Don't Talk about the BOM

Names have been omitted to protect the guilty.

[Director] and [Division Chief] were walking through [major city] Airport discussing the bill of material for [facility] the directorate was engineering. A bill of material is a detailed sheet of all the parts needed for a project. It includes unit prices, quantities, part numbers from both manufacturer and vendor, etc. Since this was a big facility, this was a very large spreadsheet. Too big to actually print out; you had to have a laptop just to keep track of the whole sheet. Near the security checkpoint, the director says to division chief (or vice versa, reports vary), "Leave your laptop out and we'll work on the BOM on the plane."

They did not make their flight. When they were next allowed to communicate, every employee in the organization received a directive email, effective immediately and punitive, to scrub all references to "bill of material" and its acronym from all publications and replace with "List of Material (LOM)."

Now this story has to be true because it's been a decade since I've seen anyone use "bill of material." It's always "list of material" now.

Boom Goes the Cement Anchor

I've been working as a network installer and also seeing the results of other company's work and top quality is rare and worth every penny. Sometimes an installation job even gets really exciting. That's not a good thing. Unlike TV shows where drama has to be scripted to drive ratings, installation work should be boring and routine.

In an office where I used to work, installers were working downstairs on the floor below our offices installing hangers into the cement ceiling above their heads which was also the floor beneath our feet. Which was thinner than they anticipated.

That's an office chair just off camera

It's interesting from an archaeology standpoint. I'm always fascinated by the history of old buildings so seeing all the layers of flooring was like a look back through strata. That debris is the result of a drill bit coming up almost underneath a coworker. The incident caused a lot of very important people to make very concerned faces while inspecting the area for damage. Like I said, this isn't the part of the day you want to be exciting.

Thumb's Up

Well, I did myself a good one just the other day. Nearly took the end of my thumb clean off. A kitchen utensil called a mandolin, used for slicing vegetables, was involved.

The culprit

Normally I'm much safer with blades, having been using them for so long. Guess I need to rip a corner off my Totin' Chip card. 

On to the first aid instruction portion of this post. Remaining calm when an accident has happened is the most important thing. Panic wastes valuable time needed for the treatment and recovery of the patient. Although, if you hurt yourself, using language that would melt a pirate's ear is an understandable response. After hopping around uttering choice exclamations, I got my bleeding thumb under the faucet to clean the injury and begin assessing the damage. I lost a few tablespoons of blood which helped carry contaminants out of the wound. My girlfriend brought over the first aid kit and I directed her in applying a bandage and dressing to the cut. 

Sharp dressed man

After any injury, a patient must also be treated for shock which is characterised by a drop in blood pressure and body temperature. I laid down under a blanket and also took a pain reliever. Aspirin, being a blood-thinner, would have been a poor choice of pain reliever but pain relieving and fever reducing ibuprofen is ideal for this type of accident. Take only as directed. 

I left the dressing on for 24 hours to ensure that bleeding was controlled, prevent infection, and begin healing the injury. After about 24 hours the dressing and bandage should be removed so the injury can be cleaned again, allowed air and blood circulation, and examined. The examination is to check for and treat infection and be sure the wound has begun healing. Cover the wound with a new bandage and clean dressing if it is likely to continue or resume bleeding. Otherwise, allow the wound air and full circulation to heal. 

The result