[jeff5may]

Sorry if I ruffled your feathers with the unicorns reference. I am not trying to tell you what to watch on the internet, or what to have hope in. Just trying to keep this topic alive and moving forward.

A big problem I have noticed at work in general in the last few years ties right into this situation. Operators, material handlers, team leaders, and maintenance techs especially are using every spare moment on the job goofing off on their smartphones. If they aren't playing some online game, they are participating in the social media explosion. As a result, everywhere I go, I have to constantly be telling people to get off their phones and do their jobs.

Every week, I sit in meetings listening to how this activity is killing safety, quality, and productivity. Due to the nature of the business, contractors, executives and other salaried employees are tied to their phones as part of the job, so prohibiting usage is not possible. Most of those who aren't supposed to be on their phones point to the fact that many "important" workers are on their phones an hour a day or more in plain sight.

Due to this "double standard", the company has tasked leaders and middle-managers with observing and reporting people who know what they should be doing but choose otherwise. As to date, no one has been directly fired for goofing off on their cell phone unless it caused an accident. However, many have been suspended or laid off for other mistakes they have made on the job, just because they attracted a spotlight.

I'm not saying I'm more important than you or anything of the sort. What I am saying is that the internet has a way of leading people to spend their time, money and energy on things that serve no real purpose. Nearly everyone I know has spent too much time looking for something they can use on the web...myself included. It is super easy to spend a whole afternoon doing nothing useful on the internet.

That's one of the big reasons I was attracted to this forum. The "can do" attitude of members helping each other out is strong. Armchair "what if" discussions are conducted with a specific purpose in mind. Extravagant, unproven, or unrealistic claims are dissected with scrutiny. The structure and guidance helps keep us all focused on pursuing a definite benefit.

This is your topic, so you can write about whatever you want. I'm just saying that space alien technology isn't going to heat your home this winter. A phase change heat pump will.