A random thread for small things that don't really warrant a thread of their own

[Beardy]

I have retreated to sit on the only comfy chair in the kitchen, on the grounds that 4 on a sofa is not comfortable and watching a film, even Elf, is pointless without subtitles.

Oh, FFS.   

To be fair to them Kim, they did search for subtitles when I mentioned it and I did tell them not to worry when we couldn’t find them, so I’m as much to blame.

Why no subtitles, Beardy?

It’s on Amazon Prime Mrs P, and that service is pretty crap for subtitle coverage overall. They’d started watching it when I went to join them and as above, a subsequent search was fruitless.

I am a Christmas grouch though, so I’m not really that unhappy with sitting in the kitchen by myself. Someone will be sent to find out if I’m ok at some point. 

[Kim]

Ah, I'll redirect my FFSing at the usual suspects then.  There have been occasions when we've resorted to piracy because $streaming_service didn't have subs.

[Mrs Pingu]

I have just discovered https://twitter.com/toolotheday the Tool of the day Twitter account. Yes there is an f missing from the Twitter handle.
It's brill.

[Mr Larrington]

I have just discovered @toolotheday the Tool of the day Twitter account. Yes there is an f missing from the Twitter handle.
It's brill.

Is that for the kind of tool that's used to mend things or the kind that fetches up in the "Super-Twat" thread?

[Mrs Pingu]

I have just discovered @toolotheday the Tool of the day Twitter account. Yes there is an f missing from the Twitter handle.
It's brill.

Is that for the kind of tool that's used to mend things or the kind that fetches up in the "Super-Twat" thread?

Useful tools, probably right up T42's street...

[T42]

What T42 could do with right now is a pingfuckit finder. A pickup spring just decamped through a hole in the bench and headed out into the Great Unknown.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I have just discovered @toolotheday the Tool of the day Twitter account. Yes there is an f missing from the Twitter handle.
It's brill.

Is that for the kind of tool that's used to mend things or the kind that fetches up in the "Super-Twat" thread?

Useful tools, probably right up T42's street...

Gotta say I'd assumed the other, but it's better the way it is. 

[andytheflyer]

What T42 could do with right now is a pingfuckit finder. A pickup spring just decamped through a hole in the bench and headed out into the Great Unknown.

I'm not aware that such a tool exists - but invent one and you'll never need to work again. I'll buy a couple immediately.

The nearest I've got to one so far is to keep my workshop floor clean and painted.  The dog is quite a useful pingfuckit finder though - usually long after you've just sourced a replacement. But he means well. 

[Kim]

What T42 could do with right now is a pingfuckit finder. A pickup spring just decamped through a hole in the bench and headed out into the Great Unknown.

I'm not aware that such a tool exists - but invent one and you'll never need to work again. I'll buy a couple immediately.

I think it's called a metal detector.  I have out of sheer desperation managed to track down pingfuckits using a stud finder on a couple of occasions, but only in a reasonably confined area.

Of course, if the floor is full of nails, that approach is of limited use.

My usual approach is bright illumination from an oblique angle, doubling the search radius in accordance with the Law Of Dropped Small Objects, and ideally recruiting another person to help with the search, as they won't subconsciously skip the same bits that you do.

[Jurek]

I have just discovered https://twitter.com/toolotheday the Tool of the day Twitter account. Yes there is an f missing from the Twitter handle.
It's brill.

Liking this site very much. 

[andrewc]

What T42 could do with right now is a pingfuckit finder. A pickup spring just decamped through a hole in the bench and headed out into the Great Unknown.

I'm not aware that such a tool exists - but invent one and you'll never need to work again. I'll buy a couple immediately.

I think it's called a metal detector.  I have out of sheer desperation managed to track down pingfuckits using a stud finder on a couple of occasions, but only in a reasonably confined area.

Of course, if the floor is full of nails, that approach is of limited use.

My usual approach is bright illumination from an oblique angle, doubling the search radius in accordance with the Law Of Dropped Small Objects, and ideally recruiting another person to help with the search, as they won't subconsciously skip the same bits that you do.

Walking around in bare feet is usually effective, as long as you don’t find a 3 pin plug first...

[Torslanda]

...or a 2 stud Lego!

[Kim]

...or fresh cat vomit.

[lou boutin]

I bought myself a new (non-apple) super fantastic tablet and blue tooth keyboard for Christmas and I am loving it.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Lego usually wins.

[Kim]

Has anyone successfully tracked down a missing Shimano dynamo hub connector using this technique?  It should be really effective...

[T42]

What T42 could do with right now is a pingfuckit finder. A pickup spring just decamped through a hole in the bench and headed out into the Great Unknown.

I'm not aware that such a tool exists - but invent one and you'll never need to work again. I'll buy a couple immediately.

The nearest I've got to one so far is to keep my workshop floor clean and painted.  The dog is quite a useful pingfuckit finder though - usually long after you've just sourced a replacement. But he means well.

Damnable thing is that while I was looking for the spring the screw that goes through it buggered off as well.  This maybe should go in the fecking div thread.

"Workshop floor clean and painted"? What is this strange concept?

[andytheflyer]

"Workshop floor clean and painted"? What is this strange concept?

I have a 'garage' (too bloody narrow for today's cars) internal to my house, which doubles as a laundry room (we have a storage heater so we dry washing inside when necessary) and my workshop.  It has a screed floor.

Years ago, fed up of the dusty cement, I painted it with Ronseal floor paint.  Magic.  It's a plasticky finish and a bit slippery for the dog, but it's easy to keep clean and that also means that you have a fighting chance of finding the pingfuckit that I inevitably drop when building my model aeroplanes - clevis pins, servo screws - all the tiny bits....

I have to repaint it every few years, but it makes finding the tiny bits so much easier.  And you can mop up the muddy dog paw prints at this time of year. As Kim infers, an oblique light at floor level on a clean, smooth floor helps the tiny bits to stand out.  Along with a reserve of the tiny bits in my spares bins....

DAMHIK which tiny bits to have in stock in the spares bins....

[T42]

Mine's concrete, probably sealed in the dim & distant since it's not of itself dusty. OTOH the carpet (aka opened-out boxes) makes it hard to put a broom over it and the machines throw the dust hither and yon so I don't make a great effort to keep it clean. It gets swept maybe twice a year.

Nice thing about hand tools is that the débris doesn't travel.

[SteveC]

Is it wrong to start checking the weather forecast for my first commute of next year?
(Keen on doing this as I've been off the bike for all of December and will have an enforced layoff for the latter half of January and all of February.)

[hellymedic]

Is it wrong to start checking the weather forecast for my first commute of next year?
(Keen on doing this as I've been off the bike for all of December and will have an enforced layoff for the latter half of January and all of February.)

Would it be wrong to suggest there's a 'weatherish' thread?

[Cudzoziemiec]

That "keep calm and carry on" meme has been redeemed.

[SoreTween]

Leaving for forrin tomorrow involving a change at every travellers favourite black hole - Schipol.  Not just transiting either, I've a 15 hour layover which means 15 hours for the baggage mishandlers to lose my hold bag.  I'm sure they'll make the best of the opportunity.

[Beardy]

Leaving for forrin tomorrow involving a change at every travellers favourite black hole - Schipol.  Not just transiting either, I've a 15 hour layover which means 15 hours for the baggage mishandlers to lose my hold bag.  I'm sure they'll make the best of the opportunity.

with a 15 hour layover in Schipol I think I’d be tempted to use another method of transport to NL, probably the ferry form Harwich to Hook then train to the airport. It’d not save me any time, but it would reduce the hassle at Schipol and avoid a 15 hour wait in the dreadful place. Mind ewe, I am based in East Anglia so there’s little traveling at this end for me.

[T42]

Leaving for forrin tomorrow involving a change at every travellers favourite black hole - Schipol.  Not just transiting either, I've a 15 hour layover which means 15 hours for the baggage mishandlers to lose my hold bag.  I'm sure they'll make the best of the opportunity.

Once met a bloke in the transit lounge bar at Schipol who said that he was on a 15 hour wait, going home after 18 months in Saudi. He said he was on his 16th glass of gin, but he was still sitting up straight so he was probably exaggerating.