Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Kosmic]

For our canadian TEA voltnut fellows (and the ones in the USA, too):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324130874459

Fluke 845AR



 

Too expensive for me. Would only consider if it was below 100$ 

[med6753]

For our canadian TEA voltnut fellows (and the ones in the USA, too):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324130874459

Fluke 845AR



 

Too expensive for me. Would only consider if it was below 100$ 

Agreed, that price is way out of line. 

[mnementh]

... Worried about getting trampled by the wrinklies    ...

I resemble that remark! Beware, what we lack in youth we make up for in subterfuge. 

I've whiled away my breakfast-time this AM noodling around this fellow's yoobToob: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMuCEiwVy_jvFmboAEYGwjg   (SNIP YT vid available at this link)

His hobby is creating animation to go along with the original BBC Radio show of HHGttG; rather good actually and very faithful to Adams' written works. Unfortunately, the Beeb has been forcing places like YT to take down his works and Ep 1 Pt 1 is no longer up. However you CAN, if you care to, find most of it on his channel in bits & bobs. Somehow, this fellow's whole debacle of "Fair Use" vs the interests of the corporate megalopoly etc. feels very Adams-esque in its own right...

mnem
*off to brave the wilds of Wally Wurlld*

Here's a version of me, er, Arthur Dent, in real life for the same episode above starting at 18:40 minutes. 

Yes, that is the version which (played in syndication on PBS when I was a youth) got me hooked on Adams' work in the first place.   

A couple things I learned that I didn't realize until listening to Nick Page's version and seeing the credits. First, I didn't know that the use of The Eagles' "Journey of the Sorcerer" as the theme music was a carryover from the radio show, not just used for the LP & TV show. Also, even though I recognized his voice, I didn't realize that Peter Jones (was he FATHER OF a certain British actor bearing uncanny resemblance to your namesake? ) voiced the Hitchhiker's Guide itself in the original radio show and the TV show as well.  Heh!

[edited to reflect different Joneses]

mnem
Unfortunately... Wally Wurlld wasn't open at all today; the website lied. Typical.

[Specmaster]

Went shopping this morning, arrived at Tesco's just on 8  o clock as they opened the doors, the queue was already snaked up and down the parking lanes 4 times and around the outside edge of the car perimeter, store side and then store front. I thought F that and drove down the road to Lidl where there was about 30 people in the queue, but even then it took almost an hour before I was allowed in the store. Once inside though it was almost back to normal with most stuff on the shelf in reasonable volumes. The shopping trip, to just 2 shops, next to each other, Lidls and FarmFoods, took almost 2 and a half hours  . 

I went to a local Polish deli and a greengrocer. I was very annoyed to have to wait 5-10 minutes to get in each of those. It looks like "YMMV"

Greengrocer, cor, I havent seen one of those for years, where in the Galaxy do you live then 

[Cerebus]

...I didn't realize that Peter Jones (a British actor bearing uncanny resemblance to your namesake ) ALSO voiced the Hitchhiker's Guide itself in the original radio show.

I was in the same class at school and friends with Peter's son, Simon (no relation to the Simon Jones who also appeared in HHGTG). Peter used to live 4 streets away from me.

As to the rest, ehh???

Peter Jones:
Arthur Dent (aka Simon Jones the actor not the son):

[Specmaster]

... Worried about getting trampled by the wrinklies    ...

I resemble that remark! Beware, what we lack in youth we make up for in subterfuge. 

I've whiled away my breakfast-time this AM noodling around this fellow's yoobToob: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMuCEiwVy_jvFmboAEYGwjg   (SNIP YT vid available at this link)

His hobby is creating animation to go along with the original BBC Radio show of HHGttG; rather good actually and very faithful to Adams' written works. Unfortunately, the Beeb has been forcing places like YT to take down his works and Ep 1 Pt 1 is no longer up. However you CAN, if you care to, find most of it on his channel in bits & bobs. Somehow, this fellow's whole debacle of "Fair Use" vs the interests of the corporate megalopoly etc. feels very Adams-esque in its own right...

mnem
*off to brave the wilds of Wally Wurlld*

Here's a version of me, er, Arthur Dent, in real life for the same episode above starting at 18:40 minutes. 

Yes, that is the version which (played in syndication on PBS when I was a youth) got me hooked on Adams' work in the first place.   

A couple things I learned that I didn't realize until listening to Nick Page's version and seeing the credits. First, I didn't know that the use of The Eagles' "Journey of the Sorcerer" as the theme music was a carryover from the radio show, not just used for the LP & TV show. Also, even though I recognized his voice, I didn't realize that Peter Jones (a British actor bearing uncanny resemblance to your namesake ) ALSO voiced the Hitchhiker's Guide itself in the original radio show.  Heh!

mnem
Unfortunately... Wally Wurlld wasn't open at all today; the website lied. Typical.

Are you sure that it lied, or is it just a case that you inserted your babel fish back to front

[Saskia]

interlock switch: take one from the coin door of a pinball machine. They are 250V rated interlock switches that do exactly what I need and come with the mounting bracket. Straightforward no fuss installation.

[tggzzz]

Went shopping this morning, arrived at Tesco's just on 8  o clock as they opened the doors, the queue was already snaked up and down the parking lanes 4 times and around the outside edge of the car perimeter, store side and then store front. I thought F that and drove down the road to Lidl where there was about 30 people in the queue, but even then it took almost an hour before I was allowed in the store. Once inside though it was almost back to normal with most stuff on the shelf in reasonable volumes. The shopping trip, to just 2 shops, next to each other, Lidls and FarmFoods, took almost 2 and a half hours  . 

I went to a local Polish deli and a greengrocer. I was very annoyed to have to wait 5-10 minutes to get in each of those. It looks like "YMMV"

Greengrocer, cor, I havent seen one of those for years, where in the Galaxy do you live then 

Brizzle

I can think of three[1] in Brizzle that I regularly visit, one farm shop at the end of my village (5 miles from the city centre , and another in the nearby 60s overflow town.

Mind you, up in the 80s and 90s sprawl on the other side of town there are zero greengrocers   But who wants to live in a desert like that

One was shut today, possibly for the duration.

In other news, the regional shipping centre is to lose its Boots. I wasn't surprised that my mother's local one will shut, but the regional shopping center?!

[BU508A]

For our canadian TEA voltnut fellows (and the ones in the USA, too):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324130874459

Fluke 845AR



 

Too expensive for me. Would only consider if it was below 100$ 

Well, you could send them a low-ball offer. 

[bitseeker]

Post no 2 vacated, bitseeker its all yours.
I am not sure how you can add to it, other than PM me with the addition and I will add it.

Very kind of you, Rob. Much appreciated. However, I'd prefer to preserve the history of your joining the TEA thread. Please restore your original message there. I grabbed a cached copy of it from the Wayback Machine and pasted it below.


My name is Robert and I am a test equipment-aholic,  (HiHi)
My purchases really took off as about the time eBay began I paid off the mortgage.
 I try to switch on the working stuff once a month to keep the electros etc happy.
Seriously I am running out of room,  and have enough projects to keep me busy till I get to 90yo (am 55yo now) !
Robert

[Specmaster]

@tggzzz, Brizzle heh, the nearest we have to a greengrocer (outside of a supermarket) is the market, most of which is shut down till further notice, only fruit and veg stalls remain open.

[bitseeker]

I dropped a reply earlier but is is the issue of how the database is set up. Base thread followed by a sequential list of posts. You would need to change every post count after it and risk breaking the thread if it wen wrong.

But this is happening anyway when you are deleting a post. The post-count is changing. I saw this mhappen here (not sure, when exactly) around posting number 50000 or so.
Example:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/msg1375035/#msg1375035

The short answer is that SMF wasn't written to allow users to insert posts, just append to the end. There are many things that I wish SMF could or would do, and sometimes plugins are created to add such functionality.

As for numbering, each post does have a unique ID. The order in which the posts appear in the thread and their relative numbering (reply #) is just a matter of display. I'd be very disappointed to learn that, if someone deletes the second post in this thread, there are 55000+ SQL updates to adjust the numbering of the rest.

[mansaxel]

Only thing missing was some bake at home (and thus untouched) baguettes to go with the camembert I bought.

This is a bake-at-home baguette:



This is the secret:

I actually spent the entire time in the queue talking my mother through setting up a Gmail account so she can get rid of her BT email address finally and stop being screwed for her ADSL every month.

We seem to have more time as a species at the moment. I hope we learn from this event rather than return to former times of persistent chaos.

There are, like my baking improving, definite up sides to the reorganisation of society. We should learn, adapt, and improve from those. At best, we'll have some 15 years of good from this; but I'm afraid that the information management and dissemination change brought by the wrong people getting access to the Internet will have shortened that time span.

Written Fri Sep 9719 20:07:32 +02:00 1993 by

/M

[Cerebus]

In other news, the regional shipping centre is to lose its Boots. I wasn't surprised that my mother's local one will shut, but the regional shopping center?!

Boots are having a hard time. I'm not surprised really. They have two businesses really the pharmacy proper on one side and the adjuncts on the other. The pharmacy proper side of the business is competing with traditional 'single store front' pharmacists who are more local to their customers and have slightly lower overheads. The adjunct business has always overpriced its products  - I buy Neutrogena soap on the recommendation of my dermatologist and I can get it for a fraction of the price Boots charge.

A friend and colleague of mine and I were regularly travelling to Düsseldorf for business last year. His other half is a fan of designer clothes and cosmetics and found that she could buy designer cosmetics in Düseldorf's chain stores at a significant discount compared to Boot's prices in England. If that's possible then imagine the margins that online retails have to play with.

Add to this that the professional pharmacists who work for Boots have been making noises about staffing cutbacks that they regard as safety affecting on the pharmacy side and I think that there's real trouble brewing for Boots.

[bd139]

Went shopping this morning, arrived at Tesco's just on 8  o clock as they opened the doors, the queue was already snaked up and down the parking lanes 4 times and around the outside edge of the car perimeter, store side and then store front. I thought F that and drove down the road to Lidl where there was about 30 people in the queue, but even then it took almost an hour before I was allowed in the store. Once inside though it was almost back to normal with most stuff on the shelf in reasonable volumes. The shopping trip, to just 2 shops, next to each other, Lidls and FarmFoods, took almost 2 and a half hours  . 

I went to a local Polish deli and a greengrocer. I was very annoyed to have to wait 5-10 minutes to get in each of those. It looks like "YMMV"

Greengrocer, cor, I havent seen one of those for years, where in the Galaxy do you live then 

That’s because the only vegetables they eat out in Essex are chips 

More seriously there was a nice place up the A1060 which did hooky looking veg. Was pretty good. Probably not there now as this was over 20 years ago. Got me a 2 foot long marrow for a quid!

[bd139]

Only thing missing was some bake at home (and thus untouched) baguettes to go with the camembert I bought.

This is a bake-at-home baguette:



This is the secret:

I actually spent the entire time in the queue talking my mother through setting up a Gmail account so she can get rid of her BT email address finally and stop being screwed for her ADSL every month.

We seem to have more time as a species at the moment. I hope we learn from this event rather than return to former times of persistent chaos.

There are, like my baking improving, definite up sides to the reorganisation of society. We should learn, adapt, and improve from those. At best, we'll have some 15 years of good from this; but I'm afraid that the information management and dissemination change brought by the wrong people getting access to the Internet will have shortened that time span.

Written Fri Sep 9719 20:07:32 +02:00 1993 by

/M

Nice looking baguette that 

I cheated today and bought some part baked ones seeing as I can’t actually get any flour. 

As for the internet, yes. I believe we'll start seeing the fall of the walled gardens shortly which should improve things. Only reason people can be controlled is they are herded conveniently.

[bitseeker]

This is a bake-at-home baguette:



This is the secret:

Mmm, fresh bread!

[mnementh]

...I didn't realize that Peter Jones (a British actor bearing uncanny resemblance to your namesake ) ALSO voiced the Hitchhiker's Guide itself in the original radio show.

I was in the same class at school and friends with Peter's son, Simon (no relation to the Simon Jones who also appeared in HHGTG). Peter used to live 4 streets away from me.

As to the rest, ehh???

Peter Jones:      Arthur Dent (aka Simon Jones the actor not the son):   

*goes back & looks & follows up on Wikipedia* Well, hell. Guess I got caught in the "Joneses trap" and conflated the two; usually I'm on the lookout for such obvious pitfalls.

mnem
"Well, I'll just nip off & shoot m'self then... Don't worry; I'll be quite humane."

[mnementh]

mnem
Unfortunately... Wally Wurlld wasn't open at all today; the website lied. Typical.

Are you sure that it lied, or is it just a case that you inserted your babel fish back to front

*takes out babelfish & looks at it* *thump-thump-sqweeeeek* Dammit; dead batteries again...

mnem
Now where am I going to get eleven AAAAAAAAAAAA-size batteries with the lockdown going on and Wally Wurlld closed...?

[mansaxel]

Mmm, fresh bread!

Yeah, as I wrote, I've really gotten into sourdough baguettes these last weeks of isolation. I've got a mean culture going, on coarse rye and water; started a month ago with a tad store-bought yeast and it's been improving ever since.

Last week I bought a 15kg bag of flour at one of the en gros companies that allow everyone to shop, albeit without rebates. Still was cheap.

[mnementh]

Mmmmokaaaaayyyy...     I suspect they may come up a wee bit short of their projections here.

mnem
don't read this.

[Specmaster]

Went shopping this morning, arrived at Tesco's just on 8  o clock as they opened the doors, the queue was already snaked up and down the parking lanes 4 times and around the outside edge of the car perimeter, store side and then store front. I thought F that and drove down the road to Lidl where there was about 30 people in the queue, but even then it took almost an hour before I was allowed in the store. Once inside though it was almost back to normal with most stuff on the shelf in reasonable volumes. The shopping trip, to just 2 shops, next to each other, Lidls and FarmFoods, took almost 2 and a half hours  . 

I went to a local Polish deli and a greengrocer. I was very annoyed to have to wait 5-10 minutes to get in each of those. It looks like "YMMV"

Greengrocer, cor, I havent seen one of those for years, where in the Galaxy do you live then 

That’s because the only vegetables they eat out in Essex are chips 

More seriously there was a nice place up the A1060 which did hooky looking veg. Was pretty good. Probably not there now as this was over 20 years ago. Got me a 2 foot long marrow for a quid!

Chips, hmm nice chips  I think that the place you're thinking of is called "The Orchard", just outside Chelmsford, which is a seasonal shop selling mainly fruit grown on the farm with a some potatoes and a few other vegatables, which is currently shut and would be anyway as the planting has not been done.

Edit. Yes you're correct, flour does still seem to be in very short supply, glad I managed to get 4 bags of Strong bread flour earlier and we have a few bags of normal flour by us anyway as SWMBO is into cake making and massively into cake decorating. Nothing with cakes at the moment as nobody wants cakes being made during the lockdown so that means, we have some flour left to use and I also managed to a get couple of packs of those part baked baguettes and dinner rolls to augment home made bread and rolls if it gets tougher. While we can still get fresh bread, we are doing so.

[bd139]

That might have been the one. There was a lot of fruit there.

[Specmaster]

That might have been the one. There was a lot of fruit there.

I think it might be.

[bd139]

That's the one! Glad to see it's still there.