Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

[TonyAlbus]

What if you just want to add drawers and then start reorganizing and then end-up busy 5 days.
it was one simple job

front.jpeg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CGrzJAd2nk

[mnementh]

"Sometimes... to fix a mess, you gotta make a mess." ~gram-mummaw

mnem
"All hands on deck!!!" ~also gram-mummaw

[mnementh]

[yoobChoob vid]

"Somebody said you can never have too many power supplies..."

*raises a paw*

mnem
"guilty as charged..."

[URI]

Tony,

going back your YouTube-video-history one can comprehend TEA in progress over time.

My addiction has also led to the state in which I wonder how and where I could store/setup all my gear and accessories -especially after our move: I thought that would make things easier but in fact I expanded my TE-collection while not having set up my bench again and so there's even more space needed than at our old place..

Congrats to your reorganisation of your man cave!

[TonyAlbus]

Jay,

LOL... yes more space is more Equipment, just because we can..
its a never ending story, and it is just so hard to let TE go.. even when not in use, because in a rare case of selling you find out you need it now

Good luck on your Lab build, its is fun.!

[Cubdriver]

TEA will inevitably cause the collection to expand to just beyond what the available space can accommodate. And without fail, shortly after you get rid of something that’s been unused for the last fifteen years you will then need it and be kicking yourself for letting it go. And you need spares, too. Two is one, and one is none.

-Pat

[Cubdriver]

[yoobChoob vid]

"Somebody said you can never have too many power supplies..."

*raises a paw*

mnem
"guilty as charged..."

If your house hasn’t collapsed, you do not have too many power supplies. If it does, well, you bought one too many. Return the last one you bought, and rebuild.

-Pat

[Zenith]

If you can still move, there's space for more TE.

A danger sign is when you can't enter some rooms because they are completely full of TE. When the living room enters that state, things may have gone too far but you can get temporary relief by putting back together and replacing the covers of all the unfinished projects. You can make more space by throwing away some of the furniture.

The load on floors and ceilings has to be considered.

[mnementh]

Or you can do as the dwagon has done, and just take over the entire basement as your TE Cave; then load on floors and ceilings can be completely ignored.



This works best if you have a young, strong boi (or grrl) you can draft into lugging crap up/down stairs when a JENGA scenario is encountered...

mnem
*cues up flashiebackie music*

Quote from: Brumby on January 24, 2018, 04:30:58 pm
Some suggestions....

RAM: Random Access Management. The process of locating various pieces of test equipment in a manner so that they are quickly and easily accessible. This process can be applied to both equipment storage areas as well as the active work bench. Failure to implement a RAM protocol will result in equipment getting buried, requiring the moving of several other pieces of equipment to gain access to a specific item or, even worse, to prevent that specific item from being found. (SNIP)

TETRIS: Test Equipment Torment - Reorganization In Situ. The equivalent of changing spark plugs while driving down the highway, this is the high stress process of rearranging equipment - but being limited to doing so in the existing space. Any attempt to 'borrow' space in another area of the premises is met with threats of items found outside the boundaries of toleration will be immediately disposed of. Protests are met with references to some storage area that was temporarily borrowed 3 years ago - that you still occupy.

BOT: Boundaries Of Toleration. The limits of acceptability for the physical and/or financial impact of one's hobby - as defined by other members of the household.

Quote from: mnementh on January 26, 2018, 04:17:46 am
The nature of my Electronics/RC Hobby workbench make it a perpetual TETRIS zone; I call it "Organized Chaos" while my wife calls it "A study in Surrealism". That is, when she does more than just give me that "Spock Raised Eyebrow" look. Similarly, the needs of Laundry & Storage space make my Wood-Metal-Welding Shop/Garage into a combination JENGA: Junk Engulfing Nearby Garage Areas (wherein all garage space is subject to a constantly moving and contested scrimmage line) and DMZ: De-Mobilized Zone (wherein all manner of junk accumulates in precisely the perfect manner to produce a nigh-immovable obstruction between you and some object you desperately need).

These three phenomena form a symbiotic Quantum Entanglement; whenever there is a decrease in one, the others increase to eliminate any net free space.

JENGA is not a simple single entity; it encompasses a constellation of several sub-phenomena:

JENGA: Junk Encroaching Nonpermissible General Areas (usually defined by other household members and their "need" to use nonessential spaces like living rooms, kitchens and bathrooms);
JENGA: Junk Engulfing Nonvertical Geometric Areas (the inevitable spontaneous accumulation of all manner of tools and junk on any available table-like horizontal surface);
JENGA: Junk Emigrating Non-Garage Areas (the inexplicable migration of entire stacks to other rooms, often discovered by other household members with a hand truck still underneath); and quite possibly the most relevant,
JENGA: Junk Engulfing Nonhorizontal Growth Areas (the accumulation of box-shaped objects stacked from floor to ceiling, and the inevitable need to remove one object from the middle of the stack without all of it falling down on your head).

Your discovery of the BOT phenomenon and my own observations of how it seems to ebb and flow in relation with the frequency and severity of localised TETRIS and JENGA outbreaks makes me suspect that it may also be part of this quantum entanglement; I think we as a group should make an empirical study and publish our findings.

We'll need a number of households and lots of time to document various types of outbreaks against the general BOT level in each household and cumulatively. This will require many data points collated against several timelines; possibly years of accumulated junk... err, data... to be absolutely sure. :-DD

[mnementh]

This one's for @MED6753:

It's not stock. . .

mnem
Here's the TL/DR from the builder: https://youtu.be/IU98_D2sE1U

[Cubdriver]

If you can still move, there's space for more TE.

A danger sign is when you can't enter some rooms because they are completely full of TE. When the living room enters that state, things may have gone too far but you can get temporary relief by putting back together and replacing the covers of all the unfinished projects. You can make more space by throwing away some of the furniture.

The load on floors and ceilings has to be considered.

On the advice of counsel, I decline comment….

-Pat

[Zenith]

Hoarding Disorder is a recognised DSM-5 condition - it is a separate thing from 'collecting' although the distinction may be blurred,

https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/condit ... -disorder/

It often causes problems with landlords, such a local authorities. Some extreme sufferers collect junk off the street and can't bring themselves to throw anything away.

TEA is properly collecting, and along with railway modelling etc, it may possibly become excessive. There is a reason why the items are acquired, they are typically worth say $10 minimum, and there's an understanding of how they work and what they are useful for.

[mnementh]

*Looks out into the garage*, where currently there is a curb-score...

upright Kenmore freezer, happily humming away keeping my "bought-on-quick-sale" stockpile of frozen groceries frozen...

Trek MTB, rebuilt last summer with bits of a curb-score Cannondale X-over, which my son & I both ride...

Craftsman 3.5HP push mower, which we've used for 4 summers in 2 countries...

and top-end NexGrill BBQ currently being reconditioned...


mnem
What're yooo tryin' ta imply heeah...? . .

[bd139]

Back. We didn't die. Nearly did a couple of times (rock slide, getting lost as our guide was a moron). Amazing trip in all respects and amazing people. Took 1500 photos over the week. Pulled out a couple quickly. So so so many things happened it's impossible to start describing what we did .

Short list: day in post-Soviet Bishkek, 6h drive to Kochkor, stay overnight at guest house, 3 days walking + on horseback + tent camping through the mountains finishing with a totally treacherous climb to 11,860ft Terme pass in bad conditions (pictured selfie). Had to slide half way down on our arses on the snow. Descended to Song-Kul lake and spent 2 days with Kyrgyz people in their yurts and watching them playing their native sport of rugby/polo with a dead goat ball on horseback (pictured), 8h drive back via Naryn to Bishkek (pictured landscape), Hotel for the night and back on the plane back.

DSC_2251.jpg

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IMG_5677.JPG

So so happy

[Specmaster]

Brilliant photos Chris, scenery is just utterly stunning.

[tggzzz]

What? Already? Where's my life disappearing

Glad you made it there and back.

We look forward, in the fullness of time, to hearing how your weltanschaaung has been modified.

[Cerebus]

...and watching them playing their native sport of rugby/polo with a dead goat ball on horseback (pictured), ...

Consider yourself lucky, it used to be the head of an infidel, and guess who in the vicinity probably looked most like an infidel?

[Zenith]

watching them playing their native sport of rugby/polo with a dead goat ball on horseback (pictured)

DSC_2251.jpg

Sounds like Buzkashi, the national game of Afghanistan. There are two sides but they are not teams; the sides are there for a convenient way of organising things. Someone else on your side scoring by dragging the carcass through the goalposts, is worth little more than someone on the other side scoring.

It's good to know that you are back safe and sound, and that you had an enjoyable time.

[bd139]

watching them playing their native sport of rugby/polo with a dead goat ball on horseback (pictured)

DSC_2251.jpg

Sounds like Buzkashi, the national game of Afghanistan. There are two sides but they are not teams; the sides are there for a convenient way of organising things. Someone else on your side scoring by dragging the carcass through the goalposts, is worth little more than someone on the other side scoring.

It's good to know that you are back safe and sound, and that you had an enjoyable time.

Similar but not quite the same. It's called kokboru. We discovered very quickly that there are no rules. Feet in the face, whipping the opponents and ramming them is all on the table . The ultimate goal is to tenderize the goat in the bag, then eat it later.

Another photo attached mid-game ...

DSC_2266.jpg

[bd139]

...and watching them playing their native sport of rugby/polo with a dead goat ball on horseback (pictured), ...

Consider yourself lucky, it used to be the head of an infidel, and guess who in the vicinity probably looked most like an infidel?

Oh I was ok on that. There was a SQL Server DBA in the group. He was top infidel lookalike.

[bd139]

What? Already? Where's my life disappearing

Glad you made it there and back.

We look forward, in the fullness of time, to hearing how your weltanschaaung has been modified.

Life does disappear quickly.

Weltanschaaung seriously changed. Has been extremely difficult reintegrating into work and society since we're back surprisingly. Everything is too loud, too noisy (visually/complexity wise) and completely pointless. Currently facing a whole week of planning meetings which I know don't mean anything or matter so I'm not turning up . We're planning another trip somewhere remote now to get the feeling back

[tggzzz]

What? Already? Where's my life disappearing

Glad you made it there and back.

We look forward, in the fullness of time, to hearing how your weltanschaaung has been modified.

Life does disappear quickly.

Weltanschaaung seriously changed. Has been extremely difficult reintegrating into work and society since we're back surprisingly. Everything is too loud, too noisy (visually/complexity wise) and completely pointless.

Careful. Soon you'll be espousing that libertarian nonsense, "shared space" roads.

Currently facing a whole week of planning meetings which I know don't mean anything or matter so I'm not turning up .

I doubt that view has changed. Reinforced, certainly, but not changed.

Sounds like you are angling for constructive dismissal in reverse That's what email trails and dictaphones in the shirt pocket were invented.

We're planning another trip somewhere remote now to get the feeling back

I've occasionally thought it would be worth upping sticks and decamping to somewhere idyllic. Then I realise the people there's a lot of unconstrained viciousness in the people there. I wish libertarians that want "much less government" would actually go to places where there is much less government.

Unfortunately one traditional escape route has become unavailable: lighthouses are unmanned. And probably available on AirBNB

Sartre was wise: hell is other people.

[BU508A]

Back. We didn't die. Nearly did a couple of times (rock slide, getting lost as our guide was a moron). Amazing trip in all respects and amazing people. Took 1500 photos over the week. Pulled out a couple quickly. So so so many things happened it's impossible to start describing what we did .

Short list: day in post-Soviet Bishkek, 6h drive to Kochkor, stay overnight at guest house, 3 days walking + on horseback + tent camping through the mountains finishing with a totally treacherous climb to 11,860ft Terme pass in bad conditions (pictured selfie). Had to slide half way down on our arses on the snow. Descended to Song-Kul lake and spent 2 days with Kyrgyz people in their yurts and watching them playing their native sport of rugby/polo with a dead goat ball on horseback (pictured), 8h drive back via Naryn to Bishkek (pictured landscape), Hotel for the night and back on the plane back.

So so happy

How was the fermented horse milk?

Glad, that both of you are back AND happy!
I hope you can still find your way around London.

[bd139]

What? Already? Where's my life disappearing

Glad you made it there and back.

We look forward, in the fullness of time, to hearing how your weltanschaaung has been modified.

Life does disappear quickly.

Weltanschaaung seriously changed. Has been extremely difficult reintegrating into work and society since we're back surprisingly. Everything is too loud, too noisy (visually/complexity wise) and completely pointless.

Careful. Soon you'll be espousing that libertarian nonsense, "shared space" roads.

Definitely not!

Currently facing a whole week of planning meetings which I know don't mean anything or matter so I'm not turning up .

I doubt that view has changed. Reinforced, certainly, but not changed.

Sounds like you are angling for constructive dismissal in reverse That's what email trails and dictaphones in the shirt pocket were invented.

I've got enough ammo to be completely untouchable at this point

We're planning another trip somewhere remote now to get the feeling back

I've occasionally thought it would be worth upping sticks and decamping to somewhere idyllic. Then I realise the people there's a lot of unconstrained viciousness in the people there. I wish libertarians that want "much less government" would actually go to places where there is much less government.

Unfortunately one traditional escape route has become unavailable: lighthouses are unmanned. And probably available on AirBNB

Sartre was wise: hell is other people.

Well there is and there isn't. It depends on where you are culturally. Less government isn't a good idea. It's there to perform valuable functions in society. What are problems are efficiency and corruption which is rife. My point is more that a lot of our existence is completely wasted on pointless procedural stuff to tick boxes that don't need to exist. That needs to be reduced considerably. My time is not valued, but it is priceless to me.

As for lighthouses, my family on my mother's side were somewhat notorious for manning lighthouses. There were at least 3 ancestral relatives who did the job for many years. Perhaps being anti-social is in the blood

[bd139]

Back. We didn't die. Nearly did a couple of times (rock slide, getting lost as our guide was a moron). Amazing trip in all respects and amazing people. Took 1500 photos over the week. Pulled out a couple quickly. So so so many things happened it's impossible to start describing what we did .

Short list: day in post-Soviet Bishkek, 6h drive to Kochkor, stay overnight at guest house, 3 days walking + on horseback + tent camping through the mountains finishing with a totally treacherous climb to 11,860ft Terme pass in bad conditions (pictured selfie). Had to slide half way down on our arses on the snow. Descended to Song-Kul lake and spent 2 days with Kyrgyz people in their yurts and watching them playing their native sport of rugby/polo with a dead goat ball on horseback (pictured), 8h drive back via Naryn to Bishkek (pictured landscape), Hotel for the night and back on the plane back.

So so happy

How was the fermented horse milk?

Glad, that both of you are back AND happy!
I hope you can still find your way around London.

Thanks. The kumis was, err, interesting. An acquired taste. Needed to be washed down with some disinfectant (vodka).

Maps are better here so yes