This is pretty much an FYI. We have talked about the existence of Windows 12 in the past and now there is some "reliable" information being published about its future. Regardless of what was popular in the rumor mill, Windows 12 from Microsoft does not exist, but apparently will begin a development cycle next month. We also talked about Windows 10 being the last OS to be issued by Microsoftk, and obviously it was not. They are still pushing it as a service but will go back to the generational builds that has been their history.
https://winbuzzer.com/2022/02/21/report ... th-xcxwbn/
Windows 12
Re: Windows 12
Apparently, Windows as a subscription service, has not gone over very well for them.
The folks who are moving on and away from Windows, appear to be moving over to MAC's, if they can afford to.
I do know the number of the main four or five Linux Distro downloads has increased dramatically the past couple of years.
The folks who are moving on and away from Windows, appear to be moving over to MAC's, if they can afford to.
I do know the number of the main four or five Linux Distro downloads has increased dramatically the past couple of years.
Re: Windows 12
I'm pretty sure the subscriptions are predominantly from corporate and government customers. It all has to do with cloud computing which is the main source of revenue for Microsoft these days. Us peons have never been approached to buy into the operating system, but of course they do sell all kinds of applications in the company store. My wife has an iPad and should Windows go out of business I'd make an effort to NOT go the Apple Computer route. Maybe their smartphone would work for me, but the rest of their iOS devices suck as far as I'm concerned. I have considered switching to Linux and discussed it ad nauseum here in these forums. In my particular case for the time being at least the only sensible approach to computing is the Windows option.
Re: Windows 12
I just read where Red Hat Enterprise had a 17% increase in corporate subscriptions for their last quarter of 2021.
That's one heck of a jump for them, they usually only go up about 2 to 4% per quarter, and most of that was from old businesses expanding to new areas.
I also read something about a big database program, but forgot what it said.
Then it rambled on about cloud servers and intracompany dedicated servers.
Although I got my start with Apple, and after Wang, I install all MACs at my Wonder Plants company.
For most of my own things I was doing, I had to switch to Windows PCs because that is what my clients wanted their copies on.
But back in my Apple II and II+ days. I actually made a living by generating billing statements for some local businesses.
This is one reason I bought that $1,600.00 Integral Data Systems 9-pin dot matrix printer with the Ford Aerospace engine in it.
I chose that one because it is the printer engine used by FTD in their transworld delivery machines, and it always worked flawlessly.
Although I made a fairly good amount of money doing it, the work was much more than I anticipated, and the up front cost to me was alarming. Simply because each company wanted their own stationery, and I had to have it printed on fan-fold tractor drive paper, by the 5000 sheet cases. Not cheap. After I had a couple of clients cancel after my only sending out about 200 or so invoices for them. I changed my contract to show they had to have sent over 2000 invoices before they could cancel. They didn't seem to want to agree to that contract, so after that it said, if they want custom letterhead invoices, they had to pay the printer for them, which at that time was about $250.00 for a case of tractor drive statements.
I also had to have like six different forms I used to line up with their invoice designs.
That business faded away fairly quick after QuickBooks came out, and almost all businesses were buying PCs set up for their business. Computer vendors were appearing on nearly every street corner too, and most of them were geared to supplying businesses with computers and the software and machines to run their business.
That's one heck of a jump for them, they usually only go up about 2 to 4% per quarter, and most of that was from old businesses expanding to new areas.
I also read something about a big database program, but forgot what it said.
Then it rambled on about cloud servers and intracompany dedicated servers.
Although I got my start with Apple, and after Wang, I install all MACs at my Wonder Plants company.
For most of my own things I was doing, I had to switch to Windows PCs because that is what my clients wanted their copies on.
But back in my Apple II and II+ days. I actually made a living by generating billing statements for some local businesses.
This is one reason I bought that $1,600.00 Integral Data Systems 9-pin dot matrix printer with the Ford Aerospace engine in it.
I chose that one because it is the printer engine used by FTD in their transworld delivery machines, and it always worked flawlessly.
Although I made a fairly good amount of money doing it, the work was much more than I anticipated, and the up front cost to me was alarming. Simply because each company wanted their own stationery, and I had to have it printed on fan-fold tractor drive paper, by the 5000 sheet cases. Not cheap. After I had a couple of clients cancel after my only sending out about 200 or so invoices for them. I changed my contract to show they had to have sent over 2000 invoices before they could cancel. They didn't seem to want to agree to that contract, so after that it said, if they want custom letterhead invoices, they had to pay the printer for them, which at that time was about $250.00 for a case of tractor drive statements.
I also had to have like six different forms I used to line up with their invoice designs.
That business faded away fairly quick after QuickBooks came out, and almost all businesses were buying PCs set up for their business. Computer vendors were appearing on nearly every street corner too, and most of them were geared to supplying businesses with computers and the software and machines to run their business.
Re: Windows 12
I think the pandemic slowed down every imaginable business for more than a year. We still are feeling the effects of labor and parts shortages. Be that as it may, demand never did recede much. Q4 of 2021 was a banner quarter for most businesses because the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel became visible at that time. People had a lot of pent up buying energy by then. It's not surprising that IT spending increased too and that Fedora benefited from it all. Businesses were anxious to rev up their engines once again. The amazing part of all that is the desktop (laptop) market did not die as a lot of nay-sayers predicted it would. People working from home started buying computers like they were going out of style. Those people are now returning back to the office and I'm guessing there are a lot of good deals to be had out there. LOL Well, not all of them are going back, and the outlook for desktops isn't quite as dismal as it was once thought to be.
Your creativity shows once again in your story about the invoice business you once operated. Not being a businessman it would never occur to me to outsource invoicing. I'd think that would be a natural part of the inside business office. Then, too, you were in the right place at the right time. Computers were taking over a lot of the manual labor but the costs of doing so were out of reach for a lot of small businesses. Thus your invoice service appeared just at the right time.
Your creativity shows once again in your story about the invoice business you once operated. Not being a businessman it would never occur to me to outsource invoicing. I'd think that would be a natural part of the inside business office. Then, too, you were in the right place at the right time. Computers were taking over a lot of the manual labor but the costs of doing so were out of reach for a lot of small businesses. Thus your invoice service appeared just at the right time.
Re: Windows 12
I guess being down here in East Podunk, we've not seen much of a change due to the pandemic, except for the larger stores like WalMart whose shelves look like a ghost town.
Our little UGO store has never had an empty spot on their shelves yet. And Kroger has only been low on a few things.
But they have skyrocketed in the prices they charge.
I often started small businesses in order to buy the equipment I wanted for them, and have the business pay for it.
Not always did it work out the way I planned, and/or I would quickly tire of the business and sell it.
My little Handy Home Office Machines business really went well for just under ten years.
It was amazing how many small tabletop businesses wanted to look bigger than they are by having things output from cheap manual machines that looked identical to the big expensive machines.
Our little UGO store has never had an empty spot on their shelves yet. And Kroger has only been low on a few things.
But they have skyrocketed in the prices they charge.
I often started small businesses in order to buy the equipment I wanted for them, and have the business pay for it.
Not always did it work out the way I planned, and/or I would quickly tire of the business and sell it.
My little Handy Home Office Machines business really went well for just under ten years.
It was amazing how many small tabletop businesses wanted to look bigger than they are by having things output from cheap manual machines that looked identical to the big expensive machines.
Re: Windows 12
It didn't start out that way, but my career as an astrologer was paid for by all my clients. Basically I tried to end up with zero profit in that I didn't want to pay taxes on something like a hobby. Besides a ton of office equipment used for generating reports to remote clients, I purchased hundreds of reference books over the years I pursued that hobby. Some of them were quite rare and the book seller thought I was her best customer. It worked for both of us because once in a while she would send me customers so that I could use the fees to buy more books. LOL I didn't get tired of it but circumstances did change so that I had to abandon that pursuit when we moved into a new house. So, like yourself, I ended up with a lot of good resources paid for by the business.
My lifestyle has not change much due to the pandemic. I never did interact with the community very much and that's how it stayed when we were all being attacked by that virus. Since I was already retired I didn't have to worry about being healthy enough to go to work, nor did I care much about the cost of getting places. It seems that the supply chain problem is worse today than it was at the height of the pandemic. And, I too have noticed that the big chain stores are the ones suffering the most. The small stores and shops must use a different supply chain. I've not stopped to calculate it but I know it's costing me more to buy food these days. Gas is higher too, but doesn't seem to be near that national average people rant about on the newscasts. Oil prices are at near record levels lately so that we might expect some big increases there sometime soon. That would be particularly true if war breaks out in Europe. Not that we get much oil from them, but still. I fill up about once a month so that the price could double and I'd say ouch, but it would not break the budget as it might for people who actually work for a living and need to drive their SUV's to get there.
My lifestyle has not change much due to the pandemic. I never did interact with the community very much and that's how it stayed when we were all being attacked by that virus. Since I was already retired I didn't have to worry about being healthy enough to go to work, nor did I care much about the cost of getting places. It seems that the supply chain problem is worse today than it was at the height of the pandemic. And, I too have noticed that the big chain stores are the ones suffering the most. The small stores and shops must use a different supply chain. I've not stopped to calculate it but I know it's costing me more to buy food these days. Gas is higher too, but doesn't seem to be near that national average people rant about on the newscasts. Oil prices are at near record levels lately so that we might expect some big increases there sometime soon. That would be particularly true if war breaks out in Europe. Not that we get much oil from them, but still. I fill up about once a month so that the price could double and I'd say ouch, but it would not break the budget as it might for people who actually work for a living and need to drive their SUV's to get there.
Re: Windows 12
It is one of the best ways to pay for the things you wanted.
Think about how you can monetize it, then dig up a few clients.
The hard part is coming up with the money to buy it in the first place, unless you do the job using lesser tools first.
Mine hasn't either. I get up, eat, take my medications, do my nebulizer treatment, suck up some O2, then head up to my office, where I stay all day, except for going down to the house for lunch and dinner.
I used to say I was in my office every day from 8 am until 9 pm. But lately, I'm not making it up here until 9 am.
I only put about 20 miles a month on my car, some months 40, it depends on how the doctors appointments line up for me.
Think about how you can monetize it, then dig up a few clients.
The hard part is coming up with the money to buy it in the first place, unless you do the job using lesser tools first.
Mine hasn't either. I get up, eat, take my medications, do my nebulizer treatment, suck up some O2, then head up to my office, where I stay all day, except for going down to the house for lunch and dinner.
I used to say I was in my office every day from 8 am until 9 pm. But lately, I'm not making it up here until 9 am.
I only put about 20 miles a month on my car, some months 40, it depends on how the doctors appointments line up for me.
Re: Windows 12
It looks like the war in Europe got underway during the night so that we will see just how high gasoline prices can go. If you only put on 20-40 miles a month that means a tank should last you well past the end of civilization as we know it today.
I used to get up at 5 AM when I worked at Motorola. I had to be on the road by 6 AM so that I could be at my desk by 7 AM. Driving the expressways at that time of the day was not too crazy but I made the trip back home during rush hours. There are no such things as expressways during rush hours. You would think when I retired that my sleep cycle would have changed. It did slightly, by about half an hour. I still wake up between 5 - 5:30 AM regardless of when I go to bed. If I sleep in much longer, that is how I know I am sick, or got way more exercise than normal the day before. There is no reason I need to be up so early other than the fact that it has become the norm. As the years go by the switch to daylight savings time really plays havoc on my system. It never used to be that way when I worked. I had a lot more activities on any given day than I do down here in Missouri. There literally is nothing for me to do or maintain here. I can deal with the inactivity, but I think my body would be in a lot better shape if I had a forest and a chain saw to play with. LOL
I used to get up at 5 AM when I worked at Motorola. I had to be on the road by 6 AM so that I could be at my desk by 7 AM. Driving the expressways at that time of the day was not too crazy but I made the trip back home during rush hours. There are no such things as expressways during rush hours. You would think when I retired that my sleep cycle would have changed. It did slightly, by about half an hour. I still wake up between 5 - 5:30 AM regardless of when I go to bed. If I sleep in much longer, that is how I know I am sick, or got way more exercise than normal the day before. There is no reason I need to be up so early other than the fact that it has become the norm. As the years go by the switch to daylight savings time really plays havoc on my system. It never used to be that way when I worked. I had a lot more activities on any given day than I do down here in Missouri. There literally is nothing for me to do or maintain here. I can deal with the inactivity, but I think my body would be in a lot better shape if I had a forest and a chain saw to play with. LOL
Re: Windows 12
I had an old truck back home, kept it in my garage. I had plans on restoring it but never did.
I could only put gas in it to fire it up about once every 3 months.
And even then, I didn't put gas in the tank which I had emptied.
Just used a gallon jug I hooked the feed line to carburetor to.
Even then, the gas in the float bowls turned to varnish if I didn't run it at least once every three months, hi hi.
I hear ya, when I worked in downtown St. Louis, I had to get to work an hour early, because if I didn't, I would always be 15 minutes to a half hour late, due to traffic. Since I would get right to work when I arrived, the boss finally started letting me take off work at 4:30 instead of 5:30 so I was ahead of the traffic by a little bit, but after the school traffic. Seems most folks who worked in the city got off at 5 pm. Unless it was a day when we had meetings that didn't let out until around 5:30 pm.
I have never liked DST, drives me nuts. Still does! And technically it is no longer needed. Kids no longer work in the fields.
I could only put gas in it to fire it up about once every 3 months.
And even then, I didn't put gas in the tank which I had emptied.
Just used a gallon jug I hooked the feed line to carburetor to.
Even then, the gas in the float bowls turned to varnish if I didn't run it at least once every three months, hi hi.
I hear ya, when I worked in downtown St. Louis, I had to get to work an hour early, because if I didn't, I would always be 15 minutes to a half hour late, due to traffic. Since I would get right to work when I arrived, the boss finally started letting me take off work at 4:30 instead of 5:30 so I was ahead of the traffic by a little bit, but after the school traffic. Seems most folks who worked in the city got off at 5 pm. Unless it was a day when we had meetings that didn't let out until around 5:30 pm.
I have never liked DST, drives me nuts. Still does! And technically it is no longer needed. Kids no longer work in the fields.
Re: Windows 12
Yep, there is a lot of discussion about the necessity of DST. It all started down on the farm, so to speak, but in today's world it's about business standards and the financial repercussions. There has been some talk about eliminating it but that would put us out of sync with the rest of the world. In that case the effects on business transactions would be more obvious, especially when it comes to air travel. I'm pretty sure I can adapt to not having to change the clocks in my house twice a year. Unfortunately not everyone is so flexible.
I used to do a lot of my own maintenance on our automobiles. One time I decided to see if different brands of gasoline really made any difference in performance. The long and the short of the story is that it didn't make a lot of difference, but one brand in particular gummed up the carburetor within a matter of ten days or so. That was Shell gasoline which I don't even see here in Missouri. Mobile turned out to be the best if I used their high priced premium version. They kept telling me that all that extra octane didn't do anything, which might be correct. But the carburetor never showed any signs of varnish and the cars ran a heck of a lot smoother. Today's cars are not as sensitive to brand or octane because of the computers built in to take care of any variations. That and the anti pollution devices eliminated any benefits to the type of fuel used.
I used to do a lot of my own maintenance on our automobiles. One time I decided to see if different brands of gasoline really made any difference in performance. The long and the short of the story is that it didn't make a lot of difference, but one brand in particular gummed up the carburetor within a matter of ten days or so. That was Shell gasoline which I don't even see here in Missouri. Mobile turned out to be the best if I used their high priced premium version. They kept telling me that all that extra octane didn't do anything, which might be correct. But the carburetor never showed any signs of varnish and the cars ran a heck of a lot smoother. Today's cars are not as sensitive to brand or octane because of the computers built in to take care of any variations. That and the anti pollution devices eliminated any benefits to the type of fuel used.
Re: Windows 12
Business communications, airlines, trains, broadcast stations, etc. are all based on UTC aka Greenwich Mean Time.
Its the only thing we used in Ham Radio communications too, except for local chit chat.
And our computer clocks are all based on UTC as well. This is why we have TZDATA to correct it to our current local time.
Mobile is all we used in our fleet of trucks and most of us in our cars.
But my muscle cars I usually ran Sunoco where I could blend my own ratios.
On race day, I always used Sunoco 260 straight.
Most of the Sunoco stations around us had the dial a blend pumps, which was great.
The ONLY gas none of us would buy EVER, was LION Gas.
LION gas was the leftover chemicals from Monsanto and made to burn with additives.
You could always tell when someone was using LION gas, because if the tromped down on the gas pedal, orange smoke would blow out of the tailpipe, hi hi. It was probably toxic and cancerous too, hi hi.
Now Peabody Coal Company used to have tall towers of Coal Tar Gas, it was around 88 octane.
The price they charged for a gallon of gas varied with how full their tanks were.
It was only like 15 to 20 cents when near full, about 1/4 of the way down it jumped up to 25 cents, at half full it was 30 cents, and at 1/4 full it jumped up to 40 cents, then at 1/8th full it was 50 cents, which was more than gas at a station.
Although they had been selling if for years, some law about storing a gasoline like substance above ground became outlawed.
So they quit selling gas and converted the tanks to like a fuel oil grade for furnaces. Probably a good thing too! That stuff was heck on car engines, had to change the plugs quite often if you used it, because the would build up carbon on the ends of the plugs real quick.
Its the only thing we used in Ham Radio communications too, except for local chit chat.
And our computer clocks are all based on UTC as well. This is why we have TZDATA to correct it to our current local time.
Mobile is all we used in our fleet of trucks and most of us in our cars.
But my muscle cars I usually ran Sunoco where I could blend my own ratios.
On race day, I always used Sunoco 260 straight.
Most of the Sunoco stations around us had the dial a blend pumps, which was great.
The ONLY gas none of us would buy EVER, was LION Gas.
LION gas was the leftover chemicals from Monsanto and made to burn with additives.
You could always tell when someone was using LION gas, because if the tromped down on the gas pedal, orange smoke would blow out of the tailpipe, hi hi. It was probably toxic and cancerous too, hi hi.
Now Peabody Coal Company used to have tall towers of Coal Tar Gas, it was around 88 octane.
The price they charged for a gallon of gas varied with how full their tanks were.
It was only like 15 to 20 cents when near full, about 1/4 of the way down it jumped up to 25 cents, at half full it was 30 cents, and at 1/4 full it jumped up to 40 cents, then at 1/8th full it was 50 cents, which was more than gas at a station.
Although they had been selling if for years, some law about storing a gasoline like substance above ground became outlawed.
So they quit selling gas and converted the tanks to like a fuel oil grade for furnaces. Probably a good thing too! That stuff was heck on car engines, had to change the plugs quite often if you used it, because the would build up carbon on the ends of the plugs real quick.
Re: Windows 12
Seems like I've seen a Sunoco gas station in my travels around Missouri. None are in the town were I live but apparently the company is still in business. Back in Chicago before Exxon monopolized the market Sunoco was pretty common. I liked the dial-a-blend feature but I don't think I ever used the top end blend. It was too expensive.
We didn't have Lion gas up north but we did have what must have been a subsidiary of that company, i.e., Clark gas. It was truly amazing stuff in the sense it was so bad. My cars would run rough and they would smoke black soot much of the time. But, they were the cheapest gas you could find in almost all cases. They still were thriving when I left Illinois, and I can't imagine why. It might have been cheap at the pump but the maintenance on the car's engine had to be a killer.
Speaking of gasoline, I was out shopping today. The last time I bought gas must have been two weeks ago. It was something like $2.60 a gallon. Today the price is $3.45 a gallon. That's about a 30% increase in two weeks. As you must know it's not all due to inflation; about half of that increase occurred this past week.
We didn't have Lion gas up north but we did have what must have been a subsidiary of that company, i.e., Clark gas. It was truly amazing stuff in the sense it was so bad. My cars would run rough and they would smoke black soot much of the time. But, they were the cheapest gas you could find in almost all cases. They still were thriving when I left Illinois, and I can't imagine why. It might have been cheap at the pump but the maintenance on the car's engine had to be a killer.
Speaking of gasoline, I was out shopping today. The last time I bought gas must have been two weeks ago. It was something like $2.60 a gallon. Today the price is $3.45 a gallon. That's about a 30% increase in two weeks. As you must know it's not all due to inflation; about half of that increase occurred this past week.
Re: Windows 12
I haven't seen a Sunoco station in years.
Down here we don't have a lot of choices. BP, Kroger, Shell, Express, and a few others, but it all comes from the same refinery.
There is one place that still sells normal gasoline with no alcohol in it, and when we first moved down here, they still carried leaded for some of the historical cars, and for lawn mowers. But then they had to discontinue it.
Although they are expensive, they do a big business, but mostly from the antique car buffs, of which there are a lot of older show cars around here. A show every weekend somewhere during the summer months.
I remember Clark gas too. Mostly their jingle, Go to your Clark, Go to your Clark, Clark Service Stations, hi hi.
But I wouldn't put any in my cars. That was another one that fouled plugs really fast, hi hi.
Mostly I used Mobil gasoline. And Sunoco on race days, hi hi.
Down here we don't have a lot of choices. BP, Kroger, Shell, Express, and a few others, but it all comes from the same refinery.
There is one place that still sells normal gasoline with no alcohol in it, and when we first moved down here, they still carried leaded for some of the historical cars, and for lawn mowers. But then they had to discontinue it.
Although they are expensive, they do a big business, but mostly from the antique car buffs, of which there are a lot of older show cars around here. A show every weekend somewhere during the summer months.
I remember Clark gas too. Mostly their jingle, Go to your Clark, Go to your Clark, Clark Service Stations, hi hi.
But I wouldn't put any in my cars. That was another one that fouled plugs really fast, hi hi.
Mostly I used Mobil gasoline. And Sunoco on race days, hi hi.
Re: Windows 12
There used to be dozens of brands for gasoline when I first got my driver's license. Chicago is a big place and I suspect they were sourced from several different refineries. A lot of those stations apparently were independent in that the prices varied widely. Price wars between stations located within sight of each other were common. I'm pretty sure that I was able to get gas for 19 cents a gallon, or maybe less during those war games. It wasn't very long after I got my license that things changed. All those independent stations were banished. Exxon, which was really Standard Oil if I recall correctly, and one or two other companies took over the Chicago metropolitan area and most of Illinois. No more gas wars after that because the parent company determined the prices. Standard (later changed to Amaco then BP Exxon) lead the group followed by Mobile and Shell. The only company not part of the monopoly was Clark which is still around and mixed in with those other guys. This take over did in fact stabilize prices but effectively eliminated any competition. There are a few places like WalMart who stand defiant, but I'm betting they get their gasoline from the Exxon refineries.
When I bought a new grass cutter down here in O'Fallon it came with a 3 year warranty. Two things impressed me about that machine. First of all it never needs it's engine oil to be changed. I know of at least one guy who does change it, but there is no drain plug like other machines. The second feature was that the warranty only was valid if you used non-alcohol mixed gasoline. They told me "a few" places around here sell it, but the closest station my friend Google could find was something like 30 miles away. There were a few others even further. It just so happens that the dealer could sell me fuel that was prepackaged and made specifically for the grass cutter. I don't recall the exact price but it was more than $20 for a gallon can.
Well, I never did follow the rules nor recommendations for my power tools. For example they said I need to drain the gas from the engine when I store it over winter. I think they also wanted me to remove the spark plug and squirt some oil in the cylinder and crank it a few times. I'm sure that is all good practice, but a PITA. I left the gas in the engine and never had problems starting it in the spring. The other thing I've been told by several service people is that the gasoline needs to be fresh. That is to say no older than thirty days old. It deteriorates and in no good after that. Well, I have yet to figure out what exactly deteriorates because old gasoline works just as well on my equipment as does new gasoline. Then, too, I only use high octane Mobile for those engines. Maybe that's the secret.
When I bought a new grass cutter down here in O'Fallon it came with a 3 year warranty. Two things impressed me about that machine. First of all it never needs it's engine oil to be changed. I know of at least one guy who does change it, but there is no drain plug like other machines. The second feature was that the warranty only was valid if you used non-alcohol mixed gasoline. They told me "a few" places around here sell it, but the closest station my friend Google could find was something like 30 miles away. There were a few others even further. It just so happens that the dealer could sell me fuel that was prepackaged and made specifically for the grass cutter. I don't recall the exact price but it was more than $20 for a gallon can.
Well, I never did follow the rules nor recommendations for my power tools. For example they said I need to drain the gas from the engine when I store it over winter. I think they also wanted me to remove the spark plug and squirt some oil in the cylinder and crank it a few times. I'm sure that is all good practice, but a PITA. I left the gas in the engine and never had problems starting it in the spring. The other thing I've been told by several service people is that the gasoline needs to be fresh. That is to say no older than thirty days old. It deteriorates and in no good after that. Well, I have yet to figure out what exactly deteriorates because old gasoline works just as well on my equipment as does new gasoline. Then, too, I only use high octane Mobile for those engines. Maybe that's the secret.
Re: Windows 12
After I got my drivers license, gas was up to around 26 cents and climbing.
However, I took a road trip, went to Denver, and while driving through Kansas, I hit the strangest thing.
Self-service pumps out in the middle of nowhere, that took quarters, dimes, and nickels.
Most of them did say owned and operated by Cities Service, gas was 15 cents a gallon.
It was years later that I found out why. Cities Service had an underground gas line, apparently low pressure, and I don't think the pumps used electric to run, or at least they didn't seem to.
My next trip out west was only like 3 years later and they were all gone.
I've had many gasoline powered hand-held devices, and the gas did go bad in most of them over the winter.
Couldn't get them to start, so dumped out the old gas and put in new, and after a few pulls, they fired right up.
A cousin who was in the lawn maintenance business, when he had some hand-held equipment that didn't seem to be running quite right, or sluggish, he would add about 5 to 10% white gas to the tank, along with the gas that was in it. They ran like a top after that. I think white gas has an octane rating of about 150 or higher, which is why he used so little.
Gas that has been stored, has an additive in it to keep it from going bad.
Nevertheless, when gas goes bad, it has the most awful smell to it.
However, I took a road trip, went to Denver, and while driving through Kansas, I hit the strangest thing.
Self-service pumps out in the middle of nowhere, that took quarters, dimes, and nickels.
Most of them did say owned and operated by Cities Service, gas was 15 cents a gallon.
It was years later that I found out why. Cities Service had an underground gas line, apparently low pressure, and I don't think the pumps used electric to run, or at least they didn't seem to.
My next trip out west was only like 3 years later and they were all gone.
I've had many gasoline powered hand-held devices, and the gas did go bad in most of them over the winter.
Couldn't get them to start, so dumped out the old gas and put in new, and after a few pulls, they fired right up.
A cousin who was in the lawn maintenance business, when he had some hand-held equipment that didn't seem to be running quite right, or sluggish, he would add about 5 to 10% white gas to the tank, along with the gas that was in it. They ran like a top after that. I think white gas has an octane rating of about 150 or higher, which is why he used so little.
Gas that has been stored, has an additive in it to keep it from going bad.
Nevertheless, when gas goes bad, it has the most awful smell to it.
Re: Windows 12
OK, I wasn't 100% honest in my recounting of old gasoline. For most of my life all those hand held gasoline powered devices and the lawn mower were 2-cycle engines. Even with fresh gas some of those babies were difficult to manage. Once in a while I did in fact have trouble starting an engine after a winter's worth of idle time. After some experimentation I learned two tricks. One is to mix (about 10%) Gumout with the old gas in the over wintered machine. If that didn't help then starting fluid always did help. I don't know that the Gumout did more than clean the innards, but once the engines fired up with the ether spayed into them, fluids started to flow. It's entirely possible that I had some old gas that was deteriorated in those machines, but I was able to start them every time using the described techniques.
They changed to using 4 cycle engines a couple years before I moved. I only had a snow blower and a wood chipper with 4-cycle engines when I left town. Those engines were and are today very reliable and always start after being dormant for a while. The mower I have now takes one or two pulls to get things started during the normal part of the season. The first time I try in spring it may take 3-4 pulls. That's it for hard starting. But, I have a feeling that some day I won't be so lucky and the gasoline will turn into jelly before I get things going in the spring. So far I've been lucky, I guess.
They changed to using 4 cycle engines a couple years before I moved. I only had a snow blower and a wood chipper with 4-cycle engines when I left town. Those engines were and are today very reliable and always start after being dormant for a while. The mower I have now takes one or two pulls to get things started during the normal part of the season. The first time I try in spring it may take 3-4 pulls. That's it for hard starting. But, I have a feeling that some day I won't be so lucky and the gasoline will turn into jelly before I get things going in the spring. So far I've been lucky, I guess.
Re: Windows 12
Down here DST was implemented in 1997 as a consequence of NAFTA. So, all of my childhood and school years were without it, and most of my work years have been with it. I got used to think about it only regarding to clock time and take it easy on the transition week, so no big issues, and that became reinforced when due to work travel I had to shift time zones several more times a year. I try to not care a lot about it all, but it would be better for everybody if we all don't have to pass through the transitions unless necessary. Anyway, here in Mexico City if we don't take into account DST, it never dawns before 5:48 and sunset is never after 19:15, and recently, instead of having to wait to mid march for full spring bloom, now the temperature feeling of spring bloom begins in the first half of february.
Re: Windows 12
In recent years it seems as if winter has shifted by about one month. The coldest months here up north have been Dec, Jan, and Feb. Now and days the coldest months seem to be Jan, Feb, and Mar. Nobody has a good explanation for the shift but that has been the pattern for about ten years now. The contrast between winter and summer was much greater when I lived up near Chicago compared to down here by St Louis. One of the first indications of spring is the activity of the birds. Seeing the first robin of the season was a good sign as far as the weather goes, but that generally didn't happen while there was snow on the ground. Here in Missouri the robins have been active for nearly a month now, and the last of the snow will be melting today. Thus nature seems to act differently depending on the geographic location.
I could be wrong about this but it seems to me that the effects of DST would be less profound in Mexico City compared to Chicago, for example. As I already noted the contrast between the seasons is greater as you more away from the equator. If you go far enough north, you will not see daylight for several weeks during the winter. Down by Mexico City I would think the daylight is relatively constant all year long. I know the sun appears to rise approximately 23 degrees north of the equator during summer and 23 degrees south during winter. Thus an arc of about 45 degrees defines where in the sky the sun appears to rise. Mexico City is much closer to the center of that arc than is Chicago, and that is why I suspect DST is less of a factor. And, Juan, your comment about NAFTA requirements is the main reason there is such a thing as DST in these modern times. It's just a means to keep everybody on the same schedule, more or less.
I could be wrong about this but it seems to me that the effects of DST would be less profound in Mexico City compared to Chicago, for example. As I already noted the contrast between the seasons is greater as you more away from the equator. If you go far enough north, you will not see daylight for several weeks during the winter. Down by Mexico City I would think the daylight is relatively constant all year long. I know the sun appears to rise approximately 23 degrees north of the equator during summer and 23 degrees south during winter. Thus an arc of about 45 degrees defines where in the sky the sun appears to rise. Mexico City is much closer to the center of that arc than is Chicago, and that is why I suspect DST is less of a factor. And, Juan, your comment about NAFTA requirements is the main reason there is such a thing as DST in these modern times. It's just a means to keep everybody on the same schedule, more or less.
Re: Windows 12
When I was a kid, it was really cold at the end of October, and we often had snow by the end of November and sledding season was underway. By December the ponds were frozen over so we could go ice skating. Things were much warmer by the end of January, but still freezing nights.
As I got older, I noticed sledding now didn't start until mid-December, but we still couldn't go ice skating until late December.
Add to that another decade and we were wearing coats in February.
And another decade later, often coats were still needed in March.
Moved south and on average it is ten degrees warmer down here, but they saw the shift also.
We had freezing nights all last week, with highs of 48 to 50. This week we are seeing highs of 55 and perhaps by mid-month it will be up in the 60s or higher.
I do know farmers have shifted their planting schedules up by almost a whole month from what it was 20 years ago.
I still hate DST no matter what the reason they still keep it.
As I got older, I noticed sledding now didn't start until mid-December, but we still couldn't go ice skating until late December.
Add to that another decade and we were wearing coats in February.
And another decade later, often coats were still needed in March.
Moved south and on average it is ten degrees warmer down here, but they saw the shift also.
We had freezing nights all last week, with highs of 48 to 50. This week we are seeing highs of 55 and perhaps by mid-month it will be up in the 60s or higher.
I do know farmers have shifted their planting schedules up by almost a whole month from what it was 20 years ago.
I still hate DST no matter what the reason they still keep it.