A Crummy Commercial

I did finish reading Hyperion by Dan Simmons.  It's a very readable book but without spoiling anything, Hyperion just seems to be an intro - sorta like The Hobbit , there are three more books in the series.  I did put a hold on the next book, The Fall Of Hyperion but who knows how long it will take before it is available. My Dad always hated this kind of thing, especially on TV, he'd use the phrase "soap opera" as a sort of epithet.  I guess Hyperion would qualify as a space opera :) BTW, I have no idea why I reserved Hyperion in the first place, must have been something from the internet ?   Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

One thing I've always meant to try is a hot wire cutter for plastic.  The primary application would be for cutting IC tubes.  I like to package DIP ICs or sockets in the plastic tubes to prevent lead damage during mailing.  Cutting is done with an old Swiss Army Knife.  But it's kinda tedious especially with weird tubes like for TO-220 transistors. I was looking at the July 1957 issue of Popular Electronics, from World Radio History: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Poptronics/50s/57/Pop-1957-07.pdf On page 79 I found this article: Here is the schematic: That's pretty simple, basically just a transformer and a wire.  I'm not quite sure where to get the nichrome wire but I'm sure Ebay might have something. The only problem: hardly any kit sales lately, it wouldn't be worth it.  Maybe I could rig something up using a Weller soldering gun ?  Basically those guns are a transformer, a trigger switch and a piece of copper wire. I'll have to think it...

I think the only reason why I've read some fiction is because it was referenced in another work of fiction.  For example, as mentioned here: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2026/08/braves-yankees-1957-world-serious-game-1.html the only reason why I read the book: You Know Me Al is that the author, Ring Lardner, was mentioned by Holden Caulfield in Catcher In The Rye . Another was the book: Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K. Jerome.  I saw that referenced in the Heinlein juvenile SF novel: Have Space Suit - Will Travel .  Of course that title was derived from the TV / Radio show: Have Gun - Will Travel   :)  mentioned previously: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2023/08/hvac-comfortable-rate-of-cooling.html Those are the only two that come to mind - although a lot of the juvenile series books like The Hardy Boys will reference other books in the series, but that's not quite the same thing. I started reading a book called Hyperion (soon to be a motion picture ?  :) ...

I saw these in the daily email from Electronic Goldmine: source:  https://theelectronicgoldmine.com/products/g29888 DigiKey still sells them:   https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/te-connectivity-amp-connectors/6-1437514-7/2135766 But a nickel each just seems high for my 20th century blood.  And I do still have tons of these: source:    https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/09/pin-sockets.html And they might not work in my boards anyway.  Regular sockets work fine at relatively low frequencies, are easier to solder and easier to insert chips into.  Press-fit sockets are theoretically slightly better than the soldered pin sockets because they should make a gas tight bite into the plated copper rather than relying on solder.  Solder just isn't quite as good as copper at high frequencies. But just this one time I will resist temptation :) Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I went to Mann's Store on Tuesday morning looking for old people fuel (aka bananas) - nope !  Even though I had been warned about it, they didn't have a sale flyer either !  :(  They didn't have the Arizona Just Tea 1 gallon jug that I often get either (although I am getting tired of iced tea - I like the Arizona 1 gallon container, nice and sturdy, good for maple sap or distilled water).  There were other items in dwindling supply as well. However I did see some Best Choice items (the new wholesaler brand) showing up amidst the old Our Family.  For example, I bought a carton of eggs: They haven't had eggs in Styrofoam containers in a long while. Strangely enough I found this in my pantry: Best Choice version of Tums A expiration date of 7/22 would imply that Mann's last sold Best Choice items maybe 6 or 7 years ago ?  I can't really remember.  I assume that a clone of Tums is basically just chalk plus some sugar and flavor so it should last forever in...

I saw this window sticker on Pinterest: The thing that caught my eye was the $11 credit for deleting the seat belts.  If there's a car that would need a seat belt it's a souped up convertible Chevrolet Impala SS ! I tried typing this VIN into a web site:  41467SI65556  (maybe that I should be a one ?  didn't matter much either way) and got this result: source:   https://classicdecoder.com Looks like the details are somewhat wrong but assuming the model year is correct (why wouldn't the window sticker have a date ?), the price inflates to: Assuming the same ratio, that $11 in 1964 inflates to $119.24 today, more than nothing but still. Since it was sold in MN it probably rusted out although convertible owners can be picky about driving in snow.  I'm not going to invest in a report but I like to think it survived as a low-rider, those things are so cool ! Here is one that appears very similar: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1964-chevrolet-impala-75/ I...

I *should* have been working on stuff outside, Sunday was a nice day.  But I wanted to catch the Brewers and Packers play, yikes !  After the games I was greeted with this by the Youtube algorithm: Brewers versus Reds: source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRk5l7n4BMw Packers versus Vikings: source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6wKdU-5kME In MLB baseball if the team wins 2 of every 3 games that's 108 wins for the season, pretty rare and probably World Serious bound.     In NFL football if the team wins 2 of every 3 games that's 11 wins for the season, fairly common and probably one and done in the playoffs.   There's still tomorrow, Monday should be a nice day - also the Brewers and Packers don't play Monday :) Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm