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stupid, stupid, stupid -- part II

  • Thread starter William Sommerwerck
  • Start date
W

William Sommerwerck

Jan 1, 1970
0
Following up on Arfa's self-mockery...

The Sony D-FJ75TR is a classic Discman. A very-low-drain two-AA-cell player
that runs about 25 hours on high-capacity NiMH cells, it can be literally
slammed into a soft surface without skipping -- and that's with the skip
protection turned off! Its remote control -- about the volume of the average
person's thumb -- includes an excellent AM/stereo-FM digital tuner, a model
of modern miniaturization. (If you come across one, treat yourself to the
pleasure of opening it up and inspecting it.) It even has a hybrid mini jack
with electrical and optical outputs.

The D-FJ75TR was perhaps the last of Sony's "really good" Discmans. I've
therefore collected spares. A recent eBay auction had one for $10, including
the remote control (the unit's best feature, and often missing). With
shipping, I got it for $16.50. * The seller said the tuner wouldn't
auto-program, but he was wrong -- it worked fine. (The manual is thoroughly
confusing.)

Anyhow...

After stepping outside to program the tuner with Seattle's stations, I
brought it back in and set it on my desk. Or so I thought. When I left for
Intel Monday morning, I couldn't find it. I spent a few minutes looking,
then gave up and left. It gnawed at me all week, and the first thing I did
when coming home Saturday was to search for it. Did I actually leave it on
the stairs? Or in the garage? Perhaps it was under the pile of junk that has
taken over my bed.

The problem wasn't the $16.50 -- or even the loss of the spare parts. It was
the apparent encroaching senility. Why can't I remember where I put things?
**

I'd looked repeatedly on my desk -- where the Discman & remote should have
been -- but couldn't find them. Were they under the pizza pan? Nope.

About an hour ago I decided to have a pizza -- a hearty, stick-to-the-ribs
breakfast. When I lifted a plastic shopping bag off the aforementioned pizza
pan -- there was the Discman and its remote. It was on my desk all along.
The pan was sufficiently warped that the player could "hide" under the bag
where it wouldn't be seen. Naughty Discman -- naughty Discman!

The best advice I can give anyone who's mislaid something is... If you can't
find it in a few minutes, stop looking. It almost always shows up
unexpectedly where you never thought it could be.


* The AC-E455 power supply -- perhaps the most-common wall wart in
existence -- was also included. (I now have a drawerful of them.) Sony made
a universal switching version of this supply. If you want one of either, I
can send you one for $15, shipping included.

** One trick I've learned is to say -- out loud -- "I'm putting object A in
place B" as you do so. And when you find a lost object... Never, never,
NEVER move it until you're ready to put it in its final resting place.
 
N

Nelson

Jan 1, 1970
0
The problem wasn't the $16.50 -- or even the loss of the spare parts. It was
the apparent encroaching senility. Why can't I remember where I put things?
**

A feeling I know all too well :-(
I'd looked repeatedly on my desk -- where the Discman & remote should have
been -- but couldn't find them. Were they under the pizza pan? Nope.

Why are you storing a pizza pan on your desk?
The best advice I can give anyone who's mislaid something is... If you can't
find it in a few minutes, stop looking. It almost always shows up
unexpectedly where you never thought it could be.

Or not :-(. I am currently trying to find a partial denture with a
$1,200 penalty for failure.
 
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