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CEE 7 -> UK/Ireland BS1363 This is the approved system for permanently converting CEE 7 plugs to the type used in the UK, Ireland and several other places. There were versions made for Aussi and US plugs but I’ve never seen one sold - it’s a far less likely to be encountered requirement I...

Absolutely would have to be a washing machine. There’s no other household chore that’s as difficult and so much drudgery. Washing dishes, while not much fun, isn’t all that big a deal and drying clothes on a line works fine (most of the time.) If you want to go further I suppose the other big...

Just don’t put so many micro plastics in and they won’t come out. Most of my clothes are cotton or other natural fibres because I just find most synthetics unpleasant to wear. The issue isn’t the dryer. It’s semi disposable mass produced garments that don’t last more than a few washes.

Bob Geldof Irish anti phone box vandalism ad This is a very 80s cringe inducing public service ad from Telecom Éireann (Ma Bell’s Irish cousin) that aired around 1985. It features Bob Geldof (Boomtown Rats and Live Aid etc) “Hey, stupid: Leave that phone alone!”

Odd 80s vibe … This was Prestel, an early 80s videotext service in the U.K. which was somewhat similar in concept to the French Minitel platform but not quite. It never really took off, but it was an interesting bit of pre Internet technology. It was a lot more limited than Minitel, which...

A 1987 field training video from BT explaining how to look for chargeable items on repairs … just shows how those utility companies think … I can’t speak for the situation in Britain, but here they ditched equipment rental in the early 1990s. Before that they used to install all your internal...

In the U.K. the GPO lost its monopoly in 1981 and was privatised as BT in 1984. Here in Ireland phonebooks were a whole lot simpler, as the population is only about 4 million. We had an absolutely ludicrous number of area codes (63 codes at one stage!) for the scale of the population, but...

Telephone books / directories It’s amazing when you think back on it how much was involved in what seems like something very simple nowadays, with ubiquitous internet, information systems and powerful search engines. This video is from 1979 from the U.K. GPO which operated the phone system...

See if you can get a proper 16 amp French socket outlet. Google something like Legrand prise à terre 16 amp ampère. They’ve a range called “plexo” which would be very suitable for laundry room use and is surface mounted. They even have flat ones where the socket recess is covered until you...

It must be a very old plug. There aren’t very many still around (in France and Belgium anyway) that aren’t the hybrid type which fits either Schuko or the Belgian/French outlet. The only exceptions being some rewireable plugs. Incidentally, that standard originated in Belgium, even though...

Mercury U.K. Some adverts for long defunct Mercury, the first telco in the U.K. to break BT’s monopoly. The brand no longer exists but the ads were very quirky:

European numbering plans tended to encode a lot of geographical routing information into the number itself. If you take the Irish system as an example, and the same applies in a lot of European countries, it works like this: For landlines, the country is divided into 7 large “directory areas”...

GPO (UK) - The Coming of the Dial 1933 Introduction to dial telephones - GPO film from 1933 They did everything in film noir and Received Pronunciation back then…

This one is in French, but was an ad that stuck in my head from a time I lived there. French area codes changed completely on 18 Oct 1996. They moved from a somewhat unusual system to something far more like the rest of Europe, with regional geographic area codes that start with 0 The ad is...

I've tried darning expensive wool jumpers (sweaters) and made a TOTAL mess - it turned out like a spiders web. I'll have to learn how to do it properly sometime, as I've a few wooden items I really, really love and have ended up having to consign them to a closet of Stuff I can't bear to throw out!

No I wouldn’t suggest dishwashing detergent on a regular basis. Apart from the chemicals and enzymes there are three factors to consider Time Turbulence Temperature With modern enzyme detergents you’re probably aiming for a lot of time, a moderate temperature and not too much turbulence -...

Logixx: Absolutely zero sign of the bathroom rules on wiring here being relaxed. If anything they’re now even stricter. You can’t use any kind of open light fittings, they all have to IP rated. Also a lot more use of extra low voltage for lighting and fans (under 48V). In kitchens you can no...

Hmm, not sure if this works, but might be worth a try. A friend of mine earlier today mentioned that she got rid of a blood stains on a white embroidered sheet that she loved by washing it with two Fairy Dishwasher pods. These are the same as Cascade pods. I’m not sure if it’s particularly good...

The use of appliances in bathrooms also varies a lot. It’s basically completely illegal here, and in the U.K. Our wet area regulations don’t allow any socket outlets, or light switches the you can touch, never mind washing machines, in bathrooms. The only exception is a shaver/toothbrush outlet...

It depends. If one has back problems, there are ways of raising a front loader. I’ve seen plenty of laundry rooms here that have a raised plinth for the machines taking them up a couple of feet off the floor. In my grandmothers house it was just a concrete platform in the garage. Slightly...