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+---
+id: 2026-05-14T17:57:07-0400
+title: 2026-05-14 17:57:07
+tags: []
+daily: "[[2026-05-14]]"
+---
+# 2026-05-14 17:57:07
+
+In my years of using [[accubid|Accubid]] nearly every work day
+I've always longed for good analogies for using the wrong [[tools|tool]] for the job.
+I found one that could almost be said to be in common use:
+"Hitting a nail with the handle of the hammer"
+But the phrase is not ideal for my purpose.
+It suggests that the tool _can_ be used to achieve the objective,
+but that it is being used suboptimally.
+"Driving a screw with a hammer"
+which I came up with, though surely not for the first time,
+is more appropriate for Accubid and its use in [[construction-estimating]].
+It suggests the tool _can not_ be used to achieve the objective,
+but that it may be possible to use it to _mimic_ success.
+If you manage to drive a screw with a hammer
+you have still failed to use it as a fastener.
+
+Despite its name,
+Accubid is clearly not meant for bidding.
+Bidding requires an appreciation of uncertainty and risk
+that naive [[decrease-in-sigma|zero-sigma]] "estimating" does nothing to assist.
+Estimators have to do that part, _the important part_, in their head.
+
+It ought to be glaringly obvious to Trimble
+that their software is not being used as intended.
+The use of items to be budgetary of other item
+which are not known or not present in the database
+is perhaps universal,
+even though this false specificity is detrimental
+to both estimating and operations.
+Briefly sheathing [[hanlons-razor|Hanlon's razor]],
+I believe Trimble may be _deliberately avoiding_ respect for uncertainty, despite demand,
+because to support price uncertainty would call into question
+the utility of their biggest earners and up-sells.
+Tra-Ser is the industry gold standard you can't live without,
+but what good is a single price, which isn't even guaranteed for purchase _today_,
+compared to a range estimated for the lifetime of the project?
+If you believe we live in Trimble's fantasy world
+where you can buy out a bid BOM as-is
+then they can sell you a subscription for Spectrum, their ERP software.
+
+To really beat this analogy to death,
+Trimble is has a monopoly on hammers
+so they'd rather convince us we need a hammer
+than sell us the screwdriver we _do_ need.