Plugged in the water heater for a couple of hours each of Monday and Tuesday nights, after midnight when demand low. Co-operation with requested reduction of demand, especially from early afternoon till 8 p.m. or so, was good - some companies shut down part of their activities, some took a couple of days off. They had about 6% cushion between available supply and demand during peak consumption, today. So they didn't need to implement the "rolling blackouts" (shutting off power for 30 - 60 min., first in one area, then another, then a third) that would be necessary if demand outstripped supply. Increasing heat, daily, with smog problem through most of the area, today. Expecting hotter tomorrow. A pain for industry which needs secure supply. And for people using computers, if they lack instantly available alternate power source. joyful

Vee, thanks for the link to the woman speaking Welsh. Mary, I listened to the woman in the video and detected the back-of-the-throat gutturals similar to the German (e.g. the /ch/ of Bach) and Scottish (e.g. /ch/ of loch). Those sounds are probably difficult for English speakers over the age of about fifteen to produce. Those under fifteen, unless they have a speech disability, shouldn't have many/any problems. I didn't notice much 'R' rolling from this particular speaker, a feature of pronunciation (such as in Scottish and Spanish) that many (adult) English speakers can't reproduce and have a tendency to disparage because of it. Many Americans, interestingly to me, don't have problems 'rolling Rs' but, of course, some Americans can barely pronounce 'R' at all. The double letters and the sounds they represent are interesting. English speakers, of course, wind up in most cases just pronouncing them as single sounds, such as giving the Ll of Welsh the sound of English L. The Welsh start with the tongue in the position to say L but barely get the sound initiated when they switch to the guttural sound of /ch/ (as in loch). Now that's a feat! It's the perfect shibboleth for the Welsh, isn't it, Vee? Instead of persisting in saying 'Welsh', I should be referring to the language as 'Cymraeg'. From the etymology of the word 'Welsh', it's a wonder the people of Cymru put up with the unflattering derivation.

"Kale salad nonsense"? I find that comment extremely offensive. I love Kale! My interior designer just completed my living room and masterbath redo around Kale. I understand everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that was harsh. Guess I won't be posting my before and after pics :(

oh I just saw Pat's post. No, when I first signed up for thathomesite which was the precursor to Gardenweb/Houzz, it prompted me to put my name and country. I added an A to SHEILA which became SHEILAA and then the US so its SHEILAAUS and then just added a random 122 and now everyone figures I am in Australia. Would be exciting but I am in the US:)