[Milsurplus] ARB (not!)

[Clare Owens]

Well, I'm retired, 6 grandchildren, 45th wedding anniversary this Saturday,
really, *really* miss having a basement workroom like we had in Buffalo for
30 years.  I like to build things but don't have much patience so that can
be messy at times.  I never managed to graduate from the University of
Buffalo but went to work for the place in 1962 as their computing center
"computer technician" and worked in IT for various companies for 48 years.
Some of it was actually fun.  But mostly the fun things involved doing
things that most IT folks wouldn't want to do.  Like prowling around in
factories and getting dirty rewiring sensors in chassis dynamometers during
Christmas vacation.  Writing the 1,234,567th payroll gross program in the
world is not fun.  Not for me anyway.

I love listening to my big stereo but only do it rarely since in this house
the speaker locations are miserable.  Another thing I miss about the old
basement is the finished, carpeted rec room with a 24' wall on which I could
position the Vandersteen speakers properly.  Oh well, that's what my iPods
are supposed to replace, right?  iTunes on this iMac is my buddy and I've
made an MP3 file of a lot of my all time favorites to play in the car and on
the iPod.

I've always been interested in ionizing radiation - I'm a child of the 40's
and 50's - duck and cover, join the local CD group, etc.  My Dad bought me a
Gilbert geiger counter set which whetted my interests but there just wasn't
anything radioactive around the house or neighborhood except the little
bottle of Uranium ore that came with the set.  So, the vibrator PS from the
GC became the instrument of shock power when I joined the HS radio club in
1956 and some of the guys liked to leave caps laying around for the unwary.
I had the baddest PS of all...  Getting back to Geiger counters now, have
two and am building a scintillation probe for them.  While I'm waiting for
parts from Mouser for the scintillator probe today's project is a 1 Gigohm
input resistance HV DC voltmeter.  But I didn't allow enough room for the
power switch I'd selected so once I get over my disappointment and finish
this tome it'll be off to the parts boxes in the garage to get a smaller
one.

So, More than you ever wanted to know about a list member, eh?  (I lived for
56 years within 5 miles of the Canadian border and listened to their AM and
FM stations almost all the time.)

73, Clare  N2RJB




On Sun, Aug 28, 2011 at 10:47 PM, David Stinson <arc5 at ix.netcom.com> wrote:

> Awwww  come'on guys......
> Just a little side excursion to settle the senses...
> Won't hurt and we can go right back to radio-ing.
> Besides... It would be really nice to know something
> other than radio tastes about all these folks
> I've talked with and respected for almost two *decades!*
>
>