What's made you grumpy today?

[bugsymike]

Youngster! An 8 track never needed to be turned over. The tape needing to be cut with a knife so said tape that got wrapped up in the works could be removed, yes. But never turned over. A cassette tape, yeah, turn it over. A knife was needed there more than once, too.

bugsymike-the Duc and the S90, CB500, then a 30 year gap to raise kids. Chinese 200 ds, CX 500, couple of Velosolexes for grins, Ural sidecar, and a couple of mutts. My Dad made me get rid of the Duc and the Honda when I got my first car. He's seen what they are worth now.

The bikes I mentioned were only some of the ones I had up to 17 years of age, I am 69 now and still have a couple but in fairness I got fed up with prats pulling out of side roads so haven't ridden for a while.
My first was a Lambretta LD I dragged home on a soapbox cart at about 13 years of age from the Council Dump where it eventually returned. Probably the last is the 1990 Jawa 500R (Rotax four valve aircooled single) due to it's awful road holding I intended to fit it in a monoshock Armstrong frame I have, SuperMoto fashion, but it has sat in the back of my garage for years after it ripped the cush drive out of the rear wheel.There have been Greeves Scottish ISDT Trials bike, Aircooled Honda CR125 works Motocross, various KTM watercooled 500s, a BSA 650 Road Rocket I built from a pile of bits that you could plod along in top gear at 40mph open the throttle and be over a 100 in the same gear bolt upright with trials handlebars, loads of others, but apart from that BSA the one I most liked was a Triumph Trailblazer 250 that had a B40 350cc engine, conical hubs and TLS front brakes, just a lovely ride.
None are like todays Superbikes, as a friend said with his Aprillia 1000, it will corner at speeds of over 130, but you don't know what is around that bend!

 

[s130]

Oh dear Mike, don't get me started on apprenticeships! Why is everyone encouraged to aspire to a university education now a days? Of course there are professions/callings/whatever you want to call them, where an academic approach is best - things like law, engineers, architects, etc, etc. However there are vast areas of specialism which I think are much better acquired with practical skills - our industry being one - where learning on the job with an older skilled man to mentor you and evening/day release classes to cover the more "cerebral" aspects.

Silly me though. of course it's all about money isn't it!

Well I did the old style CNAA Polytechnic Degree Sandwich Course (Electrical & Electronic Engineering) Lots of required Industrial Training (I did mine at AERA Harwell. Much more practical. The Poly heavy kit labs were equipped with motors, generators, etc. Then we got compulsory workshop training (lathes, milling, welding, .....) then all then modern digital stuff and of course all the classroom and lecture stuff. Your final exams were marked/judge by external assessors unlike Unis who did it themselves.

Still don't know how I passed, especially as my complex engineering maths was a real struggle and when it came to Field Theory I really struggled. Being more practical I wanted to visualise, feel and touch and not play maths with imaginary stuff.

As for money, forget it. As a qualified Chartered Engineer doing pretty well career wise there were plumbers (some), train drivers, pilots, .... earning far more than I was.

Still don't regret doing engineering. Would have done an HNC or HND if I didn't make the academic grade.

 

[StevenRB45]

I still have it, originally was a 160Gb late (2008) model, but the hard drive died on it, so I upgraded it to a Solid state memory, but this now means it only has 128Gb Not that I ever filled it.

The best thing about it, was it was the right generation to plug into the punto’s Blue and Me and be controlled by the car

Never saw the appeal, by the time I'd stopped using a very nice Sony Walkman (anodised blue it was, all metal body, inline control bass boost, very nice headphones) phones did what an iPod does initially, but then also allowed streaming.

But I also have no idea why you'd buy a tablet which to me is combines all the disadvantages of browsing on a phone with the inconvenience of being too big to fit in your pocket.

I understand people buy lots of these things..I just fail to see the use case unless you're giving it to a toddler and don't want them to break something useful or you just fancy a shiny thing..

 

[vexorg]

But I also have no idea why you'd buy a tablet which to me is combines all the disadvantages of browsing on a phone with the inconvenience of being too big to fit in your pocket.

Tablets have their place. My wife is a complete technophobe, loves her ipad as you dont need to know how to work a computer to use it, can browse, spend ( ), email, facetime, facebook/messenger, games, etc on a decent sized screen.

 

[Cheest]

Never saw the appeal, by the time I'd stopped using a very nice Sony Walkman (anodised blue it was, all metal body, inline control bass boost, very nice headphones) phones did what an iPod does initially, but then also allowed streaming.

But I also have no idea why you'd buy a tablet which to me is combines all the disadvantages of browsing on a phone with the inconvenience of being too big to fit in your pocket.

I understand people buy lots of these things..I just fail to see the use case unless you're giving it to a toddler and don't want them to break something useful or you just fancy a shiny thing..

This made me do a mental inventory of what tech I have. Crap, I have a lot. Two Ipods without music, an Ipad, two windows laptops; both mine but one for work and one in my garage for me. And a Chromebook.

The Ipad is handy as all get out. I travel with it along with my work laptop. It's easier than dicking with the laptop when I want some Netflix.

 

[AndyRKett]

Never saw the appeal, by the time I'd stopped using a very nice Sony Walkman (anodised blue it was, all metal body, inline control bass boost, very nice headphones) phones did what an iPod does initially, but then also allowed streaming.

But I also have no idea why you'd buy a tablet which to me is combines all the disadvantages of browsing on a phone with the inconvenience of being too big to fit in your pocket.

I understand people buy lots of these things..I just fail to see the use case unless you're giving it to a toddler and don't want them to break something useful or you just fancy a shiny thing..

This was a 2008 iPod….. you were still using a Walkman in 2008? I know Sony kept the Walkman name on later MP3 players but from your description it sounds like you’re talking about tapes?

Bearing in mind the iPhone only came out in 07, at that time while phones could play music they had very little storage and you needed a degree in networking to get any phone to talk to a PC. prior to getting the iPod I had been using a Sony PSP to play music in the car as you could drop songs on a Memory stick (Sony memory stick if you remember them?) which made transferring songs easy but as a portable device it was huge.

Before this I did have a Sony Ericsson P800 a early full colour touch screen smart phone, however this was an old phone in by the late 2000s (came out in 2002) storage capacity was pretty poor, and navigating menus while driving was terrible.

I can go back a bit further still

an ex in 2003/04 had a Pocket PC, with Windows CE and this would also work as an MP3 Player, it was actually pocket PC that fiat designed the Blue and Me system to work with originally, assuming all phones by 2005/6 would run on the Pocket PC system, sadly for fiat this was obsolete before the first grande with blue and me hit the road.

and before that I did what everyone else was doing in the early 2000s, I had a CD changer.


As for current tech, well this post was written on an iPad, very handy when you travel and don’t want to lug a laptop around with you, I have a smaller iPad for navigation when flying. These days the phone gets used in the car for streaming, I tend to hold onto things, I still have my 08 iPod and worse still I do have a 2002 iBook, the clam shell type featured in legally blonde… and it still works despite being 20 years old this year

 

[Minky58]

My essential medical supplies still not arrived after being promised they would be with me on the 30th Nov. I run out tomorrow.

 

[StevenRB45]

This was a 2008 iPod….. you were still using a Walkman in 2008? I know Sony kept the Walkman name on later MP3 players but from your description it sounds like you’re talking about tapes?

Bearing in mind the iPhone only came out in 07, at that time while phones could play music they had very little storage and you needed a degree in networking to get any phone to talk to a PC. prior to getting the iPod I had been using a Sony PSP to play music in the car as you could drop songs on a Memory stick (Sony memory stick if you remember them?) which made transferring songs easy but as a portable device it was huge.

Before this I did have a Sony Ericsson P800 a early full colour touch screen smart phone, however this was an old phone in by the late 2000s (came out in 2002) storage capacity was pretty poor, and navigating menus while driving was terrible.

I can go back a bit further still

an ex in 2003/04 had a Pocket PC, with Windows CE and this would also work as an MP3 Player, it was actually pocket PC that fiat designed the Blue and Me system to work with originally, assuming all phones by 2005/6 would run on the Pocket PC system, sadly for fiat this was obsolete before the first grande with blue and me hit the road.

and before that I did what everyone else was doing in the early 2000s, I had a CD changer.


As for current tech, well this post was written on an iPad, very handy when you travel and don’t want to lug a laptop around with you, I have a smaller iPad for navigation when flying. These days the phone gets used in the car for streaming, I tend to hold onto things, I still have my 08 iPod and worse still I do have a 2002 iBook, the clam shell type featured in legally blonde… and it still works despite being 20 years old this year

Nah by 2008 I would have had a Sony Ericsson walkman phone with expandable storage. Which I used to Bluetooth to the head unit in the Swift... because why have 2 devices when one does the job? The Swift head unit was iPod compatible...but never used that did have a USB pen drive at one point filled with music.

Tbf I have decent eyesight and usually have a phablet sized phone (my tech extravagance tends to be a flagship phone with largest storage that will last me multiple years and be used for everything) that can cast to a television so although I've also got an ultra portable laptop...well 2 thinking about it as work love them..I never use them except for work which I hate them for as for actual work they are for too small...so have a desktop with multi screens for that .

I do have a tablet...it's covered in Jam..you can look forward to that

 

[AndyRKett]

I never use them except for work which I hate them for as for actual work they are for too small...so have a desktop with multi screens for that .

I sympathise with this, work gave me a tiny 14 inch dell laptop, I have it paired with a USB-C hub, which then gives me two HDMI ports and so I have it paired with a 32inch and a 21inch monitor for super work space.

I do have a tablet...it's covered in Jam..you can look forward to that

Literally just had to take my phone out of his mouth

 

[StevenRB45]

Literally just had to take my phone out of his mouth

Main reason for buying a flagship phone, IP68 waterproof and wireless charging. So when this happens or for example some plasticine gets somewhere it shouldn't..you're fine.

Well at least once you've combined it with a building site spec rugged case and screen protector.

 

[bugsymike]

Well I did the old style CNAA Polytechnic Degree Sandwich Course (Electrical & Electronic Engineering) Lots of required Industrial Training (I did mine at AERA Harwell. Much more practical. The Poly heavy kit labs were equipped with motors, generators, etc. Then we got compulsory workshop training (lathes, milling, welding, .....) then all then modern digital stuff and of course all the classroom and lecture stuff. Your final exams were marked/judge by external assessors unlike Unis who did it themselves.

Still don't know how I passed, especially as my complex engineering maths was a real struggle and when it came to Field Theory I really struggled. Being more practical I wanted to visualise, feel and touch and not play maths with imaginary stuff.

As for money, forget it. As a qualified Chartered Engineer doing pretty well career wise there were plumbers (some), train drivers, pilots, .... earning far more than I was.

Still don't regret doing engineering. Would have done an HNC or HND if I didn't make the academic grade.

I always wanted to use lathes and do metal work as my dad was a tool engineer, but the Secondary Modern I went to they said "are you left handed or right handed?" being right handed I had to do woodwork, they said left handed people had to do metal work as they could use a file with either hand!!!
So in 1969 at nearly 16 I started a motor vehicle apprenticeship on £3.19 shillings and sixpence for a 40 hour week and went on to pass City and Guilds, National Craftsman Exam, got an award for being the best practical student of my year, did part of an IMIME course which I jacked in after missing a week due to being ill and the lecturer refused to tell me what I had missed. The head of the department came to my place of work asking me to come back, saying most of the other students are going to "jack it in" after me leaving, to which I replied that I wasn't surprised as they were copying all my homework which I did at lunchtime as I ate my and their dinners . My mum said to me "get yourself an apprenticeship and you will never be out of work", from 1969 to retiring in 2019 and including my own small business from 1982 I can honestly say I have only been out of work for two weeks in the 1970s when the boss wouldn't give me a pay rise so I left. Within those two weeks I was offered a job with a third increase on my wage and left there as foreman in 1982.
I believe Tony Blair pushing University on school leavers was the worst thing he could have done. Technical skills are appreciated in places like Germany
but here if you get your hands dirty you are looked down on.
On a different note I taught myself how to build and repair computers from the days of 286s onwards (pre Pentium to the youngsters) not the programming side I would add, but I don't even own a mobile phone, being at everyone's beck and call 24/7 is not my idea of a life. My customers knew I only worked Monday to Friday 9-5pm. What about breakdowns I hear someone say? to which I replied, if they are regular customers cars that I have worked on they don't breakdown! Lucky for me ECU and electronics issues were only just starting.
You may think with all those years of work I would have plenty of money, however two ex wives, five children and seven grandchildren is part of the reason why none of my vehicles have cost as much as a major service at a main dealership

 

[AndyRKett]

Main reason for buying a flagship phone, IP68 waterproof and wireless charging. So when this happens or for example some plasticine gets somewhere it shouldn't..you're fine.

Well at least once you've combined it with a building site spec rugged case and screen protector.

I’m the opposite to you in respect of I want a smaller phone. I have an iPhone 11 at the moment, I usually try and keep a phone 4 years or more (given that they really don’t upgrade much each year there is no point) next time I might get the mini version as I don’t like the size of the 11 it’s too big.

 

[StevenRB45]

I’m the opposite to you in respect of I want a smaller phone. I have an iPhone 11 at the moment, I usually try and keep a phone 4 years or more (given that they really don’t upgrade much each year there is no point) next time I might get the mini version as I don’t like the size of the 11 it’s too big.

If I could get the spec I wanted in smaller one I'd have it but smaller tends to mean worse camera, slower processor, less ram smaller battery etc.

If they did my current phone in a 6 inch screen or less I'd happily take it, it's slightly ridiculous when by plugging it into the car I gain...*drum roll* an extra 0.3 inches of screen size.

 

[s130]

I always wanted to use lathes and do metal work as my dad was a tool engineer, but the Secondary Modern I went to they said "are you left handed or right handed?" being right handed I had to do woodwork, they said left handed people had to do metal work as they could use a file with either hand!!!

Oh ... How many people have been misguided, advised incorrectly, assumed to be only able to X.Y.Z

I would like to think that today things are more 'educated and encompassing and gender neutral and ......'

I had to sit a compulsory career exam/test/inquisition back in the 1970s. I already knew what I wanted to do/be but "they knew better". So I had to sit down and answer an exam style paper probing me etc.

One of the early questions was "what do you not want to be?" Totally p'd off with all this waste of time .....

I wrote "Unsuccessful bomb disposal engineer".

Needless to say I got a severe reprimand (*olocking in old school language ) from the career's advisor/master.

My wife suffered even worse misguidance back in the 70s. you can't do this, you can't do that, ......

Even worse for women before her!

We have to encourage all girls, boys, women and men to strive to achieve their desires. For sure give encouragement, guidance, etc. but never dictate or attempt to destroy their dreams/objectives.

 

[bugsymike]

Oh ... How many people have been misguided, advised incorrectly, assumed to be only able to X.Y.Z

I would like to think that today things are more 'educated and encompassing and gender neutral and ......'

I had to sit a compulsory career exam/test/inquisition back in the 1970s. I already knew what I wanted to do/be but "they knew better". So I had to sit down and answer an exam style paper probing me etc.

One of the early questions was "what do you not want to be?" Totally p'd off with all this waste of time .....

I wrote "Unsuccessful bomb disposal engineer".

Needless to say I got a severe reprimand (*olocking in old school language ) from the career's advisor/master.

My wife suffered even worse misguidance back in the 70s. you can't do this, you can't do that, ......

Even worse for women before her!

We have to encourage all girls, boys, women and men to strive to achieve their desires. For sure give encouragement, guidance, etc. but never dictate or attempt to destroy their dreams/objectives.

I had a CSE grade 2 in Horticulture and another in woodwork so on compulsory visit to the Careers Teacher with my mum he talked over my mum telling her that he could place me with the local council gardening department or a building firm as a trainee joiner even though she repeatedly told him I already had a apprenticeship signed at a garage.
The teaching standard was pretty low, in science I had another grade 2, that teacher turned around to me and openly said "if I had realised you were good enough I would have helped you like I helped your friend and you would have got a grade one the same!"
When I went to college in general the lecturers wanted to teach and I wanted to learn, it was a happy time, certainly when compared with school.

 

[mowermender70]

well that looks like thats it 23 jan google tell me my set up is to old do not have fibre and cannot afford a new one hopefully will be able to keep landline whish they would leave things alone, as always need to fleece us to make more money for the bosses only in it to line there pocket not ours.

 

[bugsymike]

well that looks like thats it 23 jan google tell me my set up is to old do not have fibre and cannot afford a new one hopefully will be able to keep landline whish they would leave things alone, as always need to fleece us to make more money for the bosses only in it to line there pocket not ours.

What do they say is too old, apart from us?

 

[Cheest]

Rant:

My now part time employers' lack of ability to see 'the big picture'.

I entered the workforce in 1974 and I've been with this outfit since 97. It's a French owned firm that has gone from a 'Mom and Pop' family oriented gig to a 'Slow Motion Corporate Train Wreck Of A Dumpster Fire'. We have our own management team separate from the Mothership, but still under the Motherships' thumb. Since I have kinda sorta retired, I'm sitting back with a box of popcorn to watch the management team do their daily fcuk up.

The latest is two fold. A customer needs a part but the part is not in our system. The part not in our system means we've never sold one. Okay, so send an email to Purchasing so the drone at the desk can inquire to France about the part. The standard response from France is '12 to 14 weeks for delivery'. Drone says okay and that's the end of it. The customer is down for months. I hate that. The sales staff hates it. More importantly, the customer is majorly pissed.

What we did before we became a corporate sh!tshow was try to find the parts locally. Unless the part was something that only was made in our factories in France, we had about a 90% success rate in getting the customer what they needed within a week. Purchasing would ask my boss or I to see what we could find. Not this current group. Once those clowns hear '12 to 14 weeks', they say they did their job and that's it.

We had that happen this week. One of the Sales Guys called me and asked for my help. My ex boss sent me a build sheet that had the manufacturers part numbers on the sheet. There is a dealer in my area. I check with them and they have the parts on the shelf. The customer can have his parts the next day. And they get them cheaper. Done. I have fought for years to have alternate sources for spare parts. Everyone agrees, then nothing happens.

I brought this up, again, with management and got the usual run around. This time it's documented and a copy went to the Mothership. Will anything happen? I doubt it.

What corporate did when the sh!tshow started was to switch inventory programs. The old program was archaic but we knew how to work around its short shortcomings. When we were able to find a part locally, that was entered in the system along with the vendor. When the change was made, no back up was made of the old system and 25 years of information was gone in keystroke. Sunuva...

Rant over

 

[bugsymike]

Management are people who can't do the work on the ground and are pushed up the corporate ladder, as sacking for being F***ing useless is no longer permitted as it may hurt their feelings according to HR.
That is where their only skill comes in, as they know how to play that card.
Went out with the family a while ago to a Italian restaurant, great meal and service, towards the end of the evening my wife wanted another bottle of Coke, a few minutes later I saw the owner return with the Coke, rather than disappoint a customer he had found a local shop open and was able to supply my wife's desires (since she is now an ex, you could argue that was something I obviously was unable to do )
The point being that business owner went the extra mile to please his customers.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

During a conversation about career progression in one of the larger organisations I've worked for, someone said, you'll get promoted until you end up in a position one above your level of competence. Then you won't get any more promotion because the bosses think you're useless! Which is neither good for you or the organisation! Oh how true I've often found that to be.