"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
It's hard /not/ to interpret such a description as an intentional
insult. I can't imagine what it actually means -- in any innocuous
sense, anyway.

There ya go then!

Please don't semi-quote Ronald Reagan. It's not becoming.


I'm afraid that's just too 'in-American' for me. I actually haven't a clue
what you are talking about ...


If I'd been in a debate with Ronnie, and he'd pulled that "There you go,
again" crap with me, I would have ripped him a new one, even if it cost me
the election.


And again - I'm afraid that's just too 'in-American' for me. I actually
haven't a clue what you are talking about ...



(This is way OT, but remember last year when Barney Frank ripped into a
stupid woman who was griping about Obama being Moslem? I was proud to be
queer. If all politicians -- conservative or liberal -- were that
intelligent and quick witted, the level of political discourse in this
country would be at a much higher level.)


And again - I'm afraid that's just too 'in-American' for me. I actually
haven't a clue what you are talking about ...




Anyone from the UK would see it as a quick-fire throw-away
line, and would laugh at it. It's sort of intended to be 'barbed',
but not in a malicious way. It's a very hard to describe form
of humour that is quite prevalent over here.

I admire someone who can come up with quick throw-aways -- but unless they
make them all the time, it's hard to tell they're supposed to be humorous.


Not at all. As I said before, over here it works between people who don't
know each other, provided that the circumstances of their encounter are
correct. The whole point that I was making, and which you seem to have
missed, is that I now know that that isn't the case, when it's cross-culture
between the UK and the U.S. That's why you, like the original guy 25 years
ago, see it as being offensive, I guess.



I offended people with "innocuous" wisecracks so many times that I
gradually
became careful about what I said. A word to the wise...?


Not needed. As I said in the first place, this was a long time ago when I
was much younger, and my first encounters with Americans were on the
telephone rather than face to face, and before I had the slightest
understanding of what subtle cultural differences were, as opposed to the
'obvious' ones that I had encountered up to that point, which involved other
European countries with a different language, vastly different food, a
totally different outlook on life, and so on.



If you cut yourself on barbed wire -- you're cut, regardless of how you
came
in contact with the wire.


Hmmm. Not sure that I really understand the under-meaning of that one,
either ...

Arfa

"Chuck" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:00:17 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:



"N_Cook" wrote in message
...
Lab1 .@... wrote in message
...
On 1/19/2011 9:54 AM, N_Cook wrote:
Great dollops of that white goo between metal to metal thermally
conductive
surfaces. Heatsink to metal casing in amplifiers etc. I'm not sure
why
it is
even necessary with perhaps 20 square inches of contact and bolts
between. I
always wipe away with paper etc on first parting but always some gets
on
my
clothing - I've not worn white lab coats for many a year.

Heat sink compound is usually very necessary.

One of my pet hates is torx screws with a pin in the center.



The harware that I always have problems with in the UK , never organised
a
stock of, is UNF and UNC nuts and bolts for USA kit. And of course,vice
versa, repairers in USA never have metric (and lesser extent BA) for UK
and
Japanese kit



I once got in a lot of trouble with my boss when I was young and worked
for
a U.S. based company. At that time, I didn't understand that there was a
big
difference between British 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, and the much more
direct U.S. type. I was talking on the phone to one of the designers of a
piece of equipment that we sold here in the UK, and asked the guy if he
could arrange to send me some screws for the cabinet, as they were a
thread
that we didn't readily get over here. He asked if I knew exactly what size
they were so I replied, quick as a flash, thinking that I was being funny,
"I guess that they are round about 3/16ths APF." "What's APF ?" the guy
asked. "American **** Fit", said I ...

Stony silence on the phone. Half an hour later, I was summoned to the
boss's
office. Apparently, the guy had been really offended by this, thinking
that
it was a slur on what he considered to be good American engineering, and
had
called my boss to complain about me. Just goes to show how easily offence
can be caused between nations, even when they speak what's basically the
same language ... :-)

Arfa


I think it matters in what part of the U.S. this person resided. I'm
originally from the North East and humor that would be considered mild
there is considered a great affront to some people in the South.
However, racist remarks, that I find offensive, don't seem to bother
their delicate constitutions. Chuck

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few miles
down the Interstate from LA

Arfa

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
N_Cook wrote:
Last time I talked to him, late 2010, he mentioned he was starting a
range of "classic car" nuts and bolts , whatever that is, cannot find
mention on his site though

In the UK, modern cars use metric threads. Ones from about after WW2 to
the '80s mainly UNF and UNC. Pre WW2 BSW and BSF. BA was common for
electrical stuff.

A classic car is really just any which isn't recent and not defined under
the strict headings of vintage etc. It isn't restricted to any make - just
over 20 years old. Although that age isn't agreed by everyone.

--
*Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

I seem to recall from my early days of car tinkering in the 70's and 80's ,
that most of my spanners and my socket sets, were Whitworth and AF ?? That
would have been for Morris Minors, Vauxhalls of all sorts including HA, HB
and HC Vivas, a VX4/90 or two, and assorted Fords including Escorts and
Cortinas and Sierras.

Arfa

"Mark Zacharias" wrote in message
eb.com...
Packing peanuts.

Probe slips.

People begging me to work on stuff which I used to turn away, but now have
to take in because business is slow.

Mark Z.

Yep. Amen to that one ...

Arfa

Arfa Daily wrote:

"Chuck" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:00:17 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:



"N_Cook" wrote in message
...
Lab1 .@... wrote in message
...
On 1/19/2011 9:54 AM, N_Cook wrote:
Great dollops of that white goo between metal to metal thermally
conductive
surfaces. Heatsink to metal casing in amplifiers etc. I'm not sure
why
it is
even necessary with perhaps 20 square inches of contact and bolts
between. I
always wipe away with paper etc on first parting but always some gets
on
my
clothing - I've not worn white lab coats for many a year.

Heat sink compound is usually very necessary.

One of my pet hates is torx screws with a pin in the center.



The harware that I always have problems with in the UK , never organised
a
stock of, is UNF and UNC nuts and bolts for USA kit. And of course,vice
versa, repairers in USA never have metric (and lesser extent BA) for UK
and
Japanese kit



I once got in a lot of trouble with my boss when I was young and worked
for
a U.S. based company. At that time, I didn't understand that there was a
big
difference between British 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, and the much more
direct U.S. type. I was talking on the phone to one of the designers of a
piece of equipment that we sold here in the UK, and asked the guy if he
could arrange to send me some screws for the cabinet, as they were a
thread
that we didn't readily get over here. He asked if I knew exactly what size
they were so I replied, quick as a flash, thinking that I was being funny,
"I guess that they are round about 3/16ths APF." "What's APF ?" the guy
asked. "American **** Fit", said I ...

Stony silence on the phone. Half an hour later, I was summoned to the
boss's
office. Apparently, the guy had been really offended by this, thinking
that
it was a slur on what he considered to be good American engineering, and
had
called my boss to complain about me. Just goes to show how easily offence
can be caused between nations, even when they speak what's basically the
same language ... :-)

Arfa


I think it matters in what part of the U.S. this person resided. I'm
originally from the North East and humor that would be considered mild
there is considered a great affront to some people in the South.
However, racist remarks, that I find offensive, don't seem to bother
their delicate constitutions. Chuck

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few miles
down the Interstate from LA


AKA: The land of Fruits and Nuts! ;-)


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...

Arfa Daily wrote:

"Chuck" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:00:17 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:



"N_Cook" wrote in message
...
Lab1 .@... wrote in message
...
On 1/19/2011 9:54 AM, N_Cook wrote:
Great dollops of that white goo between metal to metal thermally
conductive
surfaces. Heatsink to metal casing in amplifiers etc. I'm not sure
why
it is
even necessary with perhaps 20 square inches of contact and bolts
between. I
always wipe away with paper etc on first parting but always some
gets
on
my
clothing - I've not worn white lab coats for many a year.

Heat sink compound is usually very necessary.

One of my pet hates is torx screws with a pin in the center.



The harware that I always have problems with in the UK , never
organised
a
stock of, is UNF and UNC nuts and bolts for USA kit. And of
course,vice
versa, repairers in USA never have metric (and lesser extent BA) for
UK
and
Japanese kit



I once got in a lot of trouble with my boss when I was young and worked
for
a U.S. based company. At that time, I didn't understand that there was
a
big
difference between British 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, and the much more
direct U.S. type. I was talking on the phone to one of the designers of
a
piece of equipment that we sold here in the UK, and asked the guy if he
could arrange to send me some screws for the cabinet, as they were a
thread
that we didn't readily get over here. He asked if I knew exactly what
size
they were so I replied, quick as a flash, thinking that I was being
funny,
"I guess that they are round about 3/16ths APF." "What's APF ?" the
guy
asked. "American **** Fit", said I ...

Stony silence on the phone. Half an hour later, I was summoned to the
boss's
office. Apparently, the guy had been really offended by this, thinking
that
it was a slur on what he considered to be good American engineering,
and
had
called my boss to complain about me. Just goes to show how easily
offence
can be caused between nations, even when they speak what's basically
the
same language ... :-)

Arfa


I think it matters in what part of the U.S. this person resided. I'm
originally from the North East and humor that would be considered mild
there is considered a great affront to some people in the South.
However, racist remarks, that I find offensive, don't seem to bother
their delicate constitutions. Chuck

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few
miles
down the Interstate from LA


AKA: The land of Fruits and Nuts! ;-)

Now now, Michael - that's no way to talk about that nice Mr Lieberman ....
:-)

Arfa

Arfa Daily wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...

Arfa Daily wrote:

"Chuck" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:00:17 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:



"N_Cook" wrote in message
...
Lab1 .@... wrote in message
...
On 1/19/2011 9:54 AM, N_Cook wrote:
Great dollops of that white goo between metal to metal thermally
conductive
surfaces. Heatsink to metal casing in amplifiers etc. I'm not sure
why
it is
even necessary with perhaps 20 square inches of contact and bolts
between. I
always wipe away with paper etc on first parting but always some
gets
on
my
clothing - I've not worn white lab coats for many a year.

Heat sink compound is usually very necessary.

One of my pet hates is torx screws with a pin in the center.



The harware that I always have problems with in the UK , never
organised
a
stock of, is UNF and UNC nuts and bolts for USA kit. And of
course,vice
versa, repairers in USA never have metric (and lesser extent BA) for
UK
and
Japanese kit



I once got in a lot of trouble with my boss when I was young and worked
for
a U.S. based company. At that time, I didn't understand that there was
a
big
difference between British 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, and the much more
direct U.S. type. I was talking on the phone to one of the designers of
a
piece of equipment that we sold here in the UK, and asked the guy if he
could arrange to send me some screws for the cabinet, as they were a
thread
that we didn't readily get over here. He asked if I knew exactly what
size
they were so I replied, quick as a flash, thinking that I was being
funny,
"I guess that they are round about 3/16ths APF." "What's APF ?" the
guy
asked. "American **** Fit", said I ...

Stony silence on the phone. Half an hour later, I was summoned to the
boss's
office. Apparently, the guy had been really offended by this, thinking
that
it was a slur on what he considered to be good American engineering,
and
had
called my boss to complain about me. Just goes to show how easily
offence
can be caused between nations, even when they speak what's basically
the
same language ... :-)

Arfa


I think it matters in what part of the U.S. this person resided. I'm
originally from the North East and humor that would be considered mild
there is considered a great affront to some people in the South.
However, racist remarks, that I find offensive, don't seem to bother
their delicate constitutions. Chuck

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few
miles
down the Interstate from LA


AKA: The land of Fruits and Nuts! ;-)

Now now, Michael - that's no way to talk about that nice Mr Lieberman ....
:-)


But, but, he likes to DESTROY things!!! ;-)


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

In article ,
Arfa Daily wrote:
I seem to recall from my early days of car tinkering in the 70's and
80's , that most of my spanners and my socket sets, were Whitworth and
AF ?? That would have been for Morris Minors, Vauxhalls of all sorts
including HA, HB and HC Vivas, a VX4/90 or two, and assorted Fords
including Escorts and Cortinas and Sierras.

AF is the spanner size - across flats - and those fit UNF and UNC. Which
are basically American Fine and Course. Slightly confusing as a 1/2 AF
spanner fits a 5/16ths thread. All the above cars would have used UNF and
UNC.

Some post WW2 cars were basically pre WW2 designs - or used major
components from them, and may still have had BSF or BSW threads in use.
Nuffield products sometimes used a peculiar metric thread with BSW heads
just to confuse things.

--
*Succeed, in spite of management *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In message , Arfa Daily
writes


"Michael Kennedy" mike@com wrote in message
m...

"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...


"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
I once got in a lot of trouble with my boss when I was young and worked
for
a U.S. based company. At that time, I didn't understand that there
was a
big
difference between British 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, and the much more
direct U.S. type. I was talking on the phone to one of the
designers of a
piece of equipment that we sold here in the UK, and asked the guy if he
could arrange to send me some screws for the cabinet, as they were a
thread
that we didn't readily get over here. He asked if I knew exactly
what size
they were so I replied, quick as a flash, thinking that I was
being funny,
"I guess that they are round about 3/16ths APF." "What's APF ?"
the guy
asked. "American **** Fit", said I ...

Stony silence on the phone. Half an hour later, I was summoned to the
boss's
office. Apparently, the guy had been really offended by this, thinking
that
it was a slur on what he considered to be good American
engineering, and
had
called my boss to complain about me. Just goes to show how easily
offence
can be caused between nations, even when they speak what's
basically the
same language ... :-)

It's hard /not/ to interpret such a description as an intentional
insult. I
can't imagine what it actually means -- in any innocuous sense, anyway.



There ya go then ! Anyone from the UK would see it as a quick-fire
throw-away line, and would laugh at it. It's sort of intended to be
'barbed', but not in a malicious way. It's a very hard to describe
form of humour that is quite prevalent over here.

Arfa


We have that kind of humor in the US too.. But only amongst friends
or people you know fairly well. If a stranger uses sharp humor with me
(some do) and It gives the feeling of you dont know me well enough to
be poking humor at me, and we also usually take the fact there is
ususaly truth in humor.. And honestly you probaly think the US
standards are idioic and stupid to still be using when the rest of
the world is using the metric system. Thats the feeling I get here
in Japan at least. People cant understand why the US uses the old system still.

Anyhow.. Just my $0.02


Yes. Knowing the U.S. and its people much better now, as I tend to
visit twice a year and have now for many years, I would say that was
pretty much spot on. Although I've found that American people are much
more friendly in general to strangers, than people over here are, I
also find that they are much more 'reserved' in actually getting to
know them as a friend. Here in the UK, if you are just in the same
business as one another, you tend to automatically think in terms of
communicating with a 'kindred spirit'. So even on a first contact with
someone, if you appear within a few sentences to be speaking the same
language, it becomes quite acceptable to introduce a degree of
'chuminess' into the conversation such as calling the person 'mate' and
such-like. Barbed humour between you is then immediately accepted, and
is likely to get thrown back at you by the other person, and often gets
deflected onto the company that you, or the other person works for.
Having made the 'APF' comment to the guy, in my naivety, I was
expecting him to just throw back a similar comment like " so what, then
? Your British threads are better than ours, are they ? :-) "

Like I say, easy to cause unintentional offence, if you are not
familiar with the country, and it's people and their cultural
differences, even if they appear to speak the same basic language. Many
countries in Europe speak English as a second language. If you speak it
to a German for instance, in general, he will not understand British
humour. Not likely to be offended by it. Just won't understand it. A
Frenchman, will understand it, and be offended - or at least pretend to
be ... OTOH, a Dutchman will both understand the humour, and give back
as good as he gets. They seem to have a very 'English' understanding of
the English language. I don't know why that should be, but I was once
told by a Dutch guy that I had dealings with, that it was because they
easily received UK television over there, so tended to watch a lot of
British made drama and comedy programmes. I wonder if this will change
now analogue TV is almost now all gone. I bet that they don't receive
the digital multiplexes across the water, anything like as well as they
did the high power analongue transmissions. Any Dutch people reading
this care to comment ?

Arfa

I'm not Dutch but I do spend several weeks there every year and watch
some Dutch TV almost every day.

BBC1 and BBC2 are available on cable, but without teletext, apart from
subtitles, so many viewers are exposed to British attitudes and humour.
I imagine that that will continue after the digital switchover.

There are also a lot of UK programmes and films on their own channels.
Most keep the original soundtrack and are subtitled (not always
accurately). Documentaries such as David Attenborough's tend to have
Dutch speech when the presenter is off camera.

Dad's Army was very popular there, to my surprise as I thought it was
too British. Several other programmes have been made in Dutch versions,
but not always successfully. The Dutch version of East Enders flopped,
and their versions of Only Fools and Horses and The Kumars at No. 42
were simply dire. Their QI, HIGNFY and Who Do You Think You Are? have
turned out well.

In return for our sending them excellent programmes, they then sent us
The Generation Game and Big Brother.

Apart from having a basically different sense of humour, the Germans are
not exposed to British humour to the same extent because their foreign
programmes are almost always dubbed. I can't comment on how they
correspond to the original soundtracks as I have never watched any
British comedy on German TV, apart from the Monty Python German special
years ago.

Don't know about the French, but who cares about them anyway?
--
Peter

Ying tong iddle-i po!

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Arfa Daily wrote:
I seem to recall from my early days of car tinkering in the 70's and
80's , that most of my spanners and my socket sets, were Whitworth and
AF ?? That would have been for Morris Minors, Vauxhalls of all sorts
including HA, HB and HC Vivas, a VX4/90 or two, and assorted Fords
including Escorts and Cortinas and Sierras.

AF is the spanner size - across flats - and those fit UNF and UNC. Which
are basically American Fine and Course. Slightly confusing as a 1/2 AF
spanner fits a 5/16ths thread. All the above cars would have used UNF and
UNC.

Some post WW2 cars were basically pre WW2 designs - or used major
components from them, and may still have had BSF or BSW threads in use.
Nuffield products sometimes used a peculiar metric thread with BSW heads
just to confuse things.

--
*Succeed, in spite of management *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Aha ! Now I come to think of it, I knew somewhere in the dim recesses of my
tired old brain that "AF" stood for "Across the Flats". Never really
considered how that allied to the actual thread size. Thank you for
enlightening me !

Arfa

In article ,
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:

Slightly confusing as a 1/2 AF
spanner fits a 5/16ths thread.

Unless it doesn't. We often use "small pattern" hex nuts, which have
thinner walls, hence driven with a smaller wrench. (lay Americans have
no idea what a "spanner" is, but when used here it usually quite
specifically means a very thin open-end wrench, often just made of
stamped steel, designed for tight quarters.)

In article ,
Smitty Two wrote:
Slightly confusing as a 1/2 AF
spanner fits a 5/16ths thread.

Unless it doesn't. We often use "small pattern" hex nuts, which have
thinner walls, hence driven with a smaller wrench. (lay Americans have
no idea what a "spanner" is, but when used here it usually quite
specifically means a very thin open-end wrench, often just made of
stamped steel, designed for tight quarters.)

Not come across those on UK cars. Where you need a smaller head than
standard, normally allen, torx or even one with curved sides which is an
exact fit to the next size down bi-hex socket. Basically to make the head
round or as near as possible to give maximum strength.

A wrench in the UK usually means an adjustable spanner of some sort, so
only used by amateurs. ;-)

--
*Great groups from little icons grow *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 1/21/2011 5:41 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...

It's hard /not/ to interpret such a description as an
intentional insult. I can't imagine what it actually means --
in any innocuous sense, anyway.

There ya go then!

Please don't semi-quote Ronald Reagan. It's not becoming.

I'm afraid that's just too 'in-American' for me. I actually haven't a clue
what you are talking about ...

"There you go again!" was Reagan's annoying pet reply to his critics
(read "typical for a Commie pinko socialist bleeding-heart ...").

Good to read that not everyone here reveres this simple-minded wrecker
of what he invariably called "guv'mint" ...


--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet:

To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.

On 1/21/2011 5:43 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few miles
down the Interstate from LA

OK, Arf, a small lesson in regional US dialects, free of charge:

Nobody here in "Cal-ee-fonia", as our recently departed
Governator/Gropenator called it, calls them "interstates", even though
they are, in fact, interstate highways. Some folks back east may call
them that, though I'm not sure (I've heard them referred to as
"turnpikes" in some places). One wonders whether some LA residents even
know what an "interstate" is ...

In any case, just in case you actually visit Caleefonia sometime in the
near future, you should also be aware of an important difference in
usage between SoCal (basically El-Lay and environs) and NoCal (San
Francisco and thereabouts). Down there, they don't use *any* noun for a
road (highway, interstate, etc.), but they do use articles with the road
number, as in "the 405", "the 101", etc.

But bewa up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)


--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet:

To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.

In article ,
David Nebenzahl wrote:

On 1/21/2011 5:43 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few miles
down the Interstate from LA

OK, Arf, a small lesson in regional US dialects, free of charge:

Nobody here in "Cal-ee-fonia", as our recently departed
Governator/Gropenator called it, calls them "interstates", even though
they are, in fact, interstate highways. Some folks back east may call
them that, though I'm not sure (I've heard them referred to as
"turnpikes" in some places). One wonders whether some LA residents even
know what an "interstate" is ...

In any case, just in case you actually visit Caleefonia sometime in the
near future, you should also be aware of an important difference in
usage between SoCal (basically El-Lay and environs) and NoCal (San
Francisco and thereabouts). Down there, they don't use *any* noun for a
road (highway, interstate, etc.), but they do use articles with the road
number, as in "the 405", "the 101", etc.

But bewa up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)

I don't think Arfa is going to "blend" whether he uses your terminology
or not, and I doubt that's his objective. But you wrote an awful lot of
words without using "freeway," which is what we call the 101 here, and
is the most common word for "interstate highway" throughout the midwest,
as well. I'm not going to say unequivocally that it's widely used all
over the U.S., because I don't know for sure, but I'd bet money on it.

In cities with many freeways, they have to use more specific terms, but
when there's only one, who needs a number?

BTW, everyone I know in LA doesn't use numbers at all, but names that
are meaningless to outsiders even if they have a map: "Ventura freeway,"
"Hollywood freeway," "Pasadena freeway," etc.

On 1/23/2011 12:02 AM Smitty Two spake thus:

In article ,
David Nebenzahl wrote:

But bewa up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)

I don't think Arfa is going to "blend" whether he uses your terminology
or not, and I doubt that's his objective. But you wrote an awful lot of
words without using "freeway," which is what we call the 101 here, and
is the most common word for "interstate highway" throughout the midwest,
as well.

Yup, my bad; thought of it shortly after clicking "Send", of course.

BTW, everyone I know in LA doesn't use numbers at all, but names that
are meaningless to outsiders even if they have a map: "Ventura freeway,"
"Hollywood freeway," "Pasadena freeway," etc.

Forgot about that too. Our freeways also have names, but they're
(mostly) unused: one occasionally hears 880 called "the Nimitz" or 80
"the Eastshore", but more often not.

Then of course there's Johnny Carson's old favorite, the "Slauson
Cutoff" ...


--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet:

To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.

David Nebenzahl wrote:
Then of course there's Johnny Carson's old favorite, the "Slauson
Cutoff" ...

My favorite Israeli highway story is about route 1, the road from Jerusalem
to Tel Aviv. Although Tel Aviv is a little over 100 years old, the original
city of Jaffa (aka Yaffo) has been there since biblical times, and this is
at least in spirit, that road.

Meanwhile Israeli's are big fans of acronyms. The Hebrew abreviation of
airport is N T and the main one here is named Ben Gurion. So the name of
the airport on road signs is written in Hebrew NTBG, which is pronnounced
"not bog".

About fifteen years ago in a refurbishment of route 1, someone decided
that there should be English signs on the road for tourists who could not
read Hebrew. So a set of signs went up for the airport "NATBAG 1km". :-)

Yes, they were later changed to "Ben Gurion Airport 1km".

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.

Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote in message
...
David Nebenzahl wrote:
Then of course there's Johnny Carson's old favorite, the "Slauson
Cutoff" ...

My favorite Israeli highway story is about route 1, the road from
Jerusalem
to Tel Aviv. Although Tel Aviv is a little over 100 years old, the
original
city of Jaffa (aka Yaffo) has been there since biblical times, and this is
at least in spirit, that road.

Meanwhile Israeli's are big fans of acronyms. The Hebrew abreviation of
airport is N T and the main one here is named Ben Gurion. So the name of
the airport on road signs is written in Hebrew NTBG, which is pronnounced
"not bog".

About fifteen years ago in a refurbishment of route 1, someone decided
that there should be English signs on the road for tourists who could not
read Hebrew. So a set of signs went up for the airport "NATBAG 1km". :-)

Yes, they were later changed to "Ben Gurion Airport 1km".

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.

I wonder what visitors to the UK make of official roadsigns, imagining a
country infested with triffids , that say
Large Plant Crossing

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
.com...
On 1/21/2011 5:43 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few
miles down the Interstate from LA

OK, Arf, a small lesson in regional US dialects, free of charge:

Nobody here in "Cal-ee-fonia", as our recently departed
Governator/Gropenator called it, calls them "interstates", even though
they are, in fact, interstate highways. Some folks back east may call them
that, though I'm not sure (I've heard them referred to as "turnpikes" in
some places). One wonders whether some LA residents even know what an
"interstate" is ...

In any case, just in case you actually visit Caleefonia sometime in the
near future, you should also be aware of an important difference in usage
between SoCal (basically El-Lay and environs) and NoCal (San Francisco and
thereabouts). Down there, they don't use *any* noun for a road (highway,
interstate, etc.), but they do use articles with the road number, as in
"the 405", "the 101", etc.

But bewa up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get down
to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who refer
to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)


--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet:

To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.



California is strange..

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
.com...
On 1/23/2011 12:02 AM Smitty Two spake thus:

In article ,
David Nebenzahl wrote:

But bewa up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)

I don't think Arfa is going to "blend" whether he uses your terminology
or not, and I doubt that's his objective. But you wrote an awful lot of
words without using "freeway," which is what we call the 101 here, and is
the most common word for "interstate highway" throughout the midwest, as
well.

Yup, my bad; thought of it shortly after clicking "Send", of course.

BTW, everyone I know in LA doesn't use numbers at all, but names that are
meaningless to outsiders even if they have a map: "Ventura freeway,"
"Hollywood freeway," "Pasadena freeway," etc.

Forgot about that too. Our freeways also have names, but they're (mostly)
unused: one occasionally hears 880 called "the Nimitz" or 80 "the
Eastshore", but more often not.

Then of course there's Johnny Carson's old favorite, the "Slauson Cutoff"
...


--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet:

To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.



In Florida many people call the "Interstate Highways" by its number.. For
example Interstate 4 is just I4. Other examples are I95 I75.. But it is
perfectly normal to hear take 75 or Take 95, although take 4 seems a bit
rare.

We have a turnpike as well. It refers to the first large toll road in
Florida.. (I believe it was the first.) Because it's officail name is The
Florida Turnpike or The Ronald Regan Turnpike.. It has 2 names..

Anyhow, I have wasted enough of your time now..

Mike

On Sun, 23 Jan 2011 23:02:48 +0900, Michael Kennedy wrote:

California is strange..

It's only January and we have
the winner for The Understatement Of 2011.

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
.com...
On 1/21/2011 5:43 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few
miles down the Interstate from LA

OK, Arf, a small lesson in regional US dialects, free of charge:

Nobody here in "Cal-ee-fonia", as our recently departed
Governator/Gropenator called it, calls them "interstates", even though
they are, in fact, interstate highways. Some folks back east may call them
that, though I'm not sure (I've heard them referred to as "turnpikes" in
some places). One wonders whether some LA residents even know what an
"interstate" is ...

In any case, just in case you actually visit Caleefonia sometime in the
near future, you should also be aware of an important difference in usage
between SoCal (basically El-Lay and environs) and NoCal (San Francisco and
thereabouts). Down there, they don't use *any* noun for a road (highway,
interstate, etc.), but they do use articles with the road number, as in
"the 405", "the 101", etc.

But bewa up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get down
to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who refer
to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)


--

Thank you for that enlightening dissertation ! However, as you say, it's not
actually *wrong* to call them Interstates - for that is what they are, as
evidenced by their designation "I" xxx - just 'not quite right' in your neck
of the woods. It's been a while since I was last in California, but I'm sure
I recall the I5 being referred to as 'The Interstate' by the guys in the
factory that I used to visit. Maybe in 20 years, or whatever it is now, the
usage of the term has changed. I could be wrong, but I thought that the big
road running just to the west of the Las Vegas strip was referred to locally
as 'The Interstate' or 'The Freeway', likewise the I75 and I95 in Florida,
although I have seen this term 'turnpike' over the that side of the country.
Perhaps Michael can enlighten us on the usage of the words over there in
'gator country ... ?

Arfa

David Nebenzahl wrote:

On 1/21/2011 5:43 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few miles
down the Interstate from LA

OK, Arf, a small lesson in regional US dialects, free of charge:

Nobody here in "Cal-ee-fonia", as our recently departed
Governator/Gropenator called it, calls them "interstates", even though
they are, in fact, interstate highways. Some folks back east may call
them that, though I'm not sure (I've heard them referred to as
"turnpikes" in some places). One wonders whether some LA residents even
know what an "interstate" is ...

In any case, just in case you actually visit Caleefonia sometime in the
near future, you should also be aware of an important difference in
usage between SoCal (basically El-Lay and environs) and NoCal (San
Francisco and thereabouts). Down there, they don't use *any* noun for a
road (highway, interstate, etc.), but they do use articles with the road
number, as in "the 405", "the 101", etc.

But bewa up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)


The midwest and southeast do call them either Interstate or
abbreviate it to 'I'. This is a good thing, since they run a thousand
miles or more. In fact, I lived about 15 miles from I-75 in Ohio. It's
about the same distance from me, in Florida. I can't recall anyone not
using this terminology in the 20+ years I've lived here, or the 30 +
years I lived in Ohio. The only place I've been with no Interstate
Highway was in Alaska. Everywhere else, they used the same terminology.


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

Michael Kennedy wrote:

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
.com...
On 1/21/2011 5:43 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few
miles down the Interstate from LA

OK, Arf, a small lesson in regional US dialects, free of charge:

Nobody here in "Cal-ee-fonia", as our recently departed
Governator/Gropenator called it, calls them "interstates", even though
they are, in fact, interstate highways. Some folks back east may call them
that, though I'm not sure (I've heard them referred to as "turnpikes" in
some places). One wonders whether some LA residents even know what an
"interstate" is ...

In any case, just in case you actually visit Caleefonia sometime in the
near future, you should also be aware of an important difference in usage
between SoCal (basically El-Lay and environs) and NoCal (San Francisco and
thereabouts). Down there, they don't use *any* noun for a road (highway,
interstate, etc.), but they do use articles with the road number, as in
"the 405", "the 101", etc.

But bewa up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get down
to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who refer
to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)


--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet:

To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.

California is strange..


Why do you think it's called 'The land of Fruits & Nuts'?


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

Arfa Daily wrote:

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
.com...
On 1/21/2011 5:43 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few
miles down the Interstate from LA

OK, Arf, a small lesson in regional US dialects, free of charge:

Nobody here in "Cal-ee-fonia", as our recently departed
Governator/Gropenator called it, calls them "interstates", even though
they are, in fact, interstate highways. Some folks back east may call them
that, though I'm not sure (I've heard them referred to as "turnpikes" in
some places). One wonders whether some LA residents even know what an
"interstate" is ...

In any case, just in case you actually visit Caleefonia sometime in the
near future, you should also be aware of an important difference in usage
between SoCal (basically El-Lay and environs) and NoCal (San Francisco and
thereabouts). Down there, they don't use *any* noun for a road (highway,
interstate, etc.), but they do use articles with the road number, as in
"the 405", "the 101", etc.

But bewa up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get down
to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who refer
to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)


--

Thank you for that enlightening dissertation ! However, as you say, it's not
actually *wrong* to call them Interstates - for that is what they are, as
evidenced by their designation "I" xxx - just 'not quite right' in your neck
of the woods. It's been a while since I was last in California, but I'm sure
I recall the I5 being referred to as 'The Interstate' by the guys in the
factory that I used to visit. Maybe in 20 years, or whatever it is now, the
usage of the term has changed. I could be wrong, but I thought that the big
road running just to the west of the Las Vegas strip was referred to locally
as 'The Interstate' or 'The Freeway', likewise the I75 and I95 in Florida,
although I have seen this term 'turnpike' over the that side of the country.
Perhaps Michael can enlighten us on the usage of the words over there in
'gator country ... ?


The 'turnpike' is a toll road. http://www.floridasturnpike.com/


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

"Allodoxaphobia" wrote in message
ig.com...
On Sun, 23 Jan 2011 23:02:48 +0900, Michael Kennedy wrote:

California is strange..

It's only January and we have
the winner for The Understatement Of 2011.


I was trying to have some restraint and hold back.

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
m...

JW wrote:

On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 05:29:16 -0600 "Mark Zacharias"
wrote in Message id:
om:

Packing peanuts.

There's a good one. Especially when the humidity is very low, and the
peanuts are all broken up in pieces!


Low humidity is rarely a problem in Florida.


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.


Yeah.. One time I was going to paint something. The can of spray paint said
to only use it in 50% or less humidity. I laughed when I read that and
thought there must be less than 20 days a year that would have low enough
humidity to paint this thing..

Michael Kennedy wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
m...

JW wrote:

On Thu, 20 Jan 2011 05:29:16 -0600 "Mark Zacharias"
wrote in Message id:
om:

Packing peanuts.

There's a good one. Especially when the humidity is very low, and the
peanuts are all broken up in pieces!


Low humidity is rarely a problem in Florida.


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

Yeah.. One time I was going to paint something. The can of spray paint said
to only use it in 50% or less humidity. I laughed when I read that and
thought there must be less than 20 days a year that would have low enough
humidity to paint this thing..


That's when you dig out the heat lamps to dry the surface, before you
paint.


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

On Fri, 21 Jan 2011 04:37:26 -0800 (PST), b
wrote:

Pet hates: excessive amounts of screws holding covers of TVs etc.
together. this seems to have got worse with flat panels.Often you
spend as much /more time assembling and re-asembling than the repair!
-B

Screws are fine. I can live with having too many screws because half
of them are usually stripped out and the remainder hold things
together. What bugs me are snap together clamshell cases, such as LCD
monitors and TV's, where you have to remove a mess of screws *AND* pry
the case apart. While snap together plastic is probably easier to
assemble because it doesn't require much fixturing to position the
robotic screwdriver, it does suggest that the case was never intended
to be opened or the unit repaired.

I recently repaired a Yamaha P70 electric piano. I didn't count, but
I'll guess about 60 large "sheet metal" type screws holding it
together. I don't use an electric screwdriver, but this is one time
that I wish I owned one. Even with switching hands, my hands ached
after I as done. The problem with such "sheet metal" screws is that
they offer high frictional resistance on every turn, while more
conventional screw threads, only offer high resistance when tight (or
smeared with thread lock).

My guess is the large number of screws was to prevent mechanical
resonances in the plastic case or to keep them from falling out from
vibrations. Still, metal thread inserts, screw threads, and steel nut
plates, would have been much easier to handle.

On the silicon grease front, I agree with most of the comments. Thin
works much better than globs of silicon grease. One should remember
that the purpose of silicon grease is NOT to bridge gaps. It's to
fill in the surface roughness, groves, and crevasses. Most of the
heat transfer is metal to metal contact, not through the silicon
grease.

In a past life, I used to design marine radios. The problem was that
the power xsistor packages of the day (1970's) were generally thermal
disasters. Either there was insufficient contact area to obtain
sufficiently low thermal resistance, or they were not flat. I solved
the first by building pyramid like structures of copper washers to act
as a heat spreader. I solved the latter by polishing the mounting
base of the power transistors on fine emery cloth. I hated to polish
away the gold plating, but that's what it took to get the heat out. I
made numerous tests and measurements trying to determine the optimum
amount of silicon grease, and eventually concluded that ultra thin is
best. Instructions were to smear a tiny amount onto the area, and
then wipe ALL of it off with a plastic scraper. What remained was
silicon grease in the remaining surface roughness, which was all that
was necessary.

I recently repaired an IFR-1500 service monitor. The power supply
section was intermittent. The 0.062 aluminum power supply case, was
butted up against the large aluminum heat sink that covered the entire
rear panel. In between was a huge amount of silicon grease. The
sandwich was held together by two large 10-24 screws, which probably
explains the silicon grease overdose. Two screws is not going to bend
the aluminum case so that it lays flat. So they tried to fill in the
lack of flatness with silicon grease. That doesn't work.

It took me considerable effort and alcohol to clean up the mess, but I
still managed to get it all over everything on the bench. After the
repair (large copper wires on torroids were not soldered properly), I
reassembled it with only a little silicon grease around the two large
screws, and left the rest to it's own devices. Works fine with no
obvious overheating (checked with an IR thermometer and thermocouple
probe). My guess is all that silicon grease did nothing useful.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Arfa Daily wrote:


"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
I once got in a lot of trouble with my boss when I was young and worked
for
a U.S. based company. At that time, I didn't understand that there was a
big
difference between British 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, and the much more
direct U.S. type. I was talking on the phone to one of the designers
of a
piece of equipment that we sold here in the UK, and asked the guy if he
could arrange to send me some screws for the cabinet, as they were a
thread
that we didn't readily get over here. He asked if I knew exactly what
size
they were so I replied, quick as a flash, thinking that I was being
funny,
"I guess that they are round about 3/16ths APF." "What's APF ?" the guy
asked. "American **** Fit", said I ...

Stony silence on the phone. Half an hour later, I was summoned to the
boss's
office. Apparently, the guy had been really offended by this, thinking
that
it was a slur on what he considered to be good American engineering, and
had
called my boss to complain about me. Just goes to show how easily
offence
can be caused between nations, even when they speak what's basically the
same language ... :-)

It's hard /not/ to interpret such a description as an intentional
insult. I
can't imagine what it actually means -- in any innocuous sense, anyway.



There ya go then ! Anyone from the UK would see it as a quick-fire
throw-away line, and would laugh at it. It's sort of intended to be
'barbed', but not in a malicious way. It's a very hard to describe form
of humour that is quite prevalent over here.

Arfa

We'ed only be confused in Canada. We have to deal with both UK and US
humour....

John ;-#)#

--
(Please post followups or tech enquiries to the newsgroup)
John's Jukes Ltd. 2343 Main St., Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 3C9
Call (604)872-5757 or Fax 872-2010 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
www.flippers.com
"Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."

Michael Kennedy wrote:
"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
.com...
On 1/23/2011 12:02 AM Smitty Two spake thus:

In article ,
David Nebenzahl wrote:

But bewa up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)
I don't think Arfa is going to "blend" whether he uses your terminology
or not, and I doubt that's his objective. But you wrote an awful lot of
words without using "freeway," which is what we call the 101 here, and is
the most common word for "interstate highway" throughout the midwest, as
well.
Yup, my bad; thought of it shortly after clicking "Send", of course.

BTW, everyone I know in LA doesn't use numbers at all, but names that are
meaningless to outsiders even if they have a map: "Ventura freeway,"
"Hollywood freeway," "Pasadena freeway," etc.
Forgot about that too. Our freeways also have names, but they're (mostly)
unused: one occasionally hears 880 called "the Nimitz" or 80 "the
Eastshore", but more often not.

Then of course there's Johnny Carson's old favorite, the "Slauson Cutoff"
...


--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet:

To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.



In Florida many people call the "Interstate Highways" by its number.. For
example Interstate 4 is just I4. Other examples are I95 I75.. But it is
perfectly normal to hear take 75 or Take 95, although take 4 seems a bit
rare.

We have a turnpike as well. It refers to the first large toll road in
Florida.. (I believe it was the first.) Because it's officail name is The
Florida Turnpike or The Ronald Regan Turnpike.. It has 2 names..

Anyhow, I have wasted enough of your time now..

Mike



Here in BC, Canada and (it appears) the Pacific Northwest states the US
highways are called Ixx - I5 being the main north-south one.

John :-#)#

--
(Please post followups or tech enquiries to the newsgroup)
John's Jukes Ltd. 2343 Main St., Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 3C9
Call (604)872-5757 or Fax 872-2010 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
www.flippers.com
"Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."

On Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:21:21 -0800, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

But bewa up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)

Ahem. I beg to differ slightly. In the People's Republic of Santa
Cruz, it's called "Highway 9", "Highway 17", and "Highway 1". They're
never referred to by their correct name of "US Route 9", "State Route
17", and "Calif State Route 1".

In Smog Angeles, Hwy 1 is called "Pacific Coast Highway", State Route
90 is the "Richard M. Nixon Freeway", and Interstate 5 is called the
"San Diego Freeway".

When I lived over the hill in San Jose in the late 1970's, the
numerical designations were rarely used. Interstate 880 was called
"the Nimitz". These days, nobody remembers Admiral Nimitz so it has
become "880".

Caltrans seems to be making a concerted and expensive effort to add to
the confusion by numbering all the freeway exits and onramps.
Unfortunately, they didn't plan it very well, so some of the numbers
are already out of sequence and there are postfixes such as "Exit
11c". I have yet to hear anyone refer to a specifically named exit by
its numerical equivalent.

When one visits the People's Republic of Santa Cruz, the point of
entry is what is called "the fish-hook" because of a 270 degree tight
turn. It's been greatly improved by an expensive rebuild 4 years ago,
but it still offers a fair approximation of a roller coaster ride:
http://we.got.net/~mapman/streets/SantaCruz/Fishhook/fishhook.html
My office is adjacent to this abomination. I would estimate we lose
one large truck to the tight turns every 2 weeks.



--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On 1/23/2011 10:00 PM John Robertson spake thus:

Michael Kennedy wrote:

In Florida many people call the "Interstate Highways" by its number.. For
example Interstate 4 is just I4. Other examples are I95 I75.. But it is
perfectly normal to hear take 75 or Take 95, although take 4 seems a bit
rare.

Here in BC, Canada and (it appears) the Pacific Northwest states the US
highways are called Ixx - I5 being the main north-south one.

Well, they're actually called that everywhere in the US, at least
officially and on maps. But what do *people* in that region actually
call them? I thought that's what we were talking about here.


--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet:

To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.

Jeff Liebermann wrote in message
...
On Fri, 21 Jan 2011 04:37:26 -0800 (PST), b
wrote:

Pet hates: excessive amounts of screws holding covers of TVs etc.
together. this seems to have got worse with flat panels.Often you
spend as much /more time assembling and re-asembling than the repair!
-B

Screws are fine. I can live with having too many screws because half
of them are usually stripped out and the remainder hold things
together. What bugs me are snap together clamshell cases, such as LCD
monitors and TV's, where you have to remove a mess of screws *AND* pry
the case apart. While snap together plastic is probably easier to
assemble because it doesn't require much fixturing to position the
robotic screwdriver, it does suggest that the case was never intended
to be opened or the unit repaired.

I recently repaired a Yamaha P70 electric piano. I didn't count, but
I'll guess about 60 large "sheet metal" type screws holding it
together. I don't use an electric screwdriver, but this is one time
that I wish I owned one. Even with switching hands, my hands ached
after I as done. The problem with such "sheet metal" screws is that
they offer high frictional resistance on every turn, while more
conventional screw threads, only offer high resistance when tight (or
smeared with thread lock).

My guess is the large number of screws was to prevent mechanical
resonances in the plastic case or to keep them from falling out from
vibrations. Still, metal thread inserts, screw threads, and steel nut
plates, would have been much easier to handle.

On the silicon grease front, I agree with most of the comments. Thin
works much better than globs of silicon grease. One should remember
that the purpose of silicon grease is NOT to bridge gaps. It's to
fill in the surface roughness, groves, and crevasses. Most of the
heat transfer is metal to metal contact, not through the silicon
grease.

In a past life, I used to design marine radios. The problem was that
the power xsistor packages of the day (1970's) were generally thermal
disasters. Either there was insufficient contact area to obtain
sufficiently low thermal resistance, or they were not flat. I solved
the first by building pyramid like structures of copper washers to act
as a heat spreader. I solved the latter by polishing the mounting
base of the power transistors on fine emery cloth. I hated to polish
away the gold plating, but that's what it took to get the heat out. I
made numerous tests and measurements trying to determine the optimum
amount of silicon grease, and eventually concluded that ultra thin is
best. Instructions were to smear a tiny amount onto the area, and
then wipe ALL of it off with a plastic scraper. What remained was
silicon grease in the remaining surface roughness, which was all that
was necessary.

I recently repaired an IFR-1500 service monitor. The power supply
section was intermittent. The 0.062 aluminum power supply case, was
butted up against the large aluminum heat sink that covered the entire
rear panel. In between was a huge amount of silicon grease. The
sandwich was held together by two large 10-24 screws, which probably
explains the silicon grease overdose. Two screws is not going to bend
the aluminum case so that it lays flat. So they tried to fill in the
lack of flatness with silicon grease. That doesn't work.

It took me considerable effort and alcohol to clean up the mess, but I
still managed to get it all over everything on the bench. After the
repair (large copper wires on torroids were not soldered properly), I
reassembled it with only a little silicon grease around the two large
screws, and left the rest to it's own devices. Works fine with no
obvious overheating (checked with an IR thermometer and thermocouple
probe). My guess is all that silicon grease did nothing useful.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com

I suspect we are as engineers are just as likely to be mislead by
manufacturer's claims as joe public and general ads. I could not convince
myself that silipads were better than mica (no patents so litterally dirt
cheap) - so experiment called for. These days I own a matchbox size remote
IR pyrometer and would use that to compare device body temps in before and
after situations , not fingertips

Mica versus Silicone pad insulators
I was not convinced that for an existing used amp with 4x TOP66 power output
devices that the silipads were better than mica.
Each of the 4 white insulating pads had shrunk about 5mm at the tops
(hottest)
compared to bottoms , ruffling the original outer edges, heat damage ?.
I'm wondering if they can chemically change over time and/or excessive
temperature , downgrading to be more of a thermal insulator.
They are not discoloured or hardened or anything different in the
ex-compressed area by sight or flexing, just permanently deformed , the
ruffling is permanent.
I replaced all 4 with mica and thin films of thermal grease.
Before doing so I powered up the amp with 400 Hz continuous sine giving 20
watts in a dummy load. No fan cooling for this amp, just
convection/radiation.
Laid a brass barrel protected thermometer on the heatsink and took
measurements. Stabilised at 33 deg C over ambient after 50 minutes.
Replaced with mica and redid the load test.
For same ambient , same testing position/attitude, power in load etc it now
took 30 minutes to stabilise at plus 32 deg C over ambient.
More graphically , but less scientific, - the finger test.
After half an hour of heating with the mica setup I could hold a fingertip
on each tranny for about 5 seconds before finding it uncomfortable.
Previously half a second of fingertip touch was enough.
I think I will rely on the evidence of my own observations and not
performance tables produced by the manufacturer's with an obvious vested
interest.
I've no reason to believe the original silipads had aged, been affected by
WD40 or anything.
I will assume they are , all manufacturers, all generically bad until a
similar personally conducted experiment, in a real situation, proves to me
to be otherwise.

Jeff Liebermann wrote in message
...
On Fri, 21 Jan 2011 04:37:26 -0800 (PST), b
wrote:

Pet hates: excessive amounts of screws holding covers of TVs etc.
together. this seems to have got worse with flat panels.Often you
spend as much /more time assembling and re-asembling than the repair!
-B

Screws are fine. I can live with having too many screws because half
of them are usually stripped out and the remainder hold things
together. What bugs me are snap together clamshell cases, such as LCD
monitors and TV's, where you have to remove a mess of screws *AND* pry
the case apart. While snap together plastic is probably easier to
assemble because it doesn't require much fixturing to position the
robotic screwdriver, it does suggest that the case was never intended
to be opened or the unit repaired.

I recently repaired a Yamaha P70 electric piano. I didn't count, but
I'll guess about 60 large "sheet metal" type screws holding it
together. I don't use an electric screwdriver, but this is one time
that I wish I owned one. Even with switching hands, my hands ached
after I as done. The problem with such "sheet metal" screws is that
they offer high frictional resistance on every turn, while more
conventional screw threads, only offer high resistance when tight (or
smeared with thread lock).

My guess is the large number of screws was to prevent mechanical
resonances in the plastic case or to keep them from falling out from
vibrations. Still, metal thread inserts, screw threads, and steel nut
plates, would have been much easier to handle.

On the silicon grease front, I agree with most of the comments. Thin
works much better than globs of silicon grease. One should remember
that the purpose of silicon grease is NOT to bridge gaps. It's to
fill in the surface roughness, groves, and crevasses. Most of the
heat transfer is metal to metal contact, not through the silicon
grease.

In a past life, I used to design marine radios. The problem was that
the power xsistor packages of the day (1970's) were generally thermal
disasters. Either there was insufficient contact area to obtain
sufficiently low thermal resistance, or they were not flat. I solved
the first by building pyramid like structures of copper washers to act
as a heat spreader. I solved the latter by polishing the mounting
base of the power transistors on fine emery cloth. I hated to polish
away the gold plating, but that's what it took to get the heat out. I
made numerous tests and measurements trying to determine the optimum
amount of silicon grease, and eventually concluded that ultra thin is
best. Instructions were to smear a tiny amount onto the area, and
then wipe ALL of it off with a plastic scraper. What remained was
silicon grease in the remaining surface roughness, which was all that
was necessary.

I recently repaired an IFR-1500 service monitor. The power supply
section was intermittent. The 0.062 aluminum power supply case, was
butted up against the large aluminum heat sink that covered the entire
rear panel. In between was a huge amount of silicon grease. The
sandwich was held together by two large 10-24 screws, which probably
explains the silicon grease overdose. Two screws is not going to bend
the aluminum case so that it lays flat. So they tried to fill in the
lack of flatness with silicon grease. That doesn't work.

It took me considerable effort and alcohol to clean up the mess, but I
still managed to get it all over everything on the bench. After the
repair (large copper wires on torroids were not soldered properly), I
reassembled it with only a little silicon grease around the two large
screws, and left the rest to it's own devices. Works fine with no
obvious overheating (checked with an IR thermometer and thermocouple
probe). My guess is all that silicon grease did nothing useful.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558


Another goo production failing , on a 1 to 2 yearold Fender Amp on my bench
at the moment. Uses intermediary Al block between immediate o/p h/s plate
and chassis. White goo on both surfaces is still as placed, not splurged
out. Failure to fettle/de-burr the post machining raised rims around the
machined holes so acting as thin washers so heat just going through the 3
bolts not body of Al. Amp failure nothing to do with this poor heatsinking

Jeff Liebermann wrote:


Oh, there is one area that I won't do any more. I'm no longer able to
the construction work necessary to run CAT5 all over a building. I
contract that out to younger and more suicidal kids, who are usually
grateful for the work and money.

Jeff, that's just because you haven't figured out how to charge your customers
to "run" wireless connections. :-)

Geoff.
--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote:

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Oh, there is one area that I won't do any more. I'm no longer able to
the construction work necessary to run CAT5 all over a building. I
contract that out to younger and more suicidal kids, who are usually
grateful for the work and money.

Jeff, that's just because you haven't figured out how to charge your customers
to "run" wireless connections. :-)


Some people don't want wireless for security, and other reasons. it's
ok for a small home network, but not a large business with a lot of
computers.


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

On Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:49:04 +0000 (UTC), "Geoffrey S. Mendelson"
wrote:

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
Oh, there is one area that I won't do any more. I'm no longer able to
the construction work necessary to run CAT5 all over a building. I
contract that out to younger and more suicidal kids, who are usually
grateful for the work and money.

Jeff, that's just because you haven't figured out how to charge your customers
to "run" wireless connections. :-)
Geoff.

I don't get many calls to "install" a wireless router or bridge.
However, almost all my wireless work is cleaning up the mess made by
someone else. Commodity wireless is sufficiently simple that almost
anyone can do it if they follow instructions. Making the decision
whether wireless is appropriate is not so simple. Wireless for
laptops, PDA's, game consoles, some printers, and wi-fi phones are
appropriate. Tivo, Netflix, Blue-Ray players, desktops, and other
high bandwidth devices are not. The nice part of this cleanup type of
work is I can charge almost any fair price. I can't do that on an
initial install.

Incidentally, the reason I didn't want to run wires any more is that I
was taking statins to reduce cholesterol for the last 8 years. The
side effect was ever increasing back aches. They were tolerable for
the first 5 years, but continued to get worse until I was unable to do
many things. I stopped taking statins about a year ago, and had to
wait 6 months for the back aches to mostly go away. I'm now trying to
get back into shape so I can again crawl around under houses running
wires. Meanwhile, it's a good excuse to not get dirty.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

"Jeff Liebermann" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:21:21 -0800, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

But bewa up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)

Ahem. I beg to differ slightly. In the People's Republic of Santa
Cruz, it's called "Highway 9", "Highway 17", and "Highway 1". They're
never referred to by their correct name of "US Route 9", "State Route
17", and "Calif State Route 1".

In Smog Angeles, Hwy 1 is called "Pacific Coast Highway", State Route
90 is the "Richard M. Nixon Freeway", and Interstate 5 is called the
"San Diego Freeway".

When I lived over the hill in San Jose in the late 1970's, the
numerical designations were rarely used. Interstate 880 was called
"the Nimitz". These days, nobody remembers Admiral Nimitz so it has
become "880".

Caltrans seems to be making a concerted and expensive effort to add to
the confusion by numbering all the freeway exits and onramps.
Unfortunately, they didn't plan it very well, so some of the numbers
are already out of sequence and there are postfixes such as "Exit
11c". I have yet to hear anyone refer to a specifically named exit by
its numerical equivalent.

When one visits the People's Republic of Santa Cruz, the point of
entry is what is called "the fish-hook" because of a 270 degree tight
turn. It's been greatly improved by an expensive rebuild 4 years ago,
but it still offers a fair approximation of a roller coaster ride:
http://we.got.net/~mapman/streets/SantaCruz/Fishhook/fishhook.html
My office is adjacent to this abomination. I would estimate we lose
one large truck to the tight turns every 2 weeks.



--
Jeff Liebermann


Interestingly, here in the UK, the exits from the motorways - loosely
'freeways' equivalent, I guess - have always been numbered, and have always
been referred to by number. So someone giving directions might say "take the
M1 north, and exit at junction 15 onto the A508", 'A' being the
designator for a major road, but without motorway status.

Arfa

On Tue, 25 Jan 2011 02:11:27 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:
Interestingly, here in the UK, the exits from the motorways - loosely
'freeways' equivalent, I guess - have always been numbered, and have always
been referred to by number. So someone giving directions might say "take the
M1 north, and exit at junction 15 onto the A508", 'A' being the
designator for a major road, but without motorway status.

Arfa

California is different:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Numbered_Exit_Uniform_System
http://www.cahighways.org/num-exitnum.html
A suffix letter A, B, C, D or E is used on multi-exit
interchanges, or on multiple interchange exits within
the same exit number zone.

As a former member of the Anti Digit Dialing League and fan of The
Prisoner (I am not a number...), I find the whole effort amusing.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,827416,00.html


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558