WorldWide Drilling Resource

WorldWide Drilling Resource ® is proud to work in cooperation with to bring you more information about the benefits of geothermal drilling. 39 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® MAY 2013 Very Little Happens in a Vacuum by Britt Storkson Owner, P2FlowLLC We’re often told there are “unintend- ed consequences” now and then...neg- ative things happen which were not intended to happen. While it’s true it may happen once in a great while, I submit most everything that happens most everywhere is done on purpose. Why are computer printers reason- ably priced, but the ink or toner cartridges they must have are not? Also, why is it the ink cartridges are all different sizes and shapes so a toner cartridge that fits in onemodel of printer (even if it’s the same brand of printer) will not fit in another? Was this just an accident or over- sight by the manufacturer? Did they improve the new printer design so the old cartridge won’t fit? I don’t think so. It’s called “the printer manufacturer makes far more money selling you ink or toner during the life of the printer than they ever made from selling you the printer”. Take furnace filters as another ex- ample. Furnace filters come in many sizes and shapes. Often, furnace filter holders are made purposely nonstan- dard...meaning they will not accommo- date standard filter sizes. Sure, you can still get the filter, but you must go to whomever made the furnace and buy their filters at their much higher prices. Of course, there’s usually a sticker on the furnace saying something like: “Use only (so and so manufacturer) approved filter”...implying something bad will happen if you don’t. Sometimes the warning is legitimate, but sometimes it’s just there to encourage you to buy their product at their much higher prices. Same goes for electrical panel cir- cuit breakers. Often, one brand of panel manufacturer makes several models of panels where one model’s circuit break- er will not fit another model. So if you need to add or change a circuit break- er, you must get one which will fit that panel, or it won’t work. On some older discontinued panels, a single 20-amp circuit breaker can cost $30 or more, while more standard circuit breakers can be purchased for $2-$3 each. So it’s buy the high-priced circuit breaker, or replace the entire panel, which is much more work and expense. The electrical panel manufacturers could have adopted a standard design for all, or maybe two or three basic designs for circuit breakers, but did not. I could cite many more examples, but this all goes to prove there are very few unintended consequences. If some- thing “is”, it “is” because someone wants it that way and profits from it being that way. And this includes politics. Britt admin@ worldwidedrillingresource.com