Recently, when writing a check, it occurred to me that requiring the amount to be given separately in both words and number was a simple and ingenious solution to the problem of reducing error.
I also heard that there might be a big enough pressure differential between the hot and cold water, that opening both into a mixer tap could have let to some backflow into the hot water tank, or something like that.
They still have those sinks in the UK and you are faced with a choice of freezing cold or scalding hot water. The solution consists of furiously waving your hands from one stream to the other before your body can register pain.
In France, the taps are marked C and F. I think they’re supposed to stand for Chaud and Froid, but I like to think of them standing for Cold and Freezing.
Actually, no, the tips of Phillips screwdrivers are not all the same size. It may appear this way because a properly sized Phillips driver for the screw appears to be too large. The proper driver fits securely into the screw head with no slop. Typically, you can use a driver one size too small, as long as the screw is not too tightly installed, but if it is, you'll round out the head and then really be in trouble. A screwdriver one size too large won't fit in the screw head at all.
The Philips screws and screw driver are an abomination. It only came about because GM refused to use Robinson screws and driver which are the most practical because it was patented in Canada.
I have seen an early model A produced in Canada with all Robinson screws.
Phillips screwdrivers should also match the size of the screw. If their use has become more widespread, it is for another reason. They eliminate the slippage, they allow the tool to be held laterally to prevent it from slipping.
I have the opposite "where is it?" problem. I run out of something, look for the replacement, don't find it, buy two so I do have a replacement, go to put it away ... and find the one I already had.
I greatly prefer the older style of American sink (or tub) faucets, with one knob for hot, one knob for cold, and both coming out in a single stream (because they join before that). The modern style with a single control just irritates me, especially when it moves in only one dimension, as some seem to.
In my experience those usually move in two dimensions, letting you separately control temperature and volume. The problem is that if you encounter one in a hotel bathroom it isn't obvious what does what. That's not a problem if it is in your house and you are used to it.
I remember that Datsun cars, back before the name changed to Nissan, got Consumer Reports ratings that were lower than the characteristics seemed to suggest. My theory was that it was because the gear shift had a non-standard pattern and the ratings were coming not from owners but from test drivers.
Amusing! There is indeed a big problem with the increasingly complicated faucets that we encounter in hotel bathrooms! An elegant and universal solution would have to be found.
I like the simple version that you find in the typical US motel — bathtub and shower combined. You get the temperature adjusted with the water coming out through the tub faucet, then pull up the handle that switches it to the shower head.
If you mean having a single control for both hot and cold water, the bathtub/shower in the front bathroom in our apartment has exactly that setup. And it's not a super expensive or modern apartment, though it IS well managed.
Phillips screwdrivers have multiple sizes that are only slightly interchangeable--Most are a #2, but there are a range of sizes. You can kind of make a one size too small driver work, but one size too big won't fit. Japan's old equivalent, JIS is as you describe, where the tip of a bigger driver works fine in a smaller screw, and a smaller driver is at least the right shape and will work up to the torque limit of the smaller size. (JIS is now obsolete, mostly of interest to owners of old Japanese motorcycles)
My understanding is that was a claim of the “it’s a feature, not a bug” type because of how badly Phillips drivers would cam out and round themselves and the screws. Just think how bad it would be if they hadn’t camed out, sort of thing.
When I was a kid in upstate NY, the toilet cistern was high up on the wall, and paper was pages of the mail-order catalogue. Even a relatively small obstruction could mean a flood. At some point some genius must have gotten the idea to have no more water than there was room for in the toilet.
I once heard about a guy who solved the problem of early ball-points that dried out long before empty: a drop of grease right behind the ink, patented, made him an income-millionaire
If you think our sinks are bad, you should try the heating systems this time of year- bloody useless. On the other hand, everyone should adopt the three pin plug- it's far safer, particularly with regard to electrical/house fires.
Implementing safety devices such as Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCIs) and Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs) can help mitigate the risk of electrical fires in America, but both are significantly more expensive solutions to an easy/cheap fix- the three pin plug.
The only problem with the European plugs is that there's six different standards, depending on what country one is in. Although, it seems that North America is the only continent that is better off in that regard.
Showing your age Davie, I suspect only you, me and perhaps, just perhaps, that gal over there is old enough to remember solitaire as a card(board) game rather than an on line digital thingie.
That one was suggested by someone on the forum where I was discussing it, so at least one more person.
My guess is that some people still play it with cards, but when I put the question to my son, about 30, his first response was that he didn't play solitaire, had heard it could be played with cards, but didn't see the point since a deck of cards took up as much space in your pocket as a cell phone and you could play solitaire on that and do other things.
Many New Zealand faucets also have one hot and one cold. Apparently it's possible/legal to replace them, it just takes money. The oval at the Ohio State University has sidewalks whose location was chosen according to the paths that students made in the grass. I don't know if that story is apocryphal or not, but it sure looks like it when viewed from above:
> In an English sink, then and for I know now, a sink had two faucets, hot and cold.
This is still that way, and (as you'd expect) it's legislated. If I remember correctly, they don't want the hot water pressure to push back against the cold water and end up in the water system. (Or something like that.) They do have sinks with two handles and a single faucet, but the water stays separate the whole way through the faucet. The water hitting your hands is both scalding and cold.
Just before I moved to work there in 2001, I read a book on living and working in Britain, and I remember a section like: "Britain has good plumbing systems. (Americans won't be impressed.)"
The way I heard it was always to carry gin, dry vermouth, and ice. If you don't know where you are, start making a martini. Someone will immediately appear and tell you you're making it wrong.
For a long time the hot water in English houses was not guaranteed potable.
I first read the Solitaire solution to getting lost in “Tunnel in the Sky” by RAH.
I also heard that there might be a big enough pressure differential between the hot and cold water, that opening both into a mixer tap could have let to some backflow into the hot water tank, or something like that.
You have it reversed. The concern is that non-potable hot water might back flow into the cold water, and contaminate it.
They still have those sinks in the UK and you are faced with a choice of freezing cold or scalding hot water. The solution consists of furiously waving your hands from one stream to the other before your body can register pain.
There is a way: https://www.reddit.com/r/lifehacks/comments/1mio6r/using_a_bottle_to_mix_water_from_cold_and_hot/
Along similar lines, I cut the top off a plastic two liter diet coke bottle and use it as a funnel.
In France, the taps are marked C and F. I think they’re supposed to stand for Chaud and Froid, but I like to think of them standing for Cold and Freezing.
Actually, no, the tips of Phillips screwdrivers are not all the same size. It may appear this way because a properly sized Phillips driver for the screw appears to be too large. The proper driver fits securely into the screw head with no slop. Typically, you can use a driver one size too small, as long as the screw is not too tightly installed, but if it is, you'll round out the head and then really be in trouble. A screwdriver one size too large won't fit in the screw head at all.
The Philips screws and screw driver are an abomination. It only came about because GM refused to use Robinson screws and driver which are the most practical because it was patented in Canada.
I have seen an early model A produced in Canada with all Robinson screws.
Philips strip too easily.
The US lose and Canada wins.
I thought it was Ford, not GM?
It's a shame that the rest of the world followed the US, instead of the sensible Canadians.
Phillips screwdrivers should also match the size of the screw. If their use has become more widespread, it is for another reason. They eliminate the slippage, they allow the tool to be held laterally to prevent it from slipping.
The 'single handle mixing faucet' was invented by Alfred M Moen in [ooops 1037] 1937.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_M._Moen
1037 sounds a tad early?
butterfingers! Thank you.
I have the opposite "where is it?" problem. I run out of something, look for the replacement, don't find it, buy two so I do have a replacement, go to put it away ... and find the one I already had.
I greatly prefer the older style of American sink (or tub) faucets, with one knob for hot, one knob for cold, and both coming out in a single stream (because they join before that). The modern style with a single control just irritates me, especially when it moves in only one dimension, as some seem to.
In my experience those usually move in two dimensions, letting you separately control temperature and volume. The problem is that if you encounter one in a hotel bathroom it isn't obvious what does what. That's not a problem if it is in your house and you are used to it.
I remember that Datsun cars, back before the name changed to Nissan, got Consumer Reports ratings that were lower than the characteristics seemed to suggest. My theory was that it was because the gear shift had a non-standard pattern and the ratings were coming not from owners but from test drivers.
Amusing! There is indeed a big problem with the increasingly complicated faucets that we encounter in hotel bathrooms! An elegant and universal solution would have to be found.
I like the simple version that you find in the typical US motel — bathtub and shower combined. You get the temperature adjusted with the water coming out through the tub faucet, then pull up the handle that switches it to the shower head.
I've only ever seen the style you complain about in hotels.
If you mean having a single control for both hot and cold water, the bathtub/shower in the front bathroom in our apartment has exactly that setup. And it's not a super expensive or modern apartment, though it IS well managed.
Phillips screwdrivers have multiple sizes that are only slightly interchangeable--Most are a #2, but there are a range of sizes. You can kind of make a one size too small driver work, but one size too big won't fit. Japan's old equivalent, JIS is as you describe, where the tip of a bigger driver works fine in a smaller screw, and a smaller driver is at least the right shape and will work up to the torque limit of the smaller size. (JIS is now obsolete, mostly of interest to owners of old Japanese motorcycles)
My understanding is that Philips screwdrivers are designed to cam out when you get to the correct amount of torque.
My understanding is that was a claim of the “it’s a feature, not a bug” type because of how badly Phillips drivers would cam out and round themselves and the screws. Just think how bad it would be if they hadn’t camed out, sort of thing.
When I was a kid in upstate NY, the toilet cistern was high up on the wall, and paper was pages of the mail-order catalogue. Even a relatively small obstruction could mean a flood. At some point some genius must have gotten the idea to have no more water than there was room for in the toilet.
I once heard about a guy who solved the problem of early ball-points that dried out long before empty: a drop of grease right behind the ink, patented, made him an income-millionaire
If you think our sinks are bad, you should try the heating systems this time of year- bloody useless. On the other hand, everyone should adopt the three pin plug- it's far safer, particularly with regard to electrical/house fires.
Implementing safety devices such as Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCIs) and Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs) can help mitigate the risk of electrical fires in America, but both are significantly more expensive solutions to an easy/cheap fix- the three pin plug.
The Europeans also have decent plugs.
It's mostly the Americans (and people who copied them), who have really bad plugs. Very unsafe, and barely stay in the sockets.
Most US circuits are 110 not 220 so less dangerous.
The only problem with the European plugs is that there's six different standards, depending on what country one is in. Although, it seems that North America is the only continent that is better off in that regard.
Showing your age Davie, I suspect only you, me and perhaps, just perhaps, that gal over there is old enough to remember solitaire as a card(board) game rather than an on line digital thingie.
That one was suggested by someone on the forum where I was discussing it, so at least one more person.
My guess is that some people still play it with cards, but when I put the question to my son, about 30, his first response was that he didn't play solitaire, had heard it could be played with cards, but didn't see the point since a deck of cards took up as much space in your pocket as a cell phone and you could play solitaire on that and do other things.
Many New Zealand faucets also have one hot and one cold. Apparently it's possible/legal to replace them, it just takes money. The oval at the Ohio State University has sidewalks whose location was chosen according to the paths that students made in the grass. I don't know if that story is apocryphal or not, but it sure looks like it when viewed from above:
https://es.pinterest.com/pin/469781804850291732/
The correct phillips head screwdriver is one whose shaft matches the diameter of the screw. I don't know if anyone knows this but me.
There are few intellectuals who are so handymen
> In an English sink, then and for I know now, a sink had two faucets, hot and cold.
This is still that way, and (as you'd expect) it's legislated. If I remember correctly, they don't want the hot water pressure to push back against the cold water and end up in the water system. (Or something like that.) They do have sinks with two handles and a single faucet, but the water stays separate the whole way through the faucet. The water hitting your hands is both scalding and cold.
I actually lived in British houses with acceptable plumbing. Almost at normal German levels.
Just before I moved to work there in 2001, I read a book on living and working in Britain, and I remember a section like: "Britain has good plumbing systems. (Americans won't be impressed.)"
The way I heard it was always to carry gin, dry vermouth, and ice. If you don't know where you are, start making a martini. Someone will immediately appear and tell you you're making it wrong.