Coin-op appliances
Alan Hamilton
British comedies where much fun was made about stuffing coins into a
gas stove to make it work. Were coin-operated appliances once common
in Britain, as opposed to metering?
The only recent sighting I can think of is in the Wallace &
Grommit "A Grand Day Out", where they're stalked by an angry cooker.
--
/
/ * / Alan Hamilton
* * al...@primenet.com
Michael Lorton
> Although I haven't seen any recently, I seem to remember old
> British comedies where much fun was made about stuffing coins into a
> gas stove to make it work. Were coin-operated appliances once common
> in Britain, as opposed to metering?
The appliances weren't coin-op -- the gas supply was. No shillings,
or quid, or bob, or whatever, no gas. Dunno how the pilot light
worked (if at all).
M.
Curtis Tack
> Although I haven't seen any recently, I seem to remember old
> British comedies where much fun was made about stuffing coins into a
> gas stove to make it work. Were coin-operated appliances once common
> in Britain, as opposed to metering?
> The only recent sighting I can think of is in the Wallace &
> Grommit "A Grand Day Out", where they're stalked by an angry cooker.
>
[...]
Doubt it was a purely British phenomenon. I've seen coin operated shower
baths in the U.S.; not to mention telephones, toilets and vibrating
mattresses.
ctcgag
>Alan Hamilton <al...@primenet.com> writes:
>
>> Although I haven't seen any recently, I seem to remember
old
>> British comedies where much fun was made about stuffing coins
into a
>> gas stove to make it work. Were coin-operated appliances
once common
>> in Britain, as opposed to metering?
>
shillings,
>or quid, or bob, or whatever, no gas. Dunno how the pilot light
>worked (if at all).
>
>M.
Is this in private homes, or in hotel kitchenettes
or something?
Xho
-----------------------------------------------------------
Got questions? Get answers over the phone at Keen.com.
Up to 100 minutes free!
http://www.keen.com
Geoduck
<ctcgagN...@hotmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>Michael Lorton <mlo...@civetsystems.com> wrote:
>>Alan Hamilton <al...@primenet.com> writes:
>>
>>> Although I haven't seen any recently, I seem to remember
>old
>>> British comedies where much fun was made about stuffing coins
>into a
>>> gas stove to make it work. Were coin-operated appliances
>once common
>>> in Britain, as opposed to metering?
>>
>>The appliances weren't coin-op -- the gas supply was. No
>shillings,
>>or quid, or bob, or whatever, no gas. Dunno how the pilot light
>>worked (if at all).
>>
>>M.
>
>Is this in private homes, or in hotel kitchenettes
>or something?
Private homes. That's how the users paid for their heat.
--
Geoduck
geo...@usa.net
http://www.olywa.net/cook
Alan Hamilton
<karen....@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
>Alan Hamilton wrote in message <8mtgfo$nja$2...@nnrp02.primenet.com>...
>> The only recent sighting I can think of is in the Wallace &
>>Grommit "A Grand Day Out", where they're stalked by an angry cooker.
>>--
>
>
>That was a cooker? I always thought it was some kind of weird European
>vending machine.
That was my take on it too, but
http://www.aardman.com/wallaceandgromit/homesweethome/cooker/index.shtml
What's the little fellow called?
Nick Park: "people call him all sorts of things, the Moon Robot, the
Gas Cooker, the Oven, the Caretaker, the Parking Meter and he seems to
serve all these functions, but I generally call him 'The Cooker'.
Tamex
wrote:
>Alan Hamilton wrote:
>
>> Although I haven't seen any recently, I seem to remember old
>> British comedies where much fun was made about stuffing coins into a
>> gas stove to make it work. Were coin-operated appliances once common
>> in Britain, as opposed to metering?
>> The only recent sighting I can think of is in the Wallace &
>> Grommit "A Grand Day Out", where they're stalked by an angry cooker.
>>
>
>[...]
>
>Doubt it was a purely British phenomenon. I've seen coin operated shower
>baths in the U.S.; not to mention telephones, toilets and vibrating
>mattresses.
In private homes? The only time I've ever heard of a coin-op
telephone in a private home is in that one episode of "The Brady
Bunch".
--
Tamex
"When I think back to all the crap I learned in high school,
it's a wonder I can think at all."
**remove Tricky Dick to reply by e-mail**
KAREN LINGEL
>Grommit "A Grand Day Out", where they're stalked by an angry cooker.
That was a cooker? I always thought it was some kind of weird European
vending machine.
-k-
D.F. Manno
<ct...@pamlico.net> wrote:
> Doubt it was a purely British phenomenon. I've seen coin operated shower
> baths in the U.S.; not to mention telephones, toilets and vibrating
> mattresses.
In the '50s, people in the U.S. had coin-operated TVs. The coins collected
would go towards paying for the cost of the set. My parents said they had
one.
--
D.F. Manno
domm...@netscape.net
"If we didn't laugh we would all go insane." -- Jimmy Buffett
Curtis Tack
> On Thu, 10 Aug 2000 12:44:09 -0400, Curtis Tack <ct...@pamlico.net>
> wrote:
>
> >Alan Hamilton wrote:
> >
> >> Although I haven't seen any recently, I seem to remember old
> >> British comedies where much fun was made about stuffing coins into a
> >> gas stove to make it work. Were coin-operated appliances once common
> >> in Britain, as opposed to metering?
> >> The only recent sighting I can think of is in the Wallace &
> >> Grommit "A Grand Day Out", where they're stalked by an angry cooker.
> >>
> >
> >[...]
> >
> >Doubt it was a purely British phenomenon. I've seen coin operated shower
> >baths in the U.S.; not to mention telephones, toilets and vibrating
> >mattresses.
>
> In private homes? The only time I've ever heard of a coin-op
> telephone in a private home is in that one episode of "The Brady
> Bunch".
[...]
Not in private homes. That wasn't specified in the original post.
CT
Gordon Holland
> Although I haven't seen any recently, I seem to remember old
> British comedies where much fun was made about stuffing coins into a
> gas stove to make it work. Were coin-operated appliances once common
> in Britain, as opposed to metering?
> The only recent sighting I can think of is in the Wallace &
> Grommit "A Grand Day Out", where they're stalked by an angry cooker.
I don't specifically recall a coin-operated gas cooker, but in the 70's
we, and most of our neighbours, had coin-operated electricity meters.
You put 50 pence in the holder and turned it to drop it into the meter.
The man from the electricity board came once a month to empty the coin
box.
Coin-operated televisions were also common. I know of at least one
person who paid their television rental in this way right up till the
90's. They may still exist, but I doubt it. With the cost of
TV's/video's nowadays, most people buy their own sets, whereas then
rental was more commonplace.
We currently have a powercard meter. You buy one (or more) power cards
at 5 pounds each and slot it into the meter, which logs the credit and
then erases the card.
It helps to keep a track of your electricity usage with no nasty
surprise bills at the end of the quarter. Is there no equivalent to
this in the US?
--
----------------------------------------------------------
Gordon Holland. TheFlyin...@dial.pipex.com
Remove "**NO_SPAM**" From E-Mail address to reply via mail
Homepage: http://www.TheFlyingDutchman.dial.pipex.com
----------------------------------------------------------
ra...@westnet.poe.com
> We currently have a powercard meter. You buy one (or more) power cards
> at 5 pounds each and slot it into the meter, which logs the credit and
> then erases the card.
> It helps to keep a track of your electricity usage with no nasty
> surprise bills at the end of the quarter. Is there no equivalent to
> this in the US?
Sure, haul yer butt out there and read the meter to find out how you're
doing... Must be damn annoying to have the power cut out suddenly when you
reach the end of the alloted power. Feeding the Metere over on this side
of the pond is reserved for parking meters.. And it's illegal most places!
John
--
Remove the dead poet to e-mail, tho CC'd posts are unwelcome.
Ask me about joining the NRA.
John S. Colton
wrote:
>On Fri, 11 Aug 2000 04:07:11 GMT, "KAREN LINGEL"
><karen....@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
>>
>>Alan Hamilton wrote in message <8mtgfo$nja$2...@nnrp02.primenet.com>...
>>> The only recent sighting I can think of is in the Wallace &
>>>Grommit "A Grand Day Out", where they're stalked by an angry cooker.
>>>--
>>
>>
>>That was a cooker? I always thought it was some kind of weird European
>>vending machine.
>
>That was my take on it too, but
>http://www.aardman.com/wallaceandgromit/homesweethome/cooker/index.shtml
>
>What's the little fellow called?
>Nick Park: "people call him all sorts of things, the Moon Robot, the
>Gas Cooker, the Oven, the Caretaker, the Parking Meter and he seems to
>serve all these functions, but I generally call him 'The Cooker'.
Wow, I always thought it was a vending machine also.
John
Bob Ward
>
>Sure, haul yer butt out there and read the meter to find out how you're
>doing... Must be damn annoying to have the power cut out suddenly when you
>reach the end of the alloted power. Feeding the Metere over on this side
>of the pond is reserved for parking meters.. And it's illegal most places!
Thread Drift!!!
Where are parking meters illegal? Or are you referring to the good
samaritan practice of feeding the meter for someone else, or adding
time to a soon-to-expire meter in lieu of moving the car in accordance
with the actual purpose of the meter's being there in the first place?
Gordon Holland
> Gordon Holland <TheFlyin...@dial.pipex.com**no_spam**> wrote:
> > We currently have a powercard meter. You buy one (or more) power cards
> > at 5 pounds each and slot it into the meter, which logs the credit and
> > then erases the card.
> > It helps to keep a track of your electricity usage with no nasty
> > surprise bills at the end of the quarter. Is there no equivalent to
> > this in the US?
>
> Sure, haul yer butt out there and read the meter to find out how you're
> doing... Must be damn annoying to have the power cut out suddenly when you
> reach the end of the alloted power. Feeding the Metere over on this side
> of the pond is reserved for parking meters.. And it's illegal most places!
Yes, but the secret is to buy powercards when shopping and keep it
topped up weekly so you don't run out, in practice you put, say, an
average weeks worth of credit in. The meter has a digital display of
cash remaining, and is easily accessible.
We do forget occasionally. It can be a drag if you forget and your
computers do an involuntary mains reset.
There is 14 pounds worth of emergency credit in the meter if you run
out. That's at least a weeks worth of electricity for us. You press
the orange button on the meter twice in rapid succession to access it.
This is *after* the power has gone out though.
Once that has run out you have to top it up to 14 pounds again just to
get it to the "zero-balance" level. Any more you put in after that is
normal credit.
ra...@westnet.poe.com
>>doing... Must be damn annoying to have the power cut out suddenly when you
>>reach the end of the alloted power. Feeding the Metere over on this side
>>of the pond is reserved for parking meters.. And it's illegal most places!
> Thread Drift!!!
Gotcha...
> Where are parking meters illegal? Or are you referring to the good
> samaritan practice of feeding the meter for someone else, or adding
> time to a soon-to-expire meter in lieu of moving the car in accordance
> with the actual purpose of the meter's being there in the first place?
It's feeding the meter, either for your own car, or someone elses that is
illegal. The rationale, is that they don't wnat people parking there all
day. You've got a two hour limit, which is what the meter covers. By
pumping in anoter quarter, you're breaking that limit.
Which is rediculous of course, everyone knows that meters are actually a
revenue raising scheme. But then again, tickiting people for feeding the
meter is a revenue enhancing scheme for the parking meter revenue raising
scheme.
Not certain of this, but I belive that almost every place that has parking
meteers in the US, also has laws prohibiting feeding those meters. The
level of enforcement is sporadic, but I belive the law is widespread.
GrapeApe
>illegal.
I can't see how feeding the meter for your OWN CAR could possibly hold up in
court. Would they rather you not park there if there is some preexisting time
on the meter? Are you supposed to move as soon as your dime is up?
I often have to go in to get change for the meter. If a policeman sees you
walking to the meter next to your car, as he is on his way to ticket it, can he
ticket you for feeding the meter?
I mean, isn't that why the meters are there in the first place? to feed as long
as a car is there?
Lalbert1
(GrapeApe) writes:
[someone said]
>>It's feeding the meter, either for your own car, or someone elses that is
>>illegal.
[then he said]
>I can't see how feeding the meter for your OWN CAR could possibly hold up in
>court. Would they rather you not park there if there is some preexisting time
>on the meter? Are you supposed to move as soon as your dime is up?
>
>I often have to go in to get change for the meter. If a policeman sees you
>walking to the meter next to your car, as he is on his way to ticket it, can
>he ticket you for feeding the meter?
>
>I mean, isn't that why the meters are there in the first place? to feed as
>long as a car is there?
Yeah, but the reason given by all cities that don't allow meter feeding is that
it is not allowed so people won't park their car there for *prolonged* periods.
The intent is that other people who want to do business in the area can get an
opportunity to park their car (also for a limited time).
In car crowded cities it tends to make life a little more bearable if you know
that you at least stand a chance of finding a metered space, rather than
knowing it doesn't pay to drive into an area where people have parked their
cars all day at a meter. If you were a merchant in a no-meter-feeding area
then you would be in favor of the policy.
Les
Chris
Gordon Holland <TheFlyin...@dial.pipex.com**NO_SPAM**> wrote:
<snip>
>We currently have a powercard meter. You buy one (or more) power cards
>at 5 pounds each and slot it into the meter, which logs the credit and
>then erases the card.
>It helps to keep a track of your electricity usage with no nasty
>surprise bills at the end of the quarter. Is there no equivalent to
>this in the US?
Not in private homes, that I've ever heard of.
--
To email me---oh, figure it out yourself;
Coesper erat: tunc lubriciles ultravia circum
Urgebant gyros gimbiculosque tophi:
Moestenui visae borobovides ire meatu:
Et profugi gemitus exgrabuete rathae.
Mark Brader
> up in court.
If the maximum time on the meter is 1 hour, this indicates that there
is a 1-hour limit on parking there. That's the whole idea. (Well,
okay, there may be some revenue generation too.) Some cities may be
kind enough to explicitly signpost the limit as well; I doubt that
all do.
If you paid for 15 minutes, then went and got some more change, then
returned and paid for another 45 minutes, you would not be breaking the
1-hour limit; but as a practical matter of enforcement, it's easier to
have a law that says you have to pay for the full time you're going to
park at the time when you park. I mean, how does the cop who sees you
paying for the extra 45 minutes know how long you've been parked?
I noticed recently that parking meters in Toronto, or at least in my
neighborhood, are now enforced on Sundays, and evenings until 9 pm.
This is the first time I recall seeing either, not that I commonly
drive cars in places where I need to park at a meter. [*]
> Would they rather you not park there if there is some preexisting time
> on the meter?
They'd probably rather you paid again, but that's a little hard to enforce.
> Are you supposed to move as soon as your dime is up?
Yes. See above.
[*] In fact, the two times I paid to park a car were when I was in Europe
for the eclipse last summer, and both of them were interesting. Rather
than individual parking meters for each space, it is common in Europe to
have a machine somewhere in the general vicinity of the parking space
where you have to put in your money and get a ticket showing when the
time you paid for expires; you then leave this visible in the car. (The
same system has recently been adopted on some streets here in Toronto.)
Well, I stopped for dinner in this little town in Germany, and the parking
lot in the town center used this system. Payment for parking was in effect
for certain hours of the day: I think it was from 8 am to 8 pm, and the
time was 7:56 pm when I parked. The price was 1 mark per hour, so I put a
10 pfennig coin in the machine -- and it issued a ticket expiring at 8:02
the next morning! I had paid for 6 minutes, and it was going to GIVE me
6 minutes, dammit, even if the last 2 were 12 hours after the first 4!
(Try THAT with parking meters!)
The other time was when I decided that since Luxembourg City was not far
from my route, I'd take a detour into it and just look around the city
center for a couple of hours. Now I hadn't had plans to do this, so I
was only carrying German and French money, not Luxembourg. But I figured
I wouldn't be needing much and could just find a bureau de change when
I got there.
Well, guess what? There's no free public parking in the center of Luxem-
bourg City, or at least, none that I could see. And in fact all the lots
I could see used that same buy-ticket-on-arrival system. So in order to
park and get Luxembourg money, I first needed Luxembourg money...
Finally I noticed a big underground parking lot that, judging by the use
of barriers, seemed to be pay-on-exit, and sure enough it was. So I parked
there and looked for a bureau de change -- and couldn't find one of those
in the area either. *And* the banks had already closed for the day.
I decided to return to the parking lot to check out how much Luxembourg
money I needed anyway. This lot had the system where you pay just before
exiting -- you put your ticket in a machine, pay the amount indicated,
and then the ticket will actuate the exit gate provided that you get there
within a few minutes. So the way to find out was to look at that machine,
one of which was conveniently provided at street level above the lot.
Problem solved! The machine not only took Luxembourg money, but also
German, French, and I believe Dutch! I've never seen anything like that
before or since (except machines specifically for the purpose of foreign
exchange, at some European airports).
--
Mark Brader "...out of the dark coffee-stained mugs of
Toronto insane programmers throughout the world..."
m...@vex.net -- Liam Quin
My text in this article is in the public domain.
deepstblu
>
>
> If you paid for 15 minutes, then went and got some more change, then
> returned and paid for another 45 minutes, you would not be breaking the
> 1-hour limit; but as a practical matter of enforcement, it's easier to
> have a law that says you have to pay for the full time you're going to
> park at the time when you park. I mean, how does the cop who sees you
> paying for the extra 45 minutes know how long you've been parked?
I've heard that in some cities parking enforcement officers will put
chalk marks on cars' tires denoting the time they came by, then come
back later to see if anyone has stayed beyond the time limit.
> > Would they rather you not park there if there is some preexisting time
> > on the meter?
>
> They'd probably rather you paid again, but that's a little hard to enforce.
Supposedly there are new parking meter models, equipped with motion
sensors, that reset themselves to zero when someone pulls out of a space
with time left.
No personal experience with either of the above, though.
Rick B.
Curtis Tack
> [...]
>
> We currently have a powercard meter. You buy one (or more) power cards
> at 5 pounds each and slot it into the meter, which logs the credit and
> then erases the card.
> It helps to keep a track of your electricity usage with no nasty
> surprise bills at the end of the quarter. Is there no equivalent to
> this in the US?
[...]
Yeas. Phone cards where you pay in advance for X minutes are common. Also
one may be /required\ to pay in advance for some services - my cable TV
service, for example.
CT.
rob...@bestweb.net
>Not in private homes, that I've ever heard of.
>--
Memory just jogged -- didn't Daddy say they had coin-op electricity or gas
back at home in McKeesport? Will check.
Net-Tamer V 1.11 - Registered
danny or doreen dong
<deepstblu+itma...@sprynet.com> wrote:
>Mark Brader wrote:
>> > Would they rather you not park there if there is some preexisting time
>> > on the meter?
>>
>> They'd probably rather you paid again, but that's a little hard to enforce.
>
>Supposedly there are new parking meter models, equipped with motion
>sensors, that reset themselves to zero when someone pulls out of a space
>with time left.
>
>No personal experience with either of the above, though.
In some parts of NYC there aren't separate meters for each spot. There
are two systems. One, usually used on streets, requires you to pay at
a central machine, get a receipt, and put the receipt in your
windshield. Once or twice, someone who was leaving offered me their
receipt with time still left. The other system, used in municipal
parking lots, also has central machines, but rather than the receipt
in the window, each space is numbered. When you pay at the machine,
you first enter the space number, put in the coins and then press a
button to complete the transaction. If you leave with time still left,
the next person has no way of knowing there's still time, enters the
space number in the machine, and that erases whatever time was left (
ther's also a warning to make sure you've paid for enough time before
pressing "complete" ,because of the inability to add time.
Doreen
rob...@bestweb.net
>[*] In fact, the two times I paid to park a car were when I was in
>Europe for the eclipse last summer, and both of them were
>interesting. Rather than individual parking meters for each space,
>it is common in Europe to have a machine somewhere in the general
>vicinity of the parking space where you have to put in your money
>and get a ticket showing when the time you paid for expires; you
>then leave this visible in the car. (The same system has recently
>been adopted on some streets here in Toronto.)
And has been used for a while in New Rochelle and IIRC some other
Westchester cities (I'm thinking of White Plains) in lots & garages,
and recently here in New York City in lots and on streets.
A few days ago in a garage in New Rochelle I saw yet another system. Your
parking space is numbered, and you key in that number with your money in one
of the terminals near the exit. You get a receipt with the time, but you
don't display it on your dashboard, you carry it with you. Presumably the
way enforcement works is by a query system, which seems mind-bogglingly
difficult and wasteful for the guards. What do they do -- periodically
print out a list of expiration times by space number, and carry it around
and look? Or do they punch in the number of a space they suspect has been
occupied overtime, and get an answer? OK, maybe "mind-boggling" is an
exaggeration, but see what I mean?
Robert
rob...@bestweb.net
>>No personal experience with either of the above, though.
>In some parts of NYC there aren't separate meters for each spot.
>There are two systems. One, usually used on streets, requires you
>to pay at a central machine, get a receipt, and put the receipt in
>your windshield. Once or twice, someone who was leaving offered me
>their receipt with time still left. The other system, used in
>municipal parking lots, also has central machines, but rather than
>the receipt in the window, each space is numbered. When you pay at
>the machine, you first enter the space number, put in the coins and
>then press a button to complete the transaction. If you leave with
>time still left, the next person has no way of knowing there's
>still time, enters the space number in the machine, and that
>erases whatever time was left ( ther's also a warning to make sure
>you've paid for enough time before pressing "complete" ,because of
>the inability to add time.
>Doreen
In the garage in New Rochelle it said you could add time, and you needed to
key in your receipt number to do so.
ctcgag
>A few days ago in a garage in New Rochelle I saw yet another
system. Your
>parking space is numbered, and you key in that number with your
money in one
>of the terminals near the exit. You get a receipt with the
time, but you
>don't display it on your dashboard, you carry it with you.
Presumably the
>way enforcement works is by a query system, which seems mind-
bogglingly
>difficult and wasteful for the guards. What do they do --
periodically
>print out a list of expiration times by space number, and carry
it around
>and look? Or do they punch in the number of a space they
suspect has been
>occupied overtime, and get an answer? OK, maybe "mind-
boggling" is an
>exaggeration, but see what I mean?
A common one is to have a big box with one slot for each stall.
You put in the quarters (or wad up bills and stuff them in,
there is a tool attached for just that purpose.) to the slot
with your stall number. Apparently the attendance come by every
now and then, open the box, and look for any cars without
money in the corresponding cubby.
Mark Brader
> > If you paid for 15 minutes, then went and got some more change, then
> > returned and paid for another 45 minutes, you would not be breaking the
> > 1-hour limit; but as a practical matter of enforcement, it's easier to
> > have a law that says you have to pay for the full time you're going to
> > park at the time when you park. I mean, how does the cop who sees you
> > paying for the extra 45 minutes know how long you've been parked?
Rick Burger writes:
> I've heard that in some cities parking enforcement officers will put
> chalk marks on cars' tires denoting the time they came by, then come
> back later to see if anyone has stayed beyond the time limit.
Sure, but for that to work the officer has to come by twice, and then
they don't need meters at all. With meters and *not* using that pro-
cedure, the officer only has to come by once, and therefore can cover
twice as many parking spaces on a shift.
> > > Would they rather you not park there if there is some preexisting time
> > > on the meter?
> >
> > They'd probably rather you paid again, but that's a little hard to enforce.
>
> Supposedly there are new parking meter models, equipped with motion
> sensors, that reset themselves to zero when someone pulls out of a space
> with time left.
I think I've heard of that too, though I find it hard to believe that
sufficiently reliable sensors can really be made. It occurs to me now,
though, that a parking meter that can do that could also be designed not
to accept any more money after someone had been parked there for a while.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto cat>/dev/null got your tongue?
m...@vex.net -- Jutta Degener
PaigeTurner
wrote:
>Alan Hamilton wrote:
>
>> Although I haven't seen any recently, I seem to
remember old
>> British comedies where much fun was made about stuffing coins
into a
>> gas stove to make it work. Were coin-operated appliances
once common
>> in Britain, as opposed to metering?
Wallace &
>> Grommit "A Grand Day Out", where they're stalked by an angry
cooker.
>
the 70's
>we, and most of our neighbours, had coin-operated electricity
meters.
>You put 50 pence in the holder and turned it to drop it into
the meter.
>The man from the electricity board came once a month to empty
the coin
>box.
>
>Coin-operated televisions were also common. I know of at
least one
>person who paid their television rental in this way right up
till the
>90's. They may still exist, but I doubt it. With the cost of
>TV's/video's nowadays, most people buy their own sets, whereas
then
>rental was more commonplace.
>
power cards
>at 5 pounds each and slot it into the meter, which logs the
credit and
>then erases the card.
>It helps to keep a track of your electricity usage with no nasty
>surprise bills at the end of the quarter. Is there no
equivalent to
>this in the US?
>
1987....I attended a convention held at a Pontin's Holiday
Centre. I checked into my "chalet" and flipped on the light
switch. Nothing. Went down to reception to report I must've
blown a fuse or something. "Did you put a coin in the meter?" I
was asked. "What??"
So a security guard came upstairs with me and showed me the
electricty meter tucked away in a cabinet, which required a
constant diet of 50p coins to keep the lights, heat, and hot
water going. Bad thing was, it had a maximum limit of coins you
could feed into it at once, so of course the thing clicked off
at a crucial moment (I was taking a bath...no showers in the
chalets). It was late at night, and pitch black. I couldn't
find my purse in the dark to get more coins....luckily, I found
my clothes and went and fetched my security guard friend for
help. Luckily, he had a flashlight ("torch", as he called
it)...he actually took pity on me and jimmied the meter somehow
so it ran the rest of the week-end without coins.
I've been back there several times since....Pontin's has
upgraded: they still have meters, but they use cards now
instead of coins.
Lalbert1
writes:
>A few days ago in a garage in New Rochelle I saw yet another system. Your
>parking space is numbered, and you key in that number with your money in one
>of the terminals near the exit. You get a receipt with the time, but you
>don't display it on your dashboard, you carry it with you. Presumably the
>way enforcement works is by a query system, which seems mind-bogglingly
>difficult and wasteful for the guards. What do they do -- periodically
>print out a list of expiration times by space number, and carry it around
>and look? Or do they punch in the number of a space they suspect has been
>occupied overtime, and get an answer?
Some of the city owned parking lots in San Francisco used the kind of system
you describe. What the meter man would do is periodically drive up in his
three wheeled scooter, and he had a device with a small screen that plugged
into the ticket issuing machine. The queried machine would indicate which
spaces had expired by feeding the info into his little hand held device. He
would then ride around the garage, consult the screen on his hand held device,
and if there were any cars in the expired spaces he would ticket them. The
system worked very well for the meter guy and the parkers, but the ticket
issuing machine would break down frequently. The city scrapped the system
after they got better parking meters that couldn't be broken into.
Les
Gordon Holland
>
> Gordon Holland <TheFlyin...@dial.pipex.com**NO_SPAM**>
[...]
> >We currently have a powercard meter. You buy one (or more)
> >power cards
> >at 5 pounds each and slot it into the meter, which logs the
> credit and
> >then erases the card.
> >It helps to keep a track of your electricity usage with no nasty
> >surprise bills at the end of the quarter. Is there no
> equivalent to
> >this in the US?
> Not that I've ever seen. I remember my first trip to England in
> 1987....I attended a convention held at a Pontin's Holiday
> Centre. I checked into my "chalet" and flipped on the light
> switch. Nothing. Went down to reception to report I must've
> blown a fuse or something. "Did you put a coin in the meter?" I
> was asked. "What??"
You just jogged my memory. That was the last time I ever set eyes on a
coin-op electricity meter, in a Pontin's or Butlin's camp around the
same period.
I did use a coin-op shower in a camping ground c. 1988 though.
Oh the joys of holiday camp chalet's. Did you stay in the prison camp
two storey blockhouse type, or the luxurious ground level single storey
"county suites"?
The difference is that the county suites are made of slightly thicker
cardboard, and dont shake in a wind over 5mph.
Did you go self-catering or did you suffer the culinary nightmare of
holiday camp meals? The Red Cross parcels do keep you going if all else
fails. If you can get past the guard^H^H^H^H^Hredcoats you can get to
the nearest fish and chip shop. The machine guns in the perimeter
towers are a bit of a nuisance though.
Bob Ward
>>It's feeding the meter, either for your own car, or someone elses that is
>>illegal.
>
>I can't see how feeding the meter for your OWN CAR could possibly hold up in
>court. Would they rather you not park there if there is some preexisting time
>on the meter? Are you supposed to move as soon as your dime is up?
>
Yes, that is why the signs specify Limit Two Hour Parking.
>I often have to go in to get change for the meter. If a policeman sees you
>walking to the meter next to your car, as he is on his way to ticket it, can he
>ticket you for feeding the meter?
>
I believe that he could - you might be able to beat it in court, but
he certainly could write the ticket - it's part of his job.
>I mean, isn't that why the meters are there in the first place? to feed as long
>as a car is there?
No, they are there to limit parking for the posted amount of time.
mpl...@my-deja.com
Gordon Holland <TheFlyin...@dial.pipex.com**NO_SPAM**> wrote:
> Alan Hamilton wrote:
>
> > Although I haven't seen any recently, I seem to remember old
> > British comedies where much fun was made about stuffing coins into a
> > gas stove to make it work. Were coin-operated appliances once
common
> > in Britain, as opposed to metering?
> > The only recent sighting I can think of is in the Wallace &
> > Grommit "A Grand Day Out", where they're stalked by an angry cooker.
>
> I don't specifically recall a coin-operated gas cooker, but in the
70's
> we, and most of our neighbours, had coin-operated electricity
meters.
> You put 50 pence in the holder and turned it to drop it into the
meter.
> The man from the electricity board came once a month to empty the coin
> box.
>
> Coin-operated televisions were also common. I know of at least one
> person who paid their television rental in this way right up till the
> 90's. They may still exist, but I doubt it. With the cost of
> TV's/video's nowadays, most people buy their own sets, whereas then
> rental was more commonplace.
>
cards
> at 5 pounds each and slot it into the meter, which logs the credit and
> then erases the card.
> It helps to keep a track of your electricity usage with no nasty
> surprise bills at the end of the quarter. Is there no equivalent to
> this in the US?
>
Here in Minnesota we have "Budget Helper." Basically, it averages your
electric bill over the year, so that you don't get huge bills in the
summer, when you're using air conditioning. The only danger of a
surprise is from the "make-up" bill--once a year, I believe, and, if I
remember correctly, the surprise can sometimes be a good one: a bill
less than the average amount.
--
Raymond S. Wise
"The biochemistry of the world is straight out of a Bill Gates
fantasy--there's only one operating system for everything."
Joel Achenbach
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
David Zeiger
wrote:
>Here in Minnesota we have "Budget Helper." Basically, it averages your
>electric bill over the year, so that you don't get huge bills in the
>summer, when you're using air conditioning.
Being from Texas, I'm trying really hard to comprehend the
concept of high A/C bills in Minnesota, but it just isn't
working... :-)
--
David Zeiger dze...@the-institute.net
Whenever I find myself in a difficult situation, I ask myself "What
Would Jesus Do?" The mental image of my opposition being cast into
pits of hellfire for all eternity *is* comforting, but probably not
what the inventors of the phrase had in mind.
PaigeTurner
wrote:
>PaigeTurner wrote:
>>
>You just jogged my memory. That was the last time I ever set
eyes on a
>coin-op electricity meter, in a Pontin's or Butlin's camp
around the
>same period.
>I did use a coin-op shower in a camping ground c. 1988 though.
>
>Oh the joys of holiday camp chalet's. Did you stay in the
prison camp
>two storey blockhouse type, or the luxurious ground level
single storey
>"county suites"?
>
>The difference is that the county suites are made of slightly
thicker
>cardboard, and dont shake in a wind over 5mph.
>
>Did you go self-catering or did you suffer the culinary
nightmare of
>holiday camp meals? The Red Cross parcels do keep you going if
all else
>fails. If you can get past the guard^H^H^H^H^Hredcoats you can
get to
>the nearest fish and chip shop. The machine guns in the
perimeter
>towers are a bit of a nuisance though.
>
>
The brochure referred to the rooms as "chalets", so I arrived
expecting quaint little thatched-roof cottages. Your
description of the two-story prison camp building is far more
accurate. We had to pretty much buy everything we needed that
we hadn't brought....toilet paper, towels, soap, etc. Certainly
for the price we'd paid I thought they'd at least include the
electricity.
We thought about self-catering, but the utensils in the chalet
looked like the ones my mom used to give me to dig in the garden
with. So we bravely dined at the Pontin's "Holiday Chef"
cafeteria....for two days, until we made friends with someone
who had a car and we could ride into town and eat at Pizza Hut.
StarChaser_Tyger
Read it? y
>A few days ago in a garage in New Rochelle I saw yet another system. Your
>parking space is numbered, and you key in that number with your money in one
>of the terminals near the exit. You get a receipt with the time, but you
>don't display it on your dashboard, you carry it with you. Presumably the
>way enforcement works is by a query system, which seems mind-bogglingly
>difficult and wasteful for the guards. What do they do -- periodically
>print out a list of expiration times by space number, and carry it around
>and look? Or do they punch in the number of a space they suspect has been
>occupied overtime, and get an answer? OK, maybe "mind-boggling" is an
>exaggeration, but see what I mean?
If I'd done it, I'd have it print out a list of which spaces are
expiring in the next X minutes, then have the gate jockey check
those...If there were cars in them, check them again when they
expire...
--
Visit the Furry Artist InFURmation Page! Contact information,
and information on which artists do and do not want their
work posted! http://web.tampabay.rr.com/starchsr/
Address no longer munged for the inconvienence of spammers.
(Yes, this really is me.)
StarChaser_Tyger
Read it? y
>
>Here in Minnesota we have "Budget Helper." Basically, it averages your
>electric bill over the year, so that you don't get huge bills in the
>summer, when you're using air conditioning. The only danger of a
>surprise is from the "make-up" bill--once a year, I believe, and, if I
>remember correctly, the surprise can sometimes be a good one: a bill
>less than the average amount.
Have that in Florida, too, but there's no 'make up' bill that I know
of, and I've been here three years. During the summer, when I run the
air constantly, the bill runs 110-150$, but I only pay 80$, and during
the winter when I rarely run the air at all, the bill will get down to
50-60, but I still pay 80. A decent deal, can budget things
better...there's four or five bucks variation, but it stays around
80...
RM Mentock
> The brochure referred to the rooms as "chalets", so I arrived
> expecting quaint little thatched-roof cottages. Your
Chalets are the norm at Dollywood too.
lots of cheese
--
RM Mentock
Come and see.
And I beheld, and lo a black horse
Margaret Kane
deepstblu wrote:
> Mark Brader wrote:
> >
> >
> > If you paid for 15 minutes, then went and got some more change, then
> > returned and paid for another 45 minutes, you would not be breaking the
> > 1-hour limit; but as a practical matter of enforcement, it's easier to
> > have a law that says you have to pay for the full time you're going to
> > park at the time when you park. I mean, how does the cop who sees you
> > paying for the extra 45 minutes know how long you've been parked?
>
> I've heard that in some cities parking enforcement officers will put
> chalk marks on cars' tires denoting the time they came by, then come
> back later to see if anyone has stayed beyond the time limit.
I've seen this. It's also used when there's free parking, but there is a time
limit. That's how they know when to ticket you.
> <snip>Supposedly there are new parking meter models, equipped with motion
> sensors, that reset themselves to zero when someone pulls out of a space
> with time left.
I had heard something about those meters coming in in Boston and Brookline.
I'm not sure if they're there. There are some new digital meters, and I can't
recall ever pulling into a spot with one of those that had time left on it, but
that could just be my bad luck.
Margaret
GrapeApe
>chalk marks on cars' tires denoting the time they came by, then come
>back later to see if anyone has stayed beyond the time limit.
Well, really thats the way it should be done, instead of tieketing everyone
walking up to top off a prefed meter.But what if you drive a few streets up and
they are using the same color chalk?
In this area of the world, there are no meters in areas with any residential
use, so we do not have the apartment dwellers above the grocery fight for
available parking with customers.
I still am at a total loss why so many fail to plan for new parking with new
development. Colleges especially are particularly bad about taking out a
parking lot for a new building.
Greg Goss
>> I've heard that in some cities parking enforcement officers will put
>> chalk marks on cars' tires denoting the time they came by, then come
>> back later to see if anyone has stayed beyond the time limit.
>
>I've seen this. It's also used when there's free parking, but there is a time
>limit. That's how they know when to ticket you.
I've even seen the chalk used at meters. My current city has a time
limit AND meters. Re-metering is prohibited.
Steve Klein
> what if you drive a few streets up and
> they are using the same color chalk?
I used to live in Beverly Hills. Ours was a residential street near a
business district, and the city had a two-hour limit (no meters). (To
keep employees from the nearby business from parking all-day long in
front of my house.)
The parking lady (it was *always* a woman) would drive by in a little
three-wheeled vehicle with no doors. (I recall that it was made by a
company that had the word "man" as part of it's name; Grumman or
Cushman, something like that.)
She drove slowly, holding a stick with a piece of chalk on the end. As
she passed a car, she would hit the tire on the rear-facing service. As
soon as you drove even a few feet, the chark mark would be gone.
There were several ways around this. I discovered them in this order:
1) Move your car to the other side of the street.
2) Wipe off the chalk*
3) Move your car backward 6 inches.
This last one worked because the chalk-mark was now on the bottom of the
tire, and not visible. I once a parking lady get out and examine a tire
closely before writing a ticket. When I asked, she explained that she
thought the car had been there before, but the chalk mark wasn't plainly
visible. This person had driven forward about 12 inches, and the chark
mark was now on the front side of the tire. They got a ticket.
The "wipe of the chalk mark" trick was least preferred because:
1) you needed a wet cloth or paper towel, or whatever to do it, and
2) It left a conspicuous "clean spot" in the exact location of the chalk
mark.
--
--
Steve Klein
Bilbo Baggins
wrote:
> Although I haven't seen any recently, I seem to remember old
>British comedies where much fun was made about stuffing coins into a
>gas stove to make it work. Were coin-operated appliances once common
>in Britain, as opposed to metering?
> The only recent sighting I can think of is in the Wallace &
>Grommit "A Grand Day Out", where they're stalked by an angry cooker.
In the episode where he bought the tv set, Mr. Bean had to put coins
into a meter to get his electricity to come on.
danielk...@my-deja.com
nobody should have to pay for their natural needs. However, the result
is that it is next to impossible to find public rest rooms in NYC --
most restaurants have a "Rest rooms for customers only" sign.
-Dan
Curtis Tack <ct...@pamlico.net> wrote:
> Gordon Holland wrote:
>
> > [...]
> >
> > We currently have a powercard meter. You buy one (or more) power
cards
> > at 5 pounds each and slot it into the meter, which logs the credit
and
> > then erases the card.
> > It helps to keep a track of your electricity usage with no nasty
> > surprise bills at the end of the quarter. Is there no equivalent to
> > this in the US?
> Yeas. Phone cards where you pay in advance for X minutes are common.
Also
> one may be /required\ to pay in advance for some services - my cable
TV
> service, for example.
StarChaser_Tyger
Read it? y
<Unattributed>
>>I've heard that in some cities parking enforcement officers will put
>>chalk marks on cars' tires denoting the time they came by, then come
>>back later to see if anyone has stayed beyond the time limit.
>
>Well, really thats the way it should be done, instead of tieketing everyone
>walking up to top off a prefed meter.But what if you drive a few streets up and
>they are using the same color chalk?
As I understand it, they put the mark in a particular position on the
tread. It'll wear off fairly quickly, and probably won't be in the
same position when you move the car...
deepstblu
>
> The parking lady (it was *always* a woman) would drive by in a little
> three-wheeled vehicle with no doors. (I recall that it was made by a
> company that had the word "man" as part of it's name; Grumman or
> Cushman, something like that.)
Probably Cushman; they used to make little mail-delivery vehicles,
although I think those were four-wheelers.
Michael Lorton
Cushman makes the parking vehicles for San Francisco, Grumman makes
the buses. And an Italian company called "Braga" makes the (really
ugly) streetcars.
M.
Jim Ellwanger
<mlo...@civetsystems.com> wrote:
> Cushman makes the parking vehicles for San Francisco, Grumman makes
> the buses. And an Italian company called "Braga" makes the (really
> ugly) streetcars.
I think you mean Breda. To me, the Breda streetcars look better than
the older Boeing-Vertol cars:
<http://www.lightrail.com/photos/sanfrancisco/sanfrancisco.htm>
--
Jim Ellwanger <trai...@mindspring.com>
<http://trainman1.home.mindspring.com/> welcomes you daily.
"Youth is better, old is stupid..."
Michael Lorton
> In article <m37l9io...@civetsystems.com>, Michael Lorton
> <mlo...@civetsystems.com> wrote:
>
> > Cushman makes the parking vehicles for San Francisco, Grumman makes
> > the buses. And an Italian company called "Braga" makes the (really
> > ugly) streetcars.
>
> I think you mean Breda.
Of course. Braga is the Brazilian actress...
> To me, the Breda streetcars look better than
> the older Boeing-Vertol cars:
> <http://www.lightrail.com/photos/sanfrancisco/sanfrancisco.htm>
De gustibus non disputandum est, but I think they're about tied in the
ugly contest. The Breda ones (IMVHO) are failed attempts at sleek and
modern; the Boeing's are just "we have no design talent and we don't
care" on wheels. San Francisco also has a bunch of antique cars (from
all over the world) running about that make the modern ones look
pretty sad.
M.
Curtis Tack
> On 13 Aug 2000 19:03:33 GMT, dze...@the-institute.net (David Zeiger)
> wrote:
>
> >Being from Texas, I'm trying really hard to comprehend the
> >concept of high A/C bills in Minnesota, but it just isn't
> >working... :-)
>
> Minnesota does get hot in the summer... of course, their rough winters
> are better known.
>
> MWC
Two seasons: Winter and the 4th of July. But the temperature extremes can
be significant. Think in terms of -40 & + 85 F.
CT
Lalbert1
<trai...@mindspring.com> writes:
>In article <m37l9io...@civetsystems.com>, Michael Lorton
><mlo...@civetsystems.com> wrote:
>
>> Cushman makes the parking vehicles for San Francisco, Grumman makes
>> the buses. And an Italian company called "Braga" makes the (really
>> ugly) streetcars.
>
>I think you mean Breda. To me, the Breda streetcars look better than
>the older Boeing-Vertol cars:
><http://www.lightrail.com/photos/sanfrancisco/sanfrancisco.htm>
Neither of you has mentioned the re-built trolley cars from the 30s and 40s
that are running on the the Embarcadero and Market St. I never used public
transportation in all the years I lived here, but I ride those old trolley cars
whenever I can. They are great looking re-painted in their original colors,
and they look like they will last for a hundred years.
Les
David Samuel Barr
>
> Jim Ellwanger <trai...@mindspring.com> writes:
>
> > In article <m37l9io...@civetsystems.com>, Michael Lorton
> > <mlo...@civetsystems.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Cushman makes the parking vehicles for San Francisco, Grumman
> > > makes the buses. And an Italian company called "Braga" makes the
> > > (really ugly) streetcars.
> >
> > I think you mean Breda.
>
And a very nice young lady, too. (She was the girlfriend of one of
my long-time musician chums; while no longer romantically involved,
they're still close friends, and I often see her at his concerts.)
Michael Lorton
> Michael Lorton wrote:
> >
> > Jim Ellwanger <trai...@mindspring.com> writes:
> >
> > > In article <m37l9io...@civetsystems.com>, Michael Lorton
> > > <mlo...@civetsystems.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Cushman makes the parking vehicles for San Francisco, Grumman
> > > > makes the buses. And an Italian company called "Braga" makes the
> > > > (really ugly) streetcars.
> > >
> > > I think you mean Breda.
> >
> > Of course. Braga is the Brazilian actress...
>
> And a very nice young lady, too.
You missed the "brush with greatness thread". And "young" lady?
She's 49 -- no spring chicken.
M.
Greg Goss
>I think you mean Breda. To me, the Breda streetcars look better than
>the older Boeing-Vertol cars:
Your city has VerTOL public transit from Boeing? My city is way
behind.
(When I was younter vertol meant vertical take-off / landing. I was
unaware of its use as a mundane bus brand)
StarChaser_Tyger
Read it? y
I always heard 'VTOL', not 'VerTOL'...
David Samuel Barr
>
> David Samuel Barr <dsb...@mindspring.com> writes:
>
> > Michael Lorton wrote:
> > >
> > > Jim Ellwanger <trai...@mindspring.com> writes:
> > >
> > > > In article <m37l9io...@civetsystems.com>, Michael Lorton
> > > > <mlo...@civetsystems.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Cushman makes the parking vehicles for San Francisco, Grumman
> > > > > makes the buses. And an Italian company called "Braga" makes
> > > > > the (really ugly) streetcars.
> > > >
> > >
> >
> > And a very nice young lady, too.
>
> You missed the "brush with greatness thread".
No I didn't, I just decided to stay out of it because I've had hundreds
of them, most of which are much more substantial than "brushes". Goes
with the territory.
> And "young" lady? She's 49 -- no spring chicken.
Neither are the rest of us. And she certainly doesn't look her age.
(I know my chicken. You got to know your chicken.)
Jim Ellwanger
go...@mindlink.com wrote:
> Jim Ellwanger <trai...@mindspring.com> wrote:
>
> >I think you mean Breda. To me, the Breda streetcars look better than
> >the older Boeing-Vertol cars:
>
> Your city has VerTOL public transit from Boeing? My city is way
> behind.
Actually, my the light-rail system in my current city (Los Angeles) uses
cars from Nippon Sharyo, and the future "historic trolley" system in my
hometown (Tampa) will use cars made by Gomaco which are replicas of old
Birney trolleys of the type that ran in Tampa until 1946.
<http://www.gomacotrolley.com/Resources/photos/inprogress0300/dedication8
.jpg>
> (When I was younter vertol meant vertical take-off / landing. I was
> unaware of its use as a mundane bus brand)
You're not too far off...Boeing-Vertol was Boeing's helicopter division,
but they also made light-rail vehicles for San Francisco and Boston.
--
Jim Ellwanger <trai...@mindspring.com>
<http://trainman1.home.mindspring.com/> has a refreshing mint center.
"You don't need pants for the victory dance."