Date   : Wed, 07 Dec 2005 11:34:20 +0000
From   : Jules Richardson <julesrichardsonuk@...>
Subject: Re: Vanishing electronics suppliers

David Hunt wrote:
>> Stockpile. Blowtorch dead PC boards and salvage parts from them. It's the
>> only way...
> 
> Cool, there I was thinking I was totally insane, a blowlamp in a vice and a
> pair of pliers...

Heh. Works pretty well, except for any plastic-cased things right at the edges 
of boards - they tend to die from too much heat spilling round the board edges 
from the underside. Plus PC ISA sockets tend to be made of some oddball 
plastic which doesn't survive the heat. Works a treat for other things though.

(for anyone now thinking of trying that - do so in a well ventilated area. Hot 
  PCBs give off all sorts of nasty stuff)

> I think CPC do take Switch/Maestro, why won't you get a credit card, just
> pay the balance off at the end of the month and don't use it for actual
> credit.

That's what I do. Actually as I tend to go abroad a lot, I just set mine up a 
few years ago so the credit card balance is automatically transferred to the 
current account - so I don't have to worry about being in the country when 
payment's due. Think you can only do that if your credit and debit card are 
with the same bank though...

cheers

Jules