Search results

It sounds like you've wired it in the only way that could possibly work. It's a double pole switch whereas you have only two wires: live feed in and switched live out. So why won't it work? One possibility is that the thing needs a connection to neutral which you don't have. If this is the...

First you work out the internal volume of your garage. This will be easy if it's a cuboid otherwise make a rough estimate of average length, width and height. Three air cycle changes per hour means you have to shift three times that volume you just calculated every hour. You now have...

I must say that using drinking water to flush a toilet is wasteful in the extreme. I propose that all new houses should be built with a large rainwater storage tank below the floor. From this tank a small pump keeps a header tank topped up. This water is then used for toilet cisterns and...

Thanks AdamW. I was only thinking of the likely reactions of women to that loud-mouth. Now that I think about it such remarks are usually aimed at a male audience. At first sight this didn't make too much sense either because most unattached men (and a few attached ones) will mate with...

What does size have to do with it? Unlike most drugs which dilute themselves into your total blood volume, alcohol spreads easily through your entire fluid volume. That's why it can start working so fast. It doesn't have to make the long trip down into the intestines then out into the blood...

Believe it or not, there is - or was when I was 40 - an advantage to being forty. You could insure a motorcycle without taking out a second mortgage. That was over ten years ago. The way things are going at the moment you have to be over fifty to get really cheap car insurance - and you...

You can usually find joists with some careful tapping. Once you think you're close to a joist - and you know which way it runs - you can pin it down with some careful test drilling. A 3/32th drill is big enough and the holes are easily filled afterwards.

Thamks Masona. I hadn't even considered the vibration problem! He's fixed it two inches back from the corner.

I saw an interesting programme on BBC1 last night. They had Bill Oddie (occupation, wild life presenter and Goody) telling us all about the dangers of climate change. They also had Michael Portillo (I think it was him) and he came up with an alternative viewpoint. Instead of spending a...

There can be few people of either sex who haven't, at some time or other, started out with a prejudice then fiddled the logic to justify it. It's also possible that men are better at this and thus appear to be more logical when all they're really better at is cheating.

To return to the original question, I'm reminded of a similar observation I made back in the sixties. Most of us boys thought it would be a great idea to work our way through the entire female population. Now I can see why that should be - we must have evolved from some non-pair bonding...

Quite right petewood. That was a poor choice of words. Apart from the plague our mess was entirely man made. The first world war should have been the end of it but it took one more before we finally got our act together.

Breezer has said it all! To expand a little, the inorganic stuff (brick, slate, glass) is virtually indestructible. It's man made rock! Wind and rain will gradually erode the surface but this is a very slow process and every single brick, slate and window pane is replaceable. The mortar...

I don't think it's mere coincidence that the female menstrual cycle is roughly one month (that's short for moon-th) long. I can think of two reasons why this could have come about: 1) Our prehistoric ancestors were nocturnal and needed moonlight to find a mate. 2) They lived on beaches...

I have a vague idea that the smell of dry rot is acetic acid (vinegar), probably mixed in with other stuff. Apart from the rotten wood itself, which tends to break up into cuboids, two other tell tale signs are: 1) A fine rust coloured powder (spores) drifting out of crevices. 2) Mushroom...

It was General Galtierri (I think I've spelt that right) of Argentina who invaded the Falklands (or Malvinas depending whose side you were on). He was no friend of Maggie's. The only Argentinian I can think of who might have been offered a biscuit was known as the Blue Angel. Two European...

Without wanting to sound like your standard male chauvinist pig, I do think that there's a bit of truth in all this. On average, men are more inclined to use logical reasoning. It's a generalization of course, just as the worlds best runners are black and the best swimmers are white - and the...

If you mean Pinochet, the one who ate all Maggie's best biscuits, he was from Chile.

Sadly I must agree with Eddie M. There was no oil in Bosnia either. There is perhaps one other reason why Zimbabwians(?) should be left to sort out their own mess though I'm not sure they can do it. The reason: Many many years ago, when it was still Rhodesia, the Zimbabwians to be elected...

A friend of mine would like to drill some 7mm holes very close to the external corner of a brick wall to fix a hanging basket and has just asked me how close he dare go in case he splits the bricks. I suggested one quarter of a brick width (about 40mm) to be on the safe side but he'd really...