Rushman

Another peeve that has just occurred to me is the electrical system here.
The wall outlet and plugs (especially the 2 pin variety) are just plan dangerous, if the plug is worn it'll just hang out of the outlet leaving the exposed brass tongues. The kids could easily have just touched the brass and got a bolt of 110 volts for their troubles.
I quickly changed the outlets and as many plugs as possible for the newer 3 pin style, but changing the plugs on the leads can be a pain and the replacements are pretty ugly.
I also noticed that with 110 volts the kettle takes so much longer to reach boiling point.

One last personal peeve is the lack of 3 phase electricity in this region. I would prefer 3 phase but as all my 3 phase welding equipment and compressor were sold in the UK prior to moving here, I'm just niggled by it. I had to buy new equipment so just bought the top quality single phase stuff. Good job i checked with the electricity supplier first, I would've hated to have bought 3 phase stuff and then found I couldn't use it.

snowbunny

How old is the house you are in? Houses that still have two-pronged outlets (eg no third prong for ground) would not pass electrical code today, but many people are reluctant to rewire because of the money. Since so many people still have two-pronged outlets, appliance manufacturers are loathe to put three-pronged plugs on the ends of their appliances. Instead, the thinking is that at 110 V (and yeah, I know it's the current that kills you!) the risk of electrocution is very small unless the person becomes grounded (eg is standing in water, is touching water, etc.). In that case a house's fuse system, and more specifically, GFCI circuits, are the only protection. GFCI circuits are required code for all outlets near a water source, but again, people are reluctant to retrofit.

I've shocked myself (accidentally) on a 110 V socket and while it is a nasty jolt, it didn't burn or otherwise harm me.

Three-phase power is in common use for transmission (you probably look longingly at the three wires above your head if you go under major transmission lines) but for distribution the cost of the wiring doesn't justify the cost savings of three-phase. The fact that so much of the US is much farther away from its power generating plant means that transmission and distribution wiring costs are higher.

You have arrived in a place where people do not want the government to protect them from themselves; rather they seem to want to take their chances and sue someone should something go wrong.

This might not ease your frustration, but I hope it explains a few things -- and if you already knew them.... well.... good on you

Lion in Winter

[ We're used to 220 v in the UK, so 110 should go unnoticed.

Rushman

"Three-phase power is in common use for transmission (you probably look longingly at the three wires above your head if you go under major transmission lines) but for distribution the cost of the wiring doesn't justify the cost savings of three-phase. The fact that so much of the US is much farther away from its power generating plant means that transmission and distribution wiring costs are higher".

That was exactly what I found, living smack dab in the middle of a National park limits us to single phase only unless, as you said, you want to pay $1,000's to have them run the wires to your house.
My house is old and there's still plenty more to do but those 2 pin outlets and plugs were the first thing I got rid off. Yup, I fitted the GFCI near water points. I make sure anything done to the house is up to "code", mostly for peace of mind but also because of the distrust I have for the thieving b*stard insurance companies.

snowbunny

I wonder how much a petrol-burning electrical generator would cost (three-phase output of course). It has to be less than $1000s. You'll find that people will go to great lengths to satisfy their hobby requirements here, often far beyond what others consider "practical."

Of course, there's also moving out of the Adirondacks....

dgsyd1

A major pet peeve of mine at the moment is the fact that the main TV channels over here seem to think that you'll carry on watching a show when it goes to commercial if they show you pretty much everything that's going to happen in the rest of the show. On more than one occasion I've given up on a show because I knew what was going to happen, and there really wasn't any point in watching anymore.

AdobePinon

Kind of like those 'making of <insert movie name here>' documentaries where they show you two thirds of the movie and expect you to go to the cinema to see the other third.

ladyofthelake

That reminds me of another peeve, trailers or previews for next week's <insert any damn show they all do it> ... they always have to have the "GASP! OH MY GOD" line in there.

elfman

Totally agree - it winds me up too.
And it has an evil twin: the post-break recap of basically the whole program that has preceded the break. This happens a lot in documentaries such as those on the History channel and at first I thought it meant the producers were assuming their viewers were all morons with the memory spans of goldfish. I've since come to the conclusion that they do it more because they assume we're all ADD sufferers who spend our entire TV watching time flicking between channels and haven't actually seen the preceding parts of the program.

NC Penguin

Viewers do spend a lot of time flicking between channels and most don't suffer ADD, don't you know?



NC Penguin

Guelder Rose

I think a half hour programme in the UK = a whole hour of viewing time in the US. Not only do they show you what is going to happen after the commercial break, but they also show you all that happened before the commercial break after the commercial break. I have given up watching so many programmes here simply because I can't stand so many commercial breaks mixed with what's already happened and what's about to happen crap!

Guelder Rose

I posted before I read what you had posted, sorry! Hmmm, repeating the same stuff ... bit like US TV that!

dgsyd1

To quote Bill Bryson. The British watch television to see what's on, and Americans watch television to see what else is on.

Bob

another pet peeve, march madness...but more in general, how commercials are always on at the same time so there's not much point flicking over to something during the breaks to catch something else as it'll be in a break too....I know that happens in blighty, but it's more noticeable here because there's more channels to flick through

Sarah

LOL Thats so true Bob, I always think to myself that I'd rather have 4 channels of quality than 200 channels of shite.