> On another note (John?) > what is y'alls' thoughts on cell phone activity on the job site? Cell phones? Just like iPods and boomboxes, these devices are distractions from the work. The obvious distraction is that while fiddling with the phone the work is not getting done. But there are more important issues. I have noticed that some of the best craftspeople and artisans I have worked with need and used the audible connection with their work to make the work better. If the carpenter can hear and listens to the ssssssssnick, ssssssssssnick, sniiiiickKKK of the wood shaving passing over the steely edge of his hand plane he can use that connection to know more about how the work is going, know perhaps when to shift the angle of the plane, or when the edge is getting dull. Subtle but definite improvements to craft work can be made through the ears. In my own work this has been true since I was a kid. Some will say their music gets them in the "zone" with the "flow". Their music may make them feel better while they are doing their work, but it is a disconnect from the work. They make get some good work done while listening to something else, they could get better work done while listening to the work. I know of one case where a worker saved his life when he heard a subtle creak for the scaffolding just before it failed, while the worker right beside him who was wearing an iPod lost his life. Of course I do not know that his happened BECAUSE of the iPod, but I do know that I will never wear an iPod while up on a scaffold. All else equal, I will select a worker who listens to his work rather than an iPod or cell phone, and have sometimes actually used this as a selection technique. John -- **Please remember to trim posts, as requested in the Terms of Service** To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to: <http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>