Paging Thomas Disch
All it needed was a brave little toaster from the breakfast area to make a successful escape.
487 publicly visible posts • joined 3 May 2007
"It's actually a two-step move, not just a 360 degree flip. You need to unplug it, turn it 180°, curse because it doesn't fit, turn it 180° a second time, and then plug it in."
I've always wondered (but never bothered to do the research) whether the second 180° must be in the same direction as the first, must be in the opposite direction to the first, or it doesn't matter at all.
I'm not going to check Google - someone here surely knows the answer.
"However, I'd really like it if the BBC (and other media outlets) were tougher with political interviewees and stopped booking those who side-stepped or waffled nonsense. Of course, if they did this then there would be no political interviews."
Are you saying that would be a bad thing?
I had nearly the same experience at my father's house recently.
His garage door opener suddenly decided to stop working. Neither the remote control nor the keypad outside could make the thing budge an inch.
I returned the next day to see if a power outage had erased the codes or some such, only to be asked, "Is the light switch turned on in the garage?"
Yes, there's a light switch that also turned off the power to the outlet wherein that motor was plugged. A bit of tape to prevent its being toggled accidentally was applied, and all has been well since.
I suppose that could be a security feature, as it's only operable when a switch inside the house it thrown, but it's more inconvenient than I want to deal with.
"Alas, the Cambridge Coffee Pot is no more."
One can but surmise this is the reason for the web's deteriorating performance. I know I'm not nearly as efficient (nor as fast) without some coffee in me. In my experience, my computers have always performed better when there was a cup of hot coffee nearby.
btw, why no coffee or tea icons?
"Then you have all the stuff from the 50s and earlier without any form of insulation or cavity walls. Pretty much there the only option is to start again so you are back to square one."
I don't know about that. My 1920s home is actually very well insulated and requires very little cooling help in Summer - especially with a large-ish tree out front shading us much of the day.
The steam heat through radiators is surprisingly efficient (and comfortable) and we've had several tradesmen warn us against getting anything new to replace it (barring a total breakdown or other disaster) as nothing around is nearly as good. I don't know that they're correct, but I do like my utility bills being as low as they are (relatively speaking, of course).
At our latitude, solar is only an option for Summer bonus energy.
"Naturally, expect the current generation of smart meters being rolled out in the UK to not be smart enough to broker the supply negotiation between EV and network, so you'll be spending much time queuing at places with public chargers..."
Was I the only one to read that as smart meters being about to bork the supply negotiation?
"Or remove the fridge magnet holding the bit of paper with their passwords to the side of the monitor."
My SVGA (Yes, I was one of the lucky ones!) CRT had a lovely rainbow effect on the base blue screen which disappeared when I realised I had a magnetic paperclip holder sitting atop the monitor, just above the fun part of the display.
I may have admitted that to a coworker (but I doubt it).
Then I can say I've seen more of Scotland than you have.
My direct flight from Detroit to Heathrow somehow changed to Detroit to Philadelphia (wait overnight) to Edinburgh to Heathrow. By far my least favourite route thus far.
Shockingly, the weather in Edinburgh was beautifully clear, so I saw whatever could be seen out the windows of the airport.
I've always been a sinister mouser, simply because the first time I had a mouse for my machine (a Deskpro 386 as I recall), that was the side where I had space on my desk for a mouse.
Now I'm glad I learnt that way, as it leaves the right hand free for the number pad and so forth.
In other news, I still have a friend who uses her mouse with the cord facing away from her. It drives her coworkers mad, but it's how she started, and it's hard to unlearn many years of muscle memory.