mold forms on cords, knobs, and tool handles

Well, the standard answer is that I'm in business to do business. When about 30% of my gross income is tangled up with taxes and 50% in overhead, the business end of the repair biz is far more important than the individual repair jobs.

Many years ago, when I was still pretending to listen to advice, I was warned against over specialization. 40+ years later, I've noticed that my classmates, that entered into overly specialized areas, have either priced themselves out of the market, have had their specialty simply disappear, or have been outsourced into oblivion. I'm not suggesting that one should try to learn anything and everything, just not to become overly dependent on one particular skill. Were I still an RF engineer, designing various radios, I would either be simultaneously doing 3 peoples jobs for a tolerable pay, or standing in the unemployment line awaiting my government entitlement.

Not quite. I retired in 1983, but didn't know it. I had just been laid off from an engineering position and decided that engineering management and my abrasive personality were mutually exclusive. Since then, I've experimented with numerous businesses and professions, with the usual wide variations in success. Unfortunately, I'm getting sufficient old and tired that such changes and product ideas are not going to work well in the future.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann
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There comes a time in a mans life where he becomes so intolerant of being in the employ of actinic sphincters that the he fears life in prison for stomping the asshole until he quits twitching. I've had to hide my crowbars whenever some of them got around me so I decided the risk was too great and abandoned the corporate world for a life of independent contracting. ^_^

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

Sorry, but I was somewhat ambiguous. My phrase "that engineering management and my abrasive personality were mutually exclusive" refers to me, not corporate management. At the time, I had been functioning simultaneously as both an engineer and a manager. I soon realized that I had to choose one or the other. Since my personality tends to piss off everyone within range, I chose engineer, where prickly personalities are common. In effect, I refused promotion, which was at the time considered a capital crime. When the economy took a dive, and the first round of layoffs occurred, I was one of the first to be laid off.

I did the independent contractor, consultant, and hired gun thing for a while, but didn't like all the travel that was required. I also seemed to find situations and products that were beyond redemption or salvage. In several cases, I was setup for a failure, and then dutifully blamed when I failed. I had made a pile of money on stock options and speculation, so I was able to loaf while I decided what to do next.

I floundered around between 1983 and mid 1986, continuing to do consulting but also building up the repair biz. I was about to setup a local consultants exchange, when my father settled the issue by having a severe stroke. I found myself running his lingerie manufacturing business for several years until it could be sold and commuting back and forth between Santa Cruz and Smog Angeles approximately twice per month. I don't want to get into details here. Incidentally, I am still on good terms with all of my former employers. I had plenty of disagreements with them, but none of them were ever allowed to become personal. It was quite common to engage in heated technical arguments with them, followed by a calm lunch discussion over politics, sports, or other non-work related interests. After lunch, the arguments would resume.

I find it odd that you would pass judgment on your employers. It's not nice to bite the hand that feeds you. I have worked for crooks, liars, politicians, and marginal incompetents. I have been on good relations with all of them. If you cannot get along with even your worst enemy for the achievement of a common goal, you're doing something wrong. Even the worst employer can be trained.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

You were only six when you did that. ;-)

Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

That's when I was remanded to the Catholic Parochial Gulag back in the

50's and introduced to Sister Godzilla. Child care was based on sheer terror back then. That's why I don't like folks who mistreat kids. When I was six, I decided all adults were full of crap, the mistake I made was letting the nuns know it. O_o

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

Was "actinic" the word you wanted? If you meant "flaming"... It's not really a synonym.

That's odd, because your postings are almost always good-humored.

Your point is well-taken, but there are certain people one would not like to work to, simply because we dislike them as human beings. I'm thinking particularly of a certain person on "Gold Rush".

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

I meant it to be a play on words since "actinic" is closer to "glowing" than "flaming". Many unpleasant people are anything but brilliant and full of light. ^_^

It appears you were responding to me and JL at the same time.

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

Jeff Liebermann wrote on Fri, 01 Mar 2013 18:47:40 -0800:

Hi Jeff,

Those were fantastic pictures. I always assumed it was mold, but, now, I must rethink 'what' it is.

I don't remember trying acetone, but, my screwdrivers still have a hint of the white stuff from years past, so I will try that to see.

Thank you very much for the wonderful experimental work. You're in the top 1% of all people who THINK on this planet!

Reply to
Al Schmidt

Your best bet in a basement is to run a dehumidifier at all times. The mois ture that gets in the air in a basement usually has no way out of the house so it attaches to whatever it can and causes different types of mold to gr ow. I have seen this a lot in basements over the years and in most instanc es a dehumidifier will solve the problem.

Reply to
Ken Tumblison

The microscope photos were awful, grainy, and somewhat otto focus but sufficient to make a few observations: I left the microscope setup in my office and will try to take some better pictures with better objective lenses and better lighting on Monday night. Bottom lighting didn't work because the "plastic rot" was too thick. It also wrecked the focus as my depth of field is very limited at x100 and x400. Maybe lower power will help.

Ever wonder who makes the tool handles? Nothing on their site about the problem, or even what type of plastics are used.

Typical acrylic extruded rods:

It's not mold. It looks, acts, burns, melts, and disolves like acrylic plastic. It's translucent, not white. It doesn't grow, has no structure, doesn't creat colonies, and doesn't produce spores.

Hold it. Don't try using acetone to clean your screwdriver. It will attack and make a sticky mess of the good parts of the screwdriver handle. Acetone will dissolve acrylic plastic which is what I guess the handles are made from. Consult a chemical compatibilty chart for plastics before using any solvents. For cleaning, use anything that will scrape the stuff off, such as a knife blade, scouring pad, or sandpaper. Use a buffing wheel to retore the shine.

Thanks again. I'll spare you my lecture on the topic. The simple version is from Sherlock Holmes, where Watson "sees" but does not "observe". Plastic rot is similar in that we "see" mold, but few have the time, abilities, and equipment to test if it's really mold.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Your next mistake was growing up. ;-)

Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

Or in other words, another failure of the proper application of Occam's Razor. All things being equal, the simplest explanation is that it is mold.

The failure is that accepting the simplest explanation "it is mold" limits the search for "all things" and some important facts are missed.

I see this all too often in computers, where people without a clue, fix a broken system by replacing parts randomly.

If there are 5 componens in a system, replacing any one of them has a chance of fixing the system, possibly as much as 20% and then declaring themselves "experts". :-)

Geoff.

Reply to
Geoffrey S. Mendelson

Shotgunning is the true mark of a very poor tech. They don't want to learn why things fail, or what parts are actually needed.

Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

I met a cute little 4 year old girl one day and because I flirt with gals of all ages, I asked her if she would marry me when I grow up. The tyke looked me up and down and said "You're already grown up." to which I replied, "You're the first girl who's ever said that to me." ^_^

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

Often it is the same component that fails 90% of the time. That makes the 'experts' have an even beter reputation if they know of this part.

I just fixed the dial light on a radio of mine that has a known failuer of a driver transistor. It was a $ 2 part and about an hour of my time instead of spending about $ 100 to ship it off and get it back. I did not trouble shoot it, just tried the 'known' fix. The rado and where the part is located at is past my ability to do actual trouble shooting, but not beyond my ability to actually replace the part.

When I was working I would sometimes get a call while I was at home on something at work was not working. By knowing some known problems, I could tell the ones at work a thing or two to try,and many times that would fix the problem.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

I can't believe this thread is still going on and people are still suggesting mold. A few seconds with Google will explain the process.

Try "white powder screwdriver" and actually read a few of the posts.

Then maybe the OP will come back and report what he smells.

This was discussed here in alt.home.repair a few years ago.

Reply to
Dan Espen

Might I respectfully semi-disagree?

I have always wanted to understand >>why

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

Just use that dipping handle cover. Here's one such product I have different tool boxes for different uses, such as electrical, plumbing, carpentry, car, bicycle, motorbike, general, etc. I get it in different colors, to identify which tool box or "application" tool kit they belong to. It has really cut down on tool "evaporation". It also has made enforcement of tool replacement to it's proper box far easier with other family members.

Reply to
Attila Iskander

Jeff Liebermann wrote on Sun, 03 Mar 2013 10:03:27 -0800:

Hi Jeff, I think it's a rare combination of both intelligence, wit, and inquisitiveness, plus the rarest of all desire to help others to answer the question, that makes you so valuable for us.

A few on alt.home.repair have that quality - but not very many (probably a half dozen, e.g., Oren, krw,

Reply to
Al Schmidt

Jeff Liebermann wrote on Sun, 03 Mar 2013 10:03:27 -0800:

... last post sent too soon by accident ... trying again ...

Hi Jeff, I think it's a rare combination of both intelligence, wit, and inquisitiveness, plus the rarest of all desire to help others to answer the question, that makes you so valuable for us.

A few on alt.home.repair have that quality - but not very many (probably a half dozen, e.g., Oren, Jim Elbrecht, SMS, Trader4, Ed Pawlowski, & DerbyDad03, krw, etc.).

Plus, very few take the time and energy to post a photograph, which, in my humble opinion, is just plain old COMMON COURTESY when asking a question.

Some, but not all, make statements that aren't backed up by URLs (when they should be).

And, most just drop off, without also writing up a SUMMARY of lessons learned. Some do, but very few.

Lastly, some get downright acidic when they are confronted with alternative information. They're the worst, of course, because they're a cancer on the discussion.

Anyway, I, for one, greatly appreciate your efforts at figuring this out. To my knowledge, it has never been figured out before definitively (although I see a post that says it was discussed in a.h.r but the poster didn't provide any URLs so we have to look it up to see what the result was and the proof supplied).

Reply to
Al Schmidt

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