Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[vk6zgo]

...The only break I had was yesterday afternoon, to take my car in for its MOT (yes my wheel speed sensor fix worked, and it passed with only 1 advisory), and the replacement ground crew managed to get his phone run over. Some people...   

Hey, at least he didn't run over your phone with a scissorlift... 

mnem
think (+). charge (-).

Of course not, I'm not a fuckwit that leaves his phone on the floor where a 2.5 tonne scissor lift is driving around.

Well yes, but we are talking aboot fuckwits here.  There is no doubt in my mind that given sufficient exposure to their presence, they can and will find a way to run over your phone too. 

mnem
it does seem that "the lowest common denominator" always resolves all over me.

To be clear, I'm calling the person replacing me as the ground crew a fuckwit, not the driver. The whole point One of the main reasons for the ground crew is to spot dangers that the driver might not reasonably be expected to see from 12 metres up in a dimly lit sports hall, while trying not to bang the MEWP into structural steels or 3 inch gas pipes (the other main reason being to operate emergency controls should the MEWP fail or the driver is decapitated).

Sorry... this is how I read that... having used them more than a few times, and never with benefit of any "workman's safety agency" making sure I had adequate assistance of that nature, I'll tell you they scare the ever-loving bejeezus outta me. 

Especially one time when due to narrow spaces between beams, I misjudged my most personal locational situation, and all-too-narrowly avoided rupturing a halide lamp with the back of my big ol' fuzzy haid. Literally got close enough to feel the static and heat and too much environmental noise to hear the buzz... 

mnem
"tongue-tied and twisted, just an earthbound misfit, I...."

In my first full time job at 16 there were no MEWPs. Some of the 8ft flourescent tubes about 25ft up in the high bay needed changing. The fixtures were on chains so nowhere to put the top of the ladder. Guess who got sent up  3 section extending ladder that was held vertically by a couple of blokes  The ladders moving, the fittings swinging around and I'm trying to get the pins aligned. Things you did when you didn't know any better  .
My main job was component level repairs on early electroinc amusement (arcade) machines. This was mostly video games and early electronic pintables. However there was not enough of tht to be full time. So you did what ever ws needed. So that was everything from old Jennings "Indian" mechanical fruit machines, refurbishing the cinema projection suite, acting as assistant projectonist, working on early electromechanical fruits with 240V mains on open leaf contacts on relays and sequencers. We also built machines including a video blackjack machine that used an Intel 4040 based board. Test equipment was basic. An AVO 8, Solartron 7040 DMM,  a Philips 10MHz dual trace 'scope (can't recall the model but had TV trigger etc) and a "Yaesu"  digital frequency counter with 7 seg filament display.
It taught me a lot. I now only go up ladders that are at the right angle on solid non-slip surfaces and if more the 6ft up they are "footed" and secured near the top.

When I worked at TVW7 Studios, there was one lamp that was situated in the "stairwell" alongside the  stairs to the second floor.

There was no way to reach it from the stairs, the second floor, or the ground floor, so the Electrician got an extension ladder, dragooned about a dozen people into helping, most standing on successive steps of the staircase, holding the ladder back against the stair rail, & some "footing the base".
This unorthodox method worked well, but raised the obvious question:-

How many TVW staff does it take to change a lightbulb?

At a previous job, we had fluoros set into the ceiling in our cavernous transmitter hall, so changing them entailed the use of "the mother of all stepladders".
That was not so bad--------a worse job was changing conventional incandescents in flush fittings at the top of an even higher "breezeway" at the side of the building.

The big ladder just made it, but undoing corroded screws to obtain access, then getting showered by dead moths, whilst teetering at "full stretch" on a ladder got "old" pretty fast!

Needless to say, we cursed the unknown architect who designed such dumb things into a basically utilitarian building.
They looked good, but that was about it!

[Brumby]

Must be an interesting story on how it got from Tinker AFB in Oklahoma to Oz. 

I did talk to the seller, but the only part of the origin story available was constrained to the east coast of Australia.  How it crossed the Pacific is a mystery.

[vk6zgo]

Must be an interesting story on how it got from Tinker AFB in Oklahoma to Oz. 

I did talk to the seller, but the only part of the origin story available was constrained to the east coast of Australia.  How it crossed the Pacific is a mystery.

On the back of the Wagyl (rainbow serpent) in the Dreamtime.

[Neper]

It is affordable, and it is readily available too, which you can't say about De-Oxit, not on this side of the pond anyway.

I've been using this stuff for a number of years with good results:



http://teslanol.ch/televita-produkte-uebersicht.html?id=5

https://www.ebay.de/itm/161241319994

[McBryce]

oh whutaday ...

the newly bought car did not pass road safety inspection.

What were the failed items?

axle sleeves, porous brake line, ball joints

For one scary moment I though we were still discussing medical ailments! Good to know that you were refering to a car.

McBryce.

[Cerebus]

In my first full time job at 16 there were no MEWPs. Some of the 8ft flourescent tubes about 25ft up in the high bay needed changing. The fixtures were on chains so nowhere to put the top of the ladder. Guess who got sent up  3 section extending ladder that was held vertically by a couple of blokes  The ladders moving, the fittings swinging around and I'm trying to get the pins aligned. Things you did when you didn't know any better  .

Back in my entertainment rigging days it was common to find 20 foot or longer collapsible A frame ladders that you had to climb to point/service theatre lighting - nothing stopping them collapsing but an overstressed hinge at the top and a thin bit of rope at the bottom that served to theoretically stop the thing from flattening out. At the time I was an enthusiastic and experienced mountaineer, happy to hang off overhanging bits of rock with nothing but a rope to stop me if I cocked up (with a couple of pegs you knew were going to ping out if you put a falling load on them). Despite that climbing those ladders gave me the collywobbles every time. Let alone climbing them, just learning to carry one horizontally without demolishing everything and everyone around you was a difficult enough skill in itself.

[Cerebus]

That fish and chips looks damn good. Even though I'm 70 miles inland from the coast there are places nearby where can get a decent sample.

According to USPS the Fluke 8060A will show up today rather than Monday. It's currently at local Newburgh distribution. If it gets to local PO soon it should be delivered.

The "British Invasion" started early today. She got herself caught up on "East Enders" now we have "Doc Martin". BTW, what town is that show recorded at? Interesting little village with it's own sheltered harbor (harbour). I suppose I could Google it.

Not sure if I'll be on Discord later today.

Port Issac

[Neper]

And speaking of contact cleaners, you all might want to have an occasional look in your basement. This is what the_bestest_of_all_halves^tm found in ours, last summer:




A long forgotten spray can of Kontakt WL, somewhat corroded at the seams, had eventually given up, causing a right royal mess:

[xrunner]

The sorting is going well. Maxim was helping me by pawing at certain bins he wanted me to sort, then he got bored. He's not napping (his eyes aren't completely shut) so I think now he's planning which of the sorted cups (maybe all?) he shall dump onto the floor when I leave the table. Seems to be eyeing the 1/4 x 20 cup ...

Note to myself: Put all sorted cups in garage before going to bed. 

[Cerebus]

He's trying to calculate the optimum route that lets him flip each container by standing on its edge as he rushes from the table after pretending to be startled by some noise behind him.

Is he also "a-licking of his thumbs"?

Macavity’s a Mystery Cat: he’s called the Hidden Paw—
For he’s the master criminal who can defy the Law.
He’s the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad’s despair:
For when they reach the scene of crime—Macavity’s not there!

Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity,
He’s broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.
His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,
And when you reach the scene of crime—Macavity’s not there!
You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air—
But I tell you once and once again, Macavity’s not there!

Macavity’s a ginger cat, he’s very tall and thin;
You would know him if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in.
His brow is deeply lined with thought, his head is highly domed;
His coat is dusty from neglect, his whiskers are uncombed.
He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake;
And when you think he’s half asleep, he’s always wide awake.

Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity,
For he’s a fiend in feline shape, a monster of depravity.
You may meet him in a by-street, you may see him in the square—
But when a crime’s discovered, then Macavity’s not there!

He’s outwardly respectable. (They say he cheats at cards.)
And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard’s.
And when the larder’s looted, or the jewel-case is rifled,
Or when the milk is missing, or another Peke’s been stifled,
Or the greenhouse glass is broken, and the trellis past repair—
Ay, there’s the wonder of the thing! Macavity’s not there!

And when the Foreign Office find a Treaty’s gone astray,
Or the Admiralty lose some plans and drawings by the way,
There may be a scrap of paper in the hall or on the stair—
But it’s useless to investigate—Macavity’s not there!
And when the loss has been disclosed, the Secret Service say:
‘It must have been Macavity!’—but he’s a mile away.
You’ll be sure to find him resting, or a-licking of his thumbs;
Or engaged in doing complicated long division sums.

Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity,
There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity.
He always has an alibi, and one or two to spare:
At whatever time the deed took place—MACAVITY WASN’T THERE!
And they say that all the Cats whose wicked deeds are widely known
(I might mention Mungojerrie, I might mention Griddlebone)
Are nothing more than agents for the Cat who all the time
Just controls their operations: the Napoleon of Crime!

[xrunner]

   exactly! 

[mansaxel]

In my first full time job at 16 there were no MEWPs. Some of the 8ft flourescent tubes about 25ft up in the high bay needed changing. The fixtures were on chains so nowhere to put the top of the ladder. Guess who got sent up  3 section extending ladder that was held vertically by a couple of blokes  The ladders moving, the fittings swinging around and I'm trying to get the pins aligned. Things you did when you didn't know any better  .

Back in my entertainment rigging days it was common to find 20 foot or longer collapsible A frame ladders that you had to climb to point/service theatre lighting - nothing stopping them collapsing but an overstressed hinge at the top and a thin bit of rope at the bottom that served to theoretically stop the thing from flattening out. At the time I was an enthusiastic and experienced mountaineer, happy to hang off overhanging bits of rock with nothing but a rope to stop me if I cocked up (with a couple of pegs you knew were going to ping out if you put a falling load on them). Despite that climbing those ladders gave me the collywobbles every time. Let alone climbing them, just learning to carry one horizontally without demolishing everything and everyone around you was a difficult enough skill in itself.

Another, similar, take on this, also from similar milieu, is my saying: "I'm not afraid of heights, but I'm scared shitless of bad ladders"

[Specmaster]

   ... and also had a lunch break at my favorite restaurant at the end of the universe.

Saskia, we get it. Stop the fishy posts - we clearly accept that there is an upside to living near the coast!   Grrr...not much decent fish to be had round here.

   
*raises a paw*

more please. 

mnem
*inhales deeply*

Me, three! (more fish 'n' chips, not just pics  )

But please... no British fish for the time bearing being, I don't fancy eating fish that has been subjected to our raw sewage being dumped into the sea. 

[mnementh]

...I think I'm going to put the Roombas down, back slowly away and work on my daughter's Halloween costume. She's a witch without a broom to ride, and I need to fix that... 

mnem
'twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimbal in the wabe...

Now that is a proper young witch's broom. 

mnem
*runs away cackling into the distance*

Nicely done!  Will household implements be reassembled post-Halloween?

On a similar note, we were ready to do final assembly of a Minecraft torch, when out of seemingly nowhere, the costume was changed to a ninja.
All proposed accessories were denied as school has rules against anything resembling a weapon...

Nope, this one is gonna stay as-is and stashed in a closet; my wife often does Miss Music Witch as a teaching aid from time to time throughout the year.

I spent the whopping 1.25 Canuckistan shekels on a new broomstick from the Dollar store, as I had plans to stash a 18650 cell/protection PCB inside. I hemmed and hawed over different switch solutions; all were totes a PITA, so I just potted the cell inside the plastic end-grip and put a JST-XH plug on it for connection, charging and as the power switch. Just slide the grip off the end, then plug/unplug as needed; KISS principle in action.    Total current draw is ~100mA, so should run literally a whole day on a charge.

Awww, that blows.     Waitaminnit... since you have the black outfit... maybe he could go AS a Minecraft Torch...?

mnem
 

[Specmaster]

...The only break I had was yesterday afternoon, to take my car in for its MOT (yes my wheel speed sensor fix worked, and it passed with only 1 advisory), and the replacement ground crew managed to get his phone run over. Some people...   

Hey, at least he didn't run over your phone with a scissorlift... 

mnem
think (+). charge (-).

Of course not, I'm not a fuckwit that leaves his phone on the floor where a 2.5 tonne scissor lift is driving around.

Well yes, but we are talking aboot fuckwits here.  There is no doubt in my mind that given sufficient exposure to their presence, they can and will find a way to run over your phone too. 

mnem
it does seem that "the lowest common denominator" always resolves all over me.

To be clear, I'm calling the person replacing me as the ground crew a fuckwit, not the driver. The whole point One of the main reasons for the ground crew is to spot dangers that the driver might not reasonably be expected to see from 12 metres up in a dimly lit sports hall, while trying not to bang the MEWP into structural steels or 3 inch gas pipes (the other main reason being to operate emergency controls should the MEWP fail or the driver is decapitated).

Sorry... this is how I read that... having used them more than a few times, and never with benefit of any "workman's safety agency" making sure I had adequate assistance of that nature, I'll tell you they scare the ever-loving bejeezus outta me. 

Especially one time when due to narrow spaces between beams, I misjudged my most personal locational situation, and all-too-narrowly avoided rupturing a halide lamp with the back of my big ol' fuzzy haid. Literally got close enough to feel the static and heat and too much environmental noise to hear the buzz... 

mnem
"tongue-tied and twisted, just an earthbound misfit, I...."

In my first full time job at 16 there were no MEWPs. Some of the 8ft flourescent tubes about 25ft up in the high bay needed changing. The fixtures were on chains so nowhere to put the top of the ladder. Guess who got sent up  3 section extending ladder that was held vertically by a couple of blokes  The ladders moving, the fittings swinging around and I'm trying to get the pins aligned. Things you did when you didn't know any better  .
My main job was component level repairs on early electroinc amusement (arcade) machines. This was mostly video games and early electronic pintables. However there was not enough of tht to be full time. So you did what ever ws needed. So that was everything from old Jennings "Indian" mechanical fruit machines, refurbishing the cinema projection suite, acting as assistant projectonist, working on early electromechanical fruits with 240V mains on open leaf contacts on relays and sequencers. We also built machines including a video blackjack machine that used an Intel 4040 based board. Test equipment was basic. An AVO 8, Solartron 7040 DMM,  a Philips 10MHz dual trace 'scope (can't recall the model but had TV trigger etc) and a "Yaesu"  digital frequency counter with 7 seg filament display.
It taught me a lot. I now only go up ladders that are at the right angle on solid non-slip surfaces and if more the 6ft up they are "footed" and secured near the top. 

That reminded me about the times 8ft florescent lamps that we had fitted in the bus garage where I did my apprenticeship needed attention, and I had to go up a ladder propped against a double-decker bus (13ft) and replace the tubes while standing on the roof of the bus, no other safety devices were available apart from someone standing on the bottom of the ladder, the top being tied through an air vent window to the handrail of the upstairs seats. Very scary stuff that, being up there with other buses moving around you all the time 

Later on they got me a trailer mounted wind-up telescopic work tower with about an 8 ft square platform with handrails and central trapdoor in the floor to gain access to the platform from a vertical ladder which extended as the sections were wound up which got smaller at the top as it approached maximum height. It had 4 outriggers with screw jacks to steady it, but it was still scary, not only because of the moving buses but also that dammed thing swayed from side to side with the slack in the sections. It was well before scissor lifts were invented, and they sway as well.

[mnementh]

New acquisition:Fluke 325 true RMS clamp meter   Up to 400A AC and DC   https://www.fluke.com/en-us/product/electrical-testing/clamp-meters/fluke-325
(SNIP)
I bought this meter to help me gather startup and running loads from several circuits in order to size a backup generator for the nest. It came with a set of two "Energizer MAX" AAA batteries installed that I promptly removed. I'm going to see how well NiMHs work in it.

Having had a chance to spend some quality time with both, I can heartily recommend both the Amazon Basics and the EBL NiMH batteries off Bezos' Crack Shop. The EBLs consistently come within 100mAH of rated spec, the Amazon Basics actually exceed spec by up to 100mAH, and both have nice low IR at ~15 milli which has not changed appreciably in a year of daily use in everything from meters to remote controls (including medium-drain BT ROKU remotes with audio) to high-drain stuff like my vintage digital cameras. This compares to 25-35 milli  from my ENELOOPs; which the EBLs are supposedly also LSD.

Not the cheapest rechargeables you can get, but I'd say they're a good candidate for the cheapest known decent quality cells you can get, and with Prime shipping to quiet the "I WANT IT NOW!!!" monster in the pit of your stomach.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NWWLP5S

https://www.amazon.com/stores/EBL/page/A748F468-BB41-4C67-A1E7-18FA3890EAE2

mnem
*waiting patiently for my 27*

[mnementh]

To be clear, I'm calling the person replacing me as the ground crew a fuckwit, not the driver. The whole point One of the main reasons for the ground crew is to spot dangers that the driver might not reasonably be expected to see from 12 metres up in a dimly lit sports hall, while trying not to bang the MEWP into structural steels or 3 inch gas pipes (the other main reason being to operate emergency controls should the MEWP fail or the driver is decapitated).

Sorry... this is how I read that... having used them more than a few times, and never with benefit of any "workman's safety agency" making sure I had adequate assistance of that nature, I'll tell you they scare the ever-loving bejeezus outta me. 

Especially one time when due to narrow spaces between beams, I misjudged my most personal locational situation, and all-too-narrowly avoided rupturing a halide lamp with the back of my big ol' fuzzy haid. Literally got close enough to feel the static and heat and too much environmental noise to hear the buzz... 

mnem
"tongue-tied and twisted, just an earthbound misfit, I...."

In my first full time job at 16 there were no MEWPs. Some of the 8ft flourescent tubes about 25ft up in the high bay needed changing. The fixtures were on chains so nowhere to put the top of the ladder. Guess who got sent up  3 section extending ladder that was held vertically by a couple of blokes  The ladders moving, the fittings swinging around and I'm trying to get the pins aligned. Things you did when you didn't know any better  .
My main job was component level repairs on early electroinc amusement (arcade) machines. This was mostly video games and early electronic pintables. However there was not enough of tht to be full time. So you did what ever ws needed. So that was everything from old Jennings "Indian" mechanical fruit machines, refurbishing the cinema projection suite, acting as assistant projectonist, working on early electromechanical fruits with 240V mains on open leaf contacts on relays and sequencers. We also built machines including a video blackjack machine that used an Intel 4040 based board. Test equipment was basic. An AVO 8, Solartron 7040 DMM,  a Philips 10MHz dual trace 'scope (can't recall the model but had TV trigger etc) and a "Yaesu"  digital frequency counter with 7 seg filament display.
It taught me a lot. I now only go up ladders that are at the right angle on solid non-slip surfaces and if more the 6ft up they are "footed" and secured near the top.

When I worked at TVW7 Studios, there was one lamp that was situated in the "stairwell" alongside the  stairs to the second floor.

There was no way to reach it from the stairs, the second floor, or the ground floor, so the Electrician got an extension ladder, dragooned about a dozen people into helping, most standing on successive steps of the staircase, holding the ladder back against the stair rail, & some "footing the base".
This unorthodox method worked well, but raised the obvious question:-

How many TVW staff does it take to change a lightbulb?

At a previous job, we had fluoros set into the ceiling in our cavernous transmitter hall, so changing them entailed the use of "the mother of all stepladders".
That was not so bad--------a worse job was changing conventional incandescents in flush fittings at the top of an even higher "breezeway" at the side of the building.

The big ladder just made it, but undoing corroded screws to obtain access, then getting showered by dead moths, whilst teetering at "full stretch" on a ladder got "old" pretty fast!

Needless to say, we cursed the unknown architect who designed such dumb things into a basically utilitarian building.
They looked good, but that was about it!

Back in my entertainment rigging days it was common to find 20 foot or longer collapsible A frame ladders that you had to climb to point/service theatre lighting - nothing stopping them collapsing but an overstressed hinge at the top and a thin bit of rope at the bottom that served to theoretically stop the thing from flattening out. At the time I was an enthusiastic and experienced mountaineer, happy to hang off overhanging bits of rock with nothing but a rope to stop me if I cocked up (with a couple of pegs you knew were going to ping out if you put a falling load on them).

Despite that climbing those ladders gave me the collywobbles every time. Let alone climbing them, just learning to carry one horizontally without demolishing everything and everyone around you was a difficult enough skill in itself.

That reminded me about the times 8ft florescent lamps that we had fitted in the bus garage where I did my apprenticeship needed attention, and I had to go up a ladder propped against a double-decker bus (13ft) and replace the tubes while standing on the roof of the bus, no other safety devices were available apart from someone standing on the bottom of the ladder, the top being tied through an air vent window to the handrail of the upstairs seats. Very scary stuff that, being up there with other buses moving around you all the time 

Later on they got me a trailer mounted wind-up telescopic work tower with about an 8 ft square platform with handrails and central trapdoor in the floor to gain access to the platform from a vertical ladder which extended as the sections were wound up which got smaller at the top as it approached maximum height. It had 4 outriggers with screw jacks to steady it, but it was still scary, not only because of the moving buses but also that dammed thing swayed from side to side with the slack in the sections. It was well before scissor lifts were invented, and they sway as well.

To all the stoopit shit we did for much too little money as a youth!!!

mnem
And yet, having learnt those lessons by the skin of our teeth and by example of those who did not live to tell the tale... we still went ahead and had children.

[mnementh]

"Kontakt PRF 7-78" and it's made in Finland.

This guy ?   https://www.ebay.de/itm/164197325279

Ordered one, it did not break the bank

It is affordable, and it is readily available too, which you can't say about De-Oxit, not on this side of the pond anyway.

Yes, they do seem to like the [ hp] printer ink business model. Particularly WRT the one or two variants that get used up most *cough*BLACK INK*cough* quickly and bundling with other less effective products.

That alone makes me want to find other stuff to use in its place. I feel skeevy supporting them.

Thanks! 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Chipageddon ....

There have been some delays for us getting some fire alarm gear on our current job,

Oh, and at work; Vendor quotes 182 days delivery for network gear that used to be two weeks, tops, last year.

And yet somehow there is still sufficient supply of silicon for NVIDIA to ship over a million crypto-only GPUs, and for Intel to start a whole "MEE TOOOO!!!" foray into the GPU wars using silicon from the same source as NVIDIA and for Apple to switch its entire production to ARM processors also... you guessed it... made by TSM, and of course... Everything RYZEN as well coming from the same factories.

Uhhh.... yeah. Smells more like profiteering  to me. Just mentally-defective money-grubbing bastards all fighting over the same single pool of material instead of sucking it up and making new production, so the end-user has to eat it.

Bastards.

Meanwhile this one single fab company is now poised to ultimately become the dominant manufacturing force in our global economy, eclipsing even Samsung and Toyota. It hasn't happened yet, but it could if the current stupidity continues.


mnem
*laid before the altar of the god of WHAT IS...*

[mnementh]

   ... and also had a lunch break at my favorite restaurant at the end of the universe.

Saskia, we get it. Stop the fishy posts - we clearly accept that there is an upside to living near the coast!   Grrr...not much decent fish to be had round here.

   
*raises a paw*

more please. 

mnem
*inhales deeply*

Me, three! (more fish 'n' chips, not just pics  )

Sorry I wan't going to let mine sit uneaten while I took a photo. Maybe next time.
 

We'll let it slide... this time. 

mnem
*looking at a refrigerator full of honey ham nobody else in the house seems interested in eating*

[mansaxel]

Chipageddon ....

There have been some delays for us getting some fire alarm gear on our current job,

Oh, and at work; Vendor quotes 182 days delivery for network gear that used to be two weeks, tops, last year.

...

Uhhh.... yeah. Smells more like profiteering  to me. Just mentally-defective money-grubbing bastards all fighting over the same single pool of material instead of sucking it up and making new production, so the end-user has to eat it.

Maybe. They are big, the biggest in the business, our vendor, but I somehow think that they need to stand back when consumer goods giants need fab priority. OTOH, then, one such switch easily costs like 2 fat Apple laptops, even when standard-discounted. There are insane margins on their gear; because observation tells me, that if they want to, they can go reeeeally low.  So, it seems they could eat a bit profit margin and yell at Foxconn a bit louder.

If they wanted to.

[mansaxel]

*looking at a refrigerator full of honey ham nobody else in the house seems interested in eating*

I was looking at a 850g piece of entrecôte, sliced it, let it come to room temperature, poured an oven tray full of potato wedges, chopped an onion, and let it reduce with estragon and vinegar, dunked 2 yolks in that, and poured, whiskingly, an ungodly amount of melted butter on top. Then fried the sliced cow in butter and olive oil. Served with a Barbera d'Alba.

I'm full. Happily so.

[Robert763]

[/i][/color] we did for much too little money as a youth!!!

mnem
And yet, having learnt those lessons by the skin of our teeth and by example of those who did not live to tell the tale... we still went ahead and had children.

Not all of us. SWMBO and I decided on a dog. We can always borrow  child for a wile if we need confirmation we were right.

[Saskia]

Chipageddon ....

There have been some delays for us getting some fire alarm gear on our current job,

Oh, and at work; Vendor quotes 182 days delivery for network gear that used to be two weeks, tops, last year.

And yet somehow there is still sufficient supply of silicon for NVIDIA to ship over a million crypto-only GPUs, and for Intel to start a whole "MEE TOOOO!!!" foray into the GPU wars using silicon from the same source as NVIDIA and for Apple to switch its entire production to ARM processors also... you guessed it... made by TSM, and of course... Everything RYZEN as well coming from the same factories.

Uhhh.... yeah. Smells more like profiteering  to me. Just mentally-defective money-grubbing bastards all fighting over the same single pool of material instead of sucking it up and making new production, so the end-user has to eat it.

Bastards.

Meanwhile this one single fab company is now poised to ultimately become the dominant manufacturing force in our global economy, eclipsing even Samsung and Toyota. It hasn't happened yet, but it could if the current stupidity continues.


mnem
*laid before the altar of the god of WHAT IS...*

thanks for reminding me to buy tsmc shares ...

[Cerebus]

Revenge for the rest of you making me hungry:



Ox-Cheek braised in red wine with pancetta, herbs and a mirepoix.
Roast potatoes, roast parsnip.
Steamed broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrot and mangetout.
Garlic butter mushrooms.