A California company is advertising ‘tactical response’ Tesla Cybertruck upgrades for police cruisers, including shotgun racks and sirens.
A California company is advertising ‘tactical response’ Tesla Cybertruck upgrades for police cruisers, including shotgun racks and sirens.
I am just sitting here looking at all you people upset about government waste and thinking about the crap I see every day working for a company that is primarily a government contractor. The river of dirty money.
Just this week alone, and this is Thursday, I told a state employee PE that his spec calls for a part no longer manufactured and if he doesn’t update his spec he is going to get whatever I find on eBay and he said he doesn’t care. Tens of millions of dollars project and this guy is having me put in used parts on a new system.
Please tell me that this was in writing and not actually verbal. And if it was, CC that to everyone now who’s going to blame you later when it all goes horribly wrong.
We all know, everyone knows. You think this is atypical? And yeah I sent my email and copied everyone I was supposed to. Nothing happens. I wrote up a nice one pointing out that these parts are no longer manufactured and as a result I will have to buy used and long run this is hurting the operation team. Even suggested a list of alternative parts. His response? “Rejected, follow spec”. No exaggeration here. So much for mutual respect. 3 word response to another engineer bringing up major project concerns.
I don’t drink tap water when I am in or around Toronto ON. There is a reason for that, I have seen how the sausage is made. Sent a system there I want to say 6 months back with a PLC from about 2002. Whole system was full of used parts, as I explained in my email.
Arizona, California, New York City, Toronto, parts of Florida, Sussex County New Jersey, Dubai, Oregon, and UAE off the top of my head. I am sure I am forgetting plenty. Places where I have sent brand new pieces of equipment with used parts inside it and I warned the guy running the project that this was going to happen if they didn’t update the spec and they didn’t care.
As a PE, fuck that guy, that’s fucked up.
Maybe but it isn’t uncommon. This can’t be news for you. You know the game.
Government puts out the bid. Some shitheads like Jacobs or Parsons grab it up. They recycle some decade old spec. Subcontract it out to 3 companies who subcontract it out to 8 companies and so on until 90 different companies are involved with ten guys doing the actual work.
And now everyone is trying to clone a system from the early 80s. Because no one wants to do engineering, meetings are far easier. The excuse will always be that prudence is a virtue, which might be true but it isn’t the sole virtue.
Private industry now, which has its own problems. I previously worked in water/sewage, so even a recycled design works. The focus was quality for the public, we just had 6 guys doing a 2 man job. I secretly think there are more people than jobs at this point.
Private industry in a different field, it’s all about speed, quality be damned. Luckily I’ve gotten the chance to show quality leads to less time wasted overall.
Still a love of meetings and shit though, private or public. Waste of life time.
If I had a nickle for every time someone with a degree in civil engineering told me about electrical stuff or software stuff. Guys think that if it costs more it must be better or even worse that if it is was the norm in their 20s it must be best.
Whatever it’s Friday and I am sick of caring about you people not dying from choleria because some PE want to run their little con.
Lol I’m a mechanical engineer with a lot of experience in software, so maybe that alters my protective a little.
It’s a beautiful Friday, enjoy.
I have a civil engineer, full PE, client right now who is insisting I build a control system out of discreet relays. This is a government contract. Cause fuck the taxpayer