WHO

[Vanterrier]

Ref "Smart" stuff and Alexa, I had a smart Alec in class at school... dunno if he is related but nobody liked him either
K

 

[Newbeeneil]

We have a Mark 1 Smart Meter which stopped working when we changed supplier. (And yes we are paying for such incompetence).
Three attempts to get it installed and working mean we don't want a rerun.
We get occasional blackouts : we do not want to rely on electricity over much. Yes we have a small standby generator.

Same here, when I asked for a Mark 2 Smart Metre my supplier said they had to install all those without meters before they got back to me! I didn’t bother them again!

 

[Wilco]

I have "smart" meters, one in the house and one in my workshop. Neither work. Alexa, yes, Smart TV yes, Smart phone yes, Smart watch yes, ultra smart wife pending (yes really).

Congratulations.

 

[Moobee]

With all the rain we've had lately I think a water wheel installed in the garden would do more for us to generate electricity rather than photovoltaic panels....

I'm going for a giant wind generator after the storm today!

 

[Erichalfbee]

I'm going for a giant wind generator after the storm today!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'm going for a giant wind generator after the storm today!

SWMBO made me two for Christmas
A jar of a dozen pickled eggs and a large jar of onions. Went perfectly with a boxing day cold sprout and mushy pea sandwich (on brown bread of course)

 

[Lazy K]

Don't even own a cell phone. And been off grid for over 20 years including a solar pumped well for water. Lots of sun here.

 

[Superlativesoul]

My mother in law who has just gone blind ,uses Alexa a lot to help her ,Shopping lists reminders ,calling her contacts ,appointments ect ,so it can be useful to some but I will not have it .Same with smart meter and water meters ,keep being pestered that the technology that switches from peak to Off peak will end in March 24 after the radio teleswitch service ends ,your timings may not work .,so grab a smart meter .I shall see how it goes
John

 

[Murox]

............... being pestered that the technology that switches from peak to Off peak will end in March 24 after the radio teleswitch service ends ,your timings may not work .,so grab a smart meter .I shall see how it goes

With any luck the 2038 computer bug will sort all that out permanently

 

[JamezF]

ultra smart wife

I think I want one of those...

"Electricity and water don't mix". It's perhaps not scientifically accurate, but a good adage for preventing a shocking domestic life and something I've taken great care to instill in my children as they grew up. Only "apparently" it doesn't apply to solutions of bleach, which are fine to splash all over double 13A power outlets. And of course it takes a few minutes to get into places where it can short out the ring main, allowing the perpetrator plausible deniability by being somewhere else doing something completely unrelated when the main RCD eventually trips.

Took me a while to find in the darkness late this afternoon, and temporarily fix by removing the outlet altogether and taping the ends of the cable up until I get the sockets dried out...

James

 

[Wilco]

No Alexa or similar. Had considered it but we decided against. My dad had one and friends have them too although I'm not convinced how much value they add to life. Feels like just another thing to buy and pay for the energy for.

No smart meter as I'm conflicted about them... There's just something about being told I should that makes me want to say 'why' and whilst I accept it's very unlikely to happen, the concept of having the power turned off remotely doesn't fill me with glee even though the prospect of cheaper energy sounds inviting.

No water meter either as we share the supply line with the neighbours.

 

[steveselvage]

When we got our first TV there was only one channel so you could sit in front of it and strain your eyes watching the black and white grainy 12" screen without having to worry whether Aussie gold diggers was on channel 38 or 54....

I don't miss having to wait 10 minutes for the TV to warm up, or waiting for my old dad to fetch his biscuit tin of reclaimed valves and changing them one by one by trial and error until it was fixed.

 

[pargyle]

I don't miss having to wait 10 minutes for the TV to warm up, or waiting for my old dad to fetch his biscuit tin of reclaimed valves and changing them one by one by trial and error until it was fixed.

MInd you when we finally got ITV (Uncle Eric who ran a TV, Radio and Bicyle shop - as they often were back then) he intalled the necessary tuner with a brown bakelite knob on the side of the walnut veneered case to change channel between BBC and ITVE and then demonstrated where exactly on the outside of the walnut veneered cabinet you had to give it a severe slap to finalise the channel change and remove the zigzag lines and snowflakes from the screen.

 

[Wilco]

MInd you when we finally got ITV (Uncle Eric who ran a TV, Radio and Bicyle shop - as they often were back then) he intalled the necessary tuner with a brown bakelite knob on the side of the walnut veneered case to change channel between BBC and ITVE and then demonstrated where exactly on the outside of the walnut veneered cabinet you had to give it a severe slap to finalise the channel change and remove the zigzag lines and snowflakes from the screen.

I don't remember valves but I do remember twisting the aerial and use of analogue percussive maintenance.

 

[Antipodes]

I don't remember valves but I do remember twisting the aerial and use of analogue percussive maintenance.

You were lucky. We had to go to the neighbour's home to watch TV...once a week only, David Attenborough "Life on Earth", and only then intermittently when the power was available. And of course the neighbours lived in a hole in the ground with no heating.

 

[Lolly Bee]

When we had our kitchen renovated we had a Smart Meter installed so that we wouldn’t have to remove all our stuff to do a meter reading. Shell were desperate to get rid of all their Version 1 meters at the time (that meant you couldn’t change supplier without charging and paying for a new system). When refused the meter Shell had a sh*t fit and very nearly refused to supply a V2 and nearly delaying by several weeks the kitchen installation. Me being grumpy and bossy and persistent and probably annoying too finally pushed them into action but it was quite a fight.

 

[Curly green finger's]

we have an Alexa which can turn of plugs lights etc and I quite like playing pointless at tea time ,plus setting timers and reminders via Alexa is handy.
Smart meters can do one!

 

[Macbear]

When we had our kitchen renovated we had a Smart Meter installed so that we wouldn’t have to remove all our stuff to do a meter reading. Shell were desperate to get rid of all their Version 1 meters at the time (that meant you couldn’t change supplier without charging and paying for a new system). When refused the meter Shell had a sh*t fit and very nearly refused to supply a V2 and nearly delaying by several weeks the kitchen installation. Me being grumpy and bossy and persistent and probably annoying too finally pushed them into action but it was quite a fight.

Shell pestered me to have a SM - I told them that having a SM put in had cost my neighbour over £1000 mostly as a result of the incompetence of a fly-by-night subcontracted installer. His energy company denied any liability. That was enough to convince me that I should continue to send in monthly readings. Now Shell have moved customers to Octopus as Shell are quitting. Ha!
Alexa & the like - now the children have fled the nest it's a pleasure to be just husband and wife. We've discovered new things despite over 50 years together - such as my wife is enthusiastic about beekeeping and more interested in using wax than I am.. if Alexa is any good at spotting an unmarked queen it may have limited appeal, but until then two pairs of eyes must suffice. Oh, will Alexa enthusiastically help with honey extraction?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Just logged into the rotary watches account on my laptop to arrange a service for one of my watches. by the time I popped over the river to post it and come home, my facebook feed is full of watch advertisements!

 

[Newbeeneil]

You were lucky. We had to go to the neighbour's home to watch TV...once a week only, David Attenborough "Life on Earth", and only then intermittently when the power was available. And of course the neighbours lived in a hole in the ground with no heating.

Luxury! …………….