Diane G. Echlin on fri 11 aug 00
As usual, mel, your post was magnificent. I have the drills, and use them when
needed.....The best thing my father ever taught me was how to change a tire. that
was seventeen years ago, and yesterday I got a flat. My passenger said, "call
AAA" I said no, I can do it. And I did. Not a difficult task, no mystery in it,
but it seems there's a service to fix every malady or misforture we can
experience. It felt good to change my tire. Made me feel in control! So here
here to taking bikes apart and fiddling with electronics!
Diane in CT, with a slightly scraped knee from the pavement
mel jacobson wrote:
> if you are going to join the hi tech world of computer
> aided kilns, ramps, oxyprobes, digital read out and the like,
> one should be prepared to understand that they are fragile
> instruments and need constant attention. it is part of having
> them.
>
> there is no constant guarantee they are going to work all the time.
> it takes cleaning and tweaking. wires come loose, probes get
> covered with carbon, things go wrong....we do live in a dusty world.
>
> just as we have all found out with home computers, there is no assurance
> they will always be running `just fine`.
>
> i have spent a great deal of time over the past five years learning to
> do simple repair and upgrades of all my electronic systems. i get the
> books, read, pull maintenance, and still have to send my oxyprobes to
> nils about once every two years. (i have two of them)
>
> one of the most important tools i own is a set of floppy discs with
> windows 98 on them. the first disc is a boot drive that starts any pc
> computer even if the os is gone. i worked hard with the bill gates'
> people to get that set of discs...saved my bacon many times, and
> have helped a few friends with dead computers.
>
> electricity needs clean paths...just like your coils on the electric kiln.
> they get carboned up and dirty at the junction with your power and
> bam, arc and heat fries them. the most common breakdown in the
> electric kiln.
>
> taking the cover off your computer is a scary thing...i remember the
> first time i did it. what i found was the worlds largest dust ball
> collection. got myself a can of air and cleaned that puppy really
> well. next got
> a book of computer inside maintenance and started to explore. it is
> really easy. colored wires, plugs that fit only one socket, big sockets
> that take only one kind of item. i have taken a throw away computer
> apart, totally, stuck it back together, got the wires correct, added
> a new cd rom (it had a bad short) and sharlene has her own computer, did it
> again and my son has one.
>
> if every time something goes haywire (wonderful term, it means the item is
> repaired with hay wire) you have to
> call in a tech, well, you will go broke fast. i have always told my students
> that when something that you own goes bad, take it apart, look at
> how it is made, then throw it away. i had a big chat with holly at
> the last workshop in tennessee, her husband brought home a computer
> from work and it was just sitting in the basement, i told her to `take
> it apart, check it out, see what makes it tick...take the mystery out
> of the damn thing`.
>
> as with most things, fear drives the car. learn to control fear of things
> and your life gets easy. i buy my daughter tools...good tools and she
> knows how to use them. one of those 50 buck rechargeable drills with
> about 50 kinds of ends is a must gift for every daughter and son in the
> world. buy one for yourself. if you are a stud, get the 12 or 14 amp
> drill driver. i'm a makida man myself, but have just bolted to the
> bright yellow one. i have never counted tools as a purchase that is
> not necessary. every tool you buy saves you a great deal of money.
>
> there is no point in your life that you cannot start doing your own
> repairs. it is just a matter of trying and doing, and getting experience.
> it goes with the life of the craft/potter.
>
> i have only been actively involved with computers for about 5 years.
> i can now build my own from scratch. i made a big commitment
> a few years back, i was not going to learn computers from my grandchildren,
> i was going to teach them...and i do. my 11 year old
> grandson calls me a `computer freak`...i love it. but, the perception
> out there is that older people cannot learn new things...bullshit.
> kids are just as dumb today as they were 25 years ago. they just do
> not harbor fear of electronics.
>
> we have taken a great many hand eye things away from kids. my brother and
> i made stick model airplanes as kids, we roamed the alleys of minneapolis
> looking for `good junk`....and we often found it, we made stuff all the
> time. i have
> said forever, the reason a kid gets a bike is to take it apart, not ride it.
> about fifteen years ago i heard my neighbor screaming at his kid
> `don't ever mess with your bike yourself, we take things like that
> to schwinn`.....i pulled michael aside and told him to go into my garage
> anytime,
> pull down the door, and use any tools that i have in there. he did, and
> he is a great fixer, became a carpenter and repair man. his father does
> not know what end of a screwdriver to use. (or, more likely, refuses to.)
>
> i could actually teach the `junk man`, david hendley a few tricks. but, then
> he has the title, so there goes the glory.
> mel
> a couple of our hay creek women have taken the welding course
> at vocational school, man, can they weld and braze. makes me smile.
> i suggested they do that, and they did. andrea just graduated from
> cranbrook, in fibers, but she went to cranbrook knowing how to throw
> pots, weld, cast metal, use tools. she is a beautiful korean woman,
> and her last name is rosenberg, her business card has a picture of
> her face with the words.
> `i am korean`. she is a wonder with little fear.
>
> FROM MINNETONKA, MINNESOTA, USA
> http://www.pclink.com/melpots (website)
>
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Richard Jeffery on fri 11 aug 00
> >
> >As usual, mel, your post was magnificent.
One of the reasons I've kept with this odd collection of spirits ringing
this globe...
(did I hear a groan somewhere?).
Mel makes a good point about computers....
Using (and fixing) Computers need one skill above all others - problem
solving/lateral thinking skills
Now, I wonder at what stage in life we all start to acquire a useful fluency
in these?
Computers are tools - what they do is incredible, and beyond the imagination
(imagine the gap between a hard disk surface and the reading head being so
small that a cigarette smoke molecule would cause disruption) - but we don't
have to deal with that level of technology. Computers are built of bits
that fit together, like most machines. OK - we may not be able to repair
the bits ( I can't make a carburettor for the car either), but fitting new
bits and cleaning things is easy, and repays the effort in hard cash, if the
alternative is to buy in those basic skills.
I'm a computer trainer (wish I could illustrate that) amongst other things -
I constantly meet folk in their 60s and 70s who are using computers and
taking control. More power to them!
Richard
Bournemouth UK
www.TheEleventhHour.co.uk
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