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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
There are those who prefer gas stoves to electric ones. I am concerned that gas may still lack safety controls. I have seen several houses burn up because gas leaked, and have seen newpaper pictures of many more. A nurse friend and her baby almost died because she took a nap while something was cooking. The gas pressure fell, the burner went out. When the gas pressure went up again, unburned gas filled the small apartment. Only a chance visitor saved her. And electric stoves have ways of regulating temperatures and cooking times that are very desirable.
That reminds me of a horror story. Just after I got out of the Army, I was riding on a bus and overheard two babysitters in front of me discussing their professional problems. One was bitching about the kids sceaming so loud she couldn't enjoy her record player music. The other replied, "When the kids I sit for do that, I stick their heads into the gas oven with the gas on but not lit until they shut up."
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
Electric and gas stoves do exist here, but the most common place for cooking is a gas kompor , which is just a unit of two burners powered by a bottle of LPG.In poorer areas these cause quite common fires because houses are constructed out of rattan wickerwork or scavenged bits of wood and cardboard.
Bingley
Bingley
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 275
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 275 |
Bingley
Electric and gas stoves do exist here...
Yes, it is the same in the Philippines but in remote villages a "stove" would be three largish stones positioned so that a round-bottomed clay pot will sit on it without wobbling. For an omelette, eggs will not be taken out of the fridge but under the house (which itself will be thatched-roofed and floored with bamboo slats) where the chicken will have their nests. Water will not be from a faucet but drawn from a deep well with a contraption made of a metal bucket attached to a long bamboo pole. This well can be a quarter of a mile away and the drawn water is brought to the house in a round-bottom clay pot balanced on the head atop a flattened turban-like, rolled braided pieces of old rag.
Since there is no fridge and market day is once a week, meats and fish are dried to preserve them and are stored in baskets that are hung from the ceiling to keep away from the cats.
Baths are taken not in tubs but at the well, with the minimum of privacy usually provided by a 3-walled construction made of woven nipa.
chronist
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 315
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 315 |
Here almost everyone cooks with gas .
The amount of electric power which a family can have at a cheap rate is so small - 3 KW - that you cannot use two different strong electric devices together - oven an drier, or washing machine,...
Of course you can have more, but it becomes a lot more expensive.
Anyway, the most new gas stoves have thermic security devices - mine does not allow the gas to pass unless there is fire.
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609
addict
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addict
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609 |
Oh to be in England {with its ready supply of North Sea petrolium
To cross threads again, the Scots claim it's theirs!
On prices in UK, they are approx (depends on supplier, district etc)
Household Gas: Annual = £(GBP) 30 plus 1.20 pence per KWHour ($41 + 1.7 cents)
Electricity : Annual = £(GBP) 40 + 5 pence per KWHour ($55 + 7 cents)
BUT
Petrol/Car Gas=79 pence per litre = $1.10 = $4.16 per US Gallon.
Still everywhere in "Li'll old England is so cute and tiny", we can walk.
Rod (don't trust my maths/math) Ward
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
(Oh to be in England {with its ready supply of North Sea petrolium!})Yeah, you'd think proximity to the source would help, wouldn't you? Newfoundland has offshore petroleum and we have the highest oil and gas prices in the country. (Still not as high as the UK but it's all relative.) One of those mysteries of economics - I guess they can make more money selling it elsewhere, so we have to import our gas from the mainland. 
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Petrol/Car Gas=79 pence per litre = $1.10
or $4.16 per US Gallon.
OUCH! and we are complaining about $1.75 for cheapest grade (87 octane) here in NE.
Makes me re-think a self-drive vacation in England but they do have great public transport which is fine if you pack light and can manage it all by yourself!
How about Ireland, another destination I am considering ... Do you happen to know what are petrol prices per gallon there?
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609
addict
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Joined: Feb 2001
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petrol prices per gallon in IrelandNorthern Ireland has (I think) the same prices as UK, but they may have a rebate because Eire has cheaper fuel and the border is fairly open. http://www.see-search.com/business/fuelandpetrolpriceseurope.htm has a list of European prices as of 27th May. The prices obviously depend on currency fluctuations as well. To get the price in US dollars per US gallon, multiply the pence per litre by 5.3 and divide by 100 (3.8 litres per US gallon * 1.4 dollars per pound). Eire has a price (Unleaded) of 58.4 = 3.10 US dollars per US Gallon. Of course as everbody knows, Irish miles are longer or does it just seem that way? Rod
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609
addict
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609 |
How much did they tell you about radar?
asks jimthedog.
Like your grandfather, my father worked as a radar scientist in WWII, originally in Swanage (UK) and then in Malvern (which is why I was born there). I have taken an interest in the subject, and read several books in the past. (The room we use as a library in our house is being painted at the moment which is why it has taken me a while to find any references).
I enjoyed "The Invention that Changed the World" by Buderi and this is a good overview. I can't remember how much US stuff it has, I probably would not have noticed the lack. The only book I could lay my hands on at home is "Pioneers of Radar" by Latham and Stobbs (they have written others as well), but this is a collection of short pieces by many of the people involved (including my Mother!). Many are interesting from a personal rather than technical viewpoint, but many are self indulgent.
Radar was discovered/invented in several places round the world in the 20s (by memory) and developed at different speeds depending on how much the particular team could interest the politicians/military in the phenomenon. While the Allies and Germans both knew the other side had radar, both deception and tactics were used to hide the truth from the other side.
Try looking on Amazon or wherever for current books and then try your town library (How good is your system where you live?) Good luck. If you have a specific question you think I could help with, send me a PM.
Rod
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