Years ago I was plagued by "can you fix" calls
I'm (now retired) an electrionics tech, I started charging for calls/repairs.... funny how the calls slowed right down. :-)
82 publicly visible posts • joined 3 May 2014
She was an ex at the point of the transit screws in the kitchen incident.
So in the ex-relationship the location of any screws was considered none of my business.
Come to think of it anything involving "screws" or "screwing" did not involve her at all and had not for some time. :-)
At one place I worked it was a regular occurance.
Some "bod" would write a message with a pernament marker instead of a white board marker.
Went on for years until a new H&S elf discovered _exactly_ which solvent we used to clean off the ink.
Oh dear ..... :-)
Getting Welsh grammer 100% right is not easy.
It stands out a mile if its wrong but my Welsh grammer isn't good enough to correct it most of the time, however I have Welsh speaking friends that can.
In the case quoted I would have been fired - if I was 100% certain I was right (and had checked) - there would have been no apology, no flowers. I would have stuck to my guns as I was thrown out of the door.
I have form for this sort of thing :-) - its happend before :-) :-)
You can download and install a scatty nav map for free! Wow!
A 2016 GM/Vauxhall/PSA Astra K --- no new maps available, latest is dated 2017 and is several years out of date. They charge about £80/£90 for an out of date update.
No firmware updates for the radio, Android Auto works at the moment - until the next feature rich AA update I suspect.
On SWMBO Fiesta - grand! FOC update (currently free).
Myself and 2 friends tried to push start 1000cc BMW boxer twin. We failed miserably as the rear wheel locked up no matter which gear we used - turned out it needs the starter motor to operate the decompressors on that model.
It can only be started with a fully charged battery
Cause of Flatus Battus? Headlight stays on unless you take the key out.....
:-)
In the late '70 I worked for a company that made dot matrix printers.
We had a test room with upwards of a 100 printers on soak test - hammering away in dot matix style.
If one printer had a faulty printhead you could hear it over the clatter or the rest.
They were based in Crewe in a wonderfull ex-railway office that curved round with the track. Alas it was destryed in a fire some years later.
An ex-coworker was doing this sort of thing 20+ years ago with a shortwave radio. He could sniff RS232 with ease. The same basic technique would work for ethernet (better radio/decoding needed of course).
I'll bet the Black Helicopters have a much better way of doing it and have been using the method for decades.
The tool was called a "Mac Cracker" - its basicaly a long torx drive with a 150/200mm shaft.
Something like a T9/T10 or maybe even a T15.
The last one I fixed (psu gone bang - 110V version pluged into 220V - whoops), well it was in the early 90's and bought over to the uk by a left-pondian. Changed the link over to 220V as well.
Reading the comments tells me that there is as much utter clueless bollocks being avidly discussed as fact now as there was in the late '70.
One capacitor brand producing a better sound than the other ....
Silver plated PTFE insulated speaker cables better than 10A orange 2 core mains cable in a normal domestic setup (100(real)W/channel ......
Arg! Thought such utter twadle got left in the 70's
I wonder how the main contractor would feel if the subby ripped up the pavments and then declared themself bankrupt?
Thought the idea was that you set up a company to do the subby work and then closed that company when the work was complete thus avoiding all liabilities? That certainly was the way that a couple of house builders operated localy.
Last call like that was years ago....
"Hello I'm from Microsoft, your computer has a virus"
Oh - ok - what do I do?
"Turn on your computer please"
Ok - just a minuite.....
So I turned the radio on loud, put the phone down in front of it and went to the shops.
Shortly after that I got CLI working. I now dont answer unless I recognise the number and they start to leave a message.
Lots of calls from Private Numbers, international or fake VOIP. Bit of a pain because some profesionals dont understand that no number plus no message equals I dont answer.
Part one..... when fitting a genny make sure that phase and neutral aren't swapped over behind the wiring panel ......
Part two ..... big 3-phase UPS ..... make sure that the incoming power sense leads are actually conected to all 3 phases....
Part 3 .... dont let a <redatcted> Manager demolish a wall in the warehouse using a JCB.....
Part 1 -- bang, bang ... bang went the PC power supplies
Part 2 -- the lights are on but why is the main frame not .... oh ....
Part 3 -- big blue flash followed by much darkness and a bit of silence ......
Never mind your puny IR remotes -- I raise you Bluetooth.
I have recently invested in a new Bluetooth intercom for use on my motorbike * .
While setting it up and testing various pairing options (phone, gps and a couple of other bits) a voice was heard from downstairs, SWMBO called "have you switched the telly on" (in very stern Matron tones - aka "you are in trouble" ..... oh ..... )
Turns out that our new Humax 4K STB has always discoverable BT set as un-changable default. **
So when ever I tried to pair the GPS it tries to connect to the Humax turning it and the tv on.
I even managed to change channels. I was impressed SWMBO less so during one of her favourite progs :-)
* bike to bike comms is incredibly useful especialy on long trips.
** this Humax STB has a bluetooth capable remote control to handle voice commands.
10 years ago in the previous sub-prime crash I found my-self in need of a new job :-)
I rapidly discovered that..
Listing O and A levels showed that I was "too old".
A Physics degree counted for nothing.
Jobs that were paying £15 an hour suddenly became minimum wage.
My 10 years of managment experience was ignored.
I applied for one Civil Service job - didn't get it because I didn't speak the CS lingo. I made a second attempt and discovered that out of 350+ applicants 3 might get their CV selected and forwarded to the relevant department - 1 (yes 1) might get an interview. A third application that I was preparing went in the bin :-)
It took 13 months and one false start to get a proper job. I'm still not a manager because I'm useless at it and I no longer want the hassle. :-)
The neigbouring units would report unusual activity incase they were the ultimate target of a bit of thiefery - particularly if they had been on the recieving end of a canabis farm setup.
I should think that lots of ducting/venting would be a big clue.
If the mine/farm had just been set up then any "plants" would not realy stink until they were nearly ripe.
Bloke round 'ere was caught that way. His garage next to a local "main" road was found because it absolutly stunk. If you dont use the stuff its a truly horrible smell. In this case easily detected by anyone passing by - and it did stink - totaly unmissable as his place was the only building for about a mile either way.
Overcurrent reset ‐ motor windings could overheat, the insulation melted and shorted the copper winding wire together.
The trip would go, the wire would còol holding the copper tightly in contact - press the button in and BANG! - magic smoke escapes. :-)
Or the "router" will contain a DECT phone basestation with the phones wirelessly connected.
DECT works very well. Lets just hope that the DECT version used is truly universal and "CLI" works accross all brands of phone .... on hang on .... my Rose Tinted Glasses have gone opaque.....
Back in the wonderfull days of 2009 having been made redundant from a job of xx years standing (at least 10 years too long but thats a whole different story) - I found myself trying, along wirh many others, to find a new job.
Disaster Area would be the best description.
Jobs that were paying £15 per hour were now minimum wage.
I was considered too old and over qualified at 50 something...
Job Center wanted me to apply for jobs that were based many miles from home at £11,000/year.
I had to show records of phone calls/letters/replys, there were pages and pages of them.
Allways there was the threat of withdrawing the job seekers allowance !!!!
I gave up with the JC after 3 months, got a bit of work but that fell through then got in with an agency.
A few months work at minimum wage close to home eventualy led to a permie position elsewhete through a different agency.
All in all 2 years of stress and financial embarasment that took a number of years to get over.
I worked for the company that made them .....
The introduction of 3.5" floppies did not help their business model.
That coupled with the new Japanese 80 and 132 columb printers blew a big hole in their profits.
The final blow was hard drives that were no longer the size of a washing machine.
Ah that earthquake.....
My brother was up a ladder at roof hight planning a repair when it struck.
He said it looked very odd with the slates flapping like waves in water radiating out from a stone thrown in a pond.
He came down the ladder very quickly when he realised what was happening
:-)
Watched that happen with a Young Man employed in the Stores ..... fitted all requirements
.... until "can you please take the (electric golf like) buggy over to the main building" .... Um.... sorry, no..
"Why?" .... I don't drive... (not can't but couldn't).
Oh....
Much fun followed .....
French TV tranmitters did swamp the reciever circuit of certain British market imobilisers/alarms used on motorbikes.
Mate was stranded 3 hours from Calais by the signal from a TV transmitter. Its only when the bike was recovered and put inside a panel van (Faraday cage) that the alarm would re-set and the bike would then start.
He was still charged €90 and just made it too the ferry on time. :-)
The bike was made before imobilisers were factory fitted. In those days insurance companies would insist on an alarm or there was no theft cover.
Still happens now, locals carry a tin and foil to shield the aftermarket alarm. Factory ones sometimes fail too. Can happen here too :-)
Too expensive for me ...
I'm down in the "A××" range ... or would be if they suported wireless charging.
I cant justify £769 on a "phone" ..... £300/£400 (and a 3 to 4 year life)is my absolute max budget and wireless charging Sammy cant be had for that money (new) :-)
Yes... the way my semi is connected to the mains power infrastructure I guesstimated that there was about 11KW left over after allowing for what he house needed at peak - there would be more available at night but not during the day.
So 11kW/hr for 8 to 10 hrs ... max charge 110kW or so a session. So to charge a 200kW+ battery overnight I would need a 3-phase supply.
Here? In the Fen miles away from civilisation.
Some serious planning is needed.
Ah now this explains why I had to replace a disk last week on my home PC. At 4 years old I thought that bad luck had screwed the disc. It did a disc scan on start up and failed to boot.
7 days to get a new disc (thanks Covid) and a full evening to fix.
Great ........
Ah University Halls of Residence.....
Early 1970's in a very Welsh university town.
All the power sockets were 2A round pin items.
So I made up a 2A to 13A socket adapter.
Some Bodger had allready fixed the fuse box, allthough a stock of 15A fuse wire was required.
The main thing we used to power up were the universal 1970's "Hi-Fi" amplifiers.
Electric kettles were rare fortunatly :-)