In the BBC 1981 "Day of the Triffids", people seem desperate for food and drink after only a few hours. Do (or did) Brits really keep so little food
in their houses? Also, the gas, electricity, water, and phones seemed to
go out within hours, unlike in (e.g.) EARTH ABIDES by George R. Stewart, where the water lasts several years. I'm assuming now things are more automated, but back then, did the utilities require con start intervention
to keep running?
In the BBC 1981 "Day of the Triffids", people seem desperate for
food and drink after only a few hours. Do (or did) Brits really
keep so little food in their houses?
Also, the gas, electricity,
water, and phones seemed to go out within hours, unlike in (e.g.)
EARTH ABIDES by George R. Stewart, where the water lasts several
years. I'm assuming now things are more automated, but back then,
did the utilities require con start intervention to keep running?
In article <8f3094a3-0f1e-4e78-a439-a029fe41ddcbn@googlegroups.com>, >evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com () wrote:
In the BBC 1981 "Day of the Triffids", people seem desperate for
food and drink after only a few hours. Do (or did) Brits really
keep so little food in their houses?
This is a question of personal habits. I keep quite a lot, but I know
some people don't. Also, TV dramatists have a tendency to compress >timescales.
"In Afghanistan.... oh, it was so terrible... we lost our corkscrew
in enemy action. We had to survive on nothing but food and water
for three days. Can you imagine it?"
-- Ronnie Barker
I guess Paul Dormer will talk about the electricty with a lot more
authority than the rest of us can.
I wouldn't have thought that water would go very quickly.
In article <slrnukfk4d....@azaal.plus.com>, an...@azaal.plus.com
(Andy Leighton) wrote:
I guess Paul Dormer will talk about the electricty with a lot more authority than the rest of us can.I'm not sure about the electricity. The thing is, you can't store electricity very easily. There are a couple of pumped storage systems in Wales, but that's about it. Most of the grid control is bringing
generating sets on when they are needed and taking them off to avoid overloading. I remember in the seventies we brought online a demand prediction program that tried to work out in advance what the demand was going to be as the day progressed.
Most days, demand started to rise in the morning as people got up, had showers, breakfast. Then dropped during the day and came back up in the evening. In winter, lighting comes on earlier.
I don't know how long it would take power stations - coal and oil - to
run out of fuel. And what happens when there is no load for it to powers, etc. Of course, there is not a stoker shovelling coal into the furnace,
and I can't remember how the coal feed works.
I wouldn't have thought that water would go very quickly.Ironically, I'm have water problems here in Guildford at the moment.
Storm Ciaran seems to have messed up the water supply.
Incidentally, I didn't see the original message. I haven't seen MTVoid
on my feed for weeks.
Scott Dorsey <klu...@panix.com> wrote:
"In Afghanistan.... oh, it was so terrible... we lost our corkscrew"Can you imagine it, I'm the last Plantagenet." -- Richard III
in enemy action. We had to survive on nothing but food and water
for three days. Can you imagine it?"
-- Ronnie Barker
(cited (musically) by Horrible Histories).
The Afghans kicked out the British in the 19th century, the Russians
in the 20th, and the Americans in the 21st. I wonder who they will
kick out in the 22nd.
Then there was the woman arrested for bringing knitting needles onto a
plane after 9/11. They were afraid she might knit an Afghan.
On Sunday, November 5, 2023 at 12:50:51?PM UTC-5, Paul Dormer wrote:
Incidentally, I didn't see the original message. I haven't seen MTVoid
on my feed for weeks.
Is there anyone else who hasn't been seeing the MT VOID? (Or who has?)
I have been posting it every Sunday.
Incidentally, I didn't see the original message. I haven't seen MTVoid
on my feed for weeks.
Is there anyone else who hasn't been seeing the MT VOID? (Or who
has?) I have been posting it every Sunday.
The Afghans kicked out the British in the 19th century, the Russians
in the 20th, and the Americans in the 21st. I wonder who they will
kick out in the 22nd.
Is there anyone else who hasn't been seeing the MT VOID? (Or whohas?) >I have been posting it every Sunday.
It is showing up here regularly, and providing an interesting read!
In article <cl4gkite9ce1jcc7l...@4ax.com>,
al...@thewoodfords.uk (Alan Woodford) wrote:
Is there anyone else who hasn't been seeing the MT VOID? (Or whohas?) >I have been posting it every Sunday.
It is showing up here regularly, and providing an interesting read!I checked on google groups and it seems only Evelyn's posts are failing
to get through.
In article <cl4gkite9ce1jcc7lsv9g8r3k3t744k7j8@4ax.com>,
alan@thewoodfords.uk (Alan Woodford) wrote:
Is there anyone else who hasn't been seeing the MT VOID? (Or whohas?) >I have been posting it every Sunday.
It is showing up here regularly, and providing an interesting read!
I checked on google groups and it seems only Evelyn's posts are failing
to get through.
MT VOID stopped showing up on the 'news.indvidual.net' newserver
several weeks ago.
In article <memo.20231106122143.6876B@pauldormer.cix.co.uk>,
prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) wrote:
In article <cl4gkite9ce1jcc7lsv9g8r3k3t744k7j8@4ax.com>, alan@thewoodfords.uk (Alan Woodford) wrote:
Is there anyone else who hasn't been seeing the MT VOID? (Or whohas?) >I have been posting it every Sunday.
It is showing up here regularly, and providing an interesting read!
I checked on google groups and it seems only Evelyn's posts are failing
to get through.
MT VOID stopped showing up on the 'news.indvidual.net' newserver several weeks ago. However, it has appeared regularly on the
'news.supernews.com' newserver. BTW, a number of otherwise legitimate
posts on r.a.sf.f and r.a.sf.w have also not showed up on 'news.individual.net'.
In article <robertaw-689648...@news.individual.net>,
Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
In article <memo.2023110...@pauldormer.cix.co.uk>, p...@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) wrote:
MT VOID stopped showing up on the 'news.indvidual.net' newserver several weeks ago. However, it has appeared regularly on theI have been checking and several of the missing posts had @gmail.com addresses.
'news.supernews.com' newserver. BTW, a number of otherwise legitimate posts on r.a.sf.f and r.a.sf.w have also not showed up on 'news.individual.net'.
Robert Woodward wrote:
I have been checking and several of the missing posts had @gmail.com
addresses.
It's ironic: I switched to gmail for sending out the email MT
VOIDs, because too many sites were deciding that optonline.net
was a spam generator.
In article <robertaw-689648.21391806112023@news.individual.net>,
Robert Woodward <robertaw@drizzle.com> wrote:
In article <memo.20231106122143.6876B@pauldormer.cix.co.uk>,
prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk (Paul Dormer) wrote:
In article <cl4gkite9ce1jcc7lsv9g8r3k3t744k7j8@4ax.com>, alan@thewoodfords.uk (Alan Woodford) wrote:
Is there anyone else who hasn't been seeing the MT VOID? (Or who has?) >I have been posting it every Sunday.
It is showing up here regularly, and providing an interesting read!
I checked on google groups and it seems only Evelyn's posts are failing to get through.
MT VOID stopped showing up on the 'news.indvidual.net' newserver several weeks ago. However, it has appeared regularly on the
'news.supernews.com' newserver. BTW, a number of otherwise legitimate
posts on r.a.sf.f and r.a.sf.w have also not showed up on 'news.individual.net'.
I have been checking and several of the missing posts had @gmail.com addresses.
A more complete check of messages on Supernews that are not on 'news.individual.net', found that those messages all originated on
Google Groups.
ele...@optonline.net <evelynchim...@gmail.com> wrote:
Robert Woodward wrote:
I have been checking and several of the missing posts had @gmail.com
addresses.
It's ironic: I switched to gmail for sending out the email MTAre you speaking of email or of rasff posts? To clarify, when I said
VOIDs, because too many sites were deciding that optonline.net
was a spam generator.
I wasn't missing any 2023 issues I was speaking of rasff. I have
never subscribed to MT VOID by email.
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.
In the 1980s, the 'phone system was powered through large accumulators
that would keep it going for a couple of days without external power, but >that's no longer the case.
In article <memo.20231105173727.11928D@jgd.cix.co.uk>,
John Dallman <jgd@cix.co.uk> wrote:
In the 1980s, the 'phone system was powered through large accumulators
that would keep it going for a couple of days without external power, but >>that's no longer the case.
[Hal Heydt]
I can't speak to British systems, but in the US, central offices
(COs) are designed to have enough battery power to run for
several days and then have auto-starting generators to recharge
the batteries when they get low. Depending on the level of CO,
they are supposed to be able to operate anywhere from 2 to 6
weeks without external power.
After the Loma Prieta earthquake (1989, M6.9), *one* CO failed.
It took 10 days. The generator failed to start, but it took
that long for the batteries to run down to point that the
switches dropped.
Part of the reason it took so long is that many of the COs had
been built and provisioned many years earlier, and then as
switches got replaced with newer equipment, they required less
power to operate but the original battery design was left in
place.
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