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Wire Glue?
Howard_Casto:
The rat shack guys are hopeless.
I went in there a few months ago looking for a rca 2 coaxial adaptor. They explained that component and coaxial wasn't the same and that they didn't carry such an adaptor there. I explained to them that I never mentioned component only rca and that I wanted it to be able to hook up old Atari consoles without a rf switch box. Their reply... "What's an rf switcher?" As asked them to move and within 30 seconds found the adaptor that didn't exist and that they didn't sell.
Honestly how can you work at a store that small and not know everything in your inventory?
lilshawn:
My oldest is 7 and whenever she sees me working on a computer or fixing the lawnmower or building some crazy contraption she's right in there watching what i'm doing...I've been thinking, your biggest mistake might be going too big too fast. hell half the time i can't remember which way the damn trace in the breadboard goes. start with simple simple simple things and go from there.
as i recall, back when i was in grade school (grade 4 or 5) we had tubs with these wires and bulbs and battery holders and other whatnots. Then we just had springs to connect the wires together same as the radioshack kits. get yourself a few battery holders and some stranded wire and just twist them together to make your connections for the time being.
but with these kits, we did simple circuits with the bulb and batteries...like test what things could conduct electricity (coins zippers pencil lead)... add switches to turn the light off and on. doing some other more advanced things like water and then adding salt to improve the conductivity.
basically explain what each part does. the lightbulb has the squiggly thing inside that makes light. why does it make light? explain how not everything conducts electricity 100%. and how some allow almost all the electricity to flow, while others it has a hard time flowing through.
open circuits... the light is off because the electricity doesn't have a loop to flow through. this switch connects the wires together when you press it now it does have a loop so the electricity can go now. this is a "circuit".
more batteries means more electricity...this is shown by a brighter light...go so far as to add so many batteries to make it so high the bulb burns out. why doesn't it work now? explain the circuit again.
so on and so on. once she starts getting the idea have her point out things like circuits and switches, they are everywhere.
small steps building upon things learned before will make things less frustrating for both of you. if we can't remember the previous "lesson" just quickly review it. (remember before how we hooked up the bulb to the really long wire and the bulb didn't glow as bright as it did with the short wire? this resistor is the same as that really long wire just in a tiny package)
so on, and so on.
after you have a good base and she seems genuinely interested in learning about circuits, start jumping into the more complicated things like the radioshack kits.
MonMotha:
Some people also do well if you draw analogies to other systems. One of the most powerful concepts in engineering is that you can mathematically turn one kind of system into another.
You might consider getting a small pump, a bunch of tubing, some valves, etc. You can build hydraulic circuits. Tends to be a bit messier, though.
Howard_Casto:
It is true that electricity is a lot easier to understand if you think of it as flowing water. I prefer the lazy river analogy myself. ;)
SavannahLion:
--- Quote from: Howard_Casto on May 30, 2013, 04:15:53 pm ---The rat shack guys are hopeless.
I went in there a few months ago looking for a rca 2 coaxial adaptor. They explained that component and coaxial wasn't the same and that they didn't carry such an adaptor there. I explained to them that I never mentioned component only rca and that I wanted it to be able to hook up old Atari consoles without a rf switch box. Their reply... "What's an rf switcher?" As asked them to move and within 30 seconds found the adaptor that didn't exist and that they didn't sell.
Honestly how can you work at a store that small and not know everything in your inventory?
--- End quote ---
I can explain that.
there are a multitude of problems ranging from the fact that about err.... 20% ish of the inventory is forcefully delivered to the stores. Basically they order component X and they get part Y, Z and stereo F. Orders are like requests.
Another problem are spiffs. They're like bonuses on top of their commission. Only certain things get spiffs and that's what they'll sell. 9 times outta 10. Spiff items are things that didnt sell or are going to be discontinued. In short if it's spiffed it's the same as being outmoded.
upsell upsell upsell. The only reason Rat Shack ever kept the two head vcr around for so long was so they can tack on an extra $50 to their crappy four head vcr.
what does this mean for you, the customer? Simple, if whatever your looking for falls into the first category and/or does not fall in to the later two, there is a very good chance they'll be ---smurfing--- clueless about it.
How stupid are they? They once tried to sell an bluetooth headset (spiff item) to my mom. What's the joke? She's deaf.
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