Local Issues Here

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ChrisGreaves
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Local Issues Here

Post by ChrisGreaves »

I have been out of action these past few weeks in part because when the library is closed, I can’t get WiFi access at Walkham’s Gate Café Pub (updated thread).

On top of that I have hired a BRILLIANT electrician who has taken 39 days (so far) to complete a 3-day job of (a) replacing the front panel and (b) installing two programmable thermostatted baseboard heaters. I went all-electric Tuesday September 17th at 14:30, thus achieving my goal from seven months ago. Hooray! (My next goal is to pay off the $8,000 bank loan)
The Electrician is brilliant (he saves me $270 per year by telling me to unplug the fuses to my water heater), but I have spent hours returning to my former status of Project Manager, documenting his lies, his scams etc. He really is brilliant as an electrician, but I am at my wit’s end at his lying and stubornness.

On top of that the Housing Commission has granted me (a gift) of $5,000 which I have to spend before Nov12th and work has to be completed by that date. Insulation and sealing, mainly, and the general response from Bonavista Contractors is “I am flat out until next year”(1), so I am placed in the terrible position of having $5,000 drop form the skies and am unable to spend it. Life is not fair.

On top of THAT I seem to be making no progress on my really interesting projects, and my Doctor is nagging me to go for these blood-work tests etc. (Whenever a Dr gets a new patient, it is his excuse to issue a zillion tests to churn money through the health system)

What really ticks me off is that 60 Canon Bayley Road is now the Bonavista Campaign Office for the Green Party Candidate in the Federal Riding of Bonavista-Burin-Trinity and since the candidate lives in Carbonear; he has a 600Km round trip just to visit here for two hours, silly sod! I am, by unanimous vote, the Bonavista Campaign Manager, being AFAWK the only registered member of the Green Party in Bonavista. As you might have guessed, my vote was disallowed because I had an interest in the outcome. So did the candidate, but I didn’t notice that until it was too late.
Screenshot_08.png
I have amassed twenty-five containers of seeds - trees, vegetables, flowers – because I remain an incurable optimist, and now that winter has settled in, I have to have SOMEthing good to dream about.

Apart from, one day, unfettered access to WiFi at Walkham’s Gate Café Pub (grin!)

Cheers
Chris
(1) Probably because there are so many people getting $5,000 grants.
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viking33
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Re: Local Issues Here

Post by viking33 »

Hey Chris,
A number of years ago, I installed a very simple device that I bought at the local True Value hardware store and it know it has saved me many bucks in reducing my hot water heater system costs. ( I have an all electric house )

It is a mechanical timer that is wired in line to the water heater circuit. You can set it to go on and off for your own needs and it sure doesn't require you to pull fuses to turn off the heater. I don't even remember the manufacturer of the unit but I can try Google to see where they are available.

I'm surprised your BRILLIANT electrician hasn't suggested this. They work fine and trouble free for me! EASY to install.
BOB
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BobH
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Re: Local Issues Here

Post by BobH »

Winter??? We haven't had Fall start yet! Our daytime highs have been above 95°F (35°C). We have been promised an overnight low of 59°F in a week or so. With any luck, that will start a cooling trend which will, no doubt, turn to sleet and freezing rain after Halloween.

Cheers from (warm) deep in the heart of Texas.
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Argus
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Re: Local Issues Here

Post by Argus »

Sorry to hear about your troubles, Chris. Some things demands good planning perhaps even finding a good public Wi-Fi at times. As for the grant, program, I know that some have rules about when it must be finished, and some when it must be started, to qualify; sometimes these programs go on for a couple of years, is it impossible to say that you started early for next years' program? :smile:

BobH, if we are going to derail Chris' thread :grin: about his local issues by talking about our local issues, and still sticking to the thread's main topic, I can add that it's a bit interesting to notice that some are still talking about getting double-glazing in for example the UK (I understand that many, a majority, got double-glazing there between, say, 1970s and the 1990s.) Here, triple-glazing is standard, and it was introduced in the mid '70s around the time the UK went for double. (Of course, many older buildings still have double-glazing.) It illustrates changes in building standards, during a time when interest for energy efficiency increased, as well as local differences in climate. Of course, what's "best" in the individual case is also a different matter.
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BobH
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Re: Local Issues Here

Post by BobH »

Sorry, I didn't mean to derail Chris' thread. I was just giving him a gentle jibe about his GWN weather compared with our Texas weather.

As for glazing, newer construction here is high-e double glazing; but in older places like where I am currently living, there is single glazing.

¡Lo siento mucho, Christopher, mi hermano!
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Re: Local Issues Here

Post by GeoffW »

At the risk of taking the thread off topic again, should that be

¡Lo siento mucho, Cristobal, mi hermano!

Chris, i thought that Canberra was bad for growing things, but I think Bonavista is a clear winner in the short growing season stakes. We have about a six month season where we can grow tomatoes.

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Argus
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Re: Local Issues Here

Post by Argus »

Just joking Bob, and I don't think anyone did that (yet :evilgrin:). (I don't think Chris explicitly mentioned weather or climate in this thread (as an "issue"), it's certainly related to changes in heating and insulation, indirectly, though it's possible it relates to everything, even Wi-Fi. If anything, now when "winter" has arrived it's good dreams, not much to do. :smile:)

But let's start (bye Chris :laugh:): Spanish, interesting this with the inverted exclamation and question marks (and whatnot) in the beginning (or middle) of a sentence; they have to decide at the beginning of a sentence how it should end, sort of. (And use a larger set of punctuation marks.) ¿Why?
(Yes, there are pages such as these trying to explain.)
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GeoffW
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Re: Local Issues Here

Post by GeoffW »

The inverted punctuation in Spanish is so that, when reading, a person knows that it's a question/exclamation when they start to read the sentence, and can adjust the intonation accordingly. In English, we frequently have a word at the start of the sentence indicating a question, not so often in Spanish.

While Spanish uses these almost all the time formally, informally, such as in social media, the inverted form is used a lot less (partially because of keyboards) - especially with younger people.

Back to Chris's post. He did mention that winter had settled in, with the implication that he couldn't plant his seeds now.

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Argus
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Re: Local Issues Here

Post by Argus »

Yes, that's why I mentioned it as I did; but I interpreted it not as an issue, the growing season is over (which will happen at some point anyhow), not much to do nothing to worry about, only planning and "good dreams" about next; now's another (season), and it will be interesting to see how, say, change A, B, and C will work during the winter.

OT: that much I gathered. I'm also aware of other uses of pitch in language as in tone, for example in Mandarin, or in the Scandinavian languages (SE, NO, though we don't have as many). Languages can be odd (from one's own perspective), such as lack of common words ("yes" and "no" in Irish) etc. etc.

And back to topic again: Front panel? :smile: (I guessed it's something akin to a "(final) distribution board" or "final panel-board", which I guess is pretty obvious from the topic, but hey I'm an engineer of another discipline not :electric: and wouldn't know the English word for it even if I was staring at it.)
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BobH
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Re: Local Issues Here

Post by BobH »

From Argus . . .
But let's start (bye Chris :laugh:): Spanish, interesting this with the inverted exclamation and question marks (and whatnot) in the beginning (or middle) of a sentence; they have to decide at the beginning of a sentence how it should end, sort of. (And use a larger set of punctuation marks.) ¿Why?
(Yes, there are pages such as these trying to explain.)
I can understand the use of punctuation before declarative exclamatory sentences and interrogative sentences. I usually know when I write that I'm about to ask a question or exclaim. What I do find difficult in writing English is to consider beforehand that I shall need a semicolon to join independent clauses if there is punctuation - usually commas but sometimes other forms - in either of the clauses.

¿Now what did we do with that resident pedant?
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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Local Issues Here

Post by ChrisGreaves »

viking33 wrote:... It is a mechanical timer that is wired in line to the water heater circuit.
Hi Bob, and thanks.
My brill elec DID suggest this.
So I asked him "How much is it".
He grabbed "about $100, maybe $120" out of the air.
That's when I asked him "So why can't I just push/pull the fuses at 7:00pm/7:10pm.
I have nothing better to do at that time.
More about this later in my reply to the "Sodium batteries" thread.
Cheers
Chris
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viking33
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Re: Local Issues Here

Post by viking33 »

ChrisGreaves wrote:
viking33 wrote:... It is a mechanical timer that is wired in line to the water heater circuit.
Hi Bob, and thanks.
My brill elec DID suggest this.
So I asked him "How much is it".
He grabbed "about $100, maybe $120" out of the air.
That's when I asked him "So why can't I just push/pull the fuses at 7:00pm/7:10pm.
I have nothing better to do at that time.
More about this later in my reply to the "Sodium batteries" thread.
Cheers
Chris
I think I paid $29.95 US for it and I installed it myself ( allow a few bucks for inflation ) :cheers:
BOB
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Re: Local Issues Here

Post by BobH »

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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Local Issues Here

Post by ChrisGreaves »

viking33 wrote:I think I paid $29.95 US for it and I installed it myself ( allow a few bucks for inflation ) :cheers:
Right.
Plus the $cdn probably at 1.25.
29.95
39.93333333
45.12466667
23.74982456

There we go. $US29.95 to $cdn 39.93 plus HST tax at 1.13 would buy me 23.7 coffees (at $1.90 w'out tip) at Walkham's.
That's 23 WiFi sessions now that my system has stopped sulking! :laugh:
Fewer if I tip to stop the staff from sulking! :laugh: :rofl:
Cheers
Chris
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