[NJSBMWR] Newsletter Fodder

[Ed Gerber]

Don,

Here's my column

BTW I'm back in NJ.  Think I should have stayed in Florida

Ed

Last year I traded in my R1200rt; every time I rode in the rain a red 
light  flashed warning me of an impending brake failure, that 
fortunately never occurred. The source of this fault could not be 
found   so

I replaced the Beemer with a Honda. On my first long ride, the Honda 
stalled and could not be restarted until the computer was "re-booted," 
that is the battery was momentarily disconnected. The dealer could not

find the cause of the computer failure.

     This frustration calls to mind a book worth reading  while waiting 
out the virus: "Shop Class as Soulcraft" by Mathew B. Crawford, Penguin 
Books (2009) .  Crawford has a Ph.D. in political philosophy

from the University of Chicago but owns and operates a motorcycle repair 
shop.  He bemoans how an engineering culture has evolved which has 
denied  us access to fix our own possessions; Manufacturers

hide the works  of the devices we depend on; they are unintelligible to 
direct inspection. In my case the engine and brake system were 
accessible only through a layer of computers. Lift the hoods on cars now

and all you see is a plastic shroud.  the fasteners holding small 
appliances together now require esoteric, specialized screw drivers 
"apparently to prevent the curious or angry from interrogating the 
innards."

Most of us grew up in a different world, where motorcycles were sold 
with tool kits and Sears provided blown up parts diagrams and parts 
lists for the items it sold.

     Crawford argues this change is reflective of a major change in the 
the workplace.  Our jobs now are often cut off from the physical world; 
we value knowledge workers who have no practical skills. Such

workers lack the deep satisfactions of skill based work that require the 
use of your hands as well as your mind.  Crawford argues his experiences 
as a motorcycle mechanic are far more satisfying then his work as

an academic; he contends that  a career in the manual trades is an 
honorable one and well worth pursuing.  A good read.


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