From: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org (alloy-digest) To: alloy-digest@smoe.org Subject: alloy-digest V3 #252 Reply-To: alloy@smoe.org Sender: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "alloy-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. alloy-digest Tuesday, September 22 1998 Volume 03 : Number 252 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Alloy: IT Admin etc etc [Lem Bingley ] Re: Alloy: Dolby songbook [Tim_Dunn.JBA_HEATHROW.SPL_EXTERNAL@jba.co.uk] Alloy: Re: Curiosity/Mail lists ["Jennie Bolton" ] Re: Alloy: IT Admin etc etc [IT Admin - Govt Office North West ] Re: Alloy: Re: obscure Brit art-rock bands [IT Admin - Govt Office North ] Alloy: Re: Birdcalls.. ["Jennie Bolton" ] Alloy: Ostriches/Emus etc. [John Schofield ] Re: Alloy: Re: Curiosity/Mail lists [Keith Dawe Subject: Alloy: IT Admin etc etc Slarv wibbled: > we migrate 350 staff to Windows 95, > introduce out own intranet and convert all our existing databases to Access > 97, and all before Christmas. So can I come and interview you for a case study in IT Week when it all goes horribly wrong? Oh go on. Please.... You know you want me to. Lem ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 12:37:10 +0100 From: Tim_Dunn.JBA_HEATHROW.SPL_EXTERNAL@jba.co.uk Subject: Re: Alloy: Dolby songbook Custom-made corset?? Sounds like a candidate for the Names To Faces Page again! the_copse ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 16:30:04 -0700 From: "Jennie Bolton" Subject: Alloy: Re: Curiosity/Mail lists Slarv wrote: >I'm a long time fan of King Crimson. Was the list any good? Well, this is all strictly my opinion, but I let my subscription "lapse" because really, a lot of the people were , well, snotty! Many "professional musicians" (so they said) who really scared me, they way they talked about Fripp as if he were God or something (note that the list was overwhelmingly male - and the testosterone level seemed a bit high to me at times, with members trying to one-up each other). They struck me as pseudo-intellectuals, who liked to drop words like "gamelan" into the threads to show how much they "knew" about music. Now, I like KC a lot, but Robert Fripp is certainly not God, and though he is reputed to have a very large ego, he was very nice to me the one time I met him, even if he does rather come off as someone who might dig being worshipped. Though there were some threads about folks like Tony Levin and Bill Bruford and other folks who have been KC members over the years on the list , I don't have particularly pleasant memories of that list. Bear in mind I was subscribed during 95-96, so things may have changed since then, but again, you know how list "cultures" get established, and the KC list was certainly not the friendly place that Alloy is! If you like KC, might you also be a fan of Hatfield and the North/National Health? (I have this thing about obscure Brit art-rock bands from the late 60's - mid 70's). :-) Oh yeah, and Max Webster (and if any of you have heard of THEM, I'll REALLY be surprised!). Jen (:^ ____________________________________________________ Jennie Bolton, Research Chemist Northwest Fisheries Science Center · Vice-Chair, Pionus Breeders Association ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 16:41:11 -0700 From: "Jennie Bolton" Subject: Alloy: Re: Birdcalls.. E(lipse wrote: >At the Wild Bird Rehab Center where I volunteer, we had this blue jay >that could mimic the telephone *very* well. He could do other things >too, but that was his favorite! Set people running for the phone for >weeks... :) This was in late spring, when we're getting call after call >after call about baby birds. Birds are so smart! I would have liked to have seen that, it sounds hilarious! Kianga knows how to do the answering machine beep, but she also starts holding one-sided conversations when I'm on the phone. Usually she says "what's up" (which is how Jon, my sig other, answers the phone), and then continues with "yo" followed by something I can't make out (which she probably picked up from him too), and then with whatever babble she thinks up. She imitates Jon a lot. Especially amusing (?) is the fantastic, rolling belch she performs whenever she and I walk past him, or when he walks near her. Appparently he thought it would be cute to do that in front of her, not thinking that there would be damning evidence later on. And I won't even mention what she says during basketball season! Cheers, Jen(:^ ____________________________________________________ Jennie Bolton, Research Chemist Northwest Fisheries Science Center · Vice-Chair, Pionus Breeders Association ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 00:45:14 +0100 (BST) From: IT Admin - Govt Office North West Subject: Re: Alloy: IT Admin etc etc >Slarv wibbled: >> we migrate 350 staff to Windows 95, >> introduce out own intranet and convert all our existing databases to >Access >> 97, and all before Christmas. > >At 15:39 21/09/98 +0100, Lem wrote: >So can I come and interview you for a case study in IT Week when it all >goes horribly wrong? Oh go on. Please.... You know you want me to. > >Lem > > > > If t'were up to me you'd be welcome, but Government Departments are funny about washing their dirty software in public, and tend to quote the Official Secrets Act and the like. Anyway, my career is already in tatters, and this little expoit might get me forcibly transferred to the Outer Hebrides Area Office, so I think we'd better give it a miss, thanks all the same. Slarv-wibble-arglhee ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 00:45:16 +0100 (BST) From: IT Admin - Govt Office North West Subject: Alloy: My new bike My friends, As if I'd not had enough problems with the decorating, I finally got around to buying a new bike over the week end. All did not go smoothly. I think I must be fated. It all started like this........ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ (flashback wavey lines, like at the movies) My old tourer was/is really on its last legs, and I'd been looking for a replacement, but few shops seem to have anything other than ATBs or hybrids, unless you want a 'proper' racing bike, which I don't really. They're fine in the summer, and out in the countryside (and my racing days are long over with), but for getting to work and a bit of week-end pottering I want something less flashy, more robust and without tubs and quick release everything that can easily be nicked by the light fingered inhabitants of my fair city. I'd been to every shop in a ten mile radius and in the end got one from the Bicycle Doctor in Fallowfield on Saturday. It's a workers' co-op and they're very good there, taking their time assessing your needs. When I told this nice chap what I was after, he suggested a couple of hybrids, one of which I took for a test run, and which seemed OK. It's a Trek 730T in red, with 24 nice Shimano gears (24!!!! What the hell am I supposed to do with all them gears), and a spring loaded seat pilar. They put straight bars on it so I could chop them down to make them narrow enough to get in and out of the traffic more easily, popped some good quality mudguards and toe clips on it, and I was away within half an hour of flashing the plastic. I went for a spin on Sunday ..... and got about a mile when the back tire blew out. I walked home rather than fixing it there and then, as I wanted time to investigate properly. There was no damage to the tire, so I assumed that the inner tube had been caught under the beading and had got nicked, and this seemed to be the case when I examined the tube. Luckily, I'd bought a spare when I bought the bike, as I always like to carry one in case I can't fix a puncture on the road for some reason. So, I swapped them over and intended to go into the shop after work today and ask for a replacement, as it appeared to have been a set-up fault. The other thing I noticed was that I seemed to be placing too much weight on my arms and hands, and reckoned it needed a bit of adjustment of the stem and/or saddle to move my centre of gravity back a bit. I went to work on it today, and began to feel quite uncomfortable on it after a couple of miles. I left early, and went to the shop on the way home, and they adjusted the stem angle and height, which improved things a bit, but I still felt that my weight was too far forward. I was about a mile and a half from home when ..... the back tire blew again. I walked home with it and found that it had blown near the valve, but in the middle of the rim, not near the beading. Looks like the rim tape was not seated properly so the tube got pushed into one of the spoke holes and then blew out. I was not at all pleased by now, so rang the shop, gave them the full S.P. and said I thought this bike was not for me, explaining the riding position problems I was still having. They were very understanding, and I believe they genuinely want to help me get the thing set up correctly rather than changing it for something different, but they suggested I brought both my old and new bikes in so they could compare the riding position. This would be difficult to do as it's about 5 miles away and I can't get both bike in the car, so I've measured everything on my old bike, and compared it with the Trek. The distance between the seat pilar and the handlebars is about 6 inches less than on the old tourer, so I reckon I need a longer stem and or laid back seat pilar (I've decided I don't like the sprung one anyway). A good gell saddle should be more than adequate for my needs without any additional suspension. Anyway, I'll try to get out of work early again tomorrow and see what they can do for me. Keep your fingers crossed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (More wavey lines and back to reality) Sorry for this rather long ramble, but I know there are some fellow cyclists here, so I can let off steam and know you'll sympathise. Slarv ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 09:58:27 +-1000 From: John Schofield Subject: Alloy: Re: Birdcalls.. Speaking of birds - my Ostriches have just laid their first egg for the season. One Ostrich egg is roughly equivelent to 20 standard eggs. Looks like it'll be omelettes for the next couple of weeks. John (john@police.tas.gov.au) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 01:08:05 +0100 (BST) From: IT Admin - Govt Office North West Subject: Re: Alloy: Re: obscure Brit art-rock bands At 16:30 21/09/98 -0700, Jennie wrote: > >If you like KC, might you also be a fan of Hatfield and the North/National >Health? (I have this thing about obscure Brit art-rock bands from the late >60's - mid 70's). :-) Oh yeah, and Max Webster (and if any of you have >heard of THEM, I'll REALLY be surprised!). > I remember seeing ads in the music press for Hatfield a.t.N's first album (was this Peter Hamill's band after he left Van Der Graaf Generator?), but never actually heard any of their work, and National Health passed me by completely I'm afraid. This WAS my era though, when I started collecting records, and was into the likes of Barclay James Harvest, Caravan, Camel, Greenslade, Van Der Graaf Generator, etc. as well as a lot of the other 'progressive' and hippie rock bands like Genesis, Fleetwood Mac, Santana, Jethro Tull, Procul Harum, Traffic, Yes, Family, Mountain, The Band, The Incredible String Band, and many, many more. Ah, happy days...... well, musically, anyway. Slarv ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 17:22:36 -0700 From: "Jennie Bolton" Subject: Alloy: Re: Birdcalls.. Jon wrote: >Speaking of birds - my Ostriches have just laid their first egg for the season. One Ostrich egg is roughly equivelent to 20 standard eggs. Looks like it'll be omelettes for the next couple of weeks. Hah! You live in Australia (okay, Tasmania), and you don't have emus, but ostriches!!!! That's too darn funny! Jen (:^ ____________________________________________________ Jennie Bolton, Research Chemist Northwest Fisheries Science Center · Vice-Chair, Pionus Breeders Association ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 10:58:54 +-1000 From: John Schofield Subject: Alloy: Ostriches/Emus etc. Jen wrote: >Hah! You live in Australia (okay, Tasmania), and you don't have emus, but >ostriches!!!! That's too darn funny! I did have half a dozen emus but to be perfectly honest (and from a farming point of view) the emu is an inferior product. We breed ostriches for meat (mainly) and where emu is fairly tough and tasteless ostrich meat is like a really good cut of beef. They also have a better feed-to-meat conversion ratio. I prefer ostrich temperament over emus as well - with the exception of male ostriches in breeding season. Don't get me wrong though, the breeders are like pets - and we never eat or kill anything that has a name. In fact we have 8 sheep as well and at least 6 are safe - Lucy, Susie, Rambo, Sylvester, Angel (my daughter named her this) and Barney. The other two, well Christmas isn't far away and since we don't have any turkeys... TTFN John (john@police.tas.gov.au) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 23:05:07 -0400 (EDT) From: Keith Dawe Subject: Re: Alloy: Re: Curiosity/Mail lists On Mon, 21 Sep 1998, Jennie Bolton wrote: > 60's - mid 70's). :-) Oh yeah, and Max Webster (and if any of you have > heard of THEM, I'll REALLY be surprised!). With Kim Mitchell? Of course! But it helps that I'm Canadian, though. :-) - --omega ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 23:12:48 EDT From: RThurF@aol.com Subject: Re: Alloy: My new bike In a message dated 9/21/98 7:47:40 PM Eastern Daylight Time, help.gonw.st@gtnet.gov.uk writes: << Sorry for this rather long ramble, but I know there are some fellow cyclists here, so I can let off steam and know you'll sympathise. >> Maybe the riding position problem is what caused me to have to stop riding recently. It seems I've suffered 'soft tissue damage'... but nothing a few months of not wearing pants (and wearing skirts & dresses instead of course) won't fix :( Female cyclists beware! Robin T ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 23:33:33 EDT From: CJMark@aol.com Subject: Re: Alloy: My new bike Hey Slarv.. That was quite an interesting story of the bike.. I am planning to buy a good bike in the hopefully not too distant future.. and when the time comes I may ask for your expert knowledge and advice.. It may not be for awhile.. but I am interested in hearing the results of your trip back to the shop. Ciao for now.. Mark ------------------------------ End of alloy-digest V3 #252 ***************************