@oldles
Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
When i went for my ride this morning, there were a few large rain drops. I called at the Post Office, and it was still dropping. Maybe one minute inside, but completely dry when I got out. My ride was “over the top”, West coast to East coast at Laxey. Mist on the mountain, needed to keep wiping my goggles every 10-15 seconds. I chose a table outside, and raised the sun umbrella “just in case” of sun. But it then rained heavily for maybe 30 mins. Some went inside, some of us stayed outside. I left at midday, still misty on the tops, but otherwise quite dry. very pleasant outside, but it almost feels chilly inside now.
I heard a little thunder whilst eating, but otherwise really good here still.
Les.
Ed, interesting about the vertical stripes. I have told Tamara, who at that moment was wearing an upper garment with H stripes!
Richard, I know all about keeping an eye on horse fly bites.
40 yearts ago, visiting the late ex’s in-laws, I sat outside whilst her brother and his woman, both druggies, went in for a beer and smoke. Anyway, the horse flies recognised me and swooped. 7 bites, forearm and thighs mostly. The one above my right wrist was the worst, and kept spreading upwards. A fried of the in-laws was a female doctor, who took my wife aside and said “If it gets near his elbow, off to hospital”. It did not.
A few years later, that doctor, who was asthmatic, had a bad attack. Stopped car, went to boot to get her “stabber”, but struggled. Passers by thought she was one over the eight, so walked by. She died.
I was very surprised by the horsefly episode this week, as I am usually the main target for any flying biters. However, I had already killed a couple earlier. They landed on me (thick overall) and I reached for my “Chairman Mao” hat and swiped.Most flew off, but I managed to crush a couple, then step on them on the ground and finish them off. Maybe I was observed and avoided.
Ed, I thought maybe Parkinson’s. Not just the tremor, but her face is looking flat and more expressionless than in the past. One of the signs of the disease. Usually though, Parkinson’s starts with stiffness, typically in one shoulder, them progresses. The tremors are mostly a side effect of the L.Dopa medication I think. Perhaps a symptom without the medication in some, not certain.
Les..
We go to “Walk and Talk” on Wednesdays. We often meet an old dear walking in the opposite direction with whom we always say Hello etc. She rarely appears if very wet, but always asks how many laps we will be doing. (one lap just under one mile, we usually do four). Anyway, a few months ago I said to her that she has been missing for a few weeks. She said that she does not bother if it is too cold. She is not very big, always dresses very smartly (M&S style of a decade or so ago, tweedy) and looks well for somebody obviously older than we are. I decide to enquire her age. Reply, 92! From the same mould as your neighbour by the sound of it Bob.
Les.
Smug mode switched on.
Really pleasant here. Spent most of the afternoon on the JCB moving massive slate lintels, then “buldozing” where my new turning circle will one day make parking easier.
Quite a wind last night, but warm so not uncomfortable. However, I noticed leaves dropping yesterday from the trees above and behind the cottage. Today Tamara’s “new” lawn is covered in them, mostly Sycamore.
Tuesday afternoon we were splitting logs, mostly Beech, first time with Beech. Much of it too tough for the splitting machine, so I had to get out the splitting axe. A few almighty swings from above my head, and just two lumps have defeated me. now if I was 40 years younger —– Now when we were stacking them, I had my big overall on as usual, but Tamara chose not to wear hers. A horsefly bit her, about 6 bites in all, including one on her cheek (not the one next to her nose) and they left massive marks which are still itching badly. Smug mode off : When I first moved here, I got nearly eaten alive by midges, so now I keep my own patent midge repellent to hand, and always wear mechanics blue overalls and a pair of wellies when outside.
I will be out on the ‘bike in the morning, but from the forecast there is every chance I could get VERY wet.
It keeps me young!
Les.
Sorry Hugh, but you got two of those wrong (well, certainly for a potteries lad).
‘There are plenty of starving children in China who’d love that”
‘Don’t sit on the cold concrete, you’ll get chimkof’
Adding a potteries one:-
It looks nasty over Bill’s mothers. — Trans. The sky over there is very dark, it is going to rain shortly.
Les.
Dave, that sounds very much like the one that has “gone funny”. If it is in your way, let me give you something for it, but if you have a use, hold on, since this one from Australia is on its way (though maybe a slow boat FROM china).
Thanks, Les.
Dave, thanks. Let me know if you find it.
I decided to review this thread a few minutes ago, as I have a nagging feeling something is not right. Don’t get me wrong, I am NOT looking for trouble!
At the start, the PC was not seeing the SSD.
I did a machine change (including back up bats at WoF’s suggestion), and it then changed to never booting directly without the Sw-OFF / Sw-On procedure.
During my review I re-read WoF’s comment ” Of course it COULD be TWO problems causing similar results which is always a bugger ” — Perhaps it was a combination of CPU and battery?
It is working OK for now, fingers crossed for the other shuttle to do EXACTLY the same when it gets a replacement CPU.
Of course all I will expect then is for a new series of Linux kernels to require new hardware, then I can start another 9 year adventure.
Hey Ho! Cheers, Les.
The pace (lack of) of life over here is great, sensible. I use cheques, but mostly cash. On the odd occasion i don’t have enough cash, and the cheque book is refused, out comes the card. That is so rare that I have my pin number written in code on the back. The code is imprinted on my mind since about 1965 (used by a wholesale/retail shop for all pricing), but the pin is so rarely used that I do not always remember it.
We don’t bother about a queue at the till, we have all day. Festina lente.
After all, I have been retired a long time. You would not think retired if you saw the jobs Tamara has lined up for me!
Les.
WoF, somewhat over my head.
I have just ordered an identical Micom to my original “bought new”, and AMD Athlon X2 240e. The low power version.
Cost just over a fiver, post paid, from “down under”.
Cheers, Les.
Well, a month since I did the last “switcharoo” and every day (with one exception) it stopped at the splash screen, requiring sw off/sw on. The one occasion when it came on directly was when I forgot to isolate my desk after shut down previous night.
Anyway, I had concluded it was either the PSU or the mother board, so yesterday morning, I swapped PSUs. Fault remained. Damn!
Next turn is the M/B, but RETAINING all ancillary bits. No change!OK, as quickies, swap graphics (N/C), RAM (N/C) Remove all USB dongles (N/C)!
OK, change M/B back again, but this time back to my original lower spec Microprocessor. SOLVED!
So, all this last 6 months I have been deceived by the higher spec microprocessor that came with the used shuttle. It still works (for now) but requires the regular restart business.
Does anybody know of or have an Athlon 11X2 or similar to fit my shuttle?
According to the book, PROCESSOR
AMD PhenomTM / AthlonTM 64 X2 / AthlonTM 64 / SempronTM
Hyper Transport 3.0 support
Supports Socket AM2+Of course being a shuttle, I would be loathe to fit one of the most powerful ones, the PSU would likely struggle.
Les.
Bob, if you get that oscillating cutter, can we have a report please. I bought a recipro saw a few years ago, but frankly found it pretty useless, but that could be me.
The simple bench looks OK, more like stuff looked a few decades ago. However, it will likely be cheap, thin Chinese steel, and it will rust badly when the paint falls off. But he may maintain it!
You may want to call his attention to a pal of mine, who was the group development engineer when I was with the Doulton group 4 decades ago. http://www.davidhulse.co.uk
He has built many models of the first industrial steam engines, but more recently a small steam engine he can potter about upon. And he still has a 500 BSA Gold Star to which he has had fitted a starter motor and electronic ignition, in respect for his age!
Les.
Going back to original point about resistance and impedance. The electrical supply people (and therefore all electricians) use the term impedance, but in reality they normally only measure the resistance between the neutral (with mains supply off) and the earth and then speak of the impedance. Some of the latest most sophisticated instrumentation may differ slightly (but may not) but a “practical electrician” armed with a meggar will get perfect answers. The high voltage test of the meggar is not used here, but there is a low resistance scale that is perfect for the job.
Having said all that, there are at least three different sorts of supply (don’t ask for full details) and need to be assessed differently.
My cottage receives a live and neutral via an overhead supply cable. I have an earth rod outside which provides my earth. I renewed this last year when I had a new meter fitted (NOT a “””smart””” one) and was told I needed various bits replacing. Since they were replacing my incoming supply (very old “Maconite” cables), I had a new RCD (earth leakage detector) and fitted a bigger cross section earth lead (16sq mm). My earthing RESISTANCE was around 30 ohms (I think it needed to be below 80 from memory).
If you have a buried earth rod like mine, go outside after beer, pee on it, then call them back to recheck.
Unfortunately, it seems you now need a “professional” to sign you off if you blow your nose.
However, your supply type does matter, so take some advice, and if it is like mine, go for the beer then get the retest done.
Les.
OBD, of course. I used to have a reader for my 2.9 Granada, which I think also covered my later Scorpio. I sold it. Yes, modern stuff is (or was) OBD-2 last time I saw anything, probably for over 20years now.
One on my bikes, a Cagiva Gran Canyon has a system, I think based on OBD-2, but it has a different interface, for which I needed a Fiat cable if I recall. Not had chance to use it yet.
Tippon, Ford sometimes go there own way, I would do a search to be certain.
For example, this is less than £10 301656737641 from Ebay.
I saw the cables for android, one at £7:95, so the self contained one makes more sense, and can be sold on when you have finished with it.
Les
I have no idea what an ABD adaptor actually is. Is it a desuphator? If so, many of them are junk. I bought one off a “slow boat” – It does not work!
I have analysed it (‘scope) and the first half works, but nothing gets out the other side. i am in the (slow) process of building one I bought as a kit, but not time to finish yet.
Les.
For the last 5 to 8 years I have used “Mywalking” (ebay moniker) for my HP inks. I assume he does Canon. ONLY genuine ones, often very out of date (but very cheap) and an instant replacement if not perfect. I used to use the HP 3 colour ones (78?) and the yellows were especially dodgy. He did a simple test before despatch as an extra check. The genuine HP was listed at up to £60 for the high capacity types. I have moved on to a much newer HP8500A from amenity site, but he still supplies my needs. NO failures with these laser types. His email is “pandaluby.wanadoo.co.uk”.First name Gareth.
Les.
VFM, thanks, I will give it a try. Downloading right now.
Cheers, Les.
The problem mentioned previously is no PAE, not POE.
So far I have run DSL and Bodhi, with Linux lite, Puppy and a couple of others all failing with l;ack of PAE generally cited as cause.
So, today I tried Ubuntu 10.04, which was my favourite until DDan pointed out that there was no support about 5 years ago.
The other two distros which did load, DSL and Bodhi could not get online with either NW cable or WiFi. Neither the on-board WiFi card, nor a selection of USB WiFis, (one of which gas never failed before without needing driver install), would work.
The question therefore is, how safe (or unsafe) is Ubuntu 10.04, compared with the recent XP-3 that was on it.
Les.
Also, I forgot. If you do put long screws thro the M/B, don’t forget many are grounded, whilst others are insulated. When we built PCs and sold components, we would regularly get some smart a**e purchaser of M/B etc coming back insisting it was faulty. The first thing I would look for and point out was how they had managed to short out the M/B either on an unused and unwanted support.
Les.
Is this a good idea? PCs are full of nasty square waves, all waiting to interfere with your radio, TV or anything else that relies of radio waves over a very wide frequency range. The metal cases of PCs both “ground out” much of this, but of course also shield the PC to keep it from escaping.
I would make a fuss about the scrap people (amenity site I assume) since the object is RE-USE before so called “Recycle”.
If you are an “anti-social network” user, make a big fuss there. Somebody will at least send you an unwanted PC case to keep you quiet.
Les.
-
AuthorPosts
