America is waking up

I don’t think I have. I have more respect for tradesmen than most ,having been one of them.

Deciding instead of putting money into useless managers who don’t know the job and into our pocket by going self employed.

1 Like

do you think we don’t have toilet paper in the UK Robin?

Perhaps some of these ladies were teasing you.

We are not allowed power outlets in the bathroom here for safety reasons. I’ve seen these in the US and I think it makes the bathroom very cluttered with all the things we would normally have put away in another room. Because of course the bathroom would need more storage to keep all your hair accessories, dryer etc. I like to see clear counter tops with a houseplant and nice accessories at most.

Some people do have them here, but I’ve never understood why anyone needs garbage disposal in the sink which seems a waste of electricity and where does it all go - into our sewers? We have been asked to put ours into a composting bin in the garden or in food waste where they take it somewhere and probably put it into landfill with the other recycling waste…

Utility rooms are now very popular here with washer dryers, sinks and ironing boards etc

Many people here now use air fryers instead of ovens. I have a massive range cooker with double ovens. I’ve used about two of the rings so far. I have an “American style” fridge freezer which is useful in this weather but uses a shed load of power. It’s quite nice to stand in front of the open freezer door, but then it starts beeping angrily. Luckily no water or ice dispensers which IMO are disgusting as you have to keep servicing filters to ensure you have clean water. High maintenance rubbish.

When I have stayed in countries where blade ceiling fans are in a room they have been absolutely useless. You need air conditioning. I predict that many here will have it installed but then we will have ten years of cold summers after this year. This happened in 1976 - lots of people installed outdoor pools in their gardens and we all remember the miserable rainy summers for a decade.

2 Likes

I don’t think anyone is trying to figure out the US government. We just complain about the problems your current administration is causing for the rest of the world. Nobody complains when your government works with other countries rather than against them.

5 Likes

When I read that, I thought “that can’t be true,” but apparently it is because in England, the standard power is 230v whereas in the U.S., it’s 120v.

How do you run your electric toothbrush, water pic, electric razor, hair dryer, hair trimmer, etc…?


we can have special low voltage outlets attached to mirror lights for electric razors

First, the regulations for electrical outlets and sockets are for the entire UK. Not just England. Then, I’d not that these regulations and equipment are over-engineered. There is a fuse-board for all circuits. No-one also needs a fuse for each plug or socket. Where I live in Europe the electricity is the same voltage. But simple plugs with no fuse. The fuse-board cuts out if there is a problem.
What always struck me about the US is how 1970’s all the kit is. Great fat clunky push buttons on TVs and aircon units. But if you do not go to other countries you don’t know what its like.

1 Like

Brazil is worst. in D-I-l home there is 240v sockets and 110v sockets side by side and even over a sink unit

You think our TVs and air conditioners have “fat clunky push buttons?”
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Turn on sound and choose 5 minutes to watch fun Video.
Ella loved it.

Matthew McConaughey joins Jimmy Fallon to perform Ella Langley’s hit ‘Choosin’ Texas’

1 Like

They said they are kinda slow. But for the ones that don’t know “don’t put electrical items into water” pay attention to your surroundings…

But, being behind the modern world, there are modern electrical outlet safety breakers that stop electricity at the outlet instantaneously disconnects the circuit, not waiting for the circuit breaker in the fuse box. It might zap you but it won’t kill you. One might corner the market before someone else figures it out.

Anther modern system, which will totally surprise some. One can get voice command controls for everything in your house. You can tell the system when to turn each electronic item in your house to turn on or off, tell it to check the status of every electronic item in your house. And make adjustments from a different country.

So, ya, the US has waken up.

so you accidentally tell the internet to turn off and all the electricity goes out?

Ah, sure, if that your understanding. Now I see why the homes are so far advanced in the US.

Or somebody else hacks into your account and turns off your electricity…
Walking to the light switch or the washer and cooker actually keeps me fit.
Only British Gas can turn off my stuff if I don’t pay my bill.
:wink:
And the establishment can’t eavesdrop on my conversations… :009:

They could possibly do that but they would have to hack two to three systems and that really wouldn’t be cost effective going after one household.

1 Like

AI could hack & shut just because it decides that you are not using the internet responsibly

2 Likes

A news item on the Beeb the other day where a company’s AI had been hacking into other company’s AI systems. Apparently, nobody asked it to.

2 Likes

Yes, It could and that is one of the reasons I’m against all these data centers being built. But a plane “could” fall out of the sky and hit my house too. But unlikely “what ifs” don’t control my life choices.

the probability of AI vs a plane is exponential. AI can reach millions or billions of individual internet connections at the same time. It has no problem multitasking. So it’s a case of not if but when.

2 Likes

Its called a Ground Circuit Fault Interrupt. … In the USA.
Its code, Hooked into 110 / 120-volt circuits around bathrooms,
kitchens. All grounds & insulation from shorts must be
properly functioning for a live circuit. If a poor ground or short
appears the GCFI trips and will not re-set until the repair is made,
or fault disconnected from receptacle.

2 Likes

They are called RCB’s here (residual current circuit breakers) and together with trip switches of different current ratings they are found in the house consumer unit in all modern houses or houses that have had recent re-wires.
They trip out if power is shorted to earth, or short circuits somewhere. Sometimes the spark in a light switch accidentally trips them out, or an incandescent bulb blows.
They trip at the drop of a hat and If the consumer unit is in a hard place to access, they can be a pain in the bottom.
For that reason I have still retained my original fuse box with 5 amp for lighting, 15 amp for ring mains, and 35 amp for cookers etc. I have never blown a fuse in the 53 years I have resided at this property. Being as we don’t have an electric cooker, the 35 amp fuse is connected to a supplementary unit containing two 15 amp trip fuses and a large RCB, and serves the garage, lab and summerhouse. It also powers any outdoor tools like my lawnmower. I will not entertain rechargeable stuff in my garden it’s rubbish.

1 Like