2026-05-06 ~ 12:17
sometimes i wish i had root on boston so i could fix bugs. i wouldn't do anything dramatic with the privilege; i'd just stop and fix problems as i found them. i guess the mayor has root, but i don't really want that job -- i'd have to spend lots of time talking to cameras, and i simply want to fix the bugs. perhaps even the mayor doesn't have root; the system just tumbles along via its own internal momentum. government ~ "please get your manager's written approval before using sudo" etc
bug report: when trying to cross Tremont St. walking along Boylston St. towards the Tatte, the crosswalk button situation is simply out of hand. standing clear of the umbrella rack construction lattice scaffolding, i wondered: is this thing working? is the light itself operating by some sort of actual plan that includes me crossing the street?
because it's been a few minutes. the red LED on the only nearby crosswok button is lit, indicating that The Button Has Been Pressed [yes sir, but not by me -- it was like that when i got there!]. it Has Been Pressed for a few minutes now, too. being a bored engineer hacker whatever, i've decided to wait it out simply because, well... puckish curiosity. that, i could dash across the street -- but,
heck -- IS THIS THING ACTUALLY WORKING? because
i don't think it is working and me, spotting a potential bug -- just picture me pausing for a moment to appreciate aurora borealis in the sky; hang on. i'm just studying this. indulging my inner child [which, at three, began disassembling a live table lamp moments after being introduced to screwdrivers]. some people watch birds. i do too sometimes, but i also watch traffic lights. intersections. crosswalk buttons. possibly broken crosswalk buttons. is it broken?
...ok, yes -- it. is. broken. -- i thot --
i could stand here all night and it'd not go unless someone else triggered it elsewhere, i think? i had the urge to go tear off some panels and try to debug the situation, but no, i'm no expert, no sir -- i'd just get arressted, tresspassed, possibly electrocuted, and, darn it -- still not actually fix the problem. because i'm no expert; nope. don't have the expert tools required [why, yessir, you'll need the {torx security bit #etc}]. however, i am an expert in, er...
recognizing the lack of an expert -- and i don't think anyone planned for this thing to be broken; i'm not mad at anyone. i get that This Shit Is Complicated and These Things Happen -- but, whoever fixes these things --
please fix it. there. you've officially been bothered
[[[ DETAILS ~ seems to trigger fine crossing from the other side of the street; this is a problem that only happens when it's late and there aren't many people out -- then there's no one across the street to Press The Button. daytime, people always there... The Button Expires; The Button Is Pressed. over and over. but at night... when there's no one on the corner by Tatte to Press The Button, i'm pretty sure the button on the Chinatown side is broken. but i'm not an expert, and i could be wrong.
]]]
anyways,
in an ideal world -- one in which i am actually allowed to fix the things as i please ~ first, i'd research it. study it... but no, i don't have expert tools; i've just trainspotted a Button Bird. i wouldn't touch any of the jargon before i had a plan. anything other than look but don't touch has to be part of a coherent, short, A-to-B plan; that's how i avoid biting off more than i can chew. limit the scope... my ideal is taking the problem out as a sniper does; a clean shot clear away from getting my hands dirty. because it
IS a traffic light, after all. so i'd study it. research it. fathom it. admire it
though i [citizen, pedestrian, shuffle dancer, etc] am currently not allowed to touch any of that jargon -- if someone were to PAY ME MONEY me to mess with traffic lights, then not only would i would be allowed to touch all the traffic lights, but i would likely be
required to do so, because then i would be
employed.
however -- electrician's license, right. you may as well put in the hours to be a commercial airline pilot; you'll be done sooner. before you get
[the thing you need to be allowed to have that job] you need to put in a ridiculous number of logged hours under a master electrician, and for that you need one handy for thousands of hours or something [...you do, right? oh! well, neither do i. who wants to be an intern for four years?].
yet, yet -- it is an intricate thing, really: what are those blue junction boxes called? i don't know. like donald rumsfeld, i respect the unknown unknowns -- i don't know what the blue boxes are called. i do know, however, they're required in new construction in massachusetts, for fire safety. master electricians know a million things like... oh, networked smoke detectors? there's a real can of worms. the wiring confuses the heck out of me. five wires? four? ...some of the lines are ANALOG?! voltage levels, and... WOW, what?! i've built modular synthesizers for heck's sake and i can't imagine having to actually SIGN OFF and certify that, yessir, all 17 smoke detectors in this duplex unit are plugged in correctly.
i feel like government should be... plumbing, really.
government doesn't need to be fancy or extravagant, it just needs to work.
spend a few bucks to get the good equipment, or you'll just be out fixing crosswalk buttons all the time. then you need some experts.
also, oh, project management? requirements. about a master's degree in... people engineering. you can get an expert for that one, too. then get out of the way, because... the plumbing is complicated, but ultimately boring and If You Really Want To Know sure you can go to school and understand how it works, but really, at the end of the day ~
all people really a poop about is that the plumbing works. people just care if the plumbing works; they don't care how. if dragged through [another?] undergraduate degree, your average person would say, "oh, i understand why i don't have time to understand this, now!!"
and there you go: government is full of a million complicated things like [Designing Wastewater Treatment Plant] and [Snow Removal Based On Historical Data] and you don't want to know. you, people, just care that the plumbing works. i, however, am the rare sort that really cares how the plumbing works, too, because these things are fascinating and intricate like the bugs running off when you turn over a rock.
anyways, i
do need a job. is sysadmin of boston an open position? lmk