Every month in my e-mail I receive a copy of the CNY ASHI newsletter, The Observer. I read it because it's a mix of quirky info (see below) and great insights from inspectors. Photos help, too. It is written mostly by Tom Sherman from Absolute Home Inspections, and reflects his sense of humor.
One of the photos shows a shed snakeskin... a long, shed snakeskin. The caption reads "Wonder where the rest of this snake is?" The skin is up among the joists in a house that presumably was being inspected.
Another photo shows a propping system devised by the builder. Not a good one, either. The inspector notes that this is new construction, and it was discovered during a stage inspection. The suggestion is that even new construction should have interim inspections done by an independent company.
On to the fun part:
A helicopter was flying around above Seattle when an electrical malfunction disabled all of the aircraft's electronic navigation and communications equipment.
Due to the clouds and haze, the pilot could not determine the helicopter's position. The pilot saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, and held up a handwritten sign that said "WHERE AM I?" in large letters. People in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign, and held it in a building window. The sign said, "YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER."
The pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map, determined the course to steer to SEATAC airport, and landed safely. After they were on the ground, the copilot asked the pilot how he had done it.
"I knew it had to be the Microsoft Building, because they gave me a technically correct but completely useless answer."
(I don't know who to credit, but I love it!)
