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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
Word has it" that the third on a match will die in a whorehouse..."... to every man upon this earth, Death cometh soon or late. And what better way of dying ..." Macaulay, Horatius. Maybe there are better way of dying, but it sure beats dying inthe trenches 
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
dying inthe trenchesVC, VD, Vici 
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
BelM wrote : matches are somewhat out of use ..
Ah, the exceptions being matches for starting the campfire in leisurely civilian pursuits and the waterproof, wooden matches carried into the field, in screw top containers, by the Troops. They're also used to read maps in dark when batteries in pen lights die and they have various other uses. This according to friends still serving. Oh, in case you're wondering the matches are "waterproofed" by putting a waxy coating on the striking head which coating is easily overcome when the match is struck on an abrasive surface. wow
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
and some of us Eco sensitive types use them instead of pilot lights on our stoves...
I have a pilot light on my oven, but they are turn off and i light my burners with matches. (i even have some of the illegal (in NY at any rate) strike anywhere matches) Lest you think cutting down trees to make match sticks is bad, i might point out, i cook so infrequently as to sometimes find cob webs on my stove. (thank god for toaster ovens and microwaves!)
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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, in case you're wondering the matches are "waterproofed" by putting a waxy coating on the striking head which coating is easily overcome when the match is struck on an abrasive surface.I beg to differ! My boyfriend (now husband) left some of those matches at my house once, and my brother and I still tease him about those waterproof, fireproof matches! 
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
Doesn't anyone else have a living fire in their grate at home? I do find that rather sad, as there is nothing quite so comforting, especially on grey and misty days, as a fire to share with your cat and other loved ones (if the cat will let anyone else near enough to benefit from the heat!)
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>Doesn't anyone else have a living fire in their grate at home?
I've got one of those gas powered lookalike ones now but I used to love my real fire which I had to leave behind a couple of houses ago.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 197
member
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member
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 197 |
I grew up with a genuine wood burning fire heating my parents' home. I now have a gas fireplace, with fake logs and a fire that always looks exactly the same. It just can't compare to the sound of wood crackling and the flicker of firelight on a cold evening.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
We have two fireplaces, though one has been used only once since we've lived here. The first winter, though the flue was open, the whole house filled with smoke in about two minutes. I've been afraid to try it since. I don't have a fire going just now, it's daytime, but it is a grey, damp day here. I've got warm light on and a James Galway (hi, Geoff) tape playing. After a while, there'll be the aroma of dinner cooking, and perhaps after supper, a fire in the working fireplace. Yup, there's no place like home. Thanks for the suggestion, Rhuby. You-all know what else? This board gives that same feeling. Thanks, everybody.
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289 |
Fireplaces Like many people in the US, we have a fireplace but rarely use it. Those of you who are accustomed to fires of one sort or another, whether coal/wood or gas in a fireplace with some sort of chimney, may not realize that you can't combine central heating with a fireplace. The fireplace sucks the heat out of the rest of the house and causes the furnace to run extra hard and wastes fuel frightfully; if you turn off the central heat (by turning the thermostat way down) the rest of the house gets cold and there are hardly any houses in the US (other than mansions) that have more than 1 or 2 fireplaces. As a result, if you like a fire now and then, as we do, you only light the fireplace in spring or fall, when the central heating isn't needed much, to take the chill and damp off the house. If you light it for atmosphere in cold weather, you pay dearly for it. Also, in the U.S., wood is used almost exclusively; coal can be bought, but hardly anyone does; and firewood is quite expensive -- $5.00 to 8.50 for a bundle that will last for one evening, and it's usually low quality.
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