NationStates

Alvecia wrote:Gigantic gaps in toilet stalls in America.
Like, why even have a door?

only in some bathrooms
just some extra privacy

CoraSpia wrote:

Costa Fierro wrote:Happy and sad to see New Zealand isn't mentioned here...

the only thing that I know that's unique to new zealand are pineapple lumps, and they're not a bad thing.

And that, on the whole, the wildlife is less dangerous than it is in Australia.

Calladan wrote:

CoraSpia wrote:the only thing that I know that's unique to new zealand are pineapple lumps, and they're not a bad thing.

And that, on the whole, the wildlife is less dangerous than it is in Australia.

They do all live in holes in the ground. That's pretty odd.

Countries that use use pipe threading standards that aren't BSP (or derived/compatible with BSP).

Looking at you America (and a lesser extent Canada).

Also electrical plugs, why anyone would use anything other than UK type G plugs/sockets is beyond me and the less said about European "It doesn't matter how you wire the +ve and - ve pins we'll just turn the plug upside down to make it work" the better ( actually it's pretty cool but a bit bewildering if you are used to the strict pole locations on UK plugs).

Having separate tabs for hot and cold water at sinks and bath tubs.
I've seen it both in Ireland and the UK, and I don't get why you would go to all that extra hassle to fix another tab just so that you will never be able to have warm water - only boiling and freezing.

Cabra West wrote:Having separate tabs for hot and cold water at sinks and bath tubs.
I've seen it both in Ireland and the UK, and I don't get why you would go to all that extra hassle to fix another tab just so that you will never be able to have warm water - only boiling and freezing.

I thought that was pretty normal as we have the same thing here. Although we replaced our taps, the water system still has separate hot and cold.

One thing I don't get as a Brit is how Germans and the French don't seem to hold doors open for women or the elderly, it's such a basic expectation in the UK and elsewhere it just seems to be ignored.

Costa Fierro wrote:I thought that was pretty normal as we have the same thing here. Although we replaced our taps, the water system still has separate hot and cold.

But where's the benefit of two tabs, which cost more to install, are more awkward to clean and will give you either water that's too hot or too cold, over one tab, which is cheaper, easier to clean and allows you to regulate the water temperature?
I had never seen that until I came here, and I still don't get it.

Cabra West wrote:

Costa Fierro wrote:I thought that was pretty normal as we have the same thing here. Although we replaced our taps, the water system still has separate hot and cold.

But where's the benefit of two tabs, which cost more to install, are more awkward to clean and will give you either water that's too hot or too cold, over one tab, which is cheaper, easier to clean and allows you to regulate the water temperature?
I had never seen that until I came here, and I still don't get it.

Meh, probably different ways water is heated. We used to have two taps but one single faucet until we changed it to a faucet and tap in a single piece. Not much of an issue as it all comes from the same pipe.

I don't think it's in all of the US but the prices of things in shops not having the VAT added on? It just seems strange

Carrying guns in the United States.
I don't know why they do this.

Cabra West wrote:

Costa Fierro wrote:I thought that was pretty normal as we have the same thing here. Although we replaced our taps, the water system still has separate hot and cold.

But where's the benefit of two tabs, which cost more to install, are more awkward to clean and will give you either water that's too hot or too cold, over one tab, which is cheaper, easier to clean and allows you to regulate the water temperature?
I had never seen that until I came here, and I still don't get it.

It is a weird one and even as a British I still don't really get it.

I think it may have had some sort of application to multiple simultainious uses and maybe have been from the days when the hot water heater would be directly at the sink. IIRC my grandma didn't like mixerctaps for getting drinking water out of as you had to run the cold for a while to get it properly cold. Then again she also insisted that when making up diluting juice/squash you had to use an intermediary tin cup to add the water to the concentrate and could never add the eater straight from the tap.

Of course the separate taps are (and have been for a long time) gradually disappearing first in kitchens, then for baths and now the last bastion, the bathroom sink, is crumbling.

AiliAiliA wrote:

Jello Biafra wrote:Which word is it the plural of?

It's not. "Mathematic" is a pronoun, equivalent to "mathematical", and "mathematics" is not a plural of that.

OK, you can use "mathematics" as a singular noun, like "the mathematics of that is difficult" but I prefer to use it as a plural "the mathematics of that are difficult".

I suppose that's because you don't really have the group singular over there.

AiliAiliA wrote:

Jello Biafra wrote:Which word is it the plural of?

It's not. "Mathematic" is a pronoun, equivalent to "mathematical", and "mathematics" is not a plural of that.

OK, you can use "mathematics" as a singular noun, like "the mathematics of that is difficult" but I prefer to use it as a plural "the mathematics of that are difficult".

*Cough*Group Singular*Cough*

Valyrian Freeholds wrote:I don't think it's in all of the US but the prices of things in shops not having the VAT added on? It just seems strange

Sales taxes are state or even locally applied in some cases, and different states have different categories of which things they want to tax.

Jello Biafra wrote:

Valyrian Freeholds wrote:I don't think it's in all of the US but the prices of things in shops not having the VAT added on? It just seems strange

Sales taxes are state or even locally applied in some cases, and different states have different categories of which things they want to tax.

Meanwhile here in the UK we have large legal battles about whether or not Jaffa Cakes are classified as cakes or biscuits.

Alvecia wrote:

Jello Biafra wrote:Sales taxes are state or even locally applied in some cases, and different states have different categories of which things they want to tax.

Meanwhile here in the UK we have large legal battles about whether or not Jaffa Cakes are classified as cakes or biscuits.

Meanwhile in the antipodes, we ran a story about an emperor penguin that washed ashore and it's recovery for two months. The media called it Happy Feet.

Mixer taps are a pain in the arse, full of washers that you can't get at to replace when they go. You end having to pay £15 for a new tap, when all you needed was to replace a bit of rubber worth a fraction of a penny.

I really hate the modern trend for taps that turn in opposite directions, so turning the cold tap clockwise turns it off, while turning the hot tap clockwise turns it on. Particularly if you are using one of those crappy designer baths that have the mixer tap in the middle of one side, so instead of turning the hot water off you end up scalding your genitals.

Costa Fierro wrote:
Meh, probably different ways water is heated. We used to have two taps but one single faucet until we changed it to a faucet and tap in a single piece. Not much of an issue as it all comes from the same pipe.

Errr, not what I mean.

UK :



Rest of the world :

In Serbia, when the parking lot is full, people just park down the road between the cars (I know from experience):

The Blaatschapen wrote:

HC Eredivisie wrote:I guess I'm missing something

Hagelslag.

As if it's solely for breakfast

I almost thought I was doing lunch and dinner wrong.

Cabra West wrote:

Costa Fierro wrote:
Meh, probably different ways water is heated. We used to have two taps but one single faucet until we changed it to a faucet and tap in a single piece. Not much of an issue as it all comes from the same pipe.

Errr, not what I mean.

UK :

Rest of the world :

Could still be a remnant of how we heated water. One pipe going straight to the tap, the other passing by the heater first.
I imagine it's not a purely UK thing.

Cabra West wrote:

Costa Fierro wrote:
Meh, probably different ways water is heated. We used to have two taps but one single faucet until we changed it to a faucet and tap in a single piece. Not much of an issue as it all comes from the same pipe.

Errr, not what I mean.

look again, Costa's grandma was on to something:)

anyway to be a bit clearer in the past the Cold water tap was directly linked to the mains supply which the council was able to guarantee being drinkable.

Hot water supply however was stored in a tank in the roof before being fed to the household hot water cylinder. Now these storage tanks in the roof were often clogged with sediments and rusty and infested by rat carcasses and the like which meant the water was not always safe to drink, even if it was deemed okay to wash in.

ergo two taps, the cold one with safe drinkable water and the hot tap with dodgy water - you did not want to mix the two.

Jello Biafra wrote:

Valyrian Freeholds wrote:I don't think it's in all of the US but the prices of things in shops not having the VAT added on? It just seems strange

Sales taxes are state or even locally applied in some cases, and different states have different categories of which things they want to tax.

That still doesn't explain why you couldn't add taxes to the price tag, assuming the tag is on the shelves. Just make different tags for different states.

Something I found odd about the Netherlands is that with one exception, every house I saw had a gas stove rather than an electric, which is more common here. I don't know if that is generally a Dutch thing or if it's because I was mostly in (usually older) student houses though.

Savojarna wrote:Something I found odd about the Netherlands is that with one exception, every house I saw had a gas stove rather than an electric, which is more common here. I don't know if that is generally a Dutch thing or if it's because I was mostly in (usually older) student houses though.

Electric hobs are rubbish for cooking on.