oily rags and spontaneous combustion

[lph]

LPH, I give up and have to ask - how do you know English so well? I've been curious about your excellent command of the language for quite some time, and now your use of the term "shebang" makes me think that either English is your first language or you've spent A LOT of time with Americans

Thanks, Artista :-)

English is my first language - sorta. My mother is American, but has lived in Norway since she was 18. I guess my father's English was better than her Norwegian, for whatever reason I spoke only English until age 7. We lived in various places, but moved here for good then. I remember struggling to learn Norwegian before I became truly bilingual.

Now I read a lot of English and often "think in English", but I almost only speak Norwegian, so for many purposes I feel more fluent in Norwegian than English. My English may well be a bit dated at times, since I don't get the everyday feedback.

[Artista]

Thanks, Artista :-)

English is my first language - sorta. My mother is American, but has lived in Norway since she was 18. I guess my father's English was better than her Norwegian, for whatever reason I spoke only English until age 7. We lived in various places, but moved here for good then. I remember struggling to learn Norwegian before I became truly bilingual.

Now I read a lot of English and often "think in English", but I almost only speak Norwegian, so for many purposes I feel more fluent in Norwegian than English. My English may well be a bit dated at times, since I don't get the everyday feedback.

That's an even better story than I was hoping for! I've never noticed that your English is dated, although now that you mention it, you could substitute "whole enchilada" for "entire shebang"

Bummer about your BIL. Thanks for the testimonial that spontaneous combustion isn't just an urban legend. We always wet our oily paper towels but I worry that they'll dry out before the garbage gets picked up. We're going to start sealing the wet, oily, paper towels in those ultra-lightweight, produce bags that we bring home from the grocery store.

[Susan]

I'm sorry this happened to your brother!

A trick I use to keep oily rags safe: Wet the rag/towel and put it in an old Pickle jar, screw the lid on tightly.

[Becky]

LPH, thanks for the warning! I'm curious about something, if you don't mind.....was there a lid on the metal bucket?

[lph]

I don't really know, since by the time I saw it it was just a misshapen lump... but I think not. A lid would probably have contained the flames or maybe stopped it from igniting in the first place.

[Becky]

A lid would probably have contained the flames or maybe stopped it from igniting in the first place.

That's what I always thought (re: covering the bucket), but I've never had a chance to test that theory (thankfully!).

[OakLeaf]

I did a little googling, and the state and federal OSHA sites all say that an oily rag container should have both a lid and a ventilated bottom to allow the heat to dissipate.