Off Topic The Goodhand Arms

In 1989 I was doing an early stint in the IT industry, which involved time behind a desk dealing with customer issues. The setup meant that I wasn't stuck behind the desk but was getting up and going out to deal with occasional hardware problems. Nonetheless, sometimes I would have a phone receiver to my ear for extended times, depending on the severity of the problem, which would often only become apparent as one got into the conversation. I remember that after 2 weeks I was getting a tingling in my pinkie finger on the left hand. It turned out I was damaging the nerve by having my elbow on the desk and the arm folded up holding the receiver. To this day I still have occasional tingling in that finger. It's so easily done.

Luckily, STC came along within 3 months and I was into the world of undersea fibre cable manufacture and being very well paid.

 

I feel strangely turned on.

Vin

 

Which company did you work for in undersea cable TSS. We supply that industry.

 

I always make a mental note to celebrate the soltice.

January is the one month of the year I'd happily miss. Seems to go on forever. But the first Snowdrop, followed by Crocus's poking through, and life is good again.

 

I worked in that for a few months as well. Maybe we all knew each other.

 

I always organise a night out for most of the blokes I know for the Friday nearest to January 21st. It gives us all something to look forward to through the drag of January. Going out and drinking foolishly blows the darkness away for a week or two.

Two changes that would help. Put the clocks permanently an hour forward and change the spring change to the end of February rather than March. Clocks go back two months before the solstice, so why leave it three months to push them forwards? No logic at all. I was on the fringes of Lighter Later that lobbied this into Parliament a few years ago, only to see it talked out by Scottish MPs. Let them have devolved powers over clocks and get ours right.

Vin

 

Before the Scottish referendum, I thought goody we won't have to change our clocks any more to suit the Scots. Didn't happen.

 

Finally got round to watching The Detectorists. After Series 1 Episode 1 I'm already enchanted.

 

You're in for a treat Chilco....I'm tempted to watch it all again from the start.

 

Standard Telephones and Cables, hence my reference to STC. They were bought out and no longer exist in fibre optics. Taken over by a Canadian company. Can't remember the name, but I think they were bought out too. We worked a lot with Cable & Wireless. At least they still exist. Loved working for STC. Happy times.!

 

Funny, for some reason I thought you'd already taken the bait. It gets better too.

I'm going to admit that I looked up the price of a decent metal detector the other day. Jeez.! They're not cheap.

 

I'm sad enough to have both series on the old S2. I'm currently watching it a second time through, now on Episode 2. How something can be so good where nothing actually happens is down to tremendous scripts.

 

Maybe Q. Maybe.

 

ok. I don't know STC.

 

Here you go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Telephones_and_Cables

Northern Telecom were the Canadian company. I think it's fair to say that STC were the state of the art at one point, hence why we used to be paid footballers wages at the time. I had 3 very fine years there.

 

Ah, thanks. Nortel is how I knew them. Used to have a place in North East. been a few years since I spoke to them.

 

Ah, that's why I couldn't remember the name. Yes, Nortel rings a bell.

 

Is that street value?

 

Justin Bieber has nailed his colours to the mast.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...tin-Bieber-poses-Shrimpers-shirt-Twitter.html

 

Must admit I tried it and didn't like / get it.

Will try again as everyone I know who has seen it raves about it!