The early Greeks discovered electricity and were exploring using it in medicine with electric eels and rays.

Frosty, you're just jealous. Everyone knows Thor is completely secure in his masculinity. He can pose however and he's still Thor.

And the dude had a hammer till Mjolnir got all crushed by Cate Blanchett.

Oh, sorry: Spoiler alert.

 

18 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

but yes it would be a whole lot nicer if the entire world used one system of voltage,

Reminds me of the time we had a 'working bee' with the church at a remote indian town in a certain south american country. We did some repairs to their church building, and they told us a few of their stories. One was the visit by the local politician who asked what would they need to improve their condition. The village chief asked for a saw mill to make lumber. The sawmill eventually showed up. Brand new and industrial strength ... problem is that it was electric 3 phase. The village has no electricity of any kind.

They took us to see the wanderful saw mill sitting in a shed, frozen stiff from lack of use. 

Sounds about right. Good intentions plus poor frame of reference equals no real help at all. 

Pnut

That's when you import a couple of Amish sawyers to show you how to convert it to diesel.

Water or horse could possibly be utilized too depending on the situation. Do you remember the old tractor powered sawmills? 

Pnut

Now I'm wondering what ran the sawmill my great-grandfather had up in Alaska at the end of the 19th century.

(Funny story: a passenger on the coastal steamer noticed the crates of parts on the deck and asked the captain what it was and where it was going. On being told it was destined for the mission in Anvik, the passenger asked, "Does it come with instructions?" The captain replied, "No, but the pastor is a Vermont boy, and he'll figure it out.")

4 hours ago, pnut said:

Water or horse could possibly be utilized too depending on the situation. Do you remember the old tractor powered sawmills? 

Pnut

Many potential solutions, a generator possibly the best one of them. Unfortunately the condition they live in, or used to in those days, I am talking early seventies, I have only seen in movies from 200 years ago, where bolts and nails are precious items. No blacksmith and no other tools we would consider common.  The chief was a visionary and he was the only one that had a job outside, and traveled over 150 Km every day to go to work in the nearest town as a council labourer. What I remember from the experiences, besides the comedy of this attempt at helping, was their gentle character and generosity. Come to think of it, a blacksmith workshop and some teachings would have gone a long way further than the sawmill.