After listening to the kids for a while, all she says is, "Don't make me pull over and come back there!"

Try days or a week out where I live*. Nobody riots. Everyone has a camp stove and supplies. Many of us have gensets and don't even notice the flicker when the power goes down.

The local power company no longer has the staff to maintain their own system. Its all done by contractors or surrounding utilities sending in help. And I don't live in some backwater hick town. I can spit on Bill Gates' house** from my place.

*No cyber attack required. Rotten poles fall over. In fact, we could never tell the difference between a major terrorist attack and normal utility operations.

**Having worked for electric utilities in the past, I am shocked and surprised at the poor shape their systems are in. Even right out in front of Mr. Gates modest hovel.

Many SCADA systems are inherently bi-directional. Some controller monitors system parameters. It then returns feedback to control the processes. Or it forwards them upstream for human attention and intervention.

You could try to 'air gap' such a system from the Internet. But the guy carrying a laptop around to update PLC firmware is going to use it to check his company e-mail. And eventually, the CEO is going to send out one of his/her missives company-wide over the cocktail lounge WiFi at the golf course. Now you're screwed.

Air gaps didn't do Iran much good against StuxNet.

Companies want to concentrate on their core competencies. To an electric utility, IT isn't a core competency.

My power company can't be bothered to trim trees and replace rotten poles. That's all contracted out. Their core competency is collecting bills. Heck, they don't even read their own meters. That's contracted out.

So good luck with the whole 'secure the system' idea. Outages are all classified as 'Acts of God'. Maybe. I guess God has it in for corporate morons.

Let's see: Full moon, lunar eclipse, tax day. I'm thinking of dropping my return off wearing a werewolf mask.

I think some thought went into keeping the two dates far apart. They say you have to discipline a dog as soon as you catch them doing something or they won't learn. Smacking Congress with a rolled up ballot comes to mind.

I used to fly a lot when I worked for Boeing (commercial, not gov't contract). We had an entire travel department that arranged trips and accomodtions. And they prided themselves on finding the cheapest (crappiest, that is) deals that they could. One time, when I had to fly from Seatle to New York, I just called travel and said, "You find me the flight that meets your cost requirements. I'll upgrade to first class out of my own pocket." They practicaly shit themselves. It wasn't about the cost, it was about the perception of being tight with a dollar. While actualy wasting buckets of money*.

One time when a group of us had to spend a week in Cincinnati, Boeing travel booked rooms at a flea-bag airport motel which was about 30 miles from the vendor we were working with. I fought that one and found a cheaper (and much nicer) extended stay motel a few miles from the vendor. From that point on, I was on the travel department's shit list.

*I suspect that certain members of the travel department get some frequent flyer miles in their own accounts for steering business toward certain airlines and hotel chains. And for missing the actual lowest cost deals when planning company trips.

Wider seats in first class. Sometimes business class is a rip-off (same seats, better snacks). But on long trips, first class seating is much more comfortable.

I could care less about leg room (I'm only 4' 18" tall). But I'm built like a tank and my arms hang into the aisle or across the shared armrest in economy class seating.

Yeh, but duct tape?

Better that taxes cause a little pain. It reminds me once a year how screwed up our tax system is. If they make it too eay, people wil forget about how much is beng skimmed off their paychecks.

We have automatic witholding as well. And the system could be made simpler. But I like the fact that once a year, I'm getting pissed off at a seriously broken system.

IRS Motto: We've got what it takes to take what you've got.

Ah yes. The two line tax form.

1. How much did you earn las year? _________
2. Send it to us.

We already have retroreflective paints. Road markings and signs illuminated by headlights are clearly visible. On the other hand, some things (like animals and pedestrians) require some means of illumination at night. Streetlights are OK, but headlights are better. An animal or other obstruction will only appear as a shadow against a glowing roadway.

This. And large windmills are already required to be equipped with anti-collision lights and, if large enough, be included on air navigation charts, NOTAMS, etc.

Your drone has to navigate within the constraints of existing marking and mapping regulations and right-of-way rules.

The difference being that every time someone uses Metro, Ballmer gets the banana.

Could be an internal change that people on the line would never notice. A stiffer spring perhaps.

Part numbering is a complex issue. GM might probably has an engineering policy in place for identifying part modifications. Not necessarily the part number, but a revision code. [Part numbers usually denote form, fit and function. If one of these changes, so does the part number. If two parts are interchangeable, they often get the same part number but a unique revision code.] Circumventing company policy usually warrants disciplinary action, including termination, at most companies.

The other side of this is checks put in place to maintain configuration control and data integrity. Either more than just these two individuals were involved or the GM processes have some serious flaws. Checking revised documents into any decent document management system would include listing changes, new part numbers, revisions made, etc. If GM doesn't have adequate controls in place and these people are in a position to talk about that, the embarrassment factor might be enough to earn them comfortable retirement for their silence.

On the other hand, if you have a US DoJ ID and the cop says, "No 11-99 ID, no leniency", he goes to Club Fed and the rest of the department goes under investigation for corruption.

I'm amazed anyone from the CHP was stupid enough to make the above statement.