What Are Those Crazy Canadians Doing Up There?
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According to an article in this month's IEEE Spectrum magazine, Ontario consumes 55% more electrical power per capita than either California or New York. What the heck are they doing with it all? Surely it's not all being used to keep their toes warm, and of course, keeping the CodeProject servers running is a national priority. But what are they doing with the rest? Electrocuting baby Harp seals? I think that the rational, kind facade they all present when visiting other places is a myth. In reality they are the world's most accomplished party animals, with every modest home concealing a vast disco-themed electric booze emporium, and they spend every night wandering door-to-door in a drunken stupor seeking ever greater bachanalia experiences. Why else would Chris keep going back there?
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
For Ontario specifically it's likely the extra power required to light up the goal light over the Toronto Maple Leafs goal when they get outscored by damn near anyone who plays them. Aside from that Ontario has a far more extreme climate to deal with than California or New York and a much less dense population so there is a lot more redundancy.
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According to an article in this month's IEEE Spectrum magazine, Ontario consumes 55% more electrical power per capita than either California or New York. What the heck are they doing with it all? Surely it's not all being used to keep their toes warm, and of course, keeping the CodeProject servers running is a national priority. But what are they doing with the rest? Electrocuting baby Harp seals? I think that the rational, kind facade they all present when visiting other places is a myth. In reality they are the world's most accomplished party animals, with every modest home concealing a vast disco-themed electric booze emporium, and they spend every night wandering door-to-door in a drunken stupor seeking ever greater bachanalia experiences. Why else would Chris keep going back there?
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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Roger Wright wrote:
But what are they doing with the rest? Electrocuting baby Harp seals?
Not exactly, the extra electricity is used to light the Saskatchewan seal hunt at night. Astronauts have complained about it ruining their view of the sun. ;) Phil
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There was a news item (in Canada) last week about Canada being the most positively influential country in the world. The report was candid, though, in saying that while the rest of the World considers Canada a bunch of great guys who just want everyone to be excellent to one another, not many in the survey could actually give specifics on how Canada actually achieves this, nor in fact, much about the political, social or economic details of Canada at all. But to get back to the question: What does Ontario do with all that power? 1) Heat every enclosed space to 27C/80F in Winter 2) Air Condition every enclosed space to 19C/66F in the other 3 months.
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
Chris Maunder wrote:
not many in the survey could actually give specifics on how Canada actually achieves this
That's the point, they don't trample on others.
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Al Gore has a winter house up there. :-D
:laugh::laugh: I suppose he spends his winters there inventing things...
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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According to an article in this month's IEEE Spectrum magazine, Ontario consumes 55% more electrical power per capita than either California or New York. What the heck are they doing with it all? Surely it's not all being used to keep their toes warm, and of course, keeping the CodeProject servers running is a national priority. But what are they doing with the rest? Electrocuting baby Harp seals? I think that the rational, kind facade they all present when visiting other places is a myth. In reality they are the world's most accomplished party animals, with every modest home concealing a vast disco-themed electric booze emporium, and they spend every night wandering door-to-door in a drunken stupor seeking ever greater bachanalia experiences. Why else would Chris keep going back there?
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
Al Gore has a winter house up there. :-D
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There was a news item (in Canada) last week about Canada being the most positively influential country in the world. The report was candid, though, in saying that while the rest of the World considers Canada a bunch of great guys who just want everyone to be excellent to one another, not many in the survey could actually give specifics on how Canada actually achieves this, nor in fact, much about the political, social or economic details of Canada at all. But to get back to the question: What does Ontario do with all that power? 1) Heat every enclosed space to 27C/80F in Winter 2) Air Condition every enclosed space to 19C/66F in the other 3 months.
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
Chris Maunder wrote:
- Air Condition every enclosed space to 19C/66F in the other 3 months.
... but leave the front doors to the store wide open, so people can just stroll in. :sigh:
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For Ontario specifically it's likely the extra power required to light up the goal light over the Toronto Maple Leafs goal when they get outscored by damn near anyone who plays them. Aside from that Ontario has a far more extreme climate to deal with than California or New York and a much less dense population so there is a lot more redundancy.
John Cardinal wrote:
it's likely the extra power required to light up the goal light over the Toronto Maple Leafs goal when they get outscored by damn near anyone who plays them.
touché :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Want robust software? Use the new Vista Kernel Transaction Manager[^]
www.IconsReview.com[^] Huge list of stock icon collections (both free and commercial)
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For Ontario specifically it's likely the extra power required to light up the goal light over the Toronto Maple Leafs goal when they get outscored by damn near anyone who plays them. Aside from that Ontario has a far more extreme climate to deal with than California or New York and a much less dense population so there is a lot more redundancy.
I thought about that but they won 3-0 at my first and only visit to the ACC last week. Plus my Habs don't put me in a good position to joke about any other team these times, not even the Leafs :)
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For Ontario specifically it's likely the extra power required to light up the goal light over the Toronto Maple Leafs goal when they get outscored by damn near anyone who plays them. Aside from that Ontario has a far more extreme climate to deal with than California or New York and a much less dense population so there is a lot more redundancy.
Perhaps we should provide them with some of our excess population to keep the efficiency up. It shouldn't be too much harder to build a fenced passage from our southern border to our northern than to build a fence across the southern one.;) Seriously, though, there's a crisis building up there that isn't getting a whole lot of publicity. According to the article, they're planning to shut down a lot of the coal-burning power plants to meet their comittments in the Kyoto Accord, but the reserve capacity they're depending on comes from nuclear plants that are 30 years old and at their end of life. The cost of replacing those plants will be staggering, not to mention the political problems the lunatic fringe will cause. And the difficulty of safely disposing of the old ones remains unsolved for all nations. I'll be very interested to see what solutions they come up with.
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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Perhaps we should provide them with some of our excess population to keep the efficiency up. It shouldn't be too much harder to build a fenced passage from our southern border to our northern than to build a fence across the southern one.;) Seriously, though, there's a crisis building up there that isn't getting a whole lot of publicity. According to the article, they're planning to shut down a lot of the coal-burning power plants to meet their comittments in the Kyoto Accord, but the reserve capacity they're depending on comes from nuclear plants that are 30 years old and at their end of life. The cost of replacing those plants will be staggering, not to mention the political problems the lunatic fringe will cause. And the difficulty of safely disposing of the old ones remains unsolved for all nations. I'll be very interested to see what solutions they come up with.
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
Here in B.C. on the coast nearly all our power comes from hydro electric dams. We often end up selling surplus energy into California. The local lunatic fringe is more lunatic that most other places in Canada, I even remember back in the day a long long time ago there was a local "terrorist" bunch of hippies attempting to blow up hydro electric substations for some reason that was never very clear. Ontario will probably end up just buying their energy from the U.S. or Quebec.
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I thought about that but they won 3-0 at my first and only visit to the ACC last week. Plus my Habs don't put me in a good position to joke about any other team these times, not even the Leafs :)
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Here in B.C. on the coast nearly all our power comes from hydro electric dams. We often end up selling surplus energy into California. The local lunatic fringe is more lunatic that most other places in Canada, I even remember back in the day a long long time ago there was a local "terrorist" bunch of hippies attempting to blow up hydro electric substations for some reason that was never very clear. Ontario will probably end up just buying their energy from the U.S. or Quebec.
John Cardinal wrote:
blow up hydro electric substations
That's daft!:omg: Of all the technologies available for generating power, hydro is the most efficient, cheapest, and takes the least toll on the environment. Be thankful that you live in a place where water is readily available! Ontario already buys a lot of power from New York, and that's a huge expense. It's only going to get worse, though, as New York has an aging infrastructure, too, and getting a license for a new coal-fired plant is becoming extremely difficult in the US. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 provides financial incentives to replace carbon-intensive power generators with nuclear plants, but the problems with that technology - especially disposal, as safety issues have all but disappeared - still remain. When push comes to shove in the local market, the lights will go out in Canada before New Yorkers accept watching the tube by candlelight.
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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John Cardinal wrote:
blow up hydro electric substations
That's daft!:omg: Of all the technologies available for generating power, hydro is the most efficient, cheapest, and takes the least toll on the environment. Be thankful that you live in a place where water is readily available! Ontario already buys a lot of power from New York, and that's a huge expense. It's only going to get worse, though, as New York has an aging infrastructure, too, and getting a license for a new coal-fired plant is becoming extremely difficult in the US. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 provides financial incentives to replace carbon-intensive power generators with nuclear plants, but the problems with that technology - especially disposal, as safety issues have all but disappeared - still remain. When push comes to shove in the local market, the lights will go out in Canada before New Yorkers accept watching the tube by candlelight.
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
Yeah it is daft, they were a daft bunch by any account: Cheekeye-Dunsmuir bombing On 30 May 1982, Hansen, Taylor, and Stewart travelled to Vancouver Island and set off a large bomb at the Cheekeye-Dunsmuir BC Hydro substation. Four transformers were damaged beyond repair, but no one was injured. The hydroelectric project had been criticized by some as environmentally unsound and contributing to the destruction of wilderness on the Island. After the bombing, the group again recruited Hannah, a member of the punk rock group Subhumans, well known for his criticism of BC Hydro executives; and Belmas, an idealist from the suburbs who had been radicalized in the process of opposing a retail pornography outlet in her Port Coquitlam neighbourhood. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squamish_Five[^] Kinda interesting reading actually, a bunch of nutjobs no question. When push comes to shove the natural gas will stop flowing from here to Chicago pretty quick so I guess it works both ways! :)