old timer chat

Well, I thought you are the only gang out there that can keep a secret. LOL. So I am going to tell you what happened.

Being old retiree, I wake up early , every morning, and do what retirees do; looking for trouble. LOL. I usually do small tasks while everyone is asleep, especially my 'supervisor'. Yesterday, I was spraying alcohol in some corner of the house to get rid of some insects ( I don't like pesticides, so I may use WD-40 to flood ant holes ...etc. ) , and yes, it works. Anyway, I tripped and the alcohol spray bottle fell and slightly opened, and some alcohol spilled, which caused me to slip over it.

OUCH. It was not nice. But God almighty has done several things to prevent it from being worse. For example, the alcohol wasn't spilled completely or else I might have been chocked by the vapors (semi-closed area). Also, my head was so close to a concrete step in the floor and my head didn't bang there. Worst thing that happened was my leg was twisted and needed some time and some manuevering to get it straight. I am obese, and the area is about 3 feet wide only. To this moment my hip is sore.

But shhhhhh , no one noticed.
Went back to my laptop and sat there like a good boy till everyone was awake.

Good stuff
I had my mobile phone on me, so if it was necessary, I would have called my daughter (she is a doctor and best friend, won't tell mom what happened). Cell phone is number one items in core edc stuff. It is with me even at home.

I also think I was calm enough. Didn't panic. Although my twisted leg gave me strange feeling and some worries. But didn't hear anything breaking. It was close.

Bad stuff
I forgot to be careful. Having knee problem, and occasional hip problem , (AND being obese and 65 ..etc.) and hearing so many stories about senior people falling , I should have been more careful

OK
Moral of the story
If you are that old and that fat. BE CAREFUL

But I have a question.
Not related to the story.

I am looking for some books and need your help giving me suggestions. A few years back I had a book that may have a title like this ( Everyday Math for homeowners ) . Forgot the exact title. It had math equations to help you do financial calculations, construction calculations, tax calculations ..etc. It had unit conversions for area, volume, pressure, energy ..etc.
I just cannot remember the title, even after googling it

Also, if possible, I am looking for any kind of 'handyman companion' type book like the DESK REF by Glover. I remember another book of that category but my memory cells are falling apart and cannot gather the details

If you know any book that is close to these subjects, I will appreciate it.

I don't know the book but I'm glad your spill wasn't worse! I took a spill at work in early March that broke the ball and socket of my right shoulder, and I just got out of the sling this week. Still can't work and am on work comp. So I understand how dangerous a fall can be!

I'm glad you weren't more seriously injured.

Is this the book you're looking for?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F1K29MT/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

'Two legs unstable -three legs stable'
Old Irish Saying.
Walk with a stick.
Wouldn't have helped you in that instance I know.
You also have a weapon ALREADY in your hand.
I want airbags in my clothes when I'm doddery!
Qjs

Yet another geezer chiming in....Statistically, falls are the bane of our existence. Glad yours wasn't any worse.

Walking sticks are really handy, even the fancy-dancy collapsible ones now in fashion. For really serious, prolonged work, there is a lot to bee said for the repurposed shovel handle. Either variety is useful in snake country or crossing streams

Phaedrus

Be well, and be careful

Book is similar but my aching brain cells don't remember the phrase "everyday solutions". Maybe a similar book. I will check it out . Thanks

LOL
Great idea

Planning to use one, especially when I start the construction project
Project is delayed because of the engineering office messed up the job and I am shifting to another office. Just a day before meeting, he apologized and postponed the meeting cuz he got Corona.

Anyways. Most accidents happen when we are in 5th gear.
We geezers should walk like geezers, not like teenagers.
LOL.

I have PT tomorrow and I'm actually looking forward to it! I'm eager to get back to some semblance of normality!

Damn, that sounded scary! I'm glad the main injury was your pride rather than something important.
-Blast

I hope you get well soon

Yes, Blast
And learned my lesson.

Can't help with the book, but YouTube has how-to videos that have saved me thousands for a new washer and dryer. I repaired both of the old machines with parts costing a few dollars.

Thanks Brian
Actually I am not looking for a How-to-fix book. What I am looking for is some sort of "homeowner math assistant" type book, if that makes sense. As I said above, I once saw a book which had a section on math for home finance, math for home repairs, etc.

What triggered the need of such a book is a conflict between me and the engineering office about exact dimensions in some corners of the new house which I am planning to build. Land looked like a rectangle, and it is almost a rectangle, but in fact is 'slightly' a parallelogram. They got it wrong in some dimensions, and I wanted to do my own math to be sure about a few things.

I did two calculations and got 25.5 cm, and 24.8 cm , with an average of approximately ~ 25 cm ( ~10 inches). My son did different calculations and got 32.8 cm. So, I wanted to upgrade my bookshelf in the area of geometry and home-related math.

OK. I can see many eyebrows about the 'insignificance' of these numbers related to a HOUSE. LOL. They are not that big of a deal in themselves, but they are necessary for some other details.

https://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Ref-4th-Thomas-Glover/dp/1885071620
Maybe this is what you want, good luck

Thanks Dave. That's a great little book.

I have ordered the bigger version of that book , called : DESK REF. This one is not meant to be carried in the pocket, but stays on the desk. It is a combination of two books: the Pocket REF, and the Handyman. Also, it is written in a bigger font, which is necessary for my retired eyes.

Now just if I can manage to get a Casio 85v calculator, life will be perfect. It was the calculator I used at work before retiring. Colleagues got newer models but I remained faithful to this old thing. I asked my boss if I could take with me after retiring and he said OK. However, it collapsed, and the electronic guy at work told me it could not be fixed. I love that model for so many reasons , and wish I can get one these days.

Just got an idea and a question

In this age of WOW technology, it seems everything is possible. So, here is my tech question: Do you know if there is a Casio calculator simulator. Maybe, just maybe, I can work again on a Casio FX-85v. Won't be the same (it weighed almost nothing, did linear regression in a heart beat, had great features like "constant arithmatic"..etc. ). Constant arithmatic is when you have a list of numbers and you need to subtract 2 from each one of them, or multiply each by 7 , or whatever. I needed to do that repeatedly and it was very fast and simple.

MS Excel will 'excel' in some of these tasks, but not all in such a small package.

So, is there an Android App that simulates Casio calculators ??

IDK if that´s what you are looking for: https://edu.casio.com/softwarelicense/index.php

Thanks Max. The FX-85v is not included in the list

I have gone through the kids garbage dump (2 drawers full of school and college leftovers) and found a scientific calculator. It will serve me OK. I had to replace its AAA battery. Again, that reminded me of the FX-85v , which was dual power. It has a solar cell and I used it for decades without the need to replace its dead battery.

That calculator sounds like too good to be true
But it's true.

Could have been injured seriously this weekend, myself. Sunday morning breakfast out, enter bathroom, feet out from under me. Hard kit. Wet floor warning sign you couldn't see without fully opening the door. Should have been outside or something. Bruise and such, but could have been much worse. Not sure age made any difference, except we don't heal so quickly these days.

Anybody over 65 is one fall away from disaster.

(My opinion and worth what you paid for it.)

E.T.A. - Make that possible disaster.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4...5v&_sacat=0

I am still using my vintage HP-45 that I got in college (for a s-pot load of money bakc in the day). Just keep rebuilding the battery pack every few years.

Do a DuckDuckGo search on this -

casio calculator download free

Or here for a Casio surveying calculator -

https://support.casio.com/en/support/download.php?cid=004&pid=729

Be careful Doug
I am glad it wasn't more serious.

+1

And if overweight, make that +10

HP-45 ???
And I always thought I am old fashioned. LOL

BTW, I once used an HP-45 many decades ago. If my memory cells are still functioning, there is a twist in that calculator model:

Press +/- sign, along with 7 and 8, simultaneously, and you get a stop watch. Try it. I don't know how to stop it though LOL.

Thanks for e-bay link. Real great to see my favourite calculator of several decades. However, cost-wise it seems a bit unattractive. First, shipping charges is more than the price. Second, it may be near the end of its functioning life (may die soon, just like the one at my work). Third, I got a few calculators from the kids.

I have to think alot about this.

Thanks Brian. Seems the link is for advanced graphic calculators. I had one and gave it to my son , cuz I only need simpler models with certain features (like linear regression, and constant arithmatic, but not much more like logarithmic regression, or graphs ..etc. )

Anyways, I found a calculator in the kids dump (Casio FX-82MS) and will learn how use it most efficiently.

I use the RealCalc app that acts as an HP reverse polish notation calculator on my Android phone, although my HP 15C calculator purchased in graduate school (mid '80's) still work great.

Once your brain 'gets' RPN it's hard to use old fashioned algebraic calculators.

As a former CPA I found reverse Polish notation far superior when adding/subtracting columns of numbers.

https://download.cnet.com/Calculator-NET/3000-2053_4-10150008.html

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mine is a 48sx and droid48 on the phone and x48 on the desktop/laptop

A company that makes replica (sort of) HP calculators.

https://www.swissmicros.com/products

If you think these are expensive, note that HP 15C's are asking for more than $200 on ebay.

That's cool!