How's your day?

[loppylugs 8,427]

16 hours ago, Ayupmeducks said:

The problem with technical trades was keeping up with technology, we did get refresher courses at the NCB training centres, but in outside mining companies, it was your responsibility to keep up with technology.

I'd be stuck on PLC's, as I never encountered them, but it seems from what I read they are appearing in the big several million dollar coal cutting machines these days, with radio control too and telemetry on the machines diagnostics.

I was lucky in that electronics was entering the mining industry during my apprenticeship, so I was prepared.

 

I did a class on PLCs run by an electrical wholesaler I used.  It was interesting but I never actually came across any in the wild so it was mostly a waste of time for me.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

You'd have to be maintaining machinery to come across PLC's Dave. Closest I've been to PLC's was in the early 70's when I worked at Beeston Boiler Company as a maintenance elec on their automatic foundry plant. Everything was controlled by plug in electronic modules made a by a French company, basically the forerunner of PLC's. First thing every morning, they had to be set up before the plant started operating, basic difference is PLC's use flash memory, and the ones we used had magnetic core memories, much like the early computers used.

[philmayfield 6,105]

The French PLC’s would probably have been Telemechanique. Those I was more familiar with were made by Siemens. It was so long ago I have forgotten how to set them up!

[loppylugs 8,427]

Yes.  I did mostly residential and commercial so weren't to likely to run into them.  Always beleived in learning as much as I can ya never know when it might come in.

Last industrial I did was maintenance leccy at CCM in Toronto.  Bit like working for Raleigh.  They built bikes and ice skates.  All their machinery used relay logic.  I guess that makes me a Dinosaur.  That  was mid 70s.

 

Edited to add.  The plcs  I learnt were Allen Bradley.  I imagine they are all pretty similar.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

That's the babies Phil, each type was colour coded, there were two sizes, one about 2 inches wide, then another about 4 inches wide, they had a light on one corner at the top. Somewhere I still have the Telemechanique book.

By today's standards, they were crude, and to understand how they worked, it was essential to understand electronics, but, they worked!

[philmayfield 6,105]

We had both Siemens and Telemech on process machinery. It's all in the dim and distant past now and long superseded. 

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

I worked with it on BBC's BMD plant Phil. I did a "Google" a few minutes back, seems Telemechanique is now owned by a British company.

[philmayfield 6,105]

Yes, Scheidner. Sounds German but British apparently!

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

I dug my old book out, "The Telestatic" system, perusing it took me back to other relay based systems of the 1970's that might have been modified to the Telestatic system.

When I was at Boulby, the auto skipping plant could probably have been wired with PLC's.

The conveyors were controlled by Huwood Mk1A system, being flameproof, would have been an obstacle to install with PLC's, but remembering the circuitry, would have been an easy changeover.

[MargieH 7,599]

Went to a 4 hour refresher First Aid Course today and it was led by an excellent trainer.  

My dummy didn't breathe despite my best efforts but it was discovered he had a slightly twisted tube going to his 'lungs' so he had to have the front of his chest lifted off to fix it.....!    We all hummed 'Staying alive'  as we pumped their chests and none of the dummies died!

We had fun being rolled into the recovery position and I didn't hear anyone pass wind in the process. ....   shame, that would have been a laugh (as long as it wasn't me!)   We acted out various scenarios - love role play -  and even learned something new .... . A technique which allowed a person with possible spinal injuries to be rolled over if their life was in real danger.    Of course this can be risky and there is the moral / ethical question of whether a person would prefer to be dead or possibly paralysed... a big question.

We had lots of personal discussions about that....

Enjoyed the day, anyway

 

 

 

[Brew 5,403]

3 hours ago, MargieH said:

We had fun being rolled into the recovery position

 

I was teamed with a guy with whom, err, relations were a little less than cordial. I was off next day, he damned near broke my arm rolling into the recovery position.

[Stavertongirl 1,719]

Having waited in for 2 days for a delivery by Hermes which was supposedly sent on Tuesday I have now had an email from the seller saying they are unable to obtain the dog biscuits I ordered. Which begs the questions:

1) Why did they not tell me when I placed the order that the biscuits were not in 
     stock?
2) How can you send something out for deliver when you don’t have it?
3) How can you bill me for something you haven’t got/sent out?
I am now waiting for a refund and am not a happy bunny

[Jill Sparrow 10,302]

It's called inefficiency, SG, and it's a national ailment.

[loppylugs 8,427]

Not just inneffeciency.  It shows a lack of integrity too.  Very common these days.

[jonab 1,644]

Similar inefficiency in France. I ordered an item 15 November on Amazon Prime for delivery next day. The only thing I received the next day was an email from a Chinese (in Chinglish) company saying my parcel would be received on the 9 December. I tried to cancel on the second day but was told it was too late as the item had already been despatched. That same day I went into Cannes and bought a similar item (it isn't of any particular value, it's a diamond knife hone/sharpener of value about €6) from a kitchen supply shop. Why didn't I go to the shop in the first place?

 

Note: I've still not the received the item from China.

[Beekay 5,133]

One of the reasons why I  never buy online Jonab. Would be worrying all the time. At least in a shop you can look at what your buying.

[philmayfield 6,105]

I’ve ordered twice from Amazon this week and in both cases they were delivered the next day. That’s not using ‘prime’ either.

 

An update: It came next day but was wrongly delivered to a house down the lane. Someone’s just brought the package round! Spoke too soon about the efficiency. I’ve just ordered an electric shaver from Amazon which I spotted when tracking this package. £100 off! We shall see when this arrives.

[jonab 1,644]

I don't usually have problems with online shopping but when it goes wrong, it goes very wrong. The problem with that order was that there was (is) wrong information on the website which has still not been corrected, despite my complaints. 

 

 

[LizzieM 9,504]

This morning l ordered online 4 wooden Venetian blinds, all different sizes and made to measure.  They should be with us by Christmas ........ fingers crossed.  

We rarely order stuff online, really only lawn fertiliser and garden bird food but we’ve never had a problem with delivery.  

Actually I ordered a 20kg bag of sunflower hearts yesterday, the local birds are costing us over £100 a year, can we get any tax relief on it?

[Stavertongirl 1,719]

I have a squirrel who is still visiting my bird feeders or my neighbours (shouldn’t he be hibernating now?) for breakfast. I wondered why I was getting thru so much black sunflower seed. He is a bit of a pest but very ingenious, he hangs upside down on the bird feeder to get to the seed. I know I can get supposed squirrel proof feeders, but it doesn’t seem to bother the birds at all they are still coming after he has finished.

[Beekay 5,133]

Read somewhere that squirrels  don't  hibernate. Especially  if they find a regular supply of food. So keep up the good work SG., maybe vary his diet a bit.  

[philmayfield 6,105]

Grey squirrels don't hibernate but sleep more often during winter. We've got plenty round here.

[LizzieM 9,504]

SG, a few months ago we found a young grey squirrel stuck INSIDE one of our ‘squirrel-proof’ bird feeders.  Had to use wire-cutters to release him and he was a frightened, nasty little bugger while we were doing it.  Fortunately we both wore very thick leather gardening gloves during the operation.  

[Stavertongirl 1,719]

At present he is feasting on fat balls, black sunflower seeds, sunflower hearts plus what he gets from my neighbours bird table as well. One very well fed squirrel!

[Brew 5,403]

We have three, agile little buggers aren't they? Its usually a race between them and a small flocks of pigeons to see which empties' the feeders first. Drives my neighbour crazy, says both are vermin but hey, my garden, my rules OK...