There’s probably a vast difference btwn what the state says it costs the maintain them, and what it costs this guy. Really wish there were more opportunities for the public to do stuff like this. There’s been a light out in the alley near me for years and the city won’t fix it. I’d happily do it myself if it was allowed.
Guerilla Public Service. If you've not heard of Richard Ankrom who fixed an exit sign on the 110 freeway, check it out. He made a documentary about it (and there are countless other videos on YouTube covering the story).
Ya, that's fair, and very noble of you. I think this sort of thing is often the divide between engineering and politics. Engineers want to do the thing. Politicians want to make it easier to do the thing. I realize those are loose definitions, and I'm just some internet guy, but I like my definitions. As you get promoted, you move away from engineering, and further into politics. Personally I don't have the patience for much politics, even though i recognize that it is good and important.
All that to say -- I think you should be promoted :)
You need to understand that there's The Law and then there's "what people get in trouble for". Practice anarchy in your daily life. Take control of your surroundings. Just make sure you only do good. And if you suspect you'll get into a "no good deed goes unpunished" scenario, make a game of it and do it under cover of night.
Is it literally just the lightbulb? Is it accessible? You should just do it, they likely won’t notice, and even if they do they’re not going to arrest you. If you’re within 30 min of Escondido CA I’ll even come do it for you.
I usually agree, but it's fairly high up, the bulb is probably non standard, and it's not clear how to get the top off. Just slightly more work than I'm willing to put in.
Wow, this is terrible and dangerous advice. There are multiple laws that prohibit this, some of which are in place to protect people from danger (such as the high voltages involved or the possible risk of injury to yourself or others) while others are about certification.
The desire to help is absolutely laudable, and I wish it were easier for volunteers to get permission to go and do it, but to go on an Internet forum to wrongly claim that it's already allowed is irresponsible.
Some countries are even removing land lines. Denmark has removed the first bits of the copper infrastructure. Even if we wanted to have payphones back, they'd need to be cell-phone based.
In LA "alone"? The city of Los Angeles has a population of 3.8 million people and in 2025 a budget of about $14 billion. That would be something like 0.01% of LA's budget.
That's like saying "At Google alone they spent X dollars" as if it was indicative of companies in general.
To be fair if you mean Kenneth Hahn, and are referring to when he was LA County Chair in 1978, obviously that would be a much larger sum relatively. But it's the largest city in CA now and it was then too.
Not sure I understand the point you're making. You were talking about the entire state of CA. I was pointing out that it's not as cheap as you think it is.
That's not an issue of cost, but the issue of anonymity. Terrorists, child traffickers, illegal immigrants could use them without authorities knowing who is calling.
