The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.

[JefO]

Bloke I am training with does extra miles before our training then I keep dropping him. If he didn't do the extra miles, he would keep up. Wish he would do the extra after the ride instead. Glad he trains with me, but I am losing patience, as waiting for him is detracting from my training.

[Kim]

Barakta's leg-zapping machine has an ineffectual warning beeper at a frequency she can't really hear.  It was also programmed on a Friday afternoon by someone who'd probably read a couple of Adafruit tutorials, leading to a distractingly flickery full redraw of its crappy OLED display every second as the countdown updates and - it seems - seconds that last longer than a second while it's busy beeping about low battery.

[barakta]

And the target market involves largely elderly people (with slow healing fractures) who are very very likely to have presbycusis (age related hearing loss) which takes out the higher frequencies first. So you want to be avoiding anything above 2kHz, or doing two-tone with something 500-1000Hzish and then something higher to cover your bets.

And I reckon that "I have a problem" beep is ~8kHz cos I can barely hear it which suggests it's over the 7kHz top end this hearing aid is rated for (I checked) and sounds higher than the tinnitus I matched to Kim's sig-gen at 7kHz (cos I'm sad like that, I frequency matched my tinnitus).

[mrcharly-YHT]

What does it do? Make muscles spasm?

[Kim]

What does it do? Make muscles spasm?

Applies (by my maths) almost homeopathic levels of ultrasound to the fracture.  There's a 50% chance this is woo (research is ongoing), but it seems harmless and therefore worth trying.

[SoreTween]

This morning I left a dead kettle and a load of batteries out for recycling.  They were in separate clear plastic bags on top of the refuse bin as instructed.  Lorry pulls up, bags lifted, bin opened, bags chucked in, bin emptied into lorry.

Registration number noted.
Driver (team leader) spoken to.
Biffa grinked.
cc Forest of Dean council.
and local rags.

 

[Mrs Pingu]

I've capitulated and put the heating on.

[Basil]

Why is it February again?
  

[Mrs Pingu]

I want to put a motion sensor bulb in the garage because we keep leaving it on. You can get motion sensor bulbs but they mainly seem to exist in ES cap. Of course that light fitting is a BC. I am not an electrician.
Why can't stuff just be easy?

[chrisbainbridge]

I want to put a motion sensor bulb in the garage because we keep leaving it on. You can get motion sensor bulbs but they mainly seem to exist in ES cap. Of course that light fitting is a BC. I am not an electrician.
Why can't stuff just be easy?

I got an adapter from one to the other of amazon I think or eBay

[Basil]

Yes, I bought adaptors of both flavours from our almost local hardware store. 

[Feanor]

I want to put a motion sensor bulb in the garage because we keep leaving it on. You can get motion sensor bulbs but they mainly seem to exist in ES cap. Of course that light fitting is a BC. I am not an electrician.
Why can't stuff just be easy?

I just did a google search on 'motion sensor bulbs', and the first Amazon hit seemed to have several BC options available.

[Kim]

Adaptors that let you fit a ES lamp inna BC socket are extremely useful, but should be regarded with a degree of caution, as the outer part of the ES screw can become live due to the polarisation roulette inherent in the BC socket.  Good adaptors enclose the entire screw part to prevent accidental gefingerpoken, but not all of them do.

Personally, I consider them Mostly Harmless for ceiling lamps, as if you're getting a ladder out, you're in a mind to think about safety.  I'd be wary of using one in a table lamp with a switch on the holder, thobut.

Pragmatically, I think we should admit defeat and install ES holders wherever possible.  The BC fitting is nice, but it's basically BRITISH exceptionalism at this point.

[lissotriton]

I want to put a motion sensor bulb in the garage because we keep leaving it on. You can get motion sensor bulbs but they mainly seem to exist in ES cap. Of course that light fitting is a BC. I am not an electrician.
Why can't stuff just be easy?

You could fit a separate PIR sensor, but that would be a bit more work wiring it in.
Would let you adjust which way it is pointing, so it can turn on as soon as you open the door.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Seems to me that both BC and ES fittings are on their way out in favour of fancy recessed things which require you to call a plasterer when you need a new bulb.

[Kim]

Seems to me that both BC and ES fittings are on their way out in favour of fancy recessed things which require you to call a plasterer when you need a new bulb.

GPWM

[Mrs Pingu]

I did say 'mainly' rather than exclusively. The ones I've found seem to be a bit low on the lumens front (IMO) for a single bulb in a garage.

[rafletcher]

I want to put a motion sensor bulb in the garage because we keep leaving it on. You can get motion sensor bulbs but they mainly seem to exist in ES cap. Of course that light fitting is a BC. I am not an electrician.
Why can't stuff just be easy?

You could fit a separate PIR sensor, but that would be a bit more work wiring it in.
Would let you adjust which way it is pointing, so it can turn on as soon as you open the door.

That’s what I did in our shed, as the wall switch had a tendency to arc in the damp atmosphere  and trip the RCD in the socket. Now it just stays switched on and the PIR does the business.

[Ham]

What does it do? Make muscles spasm?

Applies (by my maths) almost homeopathic levels of ultrasound to the fracture.  There's a 50% chance this is woo (research is ongoing), but it seems harmless and therefore worth trying.

Is this an alternative to Exogen? That was recommended by the specialist for Mrs Ham's ankle, post fusion of 4 joints last August. 3 healed ok, so is that a measure of success? Second op needed for the other in a week's time

[Kim]

What does it do? Make muscles spasm?

Applies (by my maths) almost homeopathic levels of ultrasound to the fracture.  There's a 50% chance this is woo (research is ongoing), but it seems harmless and therefore worth trying.

Is this an alternative to Exogen? That was recommended by the specialist for Mrs Ham's ankle, post fusion of 4 joints last August. 3 healed ok, so is that a measure of success? Second op needed for the other in a week's time

No, it's Exogen.  There was probably a rant about them failing to provide their service in a timely manner in another thread.

As of the last x-ray the fracture appears to be healing very slowly, for whatever that's worth.

[Ham]

Applies (by my maths) almost homeopathic levels of ultrasound to the fracture.  There's a 50% chance this is woo (research is ongoing), but it seems harmless and therefore worth trying.

No, it's Exogen

Yes, HOW LONG does that single charge last ?  ?  The answer is apparently about 100 hours...... However, a previous version of the machine claimed 5 hours on a single charge Hmmmm

There was probably a rant about them failing to provide their service in a timely manner in another thread.

Our process was smooth and - besides the cost - unremarkable

As of the last x-ray the fracture appears to be healing very slowly, for whatever that's worth.

Hope it ends up well in the end. There does seem to be some evidence for the benefit of ultrasound, but there's no meaningful research and each individual circumstance mitigates for uncertain outcome.

[ian]

I am attending a posh dinner later this week in parts foreign. Evening attire says the invite. What is this thing?

I find the suit because I have only one* and it's at the back of the wardrobe. It seems the Bad Cat had also made room for herself back there as it took thirty minutes to defuzz. Now it only smells vaguely of a creature who is in year fifteen of her entirely successful campaign to avoid bath time. Shoes, hmm, I had a pair of faintly smart shoes but they fell apart at my father's funeral probably because I bought them 2003 and wore them twice and the rubber soles had turned to frangible plastic that steadily disassembled through the event. I have some dark Converse. A tie, I've never owned, so less trouble there. I'll pass in uncivilized society. Packing is hard work, I can't believe I used to keep a 'ready bag' for this kind of thing.

*lie, I have a couple, I paid a nice man in Hong Kong bespoke. Very nice they were. But I was fat, then I wasn't, all in the time I never wore them. Now I can fit in them twice and have room for a friend.

[Kim]

Applies (by my maths) almost homeopathic levels of ultrasound to the fracture.  There's a 50% chance this is woo (research is ongoing), but it seems harmless and therefore worth trying.

No, it's Exogen

Yes, HOW LONG does that single charge last ?  ?  The answer is apparently about 100 hours...... However, a previous version of the machine claimed 5 hours on a single charge Hmmmm

Looks like barakta has the older model. 

5 hours sounds on the optimistic side of about right.  Within an order of magnitude anyway.

There was probably a rant about them failing to provide their service in a timely manner in another thread.

Our process was smooth and - besides the cost - unremarkable

Usual NHS lacking the resources to keep their subcontractors in line problems, I think...

[Ham]

Usual NHS lacking the resources to keep their subcontractors in line problems, I think...

Ah. Congrats on getting it through the NHS, I suppose. This was a direct transaction, here's the price page for the new unit. Given the price tag there's little wonder it went more smoothly. We're fortunate to have private insurance through my work, they don't cover the cost of the unit.

Is it a shit world because you can buy betterer care, or a good one because ultimately it is available for those in real need? I actually tend to the latter.

[barakta]

My Exogen is lucky if it does 5-6 zaps worth on a battery charge which is about 2 hours total (each zap cycle is 20mins).

While Cochrane and NICE were ambivalent, I'm guessing there must be something 'worth a try' for the NHS to fund it out of the ortho hospital. Weirdly my pelvis had much larger bone gaps which healed up no problem, it's just been this sodding femur.

I have finally got off my backside to chase the hip secretaries for my late-March appointment as their appointment organising seems to have died and require the patient to do all the chasing legwork. Hoping they'll say it's healed enough to go on the waiting list for metalwork out as we think that's the source of some of my remaining leg pain.