One time I had an ex ask me for some obscure cable that I happened to have. We went over to my cable drawer and as I pulled it out she said “Why do you have this drawer of random cables?”
FOR THIS EXACT PURPOSE BECCA YOU BITCH
I was a Scout as a teen. Taught me the value of being prepared and the use of good tools. Basically, I still carry things like a Swiss Army Knife, flashlight, that sort of thing. I also just like to have things in case I need them, like a charge cable or bicycle pump.
You wouldn’t believe how often I’ve had interactions that go like this:
“Does anyone have a knife? I need to cut this”
“Here, use mine”
“Why do you have a knife??? Who are you going to stab???”
Same thing with other tools. People need one, you’re someone who carries it, now you’re somehow weird for being the only person prepared…
I’ve had to guide people out of buildings during blackouts while using my flashlight (this was before phones had them). Number one comment while doing that? “Why do you have a flashlight???”
MOTHERFUCKER, WHY DON’T YOU? On this planet, it gets predictably dark for, you know, almost half the day. So it might just be handy to carry some light with you. Tool use is what sets us humans apart from most animals, so can you at least try and not embarrass your species?
“Why do you have a knife??? Who are you going to stab???”
I’ve gotten this one too. I’ve had a knife on me almost every day for the last 15 years or so and I’ve managed not to stab anyone except maybe myself a little bit.
Tool use is what sets us humans apart from most animals, so can you at least try and not embarrass your species?
I’m stealing this.
The Problem is, being unprepared worked out for them because they always had someone around who was prepared. It’s the same people who say afterwards: “You see, wasn’t that bad, all worked out fine”. Yes, it worked out fine because someone else was prepared and saved your ass. The worst of those people then also somehow turn it into their own achievement, which makes them think like that: “Why would someone carry around $thing$, I never do that and yet I still manage to save the day.”
Unfortunately, being such a person seems to be a requirement to get hired for middle management.
It’s so annoying. I stopped carrying a knife regularly not because I stopped thinking it was a useful tool to always have but because while the law here does allow carried knives to be defined as tools, if you bring them in to certain places, they automatically get considered weapons and carrying any weapon is illegal (in most circumstances). So if I happen to go to a bar and have my knife in my pocket, it could result in a possession of an illegal weapon charge.
I hate laws that assume intents based on triggers that aren’t necessarily associated with those assumed intents, like “carrying a weapon implies intent to hurt/kill someone”, “having possession of your keys anywhere near your car while drunk implies intent to drive drunk (even if you’re sleeping in the back seat)”, or “carrying more than some arbitrary amount of drugs implies intent to sell”, like anyone who shops at Costco intends to open up their own store. Lazy fucking laws.
Don’t get me started on how stupid knife laws are in general.
Here in the Netherlands, thankfully there aren’t many restrictions. You can basically carry 95 percent of common knives on you. Locking folders, fixed blades, generally legal unless expressly probhibited.
We can’t own or carry certain types like gravity knives and butterfly knives. Why? “Because… well, fuck you, because we say so.”
If I hop across the border to Germany, knife laws are more restrictive. Can’t have any form of locking knife, so that takes out most folders you’d want to carry. And if I went to other countries, they too have different laws. In France, you can own an OTF for example. And in the US, laws vary from state to state.
Now, what does all that tell us? That knife laws are inherently made up bullshit by politicians and lawmakers who have NO FUCKING CLUE what they’re doing. Because if knife laws made sense, we’d have a fairly consistent set of them. And they tend to ignore that most actual knife crime happens with cheapo kitchen or utility knives. Nobody’s getting stabbed with a 500 euro safe queen.
The knife is one of mankind’s oldest tools. It should be legal to carry everywhere and every form. Knives don’t stab people, people stab people.
Being a stagehand made all of these things mandatory to carry & be proficient with. I can’t say I see a downside (other than belt weight. Makes me miss having an ass to hold my pants up)
I always carry a 5.11 backpack. So thankfully I don’t need to carry everything on my belt. The only stuff on my person are my wallet, keys and phone. Keys have a Victorinox Super Tinker on them.
The rest of it is in the backpack. I always carry that thing anyway for shopping, to carry a camera, holds my rain jacket that sort of thing. And it’s a TARDIS / magic box in terms of whatever else might be in there.
Some think it’s weird to carry an actual backpack, but I love it. Literally feel naked without it.
Once is happenstance.
Twice is coincidence.
Three times is enemy action.
Auric Goldfinger
You never know where you’ll be when you need a mini-B usb to 30 pin apple sync cable.
Landline telephones will soon be popular enough to need all these extenders and splitters.
There’s a tool sharing program in my neighborhood. You pay like $20 a year for access, and come by, borrow a tool/leave a tool. It’s great as people leave lots of big tools sitting around doing nothing.
I want that for computer parts and wires.
Lets pool our ps/2 keyboard adapters and VGA cords together!
You’ve already got a decent business name for it (minus the “@slrpnk.net” part)!
It needs a catchy theme song. Something like:
Neeeighbour tools…
Everybody needs good neeeighbour tools
and then I don’t know, a saxaphone or something
I refactor the box every year because there are usually some new cables.
Some simple empirical rules:
- keep the shorter cables
- maximum of 3 cables of the same type: for donating, for lending, for spare
- USB cables that can transfer data > USB cables that don’t transfer data
- no damaged cables
- store long cables as coils (tied up tight)
- store short cables in bunches (tied up tight)
- should be sorted and grouped into categories
- box should be sealed, but aired out once in a while (outgassing)
Wait, there are USB cables that don’t transfer data? What do they do then, charge only?
Yup. Notorious with usb c cables. Lots of battery powered tools give you a cable that only works for charging, and looks the exact same. I guess you could test the cable and mark them as charge only, but it’s a hassle
I’ve got a USB-c cable that can charge and transfer data at high speeds… But ask it to transfer display data to a screen and it won’t do a thing.
The USB-c standard is a nightmare… While having the same port for everything sounds like a decent idea to reduce waste, not every product requires the full spec. Maybe mandatory labeling (like some companies are doing already) would be a solution, but it’s rather late to start with that now.
USB A to C maybe, but C to C cannot work without data. To me MicroUSB was notorious for that. At this point all my micro USB cables that I have left don’t do data because I’ve given away, or worn out/broke all the ones that did data.
Now I just have a bunch of USB C to ___ adapters. Right now on my desk I have a USB C to Micro, Micro to USB C (just in case) and a USB C to lightning adapter all stuck together.
Keeping it closed also means that you don’t have to breathe it in (and prevents dust from getting in).
My wife had her finger nail grinder break and it turned out to be the power adapter. It was an obscure 9.6V. guess who had it in my box.
She still complains about my box, but that night she complained a little less.
Voltage fluctuates. You could put 9v into it and it will be just fine. Hell you can probably put 12v into it and it will be fine. I have a switch at work that only exists to split one ethernet cable into two, and it’s rated for either 5 or 9v, but I’m using a 12v power supply on it and it’s just fine because it’s power conversion is rated for well over that (I think 16v max).
Disclaimer: don’t blindly put higher voltage into a device rated for a much lower voltage. 9v devices will usually tolerate 12v, but not all.