h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Only because there's a power cut. Don't get used to it.

It'll finish quite late - at 11ish - do you want to stay out that late?

Since you ask, um. No. I don't want to stay up that late at home, let alone in the wilds of Embra.

*hangs head in shame*

It's raining, it's pouring, I'd rather go home with the candles, tbh.

B

*picks up phone and actually rings Ben*

Text from neighbour! Electricity's back on! Not peak oil this time, then.

B

@Paul and @Lanza

Paul, when I was in Sweden one of the women I knew who would be in her 60s by now and who grew up "up north" used to leave a tap dripping just the littlest bit to stop it freezing. And your mobile home sounds COLD.

It's the damp that does me in. Cold I can just about manage, though I'm not fond. Cold + Damp I loathe.

B

Yes, cold and damp is ugh, which is why I just moved

(Tilley style lamps are common and cheap - in Germany, at least, just google "Sturmlaterne". My father converted a few to electric to use for his bathroom lights )

When I was a child back on the old home farm, we were miles from anywhere, and always the last to get our power back because the area wasn't very densely populated. And the power was off frequently. Unfortunately, it also meant we had no water every time, because we had our own well and the pump was electric. To this day, when I hear a thunderstorm at night, I get the urge to get up and fill the bathtub so we'll have fresh water. The animals were fine, we had a swamp, but we couldn't drink that ourselves. Luckily, we heated the house with a wood stove, and could fry eggs and make pancakes and warm up soupe on it, too.

I'm all with you on rhe damp. Ugh, indeed! Can someone suggest a law against it?

Interesting. It seems in Europe you have several brands "Tilley" lantern; specifically gas mantle pressure lamps. Here in the US we have just one, Coleman. Tilley is a brand name but like "Hoover" it's used generically. Coleman is similar but rather than being used generically for all brands of the same device, Coleman has a monopoly on the North American market. They are the only maker of gas mantle lanterns available here. They use either white gas (Coleman fuel) or propane. They don't sell kerosene fueled ones anymore.

"Paul, when I was in Sweden one of the women I knew who would be in her 60s by now and who grew up "up north" used to leave a tap dripping just the littlest bit to stop it freezing. And your mobile home sounds COLD." [Ben]

Yep, it was one of those temperature spikes. We're heading for warmer
temps over the next four or five days. Some winters, the park management even urges us to leave a faucet dripping. It basically works, and it's only for a little while. The park will have a higher water bill, but we figure there are numerous leaks in the underground pipes, which we'll be fixing in the Spring.

It would have much higher water bills after the pipes burst. Hard freezes on the gulf coast are a real threat as many pipes are exposed. Insulating the exposed pipes helps.

We've had some terrible burst pipes [though rarely in my house] over the years. The one time I had that happen was the day after Christmas in 1981. The temperature went to 7 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit). I was at my parents' house at the time, and it was even colder there. My car wouldn't start. It was awful! Then I got back to my own house, and found the burst pipes .

*converts to centigrade as 7 under doesn't sound so bad...*

Woah. -21C.

The only time I can do temperature conversions in my head is when it's -40°.

Boston hit minus 17 during the 1930s. The Massachusetts all-time record was minus 37. But the temps here fluctuate quite a bit. It'll average around 40 degrees *above* zero [daytime temps] over the next few days. That's a *little* warm for January here, but climate change seems to be driving that.

Silicon-based lifeform?