Went to the local Home Depot today to see about some MDO. They had 2x4 sheets but no 4x8. I asked the *ahem* lumber specialist, why this was and he said he wasnt quite sure what I meant. I said "You have MDO in 2x4 sheets but (I dont see any in 4x8. He quickly replies, "Sir the only kind of 4x8's we carry here are treated and dont come in sheets, they're actually posts used for like decks and things" .......I silently walked away before I did something I would later regret!
too expensive and does not move very fast...at least that is what I think....I can buy it at a plywood dist. around here....about $40 a sheet for 1/2 inch.....I am going to get three sheets and cut out reindeer for Christmas and sell them....I get 10 deer from 3 sheets......Brian
Don't feel bad, it ain't just you who's noticed this.
I tried to get a job at Radio Shack years ago. I had 4 years of HS electronics, was attending college for same, built a number of Heathkit projects, and was working every other semester through NASA's coop program. I was looking for a job in my off semesters. I knew the store better than the manager since I had bought most everything there frequently, and more importantly, I knew what the components were for. I was told I wasn't qualified as I had no sales experience. I was also told, NO electronic experience was required. Say what? Twenty years later, still working in the aerospace industry, I ran a radio repair shop on the side for several years, and I'm still not qualified to work for Radio Shack. When I walk in and they ask, "can I help you", I usually reply "not likely, but thanks anyway".
I suspect HD and others are no different. Stupid people need jobs too. ;-)
So apparently, the sales realm has decided it would be better to talk to a slick know-nothing rather than a geek who's passion is what he's selling. Something seriously wrong with this picture.
On Thu, 09 Oct 2003 04:21:45 GMT, "Mark Jerde" Crawled out of the shop and said. . .:
hey man! if you got some wasting disease like that,,,move a bit furthur down the bench...maybe Jums and Groggy'll let ya sit next to them. and for God's sake, don't cough on people!
The Berlin and Wallingford stores have a panel with samples of MDO, along with every kind of hardwood ply you can imagine. They are special order items.
Anything I need to special order comes from Middletown Builders Supply, Harris, etc... I can't imagine how a BORG could not manhandle a special order.
Ah Heathkits! Brings back fond memories. My "favorite" Heathkit experience was with an early project. I screwed it up and it never worked. I put it on a shelf and forgot about it. About a year later, I pulled it down and noticed the batteries had leaked. Eveready had a "no leak" warrantee so I packed the project up and sent it off to them. Not only did they clean up the leakage - the darned thing actually worked when it came back! :)
Heathkits were loads of fun! My Dad and I built a color tv kit when I was in High School. The first color set he owned. Tv, cabinet and stand ran about $550 if I recall correctly. BIG bucks in '66. And that was without a remote control. Being the eldest, I was always the "remote". Before we got an antenna on the roof, I was also the "antenna" on nights when the rabbit ears were acting up. Watched many "Ed Sullivan" shows with one hand holding onto one rabbit ear and the moving the other arm, "just a little higher...there... RIGHT there" and hanging my head around the front of the old Zenith b/w to _try_ and watch the show. That Heath color set had 25-30 tubes in it. Couple times a year, Dad and I would pull them all and run over to the Rexall drug or wherever (no Radio Shack in area until '69) and test them all out. 6GH8s and 6L6 tubes were the ones that seemed most likely to need replacing. $10-15 bucks for a handful of new tubes & I had to listen to Dad grumble about the short life & high price of tubes, _all_ the way home. Those of you on the plus side of 50 have been there too.
When I moved out, my sister was promoted to "remote control". Did not work as well as I, WAY to much sass and "Why me?" She fled to college and my little brother got the job. Dad did not get a REAL tv with a REAL remote until my brother went off to college. Mother _would not_ get up to change channels, lower volume or adjust the color/tint. I think the Heathkit color set was moved to his den and a big new Zenith _w/remote_ was up and running in the living room before my brother was even half settled in his dorm.
When we first married, wife and I bought a Heathkit color set. ($360) Went together fine but did not work right. Using their great troubleshooting handbook we narrowed it down to trouble in the yoke. Calling Heathkit, (fantastic C/S department) a tech had us do a couple tests not in the book and confirmed that, indeed, the yoke itself was defective. New on arrived in 3 days via US Mail, at Xmas time. (UPS not yet a player) New yoke worked great and we used that set for +20 years.
Built other Heathkits over the years. Gave wife and Dad both digital display clock kits for Xmas one year. Hers worked fine when she put it together. Dad's never did work right. He swapped a couple parts in assembly and fried the main chip. He never did live that down. As it was Dad who always said, "you only need to be able to do two things to build a Heathkit, read _and_ follow directions."
Heathkits were, in part, responsible for my career path. 11 years retail electronics sales/mgmt (yes Robert, at Radio Shack, 375 stores when I started & +11,000 when I left), 16 years broadcast engr and 7 yrs in cellular coverage/field engineering.
Getting back on topic, the Heath stereo receiver I built in HS, had a beautiful pecan case. It stood up to years of use and many, many moves. Also, Heath tried getting into prepackaged woodworking kits not to long before they went belly up. But was too little, too late.
Ahh, the good old days!! (3 TV channels in most areas, 4 if you had PBS!)
Heathkit H8 .... built one around 1968 or so while I was in the service. Saved up to buy one peripheral at a time on a 2nd LT's pay while I waited on orders to RVN.
;-) I've been in computers for 20+ years (PC, VB, DB, DBMS, OLAP, VPN, ... ) including 7.5 years in the Army (BT, OCS, JMOC, ..., ETS!) & 2 years with the gvmt (INS, VEWP, SEWP, ...). I'm also heavily involved with biometric standards efforts (AP, CBEFF, CC, NIAP, ...). Acronyms!!!
Of course, we all know PMS stands for Pedestal Mounted Stinger or Preventative Maintenance Service...
I am the right age to remember Uncle Sam would buy you a Heathkit TV if you signed up for an electronics course that the GI bill recognized. We all built one (GR-25?) Something like that.
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