He's Canadian. He was just in British Columbia and was flabbergasted at what he thought were embarrassingly mediocre building code standards. It reminded me of the FHA's role in my house sale. The buyer was using an FHA-approved-loan. From an individual seller's perspective, what a pain! They had to hit every little standard in the book. But at the end of the day, I'm actually happier that there is a set of standards out there so that people aren't constantly getting the short end of the stick from contractors who want to save some coin at every single corner, rather than getting the job right. And by the way building standards go well beyond homes. When an earthquake hits California, the loss of life is minimized because of the state, federal, and local regulations for building well. You don't have this elsewhere in the world, particularly in developing countries where the government is underfunded and not very present. Once again, I'm thankful for the role our government plays here.
Bennie loves that damn show. Enjoying your blog - this is a particularly tough time to be a state employee and/or to argue that there is honor in the public service of working for government. I still believe it, but it's an awfully tough sell...
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