Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for November 13, 2024

  1. 1972 mgb
    sbenton7684  9 days ago

    You gotta look for the thing-a-majig.. not the thingee…

     •  Reply
  2. Missing large
    Homerville Premium Member 9 days ago

    The lost art of verbal communication.

     •  Reply
  3. Missing large
    suv2000  9 days ago

    Try none of the cables fit

     •  Reply
  4. Felipe
    Strod  9 days ago

    You need to take very good care of your thingee. Don’t go around inserting random thingees in the thingee of your thingee, because your thingee may get sick.  8^p

     •  Reply
  5. Img 20240924 104124950 2
    David Huie Green LoveJoyAndPeace  9 days ago

    Makes perfect sense to me.

    He has a unique thingy.

     •  Reply
  6. Photo
    Robin Harwood  9 days ago

    Perfectly clear explanation. I understand exactly what he means.

     •  Reply
  7. Missing large
    jaydogg187  9 days ago

    Sounds like he needs to consult a doctor.

     •  Reply
  8. Ti
    Rhetorical_Question   8 days ago

    Dispose mismatch sets and buy a new set of lights?

     •  Reply
  9. Missing large
    j_m_kuehl  8 days ago

    My ding a ling, my ding a lingI want to play with my ding a lingMy ding a ling, my ding a lingI wanna play with my ding a ling

     •  Reply
  10. N1495118875 241922 2408
    Ermine Notyours  8 days ago

    Europe organized to one single cable type for now, and even got Apple to cooperate. I wonder when it will make sense to offer the same environment over here. It still won’t help for Arlo’s collection of old cables.

     •  Reply
  11. N1495118875 241922 2408
    Ermine Notyours  8 days ago

    Pearls Before Swine is right after this comic for me, and Rat is also having troubles with a cord thingie.

     •  Reply
  12. Flag
    c001  8 days ago

    As long as Arlo’s thingee matches Janis’…

     •  Reply
  13. 10153654 10201860076559635 7174929319384925209 n
    My First Premium Member 8 days ago

    We need universal size charge cords for anything that needs to be plugged in. I have a similar size collection of useless cords too.

     •  Reply
  14. Missing large
    soareyes  8 days ago

    One thingee to call them, one thingee to bind them, one thingee to rule them all: USB-C.

     •  Reply
  15. P1000380
    A# 466  8 days ago

    Engineers LOVE standards. That’s why there are s-o-o-o many of them.

     •  Reply
  16. Missing large
    Sephten  8 days ago

    Every day a school day …I had no idea the US spelling of ‘thingy’ was different from the British spelling.

     •  Reply
  17. 20240804 175932
    AnneFackler  8 days ago

    My husbands thingee stays at the farm and my thingee stays at home. This way our thingees don’t get crossed up.

     •  Reply
  18. Mr haney
    NeedaChuckle Premium Member 8 days ago

    I have cables with 5 different thingees. Then to make it worse you need different thingees on both ends. It is a conspiracy done by cable manufacturers to make you keep buying dozens of cables.

     •  Reply
  19. Dscf0051
    sarahbowl1 Premium Member 8 days ago

    I’ve been there, Arlo! It makes me feel just stupid!

     •  Reply
  20. Ignatz
    Ignatz Premium Member 8 days ago

    What bothers me is when the guy in the store doesn’t know what you mean by “the wide one,” and you can’t open the box and check.

     •  Reply
  21. Elopuck
    MRBLUESKY529  8 days ago

    No one can explain it better than that.

     •  Reply
  22. Missing large
    oldchas  8 days ago

    I seem to remember Arlo having been something of a computer nerd back in the day. He would certainly know the parallel evolution of USB and Thunderbolt.

     •  Reply
  23. Missing large
    Fklimko  8 days ago

    I feel Arlo’s pain.

     •  Reply
  24. Missing large
    gozirra2 Premium Member 8 days ago

    Arlo, you may have to try turning your thingee over to put it in the other thingee! Argh!!

     •  Reply
  25. Groucho
    Barnabus Blackoak  8 days ago

    carging cables should have been designed to be universal.

     •  Reply
  26. Missing large
    wschott  8 days ago

    At least he has them organized in piles. I have a group thingy party going on.

     •  Reply
  27. Missing large
    rc_stone_1  8 days ago

    That’s what adapters are for.

     •  Reply
  28. Missing large
    mrblanche  8 days ago

    And that is the reason for the EU’s ruling on cable connections.

     •  Reply
  29. Missing large
    david_42  8 days ago

    All of the rechargeables I have now use USB-C or USB micro and I have micro to USB-C adapters. Still have a drawer of misc cables.

     •  Reply
  30. 20240915 071118
    SpacedInvader Premium Member 8 days ago

    Actually Arlo, that pretty well sums it up in understandable terms.

     •  Reply
  31. Missing large
    serial232  8 days ago

    And, that is why you always tag the charging card and power supply, just as soon as you open the box.

     •  Reply
  32. Missing large
    Out of the Past  8 days ago

    Oddly enough,it’s gotten better. In the 1990s and early 2000s we had a closet full of tangled, unmatchable wires, plugs and adapters.

     •  Reply
  33. Missing large
    BJDucer  8 days ago

    Understood, Arlo…no further explanation necessary.

     •  Reply
  34. Rugeirn
    rugeirn  8 days ago

    It’s one thing not to know where your device is. It’s quite a bit different not to know what your device is.

     •  Reply
  35. Image
    Hydrohead  8 days ago

    It’s time to standardize your thingees.

     •  Reply
  36. Thumbnail
    rgulyash  8 days ago

    If it’s too tight, lube.

     •  Reply
  37. 09 ben turpin
    sloaches  8 days ago

    I experienced this recently. My desktop computer is a MinisForum, which is a small but powerful computer that mounts on the back of the monitor. A couple months ago the power cord broke. What happened was the USB type plug that plugs into the computer had somehow separated from the cord. Since it couldn’t easily be fixed I went in search of a replacement.

    The problem was that the power cord was so unique that no one locally or on Amazon carried it. My son (who handles all our household computer issues) had to contact the manufacturer in China and order a replacement. So just over 5 weeks and $30 later, my computer is back in business.
     •  Reply
  38. Missing large
    Cadi Fuhler  8 days ago

    You don’t have to explain it any better. We all understand.

     •  Reply
  39. Aaron s ou pumpkin 10.30.14
    jarvisloop  8 days ago

    Back in my teaching days, I found that the students needed to expand their vocabularies and to begin using more precise words when writing. So, I developed a list of Forbidden Words: get, really, very, good, a lot, stuff, and thing/s.

    Each year, the first response was “You just destroyed my whole vocabulary.”

     •  Reply
  40. Captain smokeblower
    poppacapsmokeblower  8 days ago

    The connections are all defined by Standards. And as standards go, none remain standard long. Hand a standard cable to an engineer, and their first thought is, “I can do this better, faster, simpler.”

     •  Reply
  41. Missing large
    Heelboy 12  8 days ago

    Maybe Arlo needs to try the Whatchamacallits or the Thingamajigs to see if they insert properly into the thingee….

     •  Reply
  42. Chubby
    Grace Premium Member 8 days ago

    They sell adapters…

     •  Reply
  43. Fsm
    flying spaghetti monster  8 days ago

    For me the nightmare with cables started with communication cables that attached the pc with the external modem. They had a standard db25 shell with rs232 connections, but did anyone follow? Of course some did but with all the variations roll over, null etc I had two drawers at work filled with cables.

     •  Reply
  44. Missing large
    uniquename  8 days ago

    Don’t ask me. I’m still using Betamax.

     •  Reply
  45. Th 2659328858
    Just-me  8 days ago

    A number of nations have stopped that nonsense. For example, all the phone charging cables have to have the same connector to the phone. No more making someone get a different cable for different devices as I understand it.

     •  Reply
  46. Missing large
    elvy  8 days ago

    We always called them doohickeys.

     •  Reply
  47. Photo
    j.l.farmer  8 days ago

    When you do find it, mark it with a magic marker so you won’t forget it for the next time.

     •  Reply
  48. Missing large
    david.reichert  8 days ago

    Let Janet handle your thingees if it is too complicated.

     •  Reply
  49. Comics 2022
    Skeptical Meg  8 days ago

    It’s called “progress”. It used to be called “planned obsolescence.”

     •  Reply
  50.                             ykdjq2nfdq
    GG_loves_comics Premium Member 8 days ago

    Just go to the basement and check the Box-o-Cables. Doesn’t everyone have one of those?

     •  Reply
  51. Img 20150606 175412 912
    djtenltd  8 days ago

    I know exactly how Arlo feels.

     •  Reply
  52. Missing large
    LONNYMARQUEZ  8 days ago

    sort or get rid of old cables

     •  Reply
  53. Nollanav
    DaBump Premium Member 8 days ago

    Planned obsolescence has become a high artform. Among many sneaky ways of making more money, like “shrinkflation.”

     •  Reply
  54. Missing large
    drfhoule  8 days ago

    I attached a tag to each cable I could match with an object but I still have lots of leftovers. I do not dare to throw them out yet.

     •  Reply
  55. Thumbnail img 0108
    Jeffin Premium Member 8 days ago

    Tech wizard.

     •  Reply
  56. Missing large
    walt1968pat Premium Member 8 days ago

    Such technical talk is over my head.

     •  Reply
  57. Missing large
    Thanksfortheinfo2000  8 days ago

    I use ‘undetermined’ cables by cutting off their connectors. The cable bits are usually pretty strong and can be used as ties – cinching Christmas light sets, for example.

     •  Reply
  58. E1563c3c f728 4e8e 8eb9 2f3d176b27bf
    Nicki's ZoMcYo  8 days ago

    Here I was thinking they were doo-dads!

     •  Reply
  59. 689 6897683 blue rebel alliance logo png transparent png
    KEA  8 days ago

    It’s astonishing how many different connections have appeared over the last few decades. (reminds me of projector bulbs (slide and movie) – every projector had a Different bulb. Crazy)

     •  Reply
  60. Missing large
    lsnrchrd.1 Premium Member 8 days ago

    I have long wondered if all the power cord connection designers have made things so nutso might be because an employment eligibility requirement is to complete a course in residential fuse box labeling.

     •  Reply
  61. Missing large
    cracker65  8 days ago

    Good thing Arlos thingy matches Janis thingy lol

     •  Reply
  62. Deck of cards
    SNVBD  8 days ago

    USB-C …. hooray for standardised cables

     •  Reply
  63. Avatar92
    Charlie Fogwhistle  8 days ago

    When the Thingee

    on your thingee

    Starts to go

    Ringee, dingee, dingee

    That’s Amore . . .

     •  Reply
  64. 9a61ec07410e91ff118cd354baf25d1f sticker
    Laurie Stoker Premium Member 8 days ago

    That’s me! I have a gym bag chock full of those cables!!!

     •  Reply
  65. Missing large
    sincavage05  8 days ago

    We have so many cords they decided to declare their own drawer.

     •  Reply
  66. Missing large
    Michael Joss  8 days ago

    I went through about 8 of those things before I found one that fit the whatumacallet.

     •  Reply
  67. Grumpy bear by capsicum
    DDrazen  8 days ago

    I sort mine by color: white cable for the cellphone, black cable for the tablet.

     •  Reply
  68. Large adamr
    Ron Bauerle  8 days ago

    In other words, none of the gazintas match the goesouta (or is it the other way around?)

     •  Reply
  69. Jax 1
    ms-ss  7 days ago

    Charging cables need to be durable. USB-C connectors aren’t.

     •  Reply
  70. Androidify 1453615949677
    Jason Allen  5 days ago

    I used to assemble RF connectors for IT data cables. Be extremely grateful we live in a time in which our devices use the few connectors they do. In the IT world, there are hundreds.

     •  Reply
Sign in to comment

More From Arlo and Janis