Apprentice and Hex keys

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You obviously didn't know my mum. ;-)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Do you form an opinion about a shop having never used it?

[whisky-dave]

I do otherwise I'd never use a shop.

[ARW]

He got his money back for them. He sold them to the new starter.

[T i m]

<snip>

Daughter experienced this when in a temp retail job in Scotland. The resident staff were complaining that they had to leave the front door open (to entice customers in) and have to get someone to help lift a box of a shelf because it was 'heavy'. They asked her why she didn't seem to be bothered. Her reply, 'If I wasn't doing this I would probably be cutting up a tree in a ditch'. ;-)

Re the point, whist I'm sure electrics can be a dirty job (I've done a bit over my life) and you are sometimes working in the cold and dark (no CH when the power is off ) or outside fittings etc, I'm not sure if the job is as overall physical as say plumbing or bricklaying, plastering and especially roofing / drainage.

Poking 2.5m T&E though places is probably easier than poking 22mm copper pipe (or even plastic) and a leak of electricity isn't likely to make such a mess as a bad fitting on a CH circuit. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[NY]

I suppose it's like the standard technique for remembering lists of things by making up a story which includes all the objects - which is find as long as your brain can encode the list into the story and decode it back again quickly enough when you have to look up the position of a given object.

Whenever I've tried it, my brain hasn't been sufficiently inventive to think of the objects that will feature in the story, and to remember that story so I can decode it again. Maybe it comes with a *lot* of practice.

The shortcuts that you mention rely on being able to see that (for example)

119 + 119 is 120+120 -2: to translate obscure numbers to a nice round numbers, so the maths on those *and then remember what correction to need to add/subtract afterwards*. Again, enough practice and maybe it becomes easier. The problem is that initially doing it that way is harder than doing it on paper, and until you overcome that initial hurdle there's no incentive to do it the "harder-but-it-will-become-easier" way.

For some reason I never learned all those little dodges when I was at school in the late 60s and the 70s. Not because of calculators - they either weren't an affordable price or else were banned at school - but because we were taught always to work it out with a pen and paper. Shame. There are several skills that other people have which I have no comprehension of: mental arithmetic and reversing a trailer/caravan are two that spring to mind!

[ARW]

Brickies have labours fetch them their bricks and mortar. I would say plastering and roofing is more physical than electrics. The plumbing is probably about the same but probably cleaner unless its a blocked toilet although I get the broken maceration wiring jobs.

[spuorgelgoog]

I suppose housebashing is comparatively cleaner and warmer than a lot of commercial and industrial work, whatever the trade.

Certainly I wouldn't want to rewire or replumb most restaurant kitchens.

Owain

[charles]

I'll say that replacing a kitchen tap where the fixings have rusted up is quite an epic. A double sink with waste disposal unit in one makes the working space quite constricted.

Drill holes in fixing washer - four holes each needing 3 drill sizes. Manoevering drill round pipes. Then bend said washer to get a bit of slack in the mounting. Then use a multitool from the top to cut through the steel mouning bolt and two copper pipes. nearly 3 hours work.

[Steve Walker]

We weren't taught shortcuts either. In my case it was simply coming up with my own to do simple calculations when I was shopping or doing DIY, didn't have access to a calculator or couldn't be bothered climbing down to go and get some paper.

Reversing a caravan is easy, but a trailer can be a lot harder - the short hitch to axle length means it turns rapidly out of line and often trailers are too low to see, so correction comes too late. Give me a caravan rather than a camping trailer everythime!

On the other hand, don't ask me to lay paving slabs or plaster large areas. Definitely not my thing.

SteveW

[NY]

For some value of "English" ;-)

[Jim K..]

Holding the short end to tighten up the screws? (i.e. Insufficient torque...)

[Jim K..]

Adam did mention an isolator...

[Jim K..]

Would that be you by any chance?