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Minor Strangeness (IHTM)

My Mum and Dad bumped into him when they were out walking up a hill (maybe Silbury Hill - I can't remember what they said).
A very tenuous six degrees of separation
 
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I've actually met Tony on a couple of occasions, and he was absolutely lovely. Of course, I wasn't sniffing him at the time, I imagine he may have become less lovely if followed by a crazy sniffing woman.
 
So, I was sitting here (actually just over there, on the sofa) last night, watching the telly, when my usual source of light in the living room decided to stop functioning. And it didn't 'pop', it just went off, like someone switched it off.
'Buggeration' I thought - I had only put a new bulb in it last week when the previous one started flickering.
And it's an 'uplighter' standard lamp so it takes an R7s halogen bulb (I pick the brightest - 8700 lumens / 400w) so the bulb is held between two prongs, in a carrier, protected by a glass guard, which itself is locked down by two metal clamps, so a bit of a faff to change.
Now that isn't the strange thing here....no....
Because that light had decided that it didn't want to play any more, I jumped up and turned on the next nearest light source (the bright 'regular' light in the front hallway) which came on for about a tenth of a second and then immediately also blew.
 
I met up with a friend in a pub last night, had a few pints, then decided to go to another pub about five minutes walk away. We were deep in conversation all the way, so I may not have been doing my usual “Have I got all my stuff?” pocket checks as we walked. When we got to the other pub, I suddenly realised that I couldn’t find my phone. Looked in both front and back pockets of my jeans, all my coat pockets, had a brief search through my bag. No sign of it. Got a bit panicky, went back to the other pub. Checked round where we’d been sitting, asked at the bar. No sign of it. Checked all my pockets again for what felt like the hundredth time. Emptied every compartment of my bag out onto a table. No sign of it. Checked my pockets again… and it was there in my back pocket. It was like reality had played a conjuring trick on me, and I’m still not sure what happened.

I should add that my friend tried phoning it a couple of times while we were looking for it, and I neither heard it nor felt it vibrating in my pocket.
 
it takes an R7s halogen bulb (I pick the brightest - 8700 lumens / 400w)
Update:
I've been out to get a couple of 'spare' bulbs to keep handy for when it inevitably blows again.
Almost impossible.
Most shops have, for some reason, stopped selling the R7s bulb but now sell an LED version instead. Only a max of 120w and as thick as a Walls sausage. Which won't be bright enough and nor will it fit inside the guard that shrouds the bulb.
I was thinking I might be better off sticking one of them sausages in there instead.
But finally I found a suitable replacement in Toolstation.
The assistant pointed out that the one they show in the catalogue is one of several flavours of the same size item, so I ended up buying 2 of the 500w equivalent ones. I hope they don't make the wallpaper fall off!
At only 72p each, absolute bargains!
 
So, I was sitting here (actually just over there, on the sofa) last night, watching the telly, when my usual source of light in the living room decided to stop functioning. And it didn't 'pop', it just went off, like someone switched it off.
'Buggeration' I thought - I had only put a new bulb in it last week when the previous one started flickering.
And it's an 'uplighter' standard lamp so it takes an R7s halogen bulb (I pick the brightest - 8700 lumens / 400w) so the bulb is held between two prongs, in a carrier, protected by a glass guard, which itself is locked down by two metal clamps, so a bit of a faff to change.
Now that isn't the strange thing here....no....
Because that light had decided that it didn't want to play any more, I jumped up and turned on the next nearest light source (the bright 'regular' light in the front hallway) which came on for about a tenth of a second and then immediately also blew.
And I'll wager that on the packets of said bulbs it says ''lasts for a million years'' or some such.
 
And I'll wager that on the packets of said bulbs it says ''lasts for a million years'' or some such.
I didn't keep the packet for the old one but the new one says "Average Life Hours 25k".
So 25,000 hours of illumination, at roughly 8 hours per day, equals 3125 days, which is about 8 and a half years.
That seems ridiculous - there is no way that that bulb is going to last over 8 years.
A quick 2nd look at the pack does not reveal a decimal point, but I reckon it should be 2.5k, or 2500 hours, which would be equal to about 312 days operation, which seems a bit more sensible.
Apparently 'Made in Dagenham'.
So we do still make stuff in the UK. It'll probably explode and set the house on fire when I first use it.
 
I didn't keep the packet for the old one but the new one says "Average Life Hours 25k".
So 25,000 hours of illumination, at roughly 8 hours per day, equals 3125 days, which is about 8 and a half years.
That seems ridiculous - there is no way that that bulb is going to last over 8 years.
A quick 2nd look at the pack does not reveal a decimal point, but I reckon it should be 2.5k, or 2500 hours, which would be equal to about 312 days operation, which seems a bit more sensible.
Apparently 'Made in Dagenham'.
So we do still make stuff in the UK. It'll probably explode and set the house on fire when I first use it.
I've seen ones that say eleven years.
 
If your front door lock was old another, nearish-matching key might open it. I've seen this done. I imagine you lined up the rusty key against your own before trying it though.
I have made good use of that, er, phenomenon several times. Back in '79, I decided to braze two keys together in an L shape to make it more convenient to use my motorbike. I was about to attach a padlock key to the ignition key for the bike, when I noticed they were very similar. I tried the padlock key in the bike, and it worked perfectly. I used the padlock to secure the bike to posts or whatever in order to keep it from wandering away.

One other time, I was helping some friends retrieve a vehicle from a remote trailhead. We were "multitasking" and in a hurry, and after I had been dropped off, I realized I had no keys to their Chevy pickup. They were off and around a bend in a cloud of dust, none of us had cell phones then, and their truck was the only vehicle in the parking area. Great, just great! I figured they'd come looking for me sooner or later. Then I remembered I had a different sort of Chevy truck of about the same age. With nothing to lose, I tried my key. It worked just fine.
 
I have made good use of that, er, phenomenon several times. Back in '79, I decided to braze two keys together in an L shape to make it more convenient to use my motorbike. I was about to attach a padlock key to the ignition key for the bike, when I noticed they were very similar. I tried the padlock key in the bike, and it worked perfectly. I used the padlock to secure the bike to posts or whatever in order to keep it from wandering away.

One other time, I was helping some friends retrieve a vehicle from a remote trailhead. We were "multitasking" and in a hurry, and after I had been dropped off, I realized I had no keys to their Chevy pickup. They were off and around a bend in a cloud of dust, none of us had cell phones then, and their truck was the only vehicle in the parking area. Great, just great! I figured they'd come looking for me sooner or later. Then I remembered I had a different sort of Chevy truck of about the same age. With nothing to lose, I tried my key. It worked just fine.
The older the car, the more likely other keys are likely to work. Not like keys for modern stuff which apparently require endless electrickery for the car to even recognize that it is a key. And of course you can't nip down to your local key cutter to spend a fiver getting a new key cut - no its down to a dealer ordering a key from foreign parts then "reprogramming" and an invoice of £400. All to start your blinkin' car. (saw an advert for a Ferrari key - bargain at $3000! )
 
I have made good use of that, er, phenomenon several times. Back in '79, I decided to braze two keys together in an L shape to make it more convenient to use my motorbike. I was about to attach a padlock key to the ignition key for the bike, when I noticed they were very similar. I tried the padlock key in the bike, and it worked perfectly. I used the padlock to secure the bike to posts or whatever in order to keep it from wandering away.

One other time, I was helping some friends retrieve a vehicle from a remote trailhead. We were "multitasking" and in a hurry, and after I had been dropped off, I realized I had no keys to their Chevy pickup. They were off and around a bend in a cloud of dust, none of us had cell phones then, and their truck was the only vehicle in the parking area. Great, just great! I figured they'd come looking for me sooner or later. Then I remembered I had a different sort of Chevy truck of about the same age. With nothing to lose, I tried my key. It worked just fine.

l recovered several stolen motor vehicles back in the Seventies using a screwdriver blade on my Swiss Army Knife.

maximus otter
 
These modern motors with their high-tech 'keyless' systems are a doddle for up-to-date car thieves. They just sit somewhere near to where a posh motor parks up regularly, wait for the owner to appear and intercept the digital signal from their 'key', which they then replicate in order to steal the vehicle later on.
Sometimes they can even just make the 'key' broadcast it's digital code, while it is inside the house, and the owner is none the wiser until they get up in the morning and find their motor gone, probably already out of the country and in a shipping container on its way to Azerbaijan.

No, I'd much rather have an actual, physical bit of metal which you have to turn in a slot.
 
These modern motors with their high-tech 'keyless' systems are a doddle for up-to-date car thieves. They just sit somewhere near to where a posh motor parks up regularly, wait for the owner to appear and intercept the digital signal from their 'key', which they then replicate in order to steal the vehicle later on.
Sometimes they can even just make the 'key' broadcast it's digital code, while it is inside the house, and the owner is none the wiser until they get up in the morning and find their motor gone, probably already out of the country and in a shipping container on its way to Azerbaijan.

No, I'd much rather have an actual, physical bit of metal which you have to turn in a slot.
I have one of those, but I take 2 precautions:
(a) Put the key into an RFID wallet. It's a portable Faraday cage.
(b) Fit a wheel lock.
 
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