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#21
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Lets hijack the Snowdome!
In message , Ian Spare
writes Here, now, it's ten past seven in the evening and it's 31 degrees, windless and humid. It's no odds to me what it's like in Scotland or New Zealand, or anywhere else that's not sharing your sticky foetid airmass. If our weather does improve, I'll make sure to post and brag about it - can't say fairer than that, can I? I think you must have heat exhaustion, wasn't it you who started this thread and later told us how it was "worse" in the UK ? Which it was, the previous poster'd claimed temperatures several degrees cooler than here. We'd love to have even a scabby glacier, and a colleague says the queue for ice skating went out of the door and into the heat (lemmings!) And the kids she was with made her join it anyway. -- Sue ];( Tell your glaciers to get well soon, now |
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#22
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Lets hijack the Snowdome!
On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 18:51:53 +0100, Sue
wrote: In message , Ian Spare writes Here, now, it's ten past seven in the evening and it's 31 degrees, windless and humid. It's no odds to me what it's like in Scotland or New Zealand, or anywhere else that's not sharing your sticky foetid airmass. If our weather does improve, I'll make sure to post and brag about it - can't say fairer than that, can I? I think you must have heat exhaustion, wasn't it you who started this thread and later told us how it was "worse" in the UK ? Which it was, the previous poster'd claimed temperatures several degrees cooler than here. If you're sure then I for one am moved by the obvious hardship being suffered across the entire of a small corner of the UK and I'm going to pop over to the UN office in Geneva and see if we can start some sort of aid campaign for you. I don't think anyone in mainland Europe really understood how slightly uncomfortable it'd been for a couple of afternoons in a car park near Heathrow for probably hundreds of people. It's been a Bob Geldof sort of moment I can tell for me and a lot of people I've shared the stories of how slightly warm it's been in part of the UK for several days at a time. We all thought the most important thing was to get in the ground and start making a difference, sadly some of the aid flights to anywhere north of Watford were canceled the mid part of last week after some severe weather warnings for the areas, it said thunder storms but I presume it was a typo and really it was just fairly warm. We've come up with a few concrete proposals though, 1.We're really worried some of the tarmac might be suffering, it's melted here in Switzerland so we can't even imagine how warm it must be there. We reckon we can get a few thousands tons of hardcore to make repairs for you all, it's fallen of the Matterhorn and there's no easy way to stick it back. 2. Food, fortunately we can help here as well, as luck would have we've a lot of cows we can no longer feed because all the grass has died so we could send some of them. 3. On the food motif we've launched a pan-European appeal and the French, Portuguese and Italians have indicated they've large amounts of charcoal they could let you have. 4. Sanitation, this must be a large problem, again our European appeal has been pretty successful, The French would be more than happy to take some waste water, as luck would have they can use it cool their nuclear reactors where, and it's hard to think why, they've been running short. We'd love to have even a scabby glacier, and a colleague says the queue for ice skating went out of the door and into the heat (lemmings!) And the kids she was with made her join it anyway. |
#23
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Lets hijack the Snowdome!
On Mon, 11 Aug 2003 11:06:27 +0200, Ian Spare
wrote: On Mon, 11 Aug 2003 09:15:06 +0100, "Jonathan Gogan" wrote: Ian; It is quite hot here in the UK. Jon (helpful). It might be hot _for_ the UK, but it's only been a few days of unseasonably warm weather and then mostly concentrated in the south east. What it definetly is not is hotter or "worse" than mainland Europe. It wasn't concentrated in the South-East, for once, although most of the very highest temperatures were recorded there, it was only -12 degrees cooler in other places. But the main "problem" here is that we are just not geared up for it. Sure there are many parts of Europe where it is hotter every summer than we have had, and often for months at a time. But almost every office there will have air-conditioning, as will many private houses, and most private cars. Plus, in many of those places, the siesta is normal, accepted practice. Many people simply don't work in the hottest part of the day. So yes, you take a thermometer, and it certainly is not hotter in the UK. But take the effect o the native population, and it *is* worse. -- Alex Heney, Global Villager Useless Invention: Flame-retardant gasoline. To reply by email, my address is aDOTjDOTheneyATbtinternetDOTcom |
#24
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Lets hijack the Snowdome!
In message , Ian Spare
writes If you're sure then I for one am moved by the obvious hardship being suffered across the entire of a small corner of the UK and I'm going to pop over to the UN office in Geneva and see if we can start some sort of aid campaign for you. I don't think anyone in mainland Europe really understood how slightly uncomfortable it'd been for a couple of afternoons in a car park near Heathrow for probably hundreds of people. Meaning you're only going to help the hundreds of people who stayed in the London conurbation and not the 25 million who fled to car parks on the coast? That's an outrage, we'll have to ring the UNHCR. It's been a Bob Geldof sort of moment I can tell for me and a lot of people I've shared the stories of how slightly warm it's been in part of the UK for several days at a time. We all thought the most important thing was to get in the ground and start making a difference, sadly some of the aid flights to anywhere north of Watford were canceled the mid part of last week after some severe weather warnings for the areas, it said thunder storms but I presume it was a typo and really it was just fairly warm. That must've been in a different corner of the UK, we've got a drought situation here (meaning it hasn't rained at all for three weeks) We've come up with a few concrete proposals though, 1.We're really worried some of the tarmac might be suffering, it's melted here in Switzerland so we can't even imagine how warm it must be there. We reckon we can get a few thousands tons of hardcore to make repairs for you all, it's fallen of the Matterhorn and there's no easy way to stick it back. Tarmac isn't much good for roads you can fry sausages on, is it? Ours didn't melt much, but only because they hadn't been repaired since the last time. A concrete proposal might be better, especially now there's no danger of frost damage in winter. We could have an answer to your Matterhorn problem squire, so long as there's enough of it left to use as a support we can stick the rubble back on with the molten asphalt you've got handy. Cost and durability would be comparable to the slow lane of the M4, depending how many thousand heavy lorries a day you'll have using the Matterhorn? [BTW is that six days a week or seven - d'you allow PLs up the Matterhorn on Saturdays?] 2. Food, fortunately we can help here as well, as luck would have we've a lot of cows we can no longer feed because all the grass has died so we could send some of them. People have been so generous it really warms your heart! Even the Welsh, who spent centuries stealing our sheep, have brought them all back! They wouldn't even let us thank them, just mumbled something about the cost of having them butchered being more than they'd get for the carcase, and hurried away. 3. On the food motif we've launched a pan-European appeal and the French, Portuguese and Italians have indicated they've large amounts of charcoal they could let you have. Is it OK if we leave a decision until after the August Bank Holiday? All our forest fire equipment's away at a training exercise on the continent, lucky devils, and it only takes one careless camper to create a local supply of charcoal. 4. Sanitation, this must be a large problem, again our European appeal has been pretty successful, The French would be more than happy to take some waste water, as luck would have they can use it cool their nuclear reactors where, and it's hard to think why, they've been running short. I've sent someone to check on Cap de la Hague [1], as we're puzzled by that. The water in the Channel seems to go up and down, maybe we're getting the up and they're getting the down. If we could swap it round, that'd expose some extra beach area for our refugees. [1] From the St Malo ferry, natch, no sense in getting too close. Thanks so much -- Sue ] |
#25
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Lets hijack the Snowdome!
On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 14:09:28 +0200, Ian Spare
wrote: On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 20:57:30 +0000 (UTC), Alex Heney wrote: But the main "problem" here is that we are just not geared up for it. Sure there are many parts of Europe where it is hotter every summer than we have had, and often for months at a time. But almost every office there will have air-conditioning, as will many private houses Not really, I live somewhere between France, Switzerland and Germany right now, many cars have aircon, certainly anything under, say, three years old, but that's true in the UK of course. As for offices, I have no idea what the figures might be but I'd be pretty surprised if the proportion with air con were any different from the UK. I'd go so far as to say that it's much less common here (France and Switzerland) than it is in the UK. less than 50% of the office space on the site[1] where I work has A/C, and I know that the other (even larger) pharms company up the road has even less. And private houses certainly don't have air-con. Spot on there. Some styles of building are inherently better for cooling, but it's absolutely unheard-of for A/C to be installed. Siestas? I really don't think so, In Spain (well, Madrid, at least), and possibly some other countries, they tend to work from about 0700 to 1500, which allows them a long break, possibly for a 'siesta', more often for a long lunch followed by a laze-around. Eveining activities start only once it cools down sufficiently. So yes, you take a thermometer, and it certainly is not hotter in the UK. But take the effect o the native population, and it *is* worse. And this is so totally not the point, the temperatures are really unimportant, yes some records have been broken but it's only been by a couple of degrees really, and I mean around Europe not the UK. People in the UK seem completely unable to grasp that it's been like here since May and that's what call a heat spell. *ding*. Give the man a coconut. [1] Swiss head office of large multinational pharms company. -- Ace in Alsace - bruce dot rogers at roche dot com Ski Club of Great Britain http://www.skiclub.co.uk All opinions expressed are personal and in no way represent those of the Ski Club. |
#26
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Lets hijack the Snowdome!
On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 09:30:23 +0200, Ace wrote:
I'd go so far as to say that it's much less common here (France and Switzerland) than it is in the UK. less than 50% of the office space on the site[1] where I work has A/C, and I know that the other (even larger) pharms company up the road has even less. Yes, I was thinking more about that, since I left the UK about 6 years ago I've worked with several major companies without air con, so I'm not surprised by what you say. And private houses certainly don't have air-con. Spot on there. Some styles of building are inherently better for cooling, but it's absolutely unheard-of for A/C to be installed. Yes, I'm just buying a house here in Switzerland so I've been looking at details for a lot of houses, I can't recall seeing any at all with air con. And this is so totally not the point, the temperatures are really unimportant, yes some records have been broken but it's only been by a couple of degrees really, and I mean around Europe not the UK. People in the UK seem completely unable to grasp that it's been like here since May and that's what call a heat spell. *ding*. Give the man a coconut. Quite I was really talking about the heat, David's pointed out a few times it's not rained hardly in France since February. Thinking about that I can't really recall when we had significant rainfall at our place in Germany, the garden's pretty much dead and, sadly, I think our pond and the wildlife in it is pretty much beyond saving now. |
#27
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Lets hijack the Snowdome!
Ian Spare spake thusly to the assembled multitudes,
agog with barely concealed anticipation: Yes, I'm just buying a house here in Switzerland so I've been looking at details for a lot of houses, I can't recall seeing any at all with air con. That's because it's simply not necessary when you have exterior blinds or shutters. You keep them closed when it's hot and the house/aprtment/whatever stays cool. Here in Zurich I have a south-facing apartment with large windows and have never found it too hot inside. Quite the contrary, in fact. |
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