[Rayzerm]

Ah - that woman reminds me of some of my clients.

Crazy Client - "No, the project cannot cost that much - I should be less"

Poor overworked Construction Professional (POCF - me) "Sorry, it will"

Crazy Client - "No - I think it should be less - make the figures work"

POCP - "Sorry, the materials alone will cost 20% more than your pie in the sky made up figure"

Crazy Client - "I don't care - make the figures fit"

..........and that is why we are in the mess we are in today !!!!

[Celticwarrior]

TJ's estimate is right. American phone lines hold 5-7 REN (so 5 to 7 standard devices), and with ring boosters, can go to 9 REN. The logic is that you can put up to 9 standard ring Princess-style phones in line at that voltage. Anything like bigger PBX style phones, old pre-1965 box phones (that ran on the higher voltage the cloth insulated 3 prong wire used to run for the mechanical bell clapper), or as TJ's customer found out...fax machines, take more power, so you have less holding capacity by the system. The RJ11 wire is thin and bleeds power pretty easily too, so loss is inevitable. However, the problem comes in that while it is POSSIBLE to have 5, 7, even 9 devices hooked up, those are MULTIPLIERS for the necessary power needed to ring them all simultaneously. So, if you have a home system that has 1 port (normal for a house, instead of a PBX business multi-port) and you have it SPLIT at the junction block to say 5 or 6 jacks throughout the house, and your system is only GETTING 5 or less REN, then if you have every jack plugged in with a ringing phone, or larger draw like a fax, then you could easily overwhelm the system and NONE of the units would ring. You would need a ring voltage booster of some type, or reduce the overall load capacity on the existing system, or get another line installed off of a different splitter junction box.

(My dad worked for the phone company for 40 + years, and was an Army Communications worker up in Thule, Greenland when he was a young man. I was taking apart 1940's and '50's era phones as toys when I was a kid. Those things were BEEFY, made of steel and brass and ceramics. You could never run one on today's circuits, since they needed so much juice for the bells.)

Originally Posted by crazydave

phew - I thought this was gonna be another wake up america you need decent healthcare debates!

TJ just out if interest I seem to remember that your lines carry 5 or 6 volts as standard but how many phones can be attatched to one line as standard? here we have whats called a REN rating, a line can carry up to four RENs worth of devices before you need to fit a booster. a phone, answerphone or fax should be 1 ren as standard.

and also here the exchanges have big backup genny's for a coulple of weeks runtime should there be mains issues, are they similar over there?

[TaintRight]

I was once called to a corporate customer because his computer would not work. I had installed business software the day before, and according to him, I had crashed his system.

I drove 50 miles to his spot, went in and discovered he had plugged the computer into the surge protector and then plugged the surge protector into itself instead of the wall outlet.

Wonder if he knows how to light a fire.

[ozarks dave]

had the same thing happen to me taint, i had delivered and setup a power wheel chair for a veteran 300 miles away from homebase. all day event for one pwc. two days later i was called back out there because supposedly the battery charger wasnt working and the batteries had run so far down the pwc would not turn on. they have to have a minimal 16.5 vdc to power up and run. i called the vet to ask what had happened to get a better idea of what equipment i needed to bring and he said he had been charging the pwc every night. cussed me out for bringing a faulty charger and leaving him stranded. (the vet is only 29yr old and was a electrical engineer in the army), upon arriving i found he had the charger plugged in a power strip plugged into itself. and he still cussed me for not telling him that over the phone.

some people use no common sense whatsoever. its amazing any of them are alive right now.
another good example is I do work in a lot of doctors offices and hospitals repairing broken and failed equipment. i cant count how many times ive been called 100 miles away(and we charge 2.85 a mile!) to check a brand new odoscope for why it wont turn on. two main reasons why. when they first get it they dont read the manual or warning papers and never install the bulb(most come with the bulb uninstalled so the battery doesnt make contact and drain it), and to put the bulb in they simply drop it in the slot and screw the head on. or, they dont replace the dead batteries theyve been using for months. simple as changing the AA's in your mini maglite. these people have gone through YEARS of college to learn all the smart guy stuff and pay a high school dropout big bucks to change their flashlight bulbs and batteries lol.

people are stupid. and have too much money. wish i could afford 300 bucks for every time i needed my batteries in my flashlight changed.

[kevin]

two great stories TJ (I can really relate to the one about your son when he as young LOL!). Feel bad for that stupid lady.

[Unswydd]

unfortunately this woman is the norm example of what most sheeple will be like. She will die among the first wave.

[cowgirlup]

Funny how people are so sure they are right and even funnier that they are ready to fight to the death over it.

TJ you were so patient with that woman. I'd have showed her twice and that would have been it.

She's a goner for sure....

[SwampRat1]

sounds bout like things here tj. as a commo guy, we get calls all the time about our systems being down. when we tell them that everyone is talking but them they get upset and try to say that everyone else is wrong. you are right in saying people only see what they want.

[swamprat]

Originally Posted by tjwilhelm

Many people only see what they want to see, and they refuse to look at the things they don't want to see. Do you think she'll be a survivor?

That explains how Obozo got elected.

[kevin]

Originally Posted by swamprat

That explains how Obozo got elected.

I resisted guessing her political persuasion, but I agree with you!!!!