Comments

Showing off my flange nibbler — 9 Comments

  1. Many years ago, as one of a group of bored 'work-study men', we were trying to stay awake studying a dull job which had some particularly bizarre terms, each task had a box-file with its study results and, until we'd got enough results for each element, we could carry on taking it easy.   So we invented two extra elements, 'Bobbing' and 'Weaving' – whenever the boss asked how we were doing, we claimed to be still short of results for 'Bobbing' or 'Weaving' or both, so the programme would need to carry on longer.  That lasted many weeks, our cryptic crossword skills improved dramatically as we filled the days in more creative ways.

    As these results were eventually to be discussed/agreed with Shop Stewards, we quietly briefed them and they were delighted to join in the game, asking our boss in minuted meetings for a latest breakdown of 'Bobbing' and 'Weaving' sample results, which he confidently and authoritatively provided from the garbage analysis we had given him.   Forty years on, if he's still alive, he is probably still in blissful ignorance of that little work-avoidance scam.   Happy irresponsible days.

    • Do you mean to say that some research projects are actually made up?  Good grief!  Who would have thunk it? 

  2. Grommets and nudgers surely deserve a place in the world of theoretical physics – those quarks and hadrons have had the universe to themselves for too long! 

    • I don't know about "The world of theoretical physics", but there is definitely a box of assorted grommets in my workshop.  And somewhere, I have a length of grommet strip for covering the sharp edge of large holes cut or punched in sheet metal. Not sure about a nudger, though – I normally use a large hammer…

  3. Memories of 50s, 60s BBC comedy. Rambling Sid Rumpo, The Navy Lark with the floggle-toggle, the humgrummit, the twingeing screws, and Professor Stanley Unwin, just in total.

    And a story about an American company executive at his firm’s Scottish subsidiary, exasperated by the inability of a Scots technician to complete a task. When informed by a local engineer that that particular engineer will never get the job done because he doesn’t have a scooby, demands that somebody goes out and acquires the necessary scooby.

  4. Some clarification.

    The Cockerknees are not the only ones to do rhyming slang. See Trainspotting film. It even gets extended to rhyming slang of rhyming slang and sometimes the intervening rhyming slang gets lost and forgotten about. Leaving an apparently senseless word.

    Scooby = Scooby-Doo (well known dog) = clue.

  5. Greetings GD.

    I wonder if “The Old Fart” was actually Prof Stanley Unwin, glad in his heart to meet someone of the Sciencelodes? Lisajou patterns? – Deep Joy!

    I too studied electronics, back in the day. Now, of course, it’s the electronics that studies you. All your data belong them (to keep you “safe”, don’t you know).

    And, word of warning here, don’t ever try to hold those “keeping you safe” to account, or you’ll end up like Mr Assange. (See Craig Murray for the current Kangaroo Court being held in dear old Blighty…)

    • The timing of my course was excellent – it was just when valves where going out of fashion.  So 95% of the course covered the thermionic valve [diodes, triodes, pentodes and the like] and transistors got just a passing mention.  Nowadays of course it's all chips so even transistors have had their day.

Hosted by Curratech Blog Hosting