Thread 13 - TalkLair: “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 12).

Looks like spring has sprung! Tulips, apple blossom and early hay fever are upon us. In the TalkLair, we remain hunkered down keeping cosy and warm, because "something something 'til May is out". The hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them).

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

That all looks very 'blasted heath'!

Wow, VB, that's some seriously sticking out hair! Glad you're still here to tell the tale.

Sadly, after cheating death, Sean (the boy on the left) later went on to take his life

That’s some scary sticking up hair! And the story of the brothers is very sad.

Brilliant hair, @VictorianBigot - what a good thing it was quite long! It would have looked much less impressive on a pixie-cut.

Wow! Yes, I'd be staying well clear of electrical storms after that!

One of the nurses was telling me she was scared of storms and hadn't slept the night before which I thought was probably hyperbole but then she said it was because when she was at school her best friend's house got hit by lightning and burned down with her friend inside and felt bad for being so cynical. With both her story and yours, @VictorianBigot I shall now be more understanding of the fear.

DH has an early childhood memory of being in a room with an open window during a big lightning storm and seeing a bolt of lightning come in through the window and blow up a radio in the room. An aunt of his confirmed this to him decades ago. He's still very nervous of storms.

Super hair @VictorianBigot but how scary! And what a sad story about those boys.

Proper thunderstorms were entirely "normal" back home, but we were always warned to be very very careful get away from exposed areas and to stay indoors if possible. My mum would insist on unplugging the TV aerial every time there was a storm (which was, as I say, almost daily). And public swimming pools have a rule about having to get out of the pool if it was raining, which DH found hilarious.

Edited for spelling.

Our phone lines in this area weren't earthed for years, so in thunderstorms, lightning would shoot out of the phone jack. Someone I knew was knocked out when it hit the cooker he was leaning against in the kitchen. Exciting times.

The hair is amazing and most impressive, but next time that happens, don't crawl, the more of you in contact with the ground the more vulnerable you are if you get hit. Better to squat or bend down so that your feet are the only thing in contact with the ground - better obviously if they are in footwear with insulated soles.

Lightning shooting out of the phone jack sounds terrifying.

I remember driving home from work in a thunderstorm and screaming all the way because I feared the car being struck. Afterwards someone told me the tyres would have earthed any lightning.

My parents had a 'funny' story about lying side by side in the dark in their iron-framed bed as the blue flashes leapt from phone to bed frame saying 'you get out and unplug it, it's on your side' 'no, you go, you're nearer'. Faraday cages may have been mentioned.

The only time I felt it was once when I was washing lettuce in a metal sink under a running tap - there was enough of a shock to notice it, but it didn't do any harm to me or the lettuce, so I thought it must have earthed somewhere nearby and briefly charged the surface water and from there the drain outflow.

Then there was the time my parents were waiting outside a school for a storm to subside and the building was hit, wrecking the central heating system, smashing their car window, and flinging all the kids who'd been leaning against radiators and watching the light show back across the classrooms.

When people use the argument that something-or-other is 'as unlikely as being struck by lightning' I get a bit twitchy.

Yes @DeanElderberry, clearly brushes with lightning are not all that uncommon! I realised afterwards that I’d done the wrong thing by crawling on my hands and knees. All four limbs to the floor is not a good thing as I think it allows the current to pass through both sides of your body, which is why it’s so devastating for cows apparently. I later learnt that the best thing to do is crouch down on the balls of your feet with your heels together and your hands over your ears. I’d almost certainly fall over though.

I couldn’t help but lol at the vision of @Vegemiteandhoneyontoast screaming all the way home.

My block of flats requires a fob to get into the building. If you touch the fob to the sensor, which is framed in metal, while touching the metal door handle, you get shocked for some reason. Despite this, it gets me every time which probably says something about my intelligence.

Has anybody ever had a nerve conduction test? I had one last year, it was quite an experience.

@Kucinghitam I’m assuming that if lightning struck a person in a pool, or the water around them, it would be Very Bad?

I've just realised that I have No Idea but it wasjust something that Malaysian people seemed to live in dread of

This just came up on my RM Alerts. I'm particularly fascinated by the bathroom.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147523907?

My first thoughts on the bathroom were about hard water. Keeping that bath looking good is going to be next to impossible.

It's a beautiful bathroom.

It is, but the cleaning!

It's a lovely house and I really like the ample basement storage areas and the laundry room (which could be sacrificed to make a wet room if someone became and invalid and had to live on the ground floor, always a consideration for me). But I don't like the bathroom.

otoh, describing a space 1.74mX1.7 metres as a 'study' rather than a closet is trying too hard - you could just about put an ensuite shower and loo in there, but even that would be a squeeze.

Fortunately, in Leeds we have soft water!

I'm just fascinated by an air-purifying moss wall though. It just sounds like a recipe for damp and mould spores.

I love the downstairs but the decor upstairs is horrible. I'd have to get rid of the carpet and the horrible wall colours. I'd be looking for a reduction in price in light of how many coats of paint it would take to cover over the black.

I like the plant hanging thing in the kitchen but it must be a pain to water.

I didn't realise that was what it was! Yes, you'd need very tight temperature control to keep the wall healthy and not spreading itself everywhere else. I'd also expect it to turn into a moss and lots of little invertebrate animals wall within a day or two which would not make me wild about getting into the bath under it. It's bad enough in my shower room with all the cellar spiders.

Fortunately, in Leeds we have soft water!

Ah, well that's settled my worries!

Looking at the garden reminds me of an absolutely control freak of a woman I worked for who wanted me to clip all the shrubs within an inch of their lives, which felt to me like torturing them. She once asked to visit urgently as she said the garden was looking 'terribly scruffy' and when I went to look there were about six leaves on the patio and that was it.

I rather like the dark decor, but of course that’s a personal taste thing. Also, I do think it’s currently in fashion (like the great thing that preceded it), before long everyone will be back to light coloured walls.

This popped up on my FB and I thought the thread would appreciate it.