Where are all the uk.d-i-y greats gone?

New love in his life

Bored of usenet, still in touch with him on occasion

Pass

His MS Outlook is probably just broken again

such a shame, when all the greats worth listening to have gone, you know the NG is in real trouble...... :-(

Its certainly a lot quieter in here than it used to be. :-(

They're probably fed up with the high noise to signal ratio!

I expect the removal of the ability to post via google groups may have something to do with the reduction on in traffic.

On 07 Jul 2024, SH wrote

Sadly, It seems to be the same across the whole of Usenet; it's a dying format.

The groups I used to follow either have very few posts these days, or have lost almost all of their interesting posters to the passage of time, a decline in interesting discussions, and the occasional infestation by trolls.

alt.fan.cecil-adams has very few posts these days

alt.usage.english is still active, but with a big decline in interesting or witty back-and-forth discussions

uk.sport.cricket is down to just a handful of old guys. I fit that description (it's really weird being the same age as old people), but I've always lurked more than posted there. (I was a late convert to cricket, and they all know way more stuff than I do -- I read it to learn stuff more than to contribute)

rec.sport.cricket is pretty well empty (and the most prolific poster is a bit of a weirdo)

Alas.

We need interesting topics. Sadly, my latest job, re-furbishing a 40 year old farm barrow after our gardener put his foot through it, will match anyone's ambitions in here:-) I will follow up on the fibre install.

Anyone attempted automating greenhouse sliding door controls? The thermal response due to slow wax controlled roof vents may make simple temperature control impractical. Perhaps monitor incident Sun?

We need topics!

Here's one:-)

For the last 30 years, there has been a pile of broken council paving slabs taking up space in my yard. Acquired by my sister who never got around to the crazy paving job she had in mind. (who does that anymore?)

We already have ample patio space. When we first married 55 years ago, I used similar material to create a rockery on a steep bank. We already have rockeries here.

One thing for sure. If I get in a grab lorry, an important use will crop up within days!

Strange coincidence. A couple of days ago I went to use the wheelbarrow I'd been using for years only to find the tyre flat and the rubber of it, and the inner tube, rotted beyond repair. Part of the rim was rusted through too. I wondered about getting a complete new wheelbarrow but decided the old one was still useful, and I looked at getting a new wheel. The old axle was 20mm diameter, so not a usual size. I couldn't find anything at the local sheds, so ordered a wheel with a 20mm hole from Amazon. It came within 36 hours.

But how to fix it to the wheelbarrow? The new wheel came with an axle, but it was meant for a wheelbarrow with a wheel each side, so quite short. The old wheel had a 25cm long axle, but it was part of the wheel, welded to the rim by six "spokes" 15mm wide by 3mm thick. It was still in good condition, so I hacksawed off the spokes as close as possible to the axle. That still left a few mm of the spokes projecting from the axle. Out came the bench grinder and after 30 minutes the spokes were gone (it was very hard mild steel). The old axle shaft now fitted through the new wheel, but of course the wheel just moved sideways along it. I considered drilling a couple of holes through the axle and using a nut and bolt or cotter pins to hold the wheel in position, but any holes in the axle would weaken it. Later this week I'm going to try a simple solution which should hold the wheel in place. That's a couple of hose (jubilee) clips tightened onto the axle by the wheel. I doubt they'll slide, but a small piece of rubber hose under them should aid grip if sliding occurs. I'll have to see if it works!

Why not fit a louvre window or two at the opposite end from the door and use automatic openers on those?

Cecil Adams? Who he? He has fans? TW

I also found my wheelbarrow hors service this year due to corroded and split rubber tyre along with leaking tube or valve or both. I had an old tyre repair aerosol in the back of the garage so I used it, then read the instructions. I was required to run the whellbarrow at 40mph for ten mins. I had to tie it to the A30 in the end but that's a story for another time. TW

That is almost as good as the instructions for use on a friend's lawn treatment that required it to be distributed on the lawn 4 hours after and 4 hours before a rain shower.

In message <v6gbeb$p1c7$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, Jeff Layman snipped-for-privacy@invalid.invalid writes snip

Short lengths of steel water pipe sleeves?

Two-wheeled barrow I bought a while back has cotter pins, not much more than large paperclip thickness, don't suppose you'd weaken a 20mm axle much

That would work, but unfortunately I didn't have any in the "junk box". Searching the usual sheds online didn't reveal any pipes or tubes available except in at least metre lengths for a sizeable fraction of the cost of the wheel!

Ah - not exactly a domestic greenhouse size! Would solar powered electric fans help to improve the airflow through the vents and louvres?

True, but you have two wheels to spread the load. With mine, all the weight is on the one axle.

In message snipped-for-privacy@marfordfarm.demon.co.uk>, Tim Lamb snipped-for-privacy@marfordfarm.demon.co.uk> writes

I suppose one answer would be for me to move beyond the 20th. century and use an i-phone. Presumably remote temperature indication together with remote switched controls are now common place.

Fully open, the doors create a gap 4'x 6'!

It's not a huge problem for Tomatoes as the glass is *whited* but indoor cucumbers wilt readily.

Le 07/07/2024 à 20:13, SH a écrit :

All dead.

Or a RaspberryPi / Arduino style gizmo with or without IoT connection

HTH BiBiD

Avpx