The Disparity Between Arithmetic and Efficiency
I have been away from posting for some days, ten days that included a new roof for this crazy old farmhouse and my recovery from all the noise such advantages furnish us --we who are too old and tired of rebuilding roofs ourselves. I hired it done. Let's begin with a Normaphoto:
The photo shows how things were left the 1st day of scraping, dynamiting and exposing all the weaknesses of my work 30 years ago. They made me park our car next door until they could haul this calamity away in trucks. I get choked up just remembering, so more Normaphotos:
Unused to asphalt shingles, Roofcat was OUTRAGED!
--which brings us to arithmetic. It is not my strongest subject but I've had ample time to think about it.
If 5 men (roofers, carpenters, inspectors, etc.) can reroof a crazy old farmhouse in 5 days, then 25 men (5x5) could do it in one day.
And, since there are 1440 minutes in a day (I don't show my work here but you may trust my calculations are accurate or closely approximate), 1500 men could do the job in one minute. By this line of impeccable logic, there being 86,400 seconds (1440x60) in a day, a crew of 90,000 craftspersons could have reroofed my house in one second --costing me about two dollars instead of what it did for 5 days.
However, the result is the same:
Whee....
....NEW ROOF!
Have never been good with arithmetic but am terribly good at sudoku, friend Geo … Love, cat … baby it's cold outside …
ReplyDeleteDear Cat, My big brother, Frankie, is devoted to sudoku and I prefer word puzzles. We do these things inside where it's warm.
DeleteI was amused by this, largely because of a very recent experience. Across the way on a new home [bog-standard bungalow, French style!] a guy was erecting a new wire fence. At one stage about six of them were "working" on the fence. I asked myself the question, "If two guys can erect the fence in five days [40 hours], how long does it take six guys? Thirteen hours? No, it takes the full five days. They just stand around discussing things more. Heigh-ho! That's artisans!
ReplyDeleteYes Tom, you've nailed it. Where there are a minimum of laborers, there is purposeful alacrity. Where there is an excess, there is government by discussion. It slows things down, good thing too: nascent democracy. What could go wrong?
DeleteWith the wild weather you have been having in CA, I am glad to see that blue skies accompanied the building of the new roof. It looks very nice, Geo. Now that it is over and life is not fully the sound of the banging of hammers you can leave the math alone and return to poetry.
ReplyDeleteLovely Arleen, your suggestion is well-taken and appreciated. I have neglected my poems lately and, with a few more brushfires extinguished --hopefully by rain (predicted for the next three days)-- I can return to it with a sound roof and clear mind. Poetry deserves a clear mind, with no overhead hammers.
DeleteI thought Virginia Lee Burton settled this one. Mary Anne could dig as much in one day as 100 men could in a week. And I guess I should know, eh?
ReplyDeleteOf course you should know. "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" was a favorite in this family. Happily, steam is also a key component of the autoclave.
DeleteGood lord, haven't thought of an autoclave in a bit....pretty efficient,if the article to be sterilized wasn't made of anything other than tempered glass or metal. I saw the transition from steam to gas to more current methods. A summation of what is current includes the sterilization processes that have traditionally been used for medical products include steam, ethylene oxide (EtO), ionizing radiation (gamma or E-beam), low-temperature steam and formaldehyde, and dry heat (hot air). These methods can be divided into three categories, based on the nature of the sterilant and its reaction with microorganisms: physical processes (ionizing radiation, dry heat); physicochemical processes (steam, steam/formaldehyde); and chemical processes (EtO, glutaraldehyde). Lemme know if you need further information. I have nothing else to do.....
DeleteThanks Mike! Only info I couldn't dream up was how they ever got steamshovels into the autoclaves in the first place.
DeleteI think you forgot one important fact in your savings computations. Wages for the workmen will increase as the amount of time decreases.
ReplyDeleteOh Emma, that sounds suspiciously close to inflation --which is the dragon I left out of my calculations. I'll be satisfied with the status quo.
DeleteBut wouldn't 9o,000 workmen put a bit of strain on your roof beams? You might need one or two new ones; don't forget to allow for that in your savings calculations :)
ReplyDeleteYour roof looks wonderful! I love the sand-coloured shingles. You can squint and pretend you're at the beach. That might be why Roofcat is now Aloofcat. Cats don't generally like the beach.
O_Jenny, 90,000 roofers would flatten my house, which is why I leave all such contracts to Norma. Roofcat glares at us but still finds his sunbeams up there. It'll be ok,
DeleteYour work lasted 30 years ~ That sounds to me like it was very good work indeed! Hopefully, your new roof will do as well! I like the color. Disturb a cat's comfort, and it will be outraged. I hope E(a)rnest is faring as well as Roofcat."
ReplyDeleteE(a)rnest has made himself scarce lately but I'm sure he's doing ok. I've reroofed 3 houses over the years but never liked it very much. When I reroofed this house 30 years ago, I was especially careful in hopes I'd not have to do it again very soon. Some minor repairs were made along the line but even the best roofs finally need replacement.
DeleteAm I remembering right ~ You have some Portuguese roots? My sister Donnie and I (with husbands along) are thinking about going to Portugal. I actually bought a National Geographic travel book on Portugal yesterday. I've wanted to go there a long time. I've drunk enough bottles of wine over the decades of my life to account for a cork tree or two. What area do you claim as yours?
DeleteMy Portuguese great-grandparents came to the U.S. from the Island of Pico --one of 9 islands that compose the Azores. And yes, Sobreiro --the Cork Oak-- was recently named the National Tree of Portugal. During my gardening years, I found many growing vigorously in public places, and gave them special attention in California.
DeleteThanks, Geo! Sorry I'm just getting back now. It has been a busy week. I looked up Pico and was delighted to find out that Mount Pico is the highest elevation along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. What a beautiful island. I also read that many of the island's famous vineyards were destroyed by powdery mildew and phylloxera in the mid-19th century, so I'm speculating that that is why your great-grandparents left such a beautiful place. But, then again, they may have had rock fever and just longed to be in a less isolated place. I hope that you are warm and dry. We are waiting for a snowstorm tonight and a blast of Arctic air. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
DeleteThank you Louise! Yes, my paternal greatgrandfather arrived in San Francisco harbor in 1850. Maternal counterpart landed east 10 years later, ran guns south on the Mississippi until shot out of the water, swam west and kept running. Odd -and wondrous- how we come to be.
DeleteWe got our house re-roofed shortly before my hubby retired in 2002. He was getting sick and tired (not to mention too old) to have to re-tar our roof every single year to stop and/or prevent leaks. (The roof pitch changes between the original structure and the addition we had put on in '74, so that seam has always been a major pain in the derriere. And his back. (Those huge cans of tar are reeeeeally heavy, and not at all fun to carry up a ladder.) Anyhow, we got a red metal roof, and we've never regretted it. It cost more, but it's great. No more leakage worries. Although, it is a little sobering to realize our roof will outlive both of us.
ReplyDeleteLast Monday, we had the roof replaced on our sunroom. (Another addition.) Monday was the only day all week that it didn't rain, so we were really lucky the workers got it "finished" in a single day. They, um, "finished" after dark, so some problems weren't evident until the next day, when monsoon season returned. The sun returned yesterday, and they are supposed to return tomorrow to fix the minor errors.
All's well. Your roof looks terrific. :)
Had to smile at your opening sentence. Where I worked, if someone said, "I'm getting a new roof", it was assumed they were retiring.
DeleteI did consider getting a metal roof, but decided to go with another material that would allow me the pleasure of outliving.
Not to punch holes in your arithmatic but 90,000 men at $2 each for the job (assuming they wouldn't be happy with 1/90,000 of $2 apiece) is a whole lot of (not to complicate things with math) money. Just sayin'. Congrats on the new roof. Fingers crossed for no violently windy days such as we are having right this minute. Poor roof cat. Asphalt shingles get sticky in hot weather.
ReplyDeleteThanks Delores! Happily, I decided to go with the contractor's recommendation instead of my math skills. Don't worry about Roofcat, on hot days he bunks on the cool garden soil.
DeleteTried to respond earlier, but have never been good at math, so perhaps the calculations in the post rendered me more of a fool than normal.
ReplyDeleteWhat a surprise for Roofcat eh? The new roof looks wonderful and I'm sure the peace and quiet is welcomed as well.
Dear Tom, yes, Roofcat is glaring but he's already seeking sunbeams up there --well, not at the moment. You see, it just started raining again and he's gone home to the lady across the field. I've been all around the house --inside and out-- and there are no leaks! Our pantry is saved! I had to write the contractor's check carefully, never written one that big before. But good work gets good pay.
DeleteMay your new roof prove as functional and hardy as it is fine to observe :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa. It has passed the test of this evening's rain and promises to be reliable. Oak Dragon is welcome to herd more clouds this way.
DeleteHeavens to Murgatroyd! Having been a renter all of my life and having moved around a lot we have never had to put up with the cacaphony and worry over a new roof. But still, you have my sympathy, Geo.
ReplyDeleteDear Bruce, sympathy appreciated but the roof is fixed. It has rained hard for 2 days and one side of our road is impassable for 2 or 3 miles, yet our house is dry inside. No more splashes in the pantry!
DeleteYou survived such hell, but I'd say it was worth it. How those men do all that work without breaking something I will never understand. The final $$ account will surely surprise you.
ReplyDeleteOh Susan, I sure learned a lot from watching those roofers keep each other safe. They took the roof down to the beams and replaced anything that looked substandard. It was the speed and high quality of their work that impressed me even more than the cost --which equaled the price of our first home in 1974. I was surprised, but glad to pay it.
DeleteGeo, thanks for the kind words on my last post. I love Roofcat! Glad you, Roofcat, and your roof are making the most of an oftentimes bewildering world.
ReplyDeleteP.S. My math is beyond hopeless: I can't even manage fractions...
Dear Dylan, all the good comments I send your site are sincere. Roofcat and I are enjoying the new roof. He has finally stopped giving me that "Oh, how Could You!" look captured in the 5th photo.
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