Trowel Mix

New thoughts on old tech.

Following recent comments from Elon Musk and the ensuing jump in the value of Tesla’s shares, I found myself wondering if Triskele Building and Conservation might also be described as a technology company. After all isn’t technology just the application of knowledge for practical purposes? How better to describe the work of Triskele’s learned tradesmen? Not wishing to make any rash claims, I decided to head out on site to ask the lads how they were making use of the latest technology in their respective fields.

My first call found bricklayer, Paul, sensitively repairing the portico of one of London’s finest Gothic revival houses. Paul, it turned out, has been using the same set of trowels for thirty years. Considerably worn by long use, the tools were perhaps a better example of e-rosion than of e-learning.

Undeterred I headed east to Marylebone where, rumour had it, our plasterer, Phil, had recently splashed out on a new trowel. AI design? I thought, wifi enabled? Touch screed? The new model turned out to be the same as the old and almost identical to one depicted in a fresco at Pompeii.

That jump in the share price was looking increasingly unlikely. In a world driven by tech, blockchain and micro chips how was I going to explain to our clients that the last big breakthrough here in the UK was the arrival of flemish bond in the early 17th century? Around the same time, coincidentally, that the word technology first entered the English language.

With a sigh I decided to head back to the office. Unfortunately a signal failure meant there were no trains on the underground, I flagged down a passing cab, “Sorry mate, cash only, the card reader’s not working,” then took out my phone to order an Uber. Halfway through the booking my battery gave up. Far from feeling downcast, my mood took a turn for the better. There was, after all a lot to be said, for a technology that had remained unchanged for 3,000 years. Long may it continue, I thought, as I ran for the bus.