OT: For those born before 1986!

Well you can't get the wood can you?

The message from "Norman" contains these words:

Anyone would think it grew on trees!

[The old ones are the best.]

Once went and filmed a traditional sweet maker in Glasgow in the 70s who supplied such shops. Everything was done by hand with the materials being rolled out on large slabs of marble or slate (can't remember which).

And everyone was allowed to help themselves but by lunchtime on hye day, most of us had had our fill :-)

Jim.

Marble, I suspect- also used in patisseries, as it's guaranteed to keep cool. I have a slab in the kitchen for rolling pastry on- it's good, but a bit hard on the back to lift.... In Folkestone, there used to be a seaside rock shop on the way from the centre to Folkestone Harbour station (desparate attempt to include something of railway nature..), where you could watch them rolling the rock in the same manner as the Scottish shop you mentioned. I could never work out how they put the writing in... Brian

what about

saving up jelly jar labels, and being chuf with your Robertsons Golliw** (another bad word today) not to mention if one did wear it on ones duffle, lapidation or suspension, not to mention the risk of a law suit.....

Dr Who in black and white?

going to the sweetshop and getting a penny toffee

real trainspotting (not living style like the film)

and and and;

the list in endless, but sad that these are real nice memories, what will the young of today write in 30 years time......

mind boggling....... But I am not old

"Jane Sullivan" ha scritto nel messaggio news: snipped-for-privacy@yddraiggoch.demon.co.uk...

Nah... Even they are made of MDF these days.

Adrian

The message from "Adrian B" contains these words:

Oh bu**er! Rumbled!!

Don't know about your side of the pond, but over here in Yank-land, we could also buy all the chemicals needed for explosives, and the library had books on how to make them. And we did! There was one purple crystaline compound that was inert when wet, but went off at the slightest friction when dry. Not very powerful, but great for smearing around the inside of a garbage can lid or along the edge of a screen door :-).

And we made firearms. We built one "deck cannon" that fired beer cans full of dirt about half a mile. Of course, it took a whole weeks allowance for the black powder for one shot, so we didn't fire it very often :-).

And at least until we grew up and lost track of each other, we all still had a full complement of fingers, toes, and the like. Although I did manage to singe off my eyebrows once :-).

............and for the slightly older! WE ARE SURVIVORS!

(For those born before 1940....)

We were born before television, before penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, plastic, contact lenses, videos, frisbees and the "pill".

We were born before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams and ball point pens; before dishwashers, tumble dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes... and before man walked on the moon.

We got married first and then lived together (how quaint can you be?).

We thought "fast food" was what you ate in Lent, a "Big Mac" was an oversized raincoat and "crumpet" we had for tea.

We existed before househusbands, computer dating, dual careers; and when a "meaningful relationship" meant getting along with cousins and "sheltered accommodation" was where you waited for a bus.

We were before day care centres, group homes and disposable nappies.

We never heard of FM radio, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yoghurt and young men wearing earrings.

For us "time sharing" meant togetherness, a "chip" was a piece of wood or fried potato, "hardware" meant nuts and bolts and "software" wasn`t a word.

Before 1940 "Made in Japan" meant junk, the term "making out" referred to how you did in your exams, "stud" was something that fastened a collar to a shirt and "going all the way" meant staying on a double decker to the bus depot.

Pizzas, McDonalds and instant coffee were unheard of.

In our day, cigarette smoking was "fashionable", "grass" was mown, "coke" was kept in the coal house, a "joint" was a piece of meat you had on Sundays and "pot" was something you cooked in.

"Rock music" was a grandmother`s lullaby, "Eldorado" was an ice cream, a "gay" person was the life and soul of the party and nothing more, while "aids" just meant beauty treatment or help for someone in trouble.

We who were born before 1940 must be a hardy bunch when you think of the way in which the world has changed and the adjustments we have had to make. No wonder we are so confused and there is a generation gap today...

... and not knowing much about dates (or being bothered to look them up)?

1925-ish

1928

Old idea, commercially available in the 1930s

C19th.

1887

1935

Variations on the theme of credit existed.

1932

1888 or 1938.

Most people didn't get it till the 1950's.

It wasn't used as as a medical treatment before 1940. The first batches were reserved for troops suffering from VD they contracted from brothels in Egypt. There were eight times as many men suffering from VD as there were from battle wounds.

(kim)

IIRC, 1953 for Central Scotland - in time for the Coronation.

Jim.

That's if you could afford a receiver, which relatively few working class people could in 1953. It wasn't until ITV began in 1955 that TV sets started to become a commonplace domestic appliance.

(kim)

Was that in time for the Coronation Street?

I'll get me coat...

MBQ

Hardly anyone I know of my age has a car (admitedly that is because I live in London), and no-one I know has jet aeroplane. It doesn't mean we were born before they came along!

Hi Jane, I have just read your query regarding 12v DC etc. You mention DC from a Transformer -- now transformers supply only AC ( unless it is a transformer / Rectifier), in this case it will supply regulated or unregulated DC voltages. This is determined by the cost usually. in either case there is often a strong "ripple" of AC superimposed on the DC. This is ignored by a conventional small motor as the effect is reversed every 1/50th second (mains frequency). Modern digital voltmeters "see" these ripples and add them to the DC present. I don't trust them! Chips cannot amplify the voltage, the best that they can output is the max input & even that is unlikely (efficiencies etc). The output of a DCC system is a series of pulses in a time shared sequence. Each chip is set to decode only one of the sequences available from the controller. As far as the voltmeter is concerned this will be a form of AC and read it as such.The motor will however integrate the pulses and use them as DC. If the max pulse was say 12 volts and it was present for 1/8th of the time (8 locos could be controlled) then the mean DC value would be

12/8 = 1.5 volts. ergo to give a higher running voltage it requires a higher input voltage, rather like you have observed. in other words, your voltmeter is seeing the peak value and not the average value which the motor sees. I hope that this is not too verbose. Don't be afraid to ask if you have any questions. Yours Aye Peter Abraham Montarlot France PS Your email does not seem to operate.

In message , Peter Abraham writes

Correct. Remove the dots between the first three words of the reply-to address, or reply to the from address, and that will work. This is specifically designed to avoid getting spam, and is approved by my ISP.