The really boring and totally pointless snippets thread IV

[Pontius Navigator]

Morning folks. One rose from one's slumbers a bit later than normal only to find we have a glorious day outside - shirtsleeve weather although Mrs 4ma will still wear a coat and several layers underneath (being southern and all that).

A prolonged walk today, I think, to enjoy the sun's rays before the apocalypse the guessers are predicting.

Quite right, I was definitely over dressed with a Fair Isle style sweater from Brooks Taverner and a fleece. I had to have the jacket open.

[Magnus]

MrsP had sparrowfart zoom yoga this morning so my usual leisurely start to the day was disturbed. While she was busy in the dining room, I cleared up breakfast then wandered upstairs for a gentle snooze. Much better now.

Today's major excitement is likely to be ordering new guitar strings.

[ian16th]

I can recommend laying down Reds.

Drinking them is much more fun!

[TheGreenGoblin]

Today's major excitement is likely to be ordering new guitar strings.

Turn the amp all the way up to 11. You know it makes sense...

[ribrash]

MrsP had sparrowfart zoom yoga this morning so my usual leisurely start to the day was disturbed. While she was busy in the dining room, I cleared up breakfast then wandered upstairs for a gentle snooze. Much better now.

Today's major excitement is likely to be ordering new guitar strings.

What type do you use ? I mainly use D'addario acoustic and electric.

[Undried Plum]

Total electrical failure this morning, not just a 'power cut'.

I have a bespoke electrical controller gizmo which cleverly balances the power inputs from; the grid; wonky wind turbine; solar panel array; and Powerwall batts. It was made to order by a very clever electrical engineer who is now retired (presumably on the proceeds of what I paid him to design and commission the entire system).

My first and last specification was that the thing should failsafe to a condition of taking power from the grid to the exclusion of all else and indicate that status on the diagnostic/sitrep panel that it had done so.

Today the **** thing has failed. Failed hard. Total shutdown of everything. Exactly what it should never do.

He knows exactly what the fault is and, at his expense, a replacement motherboard which has better firmware on its eprom is on its way by car for me to fit.

I'm pleased that he was so easily and quickly able to diagnose the fault, but also pissed off that he had known about the vulnerability all along and had denied its existence.

Blazing log fires in both living room and study, no heating not a problem. Loads of very hot water in the very well insulated cluster of seven tall boiler cisterns, so plenty of hot tap water. Clatteringly noisy emergency genny is running, so basic circuit of LED lighting and 'puter power is OK. Oil-fired Aga means we can still cook. Deep freezers are on the emergency circuit from the days before this magic gizmo was installed, so hundreds of quids worth of meat will not be lost in the next coupla days. Best goodies are now transferred from the two unpowered fridges to the deepfreezers which have power.

It could be worse, but I'm still very pissed off. Watching the wonky wind turbine spinning uselessly is bloody frustrating.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Single point of failure! Tut, tut...

[Undried Plum]

Yup. That's exactly what I thought I was paying for not to happen.

[Magnus]

MrsP had sparrowfart zoom yoga this morning so my usual leisurely start to the day was disturbed. While she was busy in the dining room, I cleared up breakfast then wandered upstairs for a gentle snooze. Much better now.

Today's major excitement is likely to be ordering new guitar strings.

What type do you use ? I mainly use D'addario acoustic and electric.

Newtone Masterclass phosphor bronze on most acoustics, including custom sets for drop-D and DADGAD, whatever I can get for the ukulele, and Ernie Ball for the Les Paul and the 6/12. I generally buy from StringsDirect.

[belfrybat]

ExA:

Multi meter seem to be broken and we use it for hooch making temperatures. It has suddenly started to give ridiculous readings. May have got water into it.

Check the battery. They usually do that when it goes low.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Yup. That's exactly what I thought I was paying for not to happen.

I can imagine your justifiable anger!

Talking of a single point of failure, your tale of electrical woe brought to mind a cockup that bedeviled me many years back when I was working for an automotive electronics manufacturing outfit whose IT infrastructure, disk arrays, IBM System 38 mini-computer etc. were housed in one air-conditioned room, with a Halon fire extinguisher system etc. but no Uninterruptible Power Supply, so I specified a system and managed the installation and testing of same.

Come the first day of UPS operation, a freak incident proved to be my undoing, because when I pushed open the door to the computer room, the arm on the door closure system swung free (it had been undone to allow some kit into the room through the fully opened door) and swung out in a perfect arc and punched the RED emergency power off button which also covered the UPS (designed thus for cases of electrocution etc.) and all the systems went down at the height of the production day. Thus the whole factory came to a shuddering halt and once the power had been restored, it took some hours to restore the manufacturing system as the database indices had to be rebuilt. Suffice it to say I had a most "interesting" discussion with the CEO and my next task was to have the button moved before I was! I had not factored such a freak cockup into my plan!

[ribrash]

MrsP had sparrowfart zoom yoga this morning so my usual leisurely start to the day was disturbed. While she was busy in the dining room, I cleared up breakfast then wandered upstairs for a gentle snooze. Much better now.

Today's major excitement is likely to be ordering new guitar strings.

What type do you use ? I mainly use D'addario acoustic and electric.

Newtone Masterclass phosphor bronze on most acoustics, including custom sets for drop-D and DADGAD, whatever I can get for the ukulele, and Ernie Ball for the Les Paul and the 6/12. I generally buy from StringsDirect.

+1 I should really try something different especially for the Les Pauls and the 339,but because I only play at home these days I find it easier just to bulk buy the D'addario's.

[Woody]

TGG this is a genuine photo at Perry Oaks International

[Ex-Ascot]

ExA:

Multi meter seem to be broken and we use it for hooch making temperatures. It has suddenly started to give ridiculous readings. May have got water into it.

Check the battery. They usually do that when it goes low.

Thanks BB I was coming to that conclusion. There is one selection where it goes beep. Dunno why, but it doesn't go beep anymore. I will ask a friend to get a new battery for me when he is next in town. The back light still works OK though.

Gawd UP I thought that our system was complicated. Do you have remote monitoring so that you can see what the system is doing from the pub, or indeed Barbados?

[TheGreenGoblin]

TGG this is a genuine photo at Perry Oaks International

And both switches were red, I bet!

[Magnus]

My grandfather came home one dark day, reached for the light switch and was still in darkness. He sat in the dark until my granny got home and told her the problem. She then told him the REAL problem which was that he hadn't turned on the light but the adjacent mains socket whereupon the iron had heated up and burnt a hole in the ironing board. He was, like my father and I, an engineer.

[OFSO]

As an electronics engineer I can only say: everything should be backed up by clearly labelled manual switches. Nothing should ever be designed to be automatic with no possibility of backup by hand. And a run thru of manual control should be carried out once a month (and mea culpa, this last is one thing I never do).

[Pontius Navigator]

Ex-A. My multimeter went TU with an internal fuse blown. The only access was via two deeply embedded screws and one, predictably, could not be undone. It's replacement arrived sans battery.
I opened up the old one and took its battery out and powered up the new machine. After a week, instead of a steady battery voltage it cycled over about 3 volts.
Amazon refunded the cost with no need to return it.

It replacement is due today.
This morning the u/s one worked perfectly. Was it the battery?
Do I now just return the new one that has just arrived?

[Ex-Ascot]

Magnus, at a budget camp just out of town here some years ago they had a power cut. Frequent grid failures. A young girl (German) switched on her hairdryer (yes in the bush on a safari holiday) didn't work so put it on the bed, went to the bar. Power came on so did hairdryer and burnt down half the camp. Before they found out the cause she was the most outright in demanding compensation for lost possessions. She was out of the country before they discovered the truth.

There was a young British fireman staying who saved the thatched lodge area. Idiots were spraying fire extinguishers all over the place. He took command and gave instructions. He also ordered all the kitchen gas bottles to be thrown into the swimming pool.

Brits 1 - Germans 0

PN how much is Bezos worth? I complained about late delivery in Greece of a GPS ended up with two. Both stolen here. Same with a leather man one stolen here.

[TheGreenGoblin]

A young girl (German) switched on her hairdryer (yes in the bush on a safari holiday) didn't work so put it on the bed, went to the bar. Power came on so did hairdryer and burnt down half the camp. Before they found out the cause she was the most outright in demanding compensation for lost possessions. She was out of the country before they discovered the truth.

Some years back, my better half and I flew down in a Cessna 310 to Shamwari for the day but the weather closed in and we ended up staying the night and my better half decided to use the hairdryer in the chalet and ended up being flung across the room as the flex had cracked and shorted when she switched it on, giving her a bad shock. The owners were mortified and waived the cost of the very pleasant evening (thereafter). Only time I have had to go around because of giraffes on the runway.