Little pocket metric conversion calculator (Tandy) I have had for about 30 years and used often,went into the wash in my shirt pocket. Heavily soiled cycle, about 1 hour. Was prepared to administer last rites. I left it on the coffee table for a couple of days and turned it on whilst contemplating my navel this morning. It worked perfectly!!!
Damn I’m impressed.
Replies
Hey, Tandy made some impressive stuff back in the day. They even called one a Trash 80!
Guess they don't make 'em like they used to, eh?
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Hi BobLooks like you are comtemplating your navel this morning too.Loved that little machine, not too sure about the mini tape though, chewed up many of them.Bruce
Bruce,
Awwww, just a bit giddy mebbe. Been in the woodshop since 4 AM. Tryin to get me TS set for a 45° bevel cut, with a Speedsquare.
Then it's off to the shooting board! Oh yeah, and a poke or three at ye.
In all seriosity though, Rad Shack did/does make some very good thangs. Perhaps we should all chip in to get those Ypeans one of those posh converters so they can all speak Anglish agin.
Watch out, incoming!
Regards,
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
4AM!!! Why are you not in bed pushing ZZZZZZs like any right minded old fart should be. Don't your neighbors complain?Bout conversions, I was raised on inches then when Australia went metric in the late 60s was forced to convert to mms. Got to admit its much easier to add 9.5mm to 20.6mm than 3/8" to 13/16".Now that I'm residing in a British colony in the Deep, Deep South Atlantic I had to revert back to inches. With a brain that operates about as fast as molasses on a cold morning, I get confused easily.Bruce
>British colony in the Deep, Deep South Atlantic I had to revert back to inches.<Sounds like it is they that are confused; not you." They " can have my metric tools when they pry them from my cold, dead hands !Or I suppose we could make dollars and dimes divided into 32 parts from now on. |: )What would we call them ? Penickels ? Quartepens ?Stupidiums ?rocGive me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )
Some of their "Imperial measurement" tools were OK, hammer, nailpunch and adjustable wrench.>we could make dollars and dimes divided into 32 parts from now on.< don't even think of going there pal, try these onions -12 pennies to the shilling (pennies divided into halfpence and farthings)
2 shillings to a florin or 24 pennies ( or 48 halfpence,96 farthings)
20 shillings to the pound
21 shillings to the guinea
Not to mention threepence, sixpence, sovereigns etc. Imagine sorting your loose change on the night stand when you went to bed.
Rough stuff that British occupation currency. Glad we went metric in '66.Bruce
>pennies to the shilling (pennies divided into halfpence and farthings)
shillings to a florin
shillings to the pound
21 shillings to the guinea
threepence, sixpence, sovereigns<^ ^
@ @ ____Enough, Enough . . . uncle . . . I giveSounds like the bicycle threaded parts situation of the pre nineties. Mixing inch pitches and metric diameters and some countries left hand threads and others right hand for the same part.Then the ISO ( International Standards Organization ) decided to "standardize " it . They had a perfectly brilliant, modern/futuristic all metric standard that was in place to adopt from the French. What did they do ? They chose some of the inch combos, then threw in some metrics just for fun.rocGive me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )
Edited 10/18/2009 1:40 pm by roc
4AM!!! Why are you not in bed pushing ZZZZZZs like any right minded old fart should be. Don't your neighbors complain?
Mine are sleeping I am not.. But then again I live near the BIG airport and my tools are very quiet compared to them aeroplanes. AND, I'm the neighbor that does free stuff for them! They complain and I say piss off.. I'm trying to go to sleep at the moment and you woke me up!
I guess if you work during the wee small hours you don' get too many neighbors coming in asking for free stuff to be done.If they complain just do what I do. Beat them till they bleed then beat them for bleeding. Works well for kids too!
Bob,
I have told Mrs Thatcher about your gibe concerning the English language converter. She is even now recalling that South Atlantic adventure and how she put those South Americans straight with a few paras and some o' them hovering aeroplanes (note correct spelling).
So you North Americans should be a pushover then. :-)
Lataxe, of the Recolonise the Yanks and teach them proper English (not to mention metric) party.
You've probably seen this but anyway:http://britainandamerica.typepad.com/britain_and_america/2007/06/petition_to_rev.html.... heads for nuclear shelter :-)
That link was funny. The way things are going it might not be a bad idea. The idea of disbanding the congress is a good idea, but I'm sure O'bama would want the top job. The queen could stay but he would want the title of God. Thanks for the laugh. I was married by a judge - I should have asked for a jury.George Burns
I enjoyed the link. Very funny...
Hey LataxeGoing from one end of The UK to the other, I'm sure they could use an English translator there.
"Why can't the English teach their children how to speak?"
George Bernard Shaw and the better known My Fair Lady. Eh Wot!Treat Baroness Thatcher with much respect, we love Maggie down here.
Going from one end of The UK to the other, I'm sure they could use an English translator there.
Right on!
Same here in the USA but almost everybody seems to speak some form of Spanish or Eastern Bloc Language these days. I'm OK with that.
My next door neighbor (The family with a house fit for a King and Queen# are from the Czech Republic. They sure know how to party! They invite me over often. I just eat, mostly drink #as they do mostly) and on occasion somebody will translate what was said so I would know why they were laughing at me?.. All the party folks are Iron/Steel workers so the party sometimes gets loud and the women come out of the house and gather up all the children and I think they lock the doors. Not really that bad but all the women, as a group, yell out.. Shut UP! Zmlknout? Not sure.
In the front pocket of my jeans, I always have a small tape measure. It's one that my mother gave me, and she died more than twenty years ago.
It's just a tiny tape -- 6 feet long, and maybe 3/16 wide. If I'm not mistaken, it's branded as a JC Penney tool (anyone else remember a tool department at Penney's?).
I use it rather frequently, and carry it everywhere I go.
Like you say -- if only all tools worked that way.
I won't be laughing at the lies when I'm gone,
And I can't question how or when or why when I'm gone;
I can't live proud enough to die when I'm gone,
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here. (Phil Ochs)
Sometimes the original simple solutions (tools) work best.
Like the story NASA spent millions to develop a ballpoint pen that would work in zero gravity. The Ruskies found a pencil worked best.
I have Moms. She used it for measuring fabric.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Are you saying that Penney's don't carry tools any more? Spose it has been a while since I've shopped there.
I have had one for many years. It was a gift from a customer I had. He never talked to me but his wife (I think his wife) told me I was the only service man he liked in his shop. As I recall they mostly made large cardboard puzzles on several old Heidelberg Diecutting/Letterpresses. All the Die cutting blades were hand made by the owner.
Anyway, I still have it. The case is solid brass (made by the owner) with a store bought? Inch/Metric scale. The scale is a Park Avenue, Made in the USA..
I assume the 'innards' are a common scale and spring with a handmade solid brass cover. No, it is NOT a brass plated cover. Not sure but must be at least 35 years old?
It still works and the spring still returns the tape fully....
That is ASTOUNDING !
My favorite calculator, had a modern touch screen sort of like a primitive iPhone, from RadioShack. All I did was wipe the screen off with a few drops of windex. A drop got under the screen along the edge and that was that. Dead. Really liked that little dude. Woke me up in the morning too. Came with a black hard plastic protective case with a thing to prop it up for use as a clock. Well thought out. Can't bring my self to throw it away.
About 1 hour on the heavily soiled cycle ! ! !
All I gotta say is you must be livin' right.
roc
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )
Edited 10/18/2009 1:09 am by roc
Down here you ain't got much else to do except live right!
My dad allus told me Live hard, die young and have a good looking corpse. I blew that I guess. I'm nice to my mum anyway.This sort of stuff happens now that most manufacturers get their stuff done offshore. You probably have heard of Montezuma's Revenge, well this is Hoo Flung Dung's Payback.Even my beloved Apple (proudly designed in California) is made in China!!!PS. I've always wondered what type of tree it was that took 2 hours to chop down.
>what type of tree it was that took 2 hours to chop down.<If a guy sharpens the axe "right" any tree, any size.: )( Women don't tend to chop down trees with an axe. They are smart and get the guys to do it . )>buying evil China made Mac/Apple products<It is the cross that we must bear, the sacrifice to treasure and economy we must make to bring enlightenment and a better ( less futzin' around ) life to our fellow man. Maybe I should change my quote to one from my mind :" You can lead a person to a computer that is more fun but ya can't make 'em try it out. "Not wood related though.Keep up the good work !rocGive me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )
Ah is it one of those that made the distinctive click of pushing the keys. I can remember as a boy, my older sister needing a calculator for calculus class and we were dirt poor. My folks saved and my older brother helped chip in and they bought that calculator that could do wonderful things! Now, you get a more powerfull calculator opening a bank account.
I still have a slide rule that works perfectly. Don't use it, but it still works, does that cound?
I was married by a judge - I should have asked for a jury.
George Burns
Guess it does Bones. I remember my first calculator cost $169 and boasted a 4 bit memory!Still got a couple of those floating around somewhere, including a circular one. Got to admit simpler is better, never had any troubles with my abacus or fingers ( still got all ten) going through the wash.
bones,
"calculator for calculus class"
It must be a miracle (= an unpredictable event that rarely occurs) if she understands what calculus is all about <g>.
Best wishes,
Metod
Bones.. I hear you!
I could be wrong but the first 'Portable' number cruncher I bought was a HP-35? I think I shelled out over $300 US for that thing. OK, so it was a College math class that I HAD to pass. I forget the subject but it was important to pass this class.
I was never good at math but I did enjoy taking Math classes. I would study but I needed to know if what I was thinking about for the question was even close to the correct result. I could spend a whole night of study on convincing myself that one answer was correct.
NO, calculators were NOT allowed for our tests. I think a slide rule was allowed in class. Not sure the teacher even knew about anything but a slide rule.
Anyway, best $300.00? I ever spent. I passed the class and did not have to pay for another year of college!
I think you can get a calculator with the HP-35 functions these days for about $1.00 US.
Wish I could claim it was me........When my brother was in college as a physics student (from 70 to 74) he called home to ask for some extra money -- I remember my parents talking about the request.Some unknown company was offering to sell him something they were calling a "handheld calculator". That sounded awkward, since all "calculators" were mechanical in some fashion. Must have been some new-fangled thing.The offer was (IIRC) a calculator for the special college-student price of $179. And the good news was that it had the ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide -- up to eight digits. (No square roots, no memory.)The things were not available in stores, since production had not yet been ramped up. But it was expected that the retail would be somewhere around $300.The company was Texas Instruments. And yes, he got one.
I won't be laughing at the lies when I'm gone,
And I can't question how or when or why when I'm gone;
I can't live proud enough to die when I'm gone,
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here. (Phil Ochs)
YES! Saved my ####!
Wot worries me most of all is carrying a phone around in my pocket that is smarter than me!
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