Life is . . .

I know this isn't funny because 23 people have died in the collapse of a building in Egypt, but part of the news item struck me as rather bizarre.

Buildings regularly collapse in Egypt, either as a result of deterioration with time or shoddy construction that fails to meet standards and regulations. Also, some owners tend to illegally add on more stories, destabilizing the structure.

The first thought was, didn't anyone notice that five stories had been added to the building? What happened to building permits? Building codes? I guess I shouldn't feel all that bad when my students couldn't build anything decent in the Lego Project for my tech writing class this last term.

The other question that came to mind was this: How have the pyramids lasted as long as they have?