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Good finds

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I found a bag of US$ in a car, turned it in to the agency, no one claimed it after three months and I got it back. The exchange rate then gave me interest(?) for my efforts ( 2002). Sadly, I did not enjoy the reward - it paid one of my bills.
 
Tens of years ago a local electronics service shop would toss out items that apparently weren't worth repairing or the techs couldn't figure out how to repair them. I'd visit the dumpster and nab the items that appeared to be in good condition, take them home and repair them myself, and then turn around and sell them at a flea market! Everything from car stereos, tv sets, CB radios, etc. :) I can't tell you how much electronics I have around my home that I have rescued from it heading to the landfill. Even a Tektronics 100MHz scope and a Fluke Digital Temperature meter!!
 
Tens of years ago a local electronics service shop would toss out items that apparently weren't worth repairing or the techs couldn't figure out how to repair them.

You're most probably assuming wrongly - they were most likely refused estimates, not that they couldn't repair them.

While you repairing it yourself, using probably secondhand parts, can be nice and cheap, using brand new manufacturers parts and professional labour is likely to be an expensive job.

You might think "why didn't they repair it for themselves?", and as an engineer I occasionally do - but you don't need loads of the same item yourself, and it's too much bother selling secondhand stuff.
 
I realize all that of course, being a former service tech myself. However I neglected to mention that a good many of the discarded items needed very minor repairs and I happened to be aware back then that a couple of their techs were fresh right out of tech school with no bench experience. The head salesman of the store liked talking the customers into buying new rather than repair it. Accounting prolly crunched numbers to indicate new sales revenues could far outweigh repairs. The store likely avoided selling used/repaired/abandoned merchandise to avoid possible warranty and service recall issues. Either way, it was a windfall for me!
 
A tender..

..gesture of your touch will be rewarding if it - the repair brings the "joy" of the item that should be scrapped but valued by the customer. It does not have to be seen as the expression of your (the servicemen) - compassion.
Your client will bring you more bussiness, knowing that you respected what he does value even if you're not and the "word of mouth" does not need additional advertisement either.. It will "carry" you forward..

xanadunow
 
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here in Bogotá, its very common a practice called "Paquete Chileno" (translated: Chilean package). It may be seen on person-to-person versions, but the lastest more "incredible" mode is by phone: They call you and say

"Hello, we are from ETB phone company, you just won $50.000.000 pesos prize. To ensure you are a... (how do you call in english "the old-time customer who always uses the services of the same company"?), answer the following question: When was the last time when you used our $20.000 pre paid call cards? Oh, in order to claim your prize, you should digit the card PIN and key...

Guess what? the poor guy runs to the store, buys the card and gives the thief the data... weeks later ETB was sued by the idiots, but they didn't knew anything!

Like it, i can list a loooong set of tricks used by the thieves... but I don't wanna speak bad things about my city ;)

pd: I agree with that post... "best" friends are like the refrigerator contents... sooner or later, they will expire. I'm glad I have a good family, this is not a very common privilege.
 
Good find.. sad..

sounds like these people here in South Africa (YouTube - Vigilante Justice - South Africa)

Either way, that is true about the world, its sad, but everyone just cares about their money now.

Oh well, Hero999 has that solved, I can relate to him.

A lot of you young blokes do not address the "reality" of circumstances of the society that you do live in. Bokbaard has raised even more relevant issue - the impact (or collision rather) of the native african people and the white colonizers bringing together a "clash" of totally different civilisations. You have the "bill of rights" and your constitution, but problems are still there, aren't they?

You are the people to lead and create future governments and so - rather than whining, do see and address the problem of extremities between the poor and the wealthy.

Do establish a study case to find what is the absolute minimum acceptable living stanard and do establish the law that will assure that even the poor can be content with his life.

Only then you will give the base level to get kids and the violence off your streets and give your "bill of rights" a meaningfull sense.

Do read Wilbur Smith books about Africa, then - do understand..

This will be your good find for the future.

xanadunow
 
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heavily offtopic and long post, I'm sorry - please notify me if it causes any kind of
nuisance and I'll remove it - thank you :)

_______________________________________________________


You are right Xanadunow, but that statement is like a black box: no matter how many times you hear it, you can't change it. The vote is cool in theory, but in reality, you decide nothing!

I'm gonna put the case of my country, is the only one case I can see by first hand:

Left wing accuses right wing everytime a corrupt group inside the army, the state, or an imaginary world, attacks them. Also when syndicate workers stop receiving their extraordinary high pensions earn by corrupt means.

Right wing accuses left wing for sympathize with terrorist groups, and for their fake "food for everyone" populist promises. Only that.

While left and right are busy fighting, a terrorist group (FARC), under the label of "rebel", "guerrilla", "fighters for popular freedom" (lol) or "comunist", blow away small towns, keep hostage thousands of people for +12 years, and get ridiculously rich thanks to the drug traffic.

And no, they don't give poor people food or freedom. They kill them, either for "helping the state" or as "colateral damage". That's what they say! :rolleyes:

A counter-guerrilla group, called autodefensas or paramilitary, was created legally by the state to aid Army to stopping FARC. Sadly, autodefensas discovered that drug traffic is a cool bussiness :D, so they converted into another terrorist group. And they are good friends with FARC too.

Colombian Army keeps fighting them heroically, and they do so since 50 years ago. The terrorists are weak now, so is true that the country is a lot safer.

Ok, safe for me and the fortunate citizens who live comfortably far from the conflict zones. For the foreign visitors is very safe too. Offcouse, if you are a stupid hippie who loves to drive away from the main cities to explore the conflict zones, please don't give back feedback about the country.
Is not safe for the Army soldiers, who have enough balls to fight.

While everything of this occur, cheap politicians make their way into the senate and congress, saying what people want to hear after watching TV news program. When they reach the chair, steal everything they can, then eject.

That gives more fake awards to the terrorist group FARC, because as they said, "they fight against the corrupt goverment, that increases the poverty", remember that? Even a hippie group at Europe started shelling t-shirts to support them :D

And while I write this post, my stupid neighbour vote by those cheap politicans, while he sits at his sofa, watching Mr. And Ms. Smith with his brand new Blu-Ray home theater, laughing by how Colombia is depicted as a jungle plenty of naked natives, drug patrons with mexican accent (lol!), and anti-aircraft bunkers witout water or electricity.

Thanks to corrupt goverments, terrorist groups and bad action movies, the unemployment keeps rising, and most important, rich become richer, and poor people dies.

Fortunetly, I'm lucky enough to spend my time eating and doing nothing.

That is my best -non electronic- offtopic finding :p
 
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I did draw you in Mentical by mistake, Colombia is far away from the lands I was speaking about. Don't know anything about your struggle - the say thing is.. that it does not matter where you are placed in this world in a given time space - it is purely circumstancial. A good deed does not require anything more than your heart, your time and your life.. we do avoid the third posibility by seeking the escape to a life we do want. We is all us.. common people. It does not always work, but the important part is to know what does hurt and why.. From then on - you need to draw your own conclusions about the need to remain or the need to move somwhere else. The primal instinct tells us to protect those that we love. The outside pressure causes us to think about other influences, but - no matter what these influences are; the familly, those you do love and those who do not - can not influence your views. And if they do for this reason, you have given up your soul to something else than the wish that is good. This is another "good find". And after all, you do have the right to vote, dont'ya?

xanadunow
 
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Here's a real good find. Just got 4 Rotel power amps from the classifieds for R400 ($45 +-). Listed as "trashed". Ok so they are trashed, and the pcb's are all cracked or ripped out, the cosmetics have gone to hell... BUT, the transformers and caps all work fine. (why did I just spend $90 on a toroid last week)
(*exchange rates not verified :p )
 
I have a "trashed" JVC 5-channels (320W total) stereo receiver with many inputs including video. It Has a Dolby digital surround sound decoder. It was dropped and the frame got bent but I fixed it. Its case is scratched a little.
But a corner of its main pcb is broken off and is missing.
I can't find its pcb layout for me to connect the wiring the way it should be.
 
I have a "trashed" JVC 5-channels (320W total) stereo receiver with many inputs including video. It Has a Dolby digital surround sound decoder. It was dropped and the frame got bent but I fixed it. Its case is scratched a little.
But a corner of its main pcb is broken off and is missing.
I can't find its pcb layout for me to connect the wiring the way it should be.

What model JVC Audioguru? I know some people who may have the shematiic
 
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Hi and thanks Menticol,
It is a JVC model RX-7030VBK.
I can probably fix its broken pcb with its schematic.
 
Good luck getting it returned to you if nobody claims it.. Somebody will claim it, but it won't likely be the rightful owner, rather somebody who works at the lost/found..
Ppl aren't going to go to the police in search of that.. Its lost, and I wouldn't expect something like that to be turned in if I lost it..
As for providing evidence if there happened to be a crime.. Just hope there was no crime if you take it to the police, because if by chance there was, then you will be suspect #1.. On that note, if you find a wallet, or something that logically should be turned into the police, do not turn it in personally.. Its analogous to not answering question/remaining silent.. Keep things anonymous, only some good deeds go unpunished..
 
Good luck getting it returned to you if nobody claims it.. Somebody will claim it, but it won't likely be the rightful owner, rather somebody who works at the lost/found..
Ppl aren't going to go to the police in search of that.. Its lost, and I wouldn't expect something like that to be turned in if I lost it..
As for providing evidence if there happened to be a crime.. Just hope there was no crime if you take it to the police, because if by chance there was, then you will be suspect #1.. On that note, if you find a wallet, or something that logically should be turned into the police, do not turn it in personally.. Its analogous to not answering question/remaining silent.. Keep things anonymous, only some good deeds go unpunished..


I guess that's the "no good deed goes unpunished rule," eh?

When I was in my 20's, I was working part-time in this tv shop that was in a small strip mall. Next door was a party store. One day, this girl pulled up in her car, got out, and started to walk into the party store. A guy quickly pulled up behind her, jumped out and grabbed her, and started dragging her to his car. I heard her scream, and while several people were watching, nobody was trying to stop the guy. So, I go out there, and the guy drops the girl and starts walking up to me. I dropped him with one punch to the jaw.

Suddenly, the police pull up, and to my surprise, the girl turns out to be the guy's girlfriend, and he and her are demanding that the police arrest me for slugging him. I was incredulous.

The poliice interviewed everyone, including the witnesses, and refused. I'll never forget what the cop told her:

"You're getting dragged to some guy's car, screaming for help, and he came out and helped you. And you want me to arrest him? I'm not arresting him. I'm arresting your boyfriend."

Proof positive: no good deed goes unpunished.
 
You got lucky the cop was cool, and nipped it in the bud.. If you had to sort that out in the system, best case scenario would be a whole lot of hassle, a record that won't describe circumstance, and possibly legal fees..
There does need to be a line though.. Sometimes you gotta say consequences be darned, and a violent abduction falls into that category IMO.. Stolen property doesn't..
 
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