When Flying Saucers Attack!

[Tom_Wescott]

Mike,

Is it normal where you live to not have air conditioning? Living in the U.S. of A, we sometimes forget that the conveniences we take for granted aren't made available in less developed parts of the world, such as England. But with your health problems you might consider making your house climate controlled.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Mike Covell]

The houses we live in are victorian terraced so it is unusual for them to have both central heating and air conditioning. The problem being the floors and ceilings are very thin, thus making it difficult to run ventilation through.
Instead we open all the windows and pray!

We did have a desk fan, but I have no idea where that vanished too, I will find it in winter!

We have central heating, but most houses here don't, relying on gas/coal fires for heating!

Unless you are a large commercial store, office, or recently made block of flats, it is unusual to have air conditioning.

[Tom_Wescott]

Mike,

Is it pretty cool living in a Victorian house? Such houses are so rare in the states now, they're all museums!

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Celesta]

The houses we live in are victorian terraced so it is unusual for them to have both central heating and air conditioning. The problem being the floors and ceilings are very thin, thus making it difficult to run ventilation through.
Instead we open all the windows and pray!

We did have a desk fan, but I have no idea where that vanished too, I will find it in winter!

We have central heating, but most houses here don't, relying on gas/coal fires for heating!

Unless you are a large commercial store, office, or recently made block of flats, it is unusual to have air conditioning.

I gets pretty hot here, Mike, so AC is normal. There are places here that would not have become as densely populated without AC, esp. Atlanta, Houston, and cities where the humidity and heat combined to make life miserable. Ceiling fans are not terribly expensive, but I would get someone who knows about the electrical systems in your area to check it out for you. Or just ask at the hardware places.

Having said that, I will say those old houses don't seem to get as hot. I lived in an old bungalow in Mississippi, during one of the hottest summers on record in the USA. Just regular box fans got me through it. The same was true of the old two story house I lived in in South Carolina, another hot place. So it depends on the house, as you point out.

[Mike Covell]

We have a couple of buildings left which date from the 1600's still standing, some from the 1700's, a fair few from the 1800's but because we were the second most bombed city in the UK during the second world war and the first UK city in the first world war to suffer zepplin attacks most of the buildings are from the early to mid 1900's.

Shame really, but always nice to read about the old haouses that used to stand along the streets.

As Tom was saying, most are Museums, Offices, and even Educational Centres.

[sdreid]

I've been fully air conditioned (house, cars and work) since 1972. It would be tough going back.

[Celesta]

I've been fully air conditioned (house, cars and work) since 1972. It would be tough going back.

Ditto!

[Mike Covell]

When I was in retail management all my stores had A/C prior to that I worked in a victorian sweet factory off Sculcoates Lane, Sculcoates, which was pretty much run by steam and very very hot.
When we made mint sweets, the oil used for the taste would rise into the air and make your eyes water.
It was tough going, plus I worked night's but I loved it. Most of the night shift were made redundant when the company was going under, the building was flattened and is now an housing estate!

[Celesta]

Mike,

That was the building with the ghost? I'll bet every cop you passed thought you'd been guzzling creme de menthe! Seriously, I imagine that could get pretty unpleasant. Mint can be overpowering.

[Mike Covell]

Yes, it was haunted and a lovely place to work, really nice atmosphere.
When I worked on the line, I had to test the sweets every hour, often resulting in toothache.
I spoke to my friend who worked putting the flavours together and he gave me a small jar of this mint oil.
The idea was simple, rub it on your gums and the pain goes, but don't swallow!
I did as he told me to and was suprised to feel the toothache had indeed vanished, but for hours after I was salivating like a rabid dog, a minor side affect no one dare inform me of until it was too late.

I had the pleasure of being trained up on several lines, and eventually ran my own, but the best thing was knowing these were old machines, all steam driven, with wonderful knobs, gauges and valves that did all manner of things!

[sdreid]

I thought my house was haunted when I first bought it but it seems quieter now. Two of the people who lived here died on the day I signed the papers. I am not making sensation out of that fact. It was a very sad thing.

[Celesta]

Spooky goings on in the '70's is why I want to sell my late father-in-law's house, now. Just too creepy for me. I don't mind watching documentaries or reading about this stuff, but I don't want to live it. We were planning to move in there but those plans are canceled the last I was informed. My father-in-law went out to check on his garden one afternoon and when he came back in, his chair had been pulled out into the middle of the room. No thanks! sez me.

[dougie]

We have a couple of buildings left which date from the 1600's still standing, some from the 1700's, a fair few from the 1800's but because we were the second most bombed city in the UK during the second world war and the first UK city in the first world war to suffer zepplin attacks most of the buildings are from the early to mid 1900's.

Shame really, but always nice to read about the old haouses that used to stand along the streets.

As Tom was saying, most are Museums, Offices, and even Educational Centres.

Old houses have character and were built to last,my house is over 100 years old,it used to be a shop up to 1902 apparently ,and at the back was a Cobblers workshop,still standing but converted into a garage/store room...very spacious ,too spacious really 6 bedrooms ,but at the time i bought it we had 3 youngsters so......It also has a covered up well in the garden where years ago around 8 households drew water from it, but...more importantly it had/has a ghost or so the story goes.At times ,infrequently, one gets a feeling that someone or something is very close to you,you almost grasp it (mentally) ..then its gone..very odd...ive experienced it ,as has my wife ...3 children...brother and 1 neighbour......I presume its a welsh ghost ..as we are in Wales, so not much to worry about
As for old houses,I worked in St James palace years ago renovating parts of it ..now I know St James P alace aint exactly a house but they had their own methods centuries ago and in one wall a large piece of Oak was part of the Wall,(6 feet by 3 feet)supplemented with stone etc and then plastered over....yes quite...how bloody interesting ! tell me more!I can hear you all say.........anyway in them days they built things to last ,unlike today,where crap workmanship is the norm,slap em up and sell em orf. no character, no soul, no atmosphere in the main....but thank god no ghosts either!
regards

[plang]

Hi all,
Love ghosts, don't scare me one bit, it is an honour to have an encounter.
Even if most are figments of the imagination. Or outright lies.
But even the most logical thinking persons have had their experiences.
Do believe there is something.
Mike, sounds like you could charge a fee for tourists to enter your 'museum'.
Do you Brits still gotta drop a shilling into the electric heaters?
As for A/C, parts of the states are unlivable without it. I'd be criusing through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, etc. with the A/C in my rig on full blast,then when it is time to step out and do some work, the sudden overwhelming heat is enough to make you faint. Learned to adjust the A/C to around 77 f so it would not be such a shock when you step out.

[Mike Covell]

I have not seen an electric heater with a coin slot for years, I have seen TV sets were you have to put money in to watch though! They are pretty expensive and the firm that hires them out sends a big hefty fella to collect all the cash at the end of the week!

Luckily never had one, but I visited a friends who did and it turned off midway through a film, with him and his partner scrambling about for spare change.

The collection is open to the public free of charge, if they can get past the kids, who are trained in protecting my books!