In article <
[email protected]>,
dgk <
[email protected]> writes:
> On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 19:50:36 -0800, [email protected] (Tom Keats)
> wrote:
>
>>In article <[email protected]>,
>> "Ted" <[email protected]> writes:
>>>
>>> 1. Indoor plumbing
>>> 2. Central heat
>>> 3. Electricity
>>>
>>> How could anyone want to have lived before the 20th century?
>>
>>Y'know, your first two were implemented by the ancient Romans.
>>And there're theories about electric street lighting being
>>implemented by the ancient Egyptians and the Moors. Anyways,
>>Tesla sure showed Westinghouse about frying convicts in the
>>electric chair (AC/DC).
>>
>>Now, indoor plumbing /plus/ central heat -- that's a winner.
>>
>>
>>cheers (unheated basement bathroom in Canada,)
>> Tom
>
> Combine indoor plumbing with central heating and you have hot water.
If you've got steam heat, sure.
I'm reminded of a certain Woody Allen stand-up routine in
which he describes the tactic of letting the shower run
in order to warm the whole place up: "The two fronts met,
and it began to rain in my living room."
Gas-heated forced-air is de rigeur around here.
But not in my basement bathroom.
I rather miss steam heat. Those old accordionated radiators
were great for drying wet shoes on, or setting up a clothes
horse next to, on a rainy day. That was back when we had the
coal-burning furnace with the automatic stoker, but it still
occasionally needed the clinkers manually shook out of it. The
house had a coal chute built into the exterior wall, right next
to the rain barrel. One of my earliest memories is following
the cat into the coal bin, and catching major sh!t from my
mom and her deadly Wooden Spoon after my egress. I now fear
coal. Not cats, though.
Other houses in the neighbourhood had sawdust-burning
furnaces. The truck would come, and the driver guy would
stuff a big hose into some underground crypt and pump it
full of sawdust, and then the furnaces would somehow consume
it. I dunno how that worked, the mechanics were always a
mystery to me.
I still have an ice-pick given to me by the coal man (who
was also the ice man.) Burnt into the wooden handle is the
caption: "Phone to Morrow for your ice today. Morrow Ice &
Coal Co. Ltd."
Yeah, nothing says "Home" like steam heat and fogged-up
kitchen windows from a bunch of cooking going on.
Anyways, getting on a cold, unheated basement toilet seat
is just like ripping off an old Band-Aid. Ya gotta do it
/fast/, and just get the unpleasantness over with.
Be thankful it's not some construction-site Port-A-Potty.
cheers,
Tom
--
Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca
