tea and toast

What James Arthur doesn't understand is precisely what "absolute goverment" involves. It's "absolute monarchy" or one of the modern variants where the dictator has a different title.

Any kind of democratic system where the rulers can be voted out isn't absol ute.

The northern European modern socialists states aren't in any way absolute - most of them have coalition governments which are even more sensitive to t he will of the people. James Arthur likes to confuse them with the communis t regimes where you could vote for anybody you liked, so long as they were member of the communist party - which is to say they were oligarchies (at b est).

To be clear, it's not a federal (NIST or whatever) thing at all. Some states and localities have regs on such things. I've never seen it for beer (they don't often call it a "pint", for good reason) and as I've said, I've seen a *wide* range of glasses in bars. OTOH, a "shot" is often regulated (usually 1-1/2 oz.) and often mixed drinks have to contain at least a shot. Again, not by regulated by the feds, rather local or state governments.

Who said all new cars are GPS equipped?

But you're not. You're heating a space and leakage matters.

Blow torches aren't often used, either.

A kettle is intended to heat the mass of water inside, not a space. Any heat leakage, convection or steam, is wasted energy. The faster the water is heated, the less heat is lost.

Sometimes.

The tea is better if you let it boil for a bit to really de-gas the water. Those boiling-water tap things don't make very good tea. (Of course most folks over here brew it from stale floor sweepings^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^^H^H^H^H^H^H Lipton tea bags.

Cup for cup, really really good tea costs less than very indifferent supermarket coffee. My #1 daughter the flight attendant brings back Fortnum's tea from London periodically.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Indeed. The car I bought at the end of last year has DRLs (at the front only, of course). It also has automatic headlights which come on when the ambient lighting is poor. I can't disable automatic lighting - there is a spring-loaded lighting switch which goes from "off" to "auto" automatically. I also have no control over DRLs. There is no "off" switch. So the only way I can get rid of DRLs is to pull the fuse. Or, of course, turn the headlights on all the time, when the DRLs go off. So the only "choice" is DRLs or headlights - even on a day with bright sunlight.

Why do I need DRLs when I have automatic headlights? If a driver can't see a car coming in normal daylight without DRLs or headlights on he has either an extreme form of Vitamin A deficiency, or he shouldn't be driving at all.

Arizona doesn't have "normal daylight" ;-) ...Jim Thompson

Oh, A EUUS, thing. We'll be forced into e-call sooner or later.

We were talking about toasters but in the end, it may not make a difference. Gotta chase the water out of the (surface of the) bread to toast it.

toast.

not true

how about when the oncoming car is in the shade of the trees on an otherwise sunny day...

DRLS are a definite safety improvement

but I agree, there should be an off switch

The automatic headlights come on if you have them. But even that is not necessary. If you can't see the car without its lights on, what makes you think you can see a pedestrian or bicycle (or even the trees themselves for that matter) in the same circumstances? If you can't see properly in normal daylight - and that includes shade in daylight - you shouldn't be driving.

Maybe for those who shouldn't be driving because of poor eyesight, but not for those with normal vision. A person with normal vision can be almost dazzled by high-intensity leds, even during the day. And it's even worse when your vision is almost drawn to them because they are so bright. And a lot of injured motorcyclists would disagree strongly that DRLs or daytime headlights on cars are a definite safety improvement.

Well, at least we agree on something.

Agreed. I've often wondered why travel kettles are not easily found in shops, yet just about all hotel rooms have them. They are ideal for one or two cups, which is all what is usually required, even at home.

I much prefer glass kettles for the same reason. It's also a lot easier to see when they need defurring when you live in a hard water area (which I do).

Before all the security folderol at airports I used to carry a nice small hard case that had a two-cup coffee pot and two real ceramic mugs. ...Jim Thompson

I don't think the material has much effect on heat loss. The thermal conductivity of plastic or ceramic is much lower than the theta of air. It's like putting a 1 ohm versus a 5 ohm resistor in series with

Surface area does matter.

Seems that the heat conductivity of glass : stainless steel : aluminium is around 1:15:200. In addition, for strength the glass would be thicker than the metal kettle, so slowing heat transfer even more. The main problem with glass is that it doesn't like being dropped!

Yes, but a take a kettle which can hold, eg, 8 cups. Then put only one cup of water in, boil it and leave it to cool. Because the surface area is so large compared to the volume of water, the kettle will cool very quickly because of the rate of heat transfer from the metal in contact with the water to that above it. The transfer will be much slower with glass.

Basically, just heat only as much water as you need for immediate use. Heat enough for one cup at a time. If you want another cup, put more water in when you've drunk the first.

Meant thermal resistance of course.