Tim’s Web Log 4

I am usually pretty good at deciphering the strange English translations one finds in the instructions supplied with electronics from Asia, but one of the “warnings” included with an alarm clock I just got is still baffling me.

Warning: Where the mains plug is used as the disconnect device, the disconnect device shall remain readily operable.

I’ve read that through 6 or 7 times, and I still have absolutely no clue what they’re trying to warn me about.  The clock does have a battery, so the clock will keep running after you unplug it, but is that really something they would warn me about?  We even looked at the Spanish version, and it seems to say exactly the same thing:

Advertencia: Cuando se utilice el tomacorríente principal como dispositivo de desconexión, dicho dispositivo debe permanecer completamente disponible.

Congratulations to these folks for stumping me.

Diary consumer, humor

One of my partners has a great idea to save this country a lot of money.

The government could set up kiosks in the major metropolitan areas and give away cocaine, heroine, and methamphetamine, for free.  In one fell swoop, you would eliminate 95% or more of the property crime in the country, since addicts would no longer have to steal in order to support their habits.  You could redirect the resources of the DEA to more useful tasks.  The addiction problem would solve itself pretty quickly by attrition, since those who could not stop themselves would leave the gene pool.

In the long run, and probably in the short run as well, this would be one heck of a lot cheaper than the “war on drugs” we’ve been fighting for decades.  It’s almost too bad the idea doesn’t stand a chance.

Observation