mold forms on cords, knobs, and tool handles

[Brian Berg]

Heh heh. That's a nice microscope with a nice oscilloscope in the background!

[Brian Berg]

I hadn't realized they were that advanced!

[micky]

My mother eventually began, when I was over 40 she said it outloud,, to believe that I would do whatever she told me not to do. After I noticed this, I asked her, So if I do what you tell me not to do, why do you keep telling me not to do these things? She didn't have an answer, but afaict she didnt' stop either.

[willshak]

I have some hard spots on my tool handles like that, but I know what it is. It is remnants of paint that may have been on my hands when I used the tool while painting, like removing face plates off switches and outlets, or other uses of the tool while painting.

[willshak]

Who?

[micky]

Yes, the yellow one has the most. I t hink my yellow ones are most likely to have this and when they do, they have the most. The one screwdriver that reminded me of this has a yellow plastic handle. (The other two things t hat reminded me a couple days ago where jumper wires with banana plugs, blue and green, but that's soft vinyl and not hard plastic. ......))

Maybe because one is yellow? I just based a whole paragraph on that!

[micky]

Yes, I'm glad to learn about that. I thought I was so alone (boohoo).

In my case, I'll have 20 tools in a drawer, or 15 little tools in an inbox, and only a few get "moldy". I have to take some time later today to see how many are yellow.

In addition, the box of knobs is two boxes actually, in the same drawer of an old dresser. Theyr'e almost all brown or black, and I'll have to check if the moldy ones are all on top, or the bottom or something, but I don't recall that being the case. And only some get moldy.

The tooks and knobs have all spent 100% of their time in the previous year or years in the same room in my basement.

IOW, the environments are the same

[micky]

That's only because I crossposted to alt.home.repair and sci.electronics.repair. If you want more of him, you have to go to the second ng.

I've long wished there was an easy way to tell which ng someone is posting from. I once put in my .sig, "probably posting from nnnnn", "probably" because I also read the other group directly sometimes, but it disappeared with a liater installation of Agent.

Wow, I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't crossposted.

Interestingly, I don't have to scrape mine off. I can brush it off with my finger, or a paper towel iirc. Of course that doesn't apply when it's in a crevice or crack.

[micky]

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

what exactly is he doing in the workshop but I am pretty sure if it was something that creates a lot of dust of any kind, he'd mentioned it.

I am creating life. So far, I only have dust-like life, but it grows.

My next step will be to give it arms, legs, and a head.

- you've touched the handles, you've left some residue behind (sweat, skin flakes), bacteria are thankful for it, eat it and multiply. Still the same type of concern as with mold - something grows in your basement that you don't want. I would think some air movement and dryer air, just like with mold, would help and perhaps introduction of UV light in there wouldn't hurt either. Like those disinfecting lights in hospitals.

much the same thing as spray-painting Krylon on them - it will kill most of the bacteria that's on in now (though not all of course) and will simply delay its growth until some later point in the future when bacteria will inevitably catch up if they still have something to feed on.

[Michael A. Terrell]

"Mutant oil eating bacteria" was one of those flash in the pan '80s rock bands. ;)

[Jeff Liebermann]

Yep. So far, 27 different varieties of bacteria and fungus have added diesel fuel to their menu: When I drove a diesel pickup truck, I would occasionally add a biocide to the tank. Over time, the bugs are developing immunities to the common bug killers. Left to expand uncontrollably, this could be the end of civilization as we know it.

Meanwhile, researchers are working on a way to break down all the plastic bottles, containers, packaging, and junk that our civilization is so good at producing. At the present rate, we'll be swimming in plastic garbage unless something is done to accelerate decomposition. One of the methods proposed is to breed and release plastic eating bacteria in the landfills. etc. Eventually some bug will be found that eats plastic. It will leak out of the landfills, infest out homes, destroy everything made from plastic, and rewind civilization before the discovery of petroleum (steam punk?), which might not be such a bad thing.

[Brian Berg]

Mine are on craftsman tools, which are not yellow.

[Ralph Mowery]

I have an Xcelite nutdriver that is red and a Craftsman screwdriver that is clear with red stripes on it. Both of them have a white dust like material on them. This is the same stuff that has been called 'mold'. It is not mold, the plastic going bad.

[micky]

And it left holes in m fingers too. LOL.

[micky]

Huh? Because I chose not to post a picture, I don't have the news skills Jeff has? That's no wayi to draw conclusions.

You should learn to praise someone without having to run down someone else.

[Jeff Liebermann]

(...)

The white rot is plastic, not mold. So it is written, so it must be.

I scraped some of the white stuff from the plastic handle and put it under a x100 microscope. Not the best photos but I'll try again after yet another Friday night customer crisis. The photos show absolutely no structure, self simularity, or colonies characteristic of mold. I also heated some of the white stuff on a microscope slide. It melted like plastic (burning my fingers in the process). The white stuff also disolved nicely in acetone.

Drivel: Besides the Mercedes fuel pump, todays repairs were a Bernzomatic trigger start propane torch (cold flow PTFE igniter wire), an iPhone 4 with a non-functional standby push button (I gave up), yet another HP LaserJet 4250 printer with sticky relays (replace felt pad), and helped mount the landlords bicycle rack on his SUV. Sometimes, I wonder what business I'm in.

[micky]

The nutdriver is yellow!!

And so I gather will the nut driver handle.

Yes, you certainly deal with a wide range of stuff. What business ARE you in? :-)

For a while my home phone was broken and my cell phone was lost (in the house) and I was using Skype to call out.

I didn't sign up for a Skype phone number yet, however. If someone calls when I'm not there, can the caller leave a message, or at least his phone number??

[micky]

Yes, the children. I do care about the children .

[Jeff Liebermann]

Is this a problem? In my drawer of rarely used nut drivers, blue is also affected.

That's a tough question to answer. Basically, I separate my customers from their money by providing a wide variety of services. It usually involves some form of electronics, but also includes oddities such as sewing machine repair. It is not unusual for me to repair appliances after fixing their computers. As one business wanes (I was once in the calculator repair biz), I expand into adjacent businesses. I find it helpful, but not necessary, to know what I'm doing.

Many cellular vendors allow you to activate a new phone, on an existing number, via their web page, or via the phone. For example, with Verizon, you dial *228. Buy a spare qualifying Verizon phone on eBay for a few dollars and throw the spare where you can find it (i.e. your vehicle). When you lose your phone, just activate the spare until you find it. Also, make sure that the spare phone you purchase is "clean".

No. Incoming calls from the PSTN cannot be received without a Skype account that includes an incoming phone number. Without a phone number, there's no way for anyone to dial your computer from a POTS phone. What I've done is purchase a minimal account for a few dollars, and use it only for emergencies. I've had about $15 on my account for several years, with no monthly charges.

Similarly, Skype also charges for voicemail storage. However, if the incoming caller uses Skype to originate the call, the PSTN is not involved and your Skype client will show that you've received a call from some person. The catch is that if you allow anyone to call your Skype account, you open the flood gates to getting spammed and solicited at your account. I have mine set to only allow calls from people in my Skype address book.

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

That's pretty obvious to those that follow you here.

About three years ago you retired, but like a character in an M. Knight Shamalan movie, you refuse to notice.

:-)

Geoff.