Canadian Politics Today

No, not the kind in the White House.

I was watching the excerpt from the Godfather where Don Cuneo gets shot in the revolving door, and tried to remember the last time I went through a revolving door. At one time they used to be everywhere, but today they seem to be disappearing from our city landscape. Yes, there are a few still remaining but in many buildings they have been replaced with standard doors. They were very practical in keeping hot/cold air from inside buildings escaping outdoors. In subway stations they also help in fighting that pressure balance when a train is leaving the station that either make a standard door very difficult to open, or else it opens by itself.

Reading your post has conjured up some memories from way back in my childhood. I grew up on a farm where pretty much all of the doors were "standard doors", some of which were held closed by a rotatable, hand carved wooden peg. Then one year, when she figured I was old enough, my mom took me to Toronto to visit the CNE. Well, what a day that was. We started out bright and early taking a 3 hour CN train ride to get to the city, then a street car to the subway to get downtown. I had never been underground before, nor had I ever envisioned riding a train down there. I was faced with numerous challenges including sliding subway car doors, turn styles and finally yes, revolving doors. They scared the hell out of me as I imagined being completely crushed by one if you didn't time your entrance properly, or being trapped forever inside if for some reason they quit half way around. The merry- go- round was a piece of cake  after all that and I also got my first taste of candy floss so things were looking up. I figured maybe we should just hunker down there for the remainder of our time in the city but no, we had to make our way home for supper. More revolving doors. The next day was a trip over to a shopping mall to find me some new running shoes and, of course, you entered that mall through none other than, revolving doors. Ha but I was a veteran now and slipped through those doors like a hot knife through butter. I wanted to see if they had any of those shoes with pictures of Popeye on them. I had stories to tell when I got home.

Then there was that time many years later when I had some time to kill while transiting through Frankfurt and decided to do some sight seeing. That brought me to my first trip on the undergroundbahn. The train came into the station, came to a stop, and I positioned myself at one of the doors. I was alone at that particular door.  People got on and off at other doors, and then the train took off leaving me standing there since my door didn't open. Hm. Then a local, probably noticing my look of consternation, explained to me that individual doors on these trains don't open unless you wave your hand in front of a light thingy beside that door. So if no one is exiting or entering that particular door, it remains closed. Saves needless wear and tear I guess. I was then well prepared to negotiate the subsequent arrival and got on my way.

No, not the kind in the White House.

I was watching the excerpt from the Godfather where Don Cuneo gets shot in the revolving door, and tried to remember the last time I went through a revolving door. At one time they used to be everywhere, but today they seem to be disappearing from our city landscape. Yes, there are a few still remaining but in many buildings they have been replaced with standard doors. They were very practical in keeping hot/cold air from inside buildings escaping outdoors. In subway stations they also help in fighting that pressure balance when a train is leaving the station that either make a standard door very difficult to open, or else it opens by itself.

Your reference to air pressure changes is a very valid one. I can imagine if you have to sit in an office all day in a building with an air handling unit which heats/cools the building, and that air flow/pressure changes somewhat each time a door is opened could be a little stressful on the eardrums. As a sidebar to this issue, I used to have a business were we installed such units in buildings, houses/commercial, and this particular job we installed a roof top heat pump on a new gas station/convenience store. The architect apparently oversized the unit since as soon as we turned it on the standard hinged doors all opened up an inch or two, due to the air flow. OK don't tell anybody but we fixed the problem by carving the bottom out of a 24 beer pack and placing it in the intake of that unit. The doors all went closed and we headed home to figure out what to do with that beer. 

BC Place had revolving doors when it had the blow up roof. It was the only way they could keep it from collapsing.

Yes, that is one place you see them. Inflatable golf domes, football fields, etc. Concordia university, Loyola campus, in Montreal set up one every winter and take it down for the summer. I have gone past many times on the commuter train, but never stopped to visit. I also pass it on bike sometimes in the summer months but the dome is gone then. I will have to see if they have any open activities this winter as an opportunity to visit.

Yes, that is one place you see them. Inflatable golf domes, football fields, etc. Concordia university, Loyola campus, in Montreal set up one every winter and take it down for the summer. I have gone past many times on the commuter train, but never stopped to visit. I also pass it on bike sometimes in the summer months but the dome is gone then. I will have to see if they have any open activities this winter as an opportunity to visit.

OK to start, I will admit it's a day off and so I had a sip of single malt with lunch.

 Now then, I'm thinking about installing a revolving door on the main entrance door of, oh let's say, a 747. It would have baffles such that would cause the speed of rotation to be affected by the airspeed of the aircraft. But also it would have a centrifugal type of braking mechanism to keep it from spinning out of control. Also, winding's would be attached to generate both AC/DC power which would relieve a portion of the load from the engine driven generators, thereby reducing fuel consumption. This could save the airline money, which could lead to lower ticket prices, and keep Greenpeace happy.
We would enjoy completely fresh air throughout the flight, and also provide a method of dealing with, heaven forbid, a hijacker.   

I'm calling Boeing right now.