Jobs Created, Saved or ELIMINATED March 16, 2010
Posted by Retired Geezer in Ballistics, Crime.trackback
The friendly Idaho Power Dude came knocking on the door today to tell me he was going to change out our meter for a newfangled one. He said to turn off all the computers so they wouldn’t have any problems. I explained that I have Mac ™ Computers and power failures didn’t faze them.
He nodded his head in vigorous agreement, we gave each other the seekret handshake and he went to replace the meter.
After turning off the computers, (just in case), I went outside to ask him what the new meter would do. He said that Idaho Power would be able to read the meter at Camp Geezer ™ from the main office.
Bottom line:
No More Meter Readers.
I bet Russ is the only guy who can tell me what kind of tractor that is.
Farmall H?
Not to get all tinfoil hat on you Geezer, but I assume they didn’t hook this meter up to the phone line? So they will be transmitting data back through the power lines?
We are through the looking glass here, people.
Watch out. Power-police are comin’
They’ll monitor usage… and watch the time of day…
They’ll know when you are up late carrousing instead of gettin’ your shut-eye.
They’ll report your poor choices and cancel your medical coverage.
My power company lets me log onto their web site and produce graphs of my power usage, optionally superimposed with weather data, so I can see how much my heater is costing me in the winter (a lot, apparently).
Watch out. Power-police are comin’
The only solution is to get off the grid. Camp Geezer needs to get a Toshiba 4S micro-reactor.
Not to get all tinfoil hat on you Geezer, but I assume they didn’t hook this meter up to the phone line? So they will be transmitting data back through the power lines?
Increasingly, utilities are using the wireless data networks. Way cheaper than meter readers, or hooking up to the landline phone network.
Farmall H?
*Michael squints at picture*
Nah, I think that looks a little more like the Farmall ‘M’ model (made by International Harvester).
Ah.
*adjusts tinfoil hat*
I imagine all kinds of data could be transmitted.
Smart meter indeed.
Additional views of Geezer’s Farmall M may be found here and here.
This is now the third time that Geezer has challenged IBers to recognize his Farmall M.
Next time, Geezer, you can fool most of us by taking a picture of the Farmall H that Bud gave you, and we will all incorrectly guess that it’s the dang Farmall M again.
Now, some of you may be wondering how I remembered those old threads (from July 3, 2006 and August 12, 2007).
See, it’s like this. As Site Administrator, I deem it my responsibility to commit all of our comments to memory. That way, if anyone needs to refer back to a comment, I will be able to help out.
*Michael shuffles feet, avoids eye contact*
That’s entirely believable and not far fetched at all
Automated meter reading may eliminate some jobs, but it also provides other, higher-skilled jobs. AMR is hardly flawless technology and it requires people to troubleshoot, repair and/or replace malfunctioning units. It also gives utilities access to higher quality and quantity of data for end use analyses (ahem, my specialty). So ya, fewer people walking around and reading numbers but that frees up resources to do other, more useful things.
other, more useful things.
Like to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids through fluoridation.
I’M ON TO YOU ENAS YORL!
*Michael squints at Enas*
You think we don’t know how Obama got elected? Do ya?
FLOURIDATED WATER = COMMIE MIND CONTROL JUICE!!!
LOL. Come now Pups – we do no such thing! Flouride is GOOD for you! It helps builds strong bones and teeth. All the scientists say so.
We use chlorine to render your bodily fluids into a more suitable form for our use. And of course we need the strong bones to make other, more useful things.
Janis agrees with me that the tractor in the picture looks more like a Case than a Farmall. It looks a little like my great-Uncle Francis’ old Case WD45, but it’s hard to tell at that angle. I’ll run it by Fred tomorrow – he’s the “old tractor specialist” at the dealership parts department.
I’m a former meter reader. Near the end of my stay at Washington Gas Light Co, a wireless meter system called ENSCAN was beginning to take over. Each meter then became an individual radio broadcast unit, and a master unit could be driven down the street (or hand carried by yours truly) and on command all the meters in the area would begin broadcasting their readings, and the info would be received by the hand carried or mobile receiver. Those were great days. The job became so much easier. Of course, this meant a whole lot less of going into people’s homes, which was welcome. But we also saw a lot less hot babes answering the door in bath towels or underwear this way.
Dear Penthouse,
I never thought something like this would happen to me, but the other day I got to “read” a hot chick’s “meter”. . .
Russ, about 4 years ago I think you won a Geezer quiz by correctly identifying that same tractor as a Farmall M. Don’t second guess yourself now.
Are you sure that it’s the same tractor? This one looks like it’s been sitting in the weeds for a few years, so I was assuming that it was either a Case or a “parts tractor” for the Farmall.
I ran it by Fred this morning, and he confirms that it’s a Farmall…”Either an M or an H, doesn’t look right for a C”, in his words. I guess that the add-on hydraulic controls in front of the steering wheel were what was throwing me off.
I just went back and looked at the old pictures that Michael linked, and that is NOT the same tractor. The paint job is too rusted/faded, and the nice one doesn’t have the aftermarket hydraulic controls for the loader on top of the hood.
*doubles down*
*Slides Pupster a card under his chips*
*Flips my cards over – 16!* Looks good for you Pups!
*Deals card – it’s a 5!* Uh oh.
*Flips Pupster’s cards over* Aw, you’ve got 13. Tough break pal.
*Collects Pupster’s soul*
Maybe it’s the Farmall H that Bud* gave Geezer and which he does not actually use. That would explain the decrepit appearance.
*Geezer’s indispensable neighbor who tries to help him survive in the wilderness.
Pupster and Russ are right, the tractor that I’m digging the holes with is a Farmall M.
The one in the picture above is this one with the Green Beer,, a Farmall H.
Michael is right about Bud the Neighbor helping us survive in the Spud Wilderness.
Being able to correct your mistakes is pretty cool.
Did the site administrator go back & edit comment #7 to include the possibility that we’re looking at an “H” in order to make himself look smarter?
I don’t have a problem with that; just wondering if I missed the last paragraph the first time I read Michael’s post.
Nah, Michael wouldn’t do that.
*snort
In fact, I did not. Geezer mentioned the unused H in one of the earlier threads where I got the pictures.
The magic stuff people believe about Macs is endlessly amusing to me
We’re supposed to believe it is an “H” just because of some birdpoop?
Not only that, the birds did a nasty job of sanding before pooping.
Just sayin’.
Geezer, does green beer show up anywhere after consumption?
I ate some Red Velvet cake once that scared the.. uh.. crap out of me..
He crapped red velvet
Redder than velvet was the shite
The magic stuff people believe about Macs is endlessly amusing to me
People who have no sense of humor are endlessly amusing to me.
The part about the seekret handshake should have been an indicator that it was an attempt at teh humor.
TXMarko, I’m not sure about the Green Pee, more research is indicated.
My power company sends out a cute little hovering robotic orb thingy with a big red glowing eyeball and some cool, sharp little extremities. The kids love waving too him when he’s floating outside the windows. They nicknamed him Uncle Sam.