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Gravitas Shortfall posted:the UK knows about things like "double glazing" and "heating" which might as well have been quantum mechanics in NZ for a long time. just put on a jersey and close the curtains
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May 3, 2024 11:53
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Do they not sell window units in New Zealand or the UK? The average house in my neighborhood was built 20 years before air conditioning was even invented but everyone still has it. But every heat wave I hear the UK and New Zealand talking about how this is unbearable and can’t be overcome because none of their houses were built with AC attached.
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May 3, 2024 11:54
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:Do they not sell window units in New Zealand or the UK? The average house in my neighborhood was built 20 years before air conditioning was even invented but everyone still has it. But every heat wave I hear the UK and New Zealand talking about how this is unbearable and can’t be overcome because none of their houses were built with AC attached. They do, and minisplits are also readily available. People would rather moan than do anything though. (I'd also say that shutters are also for sale but installing them on a house in the UK is probably a planning nightmare)
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May 3, 2024 12:05
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:Do they not sell window units in New Zealand or the UK? The average house in my neighborhood was built 20 years before air conditioning was even invented but everyone still has it. But every heat wave I hear the UK and New Zealand talking about how this is unbearable and can’t be overcome because none of their houses were built with AC attached. Complaining about the weather is very British Islander. My SIL was living in Dublin during an "unbearable heat wave" and it was like 28 degrees or so. People can and occasionally do install window units, but they usually don’t because it’s not actually that hot, north-of-Alps Europeans just like to complain any time it is over 25 degrees. For people who live in attic apartments it can actually be pretty miserable though, since they trap heat and normally the windows are terrible so even at night there’s no good way to air out the apartment to get to a sleeping temperature. 30 degree midday high temperature in an attic apartment in Manchester is going to be way worse than 35 degree midday high temperature in an average condo in Miami, even if the power is out. Mustang posted:It definitely "rains" a lot in Seattle but it's usually a light rain or a drizzle. The torrential downpours you get in the South would terrify the people here. Yeah but torrential rain is preferable to constant drizzle to the vast majority of people. I’d like my precipitation all at once, TIA. Saying this as someone who has spent many years in both weather types. Like Paris and Algiers get the same amount of rain, and I’d sure take the Algiers climate over the Parisian one. On Wikipedia they usually list the # of sunshine hours cities get, which is a pretty good metric of livability for the majority of people who enjoy the sun and outdoors. For the other, sparkling vampires people, then Seattle weather is perfect.
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May 3, 2024 12:09
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Gravitas Shortfall posted:the UK knows about things like "double glazing" and "heating" which might as well have been quantum mechanics in NZ for a long time. Anyway, the funniest part of the above to me is that you're pining for what's seen as outdated tech here in Denmark, since we went over to triple glazing more than a decade ago. I guess that does underline your point about New Zealand being behind the times. BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:Do they not sell window units in New Zealand or the UK? The average house in my neighborhood was built 20 years before air conditioning was even invented but everyone still has it. But every heat wave I hear the UK and New Zealand talking about how this is unbearable and can’t be overcome because none of their houses were built with AC attached. Saladman posted:Complaining about the weather is very British Islander. My SIL was living in Dublin during an "unbearable heat wave" and it was like 28 degrees or so. People can and occasionally do install window units, but they usually don’t because it’s not actually that hot, north-of-Alps Europeans just like to complain any time it is over 25 degrees. A Buttery Pastry fucked around with this message at 12:12 on May 3, 2024 |
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May 3, 2024 12:09
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I have not and never will complain about warm summers in Northern Europe since I'm a biological human, but the buildings are indeed built to trap heat, and it's the exact inverse of the Mediterranean problem, houses built to block heat which are extremely loving cold in mild winter temperatures
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May 3, 2024 12:14
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A Buttery Pastry posted:I mean, it's not just attic apartments. Any badly built/designed flat during a sunny 25°C could be 35°C indoors, and impossible to cool down because it's built to retain heat. Yeah, it’s just a little harder to predict or know in advance, whereas 100% of attic apartments are going to be miserable on any day over 25 unless they have AC. I’ve never seen a non-attic apartment that got 10 degrees hotter than the outside if the resident took proper precautions (eg closing shutters, keeping windows closed) and they definitely air out easier after nightfall (especially if the windows go on both sides of the building), but I don’t take a thermometer around with me when I visit friends either. In my last place in Zurich we sometimes hosted our top floor neighbor in our apartment when it was too hot for her to sleep in her apartment - and she’s from Catalonia so was not unused to the heat. The house we lived in was built in like 1905 and had been renovated in the 2010s but there’s only so much you can do. Both she and I live in new top floor non-attic apartments now and they’re totally fine without AC even on days when it’s 35 outside. It’s really impressive how much better new construction is.
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May 3, 2024 12:23
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Ras Het posted:Actually what's goony and pathetic is thinking you can optimise your life by picking a favourable climate and moving there. You need to grow into your environment and understand it. Finns are the happiest people in the world despite an objectively inhuman winter - the flipside is that we enter a five month long manic psychosis in May and experience life in a way someone never could in their Florida condo, surrounded by unfamiliar birds and meaningless nature Happiest levels in Finland are despite the weather, not because of it. Being a wealthy, well run, stable, social democracy has rather more to do with it. "what's goony and pathetic is thinking you can optimise your life by picking a favourable climate and moving there." - There are plenty of peer reviewed studies that very clearly show being in warmer/sunnier weather is better for human happiness also for what its worth. Its not a remotely controversial opinion. quote:Multiple psychological studies which include Schwarz and Clore (1983), Rehdanz and Maddison (2005) and Kampfer and Mutz (2013) show a connection between climate condition and human happiness. People who grow up in mild climates are usually more social, more extroverted, and emotionally more stable than people who grow up and live in regions with extreme temperatures. Its perfectly logical to want to live somewhere with a nice climate if given the choice.
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May 3, 2024 12:36
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:Do they not sell window units in New Zealand or the UK? The average house in my neighborhood was built 20 years before air conditioning was even invented but everyone still has it. But every heat wave I hear the UK and New Zealand talking about how this is unbearable and can’t be overcome because none of their houses were built with AC attached. I can't speak to NZ, but up until I want to say 10-15 years ago it was uncommon for proper heat waves to occur at all in most of Northwestern Europe. We would often get summers with just a handful of 'hot' days at most. I was born in 1990, but I'm still old enough to remember how different it used to be, which makes it kind of disturbing in how quickly it changed. Now we get these massive heat waves pretty much guaranteed every single year (although 2024 might be the exception in Belgium at least, since we've had tons of rain since November, which apparently lowers summer temperatures down the line), but I think it just takes a while for mentalities to change. I myself haven't invested in anything like a window unit for my place, either. I just suffer through it. Fortunately, my house doesn't really heat up all that much, regardless of the temperature outside. When I'm at my parents' it can be unbearable. e: when I think about what I want for myself, I like sunlight but not the heat. So I'm actually fine with our temperate climate, I have no desire to move to a warmer country, I just wish it weren't overcast 90% of the time. Phlegmish fucked around with this message at 12:43 on May 3, 2024 |
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May 3, 2024 12:40
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Blut posted:Happiest levels in Finland are despite the weather, not because of it. Being a wealthy, well run, stable, social democracy has rather more to do with it. "People who grow up in mild climates". What I belive (very strongly now, since you started arguing with my troll post) is that humans are incapable of migrating and thriving in a different climate.
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May 3, 2024 13:00
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Finns are happy because they aren't English.
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May 3, 2024 13:07
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distortion park posted:They do, and minisplits are also readily available. People would rather moan than do anything though. i'm guessing its cost of the unit plus runnning costs that are stopping most people in the UK. A country that is 40% food banks probably isn't going to be taking up AC.
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May 3, 2024 13:13
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Currently sun is shining and its +10C. (50F for you Americans) A Perfect Finnish Spring Day indeed.
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May 3, 2024 13:14
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I guess it would depend on what you consider to be extreme temperatures. Most Finns live in the southern part of their country, where the climate is presumably comparable to that of other regions bordering the Baltic Sea. I've never been there, but I don't think it's an unlivable Arctic hellscape. Regardless, and trolling or not, I unironically think you're both right (or wrong). The weather undeniably affects people's moods, and it's no coincidence that the number of people with mental health issues spikes during autumn and winter. At the same time, moving to a country with a more pleasant climate is not One Weird Trick that's going to solve all of your problems. For a normally adjusted person, happiness and contentment come from building meaningful connections with other human beings. That's ultimately what matters, no matter where you are physically located in the world.
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May 3, 2024 13:17
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Decently cold Winters are hugely beneficial for human habitation as a mechanism that kills pests. That's why there are human beings in the North.
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May 3, 2024 13:20
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3D Megadoodoo posted:Decently cold Winters are hugely beneficial for human habitation as a mechanism that kills pests. That's why there are human beings in the North. (Real reason was, because our ancestors got kicked out of better places) But winters are awesome. There's skiing. Skiing Downhill, Skiing uphill. Skiing everywhere Staying inside near your fireplace. Or in Sauna.
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May 3, 2024 13:26
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Phlegmish posted:I guess it would depend on what you consider to be extreme temperatures. Most Finns live in the southern part of their country, where the climate is presumably comparable to that of other regions bordering the Baltic Sea. I've never been there, but I don't think it's an unlivable Arctic hellscape. Winters in the south are usually quite tolerable, but they're long. It snowed a lot in Helsinki last week. Phlegmish posted:it's no coincidence that the number of people with mental health issues spikes during autumn and winter. I think spring is the biggest spike actually Issaries posted:(Real reason was, because our ancestors got kicked out of better places) The real real reason was that there was a huge amount of seal and reindeer just waiting to be eaten
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May 3, 2024 13:27
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3D Megadoodoo posted:Decently cold Winters are hugely beneficial for human habitation as a mechanism that kills pests. That's why there are human beings in the North. That actually is one of the reasons that regularly get cited for why human beings moved into areas with much lower temperatures than those they evolved for (other than the more obvious 'it's free real estate'). Bugs and (specifically) parasites, and the health issues they potentially cause, were a huge problem for early humans, and they still are in certain parts of the world where modern technology has yet to fully catch up. It's something you don't really think about when you complain about the cold, but not having them around really does make life more pleasant.
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May 3, 2024 13:30
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Phlegmish posted:That actually is one of the reasons that regularly get cited for why human beings moved into areas with much lower temperatures than those they evolved for (other than the more obvious 'it's free real estate'). Yeah I know; that's why I said it lol.
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May 3, 2024 13:38
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That's something California has going for it as well, a lot of the parasites and vermin can't get past both the mountains and the desert to make trouble for the west coast settlers. There isn't even poison ivy.Platystemon posted:Thoughts on the identity of this anonymous state? The other options would be Florida (not really The South aside from the eastern Alabama bits) or you get into more smartass interpretations like North Carolina or technically you could call some of Texas an east coast, and Texas is another place that has its foot in The South but isn't all the way properly part of it.
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May 3, 2024 14:00
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Gravitas Shortfall posted:the UK knows about things like "double glazing" and "heating" which might as well have been quantum mechanics in NZ for a long time. The double glazing thing is news to me, living in a brick house refurbished about ten years ago. Sash windows FTW (not really lmao, they suck rear end, are a pain to open after painting and let through a ton of heat). e: In fact I never lived in a UK house with double glazed windows, or AC, or wall insulation for that matter. Well except for student housing, but that doesn't count. e2: This is what your average unrefurbished corded sash window looks like, for your virgin euro and american eyes:  Yes it's just 2 panes of glass with like a ~1cm/half inch gap between them, with the bottom one moving upwards on two corded ropes on the side. Private Speech fucked around with this message at 14:15 on May 3, 2024 |
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May 3, 2024 14:00
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Private Speech posted:The double glazing thing is news to me, living in a brick house refurbished about ten years ago. AC no, but even the lovely flats I've lived in have been double glazed. IDK about wall insulation but row houses have the advantage of generally being bracketed on each side by other houses. That's in London tho.
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May 3, 2024 14:08
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Well there's also double glazing and "UK double glazing", with the latter being done by putting in two separate lovely leaky windows. Granted I never lived in London so I don't know if the building standards are higher there, but I've lived in Leeds, Bristol and Cambridge and none of those places had double-glazed windows; and they weren't like slums or anything like that. Though maybe council housing and former council housing is better about it, I dunno. Now that I think about it Edinburgh and Scotland in general did have proper windows, so it's more like England not the UK as a whole.
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May 3, 2024 14:11
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A house I lived in for years was originally built in the 1700s, transferred to where it is now in the early 1800s, and had original (at least from the 1800s) double glazing. It's not exactly a novel idea. e: You make the panes you put in every Autumn non-leaky by stuffing (cotton) wool all around and then pasting on window tape. Usually by the time the adhesive starts to fail, it's already time to remove them anyway. 3D Megadoodoo fucked around with this message at 14:14 on May 3, 2024 |
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May 3, 2024 14:12
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Gravitas Shortfall posted:AC no, but even the lovely flats I've lived in have been double glazed. IDK about wall insulation but row houses have the advantage of generally being bracketed on each side by other houses. In the great ace attorney there’s a car that revolves around the fact that heat in London was coin operated at the time (Edwardian era) I have no idea if that’s true but if it does it makes lovely heating make sense. Got to keep those coins flowing
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May 3, 2024 14:24
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:In the great ace attorney there’s a car that revolves around the fact that heat in London was coin operated at the time (Edwardian era) I have no idea if that’s true but if it does it makes lovely heating make sense. Got to keep those coins flowing I had a coin operated electric meter and a coin operated shower in London in 2010
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May 3, 2024 14:29
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Ras Het posted:a coin operated shower Explains the sound of pouring a punch of pennies into a bucket every time you were in the bathroom.
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May 3, 2024 14:36
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Ras Het posted:I had a coin operated electric meter and a coin operated shower in London in 2010
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May 3, 2024 14:55
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Ras Het posted:I had a coin operated electric meter and a coin operated shower in London in 2010 How did this country colonize a quarter of the planet?
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May 3, 2024 15:01
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:How did this country colonize a quarter of the planet? One quarter at a time. 
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May 3, 2024 15:02
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Some houses in Britain you pay for heating using a card you have to go to the post office to top up.
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May 3, 2024 15:12
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Yeah lots of housing in the UK still has the leccy and gas cupboards on the front cos the povvos can't be trusted with things like "not freezing to death" without pre paying.
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May 3, 2024 15:16
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:How did this country colonize a quarter of the planet? The serious answer: superior technology and organisation, ultimately rooted in the various cultural revolutions that repeatedly swept Western Europe during the early modern period. Problem is you eventually get complacent and arrogant, you start to think you have nothing to learn from others, and stagnation ensues. I guess you could call it the Middle Kingdom syndrome.  Warring States 2: Electric Boogaloo: 2 Many Cliques In that regard I'm really interested in seeing how the US, currently the world's sole superpower, is going to evolve over the coming decades. Sometimes I think the cracks are starting to show already, but their economy is definitely still booming.
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May 3, 2024 15:21
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Phlegmish posted:The serious answer: superior technology and organisation, ultimately rooted in the various cultural revolutions that repeatedly swept Western Europe during the early modern period. Problem is you eventually get complacent and arrogant, you start to think you have nothing to learn from others, and stagnation ensues. I guess you could call it the Middle Kingdom syndrome. I mean there’s already a bunch of poo poo other countries clearly do better than us: traffic management, healthcare, public transportation, cities that aren’t endless suburbs, government projects and building things not taking absurd amounts of time and money and are done better for cheaper and quicker in Europe and Asia that when people point it out USA IS THE GREATEST is a widespread mainstream answer.
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May 3, 2024 15:25
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I think that what really did in the British Empire was that maintaining the empire was really expensive and the wealth that came from owning the empire mainly got taken into private accounts rather than going into the government to be able to pay for maintaining the empire. And then throw a couple wars onto the pile to deplete Britain's funds and put a lot more stress on the imperial possessions, and suddenly the empire dissolves away.
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May 3, 2024 15:41
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:How did this country colonize a quarter of the planet? Phlegmish posted:In that regard I'm really interested in seeing how the US, currently the world's sole superpower, is going to evolve over the coming decades. Sometimes I think the cracks are starting to show already, but their economy is definitely still booming. Another country could easily and peacefully take that role if it convinces enough of the world that they'd do a better job at it (kind of like the US slipped into that role as the British Empire evaporated), but there aren't really the same external pressures on US domination that there have been on every other empire. To be clear I don't think the US empire is good, just that it'll be facing different kinds of pressures than past empires.
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May 3, 2024 15:49
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Eiba posted:I was reading an interesting take that US hegemony is a bit different in that in modern industrialized times war is ruinously expensive for everyone and never a source of real wealth, which is in people and infrastructure (which war destroys), not just land. Therefore most countries are going to be interested in maintaining any peaceful status quo- more so than in any earlier period of state societies. There are going to be exceptions when it comes to some valuable resources and a few cases of very strong nationalist ideals, but by and large most countries are actually going to support US hegemony as it is generally in their interest. I don't quite agree with this take because it sidesteps the considerable violence the US used and is currently using to enforce its empire. These countries didn't just go "oh boy, America will help us!", they got couped or blockaded or police actioned or had their opposition assassinated until everybody left in charge was acceptable to the US.
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May 3, 2024 16:08
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Platystemon posted:Thoughts on the identity of this anonymous state? This could be any US state, depending on whether OP lives in the city or the rural/exurbs.
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May 3, 2024 16:08
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:I mean there’s already a bunch of poo poo other countries clearly do better than us: traffic management, healthcare, public transportation, cities that aren’t endless suburbs, government projects and building things not taking absurd amounts of time and money and are done better for cheaper and quicker in Europe and Asia that when people point it out USA IS THE GREATEST is a widespread mainstream answer. Being a (super)power doesn't have to involve being the best at any one particular thing, or even being the greatest in general, I would say it's about internal stability combined with the ability to project power externally, at will. I don't see any major red flags there. The USA's political system and institutions are maybe flawed in some ways, with things like the electoral college causing unnecessary complications and controversies, but they are still robust for what they are, and broadly supported by the population. There have been worrying events like the Jan 6 insurrection, and perhaps the seemingly endless border crisis depending on your leanings, but the Capitol riot is notable not just for occurring but also for failing to achieve any of its objectives, and being condemned by many prominent Republicans. There are no major secessionist movements. The American economy seems to be perpetually turbocharged and consistently outperforms nearly every other developed economy. Its ability to project both hard and soft power hasn't really been impacted, either. As said, the economy is strong enough that they're able to finance their insanely large and expensive military with relative ease. If they've been lukewarm on Ukraine, it's only because of internal political squabbling. It is still a major source of innovation in almost every field, with American universities among the most prestigious in the world. It is maybe not quite as culturally hegemonic as it once was, but its entertainment industry is still a force to be reckoned with internationally, and a frame for reference for many outside of its borders. As I write this post in English on a US-based forum, I'm listening to First To Eleven, a cover band from Pennsylvania. Most of the songs they cover were originally made by Americans to begin with. I have never in my life made a conscious decision to either seek out or avoid American entertainment products, it is simply what I end up consuming a lot of the time by default. So no, I don't see many noticeable signs of decline yet. On the other hand, human societies are in constant flux as they are shaped and reshaped by myriad subtly interacting forces that mostly work bottom-up. These configurations never last forever. I think about that sometimes, what the world would look like with a USA in terminal decline, and what the first unmistakable indications of such a decline would be. The one thing I'm certain of is that we'll get tons of people writing Edward Gibbon-style books about the collapse of the American Empire, where they will inevitably try to interpret it according to their preconceived political convictions. Phlegmish fucked around with this message at 16:19 on May 3, 2024 |
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May 3, 2024 16:17
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Byzantine posted:I don't quite agree with this take because it sidesteps the considerable violence the US used and is currently using to enforce its empire. These countries didn't just go "oh boy, America will help us!", they got couped or blockaded or police actioned or had their opposition assassinated until everybody left in charge was acceptable to the US.
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May 3, 2024 16:19
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