One morning two weeks ago, I was walking the dog past the home that’s under construction in my neighborhood. As we approached, I watched a city inspector hop out of his truck, sign the inspection report in the front yard, and promptly hop back into his truck. He was gone before I reached the end of the yard.

Maybe the guy just has really keen vision. He may be the kind of guy who can spot construction problems from across the street in the predawn light. It sure seemed to me, though, that he had signed for something he hadn’t inspected.

Back in my Navy days we had a word (as the Navy often does) for that kind of behavior: gundecking. Part of my maintenance chores as a petty officer included inspecting the “fire bottles” (extinguishers). While it was tempting at times to just assume the damn thing would work when needed, I took the maintenance very seriously, knowing that the life it might save might one day have been my own.

As there’s nothing resembling a housing boom at the moment, I am left to wonder why this guy was in such a hurry to do his job. Or not do it, as the case may be.