Left or right? How to determine?

Ok, I be the first to bite on this.

I think it is a matter of to whom you are trying to direct. Such as the home owner to whit you would be better off applying the words as Mary's BDRM SMK or John's BDRM SMK, etc. etc.

As for dispatching purposes it would be best to use the term Left Front 2nd Fl Smoke. You are not restricted to 16 characters. And because when the Fire Dept. arrives they will be looking at the house from the Front and will know it is going to be the Left Side looking at the house.

So, your challenge is now much simpler and I can sleep tonight knowing I have helped someone named Charlie.

Les

We use the compass directions, north room, south room, SE room SSE room etc...

But when we have to use left or right, front or back, we always use, looking at the house from the roadway approach.. that will be the starting point and branch off from that to other parts of the building..

RTS

Ok, I be the first to bite on this.

I think it is a matter of to whom you are trying to direct. Such as the home owner to whit you would be better off applying the words as Mary's BDRM SMK or John's BDRM SMK, etc. etc.

As for dispatching purposes it would be best to use the term Left Front 2nd Fl Smoke. You are not restricted to 16 characters. And because when the Fire Dept. arrives they will be looking at the house from the Front and will know it is going to be the Left Side looking at the house.

So, your challenge is now much simpler and I can sleep tonight knowing I have helped someone named Charlie.

Les

I always use compass directions for confusing items like that.

SMK SE CRNR BR SMK S MID BR SMK SW CRNR BR

The points of the compass do not change when you turn the other way

Call one side the Democrat wing of the house and the other side the Republican wing. By using that nomenclature and schema everyone will then remember and understand which side they're on. In the end it really doesn't matter though because it all refers to the same turkey.

Left side? Right side? How to determine?

Have a customer whose house is large. On his Keypad I provided a location description for two smoke detectors. One description is "SD left frnt bed" There is another detector labeled as "SD rght frnt bed"

Due to the 16 character limitation this is the best I could do for describing the left front bedroom and the right front bedroom.

After testing these units a year or so after installation, I verified the tripped location with the description on the Keypad, and was immediately confused by the references to left and right, so much so that I made a note to this effect on the service call sheet.

I ran across this note today, and have begun in earnest to find an answer to this puzzle:

How do I determine, for example, which side of the house is the left side of the house? Is the left side of the house on my left as I stand outside facing and looking at the front of the house? Or is the left side of the house on my left side as I stand inside looking out the front door?

I posed this question to my son-in-law who is a builder. I also posed it to a customer who is an architect. I did not receive an answer from either of them that showed conclusively that their trades followed a definitive protocol. The three of us gave varying examples, all of which were based on the location of the viewer, be it a fireman, policeman, builder, architect, home owner, etc.

This is an important matter to me, as I need to know how to identify a location using the terms left and right in conjunction with front and rear. The three of us were in agreement with the use of the adjectives "east and west." However buildings are not always placed on a north/south/east/west plane. Furthermore, responding authorities may not know where North is, especially when arriving at night, having made a number of vehicular turns on the way to the fire.

Here are a few examples (you may have more) of determining left from right, based on usage and position of the viewer:

If I told you to put air in the left front automobile tire, you would know exactly where to go regardless of where you were standing when I gave the directive.

If you were a seaman and I told you to paint the right side of the boat you would know exactly which side to paint, because the right side of the boat is the starboard side, which is always on the right side as you look towards the bow from midship. The right (starboard) is always in the same location regardless of where you are standing, aft, forward, on the pier, in another boat, etc.

In buses, trains, planes, the left (and consequently the right) is easily determined when you know where the front is, or where the back is.

I have not researched how theatrical stages are labeled; however the terms "stage right" and "stage left" are in use, but I do not know if it means the audiences right or left or the actors right or left when facing the audience.

Without going much further I think you all get the gist of what I am looking for.

Do buildings really have a left side and a right side? Is the viewer's position the determining factor? Buildings always appear to have a front and rear, and sometimes sides.

Should the left and right of a building always be predicated on and in the same manner that is used to locate left and right on a car, plane, train, boat, skies, bicycle, motorcycle, etc., that is, facing forward from within or on the device? In these examples the front is easily found, and consequently we can therefore apply the labels left, right, rear. Why not with a house? From inside the house at the front door facing out the door I want all to know that the left side of the house is on my left. Agree?

So as not to add to the confusion here, please do not use the word "right" for the word "correct."

Have fun.

Charlie

Fire depts designate buildings North south east west or A B C D side when working a structure incident

LOL! when exactly did the republican color change from 'blue' as the elections showed Nixon carried states to 'red' as JW carrried states?

Following that scenario, soon the Democrats will be called the RIGHT and the Republicans called LEFT, probably based upon them getting the votes that are 'left'.

I don't use keypads with only 16 characters anymore. Most newer Keypads have more now ( don't they ?)

Anyway this is how I do it. Take from it what you can.

(1st line) Smoke Detector

( 2nd line) 2ndFl ... 1stFl ..then: North south east and west. BdRm, Kit, Den, FamRm, DinRm, LivRm, MstBdRm, Bsmt.

Example: SMOKE DETECTOR 2ndFl North BdRm

That works really nice on the two line display on the RP1CAe2 keypads.

I don't know (because I only use Napco RP1CAe2's and a couple of the new blue display models) but I would think that by now, all other mfgs mid to higher end keypads have two line displays. (?)

Thanks for all your comments.

I've found this little exercise interesting and revealing; never gave it much thought before.

Though not quite clear in my message, my intent was to determine how the left and right side of a building is defined, so that I can direct people to that location orally or by printed word, using the adjectives left and right. I am beginning to believe that there is no standard or universally accepted protocol for buildings.

In my search I have found that some people say the left side is the side of the building that is to the left of the front of the building as viewed from outside the building while facing the front of the building. [For this exercise the front is the portion of the building that contains the main entrance, front door, etc., as defined by the architect/builder, and in most cases is easily recognized by all of us when we arrive at any building.]

Therefore it follows that the left and right of something in many cases is what the viewer says it is based on the viewer's location. It's a temporary designation with no permanence attached to the viewed object, and has no lasting importance, as in, "Hey, Joe, look at that blonde, over there to the left of that tree!"

However, the left and the right side of many things remains fixed forever and of great importance regardless of the position of the viewer, and if instructed to locate a particular side, we all know where it is or where to go without hesitation, for example:

The left lane of a multiple-lane highway, the left side of a car, bus, train, plane; the left pocket in a pair of pants, a left shoe.

A common practice to facilitate the flow of pedestrian traffic, and which mimics vehicular flow, appears in wide usage: Most people stay to the right of oncoming pedestrian traffic, whereby the oncoming flow passes us on the left. The sidewalk has no left or right designation, only the pedestrian flow. And the practice seems to have permanence.

My garage: In all my 50 years of home ownership my garage has not and will not rise to the level of importance to earn a permanent left and right designation. Consequently I need a few more words when issuing a directive. When I direct my daughter to fetch a rake from the garage I say, "It's on the far left when you go through the overhead door."

Should a house or building rise to the level of importance that they have a fixed and permanent designation as to left and right, regardless of the position of the viewer?

Will continue to search for an answer.

Thanks all.

Charlie

Dear Charlie,

Given your current state of .....confu...anxie...desper...frustra............. observations. I would also like for you to contemplate the following.

1) While talking to a fellow in Idaho, he told me, "He was planning to go UP to Vegas."

2) When my wife is being "navigator" on a long trip, she turns the map upside down when we are going south because she then knows which way to turn.

3) While traveling across a river on a double-decker bridge, are the people on the lower level going under the bridge or over the river??

4) If a rooster lays an egg at the peak of the barn roof, which side will it roll towards??

I think that the four(4) 'above' or is it 'prior' examples should keep you pondering into the next milemimum...................

Have a good next week and beyond.

Les

And if going to Maine he'd be going downeast.

And if she turned over the map your turns would be left rather than right.

The downside.

I do Soduko puzzles to relax.

You too. Nice chatting, but I really have to go. A friend left a big bag of money on the left side of this very large abandoned house, and on the right side are two pit bulls. You see my dilemma? Until I get an answer to my left and right side problem I don't want to take a chance on choosing the wrong side.

Charlie

Oh Les ..... you go on so ......

Err ..... Or should I say ... you go FORWARD ... so or maybe PROCEED so ..

Ya know .... now I'm beginning to wonder which way do you say you are turning your car when you are backing up and looking over your sholder? Left or right? And shouldn't it be the opposite way when your looking ahead?

And if you are giving someone directions while they are driving and you are standing on the outside on the drivers side...... If you told them to go ahead shouldn'tthey ask you if they should move the car sideways .... away from you?

If a man is alone in the woods, without his wife and states his opinion .... is he still wrong?

I'm gonna be thinking about this all week long ...... Jeeze!

Charlie,

That would be easy to figure out. Go to the opposite side of the house from where the growls are coming from.

Put a little more challenge in to in and contemplate this one.

You are locked in a dungeon and there are two doors. One door leads to freedom and one leads to shear death. There are two guards with you in the dungeon. One always tells the truth(always) and one always tells lies(always). You are allowed one question in order to gain your freedom. What would that question be??

BTW your egg answer was incorrect. Sorry Charlie, it was a trick question. :-)

Les

LOL If the man has been married as long as I have, the answer is absolutely YES!!!

Les

Good answer, but how do you know I'm not deaf!

Asked of either one: What door will the other guard point to if I ask him what door is the door to freedom; then go through the other door. [Thanks Google!]]

Damn. I reread the question. Rooster's don't lay eggs.

Damn!! This is fun. ROFLMAO

Yes, Google is your friend, no matter what the soothsayers say.

Les

Ships, and stages are all I can really think of off hand, and ships have different terminology specifically to avoid that confusion.