post codes and hot water
Tracy asked me for my address here and it sparked an interesting monologue. My address is:
102/2 Warrender Park Road
Edinburgh
EH9 1DN
GBR
So what's the deal with that scary looking post code! You almost want to prick it like a Hoodoo doll.
The post codes are bizarre here. But actually make sense technically. The EH9 part is like the 02912 part of US zip codes, with 1DN being like -3462 part -- it isolates the mail to an exact building. Even more telling and quite brilliant, I just realized, is the fact that they are using a base-36 system. Imagine if US zip codes worked this way; the USPS wouldn't have to beg people to use the full NINE digit code if it was only six. That's one less than phone numbers, how easy would that be? Monkeys could do it.
Additionally, rather than the paltry 1 billion zip codes that the USPS can address due to the limit of a base-10 system (or only 100,000 if people don't use the full code); the UK post can already address 46,656 areas (36^3) with only THREE 'digits', and 1,679,616 with FOUR -- killing the USPS dead in efficiency. In total, the 6 digit code can address almost 2.2 billion addresses.
That's why I do CS, I notice crap like this.
Now I would like to switch gears from UK brilliance to outright idiocy. We already know the whole 220 volt thing is stupid and inefficient (except for people doing lighting), and the plugs here are ginormous. Not to mention every single electric socket has a SWITCH for the power, which is pointless. So frustrating how many times I turn on the electric kettle, come back to ice water -- because I forgot to turn on the outlet... Even the shower head water mixer has a seperate switch (why couldn't they just put it on the head?) -- actually it isn't a switch -- it's a TETHER HANGING FROM THE CEILING outside the shower. Wtf!
The water taps all over are also idiotic and inefficient. Every sink has two spigots. Why!? Whenever I brush my teeth it is a race to see how quickly I can use the hot water half before it is steaming hot; of course my hands are covered in soap by this point so I try to use the cold tap after burning myself -- ice water after being burned is not fun, either. How long has the single tap with two knobs been in existence? Seriously.
--end of rant--
Damn, that was fun!
102/2 Warrender Park Road
Edinburgh
EH9 1DN
GBR
So what's the deal with that scary looking post code! You almost want to prick it like a Hoodoo doll.
The post codes are bizarre here. But actually make sense technically. The EH9 part is like the 02912 part of US zip codes, with 1DN being like -3462 part -- it isolates the mail to an exact building. Even more telling and quite brilliant, I just realized, is the fact that they are using a base-36 system. Imagine if US zip codes worked this way; the USPS wouldn't have to beg people to use the full NINE digit code if it was only six. That's one less than phone numbers, how easy would that be? Monkeys could do it.
Additionally, rather than the paltry 1 billion zip codes that the USPS can address due to the limit of a base-10 system (or only 100,000 if people don't use the full code); the UK post can already address 46,656 areas (36^3) with only THREE 'digits', and 1,679,616 with FOUR -- killing the USPS dead in efficiency. In total, the 6 digit code can address almost 2.2 billion addresses.
That's why I do CS, I notice crap like this.
Now I would like to switch gears from UK brilliance to outright idiocy. We already know the whole 220 volt thing is stupid and inefficient (except for people doing lighting), and the plugs here are ginormous. Not to mention every single electric socket has a SWITCH for the power, which is pointless. So frustrating how many times I turn on the electric kettle, come back to ice water -- because I forgot to turn on the outlet... Even the shower head water mixer has a seperate switch (why couldn't they just put it on the head?) -- actually it isn't a switch -- it's a TETHER HANGING FROM THE CEILING outside the shower. Wtf!
The water taps all over are also idiotic and inefficient. Every sink has two spigots. Why!? Whenever I brush my teeth it is a race to see how quickly I can use the hot water half before it is steaming hot; of course my hands are covered in soap by this point so I try to use the cold tap after burning myself -- ice water after being burned is not fun, either. How long has the single tap with two knobs been in existence? Seriously.
--end of rant--
Damn, that was fun!
1 Comments:
You are a crazy coding monkey.
*shakes head*
Crazy.
--The Morrigan
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