And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
For me it's a B&D "electric file" - basically a needle-nose belt
sander. It's a something that should be handy as hell but it's just
too damned vicious. Touch it to a piece of wood and you have instant
"shit - too much". I've never been able to get anything done with it.
Next?
FoggyTown
"Cut to shape . . . pound to fit."
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:39:59 -0800, Gino <[email protected]> wrote:
>On 30 Dec 2004 18:15:57 GMT, Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 08:26:30 -0800, Gino <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 08:51:32 -0500, "Norman D. Crow" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>Get the larger (1 1/4") fiberglass reinforced cutoff wheels, they work
>>>>great.
>>>
>>> I love those.
>>> But they are costly little suckers as well.
>>
>>True, but a set of 3 will outlast a whole "tube" of the brittle abrasive-only
>>ones.
>
>I agree.
>Those brittle bastards aren't worth the time to attach them to shaft. I never
>use them except for detailing the copper and brass bits and pieces I use in my
>box making.
>
Yeah, and those brittle ones are loads of fun when they decide to fly
apart. Safety glasses are definitely mandatory.
>Someone told me using two at a time works better but I've never tried it.
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Now we'll just use some glue to hold things in place until the brads dry
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
WoodchuckCanuck wrote:
> Dremel and all its accessories...especially the...cough cough..."router
> table".
>
> Jim
>
Got a cordless Dremel which is a most useless POS. Can't keep a charge
in the battery for more than a few minutes and then it seems to take
hours to recharge. Bought a cheapo Harbor Freight corded thingy so I
could at least use the bits.
whine,
jo4hn
Mark & Juanita wrote:
> You sure you mean "Hoover" and not "Kirby"? Kirby is the brand
> that is priced in the $1k + range and had all of those attachments that
> came with it. Although they were OK vacs, they certainly were not worthy
> of the price tag and I wouldn't be surprised that a number of them wind up
> in Goodwill stores. I think the Looney Toons "Suckolux" was modeled after
> the Kirby claims. They also usually came with a *very* pushy salesman,
> the kind that gave door to door such a bad name.
Oh yeah, I definitely know that drill. When I was younger and pooer and
searching for a way to escape my crappy dead end low wage retail job, I
kept running into cleverly disguised attempts to suck people into selling
those stupid things. "Air purification system salesmen wanted" and such.
I got tricked into going to one of their little love-ins once. They were
very careful to avoid saying the word "vacuum cleaner" on the first day.
My friend and I did some math and figured out what we had gotten ourselves
into, and didn't bother to go back.
Even if such a beast would actually work, I'd never get one at one of those
places. People stand around all day waiting on stuff to come through the
door, and then there's a stampede. Most stuff like that never gets more
than 3' away from the back room doors before five people are cussing each
other out over it.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Dave in Fairfax wrote:
> About 10 DMPs and some old BJs. You shoulda seen my curb. Piles
> of old books as well.
Yeah, I hate to toss books, but I hadda make room for new ones that will be
out of date in three minutes. Which is two minutes longer than the
computer they describe.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Mark & Juanita wrote:
> Larry,
> You sure you mean "Hoover" and not "Kirby"? Kirby is the brand
> that is priced in the $1k + range and had all of those attachments that
> came with it. Although they were OK vacs, they certainly were not worthy
> of the price tag and I wouldn't be surprised that a number of them wind up
> in Goodwill stores. I think the Looney Toons "Suckolux" was modeled after
> the Kirby claims. They also usually came with a *very* pushy salesman, the
> kind that gave door to door such a bad name.
Sorry that's Electrolux , Kirbys worked pretty good. YMMV.
Dave in Fairfax
--
Dave Leader
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/
PATINA
http://www.Patinatools.org/
Gino wrote:
> No problem here. I have computers going back to 1980, all working, 6 oldies in
> all. Even an old Mac.
> I collect software on Ebay and as an ole long time pirate myself I have
> thousands of programs for them.:)
> It's great fun to fire them up.
I just got rid of a bunch of old stuff. Lunch boxes thru Zenith
286s and the software from DOS 1.05 thru Win 95 upgrade to 98.
About 10 DMPs and some old BJs. You shoulda seen my curb. Piles
of old books as well.
Dave in Fairfax
--
Dave Leader
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/
PATINA
http://www.Patinatools.org/
On Wed, 5 Jan 2005 11:21:34 -0500, "j.duprie" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>I can remember back in the day when dad was working for the feds at Apollo
>(the moon shot days) when a huge washing machine sized disk "array" held the
>contents of a small box of punch cards. One of the fun geek things to do was
>to send it read/write commands timed such that it would walk accross the
>floor.....
We had two 15" HP "discs." I traced down a few program
bugs by listening to the discs as the code executed.
On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 11:42:39 -0500, Mike Patterson
<[email protected]> wrote:
>On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 16:12:08 -0800, Tim Douglass
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Heck, I remember when a 10MB drive was the size of a washing machine
>>and cost the earth.
>
>Sounds like an RL02 drive, lift-out sets of platters.
Yes! I can't recall the terminology any more, but this was a DEC
installation with 2 RL02 drives.
I remember watching an entire room full of reels of tape backups get
replaced with one shelf of cartridge tapes. It must have been about
1986 or so. It was also about that time that the old PDP 11/70s got
ripped out and replaced with a bank of MicroVax-en.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
Dave in Fairfax wrote:
> Gino wrote:
>
>>No problem here. I have computers going back to 1980, all working, 6 oldies in
>>all. Even an old Mac.
>>I collect software on Ebay and as an ole long time pirate myself I have
>>thousands of programs for them.:)
>>It's great fun to fire them up.
>
>
> I just got rid of a bunch of old stuff. Lunch boxes thru Zenith
> 286s and the software from DOS 1.05 thru Win 95 upgrade to 98.
> About 10 DMPs and some old BJs. You shoulda seen my curb. Piles
> of old books as well.
>
> Dave in Fairfax
I still have an Autocoder manual around here someplace. Also did a fair
amount of machine language programming. Punched paper tape was the
medium of choice although patches could be entered in octal via a string
if toggle switches and a nixie light display. Gaggers. Fun though.
mahalo,
jo4hn
On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 15:26:44 GMT, Dave in Fairfax <[email protected]> wrote:
>Dave Hinz wrote:
>> > Yup. I don't screw around with my computers at home nearly as much
>> > as I used to, I'd rather spend time with the family or in the workshops.
>
>Silvan wrote:
>> It just ain't fun anymore.
>
>Couldn't agree more. Computers - making them, playing with 'em,
>learning OS's used to be fun. As they got more Windozed and
>fancier they became less fun. What a loss.
>
No problem here. I have computers going back to 1980, all working, 6 oldies in
all. Even an old Mac.
I collect software on Ebay and as an ole long time pirate myself I have
thousands of programs for them.:)
It's great fun to fire them up.
On 01 Jan 2005 22:01:20 GMT, [email protected] (Mike in Arkansas)
wrote:
>>No problem here. I have computers going back to 1980, all working, 6 oldies
>>in
>>all. Even an old Mac.
>>I collect software
>
>Since you seem to be a collector I tlought I would ask this since I have
>wondered if it's worth anything. I have a QuadRam board that was made to
>convert the original IBM PC to work like and run Apple II software. You put it
>in one of the PC slots, ran some software from the 5 1/2 floppy and you could
>use any Apple software. Is this worth anything to collectors? Worth listing
>on eBay, or should I just pitch it? Have the original box and I believe the
>few cables and things that came with it.
>Mike in Arkansas
I'm not sure Mike, it's not something I collect.
A word to the wise.
Watch those old boxes.
Some old boxes that computers came in are worth 100x the computer that came in
them.
>No problem here. I have computers going back to 1980, all working, 6 oldies
>in
>all. Even an old Mac.
>I collect software
Since you seem to be a collector I tlought I would ask this since I have
wondered if it's worth anything. I have a QuadRam board that was made to
convert the original IBM PC to work like and run Apple II software. You put it
in one of the PC slots, ran some software from the 5 1/2 floppy and you could
use any Apple software. Is this worth anything to collectors? Worth listing
on eBay, or should I just pitch it? Have the original box and I believe the
few cables and things that came with it.
Mike in Arkansas
[email protected] wrote:
> On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 11:07:50 -0500, Silvan
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>Jim Warman wrote:
>>
>>
>>>HOWEVER.... I can still vaguely recall single side, low density that
>>>couldn't hold what is now a smallish *,gif....
>>>
>>>While we're at it... how many can remember when a 44Meg HDD was HUGE!!!
>
>
> I can remember when IBM maintained no one would ever need a hard drive
> larger than 10Meg.
>
>
>>I think the huge drive Dad used to have at work was only 32 MB or so. It
>>was the size of a dormitory refrigerator.
>
>
> Was it the kind with the removable disk packs that you loaded and
> unloaded through the top of the machine?
>
> We had an incident once where the brake mechanism on one of those
> broke and the disks didn't stop spinning when it was shut down to
> change disk packs. The operator lifted out the disks without realizing
> they were still spinning -- until he tried to turn and the gryoscopic
> forces slammed him into the wall!
>
> Ah, memories!
>
> --RC
>
> "Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells
> 'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets
> fly with a club.
> -- John W. Cambell Jr.
Yes, we were the first navy class for the new HD with a removable
disk pack, with enclosed heads with the pack. It was replacing
the hydraulicly operated head HD we had just finished class on.
If you overrode one or more interlocks, you could remove the pack
while it was still spinning. since it was a training situation we
all got to do that. Interesting to do, more fun to watch the
smaller class members wrestle with it.
Joe
On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 16:12:08 -0800, Tim Douglass
<[email protected]> wrote:
>On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 06:39:10 GMT, "Jim Warman"
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>144Kb though Micro$oft had a way of packing a bit more onto them when they
>>shipped Winders Fer WerkGroops....
>>
>>HOWEVER.... I can still vaguely recall single side, low density that
>>couldn't hold what is now a smallish *,gif....
>>
>>While we're at it... how many can remember when a 44Meg HDD was HUGE!!!
>
>Heck, I remember when a 10MB drive was the size of a washing machine
>and cost the earth.
>
>Tim Douglass
>
>http://www.DouglassClan.com
Sounds like an RL02 drive, lift-out sets of platters.
What a pain those were. I had a friend was standing next to one when a
head caught a platter and went through the case and into the wall
couple of feet from him.
Mike Patterson
Please remove the spamtrap to email me.
"I always wanted to be somebody...I should have been more specific..." - Lily Tomlin
I couldn't afford the Heathkits.
1). Teletype connected to University of MN
2). Univac AN/YUK ... can't remember anymore. US Navy, CRPI (Card
Read/Punch/Interpreter), reel to reel tapes.
3). IBM CE training on the EAM equipment (029 keypunch, 402 accounting
machine)
4). Burroughs L8200 - First in the Navy, 12k RAM, 3 cassette tape drives
- ones you didn't have to press "play" to make work.
5). IBM 360/40, with Memorex's version of the 2314 what was it? 29mb
removable packs. The Ops manager was so excited as they were the first
voice-coil activated drives to replace the hydraulic actuators. The
venerable 1403-N1 printer.
6). Brief encounter with IBM 1401, and I think 10mb removable disk
packs. To reproduce a deck of cards you had to interleave blank cards
with the source. And the printer included some kind of inverted comb.
7). Commodore Vic-20, 4kb of ram, and sprites!
8). Commodore 64
9). PC Junior, stacked with expansion jazz
10). Dual-processor Compaq "luggable" with 80186 daughter board, there
wasn't enough oomph left in the power supply to run a 20mb HDD.
...
Joe Gorman said the following on 1/6/2005 7:34 AM:
> [email protected] wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 11:07:50 -0500, Silvan
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Jim Warman wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> HOWEVER.... I can still vaguely recall single side, low density that
>>>> couldn't hold what is now a smallish *,gif....
>>>>
>>>> While we're at it... how many can remember when a 44Meg HDD was HUGE!!!
>>
>>
>>
>> I can remember when IBM maintained no one would ever need a hard drive
>> larger than 10Meg.
>>
>>
>>> I think the huge drive Dad used to have at work was only 32 MB or
>>> so. It
>>> was the size of a dormitory refrigerator.
>>
>>
>>
>> Was it the kind with the removable disk packs that you loaded and
>> unloaded through the top of the machine?
>>
>> We had an incident once where the brake mechanism on one of those
>> broke and the disks didn't stop spinning when it was shut down to
>> change disk packs. The operator lifted out the disks without realizing
>> they were still spinning -- until he tried to turn and the gryoscopic
>> forces slammed him into the wall!
>>
>> Ah, memories!
>>
>> --RC
>>
>> "Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells
>> 'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets
>> fly with a club.
>> -- John W. Cambell Jr.
>
>
>
> Yes, we were the first navy class for the new HD with a removable disk
> pack, with enclosed heads with the pack. It was replacing the
> hydraulicly operated head HD we had just finished class on. If you
> overrode one or more interlocks, you could remove the pack while it was
> still spinning. since it was a training situation we all got to do
> that. Interesting to do, more fun to watch the smaller class members
> wrestle with it.
> Joe
On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 11:07:50 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Jim Warman wrote:
>
>> HOWEVER.... I can still vaguely recall single side, low density that
>> couldn't hold what is now a smallish *,gif....
>>
>> While we're at it... how many can remember when a 44Meg HDD was HUGE!!!
I can remember when IBM maintained no one would ever need a hard drive
larger than 10Meg.
>I think the huge drive Dad used to have at work was only 32 MB or so. It
>was the size of a dormitory refrigerator.
Was it the kind with the removable disk packs that you loaded and
unloaded through the top of the machine?
We had an incident once where the brake mechanism on one of those
broke and the disks didn't stop spinning when it was shut down to
change disk packs. The operator lifted out the disks without realizing
they were still spinning -- until he tried to turn and the gryoscopic
forces slammed him into the wall!
Ah, memories!
--RC
"Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells
'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets
fly with a club.
-- John W. Cambell Jr.
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 08:45:46 -0800, Larry Jaques
<novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> wrote:
>On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 02:56:29 -0500, Silvan
><[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>
>>And hey, speaking of useless, SWMBO's vacuum cleaner is USELESS. I swear I
>>can get the floor clean faster raking the carpet with my bare fingers and
>>putting dog fur and other miscellany in the trash by hand. What a piece of
>>crap. No wonder she never uses it.
>
>Have the local Goodwill and Salivation Army stores keep an eye
>on a Hoover vac for you. It'll be under $50 and they can nearly
>suck chrome off a doorknob. they're a good investment, and some
>come with the original $1,200 worth of attachments, like a carpet
>shampooer, car washer, house painter, etc.
>
Larry,
You sure you mean "Hoover" and not "Kirby"? Kirby is the brand
that is priced in the $1k + range and had all of those attachments that
came with it. Although they were OK vacs, they certainly were not worthy
of the price tag and I wouldn't be surprised that a number of them wind up
in Goodwill stores. I think the Looney Toons "Suckolux" was modeled after
the Kirby claims. They also usually came with a *very* pushy salesman, the
kind that gave door to door such a bad name.
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Now we'll just use some glue to hold things in place until the brads dry
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Gino
>>> I couldn't live without a Dremel.
>>> I even used it to remove the exhaust system from my 3/4 ton pickup.:)
Doug Winterburn
>It saved me on a plumbing problem.
And another ditto for the Dremel. Working with old
machinery you'll find that a machine hasn't been used for
quite some time and for quite some time people will store
them in "less optimum" places. God bless the Dremel people
of Racine, Wis.
UA100
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 22:51:08 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Dave Hinz wrote:
>
>> I have a Dremel with a flexi-shaft (think 'speedometer cable in a
>> sheath'),
>> and that sucker can get in to _very_ tight places. I use it maybe once
>> a year, but when I need it, there's nothing else that will work.
>
>Oh yeah, that goes without saying, doesn't it? These things are absolutely
>useless without one of those flex shaft flummies. In fact, until you
>brought it up just now, I had forgotten it used to not have one. Wow. :)
>
>I think a dedicated flex shaft tool would probably be a better investment if
>I ever manage to use this thing enough to kill it though.
I've got both a Foredom flex shaft and a Dremel and I use them both.
They're both good on the right jobs.
I even like the router attachment for some things.
Of course I do both wood and metal, as well as some lapidary.
If you like the Dremel flex-shaft, you'll _love_ the Foredom.
--RC
"Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells
'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets
fly with a club.
-- John W. Cambell Jr.
PC biscuit joiner. I just don't use it. Mortise and tenon is stronger and
I prefer it to the noise and dust.
--
Ross
www.myoldtools.com
"foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
> the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
> hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
> For me it's a B&D "electric file" - basically a needle-nose belt
> sander. It's a something that should be handy as hell but it's just
> too damned vicious. Touch it to a piece of wood and you have instant
> "shit - too much". I've never been able to get anything done with it.
> Next?
>
> FoggyTown
> "Cut to shape . . . pound to fit."
>
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 02:56:29 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>And hey, speaking of useless, SWMBO's vacuum cleaner is USELESS. I swear I
>can get the floor clean faster raking the carpet with my bare fingers and
>putting dog fur and other miscellany in the trash by hand. What a piece of
>crap. No wonder she never uses it.
Have the local Goodwill and Salivation Army stores keep an eye
on a Hoover vac for you. It'll be under $50 and they can nearly
suck chrome off a doorknob. they're a good investment, and some
come with the original $1,200 worth of attachments, like a carpet
shampooer, car washer, house painter, etc.
-----------------------------------------------
I'll apologize for offending someone...right
after they apologize for being easily offended.
-----------------------------------------------
http://www.diversify.com Inoffensive Web Design
Larry Jaques wrote:
> on a Hoover vac for you. It'll be under $50 and they can nearly
A Hoover what? This POS is a Hoover. All Hoovers ain't created equal,
evidently.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Dave in Fairfax wrote:
> Silvan wrote:
>> A Hoover what? This POS is a Hoover. All Hoovers ain't created equal,
>> evidently.
>
> Uh, ya gotta replace the bag every once in a while...
Did. Even took it apart to make sure it wasn't clogged up with anything.
Nope. Fine. It just doesn't suck worth a damn. Complete waste of
electricity even bothering to run the stupid, useless thing.
This carpet HAS to come out of here. I HATE carpet.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Tim Douglass wrote:
> the most minor of service on the car - mostly because I've already got
> several 5 gallon pails of used oil lying around. I never seem to get
> around to putting it into 1 gallon jugs and taking it down to the
> recycling depot. All the other recycling is either curbside pickup or
I just did it, FINALLY, when one of my jugs sprung a leak somehow and got
oil all over the place.
I have no idea how much liquid one of those cat litter jugs hold, but I'd
say 1.5 to 2 gallons, probably. I had about 30 of them. It took me half
the day to pour all of them into the hole.
> at the drop-site just across the road. Only oil has to travel to the
> far side of town.
>
> Not worth it.
Yeah, can't just pour it on the driveway anymore.
Um. Not that I ever did that.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Norman D. Crow wrote:
> At least here in western NY, any place that sells oil in quantity is
> required by law to accept used oil for recycling. Advance Auto, Auto Zone,
> Tractor Supply, etc. I think Wal-Mart is too, but I'm not sure.
Probably the same here, but the recycling center is closer. All of them are
less convenient than stuffing yet another jug of oil into the shed to deal
with later. :)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
> Our town picks up oil with the recycling. Problem is, the geniuses that
> set
> up the program made a two quart per week limit. The average oil change
> takes how many quarts?
Two QUART per week limit? What, do the town planners all drive to work on
lawn mowers? :)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Silvan wrote:
> A Hoover what? This POS is a Hoover. All Hoovers ain't created equal,
> evidently.
Uh, ya gotta replace the bag every once in a while...
Dave in Fairfax
--
Dave Leader
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/
PATINA
http://www.Patinatools.org/
On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 05:23:48 GMT, "Mark Jerde"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Umm, I picked up my D&D 21 year old early this evening (about 10:30 pm) for
>starting fights at a party. He quit listening to his daddy several years
>ago... <sigh>
>
>The alarms go off at 4:00 am, 3 hours & 40 minutes from now, to take him to
>the airport to go back to the <yea!> Army...
>
>On his behalf, he's only 1/3rd as messed up as I was at his age.
I spend a lot of time praying my kids don't *ever* end up as screwed
up as I was growing up. Even 1/3 would suck (as you seem to agree). It
was not good growing up during the 60's and 70's.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> Probably the same here, but the recycling center is closer. All of them
> are
> less convenient than stuffing yet another jug of oil into the shed to deal
> with later. :)
>
Our town picks up oil with the recycling. Problem is, the geniuses that set
up the program made a two quart per week limit. The average oil change
takes how many quarts?
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/
Take it to the TLE at Wal-Mart. They'll dispose of it for ya!
"Tim Douglass" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 02:01:17 -0500, Silvan
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >It's not even that in my case, really. I'm a Geek after all. It's just
not
> >fun anymore. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. When will my new
> >computer be ready?
> >
> >I'm thinking about taking my car to a quickie lube place too. Wuss.
>
> Still build the computers, but there is no way I'm doing anything but
> the most minor of service on the car - mostly because I've already got
> several 5 gallon pails of used oil lying around. I never seem to get
> around to putting it into 1 gallon jugs and taking it down to the
> recycling depot. All the other recycling is either curbside pickup or
> at the drop-site just across the road. Only oil has to travel to the
> far side of town.
>
> Not worth it.
>
> Tim Douglass
>
> http://www.DouglassClan.com
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Tim Douglass wrote:
>
> > the most minor of service on the car - mostly because I've already got
> > several 5 gallon pails of used oil lying around. I never seem to get
> > around to putting it into 1 gallon jugs and taking it down to the
> > recycling depot. All the other recycling is either curbside pickup or
>
> I just did it, FINALLY, when one of my jugs sprung a leak somehow and got
> oil all over the place.
>
> I have no idea how much liquid one of those cat litter jugs hold, but I'd
> say 1.5 to 2 gallons, probably. I had about 30 of them. It took me half
> the day to pour all of them into the hole.
>
> > at the drop-site just across the road. Only oil has to travel to the
> > far side of town.
At least here in western NY, any place that sells oil in quantity is
required by law to accept used oil for recycling. Advance Auto, Auto Zone,
Tractor Supply, etc. I think Wal-Mart is too, but I'm not sure.
--
Nahmie
Those on the cutting edge bleed a lot.
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 02:01:17 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>It's not even that in my case, really. I'm a Geek after all. It's just not
>fun anymore. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. When will my new
>computer be ready?
>
>I'm thinking about taking my car to a quickie lube place too. Wuss.
Still build the computers, but there is no way I'm doing anything but
the most minor of service on the car - mostly because I've already got
several 5 gallon pails of used oil lying around. I never seem to get
around to putting it into 1 gallon jugs and taking it down to the
recycling depot. All the other recycling is either curbside pickup or
at the drop-site just across the road. Only oil has to travel to the
far side of town.
Not worth it.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
Oh contraire! It was great growing up in the 60's and 70's. Parents had a
helluva lot more control, we prayed in school, we recited the Pledge Of
Allegiance, kids had no cell phones, no murders in the schools, hell we used
pocket knives to sharpen pencils. 70's in high school, during the hunting
months, we came to school with our rifles/shotguns hanging in the gun racks
in the back windows of our trucks. Yes, it was good back then. Now it sucks.
Having a full time police officer on staff, going through metal detectors,
not being able to say the Pledge Of Allegiance. Where exactly do you
live???? Come on, what we did back then got our asses tanned by the
principal, the by our father when we got home. Now, it's a criminal offense
to scold the brats at Wal-Mart???? Crawl out from under the rock Tim.
"Tim Douglass" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 05:23:48 GMT, "Mark Jerde"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Umm, I picked up my D&D 21 year old early this evening (about 10:30 pm)
for
> >starting fights at a party. He quit listening to his daddy several years
> >ago... <sigh>
> >
> >The alarms go off at 4:00 am, 3 hours & 40 minutes from now, to take him
to
> >the airport to go back to the <yea!> Army...
> >
> >On his behalf, he's only 1/3rd as messed up as I was at his age.
>
> I spend a lot of time praying my kids don't *ever* end up as screwed
> up as I was growing up. Even 1/3 would suck (as you seem to agree). It
> was not good growing up during the 60's and 70's.
>
> Tim Douglass
>
> http://www.DouglassClan.com
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 22:56:53 GMT, "mark" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Strangely enough, I'm starting to look at a whole stack of antique
>> hand tools that way. I have been accumulating them from various
>> sources because people know I do woodworking and I just might be able
>> to use grandpa's old chest drill or whatever. Frankly I have no
>> interest in doing woodworking that way - too much of what I do is, of
>> necessity, outcome based. I don't even have a place to display them,
>> so they sit in boxes scattered hither and yon between attic storage,
>> two sheds and the garashop. I don't feel right selling them, but...
>
>Trade ya a newly refurbished Rotozip tool for them.
Heh, heh. I may not plan on using them, but I *do* know what they are
worth.
Just cause I'm dumb doesn't mean I'm a sucker.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
On 30 Dec 2004 16:51:50 GMT, Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote:
>On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 18:52:28 -0700, Mark & Juanita <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> Funny thing is, that doesn't always happen. I had one of those Wagner
>> paint drip squirters a number of years ago.
>
>The roller-hollow-handle type, or the "buzz to make your whole arm numb"
>type? (got both).
>
The "buzz to make your whole arm numb" type. I guess I didn't notice
that part near as much as the "buzz loud enough to wake the neigbors' dead"
noise.
>
>> Now we'll just use some glue to hold things in place until the brads dry
>
>I just noticed what that actually says.
>
:-)
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Now we'll just use some glue to hold things in place until the brads dry
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Those little Veritas corner rounding planes - the ones bent from a
piece of steel with the little elliptical opening. Woodcraft sells
them for $14 apiece. They either split the grain or require so much
pressure to work that my fingers get sore quite quickly. Easier and
more consistent to use sandpaper or a router.
A Japanese flush cut saw. It bends easily and I have difficulty using
it (maybe my technique). It always turns and cuts into the surface I'm
trying to flush with. I have much better results using a Japanese
Razor saw. I cut off close to the surface, then use a small low angle
block plane to do the flush trim part.
Bob
"the_tool_man" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Those little Veritas corner rounding planes - the ones bent from a
> piece of steel with the little elliptical opening. Woodcraft sells
> them for $14 apiece. They either split the grain or require so much
> pressure to work that my fingers get sore quite quickly. Easier and
> more consistent to use sandpaper or a router.
>
Hate to say it but I use one most every day at work. Find is one of the
best tolls available. Course I'm not using it on wood but on plastic which
is still warm from the injection mold. Trims the flash quite well. Never
tried em on wood though.
D. Mo
Mark & Juanita wrote:
>
> Funny thing is, that doesn't always happen. I had one of those
Wagner
> paint drip squirters a number of years ago. I got it to paint the
house
> trim -- the house was mostly brick with a bit of trim and some siding
on
> the chimney and roof eaves. After I figured out that this beast was
next
> to useless -- it either spit paint runs or one had to thin the paint
to the
> consistency of water, but it was noisy -- I decided to get an air
> compressor and a real paint sprayer. One of my wife's co-workers
heard
> about all the problems I had with this thing and offered to buy it;
he was
> absolutel sure I just didn't know how to use it and that *he* could
make it
> work properly. Not one to shrink away from recovering some of my
shrunk
> costs, especially from an arrogant so-and-so, I jumped at the chance
to
> unload this piece of crap. A while later my wife asked him whether
he had
> a chance to use it yet; he replied, "oh yeah, it works great!"
uh-huh.
>
>
> >- -
> >LRod
> >
Vanity. He just doesn't want to admit that he wasn't able to handle
the thing any better than you were. :)
FoggyTown
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 09:53:31 -0500, alexy <[email protected]> wrote:
>"the_tool_man" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Those little Veritas corner rounding planes - the ones bent from a
>>piece of steel with the little elliptical opening. Woodcraft sells
>>them for $14 apiece. They either split the grain
>Yep. You have to be VERY careful about grain direction, since with no
>mouth, this "plane" will split off more than you wanted pretty
>quickly. And the grain direction on a corner can be tricky,
>particularly when the grain on each adjacent surface is sloping in
>opposite directions.
>
>> or require so much
>>pressure to work that my fingers get sore quite quickly.
>Never noticed that. But getting the right angle can be somewhat
>tricky.
>
>> Easier and
>>more consistent to use sandpaper or a router.
>
>Easier yet, a block plane set for very fine cut, with very tight
>mouth. Three or four passes at different angles gives you as rounded
>an edge as you could ask for. (At least to these over-40 eyes, an
>1/16" octagon is close enough to a 1/16" diameter circle.)
I actually like a chamfer from a block plane rather than the round-over
for many projects. And putting in a chamfer with the plane is a whole lot
more fun than running a screaming router.
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Now we'll just use some glue to hold things in place until the brads dry
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 22:05:25 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Dave Hinz wrote:
>
>>> back. Only screwdrivers and mauls so far.
>>
>> How do you break a maul, exactly? I mean, aren't they _made_ to hit stuff
>> with?
>
>Um. Dad used to buy a truckload of logs, cut it to length, and then hand me
>a maul. I was pretty good at splitting wood, but I missed from time to
>time. Usually after about the fourth or fifth cord. Miss about five good
>times, and it's time to go to Sears and get a new maul.
>
>I must have split about 40 or 50 cords of wood with one maul. Which I
>replaced about 20 times. :) It was easier after I could DRIVE to Sears
>for a new maul.
>
>Wow, I'm so soft and squishy now.
I cut and sold firewood one summer with a friend. Did some 300 cords.
It hurts just thinking about it. I doubt I could even *lift* the 16lb
maul we used. Oh, to be 18 again!
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
Wed, Dec 29, 2004, 8:02am (EST-3) [email protected] (foggytown) claims:
And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to the
most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the hell
did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal. <snip>
I've bought some stuff I didn't really need, yes; and some some
stuff I've not used yet. Possibly those could be called a "waste of
money", by some, but not by me. Possibly some stuff might even fall in
the "why the hell did I ever buy that?" category, too. But, in truth, I
can't really think of anything that could actually be termed useless, or
a white elephant, because anything I've bought will be put to use,
eventually - some of them are for projects I won't even be able to start
for awhile yet - just bought the tools because I had the money to spare
at the time, and knew I'd eventually need them. .
JOAT
People without "things" are just intelligent animals.
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 12:33:14 -0600, Duane Bozarth
<[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>Joe Gorman wrote:
>>
>> Chuck Hoffman wrote:
>> > A Ryobi detail sander. It looked like a good idea at the time but...
>...
>> Yes, I got one as a gift and don't recall opening it after the
>> obligatory Christmas morning look, however many years ago that was.
>> Joe
>
>OTOH, my wife uses hers a lot for the refinishing she does and likes it
>well...
>
>YMMV... :)
You must be rich, Duane. Media cost for those things has to be
$50/day, minimum. Have you seen the new Searz circular thingy?
It has a pair (or 3?) of 3/4" washer-sized sanding discs on it.
I can't imagine how long they'd last while sanding, but I'll bet
you a dollar to a donut that it's sub-1-minute. <g>
(Disclaimer: I was in Searz to return an old broken Crapsman tool
which they no longer made. I finally settled on a $15 gift card
from them. It took me 3 months to get to the gift card ting and
to find something to purchase from them. I settled on a long-sleeve
shirt and a philips/flat screwdriver blade.)
-----------------------------------------------
I'll apologize for offending someone...right
after they apologize for being easily offended.
-----------------------------------------------
http://www.diversify.com Inoffensive Web Design
Gino <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
<snip>
>
> My SO doesn't allow me to play with fire since the time I lit up the
> neighbors fence while killing weeds with a tiger torch.<g>
>
My brother-in-law did that 'accidentally' to a juniper hedge.
We're big on juniper abatement in our family. ;-)
Patriarch
On 29 Dec 2004 08:02:38 -0800, foggytown <[email protected]> wrote:
> And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
> the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
> hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
SWMBO bought me a Black and Decker "sanding mouse" 2 years ago for
Christmas. I've never used it, and she's never asked about it.
As far as woodworking stuff, clamps. I've got too damn many clamps.
Dave "sorry..." Hinz
Chuck Hoffman wrote:
> A Ryobi detail sander. It looked like a good idea at the time but...
>
> "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>>the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>>hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>>
>>For me it's a B&D "electric file" - basically a needle-nose belt
>>sander. It's a something that should be handy as hell but it's just
>>too damned vicious. Touch it to a piece of wood and you have instant
>>"shit - too much". I've never been able to get anything done with it.
>>Next?
>>
>>FoggyTown
>>"Cut to shape . . . pound to fit."
>>
>
>
>
Yes, I got one as a gift and don't recall opening it after the
obligatory Christmas morning look, however many years ago that was.
Joe
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 20:40:28 GMT, jo4hn <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
> Got a cordless Dremel which is a most useless POS. Can't keep a charge
> in the battery for more than a few minutes and then it seems to take
> hours to recharge. Bought a cheapo Harbor Freight corded thingy so I
> could at least use the bits.
Typical with NiCd batteries. If you have a Batteries Plus store near-ish
you, they might be able to fix and/or replace those cells.
Dave Hinz
Larry Jaques wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 23:05:55 -0500, Silvan
> <[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>
> >Larry Jaques wrote:
> >
> >> on a Hoover vac for you. It'll be under $50 and they can nearly
> >
> >A Hoover what? This POS is a Hoover. All Hoovers ain't created
equal,
> >evidently.
>
> One of the solid metal beasties, Minty Man. Uh, let's see...
> Like these Kirbys, they were sold door to door for an arm and
> both legs. http://www.thevacuumcenter.com/kirby-main.shtml
> Maybe I was thinking of Kirby since I can't seem to find a pic
> of the vac I was thinking of.
>
Oooooooooo! I had to buy my (now) ex-wife one of those. SOB salesman
must have had his antennae finely tuned that day. Came to the door
just as wife and I had a real ding-dong of a bust up. She was headed
towards divorce but settled for the Kirby (with sanding attachment, no
less). Couple of years later she got the divorce AND the Kirby.
God I miss that vac!
FoggyTown
Tim Douglass wrote:
>>Yeah, can't just pour it on the driveway anymore.
>>
>>Um. Not that I ever did that.
>
> Nope. No sir! Not me either, never! Not even when I lived on the farm.
> Wouldn't want to disturb the environment of the barn lot, you know.
> ;-)
I think Monsanto (makers of Roundup) is responsible for all this. Ustabe
you could just pour a little oil around your driveway to kill the weeds,
and maybe light a match for the stubborn ones. Not any more. Now the
spotted hoobajooba fish will go extinct if you return a product that came
out of the ground back whence it came. :)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 23:05:55 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>Larry Jaques wrote:
>
>> on a Hoover vac for you. It'll be under $50 and they can nearly
>
>A Hoover what? This POS is a Hoover. All Hoovers ain't created equal,
>evidently.
One of the solid metal beasties, Minty Man. Uh, let's see...
Like these Kirbys, they were sold door to door for an arm and
both legs. http://www.thevacuumcenter.com/kirby-main.shtml
Maybe I was thinking of Kirby since I can't seem to find a pic
of the vac I was thinking of.
--
Save the Endangered ROAD NARROWS! -|- www.diversify.com
Ban SUVs today! -|- Full Service Websites
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 22:01:28 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Tim Douglass wrote:
>
>> the most minor of service on the car - mostly because I've already got
>> several 5 gallon pails of used oil lying around. I never seem to get
>> around to putting it into 1 gallon jugs and taking it down to the
>> recycling depot. All the other recycling is either curbside pickup or
>
>I just did it, FINALLY, when one of my jugs sprung a leak somehow and got
>oil all over the place.
>
>I have no idea how much liquid one of those cat litter jugs hold, but I'd
>say 1.5 to 2 gallons, probably. I had about 30 of them. It took me half
>the day to pour all of them into the hole.
>
>> at the drop-site just across the road. Only oil has to travel to the
>> far side of town.
>>
>> Not worth it.
>
>Yeah, can't just pour it on the driveway anymore.
>
>Um. Not that I ever did that.
Nope. No sir! Not me either, never! Not even when I lived on the farm.
Wouldn't want to disturb the environment of the barn lot, you know.
;-)
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 21:34:11 -0700, Mark & Juanita
<[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>Larry,
>
> You sure you mean "Hoover" and not "Kirby"? Kirby is the brand
>that is priced in the $1k + range and had all of those attachments that
Yeah, I just came to that conclusion myself.
>came with it. Although they were OK vacs, they certainly were not worthy
>of the price tag and I wouldn't be surprised that a number of them wind up
>in Goodwill stores. I think the Looney Toons "Suckolux" was modeled after
>the Kirby claims. They also usually came with a *very* pushy salesman, the
>kind that gave door to door such a bad name.
That's them!
--
Save the Endangered ROAD NARROWS! -|- www.diversify.com
Ban SUVs today! -|- Full Service Websites
"Tim Douglass" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 23:19:46 -0500, "Norman D. Crow"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >> Tim Douglass wrote:
>
> >> > at the drop-site just across the road. Only oil has to travel to the
> >> > far side of town.
> >
> >At least here in western NY, any place that sells oil in quantity is
> >required by law to accept used oil for recycling. Advance Auto, Auto
Zone,
> >Tractor Supply, etc. I think Wal-Mart is too, but I'm not sure.
>
> Some do, but it has to be in containers no larger than one gallon and
> clearly labeled "used oil". I'm too unorganized to round up 20 gallon
> jugs and don't have the time or patience to deal with it. So for now I
> go to jiffy lube and try to ignore those 5 gal. pails in the shed.
>
We can take in whatever container we have and pour it into their tank.
--
Nahmie
Those on the cutting edge bleed a lot.
On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 00:50:21 GMT, "Bullwinkle J. Moose"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Oh contraire! It was great growing up in the 60's and 70's. Parents had a
>helluva lot more control, we prayed in school, we recited the Pledge Of
>Allegiance, kids had no cell phones, no murders in the schools, hell we used
>pocket knives to sharpen pencils. 70's in high school, during the hunting
>months, we came to school with our rifles/shotguns hanging in the gun racks
>in the back windows of our trucks. Yes, it was good back then. Now it sucks.
>Having a full time police officer on staff, going through metal detectors,
>not being able to say the Pledge Of Allegiance. Where exactly do you
>live???? Come on, what we did back then got our asses tanned by the
>principal, the by our father when we got home. Now, it's a criminal offense
>to scold the brats at Wal-Mart???? Crawl out from under the rock Tim.
Let me just say "sex, drugs and rock and roll". On a poll of my
graduating class 98% said they used drugs. You could probably count
the virgins on one hand. Things were pretty much adrift. Most of the
restrictions we have today come from the excess of the 60's and 70's.
Sure we carried knives to school - and sometimes used them carve on
one another.
Some things may be worse today, but I don't see nearly as much of the
life-destroying behavior we embraced so enthusiastically back then. I
was, quite frankly, lucky to escape my high school years alive. Some
of my classmates weren't that lucky.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 23:19:46 -0500, "Norman D. Crow"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>> Tim Douglass wrote:
>> > at the drop-site just across the road. Only oil has to travel to the
>> > far side of town.
>
>At least here in western NY, any place that sells oil in quantity is
>required by law to accept used oil for recycling. Advance Auto, Auto Zone,
>Tractor Supply, etc. I think Wal-Mart is too, but I'm not sure.
Some do, but it has to be in containers no larger than one gallon and
clearly labeled "used oil". I'm too unorganized to round up 20 gallon
jugs and don't have the time or patience to deal with it. So for now I
go to jiffy lube and try to ignore those 5 gal. pails in the shed.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 22:01:28 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Tim Douglass wrote:
>
>> the most minor of service on the car - mostly because I've already got
>> several 5 gallon pails of used oil lying around. I never seem to get
>> around to putting it into 1 gallon jugs and taking it down to the
>> recycling depot. All the other recycling is either curbside pickup or
>
>I just did it, FINALLY, when one of my jugs sprung a leak somehow and got
>oil all over the place.
>
>I have no idea how much liquid one of those cat litter jugs hold, but I'd
>say 1.5 to 2 gallons, probably. I had about 30 of them. It took me half
>the day to pour all of them into the hole.
>
>> at the drop-site just across the road. Only oil has to travel to the
>> far side of town.
>>
>> Not worth it.
>
>Yeah, can't just pour it on the driveway anymore.
>
>Um. Not that I ever did that.
Or into the storm drain at the end of the driveway... Not that that's
what my father taught me to do all those years ago...
And no, I DON'T still do that...
-Keith
foggytown wrote:
> And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
> the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
> hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
Interesting thread. I can think of a lot of contenders for most useless.
However, the tool that clearly takes the cake is the first hand plane I
ever bought, quite a long time before I ever really settled down with the
notion of trying to make interesting things out of wood. I think I bought
it to trim a door in an apartment.
Anyway, years later, I picked it back up and tried to do something
interesting with it. It was one of those simple types with no mechanical
depth adjuster. You had to loosen a big wheel, then jiggle the blade a bit
to try to get it to project just right. Very fiddly. Worse, it had an
ALUMINUM body. Based on more recent research, I would have thought Stanley
got over this bad idea after the dismal failure of their Sweetheart line,
but I suppose not. Aluminum planes suck for all the reasons you've ever
read about. Not the least of which is that they leave horrible black
streaks on everything. Adding insult to injury, it was never made very
well. The sole wasn't flat, the cheeks weren't perpendicular to the sole.
It was almost impossible to adjust, and it wouldn't stay adjusted for love
or money.
I tried to true it up and tune it, but I ultimately just threw the thing in
the trash. I kept the iron out of it, and that's the only piece. It's
rare for me to toss anything. I still have a flywheel from a Nordic Trac,
and the remains of my ill-fated treadmill belt sander. I can always find
some use for almost everything eventually, but this plane was a completely
useless piece of crap.
I can come up with other tools that really aren't very useful. My hot glue
gun hasn't been seen since I don't know when, and I don't really miss it.
My Crapsman router and table is a tool the use of which is best studiously
avoided. My cheap Delta scrollsaw is a close second to this plane for most
useless, poorly-conceived purchase, but even that stupid space waster has
proven sort of halfway useful at least twice. No, the plane wins, hands
down.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 21:51:57 GMT, Nate Perkins <[email protected]> wrote:
> "My Old Tools" <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
>> PC biscuit joiner. I just don't use it. Mortise and tenon is
>> stronger and I prefer it to the noise and dust.
>
> I agree with you. I don't have a biscuit joiner. Haven't needed one yet.
> I use all mortise and tenon or dovetail. Of course it would be different
> if I were doing this for a living and not a hobby.
How about for, say, a tabletop? Rather than just edge-gluing?
Dave Hinz
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 22:02:21 GMT, mark <[email protected]> wrote:
> A rotozip tool. How can they even sell one? Why did I buy one? I thought I
> could use it to rough out some sheetrock electrical socket holes, but it was
> pretty crappy.
Oh yeah, got one of those too. Also as a gift. Also from SWMBO...
I used it to cut some round cuts on tile (toilet flange), and the tile
got into the front bearing and it squeals like a pig now. Odd that using
a tool in a manner shown on the box would ruin it.
I hate tools that are broken by design. And don't even get me started about
Christmas presents that are so poorly designed or made that they're broken
out of the box. (DISNEY, I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU PEOPLE).
Dave "Ahem. Sorry." Hinz
On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 12:33:49 -0800, Tim Douglass <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 09:47:05 -0800, Gino <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>I have the most fun with old 'home' computers.
>>TI994a, Commodore 64, and the portable Tandy 102 are a blast.
>
> I'd love to get my hands on an old C64 portable. Wish I'd never lost
> track of the original.
I've got a Vic-20, you want it?
Dave
On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 17:43:09 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Problem is they don't actually want to
>hire someone who knows anything about this stuff to help people. They just
>want a drone to read a stack of FAQs.
The problem is that we want to pay the minimum
possible fee each month that leaves room for
nothing but drones and grossly paid ceos.
On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 01:42:24 -0500, Silvan <[email protected]>
wrote:
>Gino wrote:
>
>> Later I bought a TI programmable scientific calculator.
>> It cost more then the price of a fully loaded computer does now.
>> But it got me through college math.
>> It was so new the professor didn't realize it could be programmed to do
>> the work for you.:)
>
>I had one of those as well. Still do, somewhere. I saw something similar
>the other day at Wal-Mart for $3.99 or something suitably ludicrous
>considering what that thing set my parents back in the '80s. Which was
>probably only a quarter or less what you paid for yours.
>
Did yours read the little cards?
>I remember paying $1200 for a VCR too, and $80 for a blank tape. Or being
>aware of it happening around me anyway, mind you.
>
>Wow. That's actually kind of interesting in a way. $1200 for a VCR.
>That's a pretty firm memory, and I think that's right. That was a hell of
>a lot of money in 1981 or so. We had two channels on TV. Why the hell
>did my parents pay $1200 for a VCR?
Porn? That why I paid $900 for my first one.<bfg>
> That's probably something close to
>$5,000 today, I'm guessing off the top of my head. Hell's bells man.
>Short of a house or a car, I can't think of a thing I'd ever spend that
>much on. Maybe a metal lathe. If I had $5,000 to spend, which I sure
>don't.
>
>I guess with VCRs going for $20 a pop now, which is probably $0.75 in 1981
>dollars, it probably explains why the VCR repairman has gone the way of the
>dodo. When the thing used to cost as much as a car, it was worth fixing.
>
>So I guess an equivalent VCR in today's money would go for about $18,000.
>
>Now I'm all confused. That calculator let me cheat my way out of learning
>math. :)
LOL! You too?
On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 09:47:05 -0800, Gino <[email protected]> wrote:
>I have the most fun with old 'home' computers.
>TI994a, Commodore 64, and the portable Tandy 102 are a blast.
I'd love to get my hands on an old C64 portable. Wish I'd never lost
track of the original.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
On 5 Jan 2005 11:04:16 -0800, "Dave Hall" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Hmmmm, I am reminded of a little TI unit I had with a membrane
>"keyboard" whose "harddrive" was my cassette tape recorder. I am not a
>techie (I was in school getting my accounting degree at the time), but
>I managed to program a Tic-Tac-Toe game in Basic on it. 16K of total
>memory if I recall. The "monitor" was my TV set.
>
>Dave Hall
Cassette recorders? Cassette recorders! Hell son, I wrote the book on
cassette recorders for computer data storage!
Literally. I was even paid for it, although the company never
published it -- for some odd reason.
The really odd thing is that you can find the book listed in several
on-line book stores. :-)
--RC
"Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells
'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets
fly with a club.
-- John W. Cambell Jr.
On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 10:27:15 -0800, Tim Douglass
<[email protected]> wrote:
>On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 11:42:39 -0500, Mike Patterson
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 16:12:08 -0800, Tim Douglass
>><[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>Heck, I remember when a 10MB drive was the size of a washing machine
>>>and cost the earth.
>>
>>Sounds like an RL02 drive, lift-out sets of platters.
>
>Yes! I can't recall the terminology any more, but this was a DEC
>installation with 2 RL02 drives.
>
>I remember watching an entire room full of reels of tape backups get
>replaced with one shelf of cartridge tapes. It must have been about
>1986 or so. It was also about that time that the old PDP 11/70s got
>ripped out and replaced with a bank of MicroVax-en.
>
>Tim Douglass
>
>http://www.DouglassClan.com
Yep, we sold a network management system (for our complete line of
4-wire dedicated analog modems!) that used RL02s with a PDP11/44,
later replaced by 11/70s, later still with a microVax running flavors
of RSX-11M.
I was regional tech support for that system for 3 years. It seemed so
cool then, but looking back on it makes me wonder what things will
look like in 20 years when I retire.
Mike Patterson
Please remove the spamtrap to email me.
"I always wanted to be somebody...I should have been more specific..." - Lily Tomlin
On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 13:16:53 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>
>> Probably the same here, but the recycling center is closer. All of them
>> are
>> less convenient than stuffing yet another jug of oil into the shed to deal
>> with later. :)
>>
>
>Our town picks up oil with the recycling. Problem is, the geniuses that set
>up the program made a two quart per week limit. The average oil change
>takes how many quarts?
That 104 quarts a year. That about 20 oil changes.:)
"Gino" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> That 104 quarts a year. That about 20 oil changes.:)
Sure, but you have to keep the other two quarts around another week rather
than safely dispose of them. Does not make sense. A limit per month may be
more practical to keep the commercial guys from using the "free" service.
Gino wrote:
> I couldn't live without a Dremel.
> I even used it to remove the exhaust system from my 3/4 ton pickup.:)
How many cutoff wheels did YOU go through? :)
The Dremel almost made it onto my list, but it's a useful tool. Just not as
useful as it sounds on the box. Sure, you can do all kinds of things with
it if you're verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry patient. Sometimes it is just the ticket,
but I've never used probably half of the bits I have. Maybe 3/4. The wood
cutting carving shaping stuff is especially useless. I can carve wood
faster with a pair of tweezers.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Patriarch wrote:
> sale all the time. But I'm afraid of a good lathe. All the wood
> turners I know chase tree trimmers, fill their basements with half-
> turned bowls wrapped in plastic and newspaper, and upgrade to a better,
> multi-thousand dollar machine every couple of years.
> I already am trying to get one addiction under control. There are at
> least a dozen handtools here, which I haven't used yet. ;-)
LOL! Those words could have come straight out of my mouth. :)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Doug Winterburn wrote:
> nifty dremel cutoff wheel ground almost all the way through the
> compression ring and a little twist with a flat blade screwdriver popped
> it right off. Whew, success!
That's about the only practical thing I use mine for too. That and turning
things that aren't into slotted screws. It's not useless, just mostly
useless.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Mark & Juanita wrote:
> unload this piece of crap. A while later my wife asked him whether he had
> a chance to use it yet; he replied, "oh yeah, it works great!" uh-huh.
That's funny. We've been passing around one of those stupid things for
years. Dad bought it to do his house, then sold it, then somehow or other
he got it back, then sold it again, then got it back, gave it away, got it
back again. Then he used it to spray some really thick high tech coating
stuff that couldn't be diluted. I got drafted to help with that one. He
paid me, but not NEARLY enough to wrestle with that stupid piece of crap.
I wound up finishing the job with hand rollers, and me crawling around like
an idiot monkey in the rafters painting this stuff on all the spots I
couldn't reach with the long roller (painting the underside of the roof
decking), just trying to paint like a son of a bitch so I could get it
finished before Dad got the stupid Wagner running again and caused us to
spend even longer on the job.
Wow, that sucked. Those things are USELESS.
And hey, speaking of useless, SWMBO's vacuum cleaner is USELESS. I swear I
can get the floor clean faster raking the carpet with my bare fingers and
putting dog fur and other miscellany in the trash by hand. What a piece of
crap. No wonder she never uses it.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 23:09:05 GMT, mark <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> "Dave Hinz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> Oh yeah, got one of those too. Also as a gift. Also from SWMBO...
>> I used it to cut some round cuts on tile (toilet flange), and the tile
>> got into the front bearing and it squeals like a pig now.
>
> That's funny -- here's a tip for you from someone who hates to throw
> anything out. I had it in my hands, on the way to the trash, because mine
> squealed exactly like yours. Then I thought, "what the hell, it's only 4
> screws. The least I can do is see what makes it tick, then cut the cord off
OK, what is it with us people and cutting off cords from stuff when we
toss them? Have any of us actually _used_ one of these cords? I also
have a rack of hanging cords, the NEMA-standard computer plug type cords,
because every time I toss something I keep the cord. Yet, new purchases
always come with a new cord. What the hell am I (are we) thinking?
> if it's nothing obviously wrong. So...it wasn't the bearing. The squealing
> is caused by the little white finned cooling fan slipping down on the shiny,
> polished (yeah, good move) shaft, and contacting the plastic housing. I
> clipped mine completely out, and the tool works fine now.
Ah. Thanks, I'll try that the next time I excavate the shop down to where
it might be.
> I have no idea
> what I will EVER use it for, but I did see some kind of cut-off sheel
> attachment that looked marginally useful....but probably not. But i didn't
> throw it out.
Of course not. That Simply Isn't Done. Which explains my shop.
Dave Hinz
Tim Douglass wrote:
> Not really, it was the neat gray, rectangular cased C64
> portable that was so much fun, you could take it anywhere and
> play games on the built in 4" monitor. Of course now days I
> can't even *see* a 4" monitor, let along anything on it.
You're not alone. I still have my O-1 and have exactly the same
problem.
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/solar.html
On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 10:31:04 -0800, Tim Douglass <[email protected]>
wrote:
... snip
>
>The point is that there is usually a reason for the stupid questions.
>When you deal with a Windows system reboots are a normal part of any
>debugging cycle because it is too stupid to forget anything until you
>turn the power off. Especially network stuff.
You ought to try Windows systems on Novell networks. Not only do you
have to power off, you have to unhook the LAN cable (and shake the bits
out) before you can reboot and Novell forgets you were connected to the
network. Part of this may be because of a stupid policy that only allows
one simultaneous network logon per user id -- it's irritating as all get
out when an app freezes the computer and simply re-booting won't get you
back on the network.
> I have had to turn off
>(power off, not just rebood) every system on my network and bring them
>back up again in order to restore communication. Win98 is really bad
>that way, but XP does it quite a bit too. I find it is not uncommon to
>need to reboot 15-20 times in order to make a network change work.
>There is no logical explanation (other than that Microsoft writes
>crummy software), but it *does* work a lot of the time. It frustrates
>the heck out of me to reboot four times with nothing changing and have
>it suddenly work on the fifth, but that's life in the MS world.
>
>Tim Douglass
>
>http://www.DouglassClan.com
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Now we'll just use some glue to hold things in place until the brads dry
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 15:51:49 -0800, Tim Douglass <[email protected]>
wrote:
>On 3 Jan 2005 18:09:01 GMT, Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 12:33:49 -0800, Tim Douglass <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 09:47:05 -0800, Gino <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>>I have the most fun with old 'home' computers.
>>>>TI994a, Commodore 64, and the portable Tandy 102 are a blast.
>>>
>>> I'd love to get my hands on an old C64 portable. Wish I'd never lost
>>> track of the original.
>>
>>I've got a Vic-20, you want it?
>
>Not really, it was the neat gray, rectangular cased C64 portable that
>was so much fun, you could take it anywhere and play games on the
>built in 4" monitor. Of course now days I can't even *see* a 4"
>monitor, let along anything on it.
>
LOL!
I just upgraded to a 21" monitor for that reason. The 19" was getting hard on
the eyes.
On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 18:25:31 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>"Gino" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> That 104 quarts a year. That about 20 oil changes.:)
>
>Sure, but you have to keep the other two quarts around another week rather
>than safely dispose of them. Does not make sense. A limit per month may be
>more practical to keep the commercial guys from using the "free" service.
>
But then the drivers would have to keep records.
I use 2/4 liter milk jugs for my oil.
Get yourself an old chest freezer, cover the outside with some nice cedar boards
and a nice sturdy wood top. Place in yard.
Now you have instant workbench and lockable storage outside your home, and it
looks great as well.
On 3 Jan 2005 18:09:01 GMT, Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote:
>On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 12:33:49 -0800, Tim Douglass <[email protected]> wrote:
>> On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 09:47:05 -0800, Gino <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>I have the most fun with old 'home' computers.
>>>TI994a, Commodore 64, and the portable Tandy 102 are a blast.
>>
>> I'd love to get my hands on an old C64 portable. Wish I'd never lost
>> track of the original.
>
>I've got a Vic-20, you want it?
Not really, it was the neat gray, rectangular cased C64 portable that
was so much fun, you could take it anywhere and play games on the
built in 4" monitor. Of course now days I can't even *see* a 4"
monitor, let along anything on it.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
Silvan wrote:
> Mark & Juanita wrote:
>
>
>>they? Now, I won't say where those passwords are, but suffice it to say,
>>I don't hide them under my keyboard or mousepad -- I have a little bit of
>>operations security sense.
>
>
> They're on a big yellow Post-It note on the front of your monitor,
> right? :)
>
> It floored me when I saw a machine at a, um, locally owned store which shall
> remain namless. The server responsible for handling all the credit card
> transactions for the store. Big yellow Post-It note with usernames and
> passwords right on it. Gee willakers Mrs. Cleaver, I wonder if I can
> figure out how to break into that machine?
>
My set up requires new passwords every 30 days. So the password on the
second month is a 1 in front of the old ones, on the third month they
revert to the original passwords, the fourth month gets the 1 back in
front of them, and so on. Fortunately I only have 4 to keep up with.
Hardest part is to remember whether this is a 1 or non 1 month.
Saw an article about passwords -- the security experts were saying that
these foolish ideas about different passwords for everything plus the
required frequent changes has caused the opposite result of what was
desired. Security is worse because of the very thing you all mentioned
-- a post it note with passwords and user names on the computer. If they
are conscious of security they use the pale yellow instead of the neon
green ones so they don't stand out as much. If they are real conscious
of security, they hide it under the keyboard instead of taping it to the
monitor.
On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 08:07:57 -0800, Gino <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 7 Jan 2005 05:24:40 -0800, "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Actually, 07734 was "hello". I never tried anything as sophisticated
>>as SHELL OIL.
>>
> There was a joke that went along with the SHELL OIL bit.
> You would pretend to make several calculations that ended up pointing to Shell
> Oil having all the money.
I had a TI-30 scientific calculator in about, er, 1979 or so,
that came with a "calculator workbook" with a whole list of these
silly calculator games in it. The ShellOil one is definately
in there, I think I can find the book (scary, that). The calculator
itself has long ago gone to the great place in the parts bin,
but my everyday desk calculator is a TI-31 Solar that I bought in
1988 or so. (Google is amazing - here it is: )
http://www.datamath.org/Sci/Modern/TI-31SOLAR.htm
Mark & Juanita wrote:
> they? Now, I won't say where those passwords are, but suffice it to say,
> I don't hide them under my keyboard or mousepad -- I have a little bit of
> operations security sense.
They're on a big yellow Post-It note on the front of your monitor,
right? :)
It floored me when I saw a machine at a, um, locally owned store which shall
remain namless. The server responsible for handling all the credit card
transactions for the store. Big yellow Post-It note with usernames and
passwords right on it. Gee willakers Mrs. Cleaver, I wonder if I can
figure out how to break into that machine?
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Tim Douglass wrote:
> before I have you ship the monitor back for a replacement." Long
> silence while he crawls behind the desk to "unplug" it. Suddenly he
> comes back on the line "Never mind." click.
:)
Dad's job, growing up, was similar. I remember those conversations at 2:00
AM. "Is it plugged in?" Pause. "Is it PLUGGED IN?" Longer pause. "Is
it turned on?"
> The point is that there is usually a reason for the stupid questions.
Yeah, I know. That's why I humor them.
> crummy software), but it *does* work a lot of the time. It frustrates
> the heck out of me to reboot four times with nothing changing and have
> it suddenly work on the fifth, but that's life in the MS world.
Right, which is why I don't run Windows at my house. I *can* do it, but
it's not worth the hassle.
Although, I guess I won't be saying that too much longer. I'm going to
throw Windows on my son's computer. I can't quite expect him to learn the
Linux way of programming his Lego Mindstorms, and he's on the team at
school. The trick is going to be making sure that pile of monkey guts
doesn't figure out how to get onto the internet even though it will be
plugged into a router. The last time I tried this, it said "Oh, I see you
have installed a router. Now Internet Exploder is ready to acquire viruses
for you." Maybe that would be friendly to some people, but I actually like
having complete control over every aspect of my system. I'm not used to
things happening without my express permission, and that annoys the hell
out of me.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Rick wrote:
> I think you can block a range of ip addresses that the router will pass
> with a subnet mask. Set a static IP on your son's computer (say
Yeah, sumpin' like that. I'll save this post for later. Thanks.
> Wouldn't WINE be a better approach however? It would allow you to retain
> your linux administration stuff, but allow the windows application a place
> to run (er die?). BSOD only kills the windows app, not the supporting OS.
I doubt it. I've never found WINE to be particularly useful for anything.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Mark & Juanita wrote:
> yep those password policies really
> helped improve security, didn't they?
One client of our has insane IMO requirements: 15 characters, must include
at least a number and a special character, and NO WORDS! Usually for
requirements like that I'll use the dictionary technique. Open a thick
book, use the first word I see, open to another page, use the page number,
open to another page & use the first word I see, etc. This client's policy
wouldn't accept e.g.
banana48file62uses323/count
because it said "banana" was a word!
However, a password of this form is blessed. <g>
aaaaaaaaaaaaa1/
-- Mark
Hey Michael,
I think you can block a range of ip addresses that the router will pass with
a subnet mask. Set a static IP on your son's computer (say 192.168.0.129)
and set the ROUTER subnet mask to 255.255.255.128. This should pass all
addresses between 192.168.0.0 and 192.168.0.127, and reject all else
(assuming you set your lan address to that particular block address).
I THINK that's the right approach ... you can still use the hub portion to
allow connections on your lan, but the subnet mask will prevent him from
crossing the divide to the real world.
Or, for even more fun, set the subnet mask on all your home computers to
0.0.0.0 (allow all to communicate), leave your router subnet mask set as
255,255,255,0; and set your son's computer to 192.168.x.y, where x is 1-255
(just not zero), and y is 0-255.
*****
Wouldn't WINE be a better approach however? It would allow you to retain
your linux administration stuff, but allow the windows application a place
to run (er die?). BSOD only kills the windows app, not the supporting OS.
HTH,
Rick
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Although, I guess I won't be saying that too much longer. I'm going to
> throw Windows on my son's computer. I can't quite expect him to learn the
> Linux way of programming his Lego Mindstorms, and he's on the team at
> school. The trick is going to be making sure that pile of monkey guts
> doesn't figure out how to get onto the internet even though it will be
> plugged into a router. The last time I tried this, it said "Oh, I see you
> have installed a router. Now Internet Exploder is ready to acquire
viruses
> for you." Maybe that would be friendly to some people, but I actually
like
> having complete control over every aspect of my system. I'm not used to
> things happening without my express permission, and that annoys the hell
> out of me.
>
> --
> Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
> Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
> http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
> http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 02:06:25 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>> Ah, so he was a good one, because he _recognized_ that you knew where
>> to go. It's the ones who tell you blatantly wrong things that piss me
>> off. "Reboot and clear your cache." "Um, why exactly?" "Because I
>> can't go on to the next line in my script until you do that."
>
>Yeah, me too. "OK, I'm rebooting. Beep. There, I'm rebooted. Next
>question. Yes, this machine boots very fast. Next question please. It's
>a, um, Octegenarian 4000. They're new. Next question please." :)
I did tech support for a while. The reason for the script (and the
stupid questions) is to weed out the calls that are just someone who
is trying to print with the printer off or something. I spent a lot of
time on the phone with someone once because their system was running
but the monitor was totally dead. I suspected it was unplugged (you
sometimes just get a feeling from the person you're talking to). He
absolutely *refused* to check to see if it was plugged in "I've been
in this industry for x years and I know how to use these things."
"OK, let's try it on a different outlet to see if it will work there
before I have you ship the monitor back for a replacement." Long
silence while he crawls behind the desk to "unplug" it. Suddenly he
comes back on the line "Never mind." click.
A friend worked support for the local cable company. The "clearing
question" for them was "what time does your VCR show?" If it was
flashing 12:00 you could safely assume they were incapable of
following instructions an you simply terminated the call and
dispatched a service guy.
The point is that there is usually a reason for the stupid questions.
When you deal with a Windows system reboots are a normal part of any
debugging cycle because it is too stupid to forget anything until you
turn the power off. Especially network stuff. I have had to turn off
(power off, not just rebood) every system on my network and bring them
back up again in order to restore communication. Win98 is really bad
that way, but XP does it quite a bit too. I find it is not uncommon to
need to reboot 15-20 times in order to make a network change work.
There is no logical explanation (other than that Microsoft writes
crummy software), but it *does* work a lot of the time. It frustrates
the heck out of me to reboot four times with nothing changing and have
it suddenly work on the fifth, but that's life in the MS world.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 02:06:25 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
... snip
>
>Yeah, like I can remember everybody's password for everything.
Yep, that's becoming a problem for even regular users. My company's
password policy requires changes every 90 days, the main LAN log-in then
starts dunning you 20 days before password expires, asking, "Password
expires in xx days, do you want to change now? (Yeah, right, tell me when I
have a couple days left)" Then, in addition to LAN and main PC there are
a minimum of 5 other applications, sites, or web log-ins that each require
passwords, each changing every 90 days, each demanding various complexities
or not allowing certain similarities to prior passwords. Now, I'm an
engineer/engineering manager who has more than one or two things to think
about each day and wasting brain cells memorizing each of these ever
changing passwords is just not somehthing that even hits the bottom of my
priority list. So, like every other user, all my passwords are written
down -- yep those password policies really helped improve security, didn't
they? Now, I won't say where those passwords are, but suffice it to say, I
don't hide them under my keyboard or mousepad -- I have a little bit of
operations security sense.
Sorry -- rant mode off
... snip
>
>I discovered a new kind of tech support hell on this one. They had some
>kind of voice recognition thing on the voice mail, so I had to talk to the
>HAL 9000 and tell it where I wanted to go.
You know, the sad thing is that approaches like this are likely to
succeed because the metrics being kept will show that 1) Number of calls to
tech support decrease over time (obviously they are getting a better
product out, it's not because people have given up on the product and
support) and 2) Duration of calls has decreased (the automated menu is
providing an optimal solution, it's not because callers get frustrated and
give up)
> But I kept confusing it because
>I found the idea of talking to a voice mail thing so humorous that I kept
>giggling and making it lose its place in the tree. I kept imagining Scotty
>picking up that mouse. "Computah, Ah want information on transparent
>aluminum."
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Now we'll just use some glue to hold things in place until the brads dry
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
On 7 Jan 2005 05:24:40 -0800, "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Actually, 07734 was "hello". I never tried anything as sophisticated
>as SHELL OIL.
>
There was a joke that went along with the SHELL OIL bit.
You would pretend to make several calculations that ended up pointing to Shell
Oil having all the money.
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> I doubt it. I've never found WINE to be particularly useful for anything.
>
> --
I find it very useful. Most women like it and . . . . . . . . .
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 18:52:28 -0700, Mark & Juanita <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Funny thing is, that doesn't always happen. I had one of those Wagner
> paint drip squirters a number of years ago.
The roller-hollow-handle type, or the "buzz to make your whole arm numb"
type? (got both).
> A while later my wife asked him whether he had
> a chance to use it yet; he replied, "oh yeah, it works great!" uh-huh.
Maybe it does. If you get the paint watered down _just right_ (that
v-shaped drip stick vs. time thing), it doesn't suck, but the spray
pattern is horrible. Compressed air and a good Binks is the way to go.
> Now we'll just use some glue to hold things in place until the brads dry
I just noticed what that actually says.
Dave
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:12:24 GMT, Bullwinkle J. Moose <[email protected]> wrote:
> Does the Ronco Popeil Pocket Fisherman count?
No, I think those are stipulated to be useless before you buy them. I
_think_ the topic here is things which were surprisingly useless?
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 08:37:10 -0800, Larry Jaques <novalidaddress@di> wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:12:24 GMT, "Bullwinkle J. Moose"
><[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>
>>Does the Ronco Popeil Pocket Fisherman count?
>
> Only if it entailed a trip to the ER and you have pics of
> the nurse's reaction to WHERE the fishhook stuck you.
Wanna share your story here, Larry?
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 17:22:32 -0800, Larry Jaques <novalidaddress@di> wrote:
> (Disclaimer: I was in Searz to return an old broken Crapsman tool
> which they no longer made. I finally settled on a $15 gift card
> from them. It took me 3 months to get to the gift card ting and
> to find something to purchase from them. I settled on a long-sleeve
> shirt and a philips/flat screwdriver blade.)
I'm gonna play the "take back b0rken sockets" game in the next week
or so. Someone _gave_ me a 5-gallon pail, half full of "my asshole
brother's tools". There are sockets in there that are split, some
smushed (how the hell do you smush a socket?), and a ton of duplicates
to what I already have, but enough new ones to be nice. I'm not sure
what they'll say about the collection of crap, but I'm going to try it.
Anyone heard of a socket exchange, so I can turn these duplicates into
sizes I don't have but need?
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 19:08:37 -0800, Gino <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 02:39:20 GMT, Patriarch <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>>
>>Dremel stuff is too light duty for my Binford tastes.
>>
> But the Dremel is tiny.
> It was the only tool that I had that could do the job.
I have a Dremel with a flexi-shaft (think 'speedometer cable in a sheath'),
and that sucker can get in to _very_ tight places. I use it maybe once
a year, but when I need it, there's nothing else that will work.
Larry Jaques wrote:
> On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 17:35:51 -0500, Silvan
> <[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>
>
>>foggytown wrote:
>>
>>
>>>And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>>>the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>>>hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>>
>>Interesting thread. I can think of a lot of contenders for most useless.
>>However, the tool that clearly takes the cake is the first hand plane I
>>ever bought, quite a long time before I ever really settled down with the
>>notion of trying to make interesting things out of wood. I think I bought
>>it to trim a door in an apartment.
>
>
> Ditto my first hand plane. It was a jewel from India via the HF store.
> I hated that thing for years until I learned to Scary Sharp(tm) it.
> It was my first practice iron for the process and I'll be damned if it
> didn't teach me how to perfect the technique. After that, I used it a
> few times, primarily for taking paint off doors and such. It's a great
> toolbox plane and needs to be sharpened after each use, but I wouldn't
> abuse my other fine planes to the crap I use this one for. (Y'know,
> door trimming, nail finding, the occasional hammer, that kind of
> stuff.) It is, however, the only -new- iron plane I've ever bought.
> All the rest are wood or old arn. No aloonimum or plastic, please.
>
>
>
>>I can come up with other tools that really aren't very useful. My hot glue
>>gun hasn't been seen since I don't know when, and I don't really miss it.
>>My Crapsman router and table is a tool the use of which is best studiously
>>avoided.
>
>
> Ah, yes. The venerable Crapsman routah table. I need to sell mine.
> I have no idea why I didn't leave it in the garage at the last house.
> Alyouminium top, sheetmetal legs, and not drilled for my B&D routah
> pattern. Hey, I know: I'll put it on Ebay and MAKE A MILLION!
>
>
> My cheap Delta scrollsaw is a close second to this plane for most
>
>>useless, poorly-conceived purchase, but even that stupid space waster has
>>proven sort of halfway useful at least twice. No, the plane wins, hands
>>down.
>
>
> My B&D jigsaur is a close second to the belt sanduh.
>
> -----------------------------------------------
> I'll apologize for offending someone...right
> after they apologize for being easily offended.
> -----------------------------------------------
> http://www.diversify.com Inoffensive Web Design
>
I've still got that router table and router, from the Sears in New
London CT circa 1981. Had to replace the shaft locking mechanism
but it's pretty much permanently mounted with at 3/8" round over
bit in it. Only adjustments are when I want to knock less than
that off, and I drop the body a little father down. Of course
when I stopped at the parts place to order the parts I picked up
another router, with built in vac attachment and bag. It's been
OK for what little I've used it.
Joe
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 08:26:30 -0800, Gino <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 08:51:32 -0500, "Norman D. Crow" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>Get the larger (1 1/4") fiberglass reinforced cutoff wheels, they work
>>great.
>
> I love those.
> But they are costly little suckers as well.
True, but a set of 3 will outlast a whole "tube" of the brittle abrasive-only
ones.
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:17:18 -0500, Owen Lawrence <[email protected]> wrote:
> (Dave Hinz wrote:)
>> I also
>> have a rack of hanging cords, the NEMA-standard computer plug type cords,
>> because every time I toss something I keep the cord. Yet, new purchases
>> always come with a new cord. What the hell am I (are we) thinking?
>
> You need to get a lathe and make some lamps. :)
Got one. Two actually, one for wood, one for metal. Need to dig out
the russian olive & see if it's ready maybe?
> Actually I _have_ used a couple of these cords for original electronics
> projects and repairs, but I've got a shoebox full of them and I made a
> concious decision last year to stop saving them.
How's that working out for you?
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 17:41:22 GMT, Mark Jerde <[email protected]> wrote:
> Dave Hinz wrote:
>
>> OK, what is it with us people and cutting off cords from stuff when we
>> toss them? Have any of us actually _used_ one of these cords?
>
> About 3 minutes after cutting a new extension cord to wire up a 4' light
> fixture in my shop I realized I could have used any one of about 20 spare
> computer cords... Ah well, it's just money...
Mark. I have to wire in about a half-dozen light fixtures in (guess
where) my shop, and you just answered a question for me. Thanks for pointing
out what I should have been able to see. Seriously, I was going to hardwire
them but the boxes I hung are for outlets, so it wasn't going anywhere.
Dave Hinz wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:12:24 GMT, Bullwinkle J. Moose
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Does the Ronco Popeil Pocket Fisherman count?
>
> No, I think those are stipulated to be useless before you buy them. I
> _think_ the topic here is things which were surprisingly useless?
ROFL!
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Joe Gorman wrote:
> London CT circa 1981. Had to replace the shaft locking mechanism
> but it's pretty much permanently mounted with at 3/8" round over
> bit in it. Only adjustments are when I want to knock less than
Mine too! Is there actually any other use for these stupid things?
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Dave Hinz wrote:
> I have a Dremel with a flexi-shaft (think 'speedometer cable in a
> sheath'),
> and that sucker can get in to _very_ tight places. I use it maybe once
> a year, but when I need it, there's nothing else that will work.
Oh yeah, that goes without saying, doesn't it? These things are absolutely
useless without one of those flex shaft flummies. In fact, until you
brought it up just now, I had forgotten it used to not have one. Wow. :)
I think a dedicated flex shaft tool would probably be a better investment if
I ever manage to use this thing enough to kill it though.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Dave Hinz wrote:
> because every time I toss something I keep the cord. Yet, new purchases
> always come with a new cord. What the hell am I (are we) thinking?
LOL! I have no idea, but I have a bunch of cords left from the time I had a
wiring wardrobe malfunction and put 220V to all my shop lights. Oops. I
thought about saving the thin aluminum side panels too.
On this general topic, I'm gutting my closets, cleaning house HARD while
SWMBO is away. Haven't looked at it in 15 years? You'll never notice it's
missing. You didn't know where it was anyway. I found a shower curtain
rod from two places back. I have been saving it because I thought it would
be useful again some day. Well, I put a buncha crap on a shelf in my own
closet, which I have never really used for anything except my flannel
shirts and some dress clothes I haven't worn in yearrrrs. (I own a tie?
Why do I own a tie?)
Oh, um. I'm getting sidetracked. Spending seven hours on a perfectly
gorgeous shop day cleaning out the damn closets in the house must have done
it to me. Sigh. I did get my printer stand glued together, finally. Only
the second time I've tried to build anything that's well and truly
furniture-like. If I had been wanting it to look better, I would have
neatened it up and put a face frame on it, and done a more tidy job with
the glue. I *could* have done these things. I may anyway, even though it
means stripping the existing finish off the recycled plywood I used and
putting a new finish on it. Anyway, it's just simple dado + glue joinery.
Multi kerfs with the waste chiseled out by my son. It would have looked
better if I had had better control of my new rabbet plane for the top bit,
but hell, for something I knocked out in a couple hours (spread out over a
dismally long week) it's pretty damn solid. Flat on the floor, square,
tight. I guess I do have a little bit of skill after all! It was really
too damn big to make in my itty bitty shop though. I'm going to have to
move my lathe and a bunch of other stuff if I ever want to rip anything
longer than 30" out there. Kinda makes the prospect of building curio
cabinets some day seem like something that should come after I build a real
shop, in 20 or 30 years. Sigh.
Oh, blah blah blah, what the hell was I rambling about? The closet pole.
Anyway, it was supposed to help hold up the shelf I loaded down with my
wife's old childhood crap she can't get rid of. It didn't fit, so...
drum roll...
I THREW IT AWAY!
I have about two entire boxes of trash bags out by the curb FULL of stuff.
I have shitloads of closet space right now. Maybe when I'm finished you'll
actually be able to walk through my damn house without tripping over
anything. My house looks about as bad as my shop. My wife and I both got
an F in housekeeping, and the last time we called dial-a-maid, she ran off
cackling like a lunatic.
Wow. I have to go drink some beer, smoke a cigar, and maybe go buy a copy
of Hustler or something to prove I'm not gay after all this. :)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
gw wrote:
> 10 minutes later, he landed a 44lb. carp. It was as tall as the kid, and
> bright orange. Maybe somebody's liberated goldfish. He could not get
> enough drag on the reel to snap the line, and the fish finally beached
> itself. I would not have believed it had I not been standing there.
Wow! Did he eat it, or make goldfish crackers out of it?
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Gino wrote:
> I agree.
> Those brittle bastards aren't worth the time to attach them to shaft. I
> never use them except for detailing the copper and brass bits and pieces I
> use in my box making.
>
> Someone told me using two at a time works better but I've never tried it.
They make a "heavy duty" flavor that works much better. The expensive
reinforced deals are much better still, but they cut a wide kerf. The
regular thin ones seem likely to break if you fart out the wrong side of
your pants.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Patriarch wrote:
> I use the old cords, because it's easier than crawling under the desk to
> run the functionally equivalent new ones. But it takes quite a pile of
> the new ones building up, before I toss them out.
Yeah, me too, now that you mention it. I think I'm still using the cord
from my original 286-12.
Though that's really not all *that* surprising. I used to actually upgrade
computers, and I had the same power supply for yearrrrrs. It wasn't until
the switch to ATX, and the incredible cheapness of new computers that I
started getting lazy. Upgrading is a PITA keeping up with what class of
this works with what type of that, and I don't bother anymore. I bought my
last two computer pre-assembled. Wuss.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Hmmmm, I am reminded of a little TI unit I had with a membrane
"keyboard" whose "harddrive" was my cassette tape recorder. I am not a
techie (I was in school getting my accounting degree at the time), but
I managed to program a Tic-Tac-Toe game in Basic on it. 16K of total
memory if I recall. The "monitor" was my TV set.
Dave Hall
On Tue, 04 Jan 2005 09:25:32 -0800, Tim Douglass <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 18:18:27 -0600, Morris Dovey <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>>Tim Douglass wrote:
>>
>>> Not really, it was the neat gray, rectangular cased C64
>>> portable that was so much fun, you could take it anywhere and
>>> play games on the built in 4" monitor. Of course now days I
>>> can't even *see* a 4" monitor, let along anything on it.
>>
>>You're not alone. I still have my O-1 and have exactly the same
>>problem.
>
> I *do* still have an O-1. I had forgotten about that one. I actually
> built a printer interface for the edge connector and wrote the OS
> (CP/M) extensions to drive the printer in its various modes. That
> thing was a brute, but it got me through college. At one time I very
> seriously considered adding a hard drive to it - $4,000 for a 5
> megabyte drive. It seems a bit more reasonable when you consider that
> a floppy only held 185K IIRC.
160 or 185K, depending on if it was 35 or 40 tracks.
Dave Hinz
Dave in Fairfax wrote:
> Tim Douglass wrote:
> snip
>> It seems a bit more reasonable when you consider that
>> a floppy only held 185K IIRC.
>
> 180K
I was thinking 160K. Hrm.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 11:27:54 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>Larry Jaques wrote:
>
>>>training, no education, just a couple decades as a competent hobbiest.
>>
>> Well, Glenn misspelled "certifiable" and you misspelled "hobbyist."
>> I guess that makes you even. ;)
>
>I have to turn off the on-the-fly splee cheker because it makes my 2 GHz
>machine feel like a 200 MHz machine, and I get about 20 words ahead of it
>typing. I never have been able to spelee wroth a damn. In English anyway.
>My spelling in Spanish is damn near perfect. :)
So write a new spel chuker, Mr. 15-y/o Linux Wiz. ;)
>> I'm fairly certain that the idiots who write up want ads have never
>> even heard of the technologies they require for any given job. Some
>> seem to want people younger than 22 with a Bachelors in Arts, a
>> Masters in Computer Sciences, and a PHD in something else, know 27
>> different computer languages fluently, be able to levitate, etc.
>> Oh, and they're offering minimum wage + perqs.
>
>That's an apt summary of the ads anyway, except you forgot 15 years of Linux
>kernel hacking experience.
Right, 15 years with a 12-y/o system.
---
- Sarcasm is just one more service we offer. -
http://diversify.com Web Applications
Jim Warman wrote:
> HOWEVER.... I can still vaguely recall single side, low density that
> couldn't hold what is now a smallish *,gif....
>
> While we're at it... how many can remember when a 44Meg HDD was HUGE!!!
I think the huge drive Dad used to have at work was only 32 MB or so. It
was the size of a dormitory refrigerator.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 06:39:10 GMT, Jim Warman <[email protected]> wrote:
> 144Kb though Micro$oft had a way of packing a bit more onto them when they
> shipped Winders Fer WerkGroops....
>
> HOWEVER.... I can still vaguely recall single side, low density that
> couldn't hold what is now a smallish *,gif....
>
> While we're at it... how many can remember when a 44Meg HDD was HUGE!!!
I've never seen "5MB" spelled that way before. And it _was_ huge,
grep "Hawk removable platter". Big blue thing, maybe 16" in
diameter, around 2" thick, big white handle on the top to
lift it out of the drive. I think my drive had 5MB fixed, 5MB
removable. Size of a small washing machine.
Fun times...
On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 02:48:36 -0600, Morris Dovey <[email protected]> wrote:
> Jim Warman wrote:
>
>> While we're at it... how many can remember when a 44Meg HDD was HUGE!!!
>
> My first hard drive (attached to an IMSAI 8080) was an IBM 2311
> with only 7MB. The second was a 10MB drive in a Morrow MD-11.
Damn newbies...
On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 18:48:16 GMT, jo4hn <[email protected]> wrote:
> Dave Hinz wrote:
>> On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 02:48:36 -0600, Morris Dovey <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>Jim Warman wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>While we're at it... how many can remember when a 44Meg HDD was HUGE!!!
>>>
>>>My first hard drive (attached to an IMSAI 8080) was an IBM 2311
>>>with only 7MB. The second was a 10MB drive in a Morrow MD-11.
>>
>>
>> Damn newbies...
>
> /clever rejoinder mode/ Oh Yeah??!! /crm off/ My first disk had 2K 24
> bit words. It was also the RAM. Cycle time of 0.01 sec. Verdan
> computer, manufacture by Autonetics and the flight computer for the
> Hound Dog cruise missile. Gronk.
I think you win.
Michael Burton <mhburtonatmomentdotnet> wrote:
> I remember the 44Meg HDD being huge. I also think of actually paying
> $200 for a 4mb RAM chip for a 486 and thinking wow, I'll bet a 50mb of RAM
> would make an awesome machine except it would cost 12 Grand!! Hah!
I remember paying $800 for a CPU. Just a CPU. I probably put that damn
thing on my credit card, paid $25,000 for it, and haven't paid it off yet.
(Two more years. Oh the terrible, terrible price of stupidity.)
In contrast, I paid $300 for my last computer. Complete with everything but
a monitor. Good grief.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
mark wrote:
> the bulletin boards I dialed up way back then. Remember how frustrating
> it was to get the constant busy signal on the really popular ones?
Yeah, and the really schmootzy ones had two or three phone lines.
Back then the only real-time chatting you ever did was with the sysop.
Sysops could never type worth a damn.
I find the same is true more broadly of the general population now that
instant messaging stuff is abundant. I never have been able to adapt to
real-time. I don't IRC or ICQ or AIM or blah blah blah because I can't
stand to sit there for 45 minutes waiting on the putz on the other end of
the line to finish a sentence.
I don't type fast enough to pass a typing test for a secretary job, but I
type leaps and bounds faster than anyone I've ever chatted with online. I
find it all but impossible to believe that vast numbers of office types can
hammer out words faster than I can.
Wow, now there's a thought. Best non-woodworking thing you ever bought.
Has to be the Microsoft Natural Keyboard from 1991. I forget how many
millions of words I've typed on this thing, but it's up there. Hrm.
4,500,000 as a very, very conservative estimate. It might be up to three
times that.
Damn I yack a lot.
The new ones are crap, and this one exceeded its life expectancy several
million switch cycles ago, I'm sure. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I
really, really, really hate the new ones. Anybody want to get rid of an
early '90s vintage Microsoft Natural Keyboard, from before they redesigned
it, when they were still made in the USA?
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 01:56:16 -0500, Silvan <[email protected]> wrote:
> mark wrote:
>
>> the bulletin boards I dialed up way back then. Remember how frustrating
>> it was to get the constant busy signal on the really popular ones?
>
> Yeah, and the really schmootzy ones had two or three phone lines.
>
> Back then the only real-time chatting you ever did was with the sysop.
> Sysops could never type worth a damn.
Hey now... I could always keep up with the 300 baud modem, y'know.
> I find the same is true more broadly of the general population now that
> instant messaging stuff is abundant. I never have been able to adapt to
> real-time. I don't IRC or ICQ or AIM or blah blah blah because I can't
> stand to sit there for 45 minutes waiting on the putz on the other end of
> the line to finish a sentence.
It's different with IM though, because you don't see what they're typing
real-time, like you did back in "the day" on BBS's and like with Unix
'talk'.
> Wow, now there's a thought. Best non-woodworking thing you ever bought.
> Has to be the Microsoft Natural Keyboard from 1991. I forget how many
> millions of words I've typed on this thing, but it's up there. Hrm.
> 4,500,000 as a very, very conservative estimate. It might be up to three
> times that.
They do make good hardware. They should stick to their strengths, but
sadly they feel like they need to do OS's also.
Dave "you read about Bill's BSOD at the CES again, right?" Hinz
On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 22:21:21 GMT, Mark Jerde <[email protected]> wrote:
> Jim Warman wrote:
>> 144Kb though Micro$oft had a way of packing a bit more onto them when
>> they shipped Winders Fer WerkGroops....
>
> Because the first version of WFW didn't sell well, I've read that even the
> Microsofties called it "Windows for Warehouses." ;-)
Kind of like Windows ME?
Dave Hinz wrote:
> It's different with IM though, because you don't see what they're typing
> real-time, like you did back in "the day" on BBS's and like with Unix
> 'talk'.
There's some modern internet based flummy where you do type in real time
though, I think. I seem to remember watching letters crawl slowly across
the screen and wanting to finish what they were trying to say already so
they could just hurry up and get it out. That was in the post-BBS era, but
I have no idea what it was. I've looked at a number of IM type things and
IRC long enough to say "ewwwwwwwwwww" and go back to email.
I just don't get IM at all, really. People can send email in nearly real
time, and there's no expectation that the person on the other end is going
to sit there twiddling his thumbs while you get around to saying something
that way.
> They do make good hardware. They should stick to their strengths, but
> sadly they feel like they need to do OS's also.
They used to make good hardware. Their newer hardware is pretty crappy.
Their OS really is crappy. It's not even a war anymore. I can't help it
that so many people either want to or are forced to run that bucket of
crap. I'm just glad I don't have to fool with it very often.
I was over at my boss's daughter's house trying to fix her DSL. I was
trying to do everything by the book for the tech support drone because I
couldn't get it working without calling to find out what her password and
stuff was supposed to be (that I asked her to please write down someplace
safe the last time I had to do this.) After the copy of XP Pro that I had
just installed about six months ago--which hadn't been used much ,at all
since I put Linux on there for her--horked up for the fourth time in a row,
I had to tell the drone "Look, I know this is going to scare you, but I
HAVE to switch over to a real operating system. This piece of crap is
driving me nuts." After I booted the Linux install it only took five
minutes to get everything humming. Problem was Windows trying to be
friendly and giving me cached versions of status pages from the modem
because the internet connection was broken, and it assumed everything on
the other end of an IP address had to be on the internet.
Or something. I could have figured it out, but I just didn't have the
patience to continue screwing with it. Part of that is familiarity, and a
large measure of it is pure crappiness.
Anyway, that whole experience was kind of funny. The tech drone at one
point said something to the effect of "I'm glad you know what you're doing,
because you lost me six pages ago." I really ought to figure out a way to
do this kind of crap for a living. Problem is they don't actually want to
hire someone who knows anything about this stuff to help people. They just
want a drone to read a stack of FAQs.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 17:43:09 -0500, Silvan <[email protected]> wrote:
> Dave Hinz wrote:
>
>> It's different with IM though, because you don't see what they're typing
>> real-time, like you did back in "the day" on BBS's and like with Unix
>> 'talk'.
>
> I just don't get IM at all, really. People can send email in nearly real
> time, and there's no expectation that the person on the other end is going
> to sit there twiddling his thumbs while you get around to saying something
> that way.
Actually, I never "got it" until I got into the job I now have. We work
in different parts of the building, state, and country, but work together.
When we're doing a deploy/release, there are folks in maybe 5 locations
(plus usually at home if it's off-hours) all working together, getting
whatever done. We go into Yahoo Messenger, open up a conference, and
can all get to whoever else is on. Little side comments go on also,
of course, usually smartass comments about the conference, not shared
with the whole group.
>> They do make good hardware. They should stick to their strengths, but
>> sadly they feel like they need to do OS's also.
>
> They used to make good hardware. Their newer hardware is pretty crappy.
Ah well, at least they're meeting expectations then.
> Their OS really is crappy. It's not even a war anymore. I can't help it
> that so many people either want to or are forced to run that bucket of
> crap. I'm just glad I don't have to fool with it very often.
I'm doing a "friends and family support" thing this weekend. Just loaded
up my USB thumb drive with XP Service Pack 2, Grisoft's antivirus,
AdAware, and the Firefox installer. Should do it. Trading this for
having our ... dog groomed. And she's gonna feed me beer while I'm working,
so it's a win-win as far as I'm concerned.
> I was over at my boss's daughter's house trying to fix her DSL. I was
> trying to do everything by the book for the tech support drone because I
> couldn't get it working without calling to find out what her password and
> stuff was supposed to be (that I asked her to please write down someplace
> safe the last time I had to do this.)
Yeah, I love that.
> After the copy of XP Pro that I had
> just installed about six months ago--which hadn't been used much ,at all
> since I put Linux on there for her--horked up for the fourth time in a row,
> I had to tell the drone "Look, I know this is going to scare you, but I
> HAVE to switch over to a real operating system. This piece of crap is
> driving me nuts."
It's hard to find good tech support people, though, because either of
us would quit if forced to do the job. Once in a while you get a good
one. I called once for someone, new system. "OK, so do I use DHCP or
do I need to set up an address? How about DNS? Right. What's your NNTP
server? IMAP? POP3? Anything else like defaultrouter or web proxies?
OK great, thanks. Nice to talk to someone who knows the answers,
by the way.". How often does that really happen, though?
> After I booted the Linux install it only took five
> minutes to get everything humming. Problem was Windows trying to be
> friendly and giving me cached versions of status pages from the modem
> because the internet connection was broken,
Ah. Somewhere in IE config is "show friendly error messages", you can
turn that off and get actual meaningful things. (was that a 401 or a 403?)
> Or something. I could have figured it out, but I just didn't have the
> patience to continue screwing with it. Part of that is familiarity, and a
> large measure of it is pure crappiness.
Some of each, I'm sure.
> Anyway, that whole experience was kind of funny. The tech drone at one
> point said something to the effect of "I'm glad you know what you're doing,
> because you lost me six pages ago."
Ah, so he was a good one, because he _recognized_ that you knew where
to go. It's the ones who tell you blatantly wrong things that piss me
off. "Reboot and clear your cache." "Um, why exactly?" "Because I
can't go on to the next line in my script until you do that."
> I really ought to figure out a way to
> do this kind of crap for a living. Problem is they don't actually want to
> hire someone who knows anything about this stuff to help people. They just
> want a drone to read a stack of FAQs.
You've just summed up tech support hell right there.
Dave Hinz wrote:
> Actually, I never "got it" until I got into the job I now have. We work
> in different parts of the building, state, and country, but work together.
Yeah, it's kinda like database stuff I guess. I could learn it if I had to,
but I have no personal use for it, so fooey on it.
>> They used to make good hardware. Their newer hardware is pretty crappy.
>
> Ah well, at least they're meeting expectations then.
:)
> having our ... dog groomed. And she's gonna feed me beer while I'm
> working, so it's a win-win as far as I'm concerned.
The last time I did one of these for a different "client" I went to the
fridge after and took home *all* the beer. They got off cheap.
>> stuff was supposed to be (that I asked her to please write down someplace
>> safe the last time I had to do this.)
>
> Yeah, I love that.
Yeah, like I can remember everybody's password for everything. Nine
computers, eight routers, six cable/DSL/dialup modems. I don't even have a
big "network" but it's big enough I need a crib sheet. I wrote down her
particulars some place where *I* can keep up with it this time, so I can
deal with future problems over the phone.
> It's hard to find good tech support people, though, because either of
> us would quit if forced to do the job.
Probably. That's the other side of the problem, isn't it? Most of the
people you deal with are too stupid to find their ass with both hands if
you super glue both hands to their ass.
> by the way.". How often does that really happen, though?
Probably about as often as the techs get someone like you on the phone, I
imagine.
It happened to me once. About 3:00 AM. I called and got the doorman,
answered the token questions to prove I wasn't an idiot, and I was lucky
enough to get a drone with enough sense to realize I was talking about
something, but he had no idea what it was. He passed me up to a real tech
who had all kinds of actual working knowledge. It took two minutes to
solve the problem, and the problem was UP-stream, thank you very much.
> Ah. Somewhere in IE config is "show friendly error messages", you can
> turn that off and get actual meaningful things. (was that a 401 or a
> 403?)
Neither. It just volunteered a cached page for me without asking. How
friendly. Except it was a page from a router that was no longer connected,
instead of a page from a DSL modem at the same address. How very helpful.
I find Windows is frequently helpful that way.
> Ah, so he was a good one, because he _recognized_ that you knew where
> to go. It's the ones who tell you blatantly wrong things that piss me
> off. "Reboot and clear your cache." "Um, why exactly?" "Because I
> can't go on to the next line in my script until you do that."
Yeah, me too. "OK, I'm rebooting. Beep. There, I'm rebooted. Next
question. Yes, this machine boots very fast. Next question please. It's
a, um, Octegenarian 4000. They're new. Next question please." :)
>> hire someone who knows anything about this stuff to help people. They
>> just want a drone to read a stack of FAQs.
>
> You've just summed up tech support hell right there.
I discovered a new kind of tech support hell on this one. They had some
kind of voice recognition thing on the voice mail, so I had to talk to the
HAL 9000 and tell it where I wanted to go. But I kept confusing it because
I found the idea of talking to a voice mail thing so humorous that I kept
giggling and making it lose its place in the tree. I kept imagining Scotty
picking up that mouse. "Computah, Ah want information on transparent
aluminum."
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Patriarch wrote:
>> down her particulars some place where *I* can keep up with it this
>> time, so I can deal with future problems over the phone.
>
> So why is a certified LINUX geek who can network driving a truck for a
> job?
Have you looked at any of the help wanted ads for Linux geeks?
I'm not selling myself short here. I'm just really not remotely qualified
for any job I've ever seen advertised. The home desktop arena where I play
has almost nothing in common with the corporate world. I've never used a
computer in a professional setting, except for a brief stint working as a
typist in a copy center in college, and I have no computer experience. No
training, no education, just a couple decades as a competent hobbiest.
I've never worked in an office environment either.
Plus I guess I tolerate it pretty well. I could talk about it for quite a
long time, both the ups and downs. There are ups, there are downs.
Everything is always a balancing act. Up, having a lot of time off. Down,
having to work ridiculous hours during busy times. Up, being free to do my
job my own way, without being micromanaged. Down, spending long periods of
time by myself, without any coworkers to socialize with. Up, paying the
bills. Down, having a job I'm just not really very proud of, because I
have the intellectual potential to do more exciting sounding things.
I guess on balance, the thing that bothers me most of all is not having any
friends to spend time with in person. I'm not a very sociable guy to start
with, but I used to have some semblance of a social life. That all ended
eight years ago, and I live a very solitary life now. I have my family,
the people on the other side of a computer monitor, and a couple of people
who work in furniture stores in distant cities. Most of that time this
doesn't really bother me at all, but sometimes it does. I guess even
hermits like me like to have a little human contact now and again.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Tim Douglass wrote:
snip
> It seems a bit more reasonable when you consider that
> a floppy only held 185K IIRC.
180K
Dave in Fairfax
--
Dave Leader
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/
PATINA
http://www.Patinatools.org/
> I just don't get IM at all, really. People can send email in nearly real
> time, and there's no expectation that the person on the other end is going
> to sit there twiddling his thumbs while you get around to saying something
> that way.
I can tell you. I support 20,000 IM users. The things that gets typed most
are:
You there?
and
Can I call you?
jo4hn wrote:
> Fascinating. Somebody had written a cross assembler for the Verdan that
> ran on the G-15. Certainly better than nothing. The first computer
> that I ever tried to program was a Burroughs E-101. It was externally
> programmed and at the approximate size of a desk, did about as much.
Fascinating indeed. Way better than nothing. The machines weren't
much by today's standards (although the G-15 was capable of true
multiprocessing), but they were such an incredible jump ahead of
everything that had ever gone before.
We hung a tapedrive onto the Bendix, then a Calcomp plotter, then
an IBM 407, and eventually a "mark-sense" card reader. By the
time all the 'upgrades' were in place the poor thing had a MTTF
somewhere between three and four hours.
The G-15 was about the size of a refrigerator - and churned its
way through a lot of calculations before finally being replaced
with an incredibly faster IBM 1130 (8K of 16-bit words with 320K
word cartridge disk drive and a snazzy Selectric console printer.)
I'd never thought about it until just now; but that old Bendix
had a better MTTF than did my 80286 PC running Windows 3.1 (:
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/collectors.html
Dave Hinz wrote:
> On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 02:48:36 -0600, Morris Dovey <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Jim Warman wrote:
>>
>>
>>>While we're at it... how many can remember when a 44Meg HDD was HUGE!!!
>>
>>My first hard drive (attached to an IMSAI 8080) was an IBM 2311
>>with only 7MB. The second was a 10MB drive in a Morrow MD-11.
>
>
> Damn newbies...
/clever rejoinder mode/ Oh Yeah??!! /crm off/ My first disk had 2K 24
bit words. It was also the RAM. Cycle time of 0.01 sec. Verdan
computer, manufacture by Autonetics and the flight computer for the
Hound Dog cruise missile. Gronk.
hail to the geezers,
jo4hn
Jim Warman wrote in news:iYLCd.55408$KO5.15149@clgrps13:
> 144Kb though Micro$oft had a way of packing a bit more onto them when
> they shipped Winders Fer WerkGroops....
>
> HOWEVER.... I can still vaguely recall single side, low density that
> couldn't hold what is now a smallish *,gif....
>
> While we're at it... how many can remember when a 44Meg HDD was
> HUGE!!!
>
Oh Man,
I remember the 44Meg HDD being huge. I also think of actually paying
$200 for a 4mb RAM chip for a 486 and thinking wow, I'll bet a 50mb of RAM
would make an awesome machine except it would cost 12 Grand!! Hah!
--
Michael Burton
Thunderbird Hardwoods
Llano, TX
mhburton at tbird-hardwoods dot com
Silvan wrote:
> The new ones are crap, and this one exceeded its life expectancy
> several million switch cycles ago, I'm sure. I'm not sure what I'm
> going to do. I really, really, really hate the new ones. Anybody
> want to get rid of an early '90s vintage Microsoft Natural Keyboard,
> from before they redesigned it, when they were still made in the USA?
I got one the first month they were available and recently retired it. (I
have a new NK at work and the change in layout of the Home End PageUp...
keys changed. I wanted to have the same layout at home and at work.)
It's grungy, showing I spent many hours using it, but you can have it if you
want. It was working fine when I unplugged it. Remove the obvious to reply
by mail.
-- Mark
I can remember back in the day when dad was working for the feds at Apollo
(the moon shot days) when a huge washing machine sized disk "array" held the
contents of a small box of punch cards. One of the fun geek things to do was
to send it read/write commands timed such that it would walk accross the
floor.....
I can remember the platters getting pulled out (they were changeable). They
were big, and made an amazing ringing sound when pinged with a pencil (on
the edge of course....)
--JD
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Jim Warman wrote:
>
> > HOWEVER.... I can still vaguely recall single side, low density that
> > couldn't hold what is now a smallish *,gif....
> >
> > While we're at it... how many can remember when a 44Meg HDD was HUGE!!!
>
> I think the huge drive Dad used to have at work was only 32 MB or so. It
> was the size of a dormitory refrigerator.
>
> --
> Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
> Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
> http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
> http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
I'm not as "ancient" as some, but my first computer was a sinclair Z-81
with 2k or 3k of memory, 1980. Cost an amazingly low $200 then. I later
moved up to a Timex-sinclair T-1000 with 16K of memory, using my tape
recorder as a storage device. Moved up again to an Atari 400 with their
tape drive and 16K memory, got a MPP (now USR) 300 baud modem, then a
1200 baud modem for "only" $175. I remember picking up 10DSDD 5.25"
floppies for the incredible low price of 19.95, and I didn't even have a
floppy drive yet then. an Atari 800, a few Atari ST's, including the
areas first 20mb HD made for it ($600 IIRC). Back then, slide show
programs were intended to read off floppies and show them as fast as
they could load. When I tried it on the HD, it flashed through the
images about every 2 seconds. :)
I finally "upgraded" to a PC when my last ST died.
John
On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 17:43:53 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
>> I doubt it. I've never found WINE to be particularly useful for anything.
>>
>> --
>
>I find it very useful. Most women like it and . . . . . . . . .
>
Ahh, pantie remover....:)
"Jim Warman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:iYLCd.55408$KO5.15149@clgrps13...
> 144Kb though Micro$oft had a way of packing a bit more onto them when they
> shipped Winders Fer WerkGroops....
>
> HOWEVER.... I can still vaguely recall single side, low density that
> couldn't hold what is now a smallish *,gif....
>
> While we're at it... how many can remember when a 44Meg HDD was HUGE!!!
>
I just threw out a pair of ST-225s. Sick.
On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 18:18:27 -0600, Morris Dovey <[email protected]>
wrote:
>Tim Douglass wrote:
>
>> Not really, it was the neat gray, rectangular cased C64
>> portable that was so much fun, you could take it anywhere and
>> play games on the built in 4" monitor. Of course now days I
>> can't even *see* a 4" monitor, let along anything on it.
>
>You're not alone. I still have my O-1 and have exactly the same
>problem.
I *do* still have an O-1. I had forgotten about that one. I actually
built a printer interface for the edge connector and wrote the OS
(CP/M) extensions to drive the printer in its various modes. That
thing was a brute, but it got me through college. At one time I very
seriously considered adding a hard drive to it - $4,000 for a 5
megabyte drive. It seems a bit more reasonable when you consider that
a floppy only held 185K IIRC.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
Mark & Juanita wrote:
> that the user hasn't chosen aardvark1 as a password, how long is it going
> to take an automated hacking program to get user access with brute-force
> attacks? Given the example you cite below, just because banana may be a
Reminds me... I had a bit of fun once, for no particular reason. I decided
to list out all the possible passwords for a... I don't remember, maybe 7
character password and write them to a file. I ran the program, and it
filled up my 40 gig hard drive in practically no time, probably less than
five minutes, and hadn't gotten much past stuff like @@@@@@! or whatever.
Of course I knew there were 13.4 bajillion different combinations, but that
really drove it home. I never really thought about how big the resulting
text file would be to hold them all listed out.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Larry Jaques wrote:
>>training, no education, just a couple decades as a competent hobbiest.
>
> Well, Glenn misspelled "certifiable" and you misspelled "hobbyist."
> I guess that makes you even. ;)
I have to turn off the on-the-fly splee cheker because it makes my 2 GHz
machine feel like a 200 MHz machine, and I get about 20 words ahead of it
typing. I never have been able to spelee wroth a damn. In English anyway.
My spelling in Spanish is damn near perfect. :)
> I'm fairly certain that the idiots who write up want ads have never
> even heard of the technologies they require for any given job. Some
> seem to want people younger than 22 with a Bachelors in Arts, a
> Masters in Computer Sciences, and a PHD in something else, know 27
> different computer languages fluently, be able to levitate, etc.
> Oh, and they're offering minimum wage + perqs.
That's an apt summary of the ads anyway, except you forgot 15 years of Linux
kernel hacking experience.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Years ago, one of my Windows NT instructors mentioned two passwords to use
that most people would never think of..
1. Rather than using conventional keyboard characters, use something from
the extended ASCII character set by holding down the Alt key and using the
numeric keypad to enter the ASCII equivilant number representing the
character.
I believe he demonstrated by using the ASCII number equivilant to
'backspace'. Hold down the Alt key and enter using the numeric keypad, 008
then let off the Alt key.
Not only would most people never think of it, it wouldn't display anything
on the screen.
2. The other simpler example he used, was based on the fact that in NT at
least, in User Manager for Domains, you can look up any user, but the field
that lists the users password, displays 14 *'s no matter what the password
is.
Simply use a password of 14 *'s. (**************)
One of the Salemen at our company, has a company issued laptop. He was
having some problems with it one day, so he asked me to come take a look at
it for him.
Yep, right on the OUTSIDE lid of the laptop was a piece of paper perhaps
4x6" with both his login name for the corporate network AND the password!
Didn't even tape it to the INSIDE of the lid!
At least the way he taped it to the lid was such that when the laptop was
open, anybody from across the room that looked at it would see it upside
down....
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Mark & Juanita wrote:
>
>> that the user hasn't chosen aardvark1 as a password, how long is it going
>> to take an automated hacking program to get user access with brute-force
>> attacks? Given the example you cite below, just because banana may be a
>
> Reminds me... I had a bit of fun once, for no particular reason. I
> decided
> to list out all the possible passwords for a... I don't remember, maybe 7
> character password and write them to a file. I ran the program, and it
> filled up my 40 gig hard drive in practically no time, probably less than
> five minutes, and hadn't gotten much past stuff like @@@@@@! or whatever.
>
> Of course I knew there were 13.4 bajillion different combinations, but
> that
> really drove it home. I never really thought about how big the resulting
> text file would be to hold them all listed out.
>
>
> --
> Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
> Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
> http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
> http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 23:15:06 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>Patriarch wrote:
>
>>> down her particulars some place where *I* can keep up with it this
>>> time, so I can deal with future problems over the phone.
>>
>> So why is a certified LINUX geek who can network driving a truck for a
>> job?
>
>Have you looked at any of the help wanted ads for Linux geeks?
>
>I'm not selling myself short here. I'm just really not remotely qualified
>for any job I've ever seen advertised. The home desktop arena where I play
>has almost nothing in common with the corporate world. I've never used a
>computer in a professional setting, except for a brief stint working as a
>typist in a copy center in college, and I have no computer experience. No
>training, no education, just a couple decades as a competent hobbiest.
Well, Glenn misspelled "certifiable" and you misspelled "hobbyist."
I guess that makes you even. ;)
I'm fairly certain that the idiots who write up want ads have never
even heard of the technologies they require for any given job. Some
seem to want people younger than 22 with a Bachelors in Arts, a
Masters in Computer Sciences, and a PHD in something else, know 27
different computer languages fluently, be able to levitate, etc.
Oh, and they're offering minimum wage + perqs.
---
- Sarcasm is just one more service we offer. -
http://diversify.com Web Applications
Larry Jaques wrote:
> On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 23:15:06 -0500, Silvan
> <[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>
>> Patriarch wrote:
>>
>>>> down her particulars some place where *I* can keep up
>>>> with it this time, so I can deal with future problems
>>>> over the phone.
>>>
>>> So why is a certified LINUX geek who can network driving a
>>> truck for a job?
>>
>> Have you looked at any of the help wanted ads for Linux
>> geeks?
>>
>> I'm not selling myself short here. I'm just really not
>> remotely qualified for any job I've ever seen advertised.
>> The home desktop arena where I play has almost nothing in
>> common with the corporate world. I've never used a computer
>> in a professional setting, except for a brief stint working
>> as a typist in a copy center in college, and I have no
>> computer experience. No training, no education, just a
>> couple decades as a competent hobbiest.
Hmm. I think you /are/ selling yourself short.
> Well, Glenn misspelled "certifiable" and you misspelled
> "hobbyist." I guess that makes you even. ;)
>
> I'm fairly certain that the idiots who write up want ads have
> never even heard of the technologies they require for any
> given job. Some seem to want people younger than 22 with a
> Bachelors in Arts, a Masters in Computer Sciences, and a PHD
> in something else, know 27 different computer languages
> fluently, be able to levitate, etc. Oh, and they're offering
> minimum wage + perqs.
A year after NT was released, I remember seeing an ad looking for
someone with 5 years of NT experience. (:
BTW, when the unpaid overtime is figured in, a lot of the young
software H1B types ended up making /far/ less than minimum wage.
I recall 7 young Indian programmers in San Jose sharing an
apartment because none of them could afford a single bedroom unit
of their own. When I asked if it wasn't uncomfortably crowded,
the answer I got was there were almost never more than two or
three at home - because the other four or five would be at work.
These guys typically worked twelve to eighteen hours a day and
got paid for only eight. Not all the sweatshops are on the
/other/ side of the Pacific rim...
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/collectors.html
On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 19:52:23 GMT, "Mark Jerde"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Mark & Juanita wrote:
>
>> yep those password policies really
>> helped improve security, didn't they?
>
>One client of our has insane IMO requirements: 15 characters, must include
>at least a number and a special character, and NO WORDS!
Ostensibly this is to prevent dictionary-driven programs from trying
combinations of words and numbers to break into a user's account. Now,
applying the common sense rule here, coupled with the fact that most
security protocols either lock out the user for a certain period of time
(30 minutes, 2 hours, etc) or permanently (requiring sysadmin to reset the
password) after 3 (or some other number) of failed login attempts -- given
that the user hasn't chosen aardvark1 as a password, how long is it going
to take an automated hacking program to get user access with brute-force
attacks? Given the example you cite below, just because banana may be a
word is not an aid to an attack on a system with a password lock policy.
> Usually for
>requirements like that I'll use the dictionary technique. Open a thick
>book, use the first word I see, open to another page, use the page number,
>open to another page & use the first word I see, etc. This client's policy
>wouldn't accept e.g.
> banana48file62uses323/count
>because it said "banana" was a word!
>
>However, a password of this form is blessed. <g>
> aaaaaaaaaaaaa1/
>
Oooh, I can see how that is *much* more secure than the banana password
:-)
> -- Mark
>
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Now we'll just use some glue to hold things in place until the brads dry
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
144Kb though Micro$oft had a way of packing a bit more onto them when they
shipped Winders Fer WerkGroops....
HOWEVER.... I can still vaguely recall single side, low density that
couldn't hold what is now a smallish *,gif....
While we're at it... how many can remember when a 44Meg HDD was HUGE!!!
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Dave in Fairfax wrote:
>
> > Tim Douglass wrote:
> > snip
> >> It seems a bit more reasonable when you consider that
> >> a floppy only held 185K IIRC.
> >
> > 180K
>
> I was thinking 160K. Hrm.
>
> --
> Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
> Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
> http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
> http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Dave Hinz wrote:
>>/clever rejoinder mode/ Oh Yeah??!! /crm off/ My first disk had 2K 24
>>bit words. It was also the RAM. Cycle time of 0.01 sec. Verdan
>>computer, manufacture by Autonetics and the flight computer for the
>>Hound Dog cruise missile. Gronk.
>
> I think you win.
<crm> Nah. First computer I programed had no transistors and no
RAM. It was a Bendix G-15 with a rotating drum memory. It was a
challenge to distribute programs around the (2K) drum so that as
each instruction finished executing the next would be (almost) at
the read head. It did double duty as a space heater. </crm>
About that same time a friend of mine built a computer (stored
program calculator) out of telephone relays. Noisy thing. As I
recall, he had to be careful because if too many relays picked at
the same time, it blew the power supply fuse.
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/collectors.html
Morris Dovey wrote:
> Dave Hinz wrote:
>
>>> /clever rejoinder mode/ Oh Yeah??!! /crm off/ My first disk had 2K
>>> 24 bit words. It was also the RAM. Cycle time of 0.01 sec. Verdan
>>> computer, manufacture by Autonetics and the flight computer for the
>>> Hound Dog cruise missile. Gronk.
>>
>>
>> I think you win.
>
>
> <crm> Nah. First computer I programed had no transistors and no RAM. It
> was a Bendix G-15 with a rotating drum memory. It was a challenge to
> distribute programs around the (2K) drum so that as each instruction
> finished executing the next would be (almost) at the read head. It did
> double duty as a space heater. </crm>
>
> About that same time a friend of mine built a computer (stored program
> calculator) out of telephone relays. Noisy thing. As I recall, he had to
> be careful because if too many relays picked at the same time, it blew
> the power supply fuse.
>
Fascinating. Somebody had written a cross assembler for the Verdan that
ran on the G-15. Certainly better than nothing. The first computer
that I ever tried to program was a Burroughs E-101. It was externally
programmed and at the approximate size of a desk, did about as much.
j4
Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> Yeah, like I can remember everybody's password for everything. Nine
> computers, eight routers, six cable/DSL/dialup modems. I don't even
> have a big "network" but it's big enough I need a crib sheet. I wrote
> down her particulars some place where *I* can keep up with it this
> time, so I can deal with future problems over the phone.
So why is a certified LINUX geek who can network driving a truck for a job?
Patriarch
> I finally "upgraded" to a PC when my last ST died.
>
> John
Ha! That's funny. I loved those machines. They had the best gui. Gem
Desktop, I think it was. I had a garage business going where I would solder
in the sockets and pop in the chips to turn the Atari ST520 into the ST1040.
Then you'd get your host controller, your external drive enclosure and you
were smokin with a 20 meg HD. I still get warm fuzzies thinking about all
the bulletin boards I dialed up way back then. Remember how frustrating it
was to get the constant busy signal on the really popular ones?
Owen Lawrence wrote:
> enough. (I've got a "new" replacement freebie laptop.) But the power
> supply and its cord got wrapped up and put on the shelf for some future
> electronics project. Sigh...
LOL! I have eight AT style power supplies. I'm thinking about tossing
them, but probably won't.
I finally threw away my EGA card though.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Gino wrote:
> I blew a four pound extinguisher on my fire.
> You would think the neighbor would offer to pay for the refill...it was
> his fence.<g>
Yeah, the NERVE of some people!
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Dave Jackson wrote:
> When i get a good sized handful of sockets that need replaced I just carry
> them in and get the ones i want off the shelf. The cashiers normally just
> count how many I'm returning and how many replacements i have without
> actually comparing sizes. --dave
You know, come to think of it, I have never had to take a Crafstman socket
back. Only screwdrivers and mauls so far.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Patriarch wrote:
> were old when our fathers were born. Saws & chisels, too, if we can find
> them.
Cute story. I was showing my son my type 11 #4 today for some reason or
other... I old him it was made in about 1905, which was actually 10 years
off, oops, but I didn't bother to correct myself later. He nodded, went on
about his business for a moment, and then his eyes bugged when it dawned on
him what I had just said. I was off, yes, but it's still pretty close to
100 years old. Possibly older than my grandfather, or at least the same
age.
I'm afraid the plane will outlast him. :(
> I pick my battles these days.
It's not even that in my case, really. I'm a Geek after all. It's just not
fun anymore. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. When will my new
computer be ready?
I'm thinking about taking my car to a quickie lube place too. Wuss.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Norman D. Crow wrote:
> Seemed like every 10min. she'd start in with "I got one, I got one" and
> RUN away from the bank, as she wasn't all that coordinated on reeling,
Sounds like my son, except...
Boot.
Tree branch.
Rag.
Cola bottle.
Tree branch.
Tire.
Sneaker.
That poor boy never has ever caught a fish, I don't think. Of course, I'm
not much of a teacher. I don't eat fish, so I don't fish. I don't know
jack diddly about fishing. Obviously I've done a good job of teaching him
to catch trash.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 16:16:40 -0500, Owen Lawrence <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> "Dave Hinz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:17:18 -0500, Owen Lawrence <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>> > Actually I _have_ used a couple of these cords for original electronics
>> > projects and repairs, but I've got a shoebox full of them and I made a
>> > conscious decision last year to stop saving them.
>>
>> How's that working out for you?
>
> So far so good, but I think it's a lifetime affliction. Just yesterday I
> put an old 486 laptop in the garbage, one that still runs.
Wait wait! What're ya doing? That's a perfectly good machine. Is it
still out there? Can I have the harddrive? How about the screen? Does it
have a CDROM drive?
> That was hard
> enough. (I've got a "new" replacement freebie laptop.) But the power
> supply and its cord got wrapped up and put on the shelf for some future
> electronics project. Sigh...
Yup, you're hopeless. Also.
Dave
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 05:53:44 GMT, Patriarch <[email protected]> wrote:
> Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
>> Upgrading is a PITA keeping up
>> with what class of this works with what type of that, and I don't
>> bother anymore. I bought my last two computer pre-assembled. Wuss.
>>
>
> Tuning handplanes is the badge of honor amongst these fellows.
> Preassembled computers that upgrade their own software,
I'm updating my FreeBSD ports tree at the moment...
> and handplanes that
> were old when our fathers were born. Saws & chisels, too, if we can find
> them.
>
> I pick my battles these days.
Yup. I don't screw around with my computers at home nearly as much
as I used to, I'd rather spend time with the family or in the workshops.
Dave
On Tue, 04 Jan 2005 20:56:53 -0800, Gino <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 4 Jan 2005 19:10:25 GMT, Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>160 or 185K, depending on if it was 35 or 40 tracks.
>>
> I still have my 1980 vintage notch cutter for turning single sided floppies into
> double sided.
> I also have a box of 5 8" floppies with the original price still on the box.
> $99.95.
I sold a _bunch_ of 8" floppies in the time leading up to Y2K. Had a
stack of 'em, with the "too good to toss, not good enough to use" stuff.
As Y2K came near, people with ancient systems needed to patch 'em.
My employer at the time was one of those. As an employee, I wasn't
allowed to sell to my employer (huge megacorp with stupid rules),
so we bought from the local media supplier. But, I wasn't prohibited
from selling _to_ the local media supplier, so...
I think I got something like 5 bucks a piece for aged, used, 8" floppies.
About half of what they were worth when new, but a whole lot more
than they're worth for any other reason. Purely a supply:demand situation.
You got me curious enough to go upstairs and get out my O-1 and fire it up.
It runs CP/M 2.2
My CP/M boot floppy is labeled as..
Single Side, Double Density.....185k
in the help screens on the boot floppy, it mentions...
"The diskettes used by the Osborne 1 should be soft-sectored, 5 1/4 inch,
single-sided, and single density. This is the information you need to tell a
salesman to insure that you buy the proper diskettes."
another window on the help screen indicates ..
"If you recieve a message like "DISK FULL" or "NO SPACE" you need to get out
a fresh diskette.
CP/M CAPACITY = 92k"
So.....
Single Side Single Density = 92k
Single Side Double Density = 185k
"Tim Douglass" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 4 Jan 2005 19:10:25 GMT, Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 04 Jan 2005 09:25:32 -0800, Tim Douglass <[email protected]>
>>wrote:
>
>>> I *do* still have an O-1. I had forgotten about that one. I actually
>>> built a printer interface for the edge connector and wrote the OS
>>> (CP/M) extensions to drive the printer in its various modes. That
>>> thing was a brute, but it got me through college. At one time I very
>>> seriously considered adding a hard drive to it - $4,000 for a 5
>>> megabyte drive. It seems a bit more reasonable when you consider that
>>> a floppy only held 185K IIRC.
>>
>>160 or 185K, depending on if it was 35 or 40 tracks.
>
> You're going to make me think now. I'm pretty sure I did 40 track, so
> 185K.
>
> Tim Douglass
>
> http://www.DouglassClan.com
Gino wrote:
> I still have my 1980 vintage notch cutter for turning single
> sided floppies into double sided. I also have a box of 5 8"
> floppies with the original price still on the box. $99.95.
I'll see your notcher and 8" FDs and raise you a paper tape
splicer with a box of mylar splices. (-:
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/solar.html
On 4 Jan 2005 19:10:25 GMT, Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote:
>On Tue, 04 Jan 2005 09:25:32 -0800, Tim Douglass <[email protected]> wrote:
>> On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 18:18:27 -0600, Morris Dovey <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>Tim Douglass wrote:
>>>
>>>> Not really, it was the neat gray, rectangular cased C64
>>>> portable that was so much fun, you could take it anywhere and
>>>> play games on the built in 4" monitor. Of course now days I
>>>> can't even *see* a 4" monitor, let along anything on it.
>>>
>>>You're not alone. I still have my O-1 and have exactly the same
>>>problem.
>>
>> I *do* still have an O-1. I had forgotten about that one. I actually
>> built a printer interface for the edge connector and wrote the OS
>> (CP/M) extensions to drive the printer in its various modes. That
>> thing was a brute, but it got me through college. At one time I very
>> seriously considered adding a hard drive to it - $4,000 for a 5
>> megabyte drive. It seems a bit more reasonable when you consider that
>> a floppy only held 185K IIRC.
>
>160 or 185K, depending on if it was 35 or 40 tracks.
>
I still have my 1980 vintage notch cutter for turning single sided floppies into
double sided.
I also have a box of 5 8" floppies with the original price still on the box.
$99.95.
On 4 Jan 2005 19:10:25 GMT, Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote:
>On Tue, 04 Jan 2005 09:25:32 -0800, Tim Douglass <[email protected]> wrote:
>> I *do* still have an O-1. I had forgotten about that one. I actually
>> built a printer interface for the edge connector and wrote the OS
>> (CP/M) extensions to drive the printer in its various modes. That
>> thing was a brute, but it got me through college. At one time I very
>> seriously considered adding a hard drive to it - $4,000 for a 5
>> megabyte drive. It seems a bit more reasonable when you consider that
>> a floppy only held 185K IIRC.
>
>160 or 185K, depending on if it was 35 or 40 tracks.
You're going to make me think now. I'm pretty sure I did 40 track, so
185K.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 19:08:21 GMT, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> If you like the Dremel flex-shaft, you'll _love_ the Foredom.
I'll keep that in mind if the Dremel shaft goes. It's making some
noises, but has been for years, so....
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 23:03:55 -0500, Silvan <[email protected]> wrote:
> shirts and some dress clothes I haven't worn in yearrrrs. (I own a tie?
> Why do I own a tie?)
Well, interviews, of course.
> Oh, blah blah blah, what the hell was I rambling about? The closet pole.
> Anyway, it was supposed to help hold up the shelf I loaded down with my
> wife's old childhood crap she can't get rid of. It didn't fit, so...
> drum roll...
>
> I THREW IT AWAY!
OK, who are you, and what have you done with our Silvan?
> Wow. I have to go drink some beer, smoke a cigar, and maybe go buy a copy
> of Hustler or something to prove I'm not gay after all this. :)
Bah. Be secure in your manhood and just download porn like the rest of
the world.
Dave "How do I set that X-no-archive flag again?" Hinz
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 01:34:15 -0500, Silvan <[email protected]> wrote:
> Dave Jackson wrote:
>
>> When i get a good sized handful of sockets that need replaced I just carry
>> them in and get the ones i want off the shelf. The cashiers normally just
>> count how many I'm returning and how many replacements i have without
>> actually comparing sizes. --dave
>
> You know, come to think of it, I have never had to take a Crafstman socket
> back. Only screwdrivers and mauls so far.
How do you break a maul, exactly? I mean, aren't they _made_ to hit stuff
with?
Dave Hinz wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 23:03:55 -0500, Silvan
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> shirts and some dress clothes I haven't worn in yearrrrs. (I own a tie?
>> Why do I own a tie?)
>
> Well, interviews, of course.
The funny thing is I have never once gotten any job I dressed up for. Ever.
"We'll call you." Right.
>> I THREW IT AWAY!
>
> OK, who are you, and what have you done with our Silvan?
You should see the curb. Wow dude. TWO entire BOXES of trash bags. I
basically threw away 80% of everything that was in our closets, and gave
the 12% of it that was worth something to someone to Goodwill.
We had SO much crap. Toilet huggies from two houses ago? Drapes when we
have mini blinds everywhere. Home decor and other froo froo stupid crap
people who know nothing about us give us for Christmas every year.
I guess we could have had a yard sale, but screw it.
The old Silvan died about three weeks ago, the first time my wife went into
the hospital. I'm Mr. Mom now, and I'm going to get this dump clean and
KEEP it clean. The kids ignore Mommy, but they're going to damn well
listen to DADDY!
> Bah. Be secure in your manhood and just download porn like the rest of
> the world.
>
> Dave "How do I set that X-no-archive flag again?" Hinz
:)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Dave Hinz wrote:
> Yup. I don't screw around with my computers at home nearly as much
> as I used to, I'd rather spend time with the family or in the workshops.
It just ain't fun anymore.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
On Tue, 04 Jan 2005 23:08:30 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Dave in Fairfax wrote:
>
>> Tim Douglass wrote:
>> snip
>>> It seems a bit more reasonable when you consider that
>>> a floppy only held 185K IIRC.
>>
>> 180K
>
>I was thinking 160K. Hrm.
For most computers, yes. However Commodores were always a little --
shall we say -- idiosyncratic?
--RC
"Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells
'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets
fly with a club.
-- John W. Cambell Jr.
Dave in Fairfax wrote:
> OK Silvan. Toss him in the car sometime and I'll teach ya both to
> go fishing. I'll even share one of my fishing holes with you.
> Last person I took there I had to teach how to clean all the
> catfish we caught.
It's a date. About 2007 good for you? :)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Dave Hinz wrote:
>> back. Only screwdrivers and mauls so far.
>
> How do you break a maul, exactly? I mean, aren't they _made_ to hit stuff
> with?
Um. Dad used to buy a truckload of logs, cut it to length, and then hand me
a maul. I was pretty good at splitting wood, but I missed from time to
time. Usually after about the fourth or fifth cord. Miss about five good
times, and it's time to go to Sears and get a new maul.
I must have split about 40 or 50 cords of wood with one maul. Which I
replaced about 20 times. :) It was easier after I could DRIVE to Sears
for a new maul.
Wow, I'm so soft and squishy now.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Tim Douglass wrote:
> The older ones were awfully good. You really had to work at it to mess
> one up. The new ones make the guarantee essential.
I bought these (sockets) in about 1990.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
jo4hn wrote:
> Silvan wrote:
>
> [snip]
>> Wow, I'm so soft and squishy now.
>>
>
> Built for comfort, not for speed.
I resemble that remark. Though I can pick up some speed when I want to.
Had to do the regular general purpose shopping, instead of just the Daddy
shopping I usually do (which usually isn't at Wal-Mart anyway.) I got a
lot of looks from people powering down the aisle full throttle and skidding
on all the corners. Zero collisions. I wanted to get it the hell over
with so I could get some shop time on this glorious 65 degree January day.
And I did, too. Finally tried out my scrapers on that little wild grained
maple board end. I guess it's probably what you'd call fiddleback grain.
Came out purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrty when I got done. Wow!
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Dave in Fairfax wrote:
> Silvan wrote:
>> It's a date. About 2007 good for you? :)
>
> I don't usually make dates with guys, not being a nurse, too much
> talk. But in this case I'll make an exception. %-)
Oh me neither. I haven't been on a date with a guy in yearrrrs.
(That's actually an interesting story.)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Tim Douglass wrote:
> I cut and sold firewood one summer with a friend. Did some 300 cords.
> It hurts just thinking about it. I doubt I could even *lift* the 16lb
> maul we used. Oh, to be 18 again!
Tell me about it! I didn't have a 16 lb. maul, but I did have a wedge and
16 lb. sledge for the big logs that wouldn't split any other way.
I gave that thing to my boss last year, in trade for a computer or
something. I can't even swing the damn thing one good time anymore.
I don't feel quite so bad though. We had a neighbor we used to call when we
needed to bring some real strength to the table. That guy could split 36"
red gum logs in a single swipe all day long. (And we had a LOT of 36" red
gum logs that year. Some of which were crotches.)
He just bought one of those wussy hydraulic deals. I guess Father Time is
finally kicking him in the ass.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Xane T. wrote:
> It's like that episode of Futurama...
Yup. I think I remember that. I used to like that show back when I used to
watch TV. Is it still on?
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 23:38:27 GMT, Patriarch <[email protected]> wrote:
> Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
><snip>
>>>
>>> You know, come to think of it, I have never had to take a Crafstman
>>> socket back. Only screwdrivers and mauls so far.
>>
>> How do you break a maul, exactly? I mean, aren't they _made_ to hit
>> stuff with?
>>
> The ones _I've_ broken have been when I missed what I was trying to hit.
> Typically a wedge. How Michael broke his is a matter for speculation.
>
> If you whack the handle just south of the head, say, on the edge of a
> massive chunk of firewood, physics tends to work against you.
Ah, yes, of course. I was thinking the head itself, not the handle.
Yup, I've replaced more than a couple handles on BFHs over the years.
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 21:32:40 -0500, Owen Lawrence <[email protected]> wrote:
> "Dave Hinz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> Wait wait! What're ya doing? That's a perfectly good machine. Is it
>> still out there? Can I have the harddrive? How about the screen? Does
> it
>> have a CDROM drive?
>
> I sent e-mail to the above address but I suspect it's munged. Change my
> username to owen (keep the rest of my address) and send me a message if
> you're serious.
Nope, it's a real address. I subscribe to them as a mail filtering
service, and they block 99% or so of the incoming spam (and make reporting
the rest of it simple).
Response to the other topic is in your email, thanks.
Dave
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 21:57:42 -0500, Silvan <[email protected]> wrote:
> Dave Hinz wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 23:03:55 -0500, Silvan
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> shirts and some dress clothes I haven't worn in yearrrrs. (I own a tie?
>>> Why do I own a tie?)
>>
>> Well, interviews, of course.
>
> The funny thing is I have never once gotten any job I dressed up for. Ever.
> "We'll call you." Right.
That's annoying, isn't it? Last time I was in the market, I took the job
I now have (no kidding) but called the other two places I had interviewed
with to thank them for their time, and to let them know I had accepted an
offer elsewhere. I didn't know if I was still in the running with them
or not, but I figured it was worth a phone call as a courtesy. Apparently
not many people do that, because they both acted strange when I did it.
Maybe they'd already hired and never bothered to call me, though, hard
to say.
>> OK, who are you, and what have you done with our Silvan?
>
> You should see the curb. Wow dude. TWO entire BOXES of trash bags. I
> basically threw away 80% of everything that was in our closets, and gave
> the 12% of it that was worth something to someone to Goodwill.
I now have the name of the place that will take those monitors, so I'm
making progress. I also cleared out (let's see) about six square feet
of floor space, including a lot of little items that had accumulated.
Found a stack of missing CDs (don't ask) and my snap-ring plier set.
> I guess we could have had a yard sale, but screw it.
Thing with that, is you have to lose a whole weekend to make a couple
hundred bucks if you're lucky, arguing with people who want to pay only
four dollars for something worth 20, instead of the 5 it's marked at.
eBay sometimes, but I've been known to take stuff to work, put up a notice
on the trade board saying "first at my desk to take it can have it" for
things that are useful, but not to me.
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 21:58:19 -0500, Silvan <[email protected]> wrote:
> Dave Hinz wrote:
>
>> Yup. I don't screw around with my computers at home nearly as much
>> as I used to, I'd rather spend time with the family or in the workshops.
>
> It just ain't fun anymore.
Well, don't get me wrong, I _use_ the computers at home, but I'm not
going to go rebuilding kernels for the hell of it to see how it goes.
That, after all, is what the lab at work is for. Time to build that
FreeBSD mailhub running postfix, I think.
Dave
On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 18:54:03 GMT, jo4hn <[email protected]> wrote:
> Silvan wrote:
>
> [snip]
>> Wow, I'm so soft and squishy now.
>>
>
> Built for comfort, not for speed.
Thanks for _that_ mental image, Jo4hn. By the way, what's with the
speeling?
On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 22:10:58 -0500, Silvan <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> And I did, too. Finally tried out my scrapers on that little wild grained
> maple board end. I guess it's probably what you'd call fiddleback grain.
> Came out purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrty when I got done. Wow!
Pix anywhere?
On 3 Jan 2005 16:26:47 -0800, Never Enough Money <[email protected]> wrote:
> I made the same purchase. It was a waste of money but I don't think it
> was quite as bad as you do.
Huh? What? Who?
On 29 Dec 2004 08:02:38 -0800, "foggytown" <[email protected]> calmly
ranted:
>And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
>For me it's a B&D "electric file" - basically a needle-nose belt
>sander. It's a something that should be handy as hell but it's just
>too damned vicious. Touch it to a piece of wood and you have instant
>"shit - too much". I've never been able to get anything done with it.
>Next?
B&D belt sander. This one is over 30 years old and has seen about
3 hours total work in that time. Every time I use it I cuss myself out
four using it again because it invariably finds a way, when I'm least
suspecting it, to TILT and dig in and mar every piece of face wood it
touches, no matter how hard the wood and with 120 grit belts. <sigh>
-----------------------------------------------
I'll apologize for offending someone...right
after they apologize for being easily offended.
-----------------------------------------------
http://www.diversify.com Inoffensive Web Design
Dave Hinz wrote:
> Thanks for pointing out what I should have been able
> to see. Seriously, I was going to hardwire
> them but the boxes I hung are for outlets, so it wasn't
> going anywhere.
Glad I could help. ;-) Every time I turn on the lights and see that wasted
extension cord I think, "dumba**".
-- Mark
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 02:44:00 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Doug Winterburn wrote:
>
>> nifty dremel cutoff wheel ground almost all the way through the
>> compression ring and a little twist with a flat blade screwdriver popped
>> it right off. Whew, success!
>
>That's about the only practical thing I use mine for too. That and turning
>things that aren't into slotted screws. It's not useless, just mostly
>useless.
I use the different size drum sanders often enough to keep my
dremel/sears "lil crafty" hanging over the bench.. nice when you want
a hole or opening just a bit bigger or need to debur something..
mac
Please remove splinters before emailing
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:29:01 -0500, Tom Watson <[email protected]> wrote:
>On 29 Dec 2004 08:02:38 -0800, "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>>the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>>hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
>
>B+D Electric Brad Nailer.
>Stanley 55.
>Delta POS Wet and Dry Sharpening Station.
>1974 C10 Chevy.
1988 Sterling. British automobile need I say more?
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Now we'll just use some glue to hold things in place until the brads dry
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 16:23:12 -0600, Duane Bozarth
<[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>Larry Jaques wrote:
>...
>> B&D belt sander. This one is over 30 years old and has seen about
>> 3 hours total work in that time. ...
>
>Is it the 735 3x24 by any chance? I'll be more than happy to pay you
>for it plus shipping...I have worn two out and can't find anything
>currently made that I like for balance anyways <near> as much...
Newp, it's a 7447, a primarily plastic 3x21" beastie.
Balance? Bwahahahahah!
>Unfortunately, the particular gears that are worn are no longer
>available to repair mine... :(
Check over on rec.crafts.metalworking. Maybe someone there is bored to
tears and will make them for you to fend off the boredom. ;)
-----------------------------------------------
I'll apologize for offending someone...right
after they apologize for being easily offended.
-----------------------------------------------
http://www.diversify.com Inoffensive Web Design
Joe Gorman wrote:
>
> Chuck Hoffman wrote:
> > A Ryobi detail sander. It looked like a good idea at the time but...
...
> Yes, I got one as a gift and don't recall opening it after the
> obligatory Christmas morning look, however many years ago that was.
> Joe
OTOH, my wife uses hers a lot for the refinishing she does and likes it
well...
YMMV... :)
Nate Perkins wrote:
>
> "My Old Tools" <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
> > PC biscuit joiner. I just don't use it. Mortise and tenon is
> > stronger and I prefer it to the noise and dust.
> >
>
> I agree with you. I don't have a biscuit joiner. Haven't needed one yet.
> I use all mortise and tenon or dovetail. Of course it would be different
> if I were doing this for a living and not a hobby.
I wouldn't use it where I would use a heavy tenon, either...
Larry Jaques wrote:
...
> B&D belt sander. This one is over 30 years old and has seen about
> 3 hours total work in that time. ...
Is it the 735 3x24 by any chance? I'll be more than happy to pay you
for it plus shipping...I have worn two out and can't find anything
currently made that I like for balance anyways <near> as much...
Unfortunately, the particular gears that are worn are no longer
available to repair mine... :(
Larry Jaques wrote:
>
> On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 12:33:14 -0600, Duane Bozarth
> <[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>
...
> >OTOH, my wife uses hers a lot for the refinishing she does and likes it
> >well...
...
>
> You must be rich, Duane. Media cost for those things has to be
> $50/day, minimum. Have you seen the new Searz circular thingy?
> It has a pair (or 3?) of 3/4" washer-sized sanding discs on it.
> I can't imagine how long they'd last while sanding, but I'll bet
> you a dollar to a donut that it's sub-1-minute. <g>
>
...
Haven't seen it, no...we only have a small catalog store here which is
mostly appliances, etc., so don't see most of that kind of
thingy...thank goodness! :)
Re media cost for the detail sander, I'm not really sure...shouldn't
make it sound as though she's a full-time pro, particularly since we're
now back on the farm she's busy enough w/ other stuff. She did resell
stuff w/ a couple of friends in TN in a small shop and was pretty
regular w/ it at the time...but, that was her thing so I never actually
bought any media for it myself...
I did use it while painting the house to get into the corners of some
window sills where I had to do some repair/patching on...w/ the coarsest
pad she had it took the epoxy filler down to a paintable surface fairly
quickly w/ less effort than I was expending by hand although still had
to finish the very corners w/ the sharp chisel trick...
It's not indispensible nor wonderful, but does have some specialized
uses imo...
Dave Hinz wrote:
>
...
> ... sockets in there that are split, some
> smushed (how the hell do you smush a socket?), and a ton of duplicates
> to what I already have, but enough new ones to be nice. I'm not sure
> what they'll say about the collection of crap, but I'm going to try it.
>
> Anyone heard of a socket exchange, so I can turn these duplicates into
> sizes I don't have but need?
They don't give a flip about what shape they're in or what caused it (as
long as it's Craftsman, not Companion or any of the other names) but
afaik they'll only exchange for what you got...
Can't hurt to ask, though, although I'd guess they'll not unless you get
somebody who just doesn't care...
Larry Jaques wrote:
>
> On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 16:23:12 -0600, Duane Bozarth
> <[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>
> >Larry Jaques wrote:
> >...
> >> B&D belt sander. This one is over 30 years old and has seen about
> >> 3 hours total work in that time. ...
> >
> >Is it the 735 3x24 by any chance? I'll be more than happy to pay you
> >for it plus shipping...I have worn two out and can't find anything
> >currently made that I like for balance anyways <near> as much...
>
> Newp, it's a 7447, a primarily plastic 3x21" beastie.
> Balance? Bwahahahahah!
Rats!!! :) The 735 was the metal casing, motor between the wheels
design...unfortunately, the geared drive shaft (which is the rotor) is
the weak link in that design as there's a real size problem to get it
all to fit in the available space...
> >Unfortunately, the particular gears that are worn are no longer
> >available to repair mine... :(
>
> Check over on rec.crafts.metalworking. Maybe someone there is bored to
> tears and will make them for you to fend off the boredom. ;)
...
Hmmm....thanks for the thought...I'll give it a shot...
Patriarch wrote:
> I bought a good drill press for maybe $300. Good used lathes are for
> sale all the time. But I'm afraid of a good lathe. All the wood
> turners I know chase tree trimmers, fill their basements with half-
> turned bowls wrapped in plastic and newspaper, and upgrade to a better,
> multi-thousand dollar machine every couple of years.
> I already am trying to get one addiction under control. There are at
> least a dozen handtools here, which I haven't used yet. ;-)
You're missing the point. You get the lathe, and hang the planes
around the edges of the stand. That's why they have those holes
near the ends. %-)
Dave in Fairfax
--
Dave Leader
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/
PATINA
http://www.Patinatools.org/
Bill Stock wrote:
>
> "Chuck Hoffman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
...
> > It's probably genetic. My parents and grandparents lived thru the Great
> > Depression (and my birthdate is not that far removed from it). I remember
> > growing up that NOTHING was wasted...even if it was never used.
> >
> > Perhaps in a few more generations the trait will dispppear.
> >
>
> My father/uncle being cheap turned me off the habit. There's no point doing
> a job, if it's going to look like shit.
Being cheap and/or sloppy is <not> the same as thrifty or frugal...
I'm w/ Chuck on this one...the generation which survived the Depression
has a whole different understanding of "need" than current ones. I, for
one, am grateful that my grandfather <did> keep so much -- now, while
some of it is, in fact, not valuable, other things are fond
remembrances. Plus, all the old lumber salvaged from the old chicken
coop or other places and stored in the haymow for 60 years or more came
in <extremely> handy in the barn restoration. Not easy to find
full-dimension 2x stuff anymore...
Silvan wrote:
> Sounds like my son, except...
snip of depressing litany
> That poor boy never has ever caught a fish, I don't think. Of course, I'm
> not much of a teacher. I don't eat fish, so I don't fish. I don't know
> jack diddly about fishing. Obviously I've done a good job of teaching him
> to catch trash.
OK Silvan. Toss him in the car sometime and I'll teach ya both to
go fishing. I'll even share one of my fishing holes with you.
Last person I took there I had to teach how to clean all the
catfish we caught.
Dave in Fairfax
--
Dave Leader
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/
PATINA
http://www.Patinatools.org/
Silvan wrote:
> It's a date. About 2007 good for you? :)
I don't usually make dates with guys, not being a nurse, too much
talk. But in this case I'll make an exception. %-)
Dave in Fairfax
--
Dave Leader
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/
PATINA
http://www.Patinatools.org/
Dave Hinz wrote:
> > Yup. I don't screw around with my computers at home nearly as much
> > as I used to, I'd rather spend time with the family or in the workshops.
Silvan wrote:
> It just ain't fun anymore.
Couldn't agree more. Computers - making them, playing with 'em,
learning OS's used to be fun. As they got more Windozed and
fancier they became less fun. What a loss.
Dave in Fairfax
--
Dave Leader
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/
PATINA
http://www.Patinatools.org/
On 5 Jan 2005 16:46:31 GMT, Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote:
>I think I got something like 5 bucks a piece for aged, used, 8" floppies.
>About half of what they were worth when new, but a whole lot more
>than they're worth for any other reason. Purely a supply:demand situation.
Stuff's only worth what you can get for it. When the company I worked
for closed out a product line many years ago (software) we dumped all
the old masters. Some of the variations ran 40 5 1/4" floppies (Apple
II). We had different master for each system and often had both
double-sided and single-sided sets for the same thing. They were also
all duplicated in 3 1/2" disks (again often both single and
double-sided). The upshot was that we almost filled and entire
dumpster with nothing but disks - probably more than 10,000 all told.
The guy with the garbage company actually called the office to make
sure he was supposed to be dumping all that stuff.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 06:39:10 GMT, "Jim Warman"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>144Kb though Micro$oft had a way of packing a bit more onto them when they
>shipped Winders Fer WerkGroops....
>
>HOWEVER.... I can still vaguely recall single side, low density that
>couldn't hold what is now a smallish *,gif....
>
>While we're at it... how many can remember when a 44Meg HDD was HUGE!!!
Heck, I remember when a 10MB drive was the size of a washing machine
and cost the earth.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 06:39:10 GMT, "Jim Warman" <[email protected]> wrote:
>144Kb though Micro$oft had a way of packing a bit more onto them when they
>shipped Winders Fer WerkGroops....
>
>HOWEVER.... I can still vaguely recall single side, low density that
>couldn't hold what is now a smallish *,gif....
>
>While we're at it... how many can remember when a 44Meg HDD was HUGE!!!
I have a luggable with a 10 meg HD. The purchase price of the computer new was
about 20 grand.
I weighs about 38 pounds and the last time I plugged it in 5 years ago it still
worked. Now I'm having the urge to haul it out of the shed and plug it in.:)
>
>"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> Dave in Fairfax wrote:
>>
>> > Tim Douglass wrote:
>> > snip
>> >> It seems a bit more reasonable when you consider that
>> >> a floppy only held 185K IIRC.
>> >
>> > 180K
>>
>> I was thinking 160K. Hrm.
>>
>> --
>> Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
>> Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
>> http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
>> http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
>
"Gino" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 09:40:39 -0500, "Mike Marlow"
<[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> My SO doesn't allow me to play with fire since the time I lit up the
neighbors
> fence while killing weeds with a tiger torch.<g>
SNORT!
I finished the back yard, hit a weed near the gate as I went to work out
front. Finished the front and went back to find the gate in flames. Garden
hose wouldn't reach that side of the house, but had plento 5 gal buckets
laying about. The chipboard used to patch the gate was very hard to put
out.
Some time later I was doing isolated weeds in the gravel when someone
shouted 'Hey, you can't do that in the city'. Was a fireman peeking over
the fence.
"Dave Hinz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:12:24 GMT, Bullwinkle J. Moose
<[email protected]> wrote:
> > Does the Ronco Popeil Pocket Fisherman count?
>
> No, I think those are stipulated to be useless before you buy them. I
> _think_ the topic here is things which were surprisingly useless?
Hey, that's the one I caught a boyscout with. And boy was I pissed to see a
3 hook lure sticking out of my arm...
>
Huh. Am I the only one to bring home a shinny new toy from Harbor Freight
only to be put on the shelf next to the same item still in it's box?
When the heck did I buy that?
"foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
> the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
> hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
> For me it's a B&D "electric file" - basically a needle-nose belt
> sander. It's a something that should be handy as hell but it's just
> too damned vicious. Touch it to a piece of wood and you have instant
> "shit - too much". I've never been able to get anything done with it.
> Next?
>
> FoggyTown
> "Cut to shape . . . pound to fit."
>
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
On this general topic, I'm gutting my closets, cleaning house HARD while
> SWMBO is away. Haven't looked at it in 15 years? You'll never notice
it's
> missing. You didn't know where it was anyway. I found a shower curtain
> rod from two places back. I have been saving it because I thought it
would
> be useful again some day. Well, I put a buncha crap on a shelf in my own
> closet, which I have never really used for anything except my flannel
> shirts and some dress clothes I haven't worn in yearrrrs. (I own a tie?
> Why do I own a tie?)
There's a new (to me) show about garage remodels (GT Garage Takeover?). The
one I caught the other day the guy had 2 full sized dumpsters worth of crap
taken away! They showed his work area in the basement,.. same story..
Not to say I couldn't use a little of that myself....
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 15:01:26 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Sounds like my son, except...
>
>Boot.
>
>Tree branch.
>
>Rag.
>
>Cola bottle.
>
>Tree branch.
>
>Tire.
>
>Sneaker.
>
It's like that episode of Futurama...
Leela: Aha! I caught one!
[She reels in an old boot]
Amy: Oh, so this is where you shop for your boots.
[Later...]
Leela: Bingo! Whatever it is it's 20 times heaver than a boot!
[She reels in a crate: Boots - 10 Pairs]
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 23:53:26 -0600, Morris Dovey <[email protected]>
wrote:
>If you like those, you might also like the diamond grit metal
>cutoff wheels.
Be careful with these. Dremel used to make their own metal cutoffs and
micro saw blade attatchments, but stopped making them due to
liability. They can only be found via third party manufacturers, hobby
shops tend to have huge assortments of dremel accessories. Though I
think I did see an official dremel saw blade attatchment that came out
recently, but it was really small.
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 00:37:12 GMT, "Chuck Hoffman"
<[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>Not aimed directly at the last poster but just a general observation:
>
>It's amazing how many of us hold onto stuff we'll never (again) use. Many
>times, the plaintive cry is, "But it's worth more than I can get out of it."
>Wrong. It's worth exactly NOTHING sitting unused on your shelf. If you
>sold it to someone, that would accomplish two things: 1) give a disused
>piece of equipment new life, and 2) put a few bucks in your pocket which you
>could use to buy wood for a new project.
A couple of my friends have been teaching me that lesson. They refer
to the tools/etc. I own as "sunk costs". You've already paid it and
you'll never get that back. Anything you get for it is money in your
pocket, so just DO it! On the shelf, unused, it's worth nothing, as
you stated.
-----------------------------------------------
I'll apologize for offending someone...right
after they apologize for being easily offended.
-----------------------------------------------
http://www.diversify.com Inoffensive Web Design
"foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
Rotozip. Absolutely worthless....
Gave it to my SIL. He was thrilled at the time. I don't think he has ever
used it.
BUT...
I bought a Ryobi laminate trimmer, (rebuilt one to boot) and use it all the
time. I keep waiting for it to burn up, so I can buy a DeWalt laminate
trimmer, but it refuses to cooperate. I chuck up 1/4 bits in it all the
time, especially the round-over bits, and very occasionally, even use it to
trim laminate.
Observation 1: I have six routers. Bosch, Craftsman, and Skil. (I keep
running across old Craftsman routers at auctions and end up picking them up
for $10 and $15) As far as I can tell, they're from the early 80's. They
work perfectly fine. One old boy told me that his wife bought him the
router for Christmas in 1980, and he never used it. "I ain't no
woodworker,". I also got a half-dozen high speed steel bits in the bargain.
I used them once, and then I remembered why I love carbide so much.
Observation 2: Over the years, I've been to hundreds of auctions and
thousands of garage sales. (Other than C-Clamps), I have yet to find any
decent woodworking clamps, other than some rusty old pipe clamps. I know
they sell the hell out of those K-body, but the only thing I can figure is
none of them every make it into an estate sale.
James...
"Dave Hinz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:17:18 -0500, Owen Lawrence <[email protected]>
wrote:
> > (Dave Hinz wrote:)
>
> >> I also
> >> have a rack of hanging cords, the NEMA-standard computer plug type
cords,
> >> because every time I toss something I keep the cord. Yet, new
purchases
> >> always come with a new cord. What the hell am I (are we) thinking?
> >
> > You need to get a lathe and make some lamps. :)
>
> Got one. Two actually, one for wood, one for metal. Need to dig out
> the russian olive & see if it's ready maybe?
>
> > Actually I _have_ used a couple of these cords for original electronics
> > projects and repairs, but I've got a shoebox full of them and I made a
> > conscious decision last year to stop saving them.
>
> How's that working out for you?
So far so good, but I think it's a lifetime affliction. Just yesterday I
put an old 486 laptop in the garbage, one that still runs. That was hard
enough. (I've got a "new" replacement freebie laptop.) But the power
supply and its cord got wrapped up and put on the shelf for some future
electronics project. Sigh...
- Owen -
Dave Hinz wrote:
> OK, what is it with us people and cutting off cords from stuff when we
> toss them? Have any of us actually _used_ one of these cords? I also
> have a rack of hanging cords, the NEMA-standard computer plug type
> cords, because every time I toss something I keep the cord. Yet, new
> purchases always come with a new cord. What the hell am I (are we)
> thinking?
About 3 minutes after cutting a new extension cord to wire up a 4' light
fixture in my shop I realized I could have used any one of about 20 spare
computer cords... Ah well, it's just money...
-- Mark
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 09:40:39 -0500, "Mike Marlow" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>
>"Gino" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 02:39:20 GMT, Patriarch
><[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in
>> >news:[email protected]:
>> >
>> >> Gino wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> I couldn't live without a Dremel.
>> >>> I even used it to remove the exhaust system from my 3/4 ton pickup.:)
>> >>
>> >> How many cutoff wheels did YOU go through? :)
>> >>
>> >
>> >For about the same price, I bought a DeWalt low angle grinder and a
>diamond
>> >cutting wheel. You can cut a lot of stuff with that rig, and very
>quickly.
>> >
>> >Dremel stuff is too light duty for my Binford tastes.
>> >
>> But the Dremel is tiny.
>> It was the only tool that I had that could do the job.
>
>Sigh..... this one's going to take a while. Gino... listen to me. I know
>these things. Torches. Torches, Gino. They look really cool when they're
>parked over in the corner, and you don't have to worry about tiny spaces.
>With torches you can make spaces big enough to comfortably work in.
My SO doesn't allow me to play with fire since the time I lit up the neighbors
fence while killing weeds with a tiger torch.<g>
On 29 Dec 2004 08:02:38 -0800, "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
>And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
>For me it's a B&D "electric file" - basically a needle-nose belt
>sander. It's a something that should be handy as hell but it's just
>too damned vicious. Touch it to a piece of wood and you have instant
>"shit - too much". I've never been able to get anything done with it.
>Next?
>
>FoggyTown
>"Cut to shape . . . pound to fit."
reconditioned Wagner "power (yeah, right) painter"...
tried it for staining a redwood fence, it couldn't even do THAT!
Gift: deluxe wood burning set...
right! I'm left handed and never learned to double joint my wrist to
write upside down...
How the hell could I do wood burning, when even I can't read my
handwriting?
mac
Please remove splinters before emailing
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 13:14:18 -0500, "John" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Hi Dick, Are you looking to get rid of the stones? I'm looking to get
>some.....JD
Whoa! That sounds like something overheard in a San Franscisco bar. ;-)
[Sorry, just hit me as funny]
>"Olebiker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> Water stones. I found that I was spending more time trying to take
>> care of the stones than I was using them to sharpen anything. I scary
>> sharp now.
>>
>> Dick Durbin
>>
>
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Now we'll just use some glue to hold things in place until the brads dry
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
On 29 Dec 2004 08:02:38 -0800, "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
>And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
There are several, but up among the top 5 is the drill press mortising
attachement. After having the chuck drop a couple of times, one decides
that this is not the way to go.
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Now we'll just use some glue to hold things in place until the brads dry
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
On 29 Dec 2004 08:02:38 -0800, "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
>And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
The Leigh dovetail jig. It was probably fifteen years ago, and one of
the early models, but it's just a PITA. It'll only do 7 degree
dovetails, which IMHO are glorified box joints, and the jig is too
much trouble to use. And it was expensive, to boot.
tt
On 29 Dec 2004 08:45:31 -0800, "the_tool_man" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>Those little Veritas corner rounding planes - the ones bent from a
>piece of steel with the little elliptical opening. Woodcraft sells
>them for $14 apiece. They either split the grain or require so much
>pressure to work that my fingers get sore quite quickly. Easier and
>more consistent to use sandpaper or a router.
Real handy on sheet plastic, though.
--RC
"Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells
'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets
fly with a club.
-- John W. Cambell Jr.
"Norman D. Crow" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
>
>
>
>
> "Patriarch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:n_CAd.39764$k25.30196@attbi_s53...
>> "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote in
>> news:1104336158.089897.251330 @f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
>>
>> > And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit
>> > to the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant,
>> > "why the hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>> >
>>
>> The whole @#$%ing Shopsmith incident. I donwannatalkaboudit.
>>
>> Patriarch
>
> C'mon now, it does make a halfway useable lathe and drill press.
>
I bought a good drill press for maybe $300. Good used lathes are for
sale all the time. But I'm afraid of a good lathe. All the wood
turners I know chase tree trimmers, fill their basements with half-
turned bowls wrapped in plastic and newspaper, and upgrade to a better,
multi-thousand dollar machine every couple of years.
I already am trying to get one addiction under control. There are at
least a dozen handtools here, which I haven't used yet. ;-)
Patriarch
"foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
> the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
> hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
> For me it's a B&D "electric file" - basically a needle-nose belt
> sander. It's a something that should be handy as hell but it's just
> too damned vicious. Touch it to a piece of wood and you have instant
> "shit - too much". I've never been able to get anything done with it.
> Next?
>
Those things can actually be quite useful for metal working. Used often
with the small, light gauge tubing for furniture, etc.
"Chuck Hoffman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Dave Hinz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> (snip) OK, what is it with us people and cutting off cords from stuff
>> when
> we
>> toss them? Have any of us actually _used_ one of these cords?
>> (snip)
>>
Yep, I use em all the time. But I wouldn't ruin a tool that someone else
could use to save a buck.
> It's probably genetic. My parents and grandparents lived thru the Great
> Depression (and my birthdate is not that far removed from it). I remember
> growing up that NOTHING was wasted...even if it was never used.
>
> Perhaps in a few more generations the trait will dispppear.
>
My father/uncle being cheap turned me off the habit. There's no point doing
a job, if it's going to look like shit.
Norman D. Crow wrote:
> "Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>> Gino wrote:
>>
>>> I couldn't live without a Dremel. I even used it to remove
>>> the exhaust system from my 3/4 ton pickup.:)
>>
>> How many cutoff wheels did YOU go through? :)
>
> Get the larger (1 1/4") fiberglass reinforced cutoff wheels,
> they work great.
If you like those, you might also like the diamond grit metal
cutoff wheels.
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/solar.html
foggytown wrote:
> And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
> the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why
> the hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
I have 4 nice routers, all 1/2" & 1/4", but all 4 different! DW 621, PC
plunge, DW fixed base, and PC D-handle.
I wish I wish I wish I wish I'd have been smart enough to have at least two
of the routers the same, so the jigs would be interchangeable and fence
settings the same etc.
Sometimes I'd be willing to trade 3 routers for 2 more DW 621's. ;-)
-- Mark
Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> Upgrading is a PITA keeping up
> with what class of this works with what type of that, and I don't
> bother anymore. I bought my last two computer pre-assembled. Wuss.
>
Tuning handplanes is the badge of honor amongst these fellows.
Preassembled computers that upgrade their own software, and handplanes that
were old when our fathers were born. Saws & chisels, too, if we can find
them.
I pick my battles these days.
Patriarch
Silvan wrote:
> The kids ignore Mommy, but they're
> going to damn well listen to DADDY!
Umm, I picked up my D&D 21 year old early this evening (about 10:30 pm) for
starting fights at a party. He quit listening to his daddy several years
ago... <sigh>
The alarms go off at 4:00 am, 3 hours & 40 minutes from now, to take him to
the airport to go back to the <yea!> Army...
On his behalf, he's only 1/3rd as messed up as I was at his age.
-- Mark
Sears table saw with lots of features instead of a Delta contractor
saw with less features and better quality for same price.
foggytown wrote:
> And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
> the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
> hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
> For me it's a B&D "electric file" - basically a needle-nose belt
> sander. It's a something that should be handy as hell but it's just
> too damned vicious. Touch it to a piece of wood and you have instant
> "shit - too much". I've never been able to get anything done with it.
> Next?
>
> FoggyTown
> "Cut to shape . . . pound to fit."
>
"Mark Jerde" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:EtqBd.18221$2X6.12397@trnddc07:
> Silvan wrote:
>
>> The kids ignore Mommy, but they're
>> going to damn well listen to DADDY!
>
> Umm, I picked up my D&D 21 year old early this evening (about 10:30
> pm) for starting fights at a party. He quit listening to his daddy
> several years ago... <sigh>
>
> The alarms go off at 4:00 am, 3 hours & 40 minutes from now, to take
> him to the airport to go back to the <yea!> Army...
>
> On his behalf, he's only 1/3rd as messed up as I was at his age.
>
> -- Mark
If you're lucky, and the Army does its part, you'll find that, in about 4
years, the conversations will get a LOT better.
My wife says it's a lot easier to be patient with the kids at this age from
hundreds of miles away. Smart woman I married.
Patriarch,
who was lucky that, when the cell phone went off at 1 am, it was a wrong
number...
Gee I thought they looked like a neat idea. But I'll take your word for it.
the_tool_man wrote:
> Those little Veritas corner rounding planes - the ones bent from a
> piece of steel with the little elliptical opening. Woodcraft sells
> them for $14 apiece. They either split the grain or require so much
> pressure to work that my fingers get sore quite quickly. Easier and
> more consistent to use sandpaper or a router.
>
"Nate Perkins" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "My Old Tools" <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
>> PC biscuit joiner. I just don't use it. Mortise and tenon is
>> stronger and I prefer it to the noise and dust.
>>
>
> I agree with you. I don't have a biscuit joiner. Haven't needed one yet.
> I use all mortise and tenon or dovetail. Of course it would be different
> if I were doing this for a living and not a hobby.
I use mine for some panel glue-ups. How do you do yours? A spline? Dowels?
My POS is a little shelf pin drilling jig called the "gizmo 32" (
http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=4376 ) It is a small jig
with a fence and base that had two guide pins and two drill bits. In
theory, the jig was chucked into a drill and drilled two shelf pin holes at
a time, Then the jig was moved until the guide pin engaged in one of the
holes and the process repeated. Although a good idea, the guide pins are
not tight in the holes drilled, therefore, the hole spacing can vary. Dummy
me, thinking this thing was a great invention, went right into drilling
holes for the shelf on a finished ambrosia maple case with out trying it out
on a practice piece first and the holes on either side of the case ended up
3/8" off after drilling about 20" worth of holes. Even after practicing on
some scrap after the fact, i wasn't able to make the holes line up any
better than 1/4". The damn thing came in a plain box with NO instructions
from Woodcraft, and it will be returning there shortly. The thing has
potential to be a good jig, but needs MUCH more refinement to be
ccurate. --dave
"Mark Jerde" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:CaXAd.12303$tG3.10815@trnddc02...
> foggytown wrote:
>> And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>> the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why
>> the hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
> I have 4 nice routers, all 1/2" & 1/4", but all 4 different! DW 621, PC
> plunge, DW fixed base, and PC D-handle.
>
> I wish I wish I wish I wish I'd have been smart enough to have at least
> two
> of the routers the same, so the jigs would be interchangeable and fence
> settings the same etc.
>
> Sometimes I'd be willing to trade 3 routers for 2 more DW 621's. ;-)
>
> -- Mark
>
>
"Patriarch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:rTJAd.825879$8_6.65430@attbi_s04...
> Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
>> Gino wrote:
>>
>>> I couldn't live without a Dremel.
>>> I even used it to remove the exhaust system from my 3/4 ton pickup.:)
>>
>> How many cutoff wheels did YOU go through? :)
>>
>
> For about the same price, I bought a DeWalt low angle grinder and a
> diamond
> cutting wheel. You can cut a lot of stuff with that rig, and very
> quickly.
>
> Dremel stuff is too light duty for my Binford tastes.
I had a Dremel go up in flames in my hands when I tried to use it as a dry
wall cut out tool with a 1/8" down spiral bit.... Now that was interesting.
;-)
John
I wish when my cell phone went off at 1 in the morning it was a wrong
number. Time to make the doughnuts!!!
"Patriarch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:H2CBd.5918$wu4.2491@attbi_s52...
> "Mark Jerde" <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:EtqBd.18221$2X6.12397@trnddc07:
>
> > Silvan wrote:
> >
> >> The kids ignore Mommy, but they're
> >> going to damn well listen to DADDY!
> >
> > Umm, I picked up my D&D 21 year old early this evening (about 10:30
> > pm) for starting fights at a party. He quit listening to his daddy
> > several years ago... <sigh>
> >
> > The alarms go off at 4:00 am, 3 hours & 40 minutes from now, to take
> > him to the airport to go back to the <yea!> Army...
> >
> > On his behalf, he's only 1/3rd as messed up as I was at his age.
> >
> > -- Mark
>
> If you're lucky, and the Army does its part, you'll find that, in about 4
> years, the conversations will get a LOT better.
>
> My wife says it's a lot easier to be patient with the kids at this age
from
> hundreds of miles away. Smart woman I married.
>
> Patriarch,
> who was lucky that, when the cell phone went off at 1 am, it was a wrong
> number...
Tim Douglass wrote:
>>This carpet HAS to come out of here. I HATE carpet.
>
> Carpet is good - you can go much longer between vacuuming than between
> sweeping bare floor. Carpet should, however, be verboten in kitchens,
> dining areas, and bathrooms.
I already got rid of the carpet in all of the above places. In the
bathrooms, they had carpet over tile with extremely bad grout. Morons.
> I think we have a Hoover. Windtunnel or something like that. Bagless
> with HEPA filter. Excellent machine and cheap enough that if it dies
I looked at vacuum cleaners today, but fooey. I'd rather save the money
toward real floors. I figure if it won't lift a Beetle, or a Unisaw,
whichever is heavier, it doesn't have enough power to get anything out of
these nasty rags anyway. Beige carpet. Two kids, four dogs. Four dogs
that lose 470.7 million tons of hair every 13/256 of a second. I should
start making felt hats.
> to die young and painfully. This one is a keeper (and so has probably
> been discontinued by the company, to be replaces with some total piece
> of junk that I will hurl off a cliff 2 weeks after buying).
Ain't that always the way? Same thing with boots. I really should start
buying two pairs of everything whenever I find something that doesn't suck.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
> Is it a tank/canister model? If so, it could be the hose. they wear out,
> get pin holes and leaks at the fittings.. I just replaced the hose on one
> of our vacs (Electrolux, $50) and now it sucks like new.
Upright.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Dave in Fairfax wrote:
> There was a Morrow, an Adam, and an Eagle out there. Trash 80
> too, now that I think of it. I wish I could run bricks on this
> computer. %-(
But you can.
->apt-cache search bricks
gnome-breakout - Clone of the classic game Breakout, written for GNOME
lbreakout2 - A ball-and-paddle game with nice graphics
lbreakout2-data - A ball-and-paddle game with nice graphics (DATA FILES)
Or close enough. I'm sure there's got to be something for Windows too.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 23:53:56 GMT, Dave in Fairfax <[email protected]> wrote:
> Gino wrote:
>> I have the most fun with old 'home' computers.
>> TI994a, Commodore 64, and the portable Tandy 102 are a blast.
>
> There was a Morrow, an Adam, and an Eagle out there. Trash 80
> too,
Hey now, don't be dis'ing the TRS-80. Sacred ground there.
Gino wrote:
> I have the most fun with old 'home' computers.
> TI994a, Commodore 64, and the portable Tandy 102 are a blast.
There was a Morrow, an Adam, and an Eagle out there. Trash 80
too, now that I think of it. I wish I could run bricks on this
computer. %-(
Dave in Fairfax
--
Dave Leader
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/
PATINA
http://www.Patinatools.org/
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 21:47:24 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Dave in Fairfax wrote:
>
>> Silvan wrote:
>>> A Hoover what? This POS is a Hoover. All Hoovers ain't created equal,
>>> evidently.
>>
>> Uh, ya gotta replace the bag every once in a while...
>
>Did. Even took it apart to make sure it wasn't clogged up with anything.
>Nope. Fine. It just doesn't suck worth a damn. Complete waste of
>electricity even bothering to run the stupid, useless thing.
>
>This carpet HAS to come out of here. I HATE carpet.
You should be able to get a new Hoover suck-o-lux for less than $100. We
did that 5 years ago -- works really well.
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Now we'll just use some glue to hold things in place until the brads dry
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
>>
>>Did. Even took it apart to make sure it wasn't clogged up with anything.
>>Nope. Fine. It just doesn't suck worth a damn. Complete waste of
>>electricity even bothering to run the stupid, useless thing.
>>
Is it a tank/canister model? If so, it could be the hose. they wear out,
get pin holes and leaks at the fittings.. I just replaced the hose on one
of our vacs (Electrolux, $50) and now it sucks like new.
But the C-64 is in the Smithsonian!!!!
"Gino" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 16:53:32 GMT, Dave in Fairfax <[email protected]>
wrote:
>
> >Gino wrote:
> >> No problem here. I have computers going back to 1980, all working, 6
oldies in
> >> all. Even an old Mac.
> >> I collect software on Ebay and as an ole long time pirate myself I have
> >> thousands of programs for them.:)
> >> It's great fun to fire them up.
> >
> >I just got rid of a bunch of old stuff. Lunch boxes thru Zenith
> >286s and the software from DOS 1.05 thru Win 95 upgrade to 98.
> >About 10 DMPs and some old BJs. You shoulda seen my curb. Piles
> >of old books as well.
> >
> I have the most fun with old 'home' computers.
> TI994a, Commodore 64, and the portable Tandy 102 are a blast.
>
>
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 21:47:24 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Dave in Fairfax wrote:
>
>> Silvan wrote:
>>> A Hoover what? This POS is a Hoover. All Hoovers ain't created equal,
>>> evidently.
>>
>> Uh, ya gotta replace the bag every once in a while...
>
>Did. Even took it apart to make sure it wasn't clogged up with anything.
>Nope. Fine. It just doesn't suck worth a damn. Complete waste of
>electricity even bothering to run the stupid, useless thing.
>
>This carpet HAS to come out of here. I HATE carpet.
Carpet is good - you can go much longer between vacuuming than between
sweeping bare floor. Carpet should, however, be verboten in kitchens,
dining areas, and bathrooms.
I think we have a Hoover. Windtunnel or something like that. Bagless
with HEPA filter. Excellent machine and cheap enough that if it dies
after 5 years I won't even care. Currently had it for almost 3 years
and it sucks just as much as it did when we got it. I do need to
replace the main filter, but it is washable and a good wash seems to
restore it to virtually new condition. Here in the high desert we get
a lot of dust (all volcanic in nature and very harsh) and vacuums tend
to die young and painfully. This one is a keeper (and so has probably
been discontinued by the company, to be replaces with some total piece
of junk that I will hurl off a cliff 2 weeks after buying).
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
<snip>
> Beige carpet. Two kids,
> four dogs. Four dogs that lose 470.7 million tons of hair every
> 13/256 of a second. I should start making felt hats.
>
There's the problem. Lose the dogs. Or evict them.
Patriarch,
who is, admittedly _not_ a pet person, but still has to feed the @#%^ing
cats...
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 23:41:42 GMT, Dave in Fairfax <[email protected]> wrote:
>Mark & Juanita wrote:
>> Larry,
>> You sure you mean "Hoover" and not "Kirby"? Kirby is the brand
>> that is priced in the $1k + range and had all of those attachments that
>> came with it. Although they were OK vacs, they certainly were not worthy
>> of the price tag and I wouldn't be surprised that a number of them wind up
>> in Goodwill stores. I think the Looney Toons "Suckolux" was modeled after
>> the Kirby claims. They also usually came with a *very* pushy salesman, the
>> kind that gave door to door such a bad name.
>
>Sorry that's Electrolux , Kirbys worked pretty good. YMMV.
>Dave in Fairfax
My sole sample of one Kirby (that had been donated to our church) didn't
exactly impress me. Maybe others were better. However, the pushy
salespeoples, that was definitely Kirby. They were one of the reasons for
getting an answering machine. They decided that telemarketing was the best
way to find marks without having to go to every door. You'd think one call
would be enough, apparently they thought that calling monthly might get you
to agree to a demonstration. (How many different ways do I have to tell
you that "No" means get lost, you're bothering me?)
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Now we'll just use some glue to hold things in place until the brads dry
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 16:53:32 GMT, Dave in Fairfax <[email protected]> wrote:
>Gino wrote:
>> No problem here. I have computers going back to 1980, all working, 6 oldies in
>> all. Even an old Mac.
>> I collect software on Ebay and as an ole long time pirate myself I have
>> thousands of programs for them.:)
>> It's great fun to fire them up.
>
>I just got rid of a bunch of old stuff. Lunch boxes thru Zenith
>286s and the software from DOS 1.05 thru Win 95 upgrade to 98.
>About 10 DMPs and some old BJs. You shoulda seen my curb. Piles
>of old books as well.
>
I have the most fun with old 'home' computers.
TI994a, Commodore 64, and the portable Tandy 102 are a blast.
Gino wrote:
> Later I bought a TI programmable scientific calculator.
> It cost more then the price of a fully loaded computer does now.
> But it got me through college math.
> It was so new the professor didn't realize it could be programmed to do
> the work for you.:)
I had one of those as well. Still do, somewhere. I saw something similar
the other day at Wal-Mart for $3.99 or something suitably ludicrous
considering what that thing set my parents back in the '80s. Which was
probably only a quarter or less what you paid for yours.
I remember paying $1200 for a VCR too, and $80 for a blank tape. Or being
aware of it happening around me anyway, mind you.
Wow. That's actually kind of interesting in a way. $1200 for a VCR.
That's a pretty firm memory, and I think that's right. That was a hell of
a lot of money in 1981 or so. We had two channels on TV. Why the hell
did my parents pay $1200 for a VCR? That's probably something close to
$5,000 today, I'm guessing off the top of my head. Hell's bells man.
Short of a house or a car, I can't think of a thing I'd ever spend that
much on. Maybe a metal lathe. If I had $5,000 to spend, which I sure
don't.
I guess with VCRs going for $20 a pop now, which is probably $0.75 in 1981
dollars, it probably explains why the VCR repairman has gone the way of the
dodo. When the thing used to cost as much as a car, it was worth fixing.
So I guess an equivalent VCR in today's money would go for about $18,000.
Now I'm all confused. That calculator let me cheat my way out of learning
math. :)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
On 5 Jan 2005 15:38:44 -0800, "foggytown" <[email protected]> calmly
ranted:
>I can remember when I was the envy of my block because I had a Casio
>pocket calculator! IIRC the most impressive thing I did with it was to
>type in 07734 then turn it upside down. (You have to remember how the
>LED numbers were formed.)
That number was 710 77345 and it looked like SHELL OIL
when you inverted the calc.
--
"Menja bé, caga fort!"
On 5 Jan 2005 15:38:44 -0800, "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
>I can remember when I was the envy of my block because I had a Casio
>pocket calculator! IIRC the most impressive thing I did with it was to
>type in 07734 then turn it upside down. (You have to remember how the
>LED numbers were formed.)
>
I was first on my block to have one as well.
Later I bought a TI programmable scientific calculator.
It cost more then the price of a fully loaded computer does now.
But it got me through college math.
It was so new the professor didn't realize it could be programmed to do the work
for you.:)
[email protected] (J T) wrote in news:28231-41D3304C-539@storefull-
3157.bay.webtv.net:
> ... because anything I've bought will be put to use,
> eventually - some of them are for projects I won't even be able to start
> for awhile yet - just bought the tools because I had the money to spare
> at the time, and knew I'd eventually need them. .
>
I buy wood that way. If it calls to me when I'm there, and have a vague
notion that there might be a project in it. Or it's interesting and cheap.
Then there is the wood that turns up unplanned, that most welcome of all
wood: free wood.
Even JOAT approves of that species.
Patriarch
>
> B+D Electric Brad Nailer.
> Stanley 55.
> Delta POS Wet and Dry Sharpening Station.
> 1974 C10 Chevy.
> Electric Socks.
> PC Profile Sander.
> B+D Spray Gun (w/ tire inflator).
> Electric Gloves.
> Minwax Touchup Kit.
> PolyShades.
> TOH Magazine.
> Progressive Lense Eyeglasses.
> Any reference book with "All About..." in the title.
> Any book with "The Complete Guide To..." in the title.
> Any article with "The Ultimate..." in the title.
> Electric Hat.
> AOL.
> CTX Laptop.
> Freud Carving Set.
> Penco Guitar.
> Anything sold by Ron Popeil (sp?)
> Anything that says "Not Available In Stores!".
> Religions that advertise in the backs of magazines.
> Electric Ties.
>
>
>
> Regards,
> Tom.
>
You forgot any book with a title that ends with "..for Dummies".
Wayne
foggytown wrote:
>And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
>For me it's a B&D "electric file" - basically a needle-nose belt
>sander. It's a something that should be handy as hell but it's just
>too damned vicious. Touch it to a piece of wood and you have instant
>"shit - too much". I've never been able to get anything done with it.
>Next?
>
>FoggyTown
>"Cut to shape . . . pound to fit."
>
>
>
For me my first "table saw" , ryobi direct drive junk, gave it to my
son in law and got a decent one. (never really liked him anyway)
Rick
Larry Jaques <novalidaddress@di\/ersify.com> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
<snip>
> B&D belt sander. This one is over 30 years old and has seen about
> 3 hours total work in that time. Every time I use it I cuss myself out
> four using it again because it invariably finds a way, when I'm least
> suspecting it, to TILT and dig in and mar every piece of face wood it
> touches, no matter how hard the wood and with 120 grit belts. <sigh>
>
I thought that was what they were designed to do...
Patriarch
Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
<snip>
>>
>> You know, come to think of it, I have never had to take a Crafstman
>> socket back. Only screwdrivers and mauls so far.
>
> How do you break a maul, exactly? I mean, aren't they _made_ to hit
> stuff with?
>
The ones _I've_ broken have been when I missed what I was trying to hit.
Typically a wedge. How Michael broke his is a matter for speculation.
If you whack the handle just south of the head, say, on the edge of a
massive chunk of firewood, physics tends to work against you.
Patriarch
"Chuck Hoffman" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> Not aimed directly at the last poster but just a general observation:
>
> It's amazing how many of us hold onto stuff we'll never (again) use.
> Many times, the plaintive cry is, "But it's worth more than I can get
> out of it." Wrong. It's worth exactly NOTHING sitting unused on your
> shelf. If you sold it to someone, that would accomplish two things:
> 1) give a disused piece of equipment new life, and 2) put a few bucks
> in your pocket which you could use to buy wood for a new project.
I think too highly of my fellow man to burden someone with bad tools. If
someone is fully informed, and knows what they are doing, then, and only
then, will I allow them to take/purchase the Searz Routah with AHAF...
That, or I'm too embarrassed to admit that I spent good money on crap. I'm
old enough to know better.
Patriarch
> Strangely enough, I'm starting to look at a whole stack of antique
> hand tools that way. I have been accumulating them from various
> sources because people know I do woodworking and I just might be able
> to use grandpa's old chest drill or whatever. Frankly I have no
> interest in doing woodworking that way - too much of what I do is, of
> necessity, outcome based. I don't even have a place to display them,
> so they sit in boxes scattered hither and yon between attic storage,
> two sheds and the garashop. I don't feel right selling them, but...
Trade ya a newly refurbished Rotozip tool for them.
"My Old Tools" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> PC biscuit joiner. I just don't use it. Mortise and tenon is
> stronger and I prefer it to the noise and dust.
>
I agree with you. I don't have a biscuit joiner. Haven't needed one yet.
I use all mortise and tenon or dovetail. Of course it would be different
if I were doing this for a living and not a hobby.
"foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote in news:1104336158.089897.251330
@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
...
> Next?
Anything by Ryobi ... bought a POS 1/4" router by Ryobi as a newbie ...
also bought a POS random orbital sander as a newbie. Both ended up on the
scrap heap, replaced by better brands.
"mark" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
>
> "Nate Perkins" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
...
>> I agree with you. I don't have a biscuit joiner. Haven't needed one
>> yet. I use all mortise and tenon or dovetail. Of course it would be
>> different if I were doing this for a living and not a hobby.
>
> I use mine for some panel glue-ups. How do you do yours? A spline?
> Dowels?
I glue up right after jointing, lightly clamping only 3-4 boards at most at
one time. I make sure the joints are flat at the ends and middle by feel,
and use a rubber mallet to fine position the boards prior to tight
clamping. I do the (wider) final glueup from the sections in the same way.
Works okay for me ... although I can see your point that on a big glueup it
would be very handy to have a biscuit joiner.
On Wed 29 Dec 2004 12:33:04p, "the_tool_man" <[email protected]> wrote
in news:[email protected]:
> Funny, but if someone started a "What's the best tool you've ever
> bought" thread, I'd probably rank my PC biscuit joiner in the top 5 of
> my tools. It's great for edge-joining and the occasional face frame.
Funny how that works. I bought an older Ryobi at a cabinet shop's going out
of business sale for fifty bucks, worried that I was throwing money away on
a tool I'd never use. And it's been real handy. Banded the edge of the
workbench, my panelglueing got better, put shelves in a nightstand door.
It makes aligning a lot easier and faster. I don't use it a LOT but it's
sure not on my list of tools I wish I never bought.
I guess that honor goes to the first "serious" tool I ever bought - a used
direct-drive Craftsman table saw. At least, I *thought* it was serious when
I bought it.
Almost gave up on woodworking till I found out it might be that screaming,
dancing, wobble-bladed monster. Still got the stand around here someplace.
Not aimed directly at the last poster but just a general observation:
It's amazing how many of us hold onto stuff we'll never (again) use. Many
times, the plaintive cry is, "But it's worth more than I can get out of it."
Wrong. It's worth exactly NOTHING sitting unused on your shelf. If you
sold it to someone, that would accomplish two things: 1) give a disused
piece of equipment new life, and 2) put a few bucks in your pocket which you
could use to buy wood for a new project.
"mark" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Dave Hinz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 22:02:21 GMT, mark <[email protected]> wrote:
> >> A rotozip tool. How can they even sell one? Why did I buy one? I
> >> thought I
> >> could use it to rough out some sheetrock electrical socket holes, but
it
> >> was
> >> pretty crappy.
> >
> > Oh yeah, got one of those too. Also as a gift. Also from SWMBO...
> > I used it to cut some round cuts on tile (toilet flange), and the tile
> > got into the front bearing and it squeals like a pig now. Odd that
using
> > a tool in a manner shown on the box would ruin it.
> >
>
> That's funny -- here's a tip for you from someone who hates to throw
> anything out. I had it in my hands, on the way to the trash, because mine
> squealed exactly like yours. Then I thought, "what the hell, it's only 4
> screws. The least I can do is see what makes it tick, then cut the cord
off
> if it's nothing obviously wrong. So...it wasn't the bearing. The
squealing
> is caused by the little white finned cooling fan slipping down on the
shiny,
> polished (yeah, good move) shaft, and contacting the plastic housing. I
> clipped mine completely out, and the tool works fine now. I have no idea
> what I will EVER use it for, but I did see some kind of cut-off sheel
> attachment that looked marginally useful....but probably not. But i
didn't
> throw it out.
>
>
Does the Ronco Popeil Pocket Fisherman count?
"Jim & Sharon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> porter cable detail sander, cant keep paper on the thing for more than a
few
> seconds
>
> jim
>
>
Hi Dick, Are you looking to get rid of the stones? I'm looking to get
some.....JD
"Olebiker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Water stones. I found that I was spending more time trying to take
> care of the stones than I was using them to sharpen anything. I scary
> sharp now.
>
> Dick Durbin
>
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 11:08:40 -0500, alexy <[email protected]> wrote:
>"foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>>the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>>hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
>Fun list. And shows very well that what is useful for one person may
>be useless for another who works in a different style.
>
>Mine are two that many here probably love:
>
>My 6" jointer. Maybe I need someone to come help me with setup or
>teach me how to feed wood to get good results, but I find I get much
>better results, and more quickly and enjoyably with my old #8. If the
>wood is badly twisted, cupped or bowed, I may use the jointer instead
>of my scrub plane and #5 to get it close before bringing out the #8.
>
>My PC plunge router. Nothing philosophical here. I know that a router
>can be useful, particularly mounted in my table. But I find that FOR
>ME, I hardly ever use it. It has pretty much sat in its box since I
>got a great deal on it a year ago when HD was closing them out.
You know, I was starting to feel the same way about my plunge router,
until I took it out of the table to cut some dadoes, and remembered
how useful it was for things other than chamfering edges and cutting
ogees. Now it gets all sorts of use.
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
> >> Oh yeah, got one of those too. Also as a gift. Also from SWMBO...
> >> I used it to cut some round cuts on tile (toilet flange), and the tile
> >> got into the front bearing and it squeals like a pig now.
> >
> > That's funny -- here's a tip for you from someone who hates to throw
> > anything out. I had it in my hands, on the way to the trash, because
mine
> > squealed exactly like yours. Then I thought, "what the hell, it's only
4
> > screws. The least I can do is see what makes it tick, then cut the cord
off
>
> OK, what is it with us people and cutting off cords from stuff when we
> toss them? Have any of us actually _used_ one of these cords? I also
> have a rack of hanging cords, the NEMA-standard computer plug type cords,
> because every time I toss something I keep the cord. Yet, new purchases
> always come with a new cord. What the hell am I (are we) thinking?
You need to get a lathe and make some lamps. :)
Actually I _have_ used a couple of these cords for original electronics
projects and repairs, but I've got a shoebox full of them and I made a
concious decision last year to stop saving them. Like you said, new things
come with them. Like you didn't say, new things these days wear out faster
than ever, so there will always be a supply of cords. But it just doesn't
feel right to throw away something that's still functional, no matter how
useless it might be.
- Owen -
"Patriarch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:n_CAd.39764$k25.30196@attbi_s53...
> "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote in news:1104336158.089897.251330
> @f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
>
> > And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
> > the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
> > hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
> >
>
> The whole @#$%ing Shopsmith incident. I donwannatalkaboudit.
>
> Patriarch
C'mon now, it does make a halfway useable lathe and drill press.
--
Nahmie
Those on the cutting edge bleed a lot.
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Gino wrote:
>
> > I couldn't live without a Dremel.
> > I even used it to remove the exhaust system from my 3/4 ton pickup.:)
>
> How many cutoff wheels did YOU go through? :)
Get the larger (1 1/4") fiberglass reinforced cutoff wheels, they work
great.
--
Nahmie
Those on the cutting edge bleed a lot.
"Dan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed 29 Dec 2004 12:33:04p, "the_tool_man" <[email protected]>
wrote
> in news:[email protected]:
>
> > Funny, but if someone started a "What's the best tool you've ever
> > bought" thread, I'd probably rank my PC biscuit joiner in the top 5 of
> > my tools. It's great for edge-joining and the occasional face frame.
>
> Funny how that works. I bought an older Ryobi at a cabinet shop's going
out
> of business sale for fifty bucks, worried that I was throwing money away
on
> a tool I'd never use. And it's been real handy. Banded the edge of the
> workbench, my panelglueing got better, put shelves in a nightstand door.
> It makes aligning a lot easier and faster. I don't use it a LOT but it's
> sure not on my list of tools I wish I never bought.
>
> I guess that honor goes to the first "serious" tool I ever bought - a used
> direct-drive Craftsman table saw. At least, I *thought* it was serious
when
> I bought it.
>
> Almost gave up on woodworking till I found out it might be that screaming,
> dancing, wobble-bladed monster. Still got the stand around here someplace.
(1) I use my Freud biscuit joiner with fair regularity. Haven't tried the
135degree thingy with it that PC advertises, but looks like it should do
just fine with the fixed 90deg. fence and the adjustable fence together.
(2)Not all DD saws are screamers. My TS is an early 80's vintage Craftsman
DD, but with an induction motor, not a universal(no, it's not one of the
flex cable driven ones). I would love to replace it, but that's down the
road a ways. With a decent blade & some blade stabilizers it does OK. The
stabilizers were the best investment I made for it, because the original
pressed steel ones were causing way too much runout.
--
Nahmie
Those on the cutting edge bleed a lot.
"Patriarch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:8hJAd.825740$8_6.382685@attbi_s04...
> "Norman D. Crow" <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Patriarch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:n_CAd.39764$k25.30196@attbi_s53...
> >> "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote in
> >> news:1104336158.089897.251330 @f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
> >>
> >> > And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit
> >> > to the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant,
> >> > "why the hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
> >> >
> >>
> >> The whole @#$%ing Shopsmith incident. I donwannatalkaboudit.
> >>
> >> Patriarch
> >
> > C'mon now, it does make a halfway useable lathe and drill press.
> >
>
> I bought a good drill press for maybe $300. Good used lathes are for
> sale all the time. But I'm afraid of a good lathe. All the wood
> turners I know chase tree trimmers, fill their basements with half-
> turned bowls wrapped in plastic and newspaper, and upgrade to a better,
> multi-thousand dollar machine every couple of years.
Now I'll 'fess up. My SS is an old(very) 10ER that was my stepfathers, new
circa 1950, that was passed around the family a little bit, then I got it.
Motor burned out, I replaced it with a freebie from SIL. Basically, I use it
as DP, with an occasional foray into a little turning, and once in a while
the 12" disc sander.
Buy one? No way!
--
Nahmie
Those on the cutting edge bleed a lot.
"Joe Gorman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
<snip>
> I've still got that router table and router, from the Sears in New
> London CT circa 1981. Had to replace the shaft locking mechanism
> but it's pretty much permanently mounted with at 3/8" round over
> bit in it. Only adjustments are when I want to knock less than
> that off, and I drop the body a little father down. Of course
> when I stopped at the parts place to order the parts I picked up
> another router, with built in vac attachment and bag. It's been
> OK for what little I've used it.
> Joe
Don't know which table y'all are talking about. Family gave me one for b'day
about 8yr. ago, the "professional" model. I mounted it on a permanent
platform. The more I learn here, the more I wish for something better, but
it has served me adequately. Someone said it wouldn't accommodate their B&D
router, same here, as that's all I had @ the time. I marked, drilled &
tapped the B&D base to mount it in the table. There is another way though .
. Sears makes a "universal adapter" plate for the table so it will accept
other routers.
--
Nahmie
Those on the cutting edge bleed a lot.
"NoOne N Particular" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Dave Hinz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:12:24 GMT, Bullwinkle J. Moose
> > <[email protected]> wrote:
> >> Does the Ronco Popeil Pocket Fisherman count?
> >
> > No, I think those are stipulated to be useless before you buy them. I
> > _think_ the topic here is things which were surprisingly useless?
> >
>
> Many years ago we were on a family vacation up in northern California
> (Trinity Lake). My daughter was about 4 at the time and I let her use one
> of those things. Put a very small egg hook on the end with a single
salmon
> egg. She was spashing right near the shore with MAYBE 4 feet of line out
> and she caught a 4lb large mouth bass just two feet off the bank. Hmmm.
> That was 26 years ago. Maybe it's about time to start talking to her
again.
Not about the Pocket Fisherman, but . . . .
Nope! Too soon. 25-30yrs. ago, we'd go bullhead fishing after the ice left
the lake. (To some of you, that may mean mudcat or yellow cat) Normal
average 10-16". Youngest was around 9 or 10, could only cast about 10-15',
so she was fishing in a little hole near the roots of a huge willow tree.
Seemed like every 10min. she'd start in with "I got one, I got one" and RUN
away from the bank, as she wasn't all that coordinated on reeling, until the
fish was dragged out on the bank. Seems those darn fish just loved that
little hollow, and on more than one occasion, she caught more than the rest
of us put together. Still not talking to her about fishing!
--
Nahmie
Those on the cutting edge bleed a lot.
"Patriarch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:TplBd.732167$mD.539422@attbi_s02...
> Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
> <snip>
> >>
> >> You know, come to think of it, I have never had to take a Crafstman
> >> socket back. Only screwdrivers and mauls so far.
> >
> > How do you break a maul, exactly? I mean, aren't they _made_ to hit
> > stuff with?
> >
> The ones _I've_ broken have been when I missed what I was trying to hit.
> Typically a wedge. How Michael broke his is a matter for speculation.
>
> If you whack the handle just south of the head, say, on the edge of a
> massive chunk of firewood, physics tends to work against you.
Stings, too!
--
Nahmie
Those on the cutting edge bleed a lot.
"Xane T." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 23:53:26 -0600, Morris Dovey <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >If you like those, you might also like the diamond grit metal
> >cutoff wheels.
>
> Be careful with these. Dremel used to make their own metal cutoffs and
> micro saw blade attatchments, but stopped making them due to
> liability. They can only be found via third party manufacturers, hobby
> shops tend to have huge assortments of dremel accessories. Though I
> think I did see an official dremel saw blade attatchment that came out
> recently, but it was really small.
Dremel has a neat little saw blade attachment that has a slight ~15° bend in
it so the motor portion is up away from the surface. Little pricey though.
--
Nahmie
Those on the cutting edge bleed a lot.
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 02:39:20 GMT, Patriarch <[email protected]>
wrote:
>Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in
>news:[email protected]:
>
>> Gino wrote:
>>
>>> I couldn't live without a Dremel.
>>> I even used it to remove the exhaust system from my 3/4 ton pickup.:)
>>
>> How many cutoff wheels did YOU go through? :)
>>
>
>For about the same price, I bought a DeWalt low angle grinder and a diamond
>cutting wheel. You can cut a lot of stuff with that rig, and very quickly.
>
>Dremel stuff is too light duty for my Binford tastes.
>
But the Dremel is tiny.
It was the only tool that I had that could do the job.
"Mike Patterson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 30 Dec 2004 16:53:11 GMT, Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:12:24 GMT, Bullwinkle J. Moose
<[email protected]> wrote:
> >> Does the Ronco Popeil Pocket Fisherman count?
> >
> >No, I think those are stipulated to be useless before you buy them. I
> >_think_ the topic here is things which were surprisingly useless?
>
> You know, the Pocket Fisherman gets a lot of bad press, but as long as
> you didn't expect it to act like your $100 rod/reel, it was OK.
>
> My dad received one for Christmas one year and didn't want it, so I
> carried it around in my trunk and used it every once in a while when
> I'd be out somewhere and decide to go fishing without having to go
> home first to get my "real" rig.
>
> I never had to try reeling in a 10 lb. speckled trout with it, but it
> worked fine for light-duty work. Caught a few bass, crappie, and
> catfish with it.
>
> Only real (reel?) problem I had with it was trying to get new line on
> the reel was frustrating.
>
> MP
> Mike Patterson
Must have been almost 25 years ago, I was at a kids' fishing contest at a
small muddy pond stocked with trout for the occasion. The little kid next to
me had the "Pocket Fisherman" and was mercilessly ridiculed by everybody who
saw it.
He soon had apparently snagged his tackle on a log. The reel was so bad, any
tension on the line would just cause it to unspool more. He was just about
to take everybody's advice and cut the line - when it moved.
10 minutes later, he landed a 44lb. carp. It was as tall as the kid, and
bright orange. Maybe somebody's liberated goldfish. He could not get enough
drag on the reel to snap the line, and the fish finally beached itself. I
would not have believed it had I not been standing there.
-Gary
> On 29 Dec 2004 08:02:38 -0800, "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
> >the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
> >hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
The Original Freud Hot-Air Edge Bander.
I salvaged the hot air gun from it, and use it often , but the rest of
it went with the trash.
Truly one of those tools that should work, and sporadically did work,
but was no time saver compared to a regular iron. Just one major source
of frustration, to the point I 'repaired' it one day with some excess
energy and my lunch bucket ended up flying through the shop as a
punctuation mark.
I was told, several hours later, when the rest of the crew dared to come
close enough to me again, that I had uttered previously unknown words as
I was 'adjusting' the tool with a 5 pound ball-peen hammer.
It was very irresponsible and immature behaviour, but dammit, it felt
great.
r
"Dave Hinz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:12:24 GMT, Bullwinkle J. Moose
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Does the Ronco Popeil Pocket Fisherman count?
>
> No, I think those are stipulated to be useless before you buy them. I
> _think_ the topic here is things which were surprisingly useless?
>
Many years ago we were on a family vacation up in northern California
(Trinity Lake). My daughter was about 4 at the time and I let her use one
of those things. Put a very small egg hook on the end with a single salmon
egg. She was spashing right near the shore with MAYBE 4 feet of line out
and she caught a 4lb large mouth bass just two feet off the bank. Hmmm.
That was 26 years ago. Maybe it's about time to start talking to her again.
:-)
Wayne
On 29 Dec 2004 08:02:38 -0800, "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
>And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
snip
An interesting thread, many of the listed items so far, I find quite
useful:
B&D Power file; good for removing small bits, but yes, it's
agressive.
Dremel, good but it's more a model making tool rather than for
full-size WW, very handy for chopping off bolts, etc
Biscuit Joiner; couldn't be without it.
Jap flush cut saw, excellent for trimming off little bits.
But the thing that has no redeeming features at all has to be the
Ryobi detail sander. Used it once on in a small corner, a waste of
time, it was FAR quicker to grab sandpaper and a small block.
Barry Lennox
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:12:24 GMT, "Bullwinkle J. Moose"
<[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>Does the Ronco Popeil Pocket Fisherman count?
Only if it entailed a trip to the ER and you have pics of
the nurse's reaction to WHERE the fishhook stuck you.
-----------------------------------------------
I'll apologize for offending someone...right
after they apologize for being easily offended.
-----------------------------------------------
http://www.diversify.com Inoffensive Web Design
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 11:42:31 -0800, Tim Douglass
<[email protected]> wrote:
>On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 20:38:45 -0500, "Bill Stock" <[email protected]>
>wrote:
>
>>
>>"mark" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
>>>A rotozip tool. How can they even sell one? Why did I buy one? I thought
>>>I could use it to rough out some sheetrock electrical socket holes, but it
>>>was pretty crappy.
>>This one gets my vote. Created so much damn dust, I was back to my drywall
>>saw in a flash.
>
>I bought the $19.95 HF clone. I use it every time I do drywall work
>with a good guidepoint bit. It is, without question, one of the
>absolutely essential tools for hanging drywall at anything but a
>casual amateur level. Every professional drywaller I know uses one and
>I would have killed for such a tool back when I was doing it
>professionally. The dust is a pretty minor thing when you compare the
>speed and accuracy issues.
Having used both, I still prefer a utility knife and a straightedge
when it comes to drywall- even over a drywall saw. Never got the
rotozip to do anything but cut rough, curvy lines in my nice clean
sheetrock.
>Tim Douglass
>
>http://www.DouglassClan.com
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
"AAvK" <[email protected]> wrote in news:hqDAd.60959$QR1.45253@fed1read04:
>>
>> The whole @#$%ing Shopsmith incident. I donwannatalkaboudit.
>> Patriarch
>
> How much $$ would you sell your whole shopsmith outfit for?
>
> Alex
>
>
Contact me on email at gmadsen at comcast dot net.
On 29 Dec 2004 08:02:38 -0800, "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
>And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
Hands down, my Dremel tool is the most useless POS I've ever used!
I've got all the bells and whistles for it, and it still isn't useful
for a damn thing except for cutting round holes in ceramic tile with a
rotozip bit (poorly, I might add) The sad thing is that this is the
second one I've bought. The first one was a cordless model that I
sold after a month to some poor sucker who thought it was a neat tool,
and then I made the mistake of buying a corded version because I
thought it might work better somehow.
>For me it's a B&D "electric file" - basically a needle-nose belt
>sander. It's a something that should be handy as hell but it's just
>too damned vicious. Touch it to a piece of wood and you have instant
>"shit - too much". I've never been able to get anything done with it.
>Next?
Yeah, those suck for wood- but they sure are nice for deburring steel
or gouging out hunks of your storm window tracks to wedge in an
air-conditioner!
>FoggyTown
>"Cut to shape . . . pound to fit."
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 17:30:21 GMT, Unisaw A100 <[email protected]>
wrote:
>Tom Watson wrote:
>snippage of a rather good list.
>
>
>
>Add, sea monkeys.
>
>UA100
Man, you said that and didn't I just run into a bunch of Sea Monkeys
today.
Pix on ABPW.
tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1 (webpage)
A Ryobi detail sander. It looked like a good idea at the time but...
"foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
> the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
> hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
> For me it's a B&D "electric file" - basically a needle-nose belt
> sander. It's a something that should be handy as hell but it's just
> too damned vicious. Touch it to a piece of wood and you have instant
> "shit - too much". I've never been able to get anything done with it.
> Next?
>
> FoggyTown
> "Cut to shape . . . pound to fit."
>
"foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
>And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
Fun list. And shows very well that what is useful for one person may
be useless for another who works in a different style.
Mine are two that many here probably love:
My 6" jointer. Maybe I need someone to come help me with setup or
teach me how to feed wood to get good results, but I find I get much
better results, and more quickly and enjoyably with my old #8. If the
wood is badly twisted, cupped or bowed, I may use the jointer instead
of my scrub plane and #5 to get it close before bringing out the #8.
My PC plunge router. Nothing philosophical here. I know that a router
can be useful, particularly mounted in my table. But I find that FOR
ME, I hardly ever use it. It has pretty much sat in its box since I
got a great deal on it a year ago when HD was closing them out.
--
Alex -- Replace "nospam" with "mail" to reply by email. Checked infrequently.
"Dave Hinz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> Wait wait! What're ya doing? That's a perfectly good machine. Is it
> still out there? Can I have the harddrive? How about the screen? Does
it
> have a CDROM drive?
I sent e-mail to the above address but I suspect it's munged. Change my
username to owen (keep the rest of my address) and send me a message if
you're serious.
- Owen -
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 17:35:51 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>foggytown wrote:
>
>> And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>> the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>> hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
>Interesting thread. I can think of a lot of contenders for most useless.
>However, the tool that clearly takes the cake is the first hand plane I
>ever bought, quite a long time before I ever really settled down with the
>notion of trying to make interesting things out of wood. I think I bought
>it to trim a door in an apartment.
Ditto my first hand plane. It was a jewel from India via the HF store.
I hated that thing for years until I learned to Scary Sharp(tm) it.
It was my first practice iron for the process and I'll be damned if it
didn't teach me how to perfect the technique. After that, I used it a
few times, primarily for taking paint off doors and such. It's a great
toolbox plane and needs to be sharpened after each use, but I wouldn't
abuse my other fine planes to the crap I use this one for. (Y'know,
door trimming, nail finding, the occasional hammer, that kind of
stuff.) It is, however, the only -new- iron plane I've ever bought.
All the rest are wood or old arn. No aloonimum or plastic, please.
>I can come up with other tools that really aren't very useful. My hot glue
>gun hasn't been seen since I don't know when, and I don't really miss it.
>My Crapsman router and table is a tool the use of which is best studiously
>avoided.
Ah, yes. The venerable Crapsman routah table. I need to sell mine.
I have no idea why I didn't leave it in the garage at the last house.
Alyouminium top, sheetmetal legs, and not drilled for my B&D routah
pattern. Hey, I know: I'll put it on Ebay and MAKE A MILLION!
My cheap Delta scrollsaw is a close second to this plane for most
>useless, poorly-conceived purchase, but even that stupid space waster has
>proven sort of halfway useful at least twice. No, the plane wins, hands
>down.
My B&D jigsaur is a close second to the belt sanduh.
-----------------------------------------------
I'll apologize for offending someone...right
after they apologize for being easily offended.
-----------------------------------------------
http://www.diversify.com Inoffensive Web Design
In article <[email protected]>,
"foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
> And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
> the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
> hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
> For me it's a B&D "electric file" - basically a needle-nose belt
> sander. It's a something that should be handy as hell but it's just
> too damned vicious. Touch it to a piece of wood and you have instant
> "shit - too much". I've never been able to get anything done with it.
> Next?
>
> FoggyTown
> "Cut to shape . . . pound to fit."
This may draw a few flames, but the tool I bought that I never use is a
Delta mortiser - the one with the cast iron table. I tested it when new,
and it works fine. But I'm used to cutting mortises with routers and
jigs - faster (for me) and much more clean and accurate. So I never seem
to want to use the mortiser.
PDX David
What's with all this 'lectric clothing stuff?
ANd, speaking of.. what's an electric hat?
Renata
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:29:01 -0500, Tom Watson <[email protected]>
wrote:
>On 29 Dec 2004 08:02:38 -0800, "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>>the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>>hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
>
>B+D Electric Brad Nailer.
>Stanley 55.
>Delta POS Wet and Dry Sharpening Station.
>1974 C10 Chevy.
>Electric Socks.
>PC Profile Sander.
>B+D Spray Gun (w/ tire inflator).
>Electric Gloves.
>Minwax Touchup Kit.
>PolyShades.
>TOH Magazine.
>Progressive Lense Eyeglasses.
>Any reference book with "All About..." in the title.
>Any book with "The Complete Guide To..." in the title.
>Any article with "The Ultimate..." in the title.
>Electric Hat.
>AOL.
>CTX Laptop.
>Freud Carving Set.
>Penco Guitar.
>Anything sold by Ron Popeil (sp?)
>Anything that says "Not Available In Stores!".
>Religions that advertise in the backs of magazines.
>Electric Ties.
>
>
>
>Regards,
>Tom.
>
>"People funny. Life a funny thing." Sonny Liston
>
>Thomas J.Watson - Cabinetmaker (ret.)
>tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)
>http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1
On 29 Dec 2004 08:02:38 -0800, "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
>And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
B+D Electric Brad Nailer.
Stanley 55.
Delta POS Wet and Dry Sharpening Station.
1974 C10 Chevy.
Electric Socks.
PC Profile Sander.
B+D Spray Gun (w/ tire inflator).
Electric Gloves.
Minwax Touchup Kit.
PolyShades.
TOH Magazine.
Progressive Lense Eyeglasses.
Any reference book with "All About..." in the title.
Any book with "The Complete Guide To..." in the title.
Any article with "The Ultimate..." in the title.
Electric Hat.
AOL.
CTX Laptop.
Freud Carving Set.
Penco Guitar.
Anything sold by Ron Popeil (sp?)
Anything that says "Not Available In Stores!".
Religions that advertise in the backs of magazines.
Electric Ties.
Regards,
Tom.
"People funny. Life a funny thing." Sonny Liston
Thomas J.Watson - Cabinetmaker (ret.)
tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1
Porter Cable profile detail sander. I use the profiles by hand and leave
the sander in the box.
"foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
> the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
> hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
> For me it's a B&D "electric file" - basically a needle-nose belt
> sander. It's a something that should be handy as hell but it's just
> too damned vicious. Touch it to a piece of wood and you have instant
> "shit - too much". I've never been able to get anything done with it.
> Next?
>
> FoggyTown
> "Cut to shape . . . pound to fit."
>
"Dave Hinz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 22:02:21 GMT, mark <[email protected]> wrote:
>> A rotozip tool. How can they even sell one? Why did I buy one? I
>> thought I
>> could use it to rough out some sheetrock electrical socket holes, but it
>> was
>> pretty crappy.
>
> Oh yeah, got one of those too. Also as a gift. Also from SWMBO...
> I used it to cut some round cuts on tile (toilet flange), and the tile
> got into the front bearing and it squeals like a pig now. Odd that using
> a tool in a manner shown on the box would ruin it.
>
That's funny -- here's a tip for you from someone who hates to throw
anything out. I had it in my hands, on the way to the trash, because mine
squealed exactly like yours. Then I thought, "what the hell, it's only 4
screws. The least I can do is see what makes it tick, then cut the cord off
if it's nothing obviously wrong. So...it wasn't the bearing. The squealing
is caused by the little white finned cooling fan slipping down on the shiny,
polished (yeah, good move) shaft, and contacting the plastic housing. I
clipped mine completely out, and the tool works fine now. I have no idea
what I will EVER use it for, but I did see some kind of cut-off sheel
attachment that looked marginally useful....but probably not. But i didn't
throw it out.
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 00:00:33 -0600, Prometheus
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Having used both, I still prefer a utility knife and a straightedge
>when it comes to drywall- even over a drywall saw. Never got the
>rotozip to do anything but cut rough, curvy lines in my nice clean
>sheetrock.
The knife and straightedge are for straight cuts across or along the
entire sheet. The rotozip with guidepoint bit is for electrical boxes
and door or window openings, it will cut a perfect line along the
window or door faster than you can run a knife along one side and
break it. As for boxes, there is just no comparison both in terms of
speed and in precision. A good guy with the rotozip will never have to
do any patching around an outlet.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
On 30 Dec 2004 18:15:57 GMT, Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote:
>On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 08:26:30 -0800, Gino <[email protected]> wrote:
>> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 08:51:32 -0500, "Norman D. Crow" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>Get the larger (1 1/4") fiberglass reinforced cutoff wheels, they work
>>>great.
>>
>> I love those.
>> But they are costly little suckers as well.
>
>True, but a set of 3 will outlast a whole "tube" of the brittle abrasive-only
>ones.
I agree.
Those brittle bastards aren't worth the time to attach them to shaft. I never
use them except for detailing the copper and brass bits and pieces I use in my
box making.
Someone told me using two at a time works better but I've never tried it.
Mark & Juanita Wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:04:20 +0000, LRod [email protected]
> wrote:
> -
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 00:37:12 GMT, "Chuck Hoffman"
> [email protected] wrote:
> -
> Not aimed directly at the last poster but just a general observation:
>
> It's amazing how many of us hold onto stuff we'll never (again) use.
> Many
> times, the plaintive cry is, "But it's worth more than I can get out o
> it."
> Wrong. It's worth exactly NOTHING sitting unused on your shelf. I
> you
> sold it to someone, that would accomplish two things: 1) give
> disused
> piece of equipment new life, and 2) put a few bucks in your pocke
> which you
> could use to buy wood for a new project.-
>
> 3) **** off the guy you sold it to.
> -
>
> Funny thing is, that doesn't always happen. I had one of those Wagner
> paint drip squirters a number of years ago. I got it to paint th
> house
> trim -- the house was mostly brick with a bit of trim and some sidin
> on
> the chimney and roof eaves. After I figured out that this beast wa
> next
> to useless -- it either spit paint runs or one had to thin the paint t
> the
> consistency of water, but it was noisy -- I decided to get an air
> compressor and a real paint sprayer. One of my wife's co-worker
> heard
> about all the problems I had with this thing and offered to buy it; h
> was
> absolutel sure I just didn't know how to use it and that *he* coul
> make it
> work properly. Not one to shrink away from recovering some of m
> shrunk
> costs, especially from an arrogant so-and-so, I jumped at the chanc
> to
> unload this piece of crap. A while later my wife asked him whether h
> had
> a chance to use it yet; he replied, "oh yeah, it works great!"
> uh-huh.
>
> -
> - -
> LRod
>
> Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite
>
> Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999
>
> http://www.woodbutcher.net-
>
>
>
> +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
>
> Now we'll just use some glue to hold things in place until the brad
> dry
>
> +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
I once had a room mate who had a Wagner Power Sprayer. In addition t
the drips, it shocked you every time you pulled the trigger
--
makesawdust
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 00:37:12 GMT, "Chuck Hoffman"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Not aimed directly at the last poster but just a general observation:
>
>It's amazing how many of us hold onto stuff we'll never (again) use. Many
>times, the plaintive cry is, "But it's worth more than I can get out of it."
>Wrong. It's worth exactly NOTHING sitting unused on your shelf. If you
>sold it to someone, that would accomplish two things: 1) give a disused
>piece of equipment new life, and 2) put a few bucks in your pocket which you
>could use to buy wood for a new project.
3) piss off the guy you sold it to.
- -
LRod
Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite
Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999
http://www.woodbutcher.net
On 29 Dec 2004 08:02:38 -0800, "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
>And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
>For me it's a B&D "electric file" - basically a needle-nose belt
>sander. It's a something that should be handy as hell but it's just
>too damned vicious. Touch it to a piece of wood and you have instant
>"shit - too much". I've never been able to get anything done with it.
>Next?
>
>FoggyTown
>"Cut to shape . . . pound to fit."
Mastercraft Rotozip kit. Gift.
$150 CDN and the biggest piece of crap I have ever seen.
Even the power cord is made out of such hard wire you can't even stretch it out
in warm weather.
Nothing can be squared, the plunge router attachment is a complete joke.
Complete crap.
"foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote in news:1104336158.089897.251330
@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
> And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
> the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
> hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
The whole @#$%ing Shopsmith incident. I donwannatalkaboudit.
Patriarch
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:04:20 +0000, LRod <[email protected]>
wrote:
>On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 00:37:12 GMT, "Chuck Hoffman"
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Not aimed directly at the last poster but just a general observation:
>>
>>It's amazing how many of us hold onto stuff we'll never (again) use. Many
>>times, the plaintive cry is, "But it's worth more than I can get out of it."
>>Wrong. It's worth exactly NOTHING sitting unused on your shelf. If you
>>sold it to someone, that would accomplish two things: 1) give a disused
>>piece of equipment new life, and 2) put a few bucks in your pocket which you
>>could use to buy wood for a new project.
>
>3) piss off the guy you sold it to.
>
Funny thing is, that doesn't always happen. I had one of those Wagner
paint drip squirters a number of years ago. I got it to paint the house
trim -- the house was mostly brick with a bit of trim and some siding on
the chimney and roof eaves. After I figured out that this beast was next
to useless -- it either spit paint runs or one had to thin the paint to the
consistency of water, but it was noisy -- I decided to get an air
compressor and a real paint sprayer. One of my wife's co-workers heard
about all the problems I had with this thing and offered to buy it; he was
absolutel sure I just didn't know how to use it and that *he* could make it
work properly. Not one to shrink away from recovering some of my shrunk
costs, especially from an arrogant so-and-so, I jumped at the chance to
unload this piece of crap. A while later my wife asked him whether he had
a chance to use it yet; he replied, "oh yeah, it works great!" uh-huh.
>- -
>LRod
>
>Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite
>
>Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999
>
>http://www.woodbutcher.net
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Now we'll just use some glue to hold things in place until the brads dry
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
I'll fess up. I bought one, haven't found much use for it. My buddy borrowed
it and said it was the best thing since sliced bread, Hmmmm. I wonder what
he did with it, hahahaha.
Bernie
"toller" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I think anyone who bought a PC 944 detail sander would list it as
>worthless; though maybe many would not admit to buying it.
>
> It was my first "good" tool and HD had it on closeout at half-price...
> Live and learn.
>
>You need to get a lathe and make some lamps. :)
SONOFABITCH!!!! Why didn't I think of that? I just *bought* a
friggin' lamp cord to make a lamp on the lathe, and I've already got a
couple of beheaded extension cords laying around.
>Actually I _have_ used a couple of these cords for original electronics
>projects and repairs, but I've got a shoebox full of them and I made a
>concious decision last year to stop saving them. Like you said, new things
>come with them. Like you didn't say, new things these days wear out faster
>than ever, so there will always be a supply of cords. But it just doesn't
>feel right to throw away something that's still functional, no matter how
>useless it might be.
>
> - Owen -
>
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 00:37:12 GMT, "Chuck Hoffman"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Not aimed directly at the last poster but just a general observation:
>
>It's amazing how many of us hold onto stuff we'll never (again) use. Many
>times, the plaintive cry is, "But it's worth more than I can get out of it."
>Wrong. It's worth exactly NOTHING sitting unused on your shelf. If you
>sold it to someone, that would accomplish two things: 1) give a disused
>piece of equipment new life, and 2) put a few bucks in your pocket which you
>could use to buy wood for a new project.
Strangely enough, I'm starting to look at a whole stack of antique
hand tools that way. I have been accumulating them from various
sources because people know I do woodworking and I just might be able
to use grandpa's old chest drill or whatever. Frankly I have no
interest in doing woodworking that way - too much of what I do is, of
necessity, outcome based. I don't even have a place to display them,
so they sit in boxes scattered hither and yon between attic storage,
two sheds and the garashop. I don't feel right selling them, but...
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
"the_tool_man" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Those little Veritas corner rounding planes - the ones bent from a
>piece of steel with the little elliptical opening. Woodcraft sells
>them for $14 apiece. They either split the grain
Yep. You have to be VERY careful about grain direction, since with no
mouth, this "plane" will split off more than you wanted pretty
quickly. And the grain direction on a corner can be tricky,
particularly when the grain on each adjacent surface is sloping in
opposite directions.
> or require so much
>pressure to work that my fingers get sore quite quickly.
Never noticed that. But getting the right angle can be somewhat
tricky.
> Easier and
>more consistent to use sandpaper or a router.
Easier yet, a block plane set for very fine cut, with very tight
mouth. Three or four passes at different angles gives you as rounded
an edge as you could ask for. (At least to these over-40 eyes, an
1/16" octagon is close enough to a 1/16" diameter circle.)
--
Alex -- Replace "nospam" with "mail" to reply by email. Checked infrequently.
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 21:09:48 -0500, Silvan wrote:
> Gino wrote:
>
>> I couldn't live without a Dremel.
>> I even used it to remove the exhaust system from my 3/4 ton pickup.:)
>
> How many cutoff wheels did YOU go through? :)
It saved me on a plumbing problem. Had to replace several toilet shutoff
valves and the gorilla who installed the originals crimped the compression
rings into the copper pipe so deep they wouldn't slide off, even with some
knarley pliers. The problem was the new valves and old valves had
different threads, so I couldn't use the old nut on the new valve. The
nifty dremel cutoff wheel ground almost all the way through the
compression ring and a little twist with a flat blade screwdriver popped
it right off. Whew, success!
- Doug
--
To escape criticism--do nothing, say nothing, be nothing." (Elbert Hubbard)
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 20:38:45 -0500, "Bill Stock" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>
>"mark" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>>A rotozip tool. How can they even sell one? Why did I buy one? I thought
>>I could use it to rough out some sheetrock electrical socket holes, but it
>>was pretty crappy.
>This one gets my vote. Created so much damn dust, I was back to my drywall
>saw in a flash.
I bought the $19.95 HF clone. I use it every time I do drywall work
with a good guidepoint bit. It is, without question, one of the
absolutely essential tools for hanging drywall at anything but a
casual amateur level. Every professional drywaller I know uses one and
I would have killed for such a tool back when I was doing it
professionally. The dust is a pretty minor thing when you compare the
speed and accuracy issues.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
On 29 Dec 2004 17:28:41 GMT, Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote:
>On 29 Dec 2004 08:02:38 -0800, foggytown <[email protected]> wrote:
>> And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>> the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>> hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
>SWMBO bought me a Black and Decker "sanding mouse" 2 years ago for
>Christmas. I've never used it, and she's never asked about it.
>As far as woodworking stuff, clamps. I've got too damn many clamps.
>
>Dave "sorry..." Hinz
I have one of those, it's great for getting into small spaces and also
SWMBO uses it, she doesn't like my big sander.
MP
Mike Patterson
Please remove the spamtrap to email me.
"I always wanted to be somebody...I should have been more specific..." - Lily Tomlin
Dave in Fairfax <[email protected]> wrote in news:41D4A596.97ABBC97
@fairfax.com:
> Patriarch wrote:
>> I bought a good drill press for maybe $300. Good used lathes are for
>> sale all the time. But I'm afraid of a good lathe. All the wood
>> turners I know chase tree trimmers, fill their basements with half-
>> turned bowls wrapped in plastic and newspaper, and upgrade to a better,
>> multi-thousand dollar machine every couple of years.
>> I already am trying to get one addiction under control. There are at
>> least a dozen handtools here, which I haven't used yet. ;-)
>
>
> You're missing the point. You get the lathe, and hang the planes
> around the edges of the stand. That's why they have those holes
> near the ends. %-)
>
> Dave in Fairfax
That's pretty much what the Shopsmith is doing now. I need a Oneway for
that? ;-)
Patriarch
"Dave Hinz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> (snip) OK, what is it with us people and cutting off cords from stuff when
we
> toss them? Have any of us actually _used_ one of these cords?
> (snip)
>
It's probably genetic. My parents and grandparents lived thru the Great
Depression (and my birthdate is not that far removed from it). I remember
growing up that NOTHING was wasted...even if it was never used.
Perhaps in a few more generations the trait will dispppear.
Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> Gino wrote:
>
>> I couldn't live without a Dremel.
>> I even used it to remove the exhaust system from my 3/4 ton pickup.:)
>
> How many cutoff wheels did YOU go through? :)
>
For about the same price, I bought a DeWalt low angle grinder and a diamond
cutting wheel. You can cut a lot of stuff with that rig, and very quickly.
Dremel stuff is too light duty for my Binford tastes.
Patriarch
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 10:39:35 -0500, Renata <[email protected]>
calmly ranted:
>What's with all this 'lectric clothing stuff?
>ANd, speaking of.. what's an electric hat?
That's just what the doctors called it. We know better.
<wink>
--
Save the Endangered ROAD NARROWS! -|- www.diversify.com
Ban SUVs today! -|- Full Service Websites
"Gino" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 02:39:20 GMT, Patriarch
<[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in
> >news:[email protected]:
> >
> >> Gino wrote:
> >>
> >>> I couldn't live without a Dremel.
> >>> I even used it to remove the exhaust system from my 3/4 ton pickup.:)
> >>
> >> How many cutoff wheels did YOU go through? :)
> >>
> >
> >For about the same price, I bought a DeWalt low angle grinder and a
diamond
> >cutting wheel. You can cut a lot of stuff with that rig, and very
quickly.
> >
> >Dremel stuff is too light duty for my Binford tastes.
> >
> But the Dremel is tiny.
> It was the only tool that I had that could do the job.
Sigh..... this one's going to take a while. Gino... listen to me. I know
these things. Torches. Torches, Gino. They look really cool when they're
parked over in the corner, and you don't have to worry about tiny spaces.
With torches you can make spaces big enough to comfortably work in.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
6 inch Enco POS Jointer. This was actually a gift from SWMBO but the
fact that I kept it makes me culpable.
Central Machinery (AKA HF) Mortiser. Bought this on eBay, didn't know
about HF at the time and discovered that the combined price of the
unit plus shipping exceeded HF price with free shipping. Finally got
rid of the POS last year because I had to do some *real* mortising on
a cherry bed I was making. Which brings me to the next item...
Delta Mortiser. This thing couldn't cut a 1/2 inch mortise in a
cherry bed rail with the riser installed. Even the Delta service
people couldn't figure out why. Thankfully Woodworker Supply honored
the Delta warranty and gave me a full refund. I learned that I can
*always* rely on my drill and chisel...
Any HF piece of equipment I've bought. I may have finally learned my
lesson now that my last piece of HF equipment has died (pancake
compressor).
For all those really clever tools I've purchased and not yet used I'm
not going to fess up yet - I'm just waiting for the right project...
;-)
TWS
When i get a good sized handful of sockets that need replaced I just carry
them in and get the ones i want off the shelf. The cashiers normally just
count how many I'm returning and how many replacements i have without
actually comparing sizes. --dave
"Prometheus" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:44:30 -0600, Duane Bozarth
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Dave Hinz wrote:
>>>
>>...
>>> ... sockets in there that are split, some
>>> smushed (how the hell do you smush a socket?), and a ton of duplicates
>>> to what I already have, but enough new ones to be nice. I'm not sure
>>> what they'll say about the collection of crap, but I'm going to try it.
>>>
>>> Anyone heard of a socket exchange, so I can turn these duplicates into
>>> sizes I don't have but need?
>>
>>They don't give a flip about what shape they're in or what caused it (as
>>long as it's Craftsman, not Companion or any of the other names) but
>>afaik they'll only exchange for what you got...
>
> They don't. I took in a tape measure that not only had no numbers
> left on the first foot and a half, but it was also missing the label
> and had been inadvertantly been crushed by an opening bandsaw vice.
> The cashier didn't even blink, just handed me a new one from under the
> counter.
>
>>Can't hurt to ask, though, although I'd guess they'll not unless you get
>>somebody who just doesn't care...
> Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
On 30 Dec 2004 16:53:11 GMT, Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote:
>On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:12:24 GMT, Bullwinkle J. Moose <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Does the Ronco Popeil Pocket Fisherman count?
>
>No, I think those are stipulated to be useless before you buy them. I
>_think_ the topic here is things which were surprisingly useless?
You know, the Pocket Fisherman gets a lot of bad press, but as long as
you didn't expect it to act like your $100 rod/reel, it was OK.
My dad received one for Christmas one year and didn't want it, so I
carried it around in my trunk and used it every once in a while when
I'd be out somewhere and decide to go fishing without having to go
home first to get my "real" rig.
I never had to try reeling in a 10 lb. speckled trout with it, but it
worked fine for light-duty work. Caught a few bass, crappie, and
catfish with it.
Only real (reel?) problem I had with it was trying to get new line on
the reel was frustrating.
MP
Mike Patterson
Please remove the spamtrap to email me.
"I always wanted to be somebody...I should have been more specific..." - Lily Tomlin
On 29 Dec 2004 08:13:23 -0800, "WoodchuckCanuck" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>Dremel and all its accessories...especially the...cough cough..."router
>table".
>
I couldn't live without a Dremel.
I even used it to remove the exhaust system from my 3/4 ton pickup.:)
Router attachment is cool, especially for installing hinges in almost anything.
I've never seen the router table.
On 29 Dec 2004 17:28:41 GMT, Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote:
>On 29 Dec 2004 08:02:38 -0800, foggytown <[email protected]> wrote:
>> And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>> the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>> hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>
>SWMBO bought me a Black and Decker "sanding mouse" 2 years ago for
>Christmas. I've never used it, and she's never asked about it.
>As far as woodworking stuff, clamps. I've got too damn many clamps.
>
It's funny, because the best furniture I've seen made by someone I know
personally came from a guy who had TWO rusty old pipe clamps total.
He made oak furniture, cherry furniture and did it on a clamping table using
wedges and twisted rope.
He used rope twisted tight with a stick to make drawers and boxes and everything
came out perfect.
Just thinking about it brings back the stench of rancid hide glue he always had
bubbling away.
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 08:51:32 -0500, "Norman D. Crow" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> Gino wrote:
>>
>> > I couldn't live without a Dremel.
>> > I even used it to remove the exhaust system from my 3/4 ton pickup.:)
>>
>> How many cutoff wheels did YOU go through? :)
>
>Get the larger (1 1/4") fiberglass reinforced cutoff wheels, they work
>great.
I love those.
But they are costly little suckers as well.
I bought 3 kits boxed in nice wood cases just to get the 8 cutoff wheels in
each.
The 80 piece kit was cheaper than buying the 8 disks alone.
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 06:56:12 GMT, mac davis
<[email protected]> calmly ranted:
>On 29 Dec 2004 08:02:38 -0800, "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
>>the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
>>hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
>>
>>For me it's a B&D "electric file" - basically a needle-nose belt
>>sander. It's a something that should be handy as hell but it's just
>>too damned vicious. Touch it to a piece of wood and you have instant
>>"shit - too much". I've never been able to get anything done with it.
>>Next?
>>
>>FoggyTown
>>"Cut to shape . . . pound to fit."
>
>reconditioned Wagner "power (yeah, right) painter"...
>tried it for staining a redwood fence, it couldn't even do THAT!
>
>Gift: deluxe wood burning set...
>right! I'm left handed and never learned to double joint my wrist to
>write upside down...
>How the hell could I do wood burning, when even I can't read my
>handwriting?
My neighbor wants one of those old woodburning sets. Want to get
rid of it, cheap?
-----------------------------------------------
I'll apologize for offending someone...right
after they apologize for being easily offended.
-----------------------------------------------
http://www.diversify.com Inoffensive Web Design
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 11:58:47 -0700, "Joel Corwith" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>"Gino" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 09:40:39 -0500, "Mike Marlow"
><[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>> My SO doesn't allow me to play with fire since the time I lit up the
>neighbors
>> fence while killing weeds with a tiger torch.<g>
>
>SNORT!
>
>I finished the back yard, hit a weed near the gate as I went to work out
>front. Finished the front and went back to find the gate in flames. Garden
>hose wouldn't reach that side of the house, but had plento 5 gal buckets
>laying about. The chipboard used to patch the gate was very hard to put
>out.
>
>Some time later I was doing isolated weeds in the gravel when someone
>shouted 'Hey, you can't do that in the city'. Was a fireman peeking over
>the fence.
>
Heh!
I blew a four pound extinguisher on my fire.
You would think the neighbor would offer to pay for the refill...it was his
fence.<g>
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:44:30 -0600, Duane Bozarth
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Dave Hinz wrote:
>>
>...
>> ... sockets in there that are split, some
>> smushed (how the hell do you smush a socket?), and a ton of duplicates
>> to what I already have, but enough new ones to be nice. I'm not sure
>> what they'll say about the collection of crap, but I'm going to try it.
>>
>> Anyone heard of a socket exchange, so I can turn these duplicates into
>> sizes I don't have but need?
>
>They don't give a flip about what shape they're in or what caused it (as
>long as it's Craftsman, not Companion or any of the other names) but
>afaik they'll only exchange for what you got...
They don't. I took in a tape measure that not only had no numbers
left on the first foot and a half, but it was also missing the label
and had been inadvertantly been crushed by an opening bandsaw vice.
The cashier didn't even blink, just handed me a new one from under the
counter.
>Can't hurt to ask, though, although I'd guess they'll not unless you get
>somebody who just doesn't care...
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 01:34:15 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Dave Jackson wrote:
>
>> When i get a good sized handful of sockets that need replaced I just carry
>> them in and get the ones i want off the shelf. The cashiers normally just
>> count how many I'm returning and how many replacements i have without
>> actually comparing sizes. --dave
>
>You know, come to think of it, I have never had to take a Crafstman socket
>back. Only screwdrivers and mauls so far.
The older ones were awfully good. You really had to work at it to mess
one up. The new ones make the guarantee essential.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
"Gino" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 29 Dec 2004 08:13:23 -0800, "WoodchuckCanuck"
<[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >Dremel and all its accessories...especially the...cough cough..."router
> >table".
> >
> I couldn't live without a Dremel.
> I even used it to remove the exhaust system from my 3/4 ton pickup.:)
That just ain't right. Exhaust systems are supposed to be taken off with a
combination of cutting torches and 4 inch grinders. It says so right in the
Bible. You are wrong Gino, just plane wrong...
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
Dave Hinz <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> OK, what is it with us people and cutting off cords from stuff when we
> toss them? Have any of us actually _used_ one of these cords? I also
> have a rack of hanging cords, the NEMA-standard computer plug type
> cords, because every time I toss something I keep the cord. Yet, new
> purchases always come with a new cord. What the hell am I (are we)
> thinking?
>
I use the old cords, because it's easier than crawling under the desk to
run the functionally equivalent new ones. But it takes quite a pile of the
new ones building up, before I toss them out.
Patriarch
Dave Hinz wrote:
> On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 21:57:42 -0500, Silvan
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I guess we could have had a yard sale, but screw it.
>
> Thing with that, is you have to lose a whole weekend to make a
> couple hundred bucks if you're lucky, arguing with people who
> want to pay only four dollars for something worth 20, instead
> of the 5 it's marked at. eBay sometimes, but I've been known
> to take stuff to work, put up a notice on the trade board
> saying "first at my desk to take it can have it" for things
> that are useful, but not to me.
That's a good way to go. For my last west coast stint, I took
along my PC690, my little PC panel saw, and an old B&D VSR drill
- and rented an unfurnished apartment. I bought two futon sofas
and built all the rest of a normal complement of furnishings
using (mostly) SPF from a San Jose lumberyard.
Right before I left I posted a notice on the lab bulletin board
announcing a "Grand Opening Going Out of Business Sale" with "No
money down same as cash". The next morning I helped two young
couples I'd worked with load the works (knocked down) into their
SUV and van and watched 'em happily drive it all home. One of the
other consultant types hauled away my little impromptu
three-legged workbench to use in refurbing his sailboat up on the
bay.
Made me wish I'd done that on all the trips before. Felt /good/.
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/solar.html
On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 12:12:27 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
> Xane T. wrote:
>
>> It's like that episode of Futurama...
>
> Yup. I think I remember that. I used to like that show back when I
>used to watch TV. Is it still on?
>
Cartoon Networks "Adult Swim," 11p S-Th.
"mark" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>A rotozip tool. How can they even sell one? Why did I buy one? I thought
>I could use it to rough out some sheetrock electrical socket holes, but it
>was pretty crappy.
This one gets my vote. Created so much damn dust, I was back to my drywall
saw in a flash.
Yup, I'm with Chuck. Bought it, tried it, boxed it, hide it. Couldn't tell
you where it is now...
Joe C.
"Chuck Hoffman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> A Ryobi detail sander. It looked like a good idea at the time but...
>
> "foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > And now in a burst of refreshing honesty we're all going to admit to
> > the most useless, waste-of-money, unnecessary, white elephant, "why the
> > hell did I ever buy that" tool in our arsenal.
> >
> > For me it's a B&D "electric file" - basically a needle-nose belt
> > sander. It's a something that should be handy as hell but it's just
> > too damned vicious. Touch it to a piece of wood and you have instant
> > "shit - too much". I've never been able to get anything done with it.
> > Next?
> >
> > FoggyTown
> > "Cut to shape . . . pound to fit."
> >
>
>