#1173 – Filament

Trap doors can be a real problem in older homes. Many of the safety regulations in the trap industry that we take for granted are less than 30 years old. It’s frustrating that you have to leave your couch on the north edge of the living room and that you can never have a dance party in the dining room. Retrofitting newer units is always an option but to do it cleanly you really need to replace the entire floor and who wants to deal with picking out new carpeting after you just had the walls painted the perfect complementary shade of blue.

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18 thoughts on “#1173 – Filament”

  1. Gwid says:

    The cloud in that picture/window (let’s, from now on, call them Picdows) is either really low down, or Biff’s rocket blasted off without him.

    In our old house, it was really easy to get onto the roof (just climb off the balcony and there you are – the right side, of course. Otherwise you end up on the ground). My stepdad used to do it, and I used to watch dutifully. Once, the roof gave way and he fell – actually FELL – through. I was watching at the time, and he seemed okay, but I took it upon myself to go and alert everyone by screaming. He climbed out through the trapdoor in the roof. Which is how this story links in at all with this.

    ~Gwid

  2. Dori says:

    I don’t understand what this is about – is it an east coast thing? midwest thing? My only experience with trapdoors is on a stage. And you could tap dance on top of those if you wanted. Can someone explain trapdoors in a home and their purpose?

  3. ZeoViolet says:

    No kidding. My house is from 1869. Landlord said he’d removed all trapdoors years and years ago.

  4. MaskMan says:

    My problem is with the spring-loaded platforms below my 1970s-era trap doors. They keep launching rayon-clad disco singers up through the floor. Most annoying.

  5. Cyndaquazy says:

    Where would Biff have a light receptacle big enough for that lightbulb? Is he replacing the artificial sun on top of his roof or something?

  6. Niflare says:

    I’d like to know where he got the lightbulb…. does he run the worlds largest ligthbulb factory so that when the record holder breaks they just buy one and replace it?

  7. KamenZero says:

    Gwid: Actually, that’s about right from a perspective kinda view. The focus is lower than normal height, since Biff is lower, so you can see up higher through the window.. now whether you could actually see clouds… meh.

  8. Chris says:

    @MaskMan – Don’t get me started on those springs! “I wanted a trap door, not a catapult!”

  9. MaskedMan says:

    I know, right? It’s like a hellish version of ‘whack-a-mole!’
    😮

  10. YukiYukimura says:

    Gah, in my house, it’s not so much the trapdoors as the giant, shark-infested, underwater maze below them.
    Then again, the sharks all know me, and I can solve the puzzles on the hidden doors to get out.
    I just better hope I don’t get amnesia, even if I hid the answers somewhere, I’d forget where they were! Such is the cunning trick of amnesia…
    And now, for something I have very much missed doing (*i.e. forgot to do*)
    G’bye!
    ~Yukimura~

  11. Dan says:

    My theory is that Biff saves on lightbulbs by just using one very very large one to light his house. Brilliant! (pun intended).

  12. Gwid says:

    “I wanted a trap door, not a catapult!” – Chris, you just made me laugh more today. I just woke up, this is a great way to start it!

    ~Gwid

  13. Fubico.com says:

    You get caught even if you are seeing it. Like mind illusion, you’re attracted and… too late. ahiuhahiauhiuhaa

  14. tailman says:

    the danger of applying SCIENCE to chores week?

  15. Prior Semblance says:

    I also have no idea what trap doors this is a reference to.

  16. dartigen says:

    We used to have a trapdoor in my old house for getting in under the house itself. Once, on impulse, I opened it, only to find that the house’s previous owner had bolted it shut.
    At another house I once thought we had a cellar, but they’d just left the trapdoor there. The cellar had been filled in with concrete after one too many floodings.
    I’m not sure why the old owners didn’t just take the trapdoor away and put boards over the top or something.

  17. YukiYukimura says:

    @dartigen – atleast you’ve HAD a house that atleast USED to have a cellar, never had one…
    …although it WOULD be a good place to store my bodies, clones, and robots. and also a great place for a halloween party. probably.

    ~Yukimura~

  18. lisa says:

    its not the springs or the sharks, its the frickin laser beams that burn my butt

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