Teenagers Pah

Teenagers where do you start ? Well I guess we all had to be one at one point, but things have changed a lot since I was one.

For a start teenagers these days seem to be a lot more image conscious, how they look is important to them.... In my day you just threw on a pair of jeans some trainers wet your hair down and that was as good as it got, so today's image conscious teenager is purely a product of media pressure of how to look.

I also think teenagers today are a lot more self centred, I'm probably not very qualified to comment on all of this because at 16 I was in the Army and under a very different type of social order which was very disciplined and ordered, but to be honest I couldn't be a teenager these days, life seems over complicated for them, mostly their own doing I might add, what with social media, phones, computers that instant fix they get where each and every one of their friends can contact them at a moments notice in real time.

I think that puts a fair amount of unneeded pressure on them again all their own doing....

I'll give you an example I could turn off FOMOteens internet right now and within seconds he'd be in here saying "Internet is off"....that would be the limit of his conversation about the subject or the other favourite one is "my download is really slow".... but that's mainly because I throttle his connection or he'd quite happily take it all 24/7 and not give a thought to anybody else using the internet......

I'd have no sympathy of course because his life revolves around the internet, he's spent all weekend since Friday afternoon online solid (it's Sunday afternoon now)  actually that's not entirely true he did come downstairs with his phone surgically attached to him once and sat with us but his face was crooked over pawing at his phone like a demented baboon in case he missed some mind blowing event online......and of course there are the refuelling stops for food and drink, but like a ninja he spends very little time on the mission, get in get food get out.....

Sometimes he turns his phone to us and says look at this ..... and we are subjected to some mind numbing banality which apparently passes for humour.

I sometimes despair at today's youth, their lives and minds instead of being expanded by technology have been narrowed to the point of bite sized drivel spoon fed to them by the likes of youtube, facebook, twitter or some other social media platform.... I do not think it's healthy one little bit.

To be fair to FOMOteen he's doing very well at school so I shouldn't complain but bloody hell get out in the real world and do something REAL !!!!

As for the other teenagers I come into contact with where I work well lets just say in the most part respect isn't part of their world, a prime example of that is opening a door before they do and they assume you're opening it for them and they come barging through......ONE of my pet hates about teenagers, they are completely in their own world anything on the periphery is of no importance to them, until it gets in their face.....

I've learnt though.....I ignore them and just carry on walking as if they aren't there, basic physics takes over at the point in that I am the larger mass therefore my kinetic energy is transferred to them, and do you know what over the weeks I've been employing this non verbal method of teaching them manners I see the same faces going for the door, then them seeing me and knowing I'm an immovable and much higher mass object and they give way......

but sadly it's not through manners it's purely through not wanting to bounce off me again in front of their yolo swag friends.......

I've got to be honest I tolerate teenagers but I have a very low boiling point with them, I much prefer when they've grown up a bit and become more aware of the world around them instead of the self absorbed years parents have to endure......

Things that will make steam blow from my ears with teenagers......

A) Disrespecting an Adult (guaranteed thermonuclear uncontrolled detonation)
B) Assuming they deserve respect for simply existing having done nothing to deserve it
C) Trying to negotiate (pointless in my eyes, rules are rules)
D) Tantrums (2 year olds do tantrums, do a tantrum with me in your teen years it'll be your last)


Other than that teenagers are really cool dudes man.......cough

Garmin 205 or 305 battery replacement

These GPS running watches are easy to repair/refurbish as long as you catch any watch that starts to play up soon enough.....

both of these watches are basically the same design except on has extra circuitry for the heart monitor, but physically the cases are the same. Garmin charge £50 (ish) to get a refurbished watch back, which I think is far too much to pay when all you might need is a damn good clean out and/or a new battery

The battery you need is the same one/similar to the ipod mini battery, just do a search on ebay and you'll find one the last one I ordered cost an horrendous £2.79 all in including postage

all you'll need is a thin bladed screwdriver or a penknife or in some cases where the glue Garmin use has degraded with sweat/water ingress ....your fingernails will do. 

I've found the best angle of attack if you're right handed is to try the bottom left or right of the watch just above the buttons you'll see a seam, that is where the unit splits apart, if you can get your thumbnail in there and it starts to split open, it doesn't take very much pressure to get it apart.....

Once inside you'll see where the top part electrically joins to the bottom part by spring loaded contacts, don't worry when you pull the watch apart they are two units and are separate items and are not connected by any thin wires or ribbon cables.

Once apart you can prise off the battery as it's only glued down with a blob of glue, be careful though because the battery (obviously) is attached by wires to the base of the unit, I usually cut the wires off quite close to the battery as this gives you plenty of wire to play with when fitting the new battery and there is enough space inside the case to contain the extra wire.

The new battery fitting may require you to snap off a few bits of plastic underneath where the battery sits, as the new battery is just a tad larger than the old one.

You'll need a soldering iron to do the job probably because simply twisting the wires together will not last with the movement of the watch over time, once soldered together you MUST insulated them against each other, they mustn't touch...I use a bit of insulating tape to separate them and tuck them down by the side of the new battery.....

take a look at the contacts on the top of the Garmin shell and the bottom make sure they are clean and do not have corrosion (see picture)

                            bottom of Garmin

If you have corrosion like this and it's not too bad you can clean it up  with a small paintbrush and some toilet limescale remover (it's acid basically) but make sure you wipe off and wipe down with a cotton bud and water to remove the acid afterwards, and dry it thoroughly afterwards....you MUST neutralize the acid !!! 

The one above wasn't too bad I removed the tarnish with a very dilute solution and an artists paintbrush, make sure the contacts in the other top part of the shell are clean as well, I've even used a toothbrush to get the worst of it off, but be careful with the top contacts they are quite delicate.....

                              top of Garmin

as you can see the 2nd & 3rd pin on this Garmin are tarnished through sweat/water ingress.

Also check the tiny speaker which is glued to the bottom of the Garmin shell, if it's badly damaged/corroded, simply clip/cut the wires and remove it and then insulate the wires with tape and tuck them under the battery, not many people miss the beep and for £11 (ish) for a new speaker its simple not worth replacing. once you've removed the battery, you'll have to seal the holes the sound escapes from normally to stop any more water/sweat getting into the device. (more on that later)

Once you're happy everything is cleaned up 

Clean the mating surfaces of the Garmin both top and bottom, clearing out all the old glue, as much as you can anyway, I use a small flat-bladed screwdriver which is  good enough for that job, take care not to cut into any of the circuitry of the lower part of the Garmin whilst doing this.....

once you're happy push the two surfaces together and hold between your thumb and finger and turn on your Garmin, the new battery should have enough life in it to fire it up as Lithium Ion batteries are always partially charged when you get them.

Once you're happy the battery connection is good and the watch seems to function as intended you're good to go onto the next stage.

Sealing the Garmin....

I've found that using a wooden toothpick/cocktail stick and clear bathroom sealant works best but you of course can use anything you like as long as it's waterproof, something like Araldyte but it's unlikely you will ever get it apart again with as much ease as the cuckoo spit glue Garmin seems to be using (joke).... stay away from plastic glues (airfix type) they are not water resistant over time.....and they don't adhere to the type of plastic the Garmin is made of...... contact adhesive is also not a good idea, it's too gelatinous to apply and you'll end up making a right mess of the joint.

Apply enough sealant to form a good seal all the way around the garmin, try not to allow the sealant to drip over the buttons inside the shell.... for obvious reasons...... it doesn't however matter if some of the sealant comes out of the sides you can always wipe off with a damp cloth once you clamped the Garmin together. 

if you've removed a corroded battery you'll need to put a blob of sealant over the holes and press it in with your finger so that it completely seals the holes, ideally you want to see it come out of the other side to ensure a water tight seal.

as for clamping the Garmin together you can use anything, several clothes pegs, insulating tape, a g-clamp, a vice even  ...whatever just do not apply too much pressure....just enough to push the two parts together and keep them there.

leave it to dry for 24 hours, (don't rush it) unclamp and you're good to go :)

obviously give your Garmin a full charge several hours should do ......as the new battery is much higher capacity than the 720mAh Garmin one you've removed. 

Happy Running :)

ps/ Obviously if you do this to a watch which is in warranty you'll lose your warranty, goes without saying........

Well Well Well

I've just been contacted by somebody on facebook who pretty ruined my life back in 1982 along with my then wife Deborah Brabrook.....I'd just been posted to West Germany to a place called Celle, well to be more precise Sheuen near Celle.

My new wife at the time Deborah and I couldn't get married accommodation or married quarters in Celle, so a Soldier I'd befriended whilst at Celle offered to share his flat for us to stay at so we could be together as a married couple.

Great I thought we can be together at last.......

How wrong I was, my "Christian" wife at the time (spawn of satan damaged goods more like)  Deborah who was over the moon at being reunited with her loved one ....."me" allegedly...  .....decided within a few weeks...........to sleep with the very same friend who I had arranged to stay at his flat.... his wife "Sarah" knew nothing about it......neither did I until she (Deborah) weirdly confessed.....

Needless to say she didn't stop there she went through quite a few "soldiers" whilst I was posted there, I think the term is a dose of salts.....lets put it this way far too many to count on two hands...and quite a few after I left the army .....why I didn't dump her then I have no idea, I suppose I had this hard wired brain at the time that marriage was forever.... 

But had I dumped her then....I wouldn't have had two beautiful daughters much later in life...and yes they are mine, despite her many indiscretions....  so everything has a silver lining I guess if only to produce two wonderful daughters which I will never regret.....

Anyway.....

So fast forward 30 odd years and up pops the bloke I had thought as my friend all those years ago .....his first words were ..........."I apologise.....it's Paddy" that's all I needed ............ Sorry.....he was sorry ......it had obviously burned into his conscious all these years later..........

that meant WAY  more to me than 22 years of marriage to my first wife.......he was sorry he'd screwed over a friendship over a mere wife............


after all these years later.........amazing ..........


Paddy I salute you !!!!

ps/ I never once got an apology off my ex wife for anything.....she was after all perfect (in her eyes)