On Tue, 9 Feb 2016 16:32:34 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Christopher Tidy" wrote in message
...
Honduras mahogany varies wildly. The old-growth stuff, which was
logged out around a century ago, could be dense and moderately
hard.
Old corporate boardrooms (like the old one at LeBlond Lathes in
Cincinnati, before they tore it down) were often lined with
veneered
panels made from the old-growth stock. Most harvested by the 1950s
was
pretty open-grained and soft.

Interesting. I wonder why the old-growth stock was so much denser?
Does it depend on climate, or the state of the soil, or what?

Older heartwood vs younger sapwood?

Maybe.

--
Ed Huntress

On Tue, 9 Feb 2016 17:34:37 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
.. .
--
Ed Huntress

Hey Ed, I held a Christie sign post outside the polling place while
the state rep I was chatting with took a break.
--jsw

Just don't bring that thing to New Jersey. We're thinking about
leaving him in New Hampshire.

--
Ed Huntress

On 2/8/2016 10:58 PM, Martin Eastburn wrote:
Look into big transmissions. Drop speed increase HP, drop HP increase
speed.

Martin


Drop speed increase *torque*, drop *torque* increase speed.

Am Dienstag, 9. Februar 2016 22:32:21 UTC+1 schrieb Jim Wilkins:

Older heartwood vs younger sapwood?

Ah. Probably right. Good point.

"Christopher Tidy" wrote in message
...
Am Dienstag, 9. Februar 2016 22:32:21 UTC+1 schrieb Jim Wilkins:

Older heartwood vs younger sapwood?

Ah. Probably right. Good point.

The pieces of oak I'm making the antenna insulators out of came from a
slab off my sawmill, cut into narrow "stickers" to space the planks
apart while they dried. The boundary between soft sapwood and denser
heartwood runs diagonally across them it and gives me trouble clamping
and milling them.
--jsw

On Tue, 09 Feb 2016 07:56:35 -0600, Ignoramus4548
wrote:

After a couple of decades using UPSes, I became unconvinced that UPSes
increase reliability and especially uptime. The problem is that UPSes
fail for spurious reasons, and when they fail, they leave devices
unpowered.

I've been using UPSes for decades, ever since losing my first large
UNSAVED document to a few milliseconds of blackout from SDG&E. Since
then, power has become more and more unstable, with little glitches
every hour, at worst. The UPS has saved me more than one time that
I'm aware of, and they usually last 7-10 years before something dies.
That's usually the battery, and I've replaced them for $17.

AFAIC, a UPS is an inexpensive and well-reasoned addition to all my
critical electronics circuits. Also, they filter the spikes out
better than power strips, so

Long enough glitches will stomp your DVD player, causing you to have
to spend 10-15 minutes, seeking the place in the movie you were just
watching. That's easily avoided with a UPS. Not a critical need, but
avoiding hassles makes for a much more pleasant life.

--
I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people
who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.
-- Anna Quindlen

On Tue, 9 Feb 2016 09:30:10 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 8 Feb 2016 07:55:05 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 7 Feb 2016 12:11:35 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:
.....

Oh, OK. Most of us didn't make our own TV antennas. g

Most of us didn't make Air Force satellite communications gear either.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milstar

Gee, what kind of TV reception do you get from yours? And why are you
FFing around with antennas?


When ice, wind or falling branches overwhelm it, the steel tube
bends
at the top of the fixed section and costs me about 3 days worth of
cable bill to replace. I bought and predrilled several spare
sections.
In three out of four falls the antenna wasn't damaged and it's back
together now with wooden dipole insulators.

Whoa, falling branches? If you have trees close enough to damage an
antenna tower, you have trees -far- too close to the house.

Ya think?

I do.


The problem was access. When the neighbor on that side decided to have
some trees taken down and finally accepted that it would require a
crane parked on his lawn I joined in to have my risky trees on that
side removed too. Thus the sawmill operation, they were mature oaks
and too good to waste as firewood. They are now a stack of beams for
the permanent shed I can put up in the space they threatened. However
the outer ends of the guy lines necessarily attach to trees which can
drop branches on them.

Yes, a problem.


We have a week of storms predicted and there's nothing I want to
watch
this week on local TV that I can't get from a Boston station so it's
staying down until the weather improves. I have an flat,
unobstructed
line of sight to Boston and that antenna is down low. The local
stations retained their VHF channels which require a larger, more
fragile antenna than UHF-only Boston.

We just finished playing with those storms, so I hope you enjoy
them.
What coatings have you tried on the guy wires to prevent icing?

The guy lines are 80 lb braided Dacron fishing line. When new they
have a smooth slippery finish but it weathers off. Lowering the mast
solves the icing issue IF the forecast is correct. The lower sections
now connect with hitch pins I can remove in the dark wearing gloves.
http://www.linkagepin.com/wire_lock_pin_round_type.html

Custom antenny, custom lines, eh? OK.


The intent is to lower the antenna for bad weather, assuming they
predict it correctly which they didn't. The local joke is that we're
shoveling six inches of "partly cloudy".

Cute!


The antenna lowers very easily but the guy lines, rotator wires,
coax
and the heavy ground wire tangle and make it troublesome to raise
afterwards, and impossible if they are caught in ice. Of course it
may have to come down late at night in a cold, windy rain or sleet
while I can wait for better conditions to haul it back up.

I sure don't miss fiddle****ing around with antennas, I tell ya.

The process is as simple as I can get it.

That's good.


I can lower the antennas and
clean my chimney from the ground. The UHF antenna lowers to roof
access height with no tools in 5 seconds. The antennas are attached to
5' mast sections that are easy to disconnect and lay on the roof. The
only significant difference between RS mast and chain link fence top
rail is the looser fit at the joints, which I shimmed with Gorilla
tape.

Ah, Gorilla tape, the "good stuff"...


The screws that hold them together prevent rotation and keep the
joints from freezing solid like rusty RS mast.

Rusty pipes are sooooo much fun to work with, aren't they?

--
I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people
who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.
-- Anna Quindlen

On Tue, 9 Feb 2016 16:32:34 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Christopher Tidy" wrote in message
...
Honduras mahogany varies wildly. The old-growth stuff, which was
logged out around a century ago, could be dense and moderately
hard.
Old corporate boardrooms (like the old one at LeBlond Lathes in
Cincinnati, before they tore it down) were often lined with
veneered
panels made from the old-growth stock. Most harvested by the 1950s
was
pretty open-grained and soft.

Interesting. I wonder why the old-growth stock was so much denser?
Does it depend on climate, or the state of the soil, or what?

Older heartwood vs younger sapwood?

Heartwood is denser, stronger, and much more weatherproof and insect
resistant than sapwood. And old-growth stock had much more heartwood
because they were much larger and older trees. All of the above are
true, tho. Soil and climate can make differences, too.

--
I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people
who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.
-- Anna Quindlen

It was a long long day. Walked twice as far in half the time
and was in poor shape.

Martin

On 2/9/2016 6:28 PM, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
On 2/8/2016 10:58 PM, Martin Eastburn wrote:
Look into big transmissions. Drop speed increase HP, drop HP increase
speed.

Martin


Drop speed increase *torque*, drop *torque* increase speed.

A friend of mine just had here new computer melted. Mostly melted!
Lighting came into the house and blew through the protection of a power
strip circuit and was tough on everything plugged in and near by.

One can never tell when it might strike.

Martin


On 2/9/2016 8:26 AM, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Tue, 09 Feb 2016 07:56:35 -0600, Ignoramus4548
wrote:

After a couple of decades using UPSes, I became unconvinced that UPSes
increase reliability and especially uptime. The problem is that UPSes
fail for spurious reasons, and when they fail, they leave devices
unpowered.

i

And when you don't use them ... your devices are left unpowered.

They've saved me more than once.

On 2016-02-09, Martin Eastburn wrote:
Don -

Get a small UPS that is made for laptops. That should power the
phone for hours and days. Maybe the control box into it as well.

I use them on my modem and routers. Lights twinkle in a storm, the
net stays up and no reboot/restart needed on the modem or computer on
their own.
Martin

There is a connector for a booster battery pack on the box, but
it seems to be difficult to get pinout and voltage/current specs. The
maker says that they made the box for Verizon, and Verizon says that
they don't have the information. (This from a friend who got the FIOS
"upgrade".) I've resisted so far.

I've not actually looked at his box, so I don't know, but I
seem to remember him mentioning it is an uncommon connector, too -- and
he knows connectors quite well.

Anyway -- having a battery plugged into the connector would be
more efficient and offer more backup time from a given Amp-Hour rating
of battery. So -- if I ever consider switching over to FIOS, I'll sort
of hold the switch-over hostage until I get the details from Verizon.

Another discussion elsewhere shows why Verizon wants to talk
everybody to using FIOS instead of copper. There are federal
requirements for reliability of communication which apply to copper
which do not for the FIOS (so far). Anyone who has health reasons to
need to call a doctor quickly and reliably should stick with copper.
(This was shown during the "Derecho" long term power outage a few
summers ago. My phones (copper) kept working. Those with the FIOS were
lost after a few hours.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: | (KV4PH) Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On 2016-02-09, Ignoramus4548 wrote:
After a couple of decades using UPSes, I became unconvinced that UPSes
increase reliability and especially uptime. The problem is that UPSes
fail for spurious reasons, and when they fail, they leave devices
unpowered.

An increasing number of my computers and disk arrays come with
dual power supplies (a single one will operate the equipment), so one
power supply is connected to the UPS (a 2 KVA BEST Ferrups running from
four 12V gel cells in series), and the other to the wall power, so a
short duration of outage on either is no problem. Unfortunately, some
of the older computers are single power supply so are vulnerable.

The UPS is rated for 55 AH batteries, and the last set I had in
there turn out to be 75 AH, so I got really good long-time backup, while
the UPS was claiming for a long time that I had only 15 minutes left.

Unfortunately, I let them go too long. They should be changed
out every four years, and these went in in 2009, so I had a failure when
I *reduced* the load on the UPS (it had been complaining that it could not
power the full load for a few months and thus was switched to "Line
Condition" mode (a big Ferro-resonant transformer with no backup), and
during that time the batteries fully discharged. So -- after reducing
the load, when I switched it back to "Auto", it collapsed, and did not
even have enough voltage to enable the control panel to switch back to
"line Condition" again.

The previous set of batteries came from a hamfest (a vendor who
had some that had been sitting on the shelf too long to guarantee), for
$40.00 each. I haven't seen him for the last several years, or I would
have gotten a new set. I'm now waiting for delivery of an ordered
set.( *Expensive* at new price. :-( )

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: | (KV4PH) Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
On 2016-02-09, Martin Eastburn wrote:
Don -

Get a small UPS that is made for laptops. That should power the
phone for hours and days. Maybe the control box into it as well.

I use them on my modem and routers. Lights twinkle in a storm, the
net stays up and no reboot/restart needed on the modem or computer
on
their own.
Martin

There is a connector for a booster battery pack on the box, but
it seems to be difficult to get pinout and voltage/current specs.
The
maker says that they made the box for Verizon, and Verizon says that
they don't have the information. (This from a friend who got the
FIOS
"upgrade".) I've resisted so far.

I've not actually looked at his box, so I don't know, but I
seem to remember him mentioning it is an uncommon connector, too --
and
he knows connectors quite well.

Anyway -- having a battery plugged into the connector would be
more efficient and offer more backup time from a given Amp-Hour
rating
of battery. So -- if I ever consider switching over to FIOS, I'll
sort
of hold the switch-over hostage until I get the details from
Verizon.

Another discussion elsewhere shows why Verizon wants to talk
everybody to using FIOS instead of copper. There are federal
requirements for reliability of communication which apply to copper
which do not for the FIOS (so far). Anyone who has health reasons
to
need to call a doctor quickly and reliably should stick with copper.
(This was shown during the "Derecho" long term power outage a few
summers ago. My phones (copper) kept working. Those with the FIOS
were
lost after a few hours.

Enjoy,
DoN.

The repairman assured me that broken FIOS wasn't much slower to splice
than copper. Sometimes telco office people mistake me for a phone
phreak when I ask technical questions well beyond what the average
person would know, but the repairmen have been straightforward and
helpful.

My first engineering assignment was to built an 800A test load for a
central office 48V battery charger, to replace one that had burned up
its locally constructed plywood enclosure. I didn't restrain the
welding cables closely enough and when first powered on the magnetic
fields slammed them into the metal side panels loudly enough to bring
the whole factory running to see the "accident."

--jsw

"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

On 2016-02-09, Martin Eastburn wrote:
Don -

Get a small UPS that is made for laptops. That should power the
phone for hours and days. Maybe the control box into it as well.

I use them on my modem and routers. Lights twinkle in a storm, the
net stays up and no reboot/restart needed on the modem or computer on
their own.
Martin

There is a connector for a booster battery pack on the box, but
it seems to be difficult to get pinout and voltage/current specs. The
maker says that they made the box for Verizon, and Verizon says that
they don't have the information. (This from a friend who got the FIOS
"upgrade".) I've resisted so far.

I've not actually looked at his box, so I don't know, but I
seem to remember him mentioning it is an uncommon connector, too -- and
he knows connectors quite well.

Anyway -- having a battery plugged into the connector would be
more efficient and offer more backup time from a given Amp-Hour rating
of battery. So -- if I ever consider switching over to FIOS, I'll sort
of hold the switch-over hostage until I get the details from Verizon.

Another discussion elsewhere shows why Verizon wants to talk
everybody to using FIOS instead of copper. There are federal
requirements for reliability of communication which apply to copper
which do not for the FIOS (so far). Anyone who has health reasons to
need to call a doctor quickly and reliably should stick with copper.
(This was shown during the "Derecho" long term power outage a few
summers ago. My phones (copper) kept working. Those with the FIOS were
lost after a few hours.

Copper isn't always reliable. I have been trying for five years to
get my line cleaned up. Even copper to your home isn't a direct line to
the Central office. My copper line is converted to fiber, a mile from my
property. The fiber is a couple years old, but the copper was installed
a long time ago. (The first home in the subdivision was built in 1964.)
It is noisy, and intermittent, but it works well enough to pass their
test when they finally arrive. No telling how many times lightning has
damaged that old cable.

Those FIOS interfaces have a small battery in them, and I've heard
that some of the commercial grade can be connected to an external gel
cell for extended operation.

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


Copper isn't always reliable. I have been trying for five years to
get my line cleaned up. Even copper to your home isn't a direct line
to
the Central office. My copper line is converted to fiber, a mile
from my
property. The fiber is a couple years old, but the copper was
installed
a long time ago. (The first home in the subdivision was built in
1964.)
It is noisy, and intermittent, but it works well enough to pass
their
test when they finally arrive. No telling how many times lightning
has
damaged that old cable.

Those FIOS interfaces have a small battery in them, and I've heard
that some of the commercial grade can be connected to an external
gel
cell for extended operation.

The repairman switched me to a spare pair with no bridge taps and cut
it off beyond my house.
--jsw

Joseph Gwinn wrote:


Yeah, I was focused on the hybrid, which is used at both ends.

Somewhere I have complete circuit for a POTS phone, but a modern unit with
touchtone dial (the original, with pot cores and a germanium transistor). I
recall it came from an old issue of BSTJ.

I have 62 volumes of the BTSJ. (from 1922 to 1983) They are just shy
of 40 GB of files.

I loved the early TT pads that generated two frequencies with a
single germanium transistor.

I have scrapped a lot of 1A2 phones, and have a large box of hybrids,
some good TT pads and handsets. All of them had bad line selector
switches. I also saved a bunch of the Amphenol 50 contact blue ribbon
connectors and cables. I used to maintain the phone systems for some AM
radio stations, since the 1A2 system was very RFI resistant.

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 9 Feb 2016 09:30:10 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
. ..
On Mon, 8 Feb 2016 07:55:05 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in
message
m...
On Sun, 7 Feb 2016 12:11:35 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:
.....

Oh, OK. Most of us didn't make our own TV antennas. g

Most of us didn't make Air Force satellite communications gear
either.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milstar

Gee, what kind of TV reception do you get from yours? And why are
you
FFing around with antennas?

[Sarcasm ignored]
I get over 90% signal 'quality' at 30 miles from the transmitter. I
can measure and tell you the levels in dBm if you'd understand what
that means. The off-air recordings I care about are musical
performances which would suffer from any noise or dropouts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugae8zYMLaE

Fake Roman ruins were a favorite architectural theme in the late
1700's. That one represents Carthage after the Romans were done with
it. I'm not sure what the Egyptian obelisk atop the mountain cave was
intended to signify. I wish I'd had time to visit Vienna. I barely
made it to Salzburg.

--jsw

Larry Jaques wrote:

Time for a new mast system, wot? Better yet, Repent!, and TV no more.
I'm going on 11 years without it now. Netflix and Redbox give me the
movie fixes I need, but I haven't suffered through brainless broadcast
TV or the massively stupid and numerous commercials for over a decade.
The only commercials I actively seek are those for the Stupor Bowl,
and even then, at millions a pop, they put some stupid one on. The
money spent on sports and commercials each year would be enough, in
one single year, to -feed- and -house- the homeless and hungry poor in
America (even those who don't deserve it), and probably a few dozen
other countries. Too bad so few people have this perspective.
(Sorry, it just slipped out.)


I worked in TV for a long time, so it is mostly background noise when
it is on. I broke down and paid $19.99 for the entire collection of
'Third Rock From The Sun' TV series on DVDs. There are 139, 22 minute
episodes, on 17 DVDs. I bought it, and the complete 'Married With
Children (for $26.77), on ebay. Third rock is even better, with no
commercials! ;-)

So far, my record with the Superbowl: I have managed to miss the last
50 of them. including most of the commercials. The only televised sports
i watched was early NASCAR, before in car cams destroyed it, and IROC
racing.

On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 09:08:39 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 9 Feb 2016 09:30:10 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 8 Feb 2016 07:55:05 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in
message
om...
On Sun, 7 Feb 2016 12:11:35 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:
.....

Oh, OK. Most of us didn't make our own TV antennas. g

Most of us didn't make Air Force satellite communications gear
either.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milstar

Gee, what kind of TV reception do you get from yours? And why are
you
FFing around with antennas?

[Sarcasm ignored]

Where's the fun in that?


I get over 90% signal 'quality' at 30 miles from the transmitter. I
can measure and tell you the levels in dBm if you'd understand what
that means. The off-air recordings I care about are musical
performances which would suffer from any noise or dropouts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugae8zYMLaE

Yes, classical music has an extremely large dynamic range, with no
room for noise, dropouts, or wavering. (can't recall the word for
that) I used to care about dBm, selectivity, sensitivity, THD, and
all other things stereophonic as an audiophile, but the tinnitus gave
me a much different perspective. Now I simply want low distortion and
no longer listen to FM at all.


Fake Roman ruins were a favorite architectural theme in the late
1700's. That one represents Carthage after the Romans were done with
it. I'm not sure what the Egyptian obelisk atop the mountain cave was
intended to signify. I wish I'd had time to visit Vienna. I barely
made it to Salzburg.

I'm not much into musicals, Strauss, or waltzes, but the Blue Danube
has always had a place in my heart. In quad sound at the theater
during 2001, a space mess, it was outstanding.

--
I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people
who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.
-- Anna Quindlen

On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 09:16:11 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Larry Jaques wrote:

Time for a new mast system, wot? Better yet, Repent!, and TV no more.
I'm going on 11 years without it now. Netflix and Redbox give me the
movie fixes I need, but I haven't suffered through brainless broadcast
TV or the massively stupid and numerous commercials for over a decade.
The only commercials I actively seek are those for the Stupor Bowl,
and even then, at millions a pop, they put some stupid one on. The
money spent on sports and commercials each year would be enough, in
one single year, to -feed- and -house- the homeless and hungry poor in
America (even those who don't deserve it), and probably a few dozen
other countries. Too bad so few people have this perspective.
(Sorry, it just slipped out.)


I worked in TV for a long time, so it is mostly background noise when

So why waste electricity and disturb your peace and quiet? That's my
goal nowadays. Total quiet.


it is on. I broke down and paid $19.99 for the entire collection of
'Third Rock From The Sun' TV series on DVDs. There are 139, 22 minute
episodes, on 17 DVDs. I bought it, and the complete 'Married With
Children (for $26.77), on ebay. Third rock is even better, with no
commercials! ;-)

I loved MWC but never watched TRFTS. I missed Buffy the Vampire
Slayer a lot, though, and bought 3 seasons of that for about $20.


So far, my record with the Superbowl: I have managed to miss the last
50 of them. including most of the commercials. The only televised sports
i watched was early NASCAR, before in car cams destroyed it, and IROC
racing.

I gave up watching football back when they had their first strike. If
the multi-millionaire sports asses don't care about their fans, as a
fan, I no longer care about them. Sports announcers ruined things for
me when they got enormous egos and couldn't keep their yaps shut and
let us enjoy the race, etc.

It is hard to believe that people wasted $1,300,000,000 on a bloody
stadium for sports. Without massive corporate sponsorships, most
products would cost less than half what they do now. Grrr.

--
I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people
who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.
-- Anna Quindlen

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

Larry Jaques wrote:

Time for a new mast system, wot? Better yet, Repent!, and TV no
more.
I'm going on 11 years without it now. Netflix and Redbox give me
the
movie fixes I need, but I haven't suffered through brainless
broadcast
TV or the massively stupid and numerous commercials for over a
decade.
The only commercials I actively seek are those for the Stupor Bowl,
and even then, at millions a pop, they put some stupid one on. The
money spent on sports and commercials each year would be enough, in
one single year, to -feed- and -house- the homeless and hungry poor
in
America (even those who don't deserve it), and probably a few dozen
other countries. Too bad so few people have this perspective.
(Sorry, it just slipped out.)


I worked in TV for a long time, so it is mostly background noise
when
it is on. I broke down and paid $19.99 for the entire collection of
'Third Rock From The Sun' TV series on DVDs. There are 139, 22
minute
episodes, on 17 DVDs. I bought it, and the complete 'Married With
Children (for $26.77), on ebay. Third rock is even better, with no
commercials! ;-)

So far, my record with the Superbowl: I have managed to miss the
last
50 of them. including most of the commercials. The only televised
sports
i watched was early NASCAR, before in car cams destroyed it, and
IROC
racing.

The current Fox show "Lucifer" is witty and interesting, though I'm
not recording it. It's derived from John Milton's Satan in Paradise
Lost, as recast in the Sandman comic book series. He's bored with Hell
and takes a vacation as a James Bond-ish night club owner in its
earthly equivalent, Los Angeles. While he's lost interest in
subverting good souls he enjoys the challenge of destroying the wicked
ones by telling them only the truth. Tom Ellis's performance as the
charming Devil carries the show entirely.

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...

I loved MWC but never watched TRFTS. I missed Buffy the Vampire
Slayer a lot, though, and bought 3 seasons of that for about $20.

Then you might like Forever Knight, similarly intelligently written,
whose characters may have inspired Angel and Spike, at least Angel's
remorse and Caddy convertible and Spike's hair, accent and cynical
attitude.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezC7LuaNH8I

Jim Wilkins wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Those FIOS interfaces have a small battery in them, and I've heard
that some of the commercial grade can be connected to an external
gel cell for extended operation.

The repairman switched me to a spare pair with no bridge taps and cut
it off beyond my house.


They did that here, but my house is already at the end of the line.
they also switched to a different pair in the six pair cable that runs
from my 'Network Interface' to the pedestal at the end of my driveway.
I've seen the DC voltage on the line drop to a couple volts, with the
phone 'On hook'. I only have one phone connected to the line, and it is
new wire inside the house. It's only a couple feet between the 'Network
Interface', and the jack on the inside of that wall.

Larry Jaques wrote:

Yes, classical music has an extremely large dynamic range, with no
room for noise, dropouts, or wavering. (can't recall the word for
that)

'Wow and Rumble' was how it was referred to, for turntables and tape
machines.

Larry Jaques wrote:

On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 09:16:11 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Larry Jaques wrote:

Time for a new mast system, wot? Better yet, Repent!, and TV no more.
I'm going on 11 years without it now. Netflix and Redbox give me the
movie fixes I need, but I haven't suffered through brainless broadcast
TV or the massively stupid and numerous commercials for over a decade.
The only commercials I actively seek are those for the Stupor Bowl,
and even then, at millions a pop, they put some stupid one on. The
money spent on sports and commercials each year would be enough, in
one single year, to -feed- and -house- the homeless and hungry poor in
America (even those who don't deserve it), and probably a few dozen
other countries. Too bad so few people have this perspective.
(Sorry, it just slipped out.)


I worked in TV for a long time, so it is mostly background noise when

So why waste electricity and disturb your peace and quiet? That's my
goal nowadays. Total quiet.


That is impossible. My tinnitus is so bad that it wakes me up. I have to
leave the TV on, a radio and two fans to help mask it enough just to get
any sleep. It is miserable, whenever the power is out. I may be awake
for days at a time, because of the loud whistling.


it is on. I broke down and paid $19.99 for the entire collection of
'Third Rock From The Sun' TV series on DVDs. There are 139, 22 minute
episodes, on 17 DVDs. I bought it, and the complete 'Married With
Children (for $26.77), on ebay. Third rock is even better, with no
commercials! ;-)

I loved MWC but never watched TRFTS. I missed Buffy the Vampire
Slayer a lot, though, and bought 3 seasons of that for about $20.

I like TRFTS, because it is a screwball comedy. Jane Curtain looks
like she as about to lose it most of the time, and it's funny watching
the aliens try to understand humans. Of course, having Kirsten Johnston
on the show, doesn't hurt the eyeballs.,


http://24.media.tumblr.com/df456a935d9402838ce4cdbf62ac9e66/tumblr_miv5ny1b4O1ry7r58o1_400.gif


So far, my record with the Superbowl: I have managed to miss the last
50 of them. including most of the commercials. The only televised sports
i watched was early NASCAR, before in car cams destroyed it, and IROC
racing.

I gave up watching football back when they had their first strike. If
the multi-millionaire sports asses don't care about their fans, as a
fan, I no longer care about them. Sports announcers ruined things for
me when they got enormous egos and couldn't keep their yaps shut and
let us enjoy the race, etc.

It is hard to believe that people wasted $1,300,000,000 on a bloody
stadium for sports. Without massive corporate sponsorships, most
products would cost less than half what they do now. Grrr.


That is why I stay away rom most name brands that do a lot of
advertising. The 'generic' 80 cent version of Diet Mountain Dew tastes
the same as the $2.29 bottle from Pepsico.

Jim Wilkins wrote:

The current Fox show "Lucifer" is witty and interesting, though I'm
not recording it. It's derived from John Milton's Satan in Paradise
Lost, as recast in the Sandman comic book series. He's bored with Hell
and takes a vacation as a James Bond-ish night club owner in its
earthly equivalent, Los Angeles. While he's lost interest in
subverting good souls he enjoys the challenge of destroying the wicked
ones by telling them only the truth. Tom Ellis's performance as the
charming Devil carries the show entirely.


The whole concept of that show is nothing I care to watch.

On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 11:26:03 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

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

Larry Jaques wrote:

Time for a new mast system, wot? Better yet, Repent!, and TV no
more.
I'm going on 11 years without it now. Netflix and Redbox give me
the
movie fixes I need, but I haven't suffered through brainless
broadcast
TV or the massively stupid and numerous commercials for over a
decade.
The only commercials I actively seek are those for the Stupor Bowl,
and even then, at millions a pop, they put some stupid one on. The
money spent on sports and commercials each year would be enough, in
one single year, to -feed- and -house- the homeless and hungry poor
in
America (even those who don't deserve it), and probably a few dozen
other countries. Too bad so few people have this perspective.
(Sorry, it just slipped out.)


I worked in TV for a long time, so it is mostly background noise
when
it is on. I broke down and paid $19.99 for the entire collection of
'Third Rock From The Sun' TV series on DVDs. There are 139, 22
minute
episodes, on 17 DVDs. I bought it, and the complete 'Married With
Children (for $26.77), on ebay. Third rock is even better, with no
commercials! ;-)

So far, my record with the Superbowl: I have managed to miss the
last
50 of them. including most of the commercials. The only televised
sports
i watched was early NASCAR, before in car cams destroyed it, and
IROC
racing.

The current Fox show "Lucifer" is witty and interesting, though I'm
not recording it. It's derived from John Milton's Satan in Paradise
Lost, as recast in the Sandman comic book series. He's bored with Hell
and takes a vacation as a James Bond-ish night club owner in its
earthly equivalent, Los Angeles. While he's lost interest in
subverting good souls he enjoys the challenge of destroying the wicked
ones by telling them only the truth. Tom Ellis's performance as the
charming Devil carries the show entirely.


My wife mentioned that she enjoyed that show and her friend (an
expectant, pre-marital convert) practicaly disowned her after 50+
years of friendship.
---

Gerry :-)}
London,Canada

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

Jim Wilkins wrote:

The current Fox show "Lucifer" is witty and interesting, though I'm
not recording it. It's derived from John Milton's Satan in Paradise
Lost, as recast in the Sandman comic book series. He's bored with
Hell
and takes a vacation as a James Bond-ish night club owner in its
earthly equivalent, Los Angeles. While he's lost interest in
subverting good souls he enjoys the challenge of destroying the
wicked
ones by telling them only the truth. Tom Ellis's performance as the
charming Devil carries the show entirely.


The whole concept of that show is nothing I care to watch.

I did mention that he's not the Bible's Satan.

On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 18:28:53 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Larry Jaques wrote:

Yes, classical music has an extremely large dynamic range, with no
room for noise, dropouts, or wavering. (can't recall the word for
that)

'Wow and Rumble' was how it was referred to, for turntables and tape
machines.

I was referring more to FM, but you can also see something like it on
a weak TV signal. It has been a very long time since I've even
thought of this.

--
I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people
who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.
-- Anna Quindlen

On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 11:39:35 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .

I loved MWC but never watched TRFTS. I missed Buffy the Vampire
Slayer a lot, though, and bought 3 seasons of that for about $20.

Then you might like Forever Knight, similarly intelligently written,
whose characters may have inspired Angel and Spike, at least Angel's
remorse and Caddy convertible and Spike's hair, accent and cynical
attitude.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezC7LuaNH8I

Ayup. I watched that for years, too. Canadian import. I liked the
little hottie coroner (Catherine Disher) best.
http://tinyurl.com/zld26k5 and
http://www.sonic.net/~wildfolk/natalie.jpg

--
I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people
who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.
-- Anna Quindlen

On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 18:47:00 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Larry Jaques wrote:

On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 09:16:11 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:
I worked in TV for a long time, so it is mostly background noise when

So why waste electricity and disturb your peace and quiet? That's my
goal nowadays. Total quiet.


That is impossible. My tinnitus is so bad that it wakes me up. I have to
leave the TV on, a radio and two fans to help mask it enough just to get
any sleep. It is miserable, whenever the power is out. I may be awake
for days at a time, because of the loud whistling.

I think it's my own tinnitus which makes me enjoy the lack of external
noise so much.


I loved MWC but never watched TRFTS. I missed Buffy the Vampire
Slayer a lot, though, and bought 3 seasons of that for about $20.

I like TRFTS, because it is a screwball comedy. Jane Curtain looks
like she as about to lose it most of the time, and it's funny watching

It was too slapsticky and/or forced for my taste.


the aliens try to understand humans. Of course, having Kirsten Johnston
on the show, doesn't hurt the eyeballs.,


http://24.media.tumblr.com/df456a935d9402838ce4cdbf62ac9e66/tumblr_miv5ny1b4O1ry7r58o1_400.gif

Yeah, not bad.


It is hard to believe that people wasted $1,300,000,000 on a bloody
stadium for sports. Without massive corporate sponsorships, most
products would cost less than half what they do now. Grrr.


That is why I stay away rom most name brands that do a lot of
advertising. The 'generic' 80 cent version of Diet Mountain Dew tastes
the same as the $2.29 bottle from Pepsico.

I'll have to try that. What's your generic called?

I drink maybe a gallon of soda each year. Lately it's been diet Dr.
Pepper over no-sugar-added vanilla ice cream.

--
I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people
who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.
-- Anna Quindlen

On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 11:26:03 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

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

Larry Jaques wrote:

Time for a new mast system, wot? Better yet, Repent!, and TV no
more.
I'm going on 11 years without it now. Netflix and Redbox give me
the
movie fixes I need, but I haven't suffered through brainless
broadcast
TV or the massively stupid and numerous commercials for over a
decade.
The only commercials I actively seek are those for the Stupor Bowl,
and even then, at millions a pop, they put some stupid one on. The
money spent on sports and commercials each year would be enough, in
one single year, to -feed- and -house- the homeless and hungry poor
in
America (even those who don't deserve it), and probably a few dozen
other countries. Too bad so few people have this perspective.
(Sorry, it just slipped out.)


I worked in TV for a long time, so it is mostly background noise
when
it is on. I broke down and paid $19.99 for the entire collection of
'Third Rock From The Sun' TV series on DVDs. There are 139, 22
minute
episodes, on 17 DVDs. I bought it, and the complete 'Married With
Children (for $26.77), on ebay. Third rock is even better, with no
commercials! ;-)

So far, my record with the Superbowl: I have managed to miss the
last
50 of them. including most of the commercials. The only televised
sports
i watched was early NASCAR, before in car cams destroyed it, and
IROC
racing.

The current Fox show "Lucifer" is witty and interesting, though I'm
not recording it. It's derived from John Milton's Satan in Paradise
Lost, as recast in the Sandman comic book series. He's bored with Hell
and takes a vacation as a James Bond-ish night club owner in its
earthly equivalent, Los Angeles. While he's lost interest in
subverting good souls he enjoys the challenge of destroying the wicked
ones by telling them only the truth. Tom Ellis's performance as the
charming Devil carries the show entirely.

Sounds fun. I'll see if it's available for sampling on Netflix or
Amazon Prime Video.

--
I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people
who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.
-- Anna Quindlen

On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 19:26:10 -0500, wrote:

On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 11:26:03 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:
The current Fox show "Lucifer" is witty and interesting, though I'm

My wife mentioned that she enjoyed that show and her friend (an
expectant, pre-marital convert) practicaly disowned her after 50+
years of friendship.

I'm sure your wife is better off now, even if it hurts.

--
I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people
who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.
-- Anna Quindlen

On 2016-02-10, Jim Wilkins wrote:

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
On 2016-02-09, Martin Eastburn wrote:
Don -

I've not actually looked at his box, so I don't know, but I
seem to remember him mentioning it is an uncommon connector, too --
and
he knows connectors quite well.

Anyway -- having a battery plugged into the connector would be
more efficient and offer more backup time from a given Amp-Hour
rating
of battery. So -- if I ever consider switching over to FIOS, I'll
sort
of hold the switch-over hostage until I get the details from
Verizon.

Another discussion elsewhere shows why Verizon wants to talk
everybody to using FIOS instead of copper. There are federal
requirements for reliability of communication which apply to copper
which do not for the FIOS (so far). Anyone who has health reasons
to
need to call a doctor quickly and reliably should stick with copper.
(This was shown during the "Derecho" long term power outage a few
summers ago. My phones (copper) kept working. Those with the FIOS
were
lost after a few hours.

Enjoy,
DoN.

The repairman assured me that broken FIOS wasn't much slower to splice
than copper.

Yep -- but a much more expensive tool to do the splicing. I
watched some of that when FIOS cables were installed in my block (one of
the advantages of being retired. :-)

IIRC, the tool had a hydrogen jet to truncate the two fibers in
the fixture before it was fused by another source of heat.

Sometimes telco office people mistake me for a phone
phreak when I ask technical questions well beyond what the average
person would know,

One of the hazards. :-)

but the repairmen have been straightforward and
helpful.

Indeed so. They *like* to talk to knowledgeable people.

My first engineering assignment was to built an 800A test load for a
central office 48V battery charger, to replace one that had burned up
its locally constructed plywood enclosure. I didn't restrain the
welding cables closely enough and when first powered on the magnetic
fields slammed them into the metal side panels loudly enough to bring
the whole factory running to see the "accident."

Oops! Rather exciting. :-)

Nice trickle charge, there. :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: | (KV4PH) Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On 2016-02-10, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

On 2016-02-09, Martin Eastburn wrote:
Don -

Get a small UPS that is made for laptops. That should power the
phone for hours and days. Maybe the control box into it as well.

I use them on my modem and routers. Lights twinkle in a storm, the
net stays up and no reboot/restart needed on the modem or computer on
their own.
Martin

There is a connector for a booster battery pack on the box, but
it seems to be difficult to get pinout and voltage/current specs. The
maker says that they made the box for Verizon, and Verizon says that
they don't have the information. (This from a friend who got the FIOS
"upgrade".) I've resisted so far.

[ ... ]

Another discussion elsewhere shows why Verizon wants to talk
everybody to using FIOS instead of copper. There are federal
requirements for reliability of communication which apply to copper
which do not for the FIOS (so far). Anyone who has health reasons to
need to call a doctor quickly and reliably should stick with copper.
(This was shown during the "Derecho" long term power outage a few
summers ago. My phones (copper) kept working. Those with the FIOS were
lost after a few hours.

Copper isn't always reliable.

This is more about requirements for service from the central
exchange. In power outages, it does not take too long for cell towers
to run out of stored power, but supposedly the copper to the exchange
must be retained working or repaired in a very short time. Since the
fiber is not covered by these rules, they can save money on the number
of trained linemen kept on hand.

I have been trying for five years to
get my line cleaned up. Even copper to your home isn't a direct line to
the Central office. My copper line is converted to fiber, a mile from my
property. The fiber is a couple years old, but the copper was installed
a long time ago. (The first home in the subdivision was built in 1964.)
It is noisy, and intermittent, but it works well enough to pass their
test when they finally arrive. No telling how many times lightning has
damaged that old cable.

Our copper was replaced only a couple of years before the fiber
was installed, so it is in pretty good shape still. Before that, I had a
Frame-relay feed (after dialup internet), and when I was forced to
upgrade to T1, they discovered that there was a long stub from our cable
going out to a city built about ten miles out, and just sitting there
unterminated. When they cut that stub off, things went significantly
better in terms of noise.

And -- before the cable replacement, after each thunderstorm,
some of our phone lines (we had several at that time) would go too noisy
or too much of a leak to ground, and they would go searching for an
unused pair to swap in. The new cable is the black Vinyl jacketed cable
willed with silicone grease, instead of the lead jacketed bundle of
pairs.

Those FIOS interfaces have a small battery in them, and I've heard
that some of the commercial grade can be connected to an external gel
cell for extended operation.

But as an *individual* customer, it appears to be quite
difficult to get the pinout information to make use of that. So -- if
I'm going to switch over, I want the data in hand before I sign on the
dotted line.

And -- they also have to be prevented from ripping out the
copper from the side of the house to the junction box, because of the
two pair supporting the T1 feed. (Unless they can replace that with more
fiber at no extra cost. :-)

When they call up, or send someone to try to talk me into taking
their package deal (voice, internet, and cable), I get rid of them by
asking:

Can I get static IPs?

Can I get a class-C subnet? (256 addresses).

They can't provide either, while my T1 feed does both for me, so
they go away until the next time. :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: | (KV4PH) Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

On 2016-02-10, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

On 2016-02-09, Martin Eastburn wrote:
Don -

Get a small UPS that is made for laptops. That should power the
phone for hours and days. Maybe the control box into it as well.

I use them on my modem and routers. Lights twinkle in a storm, the
net stays up and no reboot/restart needed on the modem or computer on
their own.
Martin

There is a connector for a booster battery pack on the box, but
it seems to be difficult to get pinout and voltage/current specs. The
maker says that they made the box for Verizon, and Verizon says that
they don't have the information. (This from a friend who got the FIOS
"upgrade".) I've resisted so far.

[ ... ]

Another discussion elsewhere shows why Verizon wants to talk
everybody to using FIOS instead of copper. There are federal
requirements for reliability of communication which apply to copper
which do not for the FIOS (so far). Anyone who has health reasons to
need to call a doctor quickly and reliably should stick with copper.
(This was shown during the "Derecho" long term power outage a few
summers ago. My phones (copper) kept working. Those with the FIOS were
lost after a few hours.

Copper isn't always reliable.

This is more about requirements for service from the central
exchange. In power outages, it does not take too long for cell towers
to run out of stored power, but supposedly the copper to the exchange
must be retained working or repaired in a very short time. Since the
fiber is not covered by these rules, they can save money on the number
of trained linemen kept on hand.

I have been trying for five years to
get my line cleaned up. Even copper to your home isn't a direct line to
the Central office. My copper line is converted to fiber, a mile from my
property. The fiber is a couple years old, but the copper was installed
a long time ago. (The first home in the subdivision was built in 1964.)
It is noisy, and intermittent, but it works well enough to pass their
test when they finally arrive. No telling how many times lightning has
damaged that old cable.

Our copper was replaced only a couple of years before the fiber
was installed, so it is in pretty good shape still. Before that, I had a
Frame-relay feed (after dialup internet), and when I was forced to
upgrade to T1, they discovered that there was a long stub from our cable
going out to a city built about ten miles out, and just sitting there
unterminated. When they cut that stub off, things went significantly
better in terms of noise.

And -- before the cable replacement, after each thunderstorm,
some of our phone lines (we had several at that time) would go too noisy
or too much of a leak to ground, and they would go searching for an
unused pair to swap in. The new cable is the black Vinyl jacketed cable
willed with silicone grease, instead of the lead jacketed bundle of
pairs.

Those FIOS interfaces have a small battery in them, and I've heard
that some of the commercial grade can be connected to an external gel
cell for extended operation.

But as an *individual* customer, it appears to be quite
difficult to get the pinout information to make use of that. So -- if
I'm going to switch over, I want the data in hand before I sign on the
dotted line.

And -- they also have to be prevented from ripping out the
copper from the side of the house to the junction box, because of the
two pair supporting the T1 feed. (Unless they can replace that with more
fiber at no extra cost. :-)

When they call up, or send someone to try to talk me into taking
their package deal (voice, internet, and cable), I get rid of them by
asking:

Can I get static IPs?


I have had the same IP address on broadband cable for over five years.


Can I get a class-C subnet? (256 addresses).

Does your T1 support IPV6?

They can't provide either, while my T1 feed does both for me, so
they go away until the next time. :-)

Can't, or you can't talk to the right people?


T1 is only 1.544 Mb/s. That fiber can handle gigabits per second. T1
and ISDN are the only time they are allowed to cut off the line,
according to discussions that I've had with linemen.

I just ran a speed test for this computer I got 1.24 Mb/s down and
1.07 Mb/s up but it isn't the only computer that is running right now. I
am also streaming a radio station. I used http://www.speedtest.net/ for
the test. I can get up to 150 Mb/s down, if I want to pay for it. I'll
bet that FIOS will be a lot cheaper than that T1 line, and perform
better.

A friend of mine has over 1 Gb/s for his business, but it is only
available in the downtown area. The city built a private fiber backbone
for all their various offices (VOIP and internet), and to help
businesses have better connectivity.

Larry Jaques wrote:

On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 18:28:53 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Larry Jaques wrote:

Yes, classical music has an extremely large dynamic range, with no
room for noise, dropouts, or wavering. (can't recall the word for
that)

'Wow and Rumble' was how it was referred to, for turntables and tape
machines.

I was referring more to FM, but you can also see something like it on
a weak TV signal. It has been a very long time since I've even
thought of this.


That was referred to as 'Fade', or 'Flutter', depending on the rate
that it happened. It was caused by a marginal signal that was outside
the set's AGC range.

Larry Jaques wrote:

On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 18:47:00 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Larry Jaques wrote:

On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 09:16:11 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:
I worked in TV for a long time, so it is mostly background noise when

So why waste electricity and disturb your peace and quiet? That's my
goal nowadays. Total quiet.


That is impossible. My tinnitus is so bad that it wakes me up. I have to
leave the TV on, a radio and two fans to help mask it enough just to get
any sleep. It is miserable, whenever the power is out. I may be awake
for days at a time, because of the loud whistling.

I think it's my own tinnitus which makes me enjoy the lack of external
noise so much.


Mine is mostly a high pitched whistle, mixed with a low rumble.


I loved MWC but never watched TRFTS. I missed Buffy the Vampire
Slayer a lot, though, and bought 3 seasons of that for about $20.

I like TRFTS, because it is a screwball comedy. Jane Curtain looks
like she as about to lose it most of the time, and it's funny watching

It was too slapsticky and/or forced for my taste.

There is no accounting for taste.

the aliens try to understand humans. Of course, having Kirsten Johnston
on the show, doesn't hurt the eyeballs.,


http://24.media.tumblr.com/df456a935d9402838ce4cdbf62ac9e66/tumblr_miv5ny1b4O1ry7r58o1_400.gif

Yeah, not bad.

It is hard to believe that people wasted $1,300,000,000 on a bloody
stadium for sports. Without massive corporate sponsorships, most
products would cost less than half what they do now. Grrr.


That is why I stay away rom most name brands that do a lot of
advertising. The 'generic' 80 cent version of Diet Mountain Dew tastes
the same as the $2.29 bottle from Pepsico.

I'll have to try that. What's your generic called?


One is called 'Diet Mountain Holler', from Save-A-Lot supermarkets.
Another is 'Diet Country Mist' from Winn-Dixie supermarkets. There are a
lot of other regional version of these.


I drink maybe a gallon of soda each year. Lately it's been diet Dr.
Pepper over no-sugar-added vanilla ice cream.

--
I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people
who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.
-- Anna Quindlen

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
On 2016-02-10, Michael A. Terrell
wrote:


Copper isn't always reliable.

This is more about requirements for service from the central
exchange. In power outages, it does not take too long for cell
towers
to run out of stored power, but supposedly the copper to the
exchange
must be retained working or repaired in a very short time. Since
the
fiber is not covered by these rules, they can save money on the
number
of trained linemen kept on hand.

My Sprint-based cellular modem Internet stayed up all through our last
week-long power outage. They may have automatic backup generators,
though I don't want to alarm Homeland Security by asking, or being
caught snooping around the cell tower infrastructure.
--jsw

On Thu, 11 Feb 2016 03:16:26 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Larry Jaques wrote:

On Wed, 10 Feb 2016 18:28:53 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Larry Jaques wrote:

Yes, classical music has an extremely large dynamic range, with no
room for noise, dropouts, or wavering. (can't recall the word for
that)

'Wow and Rumble' was how it was referred to, for turntables and tape
machines.

I was referring more to FM, but you can also see something like it on
a weak TV signal. It has been a very long time since I've even
thought of this.


That was referred to as 'Fade', or 'Flutter', depending on the rate
that it happened. It was caused by a marginal signal that was outside
the set's AGC range.

Yeah, those terms sound familiar. Thanks.

--
I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people
who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.
-- Anna Quindlen