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario leading the way. Resort builders are taking full advantage of the increase in demand in the industry, and many of them have begun construction on brand-new full-service private RV resorts. Others are upgrading their existing RV parks to draw in more visitors, including the 380,000 Canadian snowbirds who travel to warmer climates in RVs during the winter. This huge, mobile, and somewhat affluent group has several particular requirements, including proximity to restaurants, RV parks with complete amenities, including full electricity and water, close medical services, hospital facilities, and restaurants. A resort developer from Calgary named Pinnacle Lifestyles has made significant investments to turn well-liked, historic campsites into luxurious, distinctive, and hospitality-focused RV parks. offering upmarket services like concierge assistance, bill-to-RV lot services like delivery of camping essentials and wood, as well as other classes of goods that local RVers regularly use. The goal of the business is to improve the Snowbird RV resorts experience. Revelstoke Campground, located in southern British Columbia at the foot of Mount Revelstoke, is the company's newest Snowbird RV Parks .

While being nestled into a fantastic, secluded camping area, in among the woods, just a few miles from town, Revelstoke Campground is well positioned near to all of Revelstoke's neighborhood services and facilities. A large selection of serviced pull-through RV campsites, an outdoor pool, a camp shop, a playground for children, an outdoor adventure center, and a climbing wall are all available at Revelstoke Campground. The helpful staff at the on-site Flexpeditions outdoor adventure center accepts direct reservations for guided kayak, whitewater rafting, and canoe activities. In order to turn the formerly KOA campsite into a full-service resort destination that meets and surpasses campers' expectations as well as Pinnacle Lifestyles' high, contemporary standards, modifications are being made there during 2020.Visit us online at https://www.canadasnowbirds.com/

#Snowbird RV resorts #Snowbird RV Parks

2 notes · View notes

if-you-fan-a-fire · 2 years ago

Photo

“Ford Strike Second In Numbers,” Windsor Star. November 26, 1942. Page 3. ---- Only Winnipeg Walkout Involved More Men Than 13,500 Out in Row Here ---- A study of available records shows that the strike at the Ford Motor Company of Canada war plants, affecting an estimated 13.500 workers, is overshadowed in numbers only by the sympathetic general strike at Winnipeg in May, 1919. which involved about 27,000 emploves.

SYMPATHETIC STRIKES The work stoppage in Winnipeg, stemming from a dispute which members of the metal trades there had with their employers over wage increases and the question of a 44-hour week, led to the calling of sympathetic strikes in Brandon, Man., Calgary, Edmonton. Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert, Sask.

After the Winnipeg Trades and Labor Council had championed the cause of the striking metal workers, street railwaymen. elevator men, postal employes, clerical and stenographic workers, employes of department stores and some classes of railway and municipal workers stopped work in sympathy with the strikers.

Later, newspaper pressmen struck, being joined by telephone, telegraph and electrical workers and cutting Winnipeg off from communication with the outside world. Processions, demonstrations and rioting followed, resulting in casualties, including one death.

LEADERS ARRESTED On June 17, seven labor leaders who had taken prominent part in the strike were arrested on charges of seditious conspiracy, and on June 25 a royal commission of inquiry was requested by the strike committee and subsequently held. Within a few days there was a general return to work.

Of the strike leaders arrested, six were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment April 6. 1920, five for one i year and one for six months.

In 1924, more than 7.000 coal miners in Alberta and British Columbia engaged in a walkout which lasted from April until October, and caused a time loss of more than 1.000. 000 working days.

Approximately 11,500 Nova Scotia coal miners were involved in a walkout in 1925, and before this dispute was settled they had lost nearly 1.500.000 working days. Disputes in the mining industry accounted for slightly more than 90 percent of the total time lost through work stoppages that year.

CAUSES OF FRICTION Records of industrial disputes show that from 1901 to 1936 changes in wages constituted the most, important cause of friction between employers and employes.

Since 1936, however, union questions, chiefly union recognition, the discharge of workers for union activity or membership and the employment of union members only in closed shops have led to many strikes and caused about 40 percent of the total time lost.

Most of the important disputes after 1931 occurred in textile and clothing manufacturing, logging, saw-milling and wood-working industries, with a substantial number arising in coal mining.

In 1941, strikes in the mining and metal manufacturing industries caused three-quarters of the time loss, which that year was greatest in Ontario, Nova Scotia and Quebec. The principal disputes involved gold miners at Kirkland Lake, Ont., coal miners at Glace Bay, N.S., metal products factory workers at Toronto and St. Catharines. Ont., aluminum workers at Arviria. Que., and steel rolling-mill workers at Montreal.

Ford Plant Gates Are Closely Picketed TYPICAL of the manner in which the tightly-guarded gates of the Ford Plant were picketed this morning is shown here. The man directly in the centre of the croup of pickets, carrying a parcel, identified himself as a painter who had been previously denied admission to Plant 2. He is shown as he was surrounded by pickets at the door of the main office where he evidently intended to learn his status. As an hourly-rated employe, he was meat for the pickets because they have instructions not to admit any in that category. The photographer who took this picture, contrary to picketing instructions, was told to get out of the vicinity of the plant or have his car overturned and his camera smashed. The union denied instructions had been issued to bar photographers.

#windsor #strike #ford motor company #auto workers #picket line #picketing #picketers #working class struggle #working class politics #united auto workers #winnipeg general strike #winnipeg #canadian history #canada during world war 2

1 note · View note

productliabilityinvestigation · 2 months ago

Text

Calgary Forensic Engineering Services: Uncovering the Science Behind Every Investigation

In today’s complex world, accidents and failures can happen across various industries, from construction sites to manufacturing plants. When such incidents occur, understanding the cause becomes crucial to prevent future occurrences and to seek justice in legal cases. This is where Calgary forensic engineering services come into play. Forensic engineering is the application of engineering principles to investigate failures, damages, and accidents, providing a scientific basis for understanding what went wrong and how to prevent it in the future.

What is Forensic Engineering?

Forensic engineering is a specialized field that involves analyzing the root causes of failures in systems, structures, and materials. Whether it’s a building collapse, an equipment malfunction, or a structural failure, forensic engineers meticulously evaluate all aspects of the incident. Their expertise plays a key role in legal disputes, insurance claims, and safety improvements.

Calgary forensic engineering services utilize a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating civil, mechanical, electrical, and structural engineering knowledge to provide comprehensive investigative services. These services are essential for businesses, insurance companies, and legal professionals who require detailed analysis to make informed decisions.

Key Services Offered by Calgary Forensic Engineers

Accident Reconstruction One of the primary services offered by forensic engineers is accident reconstruction. By analyzing the scene, physical evidence, and witness testimonies, engineers can piece together the sequence of events leading to an accident. This is particularly important in cases involving vehicular collisions, workplace injuries, or machinery failures.

Structural Failure Analysis Structural failures, such as the collapse of buildings, bridges, or dams, can have devastating consequences. Forensic engineers in Calgary conduct thorough investigations to determine if design flaws, material defects, or construction errors led to the failure. Their findings are crucial in improving safety standards and ensuring accountability.

Mechanical Failure Investigation In industries where machinery is integral to daily operations, mechanical failures can lead to costly downtime and even injuries. Calgary forensic engineering services offer in-depth investigations into the cause of mechanical failures, examining components such as gears, motors, and safety systems to prevent future occurrences.

Electrical System Failure Electrical failures can cause fires, equipment malfunctions, or power outages. Forensic engineers specializing in electrical systems can identify the root cause of these failures, whether it’s due to faulty wiring, poor maintenance, or system overloads. Their expertise ensures that similar incidents can be avoided in the future.

Building and Construction Defect Investigation Poor construction practices, substandard materials, and design errors can result in significant defects in buildings. Calgary forensic engineering services provide detailed inspections to identify the causes of defects and recommend appropriate repairs. These investigations are essential for developers, contractors, and property owners who want to ensure their buildings meet safety standards.

Fire and Explosion Investigation Fires and explosions are among the most devastating incidents that can occur. Forensic engineers analyze fire scenes, electrical systems, and structural components to determine how and why the fire or explosion happened. Their findings are critical for insurance companies, legal professionals, and safety regulators.

How Calgary Forensic Engineering Services Benefit Businesses and Individuals

Forensic engineering services are invaluable to businesses, legal teams, and insurance providers. Here’s how these services benefit different sectors:

Legal Support: Forensic engineers often serve as expert witnesses in court cases. Their detailed reports and analyses help legal teams build stronger cases, whether they are defending a client or seeking compensation for damages.

Insurance Claims: Insurance companies rely on forensic engineers to assess damage claims, ensuring that the cause of the incident is accurately determined. This ensures fair settlements and prevents fraudulent claims.

Safety Improvements: Businesses and government agencies use the findings from forensic investigations to improve safety standards and prevent future incidents. This not only protects employees and the public but also reduces the risk of costly accidents.

Product Liability Cases: In cases where a product failure has resulted in injury or damage, forensic engineers can determine whether the failure was due to a manufacturing defect, design flaw, or user error. This information is essential in product liability cases.

Why Choose Calgary Forensic Engineering Services?

With a growing demand for accurate, timely, and thorough investigations, Calgary forensic engineering services have become indispensable. Their ability to analyze complex failures and provide detailed reports ensures that all stakeholders—be it legal teams, businesses, or insurance providers—can make informed decisions.

Calgary is home to a wide range of industries, from oil and gas to construction and manufacturing, and each of these sectors relies on the expertise of forensic engineers to prevent failures and improve safety standards. By choosing experienced forensic engineers in Calgary, businesses and individuals can rest assured that they are receiving top-tier investigative services backed by scientific expertise.

Conclusion

Calgary forensic engineering services play a vital role in investigating and understanding the root causes of failures, accidents, and defects. Whether it’s reconstructing an accident, analyzing a structural collapse, or investigating a fire, forensic engineers provide the essential insight needed to resolve disputes, improve safety, and prevent future incidents.

With their detailed, scientific approach, these engineers not only help bring clarity to complex situations but also ensure that the necessary steps are taken to avoid similar issues in the future. Whether you’re a business owner, legal professional, or insurance provider, having access to reliable forensic engineering services is crucial for making informed decisions and ensuring accountability in every investigation.

0 notes

electricallred · 2 years ago

Text

All Red Electric - Industrial Electrician Calgary. Handling electrical installation, relocation and integration. Call our Experts electricians at [(403) 835-9179] and Email - [[email protected]]. electrical companies calgary.

#local electricians near me #electrical companies calgary

0 notes

mostlysignssomeportents · 6 months ago

Text

Boeing’s deliberately defective fleet of flying sky-wreckage

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me TOMORROW (May 2) in WINNIPEG, then Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), Tartu, Estonia, and beyond!

Boeing's 787 "Dreamliner" is manufactured far from the company's Seattle facility, in a non-union shop in Charleston, South Carolina. At that shop, there is a cage full of defective parts that have been pulled from production because they are not airworthy.

Hundreds of parts from that Material Review Segregation Area (MRSA) were secretly pulled from that cage and installed on aircraft that are currently plying the world's skies. Among them, sections 47/48 of a 787 – the last four rows of the plane, along with its galley and rear toilets. As Moe Tkacik writes in her excellent piece on Boeing's lethally corrupt culture of financialization and whistleblower intimidation, this is a big ass chunk of an airplane, and there's no way it could go missing from the MRSA cage without a lot of people knowing about it:

https://prospect.org/infrastructure/transportation/2024-04-30-whistleblower-laws-protect-lawbreakers/

More: MRSA parts are prominently emblazoned with red marks denoting them as defective and unsafe. For a plane to escape Boeing's production line and find its way to a civilian airport near you with these defective parts installed, many people will have to see and ignore this literal red flag.

The MRSA cage was a special concern of John "Swampy" Barnett, the Boeing whistleblower who is alleged to have killed himself in March. Tkacik's earlier profile of Swampy paints a picture of a fearless, stubborn engineer who refused to go along to get along, refused to allow himself to become inured to Boeing's growing culture of profits over safety:

https://prospect.org/infrastructure/transportation/2024-03-28-suicide-mission-boeing/

Boeing is America's last aviation company and its single largest exporter. After the company was allowed to merge with its rival McDonnell-Douglas in 1997, the combined company came under MDD's notoriously financially oriented management culture. MDD CEO Harry Stonecipher became Boeing's CEO in the early 2000s. Stonecipher was a protege of Jack Welch, the man who destroyed General Electric with cuts to quality and workforce and aggressive union-busting, a classic Mafia-style "bust-out" that devoured the company's seed corn and left it a barren wasteland:

https://qz.com/1776080/how-the-mcdonnell-douglas-boeing-merger-led-to-the-737-max-crisis

Post-merger, Boeing became increasingly infected with MDD's culture. The company chased cheap, less-skilled labor to other countries and to America's great onshore-offshore sacrifice zone, the "right-to-work" American south, where bosses can fire uppity workers who balked at criminal orders, without the hassle of a union grievance.

Stonecipher was succeeded by Jim "Prince Jim" McNerney, ex-3M CEO, another Jack Welch protege (Welch spawned a botnet of sociopath looters who seized control of the country's largest, most successful firms, and drove them into the ground). McNerney had a cute name for the company's senior engineers: "phenomenally talented assholes." He created a program to help his managers force these skilled workers – everyone a Boeing who knew how to build a plane – out of the company.

McNerney's big idea was to get rid of "phenomenally talented assholes" and outsource the Dreamliner's design to Boeing's suppliers, who were utterly dependent on the company and could easily be pushed around (McNerney didn't care that most of these companies lacked engineering departments). This resulted in a $80b cost overrun, and a last-minute scramble to save the 787 by shipping a "cleanup crew" from Seattle to South Carolina, in the hopes that those "phenomenally talented assholes" could save McNerney's ass.

Swampy was part of the cleanup crew. He was terrified by what he saw there. Boeing had convinced the FAA to let them company perform its own inspections, replacing independent government inspectors with Boeing employees. The company would mark its own homework, and it swore that it wouldn't cheat.

Boeing cheated. Swampy dutifully reported the legion of safety violations he witnessed and was banished to babysit the MRSA, an assignment his managers viewed as a punishment that would isolate Swampy from the criminality he refused to stop reporting. Instead, Swampy audited the MRSA, and discovered that at least 420 defective aviation components had gone missing from the cage, presumably to be installed in planes that were behind schedule. Swampy then audited the keys to the MRSA and learned that hundreds of keys were "floating around" the Charleston facility. Virtually anyone could liberate a defective part and install it into an airplane without any paper trail.

Swampy's bosses had a plan for dealing with this. They ordered Swampy to "pencil whip" the investigations of 420 missing defective components and close the cases without actually figuring out what happened to them. Swampy refused.

Instead, Swampy took his concerns to a departmental meeting where 12 managers were present and announced that "if we can’t find them, any that we can’t find, we need to report it to the FAA." The only response came from a supervisor, who said, "We’re not going to report anything to the FAA."

The thing is, Swampy wasn't just protecting the lives of the passengers in those defective aircraft – he was also protecting Boeing employees. Under Sec 38 of the US Criminal Code, it's a 15-year felony to make any "materially false writing, entry, certification, document, record, data plate, label, or electronic communication concerning any aircraft or space vehicle part."

(When Swampy told a meeting that he took this seriously because "the paperwork is just as important as the aircraft" the room erupted in laughter.)

Swampy sent his own inspectors to the factory floor, and they discovered "dozens of red-painted defective parts installed on planes."

Swampy blew the whistle. How did the 787 – and the rest of Boeing's defective flying turkeys – escape the hangar and find their way into commercial airlines' fleets? Tkacik blames a 2000 whistleblower law called AIR21 that:

creates such byzantine procedures, locates adjudication power in such an outgunned federal agency, and gives whistleblowers such a narrow chance of success that it effectively immunizes airplane manufacturers, of which there is one in the United States, from suffering any legal repercussions from the testimony of their own workers.

By his own estimation, Swampy was ordered to commit two felonies per week for six years. Tkacik explains that this kind of operation relies on a culture of ignorance – managers must not document their orders, and workers must not be made aware of the law. Whistleblowers like Swampy, who spoke the unspeakable, were sidelined (an assessment by one of Swampy's managers called him "one of the best" and finished that "leadership would give hugs and high fives all around at his departure").

Multiple whistleblowers were singled out for retaliation and forced departure. William Hobek, a quality manager who refused to "pencil whip" the missing, massive 47-48 assembly that had wandered away from the MRSA cage, was given a "weak" performance review and fired despite an HR manager admitting that it was bogus.

Another quality manager, Cynthia Kitchens, filed an ethics complaint against manager Elton Wright who responded to her persistent reporting of defects on the line by shoving her against a wall and shouting that Boeing was "a good ol’ boys’ club and you need to get on board." Kitchens was fired in 2016. She had cancer at the time.

John Woods, yet another quality engineer, was fired after he refused to sign off on a corner-cutting process to repair a fuselage – the FAA later backed up his judgment.

Then there's Sam Salehpour, the 787 quality engineer whose tearful Congressional testimony described more corner-cutting on fuselage repairs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP0xhIe1LFE

Salehpour's boss followed the Boeing playbook to the letter: Salehpour was constantly harangued and bullied, and he was isolated from colleagues who might concur with his assessment. When Salehpour announced that he would give Congressional testimony, his car was sabotaged under mysterious circumstances.

It's a playbook. Salehpour's experience isn't unusual at Boeing. Two other engineers, working on the 787 Organization Designation Authorization, held up production by insisting that the company fix the planes' onboard navigation computers. Their boss gave them a terrible performance review, admitting that top management was furious at the delays and had ordered him to punish the engineers. The engineers' union grievance failed, with Boeing concluding that this conduct – which they admitted to – didn't rise to the level of retaliation.

As Tkacik points out, these engineers and managers that Boeing targeted for intimidation and retaliation are the very same staff who are supposed to be performing inspections of behalf of the FAA. In other words, Boeing has spent years attacking its own regulator, with total impunity.

But it's not just the FAA who've failed to take action – it's also the DOJ, who have consistently declined to bring prosecutions in most cases, and who settled the rare case they did bring with "deferred prosecution agreements." This pattern was true under Trump's DOJ and continued under Biden's tenure. Biden's prosecutors have been so lackluster that a federal judge "publicly rebuked the DOJ for failing to take seriously the reputational damage its conduct throughout the Boeing case was inflicting on the agency."

Meanwhile, there's the AIR21 rule, a "whistleblower" rule that actually protects Boeing from whistleblowers. Under AIR21, an aviation whistleblower who is retaliated against by their employer must first try to resolve their problem internally. If that fails, the whistleblower has only one course of action: file an OSHA complaint within 90 days (if HR takes more than 90 days to resolve your internal complaint, you can no have no further recourse). If you manage to raise a complaint with OSHA, it is heard by a secret tribunal that has no subpoena power and routinely takes five years to rule on cases, and rules against whistleblowers 97% of the time.

Boeing whistleblowers who missed the 90-day cutoff have filled the South Carolina courts with last-ditch attempts to hold the company to account. When they lose these cases – as is routine, given Boeing's enormous legal muscle and AIR21's legal handcuffs – they are often ordered to pay Boeing's legal costs.

Tkacik cites Swampy's lawyer, Rob Turkewitz, who says Swampy was the only one of Boeing's whistleblowers who was "savvy, meticulous, and fast-moving enough to bring an AIR 21 case capable of jumping through all the hoops" to file an AIR21 case, which then took seven years. Turkewitz calls Boeing South Carolina "a criminal enterprise."

That's a conclusion that's hard to argue with. Take Boeing's excuse for not producing the documentation of its slapdash reinstallation of the Alaska Air door plug that fell off its plane in flight: the company says it's not criminally liable for failing to provide the paperwork, because it never documented the repair. Not documenting the repair is also a crime.

You might have heard that there's some accountability coming to the Boeing boardroom, with the ouster of CEO David Calhoun. Calhoun's likely successor is Patrick Shanahan, whom Tkacik describes as "the architect of the ethos that governed the 787 program" and whom her source called "a classic schoolyard bully."

If Shanahan's name rings a bell, it might be because he was almost Trump's Secretary of Defense, but that was derailed by the news that he had "emphatically defended" his 17 year old son after the boy nearly beat his mother to death with a baseball bat. Shanahan is presently CEO of Spirit Aerospace, who made the door-plug that fell out of the Alaska Airlines 737 Max.

Boeing is a company where senior managers only fail up and where whistleblowers are terrorized in and out of the workplace. One of Tkacik's sources noticed his car shimmying. The source, an ex-787 worker who'd been fired after raising safety complaints, had tried to bring an AIR21 complaint, but withdrew it out of fear of being bankrupted if he was ordered to pay Boeing's legal costs. When the whistleblower pulled over, he discovered that two of the lug-nuts had been removed from one of his wheels.

The whistleblower texted Tkcacik to say (not for the first time): "If anything happens, I'm not suicidal."

Boeing is a primary aerospace contractor to the US government. It's clear that its management – and investors – consider it too big to jail. It's also clear that they know it's too big to fail – after all, the company did a $43b stock buyback, then got billions in a publicly funded buyback.

Boeing is, effectively, a government agency that is run for the benefit of its investors. It performs its own safety inspections. It investigates its own criminal violations of safety rules. It loots its own coffers and then refills them at public expense.

Meanwhile, the company has filled our skies with at least 420 airplanes with defective, red-painted parts that were locked up in the MRSA cage, then snuck out and fitted to an airplane that you or someone you love could fly on the next time you take your family on vacation or fly somewhere for work.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/01/boeing-boeing/#mrsa

Image: Tom Axford 1 (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_sky_with_wisps_of_cloud_on_a_clear_summer_morning.jpg

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

Clemens Vasters (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:N7379E_-_Boeing_737_MAX_9.jpg

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

744 notes · View notes

veronihomes · 3 months ago

Text

Transform Your Space with Full House Renovation in Calgary

Embarking on a full home renovation in Calgary is an exciting yet daunting task. Whether you're looking to update an outdated space, improve functionality, or increase property value, a comprehensive renovation can transform your home into a dream living space. In this blog post, we’ll explore the benefits of full house renovations, the process involved, and essential tips to ensure your renovation project is a success.

Benefits of a Full House Renovation

Increased Property Value

One of the most significant benefits of a full house renovation is the potential increase in property value. Updating key areas such as the kitchen, bathrooms, and living spaces can make your home more appealing to potential buyers, resulting in a higher resale value.

Enhanced Aesthetics and Comfort

A full house renovation allows you to redesign your home to reflect your style and preferences. From modernizing interiors to creating open-concept living spaces, the possibilities are endless. Improved aesthetics also contribute to increased comfort and enjoyment of your home.

Improved Functionality

Renovations offer the perfect opportunity to reconfigure your home’s layout to better suit your lifestyle. This could include adding more storage, expanding living areas, or integrating smart home technologies. Enhanced functionality makes daily living more convenient and enjoyable.

Energy Efficiency

Upgrading your home’s insulation, windows, and HVAC systems during a renovation can significantly improve energy efficiency. This not only reduces your carbon footprint but also leads to substantial savings on energy bills.

The Full House Renovation Process

Planning and Design

The first step in a full house renovation is thorough planning and design. Collaborate with an experienced renovation company like Veroni Homes to create a detailed plan that outlines your vision, budget, and timeline. This stage involves selecting materials, finishes, and fixtures that align with your aesthetic and functional goals.

Obtaining Permits

Before commencing any renovation work, it’s essential to obtain the necessary permits from local authorities in Calgary. Veroni Homes can assist in navigating the permit process to ensure your project complies with all regulations.

Demolition and Preparation

Once permits are secured, the renovation process begins with demolition and preparation. This involves removing outdated fixtures, walls, and flooring to make way for the new design. Proper preparation is crucial to ensure a smooth and efficient renovation process.

Structural Changes

If your renovation includes structural changes, such as removing walls or adding extensions, this phase will involve reinforcing the foundation and framing. Structural changes require careful planning and execution to maintain the integrity and safety of your home.

Electrical and Plumbing Work

Upgrading electrical and plumbing systems is a critical component of a full house renovation. This phase includes installing new wiring, outlets, and lighting, as well as updating plumbing fixtures and pipes to meet current standards and enhance functionality.

Interior Finishes

The final phase of the renovation process involves adding interior finishes. This includes installing flooring, cabinetry, countertops, and painting walls. Attention to detail during this stage ensures a polished and cohesive look throughout your home.

Essential Tips for a Successful Renovation

Set a Realistic Budget

Establishing a realistic budget is essential to avoid overspending and ensure the project stays on track. Consider allocating extra funds for unexpected expenses that may arise during the renovation process.

Choose Quality Materials

Investing in high-quality materials not only enhances the aesthetics of your home but also ensures durability and longevity. Quality materials contribute to the overall value of your renovation.

Hire Experienced Professionals

Partnering with an experienced renovation company like Veroni Homes is crucial for a successful renovation. Skilled professionals bring expertise, craftsmanship, and attention to detail that result in a high-quality finished product.

Communicate Effectively

Maintaining open and clear communication with your renovation team is essential for a smooth project. Regular updates and feedback help address any issues promptly and ensure your vision is realized.

FAQs

How long does a full house renovation typically take?

The duration of a full house renovation varies based on the scope of the project. On average, it can take anywhere from several months to a year. Factors such as the complexity of the design, the size of the home, and any unforeseen challenges can affect the timeline.

How can I prepare my home for a renovation?

Preparing your home for renovation involves clearing out personal belongings, creating temporary living arrangements, and securing valuables. Additionally, discuss with your renovation team about protective measures to minimize dust and debris during the process.

What are the most important areas to focus on during a renovation?

Key areas to focus on during a renovation include the kitchen, bathrooms, and living spaces. These areas significantly impact the overall functionality and value of your home. However, the specific focus should align with your individual needs and preferences.

How do I choose the right renovation company?

Choosing the right renovation company involves researching potential candidates, reviewing their portfolios, and reading client testimonials. It’s important to select a company with a proven track record, relevant experience, and excellent customer service.

Conclusion

Veroni Homes Offers A full house renovation in Calgary, the opportunity to transform your home into a stylish, functional, and energy-efficient space. By understanding the benefits, processes, and essential tips for a successful renovation, you can confidently embark on your home transformation journey. Partner with Veroni Homes to bring your vision to life and create the home of your dreams.

#Home Renovation Calgary #house renovation in Calgary #Calgary house renovation

0 notes

datascraping001 · 4 months ago

Text

Canadian Doctors Email List

Unlock New Opportunities with the Canadian Doctors Email List by DataScrapingServices.com. In today’s data-driven world, having access to a targeted and comprehensive email list is a game-changer for businesses and organizations in the healthcare sector. The Canadian Doctors Email List provided by DataScrapingServices.com is a valuable resource for pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment suppliers, healthcare recruiters, and marketing professionals. This email list is meticulously compiled and regularly updated to ensure accuracy and relevance, enabling you to reach out to medical professionals across Canada effectively. Whether you are looking to market new products, conduct surveys, or establish professional connections, our Canadian Doctors Email List is an indispensable tool for achieving your goals.

List of Data Fields

Our Canadian Doctors Email List is comprehensive and includes a wide range of data fields to meet your diverse needs:

Doctor’s Name: Full names to personalize your communications.

Email Address: Verified email addresses for direct contact.

Specialty: Information on the doctor’s area of expertise (e.g., cardiology, pediatrics, dermatology).

Phone Number: Direct phone numbers for more immediate contact.

Clinic/Hospital Affiliation: Details on where the doctor practices.

Mailing Address: Physical addresses for direct mail campaigns.

City and Province: Geographical location to target specific regions.

Years of Experience: Insight into the doctor’s professional background.

Medical School: Information on the doctor’s educational background.

Benefits of Canadian Doctors Email List

1. Targeted Marketing Campaigns

With our detailed and segmented email list, you can create highly targeted marketing campaigns. Whether you are promoting a new pharmaceutical product, medical device, or healthcare service, having access to specific information such as specialty and clinic affiliation allows you to tailor your message to the right audience. This level of precision enhances the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.

2. Enhanced Networking and Collaboration

The Canadian Doctors Email List facilitates networking opportunities within the healthcare industry. By having direct contact information, you can reach out to potential collaborators, partners, or clients. This is particularly useful for healthcare organizations looking to establish partnerships or for professionals seeking to expand their network.

3. Efficient Recruitment Process

For healthcare recruiters, having a comprehensive and up-to-date email list is crucial. Our email list provides detailed information on doctors’ experience and specialties, enabling you to identify and contact suitable candidates quickly.

4. Market Research and Surveys

Conducting market research or surveys is easier with a targeted email list. You can gather valuable insights by reaching out to doctors across various specialties and regions. This information can inform product development, market strategies, and service improvements.

5. Cost-Effective Communication

With a verified email list, you can reach a large number of doctors without the high costs associated with traditional marketing methods. This ensures a higher return on investment for your marketing campaigns.

Best Email List Scraping Services Provider

Massage Therapist Email List

Scraping Nightclubs Email List

Scraping Plumbers Email List

Scraping Mortgage Mailing Lists

Tire Dealers Email List

Hotel Email Lists

Scraping Electrical Contractors Email List

Scraping Contractors Mailing List

Nurses Email List

CBD Email List

Best Canadian Doctors Email List Scraping Services in Canada:

St. John’s, Whitby, Guelph, Kelowna, Trois-Rivières, Terrebonne, Milton, Thunder Bay, Cambridge, Coquitlam, Kingston, Saanich, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Edmonton, Mississauga, Winnipeg, Quebec City, Hamilton, Brampton, Saskatoon, Kitchener, Surrey, Halifax, Laval, London, Vaughan, Gatineau, Longueuil, Windsor, Burnaby, Markham, Oshawa, Saguenay, Lévis, Barrie, Abbotsford, St. Catharines, Richmond Hill, Regina, Richmond, Greater Sudbury, Sherbrooke, Oakville, Burlington, Ajax, and Waterloo.

Conclusion

The Canadian Doctors Email List by DataScrapingServices.com is a powerful tool for anyone looking to connect with medical professionals in Canada. By providing detailed, accurate, and up-to-date information, we enable you to run targeted marketing campaigns, enhance networking, streamline recruitment, conduct effective market research, and communicate cost-effectively. Unlock new opportunities and achieve your business goals with our comprehensive email list. Contact DataScrapingServices.com today to learn more about how our Canadian Doctors Email List can benefit you.

Website: Datascrapingservices.com

Email: [email protected]

#canadiandoctorsemaillist #canadiandoctorsmailinglist #datascrapingservices #webscrapingexpert #websitedatascraping

0 notes