General Stuff(tm)

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PhilC
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by PhilC »

Sorry to hear about the redundancy Stephen. I've been there myself a few times.

Best advice is you only live once, so make the most of it. Take your time and find an interesting job to keep you active, or retire early if you can afford to :D

Having Cancer for me put everything in to perspective. And now that I'm on the way to recovery am starting to work out how to make the most of life.
If it ain't broke, test it to Destruction.
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by rubber_jonnie »

PhilC wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2024 3:00 pm Sorry to hear about the redundancy Stephen. I've been there myself a few times.

Best advice is you only live once, so make the most of it. Take your time and find an interesting job to keep you active, or retire early if you can afford to :D

Having Cancer for me put everything in to perspective. And now that I'm on the way to recovery am starting to work out how to make the most of life.
Well said, I have to agree with you.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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stephen_usher
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by stephen_usher »

Thanks all.

I'll take 3 months off then I can apply for another job in the University, maybe a college with free lunches, as I'm taking voluntary severance and hence getting a decent pay-out, though not as good as it would have been if the previous government hadn't had limited it to 20 years and put the tax-free cap at £30K. (I'll put the rest directly into the USS Pension pot tax free.)
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2024 3:41 pm Thanks all.

I'll take 3 months off then I can apply for another job in the University, maybe a college with free lunches, as I'm taking voluntary severance and hence getting a decent pay-out, though not as good as it would have been if the previous government hadn't had limited it to 20 years and put the tax-free cap at £30K. (I'll put the rest directly into the USS Pension pot tax free.)
Sounds like a good plan :)
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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JezC
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by JezC »

:awwww:
Sorry to hear that news @stephen_usher but it may give you more opportunities for the future (looking for the silver lining).

Maybe a blitz on some of your hobbies is in order?
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stephen_usher
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by stephen_usher »

JezC wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2024 4:49 pm :awwww:
Sorry to hear that news @stephen_usher but it may give you more opportunities for the future (looking for the silver lining).

Maybe a blitz on some of your hobbies is in order?
Indeed. I have options and I'm financially in a good position. With the money from my Dad's house I can run "on batteries" with my current expenditure for about 10 years if I wanted to use the capital. With retirement age 8 years away that would be sort of enough the "retire early", but I'd prefer not to do that.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
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JezC
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by JezC »

Good to have several options to choose between...and enough time to make it a considered choice!
:thumbup:
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stephen_usher
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by stephen_usher »

Looks like they want to require us to work a month of our three month notice period. So the "negotiation" over the notice was more a diktat.

So, the letter we sign says termination of contract on the 15th November... They say though that they may want to extend the period... Oplocks to that, if I sign the letter stating 15th November then I consider that a legal contract. No ifs, buts or maybes.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
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stephen_usher
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by stephen_usher »

At home today getting solar panel installation quotes.

Had an "on-line" one from OVO Energy at 10am. Not impressed.

At midday I have another company visiting. The final one isn't until Saturday morning.

P.S. The second company was far better and actually listened to what I wanted.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
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stephen_usher
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by stephen_usher »

Brought back a Toshiba Satellite 4080XCDT laptop which was being thrown away in the department.

Seemingly dead I've taken it apart and I've traced the power as far as a component labelled as a "A1712". It's a SOP-8 package and has the charger power on one side and basically nothing on the other. The closest I can find on Google that's a SOP-8 is a MOSFET with pins 1-3 being the input, pin 4 the gate and pins 5-8 being the output. I'm wondering if I should risk bridging this for testing. If it *IS* the MOSFET then it would either be to stop the battery charging and make the laptop run from the battery until the voltage decreases or it's to do with "power good" switching.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
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