My neighbour (she is a top public servant with several degrees and very smart in most things) told me that she bought a power drill and used it for a year or so, never very happy with its cutting speed. Surgeon husband tiook a look at it and couldnt see anything wrong. Then a friend pointed out the problem. She had it in reverse.
Mekon
Confession:
last year I bought a Jonsered chainsaw to take down a tree in the front yard that was dying. Good excuse to buy a $400 tool.
It cut like crap the first time I tried it, even on 2" branches.
The blade had been installed backwards at the shop, and I hadn't checked before firing it up.
That reminds me of the first time I put a chain on a saw...you guessed it, I put it on backward. It wouldn't cut sh*t. I laugh everytime I think of it. Thanks. Joe
You can be sure I double check every time I put the chain back on the saw...
;-D
Damn, that thought stands all on its own.
Regards,
Tom.
Thomas J. Watson - Cabinetmaker, ret. tjwatson1atcomcastdotnet (real email)
...and then the guy at the shop started it up, and the owner said "What's that noise??!?!?!"
Dave "Sorry, I'll come in again..." Hinz
They're supposed to make noise?
On Fri, 04 Jun 2004 22:04:51 -0400, Tom Watson stated, with eyes & arms akimbo:
Is this a Darwin Moment, or merely proof that PHD stands for "Piled Higher and Deeper"?
Scary, wot? Intelligence is ever dependent upon one's perspective.
---------------------------------- VIRTUE...is its own punishment
Larry Jaques wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Having that degree, and fully realizing its "potential", I was impressed by the new cleaning person on our floor. He admits to being a recovering addict of some sort, but confiding in me that "common sense" wasn't really all that common.
I couldn't agree more, especially now that common sense has been abandoned as a guiding principle, and we are left with following rules and documenting whatever we do, without regard to that old-fashioned "coomon sense".
======================== My gosh...I can understand that BUT I kind of doubt that any surgeon would lack the ability to really notice that she had it in reverse UNLESS he knew his wife was flakey ... as a "general" rule I find most surgeons have a pretty good bit of mechanical knowledge...
Bob Griffiths
Intelligence is the ability to assimilate, associate, and retain information. It is enhanced by education. That there was an option to the switch is a piece of information, which is no substitute for education.
Specialization. Fellow named Wolfgang Pauli was one of the great theoretical physicists, won the Nobel Prize in 1945. People who knew him tell me that while he is known to history for the Pauli Exclusion Principle and his work on Relativity, among his friends and acquaintances, he was known by the "Pauli Effect", by which he could be located in a building. One just followed the trail of blown fuses, burnt out light bulbs, smoking equipment, and so on and eventually you found him at the end of it.
Not to mention that they work with power tools regularly--at one time it was ordinary carpenter's tools but since the '60s a variety of tools specifically designed for surgical use have been developed. On the other hand I suspect the controls on the tools he's used to are probably arranged a bit differently from those on a commonplace electric drill.
Regardless, the expression "RTFM" comes to mind.
Bob G. wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
I had to have a piece of my uvula removed by an ENT specialist (it cleared up my snoring problem, and my wife sleeps again in the same room). He used a suction device to clear away the blood before I would choke. However, the suction thing clogged up, and I had to ask whether he had the filter in correctly ... After he switched it around, it worked fine.
Why would you doubt it? The only way this would not be a true story would be if she lied to me or I lied to the group. She told this story against herself and that to me gives it an air of verisimilitude. And I can't think of a reason that I would lie to the group about something like this - what would I gain? She isn't flakey, she just didn't know that modern power drills have both a forward and reverse action. Mechanical aptitude isn't inate, we learn it. While working as a carpenter's labourer many years ago I was helping to build a deck for a guy that programs computers. In those days that was akin to being a rocket scientist. Under the house my boss noticed a new looking vacuum cleaner he asked the owner about it and was told that he threw it down there when it stopped sucking. My boss took it home and changed the bag.
Mekon
I don't know, we have a couple of brain surgeons in the maintenance department at work. One of them did the same thing. He at least sharpened the bit because it was not going in fast enough. Ed
Just goes to show that brain surgeons aren't rocket scientists...
Maybe she's actually very clever and was just pulling your leg; and you fel l for it.
Gary
So my mistake was taking him at his word?
Mekon
>Yep, I've got one of them in the shipping department. Oh, the stories I could tell you. Like the time they were loading a TL of product in bags, 2' x 2' x 4'. Rocket scientist says "these (one is laying at his feet) must be at least 8' long." Co-worker says "they can't be, you are about 6" tall and they are not as high as you". Rocket Scientist replies "I'm not talking how tall they are, but how WIDE they are."
At least one event a day like that. Ed
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