Showerthought: my dad's old 'just get it working' advice doesn't fly anymore

I was helping my dad fix his old truck radio last weekend, and he said 'back in my day, if it powered on and made sound, you called it good.' That hit different because I just spent two days chasing a 0.5 volt drop on a G1000 bus in a Cessna 172. The plane would have flown, but the spec is the spec. Made me realize how much our job changed from fixing things to proving they're perfect. Anyone else have a moment where the old way of thinking just didn't fit the new work?

2 comments

2 Comments

jamiesingh1d ago

Man, that reminds me of my buddy who works on medical gear. He said a tech from the 80s came in and was shocked they had to log every single calibration, even if the machine was basically working fine. The old guy said they used to just tap the display until the numbers looked right. Different world now.

paul_webb451d ago

Wait, they just tapped the display until it looked okay? That's wild! I get that things were more relaxed back then, but we're talking about medical equipment here. People's lives could depend on those numbers being right. It's honestly scary to think about. I'm really glad they take calibration seriously now, even if it seems like a hassle.