One thing I have learned over the years is with troublesome or new electronics is to be persistent in trying to find faults or solutions to problems.
Giving up at the first problem just isnt on.
In 1980 I was fed up with being a labourer so went to the job centre.
I noticed a training scheme called TOPS (training opportunities scheme.)
So I did the maths entrance exam.
I failed by a few percent.
So went away and swotted up on the things I couldnt do in the exam.
Went back for a resit and passed (just.)
I started the industrial electronics course in July 1980.
On the first day I was looking forward to learning some electronics but got met with another maths exam to make sure we had enough to do the course.
I struggled badly even with some of the basics.
I was given some extra lessons learning maths to catch up.
After my first week studying electronics and maths we did a weekly exam and I barely scraped through.
My tutor said he was worried I wasnt going to make the grade.
One of the other chaps left the course due to problems.
I caught up with the maths and got up to speed with the electronics by also studying in my spare time in the evenings.
After a month or so we did a weekly exam and I was only one to get 100%.
At the end of the year we did city and guilds exam in industrial electronics and I passed with distinctions.
I guess the moral of the story is dont give up.
Just put the effort in and you will eventually get by.
I watch videoe's on youtube about Einstein and other geniuses and some of them got poor exam results early on.
But they kept going and eventually made it to the top.
Giving up at the first problem just isnt on.
In 1980 I was fed up with being a labourer so went to the job centre.
I noticed a training scheme called TOPS (training opportunities scheme.)
So I did the maths entrance exam.
I failed by a few percent.
So went away and swotted up on the things I couldnt do in the exam.
Went back for a resit and passed (just.)
I started the industrial electronics course in July 1980.
On the first day I was looking forward to learning some electronics but got met with another maths exam to make sure we had enough to do the course.
I struggled badly even with some of the basics.
I was given some extra lessons learning maths to catch up.
After my first week studying electronics and maths we did a weekly exam and I barely scraped through.
My tutor said he was worried I wasnt going to make the grade.
One of the other chaps left the course due to problems.
I caught up with the maths and got up to speed with the electronics by also studying in my spare time in the evenings.
After a month or so we did a weekly exam and I was only one to get 100%.
At the end of the year we did city and guilds exam in industrial electronics and I passed with distinctions.
I guess the moral of the story is dont give up.
Just put the effort in and you will eventually get by.
I watch videoe's on youtube about Einstein and other geniuses and some of them got poor exam results early on.
But they kept going and eventually made it to the top.
Somehow I failed my Ordinary Grade arithmetic exam, while passing the maths exam.
I can't explain why. It just doesn't add up! 😊
Unless you have an aptitude for maths, it's a hard slog.
I managed to pass my advanced maths exams with some effort, but only by margins sufficient enough to gain the final qualifications I required.
I didn't make it to the top of the toppermost in my working life, but reached a level at which - very importantly - I felt fulfilled and happy.
I can't explain why. It just doesn't add up! 😊
Unless you have an aptitude for maths, it's a hard slog.
I managed to pass my advanced maths exams with some effort, but only by margins sufficient enough to gain the final qualifications I required.
I didn't make it to the top of the toppermost in my working life, but reached a level at which - very importantly - I felt fulfilled and happy.
Way to go for both of you, and yes, improving self training can only lead to better results.
That you will feel personally better is the cherry on the cake 🙂
That you will feel personally better is the cherry on the cake 🙂
I have a few health problems too.
Cant walk very far or stand for long.
So I design and sell electronics systems.
Used to sell lots of audio modules but eventually found there was too much competition so went into other areas.
Working for myself is good. If I dont want to work I dont and if I am tired and need a rest I can take an hour off for a sleep.
Dont make a fortune but it keeps the brain working.
Cant walk very far or stand for long.
So I design and sell electronics systems.
Used to sell lots of audio modules but eventually found there was too much competition so went into other areas.
Working for myself is good. If I dont want to work I dont and if I am tired and need a rest I can take an hour off for a sleep.
Dont make a fortune but it keeps the brain working.
Yeah, it's that old thing. Put the hammer, saw, keyboard down. Walk away. Drink coffee, do something else. Then go back to it. Rinse and repeat. It's amazing how often an intractable problem has a solution after a break doing something else.
That said, life doesn't always offer those opportunities...
That said, life doesn't always offer those opportunities...
18 months ago I had a bad bout of sciatica caused by jumping over a puddle and landing awkwardly. Bulging discs on L4 and L5. Not bad enough for an operation, it still left me unable to sleep properly and in intense pain for about a month. Thereafter with a distorted walking gait that made some friends ask me if I'd had a stroke. Leg muscle spasms and lower level leg pain. Oddly, I had almost no back pain at all.
Oh, should add I'm 65.
Prior to the puddle I could deadlift twice my bodyweight and do a decent squat too. Post puddle I could barely bend enough to tie my shoes and lifting anything was OOB. There was a point where I really thought the retirement I'd hoped for was over before I'd even started it.
I'm still recovering. It's been a drawn out hellish slog, but I've stuck at doing stretching exercises, walking, cycling, and gym. Gradually, mm by mm I've recovered more than 85% of what I'd lost with that effing puddle. Thank heavens for NSAIDS and a sympathetic physio.
Keep pushing at what you can do, just don't push too hard. Our bodies are still pretty plastic even post 60 and will respond positively but they need constant reminding...
Oh, should add I'm 65.
Prior to the puddle I could deadlift twice my bodyweight and do a decent squat too. Post puddle I could barely bend enough to tie my shoes and lifting anything was OOB. There was a point where I really thought the retirement I'd hoped for was over before I'd even started it.
I'm still recovering. It's been a drawn out hellish slog, but I've stuck at doing stretching exercises, walking, cycling, and gym. Gradually, mm by mm I've recovered more than 85% of what I'd lost with that effing puddle. Thank heavens for NSAIDS and a sympathetic physio.
Keep pushing at what you can do, just don't push too hard. Our bodies are still pretty plastic even post 60 and will respond positively but they need constant reminding...
I remember since I was a kid I started off generally pretty good at maths, with the ideas and concepts. But later on everyone else caught up, and I struggled with a lot of things that just seemed like nonsense to me, especially if it wasn't based on any building blocks that came before, but was just foisted upon us.
Nobody ever showed us how to derive the value of pi. I might've seen square roots shown as the sum of a series ONCE. But it's like at some point it stopped being childish fun, and it became training for a higher (hire?) purpose. I don't know where that negativity came from, but it really slowed me down.
I now look back on other stuff, and think oh wow, I've been passionate about music for most of my life. And some of the things might look like persistence, and there's an element of that, but they also came naturally, because nothing was stopping them from happening and continuing to happen. Like learning piano went on for years. And before I knew it, it was the end of high school, and it had been 10 years. It was one thing I think my parents got right. There wasn't too much pressure there. But there are other things in life that seem like the harder I try, the more it blows up in my face. So I'm still getting the hang of that balancing act.
Nobody ever showed us how to derive the value of pi. I might've seen square roots shown as the sum of a series ONCE. But it's like at some point it stopped being childish fun, and it became training for a higher (hire?) purpose. I don't know where that negativity came from, but it really slowed me down.
I now look back on other stuff, and think oh wow, I've been passionate about music for most of my life. And some of the things might look like persistence, and there's an element of that, but they also came naturally, because nothing was stopping them from happening and continuing to happen. Like learning piano went on for years. And before I knew it, it was the end of high school, and it had been 10 years. It was one thing I think my parents got right. There wasn't too much pressure there. But there are other things in life that seem like the harder I try, the more it blows up in my face. So I'm still getting the hang of that balancing act.
@StevenCrook You may have dodged a bullet with that back op. I had my L4-L5 operated on in my 20s, and over a decade later I look back on it like a weird learning experience that I still don't fully comprehend. For a year I was like Dr House, chugging pills on-the-go, all for no real reason except that I was immersed in the "rat race" and had to be productive. Now I partly blame all the coffee -- minerals depleted from the adrenal glands and all that, which happen to be located around that lower back area. But the bigger question was: why was I pushing myself to breaking point? So that, kind of like your situation, all it took was a little 'glitch' when running, and the muscles don't cope for whatever reason.
Acharya, Pune...
Look up his exercise videos for back pain.
They work.
And consist mainly of lying flat on the back and doing simple leg movements.
Look up his exercise videos for back pain.
They work.
And consist mainly of lying flat on the back and doing simple leg movements.
Top level maths is only manageable by relatively few people.
Not only do you need to understand the maths and procedures but also need to remember them all.
My memory has never been great so I often forgot how to do something.
Having said that the memory is just a muscle which works well with lots of practice.
I have been in electronics for 40 years and early on did AC theory and passed my exams on it.
Just for fun and refresh I recently watched a youtube video on AC theory.
I suddenly saw it in a different light being better at maths now and see how everything is related to each other better.
Simply following a procedure from memory in AC theory is one thing but understanding all the theory behind it is another thing.