Monday, January 15, 2018

Hawaii's False Missile Alert

The media are now reporting how the false alert of an incoming missile was sent out on Saturday in Hawaii.

I have written to EMA Director Miyagi and Gov. Ige, as follows:

"By now, you must be asking yourself who the idiot was who designed the steps in the alert system. 

First, the "Are you sure you want to do this?" prompt is insufficient. The worker probably saw that at the end of every shift for the system test and didn't bother to re-check what he was saying "Yes" to.

The wording should have read, "Are you sure that you want to send out an EMERGENCY ALERT?" and on a different color screen with emphatic, contrasting lettering.

Perhaps a second employee's verification should be required.

Secondly, for a real alert there there should be a second prompt, "Are you REALLY sure that you want to send an EMERGENCY ALERT?

A copy of this message is being sent to Gov. Ige."

What would you have done, had you been in Hawaii on Saturday morning? Would you have been concerned? Worried? Fatalistic?

Would you have gone out on the balcony to watch the arrival of a missile? Headed for the basement, interior stairway or closet? Or maybe just fried up a couple of extra slices of bacon for a good, even if last, breakfast?

Do you have any constructive criticism for Hawaii or, for that fact, Illinois or the city or town in which you live? Email information can be found at Hawaii.gov

This could be a good time to review the legal state of your personal and business affairs. Is your Will up-to-date? Is the beneficiary designation of each of your life insurance policies just the way you want it? Are your bank accounts correctly titled?

Don't be like one prominent Woodstock family who assured me that their lawyer had "taken care of everything." They had Wills and a Trust of many pages. All well done. What was the problem? The attorney never informed them that the bank named as Trustee had closed its trust department 15 years before. And no successor Trustee was named.

Instead of a $5,000 legal bill to wind up everything, the attorney's final bill was about $60,000. It started with a trip to the courthouse to get a new bank trustee appointed. The employee at the small bank was not experienced. Every time one of the many adult children/heirs called him with a question, he referred them to the attorney. Ka-ching, ka-ching. And it ended with the attorney's being late in filing the Federal Estate Tax Return. Ka-ching. Ka-ching.

2 comments:

Big Daddy said...

Off topic Gus, but I finally read the book. While I didn't know any of the names, the stories are the same as mine when I worked for Sears. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It made me both laugh and shake my head at the same time because of the ways corporation treat their customers and how they lose them over something that could be handled so easily and better.
PS. I asked my wife if she knew how to unthaw something. She gave me that crazy eyed look and told me that there was no such word,lol. Of course I already knew that. In any event, kudos for writing the book and thanks for reviving my memory. I really enjoyed it.

Gus said...

Big Daddy, many thanks for your kind words. Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for your purchase. Feel free to lend it, if you like. Lending should be enabled.