Re: Davis Besse comments -R. Hoffman rant

[maury <maury@WEBTEXAS.COM>]

Sometimes the rants are interesting and reasonable to consider.

Sometimes one can easily understand the operational concerns and

empathize with the intensity of the feelings being experienced by the

ranter. There are other times, however, when the "rant" is so excessive,

so far off of any mark, so devoid of any rational perspective, that the

rant precludes much of a response or at least renders responses very

difficult.



I found the experience of examining Russ Hoffman's work on animated

instructional systems and his "work" on Davis Besse almost beyond

reconciliation. What a great talent and capability to be so grossly

misdirected (in my opinion) on a nearly meaningless conspiracy

adventure!  Then we have '6 inches from a serious problem' and 'shining

stars in nuclear pantheons'???  Great jumpin' butterballs! All of us

stand on the curb waiting to cross the street every day as 4,000 lb.

vehicles scoot past us 8 inches away (or is it 10, or even 12 inches?,

is there any difference?) at 25 mph - is that not inches away from a

serious problem? If my hot water heater thermostat fails ON (instead of

OFF) and the safety valve fails to move a fraction of an inch, are not I

and my dog  not within a whisker of serious injury when the tank

explodes?   Sure these are serious if umpteen other conditions are met.

But to the Russ's, the Norm's, and the Sternglass' of this world, I will

soon sack in and sleep quite well. I wish they also could so that their

waking hours could be spent on somewhat more constructive pursuits.



So-called far out thinking must be taken into account when one plans

emergency procedures, but taking them into account does not mean that

one implements plans which absolutely either preclude suffering

disasters or ensure winning lotteries. I hope to do a better job of

grasping and perhaps responding to some of the Hoffman's, but I must

admit that such thinking appears to be so many standard deviations out

that it difficult to take it seriously, not to say find a starting

point.



As I hear a potential problem heading for DFW only about 1,000 ft

overhead, I'm going to bed.

Cheers,

Maury Siskel          maury@webtexas.com



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