The last man

A friend of mine alerted me to a recent article in Fortune Magazine by Stanley Bing that really hit home.

Titled The last man, it talks about how elevator usage rates prompt an investigation into finding a remaining lone employee. This sole employee always has too much to do because things malfunction due to lack of maintenance. And, he has the audacity and initiative to make things better.

Here at the fort, that would be Robin, the lone maintenance guy trying to fix everything that has been in a woeful state of neglect. On any given day, The Last Man never stops moving and doing, maintaining complex, jerry-rigged systems that are pushed way beyond what they were designed to do.

For example, in a typical day, potable water (drinking, showers, laundry) use is around 900 gallons. Lately, there's been a 33% increase, with usage hovering around 1,200 gallons/day. Not a very good thing for the poor reverse osmosis system that can only make about 1,000 gallons of water a day, provided the sea water salinity level is low enough.

Then there's the cistern water, used mainly for flushing toilets. Typical usage is around 300 gallons a day, about 200 flushes. Lately, there's been a 150% increase, with usage around 500+ gallons a day, about 333 flushes. Not a very good sign for a rainwater-supplied system where there hasn't been measurable rain since February 2.

Of course, all that water and waste must go somewhere. The leech fields are taking on more than 1,000 gallons daily and the poopy tank gets almost 400 lbs of sludge a month. Redoubt and Mt. St. Helen's could pale in comparison when that eruption blows!

Meanwhile, a staff of 5-6 law enforcement rangers handled a whopping 65 law enforcements incidents over a 365-day period (less than one incident a week).

Now that the internet is back and general population usage is limited right now due to bandwidth testing, I can't wait to check more of Bing's writings, like Crazy bosses and Bulls**t jobs.