Why do circuit breakers go up for on and down for off?

WTF is that meant to mean?

You don't need to remember anything, you move the stick the same way you're turning the wheel!!!

Never ever say "offside". I don't know which side of the road you drive on, so that's utterly meaningless. Left or right is universal.

Never thought of that. Although I can't say changing gear or indicating take that long, so one can be done after the other. The only time I get annoyed is when the stupid thing cancels on a roundabout and I have to engage it three f****ng times. Then again we should all be driving automatics, manuals are an unnecessary extra.

I assumed the convention was they were on the (centre of the car) side of the wheel. I've only driven a left hand drive once, and I didn't notice the indicator being "wrong" for me.

It's never anticlockwise to turn right. At least you didn't say that horrid word "counterclockwise", which sounds even worse with a Merkin accent missing out the T.

I didn't know we ever had it on the wrong side. Strangely the only time I came across this problem was my boss driving a company car with me as a passenger. The company car had the indicator on the left, he turned on the wipers and claimed his car had the indicators on the right. But he had a 1995 Ford Focus. I doubt that was still backwards, since my 1990 Ford Sierra had them on the left. Maybe he was remembering an older car he used to own. I've never owned anything pre-1988.

I turn the wipers faster instead of off. My stupid Renault has up for faster. Never seen a wiper stalk work that way in a car.

I drove my neighbour's Rover 75 for her when she was ill, and I couldn't find the headlights on the stalk. It was a seperate switch on the dashboard, which I couldn't find since it didn't even have a timer on the interior light, so I was in pitch black as soon as I closed the door!

My favourite sports car is a Triumph TR7.

I had to look it up.

I've never seen it here. Maybe, just maybe, something related from before I was born. But we don't build houses with wood, like in the photos. All brick, mortar, stone, concrete.

No, the insurance company doesn't ask details about my house.

I learned when I got to usenet that it was a violation of netiquette to remove newsgroups from a distribution list.

While the immediate poster P may want his reply to go only to some groups, those who follow after him F may want posters earlier than P to see F's posts, and may not notice that ngs have been removed.

Figures.

The Spitfires were rolling traffic hazards but they weren't completely ugly. The best feature was the forward hinged bonnet so you could sit on a tire while trying to figure out what was wrong with the engine.

What's really depressing is my Toyota econobox could outrun most of the vintage British sports cars.

I had one phone that I'd decorated with acrylic paint in a bored moment. I got a strange look when I handed it in at the phone store but I imagine they got phones back in worse shape. It really wasn't a good idea to attach a convenient hammer to something as likely to piss a person off as a phone. Those old Bakelite handsets had heft to them.

Bullshit.

My Peugeot and my wife's Honda each have the wiper stalk on the right, but they work in opposite directions: on one you move the stalk upwards (anticlockwise) to increase the speed, on the other you move it downwards. I can never remember which is which (other than that they are different) so I now get it wrong on *both* cars :-(

But then it's like the position of reverse gear: top left (left of first) in the Peugeot, bottom right (right of sixth) in the Honda. And the Honda will not let you engage reverse until the car is completely stationary (even with the clutch down). I have got into the bad habit with my Peugeot of engaging reverse while the car is still rolling forwards slightly, then letting the clutch up once I've completely come to a halt. I need to unlearn that bad habit ;-)

I worked that out when I was about six or seven: the first time I had a ride in a friend's Ford Escort. Fords were one of the first UK-spec cars to have the indicator stalk on the left, at a time when both British and UK-spec foreign cars still had the stalk on the right.

If you are turning the wheel clockwise (turning right), you press down if the stalk is on the right or up if it is on the left - both times, moving the stalk clockwise. Conversely for turning left.

My first car, a Mark 1 Renault 5, had *three* stalks: on the right, one stalk for indicators and another stalk for lights; on the left, a stalk for wipers. The unusual thing is that you moved the stalk up/down to toggle between dipped and high beam, rather than pulling it towards you or pushing away, as in most cars.

My Peugeot has a toggle for dip/high beam: you pull the light/indicators stalk towards you on a spring to alternate between dip/high, so the stalk is always in the same position when you want to alternate. If the lights are on, that's what it does; if they are off, the same action flashes the headlights.

Most cars you push the stalk away (and it stays there) for high beam and pull it towards you (and it stays there) for dipped, which means the stalk is in one of two different positions when you feel for it to alternate the setting - not as easy to do by feel.

It's little things like that which make you think that someone has actually tried both designs and decided which is easier.

I wish cars would standardise on putting the hazard lights switch on the end of one or other of the stalks, rather than putting it in some arbitrary position on the dashboard. It means the driver can hit the hazard lights switch without having to take his hands off the wheel and his eyes off the road; the downside is that it can't be reached by a passenger. On my Peugeot 306, I learned how to reach the switch without taking my eyes off the road

- hand on gear-lever when in 5th/6th

- move hand away to the dashboard keeping it at the same level

- move hand up or right (I forget which, now) an inch

- there's the switch, recessed slightly so you know when you've found it

On my Peugeot 308 it's higher up and there isn't anything obvious to feel for, as a reference point. Likewise for my wife's Honda. Having to take your eyes off the road to turn the hazard lights on (eg when you come up behind queueing traffic on a motorway) is a Bad Thing.

I did, for more than a moment, and decided that the explanation is inadequate.

The word "México" would be pronounced different in Spain than in Mexico. Spaniards would want to write it now as "Méjico". The problem is, the pronunciation of the letter "x" evolved differently in Spain than in central/south américa, and Mexicans insist we write it with 'x' and pronounce it 'j' :-)

Spanish has "tú" (singular, meaning "thou") and "vosotros" (plural). Centuries ago, the formal usage was to use the plural, but shortened to "vos".

Several american countries kept the usage of the formal "vos", but not Spain.

Well, another view is kill yourself if that's your wish, but do not make us deal with the mess. Or clean it. Includes writing a note so that none is accused of murder.

Well, you have to pay a certified electrician to write for you a certificate of the installation, and you have to give that to the electricity company before you get the contract.

It is up to you. If you do not invite the "inspector" to come and see, he will not sign the certificate and you don't get the electricity.

In some countries, the process is repeated periodically. No invitation, contract voided, you have no electricity.

Yes, sure. You did not read it, nor reason it. Something about the connection to ground being faulty at the station, and suddenly the chassis of your stove giving you a shock.

Did you check the percent? :-)

Actually Americans use older English, like sulfur.

We only declined because we got politically correct and gave back countries we'd quite rightfully stolen.

Our electrical outlets (argh! sockets) are superior to American ones in so many ways.

That is too low. I'd put the price more like $500K to $2M per person. Less for retards.

Which chemical? Those numbers are ridiculous.