Pet hates ?

[Arfa Daily]

"Chuck" <ch@deja.net> wrote in message
news:f6ggj651ckeefgqjubs79cm9uvnq172l00@4ax.com...

On Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:00:17 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
arfa.daily@ntlworld.com> wrote:



"N_Cook" <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ih744h$odu$1@news.eternal-september.org...
Lab1 <.@...> wrote in message
news:ih6ugq$mee$1@news.eternal-september.org...
On 1/19/2011 9:54 AM, N_Cook wrote:
Great dollops of that white goo between metal to metal thermally
conductive
surfaces. Heatsink to metal casing in amplifiers etc. I'm not sure
why
it is
even necessary with perhaps 20 square inches of contact and bolts
between. I
always wipe away with paper etc on first parting but always some gets
on
my
clothing - I've not worn white lab coats for many a year.

Heat sink compound is usually very necessary.

One of my pet hates is torx screws with a pin in the center.



The harware that I always have problems with in the UK , never organised
a
stock of, is UNF and UNC nuts and bolts for USA kit. And of course,vice
versa, repairers in USA never have metric (and lesser extent BA) for UK
and
Japanese kit



I once got in a lot of trouble with my boss when I was young and worked
for
a U.S. based company. At that time, I didn't understand that there was a
big
difference between British 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, and the much more
direct U.S. type. I was talking on the phone to one of the designers of a
piece of equipment that we sold here in the UK, and asked the guy if he
could arrange to send me some screws for the cabinet, as they were a
thread
that we didn't readily get over here. He asked if I knew exactly what size
they were so I replied, quick as a flash, thinking that I was being funny,
"I guess that they are round about 3/16ths APF." "What's APF ?" the guy
asked. "American Piss Fit", said I ...

Stony silence on the phone. Half an hour later, I was summoned to the
boss's
office. Apparently, the guy had been really offended by this, thinking
that
it was a slur on what he considered to be good American engineering, and
had
called my boss to complain about me. Just goes to show how easily offence
can be caused between nations, even when they speak what's basically the
same language ...

Arfa


I think it matters in what part of the U.S. this person resided. I'm
originally from the North East and humor that would be considered mild
there is considered a great affront to some people in the South.
However, racist remarks, that I find offensive, don't seem to bother
their delicate constitutions. Chuck

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few miles
down the Interstate from LA

Arfa

 

[Arfa Daily]

"Dave Plowman (News)" <dave@davenoise.co.uk> wrote in message
news:519901728bdave@davenoise.co.uk...

In article <ihbg6q$ot5$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote:
Last time I talked to him, late 2010, he mentioned he was starting a
range of "classic car" nuts and bolts , whatever that is, cannot find
mention on his site though

In the UK, modern cars use metric threads. Ones from about after WW2 to
the '80s mainly UNF and UNC. Pre WW2 BSW and BSF. BA was common for
electrical stuff.

A classic car is really just any which isn't recent and not defined under
the strict headings of vintage etc. It isn't restricted to any make - just
over 20 years old. Although that age isn't agreed by everyone.

--
*Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt.

Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

I seem to recall from my early days of car tinkering in the 70's and 80's ,
that most of my spanners and my socket sets, were Whitworth and AF ?? That
would have been for Morris Minors, Vauxhalls of all sorts including HA, HB
and HC Vivas, a VX4/90 or two, and assorted Fords including Escorts and
Cortinas and Sierras.

Arfa

 

[Arfa Daily]

"Mark Zacharias" <mark_zacharias@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:4d381c8b$0$19215$c3e8da3$aae71a0a@news.astraweb.com...

Packing peanuts.

Probe slips.

People begging me to work on stuff which I used to turn away, but now have
to take in because business is slow.

Mark Z.

Yep. Amen to that one ...

Arfa

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Arfa Daily wrote:

"Chuck" <ch@deja.net> wrote in message
news:f6ggj651ckeefgqjubs79cm9uvnq172l00@4ax.com...
On Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:00:17 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
arfa.daily@ntlworld.com> wrote:



"N_Cook" <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ih744h$odu$1@news.eternal-september.org...
Lab1 <.@...> wrote in message
news:ih6ugq$mee$1@news.eternal-september.org...
On 1/19/2011 9:54 AM, N_Cook wrote:
Great dollops of that white goo between metal to metal thermally
conductive
surfaces. Heatsink to metal casing in amplifiers etc. I'm not sure
why
it is
even necessary with perhaps 20 square inches of contact and bolts
between. I
always wipe away with paper etc on first parting but always some gets
on
my
clothing - I've not worn white lab coats for many a year.

Heat sink compound is usually very necessary.

One of my pet hates is torx screws with a pin in the center.



The harware that I always have problems with in the UK , never organised
a
stock of, is UNF and UNC nuts and bolts for USA kit. And of course,vice
versa, repairers in USA never have metric (and lesser extent BA) for UK
and
Japanese kit



I once got in a lot of trouble with my boss when I was young and worked
for
a U.S. based company. At that time, I didn't understand that there was a
big
difference between British 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, and the much more
direct U.S. type. I was talking on the phone to one of the designers of a
piece of equipment that we sold here in the UK, and asked the guy if he
could arrange to send me some screws for the cabinet, as they were a
thread
that we didn't readily get over here. He asked if I knew exactly what size
they were so I replied, quick as a flash, thinking that I was being funny,
"I guess that they are round about 3/16ths APF." "What's APF ?" the guy
asked. "American Piss Fit", said I ...

Stony silence on the phone. Half an hour later, I was summoned to the
boss's
office. Apparently, the guy had been really offended by this, thinking
that
it was a slur on what he considered to be good American engineering, and
had
called my boss to complain about me. Just goes to show how easily offence
can be caused between nations, even when they speak what's basically the
same language ...

Arfa


I think it matters in what part of the U.S. this person resided. I'm
originally from the North East and humor that would be considered mild
there is considered a great affront to some people in the South.
However, racist remarks, that I find offensive, don't seem to bother
their delicate constitutions. Chuck

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few miles
down the Interstate from LA

AKA: The land of Fruits and Nuts! ;-)


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

 

[Arfa Daily]

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:O-SdnUSCo8VTp6fQnZ2dnUVZ_rKdnZ2d@earthlink.com...

Arfa Daily wrote:

"Chuck" <ch@deja.net> wrote in message
news:f6ggj651ckeefgqjubs79cm9uvnq172l00@4ax.com...
On Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:00:17 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
arfa.daily@ntlworld.com> wrote:



"N_Cook" <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ih744h$odu$1@news.eternal-september.org...
Lab1 <.@...> wrote in message
news:ih6ugq$mee$1@news.eternal-september.org...
On 1/19/2011 9:54 AM, N_Cook wrote:
Great dollops of that white goo between metal to metal thermally
conductive
surfaces. Heatsink to metal casing in amplifiers etc. I'm not sure
why
it is
even necessary with perhaps 20 square inches of contact and bolts
between. I
always wipe away with paper etc on first parting but always some
gets
on
my
clothing - I've not worn white lab coats for many a year.

Heat sink compound is usually very necessary.

One of my pet hates is torx screws with a pin in the center.



The harware that I always have problems with in the UK , never
organised
a
stock of, is UNF and UNC nuts and bolts for USA kit. And of
course,vice
versa, repairers in USA never have metric (and lesser extent BA) for
UK
and
Japanese kit



I once got in a lot of trouble with my boss when I was young and worked
for
a U.S. based company. At that time, I didn't understand that there was
a
big
difference between British 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, and the much more
direct U.S. type. I was talking on the phone to one of the designers of
a
piece of equipment that we sold here in the UK, and asked the guy if he
could arrange to send me some screws for the cabinet, as they were a
thread
that we didn't readily get over here. He asked if I knew exactly what
size
they were so I replied, quick as a flash, thinking that I was being
funny,
"I guess that they are round about 3/16ths APF." "What's APF ?" the
guy
asked. "American Piss Fit", said I ...

Stony silence on the phone. Half an hour later, I was summoned to the
boss's
office. Apparently, the guy had been really offended by this, thinking
that
it was a slur on what he considered to be good American engineering,
and
had
called my boss to complain about me. Just goes to show how easily
offence
can be caused between nations, even when they speak what's basically
the
same language ...

Arfa


I think it matters in what part of the U.S. this person resided. I'm
originally from the North East and humor that would be considered mild
there is considered a great affront to some people in the South.
However, racist remarks, that I find offensive, don't seem to bother
their delicate constitutions. Chuck

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few
miles
down the Interstate from LA


AKA: The land of Fruits and Nuts! ;-)

Now now, Michael - that's no way to talk about that nice Mr Lieberman ....


Arfa

 

[Michael Gross]

Lab1 wrote:

I'm from the US and I smoke cigarettes, not fags.

Michael Terrell's from the US and he smokes fags, not cigarettes.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Arfa Daily wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:O-SdnUSCo8VTp6fQnZ2dnUVZ_rKdnZ2d@earthlink.com...

Arfa Daily wrote:

"Chuck" <ch@deja.net> wrote in message
news:f6ggj651ckeefgqjubs79cm9uvnq172l00@4ax.com...
On Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:00:17 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
arfa.daily@ntlworld.com> wrote:



"N_Cook" <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ih744h$odu$1@news.eternal-september.org...
Lab1 <.@...> wrote in message
news:ih6ugq$mee$1@news.eternal-september.org...
On 1/19/2011 9:54 AM, N_Cook wrote:
Great dollops of that white goo between metal to metal thermally
conductive
surfaces. Heatsink to metal casing in amplifiers etc. I'm not sure
why
it is
even necessary with perhaps 20 square inches of contact and bolts
between. I
always wipe away with paper etc on first parting but always some
gets
on
my
clothing - I've not worn white lab coats for many a year.

Heat sink compound is usually very necessary.

One of my pet hates is torx screws with a pin in the center.



The harware that I always have problems with in the UK , never
organised
a
stock of, is UNF and UNC nuts and bolts for USA kit. And of
course,vice
versa, repairers in USA never have metric (and lesser extent BA) for
UK
and
Japanese kit



I once got in a lot of trouble with my boss when I was young and worked
for
a U.S. based company. At that time, I didn't understand that there was
a
big
difference between British 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, and the much more
direct U.S. type. I was talking on the phone to one of the designers of
a
piece of equipment that we sold here in the UK, and asked the guy if he
could arrange to send me some screws for the cabinet, as they were a
thread
that we didn't readily get over here. He asked if I knew exactly what
size
they were so I replied, quick as a flash, thinking that I was being
funny,
"I guess that they are round about 3/16ths APF." "What's APF ?" the
guy
asked. "American Piss Fit", said I ...

Stony silence on the phone. Half an hour later, I was summoned to the
boss's
office. Apparently, the guy had been really offended by this, thinking
that
it was a slur on what he considered to be good American engineering,
and
had
called my boss to complain about me. Just goes to show how easily
offence
can be caused between nations, even when they speak what's basically
the
same language ...

Arfa


I think it matters in what part of the U.S. this person resided. I'm
originally from the North East and humor that would be considered mild
there is considered a great affront to some people in the South.
However, racist remarks, that I find offensive, don't seem to bother
their delicate constitutions. Chuck

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few
miles
down the Interstate from LA


AKA: The land of Fruits and Nuts! ;-)

Now now, Michael - that's no way to talk about that nice Mr Lieberman ....

But, but, he likes to DESTROY things!!! ;-)


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a band-aid on it, because it's
Teflon coated.

 

[Peter Twydell]

In message <jjVZo.11934$MD5.4765@newsfe23.ams2>, Arfa Daily
<arfa.daily@ntlworld.com> writes

"Michael Kennedy" <mike@com> wrote in message
news:KPGdndudDvPFJKrQnZ2dnVY3goudnZ2d@giganews.com...

"Arfa Daily" <arfa.daily@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:kzMZo.214$%p6.39@newsfe03.ams2...


"William Sommerwerck" <grizzledgeezer@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:ih7bqe$ajf$1@news.eternal-september.org...
I once got in a lot of trouble with my boss when I was young and worked
for
a U.S. based company. At that time, I didn't understand that there
was a
big
difference between British 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, and the much more
direct U.S. type. I was talking on the phone to one of the
designers of a
piece of equipment that we sold here in the UK, and asked the guy if he
could arrange to send me some screws for the cabinet, as they were a
thread
that we didn't readily get over here. He asked if I knew exactly
what size
they were so I replied, quick as a flash, thinking that I was
being funny,
"I guess that they are round about 3/16ths APF." "What's APF ?"
the guy
asked. "American Piss Fit", said I ...

Stony silence on the phone. Half an hour later, I was summoned to the
boss's
office. Apparently, the guy had been really offended by this, thinking
that
it was a slur on what he considered to be good American
engineering, and
had
called my boss to complain about me. Just goes to show how easily
offence
can be caused between nations, even when they speak what's
basically the
same language ...

It's hard /not/ to interpret such a description as an intentional
insult. I
can't imagine what it actually means -- in any innocuous sense, anyway.



There ya go then ! Anyone from the UK would see it as a quick-fire
throw-away line, and would laugh at it. It's sort of intended to be
'barbed', but not in a malicious way. It's a very hard to describe
form of humour that is quite prevalent over here.

Arfa


We have that kind of humor in the US too.. But only amongst friends
or people you know fairly well. If a stranger uses sharp humor with me
(some do) and It gives the feeling of you dont know me well enough to
be poking humor at me, and we also usually take the fact there is
ususaly truth in humor.. And honestly you probaly think the US
standards are idioic and stupid to still be using when the rest of
the world is using the metric system. Thats the feeling I get here
in Japan at least. People cant understand why the US uses the old system still.

Anyhow.. Just my $0.02


Yes. Knowing the U.S. and its people much better now, as I tend to
visit twice a year and have now for many years, I would say that was
pretty much spot on. Although I've found that American people are much
more friendly in general to strangers, than people over here are, I
also find that they are much more 'reserved' in actually getting to
know them as a friend. Here in the UK, if you are just in the same
business as one another, you tend to automatically think in terms of
communicating with a 'kindred spirit'. So even on a first contact with
someone, if you appear within a few sentences to be speaking the same
language, it becomes quite acceptable to introduce a degree of
'chuminess' into the conversation such as calling the person 'mate' and
such-like. Barbed humour between you is then immediately accepted, and
is likely to get thrown back at you by the other person, and often gets
deflected onto the company that you, or the other person works for.
Having made the 'APF' comment to the guy, in my naivety, I was
expecting him to just throw back a similar comment like " so what, then
? Your British threads are better than ours, are they ? "

Like I say, easy to cause unintentional offence, if you are not
familiar with the country, and it's people and their cultural
differences, even if they appear to speak the same basic language. Many
countries in Europe speak English as a second language. If you speak it
to a German for instance, in general, he will not understand British
humour. Not likely to be offended by it. Just won't understand it. A
Frenchman, will understand it, and be offended - or at least pretend to
be ... OTOH, a Dutchman will both understand the humour, and give back
as good as he gets. They seem to have a very 'English' understanding of
the English language. I don't know why that should be, but I was once
told by a Dutch guy that I had dealings with, that it was because they
easily received UK television over there, so tended to watch a lot of
British made drama and comedy programmes. I wonder if this will change
now analogue TV is almost now all gone. I bet that they don't receive
the digital multiplexes across the water, anything like as well as they
did the high power analongue transmissions. Any Dutch people reading
this care to comment ?

Arfa

I'm not Dutch but I do spend several weeks there every year and watch
some Dutch TV almost every day.

BBC1 and BBC2 are available on cable, but without teletext, apart from
subtitles, so many viewers are exposed to British attitudes and humour.
I imagine that that will continue after the digital switchover.

There are also a lot of UK programmes and films on their own channels.
Most keep the original soundtrack and are subtitled (not always
accurately). Documentaries such as David Attenborough's tend to have
Dutch speech when the presenter is off camera.

Dad's Army was very popular there, to my surprise as I thought it was
too British. Several other programmes have been made in Dutch versions,
but not always successfully. The Dutch version of East Enders flopped,
and their versions of Only Fools and Horses and The Kumars at No. 42
were simply dire. Their QI, HIGNFY and Who Do You Think You Are? have
turned out well.

In return for our sending them excellent programmes, they then sent us
The Generation Game and Big Brother.

Apart from having a basically different sense of humour, the Germans are
not exposed to British humour to the same extent because their foreign
programmes are almost always dubbed. I can't comment on how they
correspond to the original soundtracks as I have never watched any
British comedy on German TV, apart from the Monty Python German special
years ago.

Don't know about the French, but who cares about them anyway?
--
Peter

Ying tong iddle-i po!

 

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <%Hq_o.66$T65.29@newsfe17.ams2>,
Arfa Daily <arfa.daily@ntlworld.com> wrote:

I seem to recall from my early days of car tinkering in the 70's and
80's , that most of my spanners and my socket sets, were Whitworth and
AF ?? That would have been for Morris Minors, Vauxhalls of all sorts
including HA, HB and HC Vivas, a VX4/90 or two, and assorted Fords
including Escorts and Cortinas and Sierras.

AF is the spanner size - across flats - and those fit UNF and UNC. Which
are basically American Fine and Course. Slightly confusing as a 1/2 AF
spanner fits a 5/16ths thread. All the above cars would have used UNF and
UNC.

Some post WW2 cars were basically pre WW2 designs - or used major
components from them, and may still have had BSF or BSW threads in use.
Nuffield products sometimes used a peculiar metric thread with BSW heads
just to confuse things.

--
*Succeed, in spite of management *

Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

 

[Arfa Daily]

"Dave Plowman (News)" <dave@davenoise.co.uk> wrote in message
news:5199845663dave@davenoise.co.uk...

In article <%Hq_o.66$T65.29@newsfe17.ams2>,
Arfa Daily <arfa.daily@ntlworld.com> wrote:
I seem to recall from my early days of car tinkering in the 70's and
80's , that most of my spanners and my socket sets, were Whitworth and
AF ?? That would have been for Morris Minors, Vauxhalls of all sorts
including HA, HB and HC Vivas, a VX4/90 or two, and assorted Fords
including Escorts and Cortinas and Sierras.

AF is the spanner size - across flats - and those fit UNF and UNC. Which
are basically American Fine and Course. Slightly confusing as a 1/2 AF
spanner fits a 5/16ths thread. All the above cars would have used UNF and
UNC.

Some post WW2 cars were basically pre WW2 designs - or used major
components from them, and may still have had BSF or BSW threads in use.
Nuffield products sometimes used a peculiar metric thread with BSW heads
just to confuse things.

--
*Succeed, in spite of management *

Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Aha ! Now I come to think of it, I knew somewhere in the dim recesses of my
tired old brain that "AF" stood for "Across the Flats". Never really
considered how that allied to the actual thread size. Thank you for
enlightening me !

Arfa

 

[Smitty Two]

In article <5199845663dave@davenoise.co.uk>,
"Dave Plowman (News)" <dave@davenoise.co.uk> wrote:

Slightly confusing as a 1/2 AF
spanner fits a 5/16ths thread.

Unless it doesn't. We often use "small pattern" hex nuts, which have
thinner walls, hence driven with a smaller wrench. (lay Americans have
no idea what a "spanner" is, but when used here it usually quite
specifically means a very thin open-end wrench, often just made of
stamped steel, designed for tight quarters.)

 

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <prestwhich-C22464.10255622012011@mx02.eternal-september.org>,
Smitty Two <prestwhich@earthlink.net> wrote:

Slightly confusing as a 1/2 AF
spanner fits a 5/16ths thread.

Unless it doesn't. We often use "small pattern" hex nuts, which have
thinner walls, hence driven with a smaller wrench. (lay Americans have
no idea what a "spanner" is, but when used here it usually quite
specifically means a very thin open-end wrench, often just made of
stamped steel, designed for tight quarters.)

Not come across those on UK cars. Where you need a smaller head than
standard, normally allen, torx or even one with curved sides which is an
exact fit to the next size down bi-hex socket. Basically to make the head
round or as near as possible to give maximum strength.

A wrench in the UK usually means an adjustable spanner of some sort, so
only used by amateurs. ;-)

--
*Great groups from little icons grow *

Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

 

[David Nebenzahl]

On 1/21/2011 5:41 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

"William Sommerwerck" <grizzledgeezer@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:ih9d1s$o32$1@news.eternal-september.org...

It's hard /not/ to interpret such a description as an
intentional insult. I can't imagine what it actually means --
in any innocuous sense, anyway.

There ya go then!

Please don't semi-quote Ronald Reagan. It's not becoming.

I'm afraid that's just too 'in-American' for me. I actually haven't a clue
what you are talking about ...

"There you go again!" was Reagan's annoying pet reply to his critics
(read "typical for a Commie pinko socialist bleeding-heart ...").

Good to read that not everyone here reveres this simple-minded wrecker
of what he invariably called "guv'mint" ...


--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet:

To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.

 

[David Nebenzahl]

On 1/21/2011 5:43 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few miles
down the Interstate from LA

OK, Arf, a small lesson in regional US dialects, free of charge:

Nobody here in "Cal-ee-fonia", as our recently departed
Governator/Gropenator called it, calls them "interstates", even though
they are, in fact, interstate highways. Some folks back east may call
them that, though I'm not sure (I've heard them referred to as
"turnpikes" in some places). One wonders whether some LA residents even
know what an "interstate" is ...

In any case, just in case you actually visit Caleefonia sometime in the
near future, you should also be aware of an important difference in
usage between SoCal (basically El-Lay and environs) and NoCal (San
Francisco and thereabouts). Down there, they don't use *any* noun for a
road (highway, interstate, etc.), but they do use articles with the road
number, as in "the 405", "the 101", etc.

But beware: up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)


--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet:

To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.

 

[Smitty Two]

In article <4d3b9067$0$2378$822641b3@news.adtechcomputers.com>,
David Nebenzahl <nobody@but.us.chickens> wrote:

On 1/21/2011 5:43 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few miles
down the Interstate from LA

OK, Arf, a small lesson in regional US dialects, free of charge:

Nobody here in "Cal-ee-fonia", as our recently departed
Governator/Gropenator called it, calls them "interstates", even though
they are, in fact, interstate highways. Some folks back east may call
them that, though I'm not sure (I've heard them referred to as
"turnpikes" in some places). One wonders whether some LA residents even
know what an "interstate" is ...

In any case, just in case you actually visit Caleefonia sometime in the
near future, you should also be aware of an important difference in
usage between SoCal (basically El-Lay and environs) and NoCal (San
Francisco and thereabouts). Down there, they don't use *any* noun for a
road (highway, interstate, etc.), but they do use articles with the road
number, as in "the 405", "the 101", etc.

But beware: up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)

I don't think Arfa is going to "blend" whether he uses your terminology
or not, and I doubt that's his objective. But you wrote an awful lot of
words without using "freeway," which is what we call the 101 here, and
is the most common word for "interstate highway" throughout the midwest,
as well. I'm not going to say unequivocally that it's widely used all
over the U.S., because I don't know for sure, but I'd bet money on it.

In cities with many freeways, they have to use more specific terms, but
when there's only one, who needs a number?

BTW, everyone I know in LA doesn't use numbers at all, but names that
are meaningless to outsiders even if they have a map: "Ventura freeway,"
"Hollywood freeway," "Pasadena freeway," etc.

 

[David Nebenzahl]

On 1/23/2011 12:02 AM Smitty Two spake thus:

In article <4d3b9067$0$2378$822641b3@news.adtechcomputers.com>,
David Nebenzahl <nobody@but.us.chickens> wrote:

But beware: up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)

I don't think Arfa is going to "blend" whether he uses your terminology
or not, and I doubt that's his objective. But you wrote an awful lot of
words without using "freeway," which is what we call the 101 here, and
is the most common word for "interstate highway" throughout the midwest,
as well.

Yup, my bad; thought of it shortly after clicking "Send", of course.

BTW, everyone I know in LA doesn't use numbers at all, but names that
are meaningless to outsiders even if they have a map: "Ventura freeway,"
"Hollywood freeway," "Pasadena freeway," etc.

Forgot about that too. Our freeways also have names, but they're
(mostly) unused: one occasionally hears 880 called "the Nimitz" or 80
"the Eastshore", but more often not.

Then of course there's Johnny Carson's old favorite, the "Slauson
Cutoff" ...


--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet:

To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.

 

[N_Cook]

Geoffrey S. Mendelson <gsm@mendelson.com> wrote in message
news:slrnijnqfo.euo.gsm@cable.mendelson.com...

David Nebenzahl wrote:
Then of course there's Johnny Carson's old favorite, the "Slauson
Cutoff" ...

My favorite Israeli highway story is about route 1, the road from
Jerusalem
to Tel Aviv. Although Tel Aviv is a little over 100 years old, the
original
city of Jaffa (aka Yaffo) has been there since biblical times, and this is
at least in spirit, that road.

Meanwhile Israeli's are big fans of acronyms. The Hebrew abreviation of
airport is N T and the main one here is named Ben Gurion. So the name of
the airport on road signs is written in Hebrew NTBG, which is pronnounced
"not bog".

About fifteen years ago in a refurbishment of route 1, someone decided
that there should be English signs on the road for tourists who could not
read Hebrew. So a set of signs went up for the airport "NATBAG 1km".

Yes, they were later changed to "Ben Gurion Airport 1km".

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.

I wonder what visitors to the UK make of official roadsigns, imagining a
country infested with triffids , that say
Large Plant Crossing

 

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

David Nebenzahl wrote:

Then of course there's Johnny Carson's old favorite, the "Slauson
Cutoff" ...

My favorite Israeli highway story is about route 1, the road from Jerusalem
to Tel Aviv. Although Tel Aviv is a little over 100 years old, the original
city of Jaffa (aka Yaffo) has been there since biblical times, and this is
at least in spirit, that road.

Meanwhile Israeli's are big fans of acronyms. The Hebrew abreviation of
airport is N T and the main one here is named Ben Gurion. So the name of
the airport on road signs is written in Hebrew NTBG, which is pronnounced
"not bog".

About fifteen years ago in a refurbishment of route 1, someone decided
that there should be English signs on the road for tourists who could not
read Hebrew. So a set of signs went up for the airport "NATBAG 1km".

Yes, they were later changed to "Ben Gurion Airport 1km".

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.

 

[Michael Kennedy]

"David Nebenzahl" <nobody@but.us.chickens> wrote in message
news:4d3b9067$0$2378$822641b3@news.adtechcomputers.com...

On 1/21/2011 5:43 PM Arfa Daily spake thus:

He was in sunny Caffy-lornia ... Costa Mesa in Orange County, a few
miles down the Interstate from LA

OK, Arf, a small lesson in regional US dialects, free of charge:

Nobody here in "Cal-ee-fonia", as our recently departed
Governator/Gropenator called it, calls them "interstates", even though
they are, in fact, interstate highways. Some folks back east may call them
that, though I'm not sure (I've heard them referred to as "turnpikes" in
some places). One wonders whether some LA residents even know what an
"interstate" is ...

In any case, just in case you actually visit Caleefonia sometime in the
near future, you should also be aware of an important difference in usage
between SoCal (basically El-Lay and environs) and NoCal (San Francisco and
thereabouts). Down there, they don't use *any* noun for a road (highway,
interstate, etc.), but they do use articles with the road number, as in
"the 405", "the 101", etc.

But beware: up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get down
to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who refer
to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)


--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet:

To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.

California is strange..

 

[Michael Kennedy]

"David Nebenzahl" <nobody@but.us.chickens> wrote in message
news:4d3be2e9$0$4737$822641b3@news.adtechcomputers.com...

On 1/23/2011 12:02 AM Smitty Two spake thus:

In article <4d3b9067$0$2378$822641b3@news.adtechcomputers.com>,
David Nebenzahl <nobody@but.us.chickens> wrote:

But beware: up here in the Beige Area, where we like to think we're so
much superior to our SoCal cousins, we never use the article, saying
instead "take 80 to get to Berkeley" or "take 101 to 280 to 17 to get
down to Santa Cruz". (One can easily spot newcomers to San Francisco who
refer to "the 80" or "the 101". That's just SO wrong!)

I don't think Arfa is going to "blend" whether he uses your terminology
or not, and I doubt that's his objective. But you wrote an awful lot of
words without using "freeway," which is what we call the 101 here, and is
the most common word for "interstate highway" throughout the midwest, as
well.

Yup, my bad; thought of it shortly after clicking "Send", of course.

BTW, everyone I know in LA doesn't use numbers at all, but names that are
meaningless to outsiders even if they have a map: "Ventura freeway,"
"Hollywood freeway," "Pasadena freeway," etc.

Forgot about that too. Our freeways also have names, but they're (mostly)
unused: one occasionally hears 880 called "the Nimitz" or 80 "the
Eastshore", but more often not.

Then of course there's Johnny Carson's old favorite, the "Slauson Cutoff"
...


--
Comment on quaint Usenet customs, from Usenet:

To me, the *plonk...* reminds me of the old man at the public hearing
who stands to make his point, then removes his hearing aid as a sign
that he is not going to hear any rebuttals.

In Florida many people call the "Interstate Highways" by its number.. For
example Interstate 4 is just I4. Other examples are I95 I75.. But it is
perfectly normal to hear take 75 or Take 95, although take 4 seems a bit
rare.

We have a turnpike as well. It refers to the first large toll road in
Florida.. (I believe it was the first.) Because it's officail name is The
Florida Turnpike or The Ronald Regan Turnpike.. It has 2 names..

Anyhow, I have wasted enough of your time now..

Mike