Author Topic: what I have learned today.  (Read 847187 times)

Basil

  • Um....err......oh bugger!
  • Help me!
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3825 on: 02 November, 2019, 07:16:41 pm »
That there things that an old person will never learn or retain, no matter how many zillion times you tell them.
My landline rang tonight.  This will be one of two things. A call centre trying to get me to have a smart meter, or my mum.
It wasn't the call centre.

My mum was very concerned as she'd been trying to contact my son all week re. his impending visit. She'd left several messages but he'd not got back.
A brief moment of concern by me. But only brief.

"Mum, are you calling his landline? "
"Yes, of course.  I get free calls"
"Mum, we keep telling you that there is no phone connected to his landline.  You have to call his mobile. "
Admission.  I'm actually not that fussed about cake.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3826 on: 02 November, 2019, 07:18:29 pm »
That's compounded by years of Hollywood telecoms having taught people that a line with no phone on it gives some sort of error tone.  It doesn't.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3827 on: 04 November, 2019, 05:37:50 pm »
That Husqvarna, manufacturers of motocrossers and chainsaws, also make sewing machines. In fact, I'm going to find out what else they make; perhaps they are the Swedish versian of what Nokia used to be?  :thumbsup:
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3828 on: 04 November, 2019, 05:45:04 pm »
All sorts of industrial power tools seems to be the answer. Can't find any sewing machines on their website but that's cos they've shoved them off to a separate site, Husqvarna Viking. Still same family. Motorbikes sold off in the late 80s, as I vaguely knew, and now owned by KTM (who used to be tiny and obscure, a motorised equivalent of Puch, sort of).
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

FifeingEejit

  • Not Small
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3829 on: 04 November, 2019, 05:52:35 pm »
All sorts of industrial power tools seems to be the answer. Can't find any sewing machines on their website but that's cos they've shoved them off to a separate site, Husqvarna Viking. Still same family. Motorbikes sold off in the late 80s, as I vaguely knew, and now owned by KTM (who used to be tiny and obscure, a motorised equivalent of Puch, sort of).
Lawnmowers is where I first discovered them, at the same time as discovering the Briggs and Stratton engine on Dad's one had a really rubbish starter cord as I broke it... Twice
Although that may have been my technique as I struggle to start my motorhomes generator too.

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk


Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3830 on: 05 November, 2019, 07:07:31 pm »
That some e-cigarettes, including from Big Tobacco, contain zero nicotine. Which is slightly bizarre.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3831 on: 05 November, 2019, 07:25:45 pm »
That some e-cigarettes, including from Big Tobacco, contain zero nicotine. Which is slightly bizarre.

Easier to wean yourself off nicotine than it is to wean yourself off smoking.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3832 on: 05 November, 2019, 07:41:39 pm »
Though the original idea of vaping was the opposite – to get the nicotine without smoking.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Mrs Pingu

  • Who ate all the pies? Me
    • Twitter
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3833 on: 05 November, 2019, 07:55:43 pm »
It probably was, but additionally it's then easier to reduce the nicotine content to nil and then presumably all you have to give up is the act itself.
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3834 on: 05 November, 2019, 09:10:04 pm »
Good point. And once you've reduced the nicotine to zero, and no tobacco, why give up? Or cynically, it's a way to habituate children to vaping without breaking the law (assuming there are some places which allow nicotine-free vapes to be sold to children; not UK, but somewhere).
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3835 on: 07 November, 2019, 01:55:58 am »
The word "homeowner" has "meow" in it. 

good luck getting that out of your mind the next time you say it

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3836 on: 07 November, 2019, 08:36:25 am »
;D
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3837 on: 07 November, 2019, 11:31:41 am »
Imodium only works if you have something solid for it work on.  :hand:
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3838 on: 07 November, 2019, 01:05:25 pm »
"Do epic shit" rides again.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3839 on: 08 November, 2019, 10:39:23 am »
The meaning of "empennage"
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

TheLurker

  • Goes well with magnolia.
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3840 on: 08 November, 2019, 03:19:21 pm »
The meaning of "empennage"
You've been reading the "Flights of Fancy" thread haven't you? :)
Τα πιο όμορφα ταξίδια γίνονται με τις δικές μας δυνάμεις - Φίλοι του Ποδήλατου

Mrs Pingu

  • Who ate all the pies? Me
    • Twitter
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3841 on: 08 November, 2019, 07:06:38 pm »
The meaning of "empennage"

Is it to make empanadas?
:P
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Phil W

Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3842 on: 08 November, 2019, 07:27:52 pm »
What pegging is (well earlier this week but anyway..)

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3843 on: 13 November, 2019, 03:43:43 pm »
A few months ago, someone posted about discovering that London phone boxes still contain prostitutes' cards. Today, I discovered that sex chat phone lines still exist.
(I went to have my hair cut. While waiting, there were the Sun, Mirror and Star to peruse flick through. The sex lines were advertised in the Star, though I might just not have noticed them in the other two.)
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3844 on: 13 November, 2019, 06:26:42 pm »
I've probably told the story before of how I discovered that people who aren't sniggery 12 year olds actually call them, but just in case:

When I was a PSO, I came home to discover $housemate on the phone, describing the minor leak from his radiator.  Naturally I assumed he was nagging the landlord about the state of the central heating (we were at that point heating the room with a hairdryer), but became suspicious as the conversation failed to reach any kind of plumber-related consensus, briefly went off on some other tangent, and was abruptly halted by the other party.  Without missing a beat, he pressed a couple of keys and went into several iterations of "Hello, my name's [REDACTED], I'm about 6' tall, blond hair, blue eyes, if you want to chat, get back to me.".

Clarity came in a conversation with $other_housemate, who'd been in negotiations with our-favourite-telco over why they kept cutting us off.  Turns out that between the student with family in ABROAD, the computer geeks[1], and the 0898[1] enthusiast, our account kept exceeding some SEEKRIT credit limit.


[1] Teenagers: Ask your parents.

Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3845 on: 13 November, 2019, 07:02:54 pm »
The meaning of "empennage"
You've been reading the "Flights of Fancy" thread haven't you? :)

Actually an air accident report  ;D
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3846 on: 13 November, 2019, 07:34:46 pm »
I've probably told the story before of how I discovered that people who aren't sniggery 12 year olds actually call them, but just in case:

[1] Teenagers: Ask your parents.


These are still a thing ?  :-D


Way back  in the late 80's one of my responsibilities at everyones favourite telco was to weekly access a locked room full of racked cassette players linked to phone lines , and make a note of how many calls had been logged against each one that week, then zero the counters.  These figures were used to work out how much money we had to pay the smut pedlars, and how much we kept ourselves. 


Another colleague had the job of listening to each new cassette as it was submitted to us, and make sure it wasn't too racy......
Not fast & rarely furious

tweeting occasional in(s)anities as andrewxclark

Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3847 on: 13 November, 2019, 08:16:13 pm »
I remember doing upgrades for various telcos offering cut-price international calls in the 90s. A key feature of the timing was people coming back from pubs / clubs and calling overseas sex lines (and loved ones, maybe). We needed to wait for that traffic to die down to avoid cutting anyone off - or worse, loosing the billing data.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3848 on: 13 November, 2019, 08:20:40 pm »
Another colleague had the job of listening to each new cassette as it was submitted to us, and make sure it wasn't too racy......

Presumably the rejects got edited into a Christmas tape?

Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #3849 on: 13 November, 2019, 08:32:53 pm »
Another colleague had the job of listening to each new cassette as it was submitted to us, and make sure it wasn't too racy......

Presumably the rejects got edited into a Christmas tape?


Poor Brian who had that job was the meekest, shyest, most respectable chap you could imagine...  I think he must have been a very effective censor.  Certainly the few tapes I listened to in the line of duty would have had me asking for a refund..


I'm trying to remember the mechanics of how I did this job.  I remember I had to remove a big digital (?) master cassette / tape drive & replace it, and also remember having to blank this on regular occasions using a special mains powered magnetic gadget
Not fast & rarely furious

tweeting occasional in(s)anities as andrewxclark