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#19 seriously though, you would survive. We were brought up to make do and mend and not to waste anything. We could make a fire and keep it going economically. We had a 'can do' attitude cos we didn't have a choice.

I am not blaming todays kids for not having survival skills; that's OUR societies fault.

I've shown my kids and grandkids a lot of basic skills such as cutting wood and building a fire. Tricks about camping out and using basic tools, ropes and small boats. We would survive given half a chance.

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I agree completly 'peveral' despite me having none of the 'skills ive mentioned,ive survived thru lots of lifes set backs,i'll be 70 in about a month and like most of us have lived thru ups and downs,

I always wanted to be an apprentice layabout when I left school I am now fully qualified after 50 years & enjoying the fruits of my labours.

If I have any issues with my new car I'm coming straight to you guys Swe62 and Scriv. And I agree LoppyLugs... I've got my degree but doubt I'll ever be able to put it to serious good use. Uni was a

I agree completly 'peveral' despite me having none of the 'skills ive mentioned,ive survived thru lots of lifes set backs,i'll be 70 in about a month and like most of us have lived thru ups and downs,mostly ups,ive had a varied life and thank God for some wonderful times and the experiences and people ive encountered.

Had a couple of health scares,but today i feel really fit,can still run and cycle and am surrounded by lovely family,another 25 years of this i can manage, lol.

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I was an NCB mining apprentice, 1'st 4 months at Moorgreen training center, then to Hucknall pit, had to work on the surface as I was only 15, 2 months on the compound loading stuff in mine cars to be sent underground, then in the cable shop, also day release at Arnold & Carlton College. Then went underground just after my 16'th birthday where you do just about every job (under supervision of course) except face work. My 1'st UG job was dismantling & erecting stone dust explosion barriers, then belt staff, then cable gang, then ganging, (loading & unloading stuff, didn't like that) guard on the diesels, pipe fitting gang, rail laying gang, back rippers, must have been others I've forgotten. Passed mining craft certificates C1,C2,C3..

Edit.... Oh yeah & salvage, loved that as it was cushy..

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I hope you didn't wear that blooming duck suit down the pit. LOL

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If power went off through damage caused by a huge EMP/SME, cities would be uninhabitable within a couple of weeks, no power.water/sewage/fuel/transport/hospitals. It would be survival of the toughest, and then, only those that survived disease etc. Food would be unobtainable, shops would be empty within days.

It's already been discussed in detail by governments, don't expect police to do anything, they will be tending their own families and needs.

Years ago, farmers used to have a large pantry where they stored their own provisions, hams, bacon, sausage etc, they will have the biggest survival rate.

Can you really survive months to years without electricity??? I doubt it, everything we take for granted in our modern age is kept running by electricity!

There was an NBC show made on those lines, although it was never mentioned why the power went off. It portrayed in a weekly series the lead up to, the after hours of the loss of power and 15 years later. Most of the earths population had died off, the survivors formed their own countries, and war between those "countries" The name of the show was Revolution if you want to get a glimpse of what it might be like. Good show, watched all the episodes.

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I do, and it doesn't bear thinking about !!!!!!! LOL

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Wouldn't want to be in a city if there was ever a total collapse of the grid. The Yobs, Chavs, and gangs would have a field day for a while until they killed each other off and then died themselves because they would have no real idea of how to cope once there was nothing left to steal.

Then I guess it's back to the 1800s for everybody else.

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# 34

I would have hid, mind you there were some weirdos down there, lol..

# 32

There was a series on TV a few years ago called Jericho about the aftermath of nuclear terrorist attack's in US midwest: The main problems they had was no electricity as the grid was buggered by the EMP's. They ended up at war with the next town..

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I doubt anyone would drop a nuke on anyone these days, just detonate one high in the atmosphere over the country you want to invade, hardly any radiation, pollution and total destruction of the countries infrastructure, elec grid and communication systems. Then you just fly thousands of paratroopers in and take over.

Pakistan just this last week found out how vulnerable their grid was when terrorist damaged a large section. Luckily it wasn't damaged to the extend an EMP would.

There was a section of the 500KV western feeder damaged a few years back, it distributes high voltage from southern California all the way up to northern Washington state. A couple of towers were damaged by severe weather and collapsed, causing a domino effect. Several miles of line came down with many towers collapsing.

It did cause power restrictions, but power was re routed around the system. Took a few months to repair.

Imagine hundreds of miles of lines down including towers crumpled beyond repair.

Quebec City in Canada is prone to severe ice storms, one year not too long back they went through one, and lost two of their three main high voltage feeders when the weight of ice toppled towers over many miles. Had the last feeder gone down, the city would have been without electricity for months.

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Reminds of one shift U/G in Australia, power went off. Some idiot had shot at a tower insulator and brought a line down. Blacked out the far west of NSW for hours.

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If I have any issues with my new car I'm coming straight to you guys Swe62 and Scriv.

And I agree LoppyLugs... I've got my degree but doubt I'll ever be able to put it to serious good use. Uni was an amazing accomplishment but I don't think it was worth it generally.

I wouldn't bother unless it's over thirty years old! Modern vehicles baffle me nearly as much as computers do; too many gizmos on them. Every time my lorry breaks down it's never something simple, more often a sensor has failed rather than the actual part itself.

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I often wonder how I ever kept abreast of technology during my working years, it's amazing how equipment got more and more sophisticated and how my bosses expected me to get the job running quickly after a break down.

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That's very true John. I never got past relay logic. I wouldn't last five minutes today in the land of PLCs. Have you also noticed how job ads for maintenance electricians today seem to want you to be able to do everything from repair of sophiisticated machinery to cleaning the bogs? In my day (Oh that sounds so OLD) we just did electrical work and let millrights and others take care of their stuff. Janitors cleaned the bogs.

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After retiring from teaching aircraft avionics and trying to keep pace with developments, I forgot almost everything about it and have felt much better ever since. Technology seems to be running away with the world but I don't think it improves things universally.

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Dave, I served my time under the old NCB Mech/Elec scheme, we repaired the face machinery as well as kept the electrics running. I hate having my arms up to the elbow in the haulage end of a shearer. Amazing how all that came in handy over the years though.

Not had anything to do with PLC stuff, but doubt I'd have problems picking it up, electronics was getting pretty big underground during my time, including radio controlled machinery.

I think the closest I came to PLC was at Beeston Boiler Company's BMG automatic foundry plant, everything controlled from modules that had to be programmed.

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It was just coming in about the time I left the trade, John. I did an Allen Bradley course on it but never actually came across it in the field. I think I could have picked it up o-k, especially being in at the beginning. Just never really had any incentive too, and its too late for this old dog to go back into it now.

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The stuff I worked on way back in the 70's was French designed and made, you used a positive bus connected lead to program the modules, novel back then, but certainly would fit the PLC mould.

All the gear I worked with in mining from my apprentice days right up until I left the industry, had masses of electronics, conveyors were controlled by electronics, gate end boxes, (flameproof motor start units) had masses of the buggers in them.

Roof face supports were controlled by electronics, the coal cutter was full of the stuff.

When we had our new face equipment at Angus Place in NSW, we had a weeks training course on everything, the shearer had three power packs, and they were right at the back of the control chamber. My question was, why put the very piece of equipment that will be first to fail right at the back of the chamber, when we will have to spend hours removing everything in front of them when they fail...

The manufacturers engineer said, "They will never fail" I said "yeah right I've heard that one before, now answer my question" He ridiculed me and said they will never fail.....

Guess what! After operating for around two weeks, my job as longwall electrician on night shift, was to replace a failed power supply pack. If that engineer had been there that night, I would have throttled him!!!

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The SUITS always know all the answers. Its the grunts that have to fix their brilliant ideas.

They had a computer controlling the baggage conveyors at the Toronto airport when I worked there. First computer I ever saw. You booted it by flipping a bunch of switches in a certain sequence. No monitors. The keyboard was just a number pad that the baggage guy punched as he pushed a bag or case into the system. It tipped the bags off at a particular chute based on the flight numbers. The rest of the system was basically just a bunch of photocells controlling starter relays to the various motors so that things would stop if there was a jam. Always used to be a big panic if that system went down as flights were delayed. About the only time you would see electricians running. No fun crawling along those belts.

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