Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Mortymore]

Wow.

Have you seen the two black 3458As?   

What does it mean that I did notice them in terms of nerdiness...?         

I shared the videos in this thread because I thought they show a very TEA reach environment.

Found some Fluke multimeters (87, 287...), Agilent/Keysight PSUs... and meters, Tektronix and Rigol oscilloscopes. And some Arduino boards (sorry to those that hate them)

[Mr. Scram]

Wow.

Have you seen the two black 3458As?   

What does it mean that I did notice them in terms of nerdiness...?         

I know that's how most are used but it always takes me aback to see them used so casually like just another instrument.

[mnementh]

Yeah, well... when you personally aren't ponying up the bux, and have no idea just how much work a normal person has to do to pay for even something like a current version Fluke 87, it's a lot easier to see it as "just another meter". 

mnem
"I'll take two; just to have a backup."

[mnementh]

Yeah; it doesn't have the pigeon's blood filter which makes that lovely ruby red color. I've always kindof disliked this particular display arrangement... plain 7-segment LEDs with clear or no lens over it, leaving the naked segments just glaring at you. Feels fukkin' cheap. No fucking soul in those designers.

OTOH, maybe that's what you WANT in a bedrock piece of gear like this... I dunno. It just deems obvious, at least to me, that the device simply is not FINISHED.

mnem

Always the freaking critic.  But you know what? I agree with you.  My Flukes have a much more finished look.

Holy crap....that's two in row! 

Gosh, if you two keep this up, you'll have a get a room somewhere and take this thing private, I can't take it much more of this newly found respect for each other 

Edit, Bean, what have you started here, you're becoming a modern day Kissinger 

Fuck you very cordially, med.     

You too, Spec... and fuck bean as well, just so he doesn't feel left out.

mnem

[Mr. Scram]

Yeah, well... when you personally aren't ponying up the bux, and have no idea just how much work a normal person has to do to pay for even something like a current version Fluke 87, it's a lot easier to see it as "just another meter". 

mnem
"I'll take two; just to have a backup."

I feel the average NASA engineer has a healthy knowledge of and respect for the kit they use for their job. Can't crank things to 11 like a regular millwright and hope she'll be right when dealing with space stuff. I doubt those 3458A's are also black boxes in the figurative sense.

[Specmaster]

Yeah; it doesn't have the pigeon's blood filter which makes that lovely ruby red color. I've always kindof disliked this particular display arrangement... plain 7-segment LEDs with clear or no lens over it, leaving the naked segments just glaring at you. Feels fukkin' cheap. No fucking soul in those designers.

OTOH, maybe that's what you WANT in a bedrock piece of gear like this... I dunno. It just deems obvious, at least to me, that the device simply is not FINISHED.

mnem

Always the freaking critic.  But you know what? I agree with you.  My Flukes have a much more finished look.

Holy crap....that's two in row! 

Gosh, if you two keep this up, you'll have a get a room somewhere and take this thing private, I can't take it much more of this newly found respect for each other 

Edit, Bean, what have you started here, you're becoming a modern day Kissinger 

Fuck you very cordially, med.     

You too, Spec... and fuck bean as well, just so he doesn't feel left out.

mnem

Stirring the pot a bit more eh mnem 

Missed you last night on the old discord, were you having some problems with your gear?

[Saskia]

hmm, I think some so called disambiguation might be in order. What do you refer to as "his gear" 

just kidding ... just returned from home and from handing over those particle filter masks (3M 7500 she grabbed) to my daughter. I wish her all of luck for her finals. Some politician responsible for reopening schools stated that deaths among pupils and teachers would have to be expected due to that decision, but they would provide psychologic counseling to the bereaved.

I am asking:
would it be politically correct to ask those assholes to burn in hell ?

[Mr. Scram]

hmm, I think some so called disambiguation might be in order. What do you refer to as "his gear" 

just kidding ... just returned from home and from handing over those particle filter masks (3M 7500 she grabbed) to my daughter. I wish her all of luck for her finals. Some politician responsible for reopening schools stated that deaths among pupils and teachers would have to be expected due to that decision, but they would provide psychologic counseling to the bereaved.

I am asking:
would it be politically correct to ask those assholes to burn in hell ?

It's a no win situation. The alternative is to keep things on lock down indefinitely and that'll have its own disastrous effects. I wouldn't want to be the one calling the shots because people will be suffering and dying either way. Just different people.

[Saskia]

well, they could have just called off the finals for this year and have given those who qualified an end grade averaging the past 2 or 3 years, instead of telling them before their exams that some of them will die because some politicians wanted to have those exams right now.

Great job in motivating those kids.

[bd139]

That's happened here too. My eldest gets "what the teachers think she should get". Good time to be in the legal profession at the moment I reckon 

[Saskia]

I am pretty sure, that my daughter will sit in class wearing that 3M 7500 with FFP2 + Charcoal filters (because that's what I was able to get for a stoopeed amount of money) hoping that she will not catch that bug.
I also left her 2 heavy duty ffp3 filters, just in case ...
Obviously people will give her strange looks. But I give 2 shits of a fuck about that and so does she.

Her lung condition is no laughing matter and she is scared shitless because of this decision.

By wearing that over the top mask whe will at least have some peace of mind.

[mnementh]

Stirring the pot a bit more eh mnem 

Missed you last night on the old discord, were you having some problems with your gear?

Naah... was shopping a different kind of gear and lost track of time: Beginner guitars for me and my son to take lessons together from my wife. She swears she "...can teach a pig to sing, and play a guitar while he's doin' it." We're gonna put that to the test. Literally, in my case. 

   Settled on Epiphone Pro-1 Classics for him and myself; matched except I got the 2-inch-nut "classical" wideneck version for me and my big Shrek hands/sausage fingers.

I DID stop in the Discord when I realized it was Saturday; yammered with Pat a few minutes but according to him, I popped in literally 20 seconds after everyone else had ziplined out en masse'. 

mnem
Timing is everything...

[Saskia]

here's something you can practise for.

Absolutely superb.

[mnementh]

hmm, I think some so called disambiguation might be in order. What do you refer to as "his gear" 

just kidding ... just returned from home and from handing over those particle filter masks (3M 7500 she grabbed) to my daughter. I wish her all of luck for her finals. Some politician responsible for reopening schools stated that deaths among pupils and teachers would have to be expected due to that decision, but they would provide psychologic counseling to the bereaved.

I am asking:
would it be politically correct to ask those assholes to burn in hell ?

It's a no win situation. The alternative is to keep things on lock down indefinitely and that'll have its own disastrous effects. I wouldn't want to be the one calling the shots because people will be suffering and dying either way. Just different people.

Well, it's all down to how we've broken our economy; it's stretched so thin to accommodate the greed of the top 0.1% there's no elasticity to fill the void in emergencies like this one. It's long been common wisdom that the average American spends most of their career a handful of missed paychecks from homelessness. It's no accident; just another form of indentured servitude to those .1%ers. 

But it's more insidious than that... that financial model applies to all but the biggest mega-corporations as well; by engaging in the current race to the bottom so assiduously, the only companies that aren't so bound by the need for positive cash flow are those which are so big already they essentially have money constantly flowing by extraction rather than the forces of the free market; whether it be government contract, monopoly power or in many cases, both.

It's not if, but WHEN it breaks; this constant taking from the have-nots to profit those few can only last so long: The center cannot hold.

The reality is that to keep the contagion in check, we NEED to stay in lockdown until a viable cure or at least a vaccine is available. That is at least... if we pour ALL available resources into it... 6-8 months away. More than half the population will be starving to death if they don't get back to work in the next month or two.

Of course, the only thing Resident Chump cares about is that nobody's going to his shitty hotels & casinos.

mnem
Can you say "Emoluments Clause" boys and girls...?

[Mr. Scram]

I am pretty sure, that my daughter will sit in class wearing that 3M 7500 with FFP2 + Charcoal filters (because that's what I was able to get for a stoopeed amount of money) hoping that she will not catch that bug.
I also left her 2 heavy duty ffp3 filters, just in case ...
Obviously people will give her strange looks. But I give 2 shits of a fuck about that and so does she.

Her lung condition is no laughing matter and she is scared shitless because of this decision.

By wearing that over the top mask whe will at least have some peace of mind.

Have you contacted the school about her specific situation? If they can't offer anything the choice is ultimately up to you.

[WastelandTek]

hmm, I think some so called disambiguation might be in order. What do you refer to as "his gear" 

just kidding ... just returned from home and from handing over those particle filter masks (3M 7500 she grabbed) to my daughter. I wish her all of luck for her finals. Some politician responsible for reopening schools stated that deaths among pupils and teachers would have to be expected due to that decision, but they would provide psychologic counseling to the bereaved.

I am asking:
would it be politically correct to ask those assholes to burn in hell ?

criminal

[tggzzz]

In fact, if I were in Germany one of these would be in my driveway....

If I was in Germany, one of these would be in my driveway...

... normally every pilots nightmare: Almost IMC conditions, in a little plastic box without an engine.

Ob jokes...
Q: what is the propellor for? A: to keep the pilot cool, because if it stops he starts sweating.
Q: what is the advantage of a two engined aircraft? A: when one fails it takes longer before you have to make a forced landing.

Potentially true story... The gliding club had a tug aircraft with a weak battery, so it occasionally had to be jump started using a car. In a "normal" airfield that would never have left the hanger, but the tug pilot (who is always and experienced glider pilot) had the attitude "it is only the engine, it doesn't matter if it fails".

[mnementh]

https://youtu.be/gUarhwho0f8   here's something you can practise for. Absolutely superb.

That's an amazing performance... but in all honesty, I'll be happy if I get to the the point I can strum a few chords and sing a few rounds of Kumbaya around the campfire with the kids before I die. You know, without it sounding like a cat stuck in a lute.

mnem
"REEEOWWWWRRRRR!!!" means "I love youuuu..."

[mnementh]

I am pretty sure, that my daughter will sit in class wearing that 3M 7500 with FFP2 + Charcoal filters (because that's what I was able to get for a stoopeed amount of money) hoping that she will not catch that bug.
I also left her 2 heavy duty ffp3 filters, just in case ...
Obviously people will give her strange looks. But I give 2 shits of a fuck about that and so does she.

Her lung condition is no laughing matter and she is scared shitless because of this decision.

By wearing that over the top mask whe will at least have some peace of mind.

Have you contacted the school about her specific situation? If they can't offer anything the choice is ultimately up to you.

Seriously... I'd look into filing a fucking injunction against the assholes involved; yours could be a watershed case. But ultimately, as the parents you have the right to tell them to fuck off; you can sue them for her grades after there's a vaccine.

mnem
 

[Mr. Scram]

Seriously... I'd look into filing a fucking injunction against the assholes involved; yours could be a watershed case. But ultimately, as the parents you have the right to tell them to fuck off; you can sue them for her grades after there's a vaccine.

mnem
 

Litigation is silly in the best of circumstances and definitely not very helpful during a crisis. It also has a nasty habit of sucking you dry financially and emotionally. Avoid at all costs. Talk to the school and tell them to sod off if unproductive. Maybe get a doctor to confirm the risk in this specific case.

[Wolfgang]

In fact, if I were in Germany one of these would be in my driveway....

If I was in Germany, one of these would be in my driveway...

... normally every pilots nightmare: Almost IMC conditions, in a little plastic box without an engine.

Ob jokes...
Q: what is the propellor for? A: to keep the pilot cool, because if it stops he starts sweating.
Q: what is the advantage of a two engined aircraft? A: when one fails it takes longer before you have to make a forced landing.

Potentially true story... The gliding club had a tug aircraft with a weak battery, so it occasionally had to be jump started using a car. In a "normal" airfield that would never have left the hanger, but the tug pilot (who is always and experienced glider pilot) had the attitude "it is only the engine, it doesn't matter if it fails".

There should be separate airspaces for the prankster red barons and the rest of the aviating world. I propose that the separate airspaces are in the antarctic or in Africa. You know this one: There are *old pilots* and *bold* pilots. I'm old.

[Saskia]

well, unfortunately they do not hear critics over here. Couple of days back one critic was locked up in a psychiatric jail. They don't work you to death and cremate you any more, they just lock you away and throw away the key.

The school will be offering her a room of her own to write her tests. And she will have the 3M 7500 with those particle filters that are good enough to stop the virus.

That's all I can do for now. I tried the injunction stuff and petition stuff several times over here.

Hell, I got raped and instead of filing a police report the police showed me out of the police station and off their grounds.

Which is why I refer to Germany as a shithole country.
YMMV

[Saskia]

@Wolfgang when we fool around with our rather large home built rockets we ask for and receive a dedicated airspace which is off limits to everybody else. There's also a NOTAM which makes it pretty clear what we are doing. We have ATC standing by (either on radio or on the phone) during the entire event.

We do expect even glider pilots to honor the NOTAM and keep out of our launch area for their own safety.

We have however seen assholes circling right above our launch site, and glider pilots crossing our launch towers and parking their stuff in our landing zone.

They disappeared after a true scale flight of my scale SAM (4 ft, no warhead) which tore a crater less than 20 m from one of their precious gliders. Even though that was a mishap and not at all intentional it immediately taught a valuable lesson.

[WastelandTek]

Well, it's all down to how we've broken our economy; it's stretched so thin to accommodate the greed of the top 0.1% there's no elasticity to fill the void in emergencies like this one. It's long been common wisdom that the average American spends most of their career a handful of missed paychecks from homelessness. It's no accident; just another form of indentured servitude to those .1%ers. 

But it's more insidious than that... that financial model applies to all but the biggest mega-corporations as well; by engaging in the current race to the bottom so assiduously, the only companies that aren't so bound by the need for positive cash flow are those which are so big already they essentially have money constantly flowing by extraction rather than the forces of the free market; whether it be government contract, monopoly power or in many cases, both.

It's not if, but WHEN it breaks; this constant taking from the have-nots to profit those few can only last so long: The center cannot hold.

...

I do not disagree, in fact I think your analysis is spot on as far as it goes.  I feel compelled to interject, however, that it takes two to tango.

Nobody held a gun to the "average American"'s head and forced them to blow their meager excess disposable on 50" TVs and spinner rims instead of saving up for real assets.

Sure, the elites peddled the debt drug, but it is the common man that injected it.

Until that changes, no amount of griping about the top whatever percent is going to amount to anything.



But hey, we got Schrödinger's Kim Jong Un on second stage if you are not sufficiently entertained by the main show.

[Specmaster]

@mnem, you also described the situation over here, we are in the same boat as the average American, a few missed pay cheques (correct spelling FYI  ) from being homeless as well, in fact your better off here not being a homeowner but a social tenant, as the local authority of a legal duty to provide you with a roof of some sort over your head. Banks and building societies however have no qualms about making you homeless as long as they get their money or the house back so it can be resold again.Thats the nature of capitalism, its all geared to making the top .1% even richer. There does need to be a better distribution of wealth, but neither is communism the answer, but maybe something more in the middle.

Nothing further to be said before we get accused of being political rather than just stating the reality of the situation.