On Sat, 2008-02-09 at 22:21 -0500, Gene Heskett wrote: > On Saturday 09 February 2008, Lamar Owen wrote: > >On Saturday 09 February 2008, Frank Cox wrote: > >> On Sat, 09 Feb 2008 19:34:21 -0500 > >> > >> Lamar Owen <lowen@xxxxxxxx> wrote: > >> > It appears that scdbackup is the tool of choice for this sort of > >> > thing. If he had wanted to know about or have a discussion about backup > >> > best practices, he would have asked that question instead. > >> > >> Sometimes bringing up things like that will elicit an "I never thought of > >> that" or "That's a better way than what I was thinking of" response. > > > >If the response is phrased in a manner other than 'why would you want to do > > a stupid thing like that' tone, perhaps I would agree. > > > >> If I asked what the best way was to pound nails with my screwdriver and > >> the answers I got tended toward "you should use a hammer for that", I > >> would start taking a serious look at hammers. Perhaps I could even find > >> one for a cheaper price than I would have to pay to replace my > >> screwdriver.... > > > >Using the right tool for the job is a great ideal when one has access to all > >the tools one needs. One doesn't always have that luxury, and one sometimes > >must press a tool into uses for which it was not designed. > > > >My favorite example is from the automotive mechanic's world. If you are > >rebuilding an alternator, and the blind bearing in the back housing is in > >dire need of replacement, but you don't have a blind bearing puller and you > >have no way of getting to the auto parts to get one because, well, your car > >won't start due to the dead battery due to the bad alternator, what are you > >going to do? > > > >I would use a dollop of the thickest axle grease I could find in my shop, > > fill the blind bearing with the grease, take a rubber mallet and the > > alternator's armature, insert the armature shaft into the bearing, and tap > > the bearing out with hydraulic pressure. > > > >Yes, I actually did that, have the shirt with the indelible grease stain (it > >was moly-based) to prove it. The look on my helper's face was priceless. > >And, yes, MacGyver and MythBusters are two of my favorite TV shows. > >-- > >Lamar Owen > >www.pari.edu > > Lamar, sometime before I fall over, you and I have got to share war stories > like that and a 6 pack. Like MasterCard, some of those are priceless. :-) > > -- > Cheers, Gene > "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: > soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." > -Ed Howdershelt (Author) > "Consider a spherical bear, in simple harmonic motion..." > -- Professor in the UCB physics department > Maybe a thread "Incredible repairs"...? Regards, Les H OldETC Navy Chief with lots of incredible repair stories.
