It is tough going vintage everyday.

[Edward]

Edward, when we lived in London many moons ago there was a fabulous shop on the Deptford High Street called 'The Semiconductor Archives' (if I remember rightly), that specialised in obsolete valves, amps, etc. I wonder if it's still there?

Qjuite possibly... off my stamping ground, I'm afraid. Looks like it, though...

Looks like it's still there.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=48+D...=us&ei=qBJXUpT9D4f7iwL6u4CwCQ&ved=0CC4Q8gEwAA

... the irony is that I need someone to repair a DAB radio - it's the new standard, and noone does it. If only I could pick up the digital signal on a valvey...

Come the apocalypse, masters of business administration will be begging for crusts, and carpenters and mechanics will rule the world.

And the lawyersw you shall have with you always.

 

[rue]

As the infrastructure left behind by the Era continues to deteriorate, the only real practical alternative for those of us left behind is to learn to do as much as possible for ourselves. There's no one around here who does clothing alterations, so I do them myself if they need to be done. There's no one around here who services tube-type radios or television sets, so I learned to do it myself. The phone company doesn't hook up your telephone anymore, so I learned to do it myself. There are no fix-it shops for household appliances, so I learned to do it myself. You can't get a grease job done on a car at a quickie-lube place, so I learned to do it myself. And on and on.

I have to drive fifty miles to the nearest shoe repair place to get new rubber heels put on or half-soling done, so I'm learning to do that myself. We have a watch repair guy locally, but frankly he isn't all that good. While I've learned to clean and maintain my clocks myself, I don't see well enough to do watch repair, so I'm stuck with him. Likewise I had to go to a professional engine rebuilder to get my car overhauled because I don't have the tools or the physical strength to do the job myself.

But in most cases, self-reliance is the key. Unless you live in a big city with lots of specialized resources and can afford to pay big-city prices for this kind of work, the best solution is learning to do as much of it as you possibly can for yourself.

Lizzie is exactly right. If you can't find anyone to do the work for you, then you have to figure it out on your own. We have the internet at our hands as a replacement for teaching us and manuals and videos for things like sewing machines and refrigerator repair, etc. There's no reason you can't do it yourself. My old 1800s Singer is running smoothly now thanks to finding a manual and extra parts online and now I can fix my dresses all by myself

 

[jamespowers]

Lizzie is exactly right. If you can't find anyone to do the work for you, then you have to figure it out on your own. We have the internet at our hands as a replacement for teaching us and manuals and videos for things like sewing machines and refrigerator repair, etc. There's no reason you can't do it yourself. My old 1800s Singer is running smoothly now thanks to finding a manual and extra parts online and now I can fix my dresses all by myself

Exactly. After paying the dunce appliance repair guy $140 twice to do the same repair, I checked it out on the internet and they had a video on how to do it yourself with a $16 part. lol lol The dunce who fixed it twice didn't replace all that was necessary so of course it didn't last. Moron. :doh: