Why do power drills have R and L?

[Jim GM4DHJ ...]

never liked that my '62 sunbeam alpine did that

[NY]

I have both a one-pinion hand drill and a two-pinion hand drill. The one-pinion one has *much* less friction and turns far more easily, whereas the two-pinion one is stiff and binds slightly at one point; I can't remember whether it binds at one point in the rotation of the small pinion or one rotation of the large bevelled handle wheel.

[NY]

My mum's Renault 6s had bonnets/hoods which were hinged at the front above the radiator. It meant that you were restricted to accessing the engine compartment only from the sides, and not additionally from the front as with a rear-hinged bonnet (*). Lancia had a car where the bonnet was hinged along one side.

It is said that a front-hinged bonnet is less of a problem if the catch fails and the bonnet pops up while driving, because the wind caused by the forward motion of the car will tend to hold the bonnet closed rather than forcing it further open. That may be true, but the act of stopping to rectify the problem will then definitely open the bonnet. I found this out by bitter experience: I saw the lip of the bonnet pop up as I was driving mum's car on the motorway, so I carefully steered onto the hard shoulder and as I came to rest, the bonnet shot open: it was very unnerving not to be able to see the road ahead, even though I knew that a few seconds earlier I'd seen nothing in front of me on the hard shoulder.

More serious is the fact that in a crash the bonnet may fly open at the first impact, preventing the driver being able to see to steer around the hazard and avoid further impacts.

(*) If it had had a transverse engine, it would have been difficult to reach the sparking plugs which would have been facing the radiator. I presume few cars with transverse engines have front-hinged bonnets because of that.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

And the rotating hand will tend to pull it all over the place. If you'd ever used one. With a small drill you can actually watch it bending as you turn the handle. ;-)

[Bob Eager]

I am now rodentially ambidextrous! (I am right handed really)

I fell on my right wrist many years ago, and for a while using the mouse was painful, so I switched to my left hand. We then bought two of those swept L-shaped desks for our new office at home, and I got the side with the extra bit to the right. Now I can use the mouse on the left, and write down stuff or read manuals etc. on the right.

In the workshop downstairs, the mouse is on the right hand side (away from the main work area). That's OK.

And when teaching, I help students with the mouse set however they have it.

[NY]

But do you prefer the buttons to be swapped over if you are using the mouse with your left hand, or do you prefer them the same way round (left button for left-click action) in the same way that LHD and RHD cars both have the gears laid out in the same pattern and both have the indicators on the left and wipers on the right?

I am reasonably ambidextrous for unskilled tasks (sawing, hammering, opening doors, pouring out of a bottle) and I sometimes alternate between hands for sawing/hammering when one arm gets tired, but the one thing I cannot do at all is write with my left hand - even babyish writing is beyond me. For some reason, I always pour with my left hand - maybe so I can stir what I'm pouring with my right hand at the same time.

I worked with a left-handed woman who was very polarised (ie not even slightly ambidextrous). She even had to turn awkwardly so she could open a door that had the handle on the right with her left hand, whereas I use either hand with equal ease, depending on which side the handle is. She was moaning that all the doors in her house had the handles on the wrong side for a leftie. Cupboards doors, fair enough - you only open those from the outside. But doors into rooms are the "right" way round when you approach the door from one side and the "wrong" way round when you approach from the other, so by definition they will be "wrong" for her 50% of the time ;-) She genuinely was about to get the builder to change all her doors round until I pointed this out - I've never seen anyone go as fluorescent with embarrassment when she realised the idiocy of what she'd said.

I remember my maths teacher. He was a very stern, dour Scotsman who was excellent for those who wanted to learn but didn't suffer fools gladly. But near the end of term (the "all-the-sevens" day 7/7/1977) he revealed with glee a closely-guarded secret: he was ambidextrous, to the extent that he could write:

- forwards with both hands simultaneously

- forwards with one hand and mirror-image with the other simultaneously (limited by the length of his arms versus the width of the blackboard!)

- with one hand (presumably his right) he could write left to right for one line and then right to left on the next line but with the letters still the correct way round - think of how a matrix, daisy-wheel or inkjet computer printer prints

And he took great delight in widening our vocabulary: he taught us the word "boustrophedon" which describes this alternate writing one way and the other (it means "as the ox ploughs"), though I think true boustrophedon would have the letters mirror-image on alternate lines.

Given that I never saw him writing with his left hand at any other time, and the fact that he wrote very slowly with it, I wonder whether he wasn't really ambidextrous but had spent many hours practicing until he had the skill off pat - to impress us.

[Bob Eager]

I swap them. If someone else hasn't, I move the mouse to the other side.

As it happens, I learned that one a couple of years ago!

[Commander Kinsey]

What I want to know is how you can possibly remember a technique that quickly while trying to react instantly. That sort of thing has to be subconscious. And if it doesn't make sense to the subconscious, I won't do it correctly. On a bicycle it's easy, I lean where I want to go, and I move the handlebars to stay upright. On ice skates I lean where I want to go, and there's no way to stay upright. Best to buy 4 wheels.

[Commander Kinsey]

It's best not to have a bike heavier than yourself.

[Commander Kinsey]

I've heard of that, but just with the handlebars glued so they don't rotate at all. Even that's f****ng hard to stay on.

I couldn't even do the one where you walk along a spinning pole.

[Commander Kinsey]

Odd to do that in a car. But makes sense on a heavy motorcycle if you want to alter your centre of gravity.

Or driving a lorry. I've seen a lot that don't and bash the tyres on a roundabout.

Kerb.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

Even when IIII is between III and V (with no IV)?

And for some reason, that reminds me of chemotherapy.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

I think they were supposed to have done so, a lot.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

I once saw a wristwatch that had only ONE mark (for 12).

[Jim Joyce]

Google images has countless examples of watches with no numbers at all. Most people wouldn't really miss them.

[Commander Kinsey]

[Commander Kinsey]

So you had to look at 3 numbers instead of 1.

IV as in drip?

[Commander Kinsey]

I've never considered that a skill, it's just like pushing a supermarket trolley.

If you're trying to think about it, you're doing it wrong. It needs to come naturally. Just think about your end of the trailer (the end attached to the car) and where that has to go. Same as if you were pushing it by hand, you'd shove it to the right or left to make it go where you needed it to.

Now that I don't understand. I don't rely on self centering (how do you spell that in British English? We say centre, but centreing doesn't look right), but adjust subconsciously with the steering wheel. I can reverse as fast as the car will go. I had a VW Golf that would go 40mph backwards - auto gearbox, reverse was about the same as 2nd in a manual. That was fun, especially with a passenger who was grabbing anything possible. And then there was the J turn.... maybe I should have warned them I was going to do it?

I sometimes do, I sometimes don't, it depends on what I'm checking for. Of course if it's a van, you can't look over your shoulder.

I think that would confuse me. If I'm sat right next to the actual rudder, I'd expect it to be linked in a straightforward mechanical fashion.

[rbowman]

If you have to remember a technique, you're f***ed.

[rbowman]

That's a 125cc off road only bike aimed at kids and it still weighs in a

199 pounds. My 650 is close to 400 wet and with tools etc.

You have to go to a trials bike to get under 150 pounds.

Just don't plan to sit; they're not big on creature comforts.