I have the same name as an entrepreneur who had a fairly successful exit and is now an early stage investor. As a result, I get a slow trickle of cold intro emails with hot* start-up funding opportunities.
"Stored pressure ABC extinguishers are very common, and they often require internal maintenance every 6 years and hydrostatic testing every 12 years. Other types of extinguishers may vary in their internal examination and testing intervals."
-https://www.cintas.com/fire-protection-services/fire-extingu...
Very few people want to spend $40 on a fire extinguisher every few years until the moment when their kitchen is actually on fire.*
*That is, unless, history repeats itself and we lose ~1-2% of the world population[0] this Fall. That might provide sufficient motivation.
[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu
I'm going to venture a guess that lifestyle is a huge factor in the difference. People are generally more active out west (better weather, more open spaces/ parks/ mountains, better beaches, etc.) and smoke far fewer cigarettes.
Everything? Amazon is crushing it and clearing out the space for essentials. Costco Online is selling out of food and sundries as soon as they refresh the web page.
Anecdotally, I'm getting UPS packages delivered at any time between 8am - 10pm. The night driver has to use a headlamp to read building numbers.
Anybody semi-capable can easily modify a stick built house. And Americans _love_ to modify their houses. DIY stores are big business here.
I, myself, am adding some recessed LED lights into a couple bedroom ceilings this weekend. When I'm done, apart from the light fixtures themselves, you will never know the work was done 50 years after the house was built because there are no cable raceways and no external plugs.
It is my (albeit limited) understanding that the Gates grants are focused on providing toilets to areas where there previously were none and not on replacing crumbling infrastructure. They're trying to get facilities to the millions of people who have to poop in the bushes because that's all there is.
That's probably because Bill & Melinda issued their grants a few years back. You can see a list of all of the high-tech outhouse makers here [0]. Many of the designs are out in the field for long-term testing.
Surely, you're joking?! What if you want to actually see the Flugelfluffer assembled before you purchase it in a flatpack? (maybe you want the white one? no, wait, the natural one) That entails going upstairs and walking around the whole circuitous path through every staged bedroom, dining room, kitchen, living room and bathroom just to find the damn Fluggelfluffer. Which is downstairs. In aisle 47C.
If Costco has the piece of furniture, its either in the middle display area or on the furniture aisle. That's it.
Which is why many pro athletes move their residency to Florida the day they sign their multi-million dollar contracts and buy the biggest mansions they can afford.
There shouldn't be any _outdoor cats_, full stop. I don't think people realize the extent of the bird/squirrel/lizard/frog carnage inflicted by the fluffy apex predator they occasionally get to pet. While I've seen many a cat catch & eat small creatures, I once had a neighbor's cat use my bird feeder as the lure for an all-you-can-eat bird buffet.
I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of women who have tried to get pregnant have had at least 1 miscarriage in their lifetime. Fertile or not, it appears to be part of the child-bearing process given sufficient attempts to reproduce.
*definitely not hot