HOUSEHOLD TIPS NOT FOUND IN WOMAN'S WEEKLY

[Stanley]

The overloading of old sewers and surface water drains due to not being re-sized after developments upstream is widespread. If you remember, this was a major factor in the surprise flooding at Hull. Fit and forget seems to be the motto. Any other course is seen as expensive to the utility companies or councils. In effect the cost is passed to the consumer because they have to cope with the consequences.



Just to prove I practice what I preach. I lifted the cover ten minutes ago and took this. The straight central channel is the main outlet from the house and the top right the gulley grate for rain water off the shed roof. The others are disused. No problems here!

[Stanley]

Road safety..... Never trust what the indicators on a vehicle are predicting. The only reliable signal is when the front wheels actually turn!

[Tizer]

When we bought our present car we went for a test drive with me driving, Mrs Tiz in the front passenger seat and the garage salesman in the back. We arrived at a T junction with a fast main road, only one car coming, from the right and it was indicating to turn left into our road. I think the salesman was a bit puzzled that I stayed still with the handbrake on. Then the car shot past in front of us and there was an exclamation from the back seat. I think he thought I had some kind of extra sense and had saved him and the car but it was simply because I was taught never to trust the indicator in that situation.

[Stanley]

Exactly right Tiz and a good example of really good defensive driving. I spent a lot of time observing traffic though the windscreen and learned a thing or three.... I often annoy drivers like the ones who stop and wave you across the road when they see you stood waiting to cross even though they have the right of way. I've seen too many accidents cause or almost caused by people making their own rules up like this. They think they are being kind and thoughtful when in fact they are being bad drivers. Another instance, there's a walkway across the big car park on the way back home from the town centre. When a car pulls into a space facing the path I never cross the front until the engine has stopped. I once saw a lady injured by a foot slipping off the clutch.... The way I look at it is that I have got this far without being hit by a car, I prefer to keep it that way....

[Tripps]

Or as they say "Courtesy Causes Confusion"

[Wendyf]

Oh dear, think I am guilty of being courteous now and again. I thought pedestrians had priority sometimes?

[Tizer]

In Italy they used to say never cross the road at a pedestrian crossing, it's safer elsewhere. I think this is because there were a lot of accidents at the crossings. People think that traffic will stop when they use the crossing and therefore they take less care (and Italian drivers are not known for observing the rule of the road). When you cross somewhere else you know you have to be very careful.

[Stanley]

Wendy , so they do. It's still against the law to knock pensioners over! However, the fault is when people unilaterally alter the rule of the road on a whim. Other road users don't know what's going on. I saw a woman knocked down in Halifax because of this, a car stopped for her, she started crossing and a car overtook the one that was stopped and hit the lady.

[Cathy]

I always thought you got 10 points for knocking over a pensioner... ... Hehe

[Stanley]

Not in Barlick Cathy......

[LizG]

I always thought you got 10 points for knocking over a pensioner... ... Hehe

They obviously don't have our sense of humour Cathy.

[Tizer]

Don't worry Liz, there's plenty of black humour here in the Old Country. I get in trouble quite often for employing it!

[Stanley]

Tiz is right..... but with my eyes as they are I am particularly sensitive to road crossing and traffic at the moment! Everything has to be clear in both directions.....
Remember what they taught us? "Look left, look right, look left again. If road is clear walk straight across." I still do it.....

[Stanley]

So much of what we do in the home is cleaning up and it's almost always after ourselves. We're dropping dead skin cells all the time and treading in muck from outside. Then we clog our drains with what we put down them! Perhaps the more effort we put into not making muck ourselves would be more efficient than just dealing with the aftermath.... Mind you, I don't know how to stop the dead skin cells dropping off!

[Cathy]

Exfoliation would help somewhat Stanley (but I can only imagine you doing that on your hands and lower arms)... hehe

[Stanley]

Sounds far too drastic for an old bloke like me Cathy..... I'll put up with the dust and dog hairs!
I've been sorting out some patterns to send up to my friend John in the NE. These are foundry patterns used for putting the imprint in sand so that articles can be moulded out of molten iron. I was reminded how common cast iron used to be in the home for kitchen ranges, gas stoves and even small household items. This is a thing olf the past apart from wood burning stoves and specialised industrial jobs. Just imagine this next to your modern cooker and decide which you'd rather clean....

[Stanley]

Cleaning any mechanical device is never time wasted. It's the best way of inspecting the item and picking up faults before they develop into something more serious.... How long since you gave your vacuum cleaner a good going over?

[Stanley]

Never forget how lucky we are in that we have mains services and labour saving devices in our homes. Go and read the LTP to get a picture of what people's lives were like a hundred years ago. Like me, you might wonder how women in particular managed to survive under repeated childbirth, domestic work and often going to the mill as well. And today people complain about being 'time poor'.....

[Stanley]

Over seventy years ago my father had a good job and my mother didn't go to work. We lived in a new semi-detached house but my mother still washed by hand, we had a gas cooker but no fridge. Just reinforcing what I said yesterday, we are so lucky and today's tip is to ask yourself what exactly do you do with the time you have gained?

[Cathy]

Can't go back that far Stanley, but I am glad that I changed my twin-tub washing machine for an automatic one, and that I changed my fridge for one that doesn't need manual defrosting. Both decades ago.
I probably spend my reading, watching telly, playing on the internet, just vegging out really

[Stanley]

Nowt wrong with any of those as long as you aren't bored. If you are, look for another interest. Having something constructive as a hobby is very good for you. For one thing it is thought to be a defence against dementia in old age.....

[Stanley]

If you are approaching retirement start planning now. Look on it as a new job. Do your research and adopt new skills. If you don't, there is a danger you might end up being bored when you should be having the time of your life. We re-educate animals before releasing them from captivity but don't do the same for humans.....

[Cathy]

Remember the old Encyclopaedias with everything in alphabetical order and all those grainy pictures?
These days if we want to know something instead of saying"Look it up" and having to get out the right volume etc we just say"Google it". Much easier.

[Stanley]

Dead right Cathy.... Wikipedia is the world's biggest encyclopaedia and on the whole is remarkably accurate.

[Stanley]

When inviting elderly relatives for tea make sure you give them something special and if possible a good beer to wash their pills down with.