BS1363..pain like you have never known

Whats the worst pain you have ever felt?
Sit down for a minute and think about it?
Have you ever broken a bone or three?
Have you been involved in a horrendous car accident or a plane crash?
Do you know anyone who has suffered from hemorrhoids or had their testicles or nipples slowly twisted and pulled by a small Belgian man dressed as a nun using two frozen fish fingers as makeshift tweezers? No? Me neither - apart from the last one... anyway enough about that.
We have all felt pain and although some of us may like it sometimes, most of the time it is unexpected and makes rude sayings emanate loudly from our cakeyholes!

Why do I ask you such drivel you ponder silently to yourself? Where on earth is this idiot going this time? You would never guess...so I will tell you. I inadvertently discovered why North Americans have a lower pain threshold than us hardened Brits. The answer is BS1363.

BS1363 is the British Standard name relating to our superior electrical plugs. Superior, because they are almost impossible to insert incorrectly and have a safety fuse inside the plug itself. Creating an even safer environment for those of us who fail to listen to any kind of electrical safety advise.

A standard type of British plug.

       Now this alone doesn't make us Brits have a higher pain threshold. But it is slowly leading us towards the explanation. Take a look at the next picture showing some more plugs and their counterpart sockets......

Now we are getting somewhere...

You may or may not see the answer here It is very subtle but so obvious!! I'll try and explain further and it will help if I tell you about the standard Canadian equivalent.

Canadian plug socket

Hmm, what do you see in the photo above? Two slightly apprehensive and unhappy faces that make up a Canadian socket that you can see in any Canadian building. But look carefully....

I had an epiphany a week or so when using the sockets in our house. You see, the sockets are one above the other. Look back at the British sockets that I grew up with and you will note that they are 'side by side'. Now do you get it??

No?

Ok.

The Canadian sockets are one above the other - and the British are side by side.
So in Britain, the power cable usually goes up into the bottom of the plug. The cable hangs down giving a nice flat surface for grandma to push the sofa up against.    
You cant do this with a Canadian plug as the cable would cover up the bottom plug socket (as they are one above the other). So most Canadian plugs have the lead coming straight out of the back. This does mean that you might not be able to push the sofa so far against the wall but also creates a safer plug when not in use...

Two or three pin Canadian plug.

The plugs you see above are typical of the ones you find here in Canada. The lead comes straight out of the back. This means that if the plug is left unplugged, it sits on the ground just as you see it in the photos.

Now, take another look at the British plug...

PAIN 

Do you get it now? The British plug is a predator. It lies in wait 'prongs up' because the British sockets are side by side and the cable therefore hangs below. Add that to the flat back and prongs that stand upright and you get a killing machine.
Take a look at the short video explaining the dangers of British Plugs and how they can affect you...

You see  - Americans, Canadians and the rest of the globe do not realize the pain that normal British children have to endure constantly throughout their lives, This is something that happens constantly to all us poor Brits and never  -NEVER- should be underestimated. But thankfully, we Brits are a hardened breed and every incident only makes our pain threshold even higher.


Anyway, now that has been covered I would like to change the subject entirely....

SNOW

Yes, there is still snow on the ground here. Its quite amusing to see everyone that welcomed the fluffy white stuff back in late October, now grind with irritation at the mere hint that 1mm of if will fall from the sky. It has actually been quite a mild winter with temperatures bottoming out at around minus 40c and only a few feet of snow. But after 150 odd days the end is nigh and the magical weather fairies have promised us some sunshine later this week...

The remaining snow will be gone by the weekend and so I thought it time to upload my 'Winter' time lapse, showing the weather from our front window for the last five months.
Enjoy. Watch out for the yellow snow clearing diggers and Buffy, when she actually cleared the snow once..... heeheehee