Rant of the Day v2.

[ian16th]

I believe that as late as 1959 there were some houses in Kings Lynn with DC mains.

Another oddity I found in South Africa, was a separate 'stabilised' supply in an office, for computer terminals. These usually were Red plugs & socket, with a flat on the earth pin.

[k3k3]

When we went to Gioia del Colle in the mid-eighties we were told to use an old unused building, there we found some of the standard Italian 3 round pins in a row sockets were 112VDC.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Really good fun was physics power supplies having 5,000V DC, or even 15,000V DC in one case, and selectable polarity. Non-physics graduate teachers would wave crosses and garlic about and hide behind benches!
At one state school they used to donate the equipment to me so it would be in another county.
And this was before it had even been turned on!

[Alisoncc]

When I lived in CPT most of my electrical stuff was UK and had the UK 13 A square pin plugs (the best in the world).

Sorry to disagree, but I think they are garbage. With so much modern electrical kit around that draws millamps, invariably having cable to match. Thin cable with a big lump of gunk on one end is a recipe for disaster. Why, because your average Joe Blow will try to pull the plug out using the cable, and it will break.

On a couple of occasions when, having returned to the UK and needing to set up my inhouse networks, I've used Aussie extension boards just to make it manageable. Currently I am using two off six way outlets with all in use. Screens, processors, modems and routers, printers, scanners, active speakers, etc. etc. Couldn't imagine doing it with UK plugs.

Alison

[Pontius Navigator]

Alison, one reason why you find increasingly 13amp sockets with 2 or even 3 USB sockets.

Personally I prefer the EU twin round and double earth. Smaller, neater and the cable can go down or up. Fixing a French gadget also found the switch broke but live and common, not just live.

If course the fused 13 amp sockets are good, provided the fuse is correct. Lost count the number of 'dead' no user repairable devices where I have had to break in to change to internal fuse.

[Sisemen]

Feckin banks! Westpac this time. I pay my Visa account every month via BPay on the date noted on the Visa statement. The money exits my bank and, by the miracle of electrickery appears in the recipients bank milliseconds later. Regular as clockwork, no problems. Except 3 months ago. Set up the payment well in advance for the due date. My bank says “yes, it’s gone” and proved it by instantly reducing my balance. The following month I noticed “Interest on Purchases” appeared on my Visa statement! The payment to them doesn’t appear until 4 days after the due date. So I wrote to them. No answer.

Following month the payments all go through on time as they usually do but Interest still being charged. Another letter. This month all OK and no interest charges but still no reply. Until today when I get a phone call from a thirty three and a third somebody with an Arab name from their Customer Relations Department. I ignored his slightly sneering comment about my complaint being received “by post”. He started to waffle on about their processes before he told me I would get a refund of the interest payments. He then condescendingly told me that to ensure that the payment goes through then I should move the money 2 or 3 days before the due date.

It takes a lot to get me riled but that did. So I let him have it. Due date should mean due date and if the electronic payment is made on the due date then that should suffice. If they wanted it on a different date then they should say and I resent handing over my cash early so that they can use it and make money on it. He said he would put it in the suggestions box. **** smarmy git

[Magnus]

Worst electrics we found were in Sri Lanka where, irrespective of the socket type, someone would force a cable into it.

[Capetonian]

Due date should mean due date and if the electronic payment is made on the due date then that should suffice. If they wanted it on a different date then they should say and I resent handing over my cash early so that they can use it and make money on it.

Don't get me started on this ..... well .. you did.

I have credit cards with several banks in several countries. With one exception, and I'll come to that, they are paid by direct debit set up to take the full amount due on the due date, from a current account. The Direct Debit date is the same as the Due Date so the money only leaves my current account on the due date.

The exception is the Royal Bank of Wankers, NatWest to be specific, who when I set up a DD said it has to be 10 days before the due date. So they are using my money for an extra 10 days every month, or 30% of the year. When I asked why, they said it's because some people's DDs are rejected and have to be re-submitted. I asked how many times, in 30 years+, mine have rejected, and she said she could only go back 7 years but in that time, never. I told her that never applies to the preceding 23 years too.

The response which really annoyed me was that they have to 'be fair to everybody' and when I explained that they are being unfair to the majority, like myself, because a few of their users were financially irresponsible, she said : "I can't discuss another person's account with you."

I managed to put the phone down before the worst abuse came out of my mouth.

[llondel]

Sorry to disagree, but I think they are garbage. With so much modern electrical kit around that draws millamps, invariably having cable to match. Thin cable with a big lump of gunk on one end is a recipe for disaster. Why, because your average Joe Blow will try to pull the plug out using the cable, and it will break.

That's part of the design for a UK plug, it's very hard, if not impossible, to pull out by the cable even if it's a 13A cable due to the exit being at a right angle to the pins so most people learn very quickly not to even try. The US plug is easy to pull out by the cable because it's all in a straight line, and given the lack of guards to stop your fingers slipping round the edges and touching the power pins, it's probably safer to pull by the cable.

I miss the UK stuff, way safer than the US.

[Capetonian]

The continental plugs are crap. It is easy to pull them out by the cable as it usually emerges from the back, and although some have a loop for the fingers, many don't.
There are several different designs of the two pin plug, with different types of earth, and they are not all compatible within a single country, let alone the entire EU.
In Frogland there is another problem which is that in a lot of houses/flats the plastering is so shoddy that when you pull the plug out, the socket and half the wall come out too.
The UK plugs are fairly sturdy, and usually have a rim for grip when pulling it out. Also if you open one up you will see that if properly wired, there is a clamp and a chicane to make it even harder to pull the wires out.
The only downside is that if you step on one during the night, it's only marginally less painful than a Lego brick!

[Pontius Navigator]

In Frogland there is another problem which is that in a lot of houses/flats the plastering is so shoddy

Yes noticed that, noticed also that lath and plaster walls tend to go down approximately to the floor with skirting often yet to be fitted. Ceiling lights hanging from a flex that may or not be fastened to the ceiling. The bulb unencumbered with a shade so you get maximum illumination from a dim bulb.

The other French economy is with external painting. Why do they bother with paint in the first place.

[OFSO]

Two different pin diameters in Spain although spacing is identical. Big pin needs ramming home in small socket. Small pin can be loose fit in big socket. Expensive plugs have good cable grip, cheap plugs not. Either way, live and neutral are reversible depending on how you insert it.

[ian16th]

The other French economy is with external painting. Why do they bother with paint in the first place.

I was told it is an invite to be investigated by The Tax Man, if you paint the outside of your house. 'Cos only the wealthy can afford to do it.

[Pontius Navigator]

Ian, they obviously know the tax man knows that and knocks anyway, so they don't do the inside either.

As an aside, has anyone sat on a comfy chair in France?

[OFSO]

BJ has promised a revision of stamp duty if/when he's elected. Proposes starting value for tax will be over £500k. Can't imagine there will be any offers now for our London flat before that happens (if it does) and nor would we put in a bid for a replacement until then. If there is a 'then'. So blabbermouth does it again and kills the market stone dead.

[OFSO]

Added to the above, shares in the UK's three biggest builders of homes rose up to three percent today in expectation of a sales boom.

[Pontius Navigator]

OFSO, you should know better. The only time I know of when a politician did what they said was Maggie who gave the Armed Forces an instant and large pay rise.

Upping stamp duty to start at £500k, living wage to £12, abolishing pink pigs etc might happen "over the course of the next Parliament" " raised by £5k per year until . . . "

If course with inflation etc house prices soar beyond the threshold and the pig population drops with a F&M epidemic. Bingo, job done.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Boris is a politician trying to get elected. Like a teenager trying to get laid, he will say anything if he thinks it'll help.
Stop Press: Boris promises a free Martian to any Conservative party member who is a Star Trek fan. Jeremy Hunt promises World Peace by Christmas.

[llondel]

Boris is a politician trying to get elected. Like a teenager trying to get laid, he will say anything if he thinks it'll help.
Stop Press: Boris promises a free Martian to any Conservative party member who is a Star Trek fan. Jeremy Hunt promises World Peace by Christmas.

Hunt has an out though, provided he's suitably ambiguous about which Christmas.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Of course, like World Wars