XKCD Web Comic #1741: Work (described)

A web comic of romance,
sarcasm, math, and language.

Scene: A table top with a glass about two-thirds full and a gooseneck lamp. Each item is labeled with some of the work that went into making it.

Glass: Years-long negotiation with glass supplier, width decided by 4 hours of meetings, months of tip-over testing.

Lamp: An engineer worked late drawing curve of shade in autocad, extra vents added to avoid California safety recall, shape of stem decided by 9 hours of meetings, ongoing debate over UL sticker, argument over putting switch on cord got someone fired.

Table: Wood source changed due to 20-year fight over logging in the Great Bear Rainforest.

Caption: Sometimes I get overwhelmed thinking about the amount of work that went into the ordinary objects around me.

Hover text: Despite it being imaginary, I already have SUCH a strong opinion on the cord-switch firing incident.

Warning: This comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors).

(This XKCD is posted out of sequence in honor of Labor Day. And in honor of posting for the first time in a looong time. Sorry, folks, we’ll try to do better.)