I ran across this strip from 2012 this morning. I chose it, because I had only minutes before finished swapping the batteries in my keyboard, my mouse, the television remote and the Roku remote. I’m good to go. I haven’t changed out the smoke detectors yet, because they take those infuriating and expensive rectangular 9v batteries that I seem never to have on hand. But first things first, I say.
Never Say Died
By Jimmy Johnson
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44 responses to “Never Say Died”
I still call those 9V batteries “transistor radio batteries”. My kids have no idea what I am talking about.
Yes, we were at the cutting edge of the technology revolution.
Do you remember lantern batteries? Both the 6 volt and 12 volt types?
Diodes and transistors were the cutting edge until the chip came along. What will replace the chip?
I’m old enough (and so are you, Jimmy!) to remember when the portable radio had two batteries: a B-I-G 1.5V one for the valve (tube) filaments and a H-U-G-E 90V one for the rest of the set. And they cost several week’s pocket money. Still got my grandfather’s old ‘wireless’ in the attic. It’s the size of a small attache case, and the weight of a small car with the batteries … which are no longer made.
Transistors, eh? Might give ’em a try!
I prefer mice and keyboards with wires. No worrying about batteries running out. No alternative for TV remotes though.
I think I need to change the battery in my garage door remote too. This morning as I was leaving, I had to pull my car back closer to the garage to get the door to go down.
I prefer mice and keyboard with wires, too. Like, what’s there to not like about them???
JJ
Change Smoke Alarm Batteries when you change the clocks.
Or get the 10 year variety – then change the whole thing(SA do wear out.)
Some of the newer SA are made so the whole thing gets changed at the end of its
life cycle.
Old Bear, I experienced that with the smoke alarm in my apartment. It started going off at random, mostly in the middle of the night. All I could do to shut it off when that happened was to take it down. Maintenance finally put up a new alarm, which then began doing the same thing. Decided the alarm needed a new battery and changed it, and it has behaved properly since.
TruckerRon, another electronic thing which does not like cold weather is the fluorescent bulb. When we switched out the incandescent bulbs in our porch lights I noticed that in very cold weather they were very dim or would not light at all. Now that I use an LED bulb I don’t notice that happening.
One thing to remember with batteries in cars and remotes used outside is that colder weather really stresses them. In the amateur astronomy arena many of us have learned to use lithium batteries (my ‘scope uses a LiFePO4 battery for its computer) when the temps start going down. We keep our flashlights (lithium batteries there, too) in our pockets until we need them and use various heating straps (even hand warmers!) to keep our lenses and mirrors clean and dry.
One memorable night my first winter I pulled my little unpowered telescope inside and quickly realized that dew was forming on its outer surfaces.
Hi Jimmy, any chance you could update the kickstarter page soon? You’re kind of pushing away some of your fans by staying silent.
On another topic, Jimmy, your artwork in today’s A&J was particularly expressive. I see more than just a smile on Janis’ face, I see a smug shrug.
Day 2 of the Jury Hostage situation that I am in went nearly as bad as yesterday. I only wish that I could swap out the batteries on these lawyers or at least slap them upside of the head to get them to work. I had hoped to leave early tomorrow in order to go to a party, but that seems less likely. I thought we were starting to make progress until one of the lawyer’s insulin pump went off at 4:00 pm and she asked that we adjourn for the day. A quick poll of the other jurors had all hoped we will stay until 5;30-6:00 so that we might get the case tomorrow afternoon. No such luck.
Thinking of transistors, I saw an article today about using carbon nanotubules as a substitute for silicon processors. The article reported that when developed to a production stage the processors would be several times faster than the limits of silicon and use about 1/3 the power. The memorable quote from the article is that the prototype system has the performance capabilities of 1980’s silicon processors… That made me feel really old since I still (barely) remember radios and TVs that used tubes.
Ray & Ginger: Oddly, there apparently was never a “wired” version of the remote start and door locks automobile key fob. For some reason. Which reminds me…I’m having to get closer now than previously to remote start Bullet.
If your smoke alarms are more than 10 years old, they need to be replaced. Get the kind where the battery is accessible from the bottom. And take the old ones to a recycle center…don’t put them in the landfill. There is a tiny amount of americium in there which you don’t want in the wild
My father had a simple solution to forgo the need to change remote control batteries- he had four kids. {“Teri, put on Chanel 6.”)
Mark i TT
Florescent bulbs do not like below 30* which is a problem in MN.
There are / were some that worked in cold temps but they cost 4x as much as regulars.
So yes LEDs are great – except as (in some situations) Christmas lights.
.
Some people started having gutter icing when they no longer had incandescent
bulbs warming the gutter.
I started to post “What! No posts all day Saturday?”
Then I figured it out.
From (and endorsed by) Roberta, our sales associate, via Book of Face: “Dating after 50 is like trying to find the least damaged item in a thrift store that doesn’t smell bad.”
Re 8-31-19 real-time cartoon: Remember, Janis, “Correlation does not imply causation”. Although in the case of buying beer and car insurance, I wouldn’t necessarily bet against it.
Me above. Have I been erased, Soviet-style? 🙂
From the Department of Late to the Party…Re 8-30-19 real-time cartoon: Arlo should have known better than to get out under the Deadly Hot Spiral Sun. (Janis obviously had better sense. And I have a pretty good idea who will help Arlo eat his spare ribs.)
I found this amusing and close to factual:
https://www.gocomics.com/thebuckets/2019/08/31
My own intake gets close to 20 pills/day, though only 8 or 9 are prescriptions.
I’m down to 18, all prescription. At my peak, I was taking 27, including 4 OTC supplements. Then, I got a new doctor at the VA who had me stop them as he didn’t think they did any good.
The non-prescription stuff I take are taken because my physician told me to do so. Thus, in a sense, they are “prescribed”, but, as they are not controlled, they are “over the counter”, too. I don’t take anything aside from aspirin/ibuprofen/etc. on my own.
I take long-term maintenance doses of four prescription drugs. Then there are the three other prescription drugs I take to counteract the side-effects of the first four. #truestory
Ghost did not mention my 39 daily PRESCRIBED/REQUIRED pills. I hate them and am notorious with my physicians for accidentally forgetting to refill/losing bottle/any excuse. Ghost sets alarms or calls to remind me or both. He also fills my scripts and picks up stuff I run out of.
I hate OTC just as much as I do prescription drugs and cannot understand the billions spent per year at Whole Foods, Walmart, Walgreens and other places where self prescribed supplements are sold.
My mom had such a supplement sucker downer living in her house until she died. I once totalled the “health medications ” he was buying OTC and he had over $3000 covering all the kitchen cabinets! No food in fridge or pantry.
I do take a daily multi-vitamin, something I never did in my life until my sister got me into Weight Watchers seven years ago. Haven’t been on their plan for a few years now, but the vitamin habit has persisted.
That reminds me…the drivers license I got when I got out of the Air Force had what was my correct weight at that time on it and had never been updated in all the years since, even when I was on the wrong side of 300 pounds. I recently noticed, with no small amount of pride, that that weight is now again correct.
Jimmy:
Did you enjoy the annual Slaughter Saturday?
I’m taking several pills and kept adding vitamins to the point that I realized that I had very expensive urine. I have been suffering from a lot of muscle soreness so the Doctor took me off my cholesterol medicine for a month. I thought it was making a difference but this weekend I’ve been pretty sore. However due to not drinking a lot of water due to jury duty, I suspect that might have been a bit dehydrated. So I plan to drink all day (water) and then walk 18-20 miles tomorrow. It is raining here today but the weather has definitely cooled off
Cautiously optimistic about Dorian’s impact on us, but horrified at what’s happening in the Bahamas. One report projected a 20-foot storm surge for Abaco, which has an elevation of 13 feet. Prayers, positive energy, whatever you’ve got, they need it!
Amen.
This brings back a lot of memories of Labor Day, 2005, most of them not pleasant. House destroyed a week before, more than half of my belongings lost, utilities still out, and, to top it off, swarms of “love bugs” that Katrina blew inland as a bonus. Not that I was ungrateful; it was mostly the uncertainty of the moment, not knowing what the following months would bring. Those were material things that could be replaced (and were); I was alive; and most everyone I knew was, too. (Two of of my neighbors died in the storm, one a block north of my house and the other a half block south.) And like The Dude, I have abided.
A couple of days ago, Jackie and I were discussing what kind of Labor Day to wish people. I’d have to go with “Have a Peaceful Labor Day”.
Yes, Ruth Ann… LOTS of prayers!