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Anyone got really stupid questions that someone else on here might be able to answer?

324 replies

AlaskaElfForGin · 18/12/2019 19:01

I only ask because I have a really stupid question but haven't asked in case you talk about me ...

So if someone else could ask something ridiculous first that would be great!

OP posts:
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6
UnitedRoad · 22/12/2019 14:50

I’ve got a question. We’ve got slatted blinds (Venetian?) in our bedroom, and on one window there’s a thingy. I need to buy a thingy for the other blind. The only thing is, I have no idea what a thingy is called, and with no more information I can’t even google. I bet someone here knows. Or everyone 😳.

The thingy screws onto the wall and has little legs that stick out, and you wind the blind cable around to stock it flapping about when the windows open. Thingies can be made of plastic or metal. Maybe other things too.

Please help, or I’ll have to go into the iron mongers and do actions or diagrams.

Ridiculousanx · 22/12/2019 15:00

@unitedroad is it a cleat?

Starisnotanumber · 22/12/2019 15:03

With reference to the thingy I take a photo on phone of said thingy. It works unless the shop assistant asks what size it is then your stumped but at least they say what your looking for.

Starisnotanumber · 22/12/2019 15:06

About my question about dawn times I've just looked on bbc website dawn in Manchester is 8.26 today and 8. 25 in 14 days but sunset goes from 15.53 to 16.04 in 2 weeks. I don't understand why it changes at night and not in morning

beanaseireann · 22/12/2019 15:23

When driving in icy weather it's suggested to drive in a low gear - is that No.1 or 2 ?

WeeDangerousSpike · 22/12/2019 15:49

No, on ice or snow you should be driving in a high gear but at a low speed. A low gear means the car finds it easier to turn the wheels, so they move faster and the tyres spin.

Eyeliner - forget the brush that comes with it, use a really thin artist's brush with soft bristles that make a nice fine point. The applicator brush thingies are all too hard and don't glide, they drag your eyelid instead. No idea why they make them like that. You might need to chop some of the handle off the artists brush so you can get nice and close to the mirror.

UnitedRoad · 22/12/2019 15:51

@Ridiculousanx

Yes!! That’s exactly what I’m looking for. Thank you so much. I thought I’d know the word when I heard it, but I didn’t.

halocompanach · 22/12/2019 16:37

Low gears are 1/2 and high gears are 4/5, that's why they talk about changing up and changing down.

My stupid question is why does tea stop brewing when you add the milk? Even if you squeeze the tea bag the tea still stays the same colour. I wondered if it was due to the temperature but tea still brews if the kettle hasn't been boiled properly because I was too impatient to wait for it to finish

I can answer the dawn/dusk one. It's because the orbit isn't a circle and the angle the Earth is at so it's not evenly balanced so dusk gets later more than dawn gets earlier.

beanaseireann · 22/12/2019 17:34

So I should drive on gear 4, 5, or 6 but slowly on icy roads ? Just to clarify ?

SantaBeckett · 22/12/2019 20:03

I am not sure about this but I think it is because our eyes adapt to it getting lighter much easier than they do it getting darker . So as it gets a little lighter you tend not to notice ( from day to day , not hour to hour ) but because we struggle to see in the dark / dusk it is more noticeable.

or i may be talking complete balderdash

DadDadDad · 22/12/2019 20:44

Dawn and dusk times have nothing to do with our eyes, they are physical events of the sun passing across the horizon. To explain @Starisnotanumber ‘s observation about Manchester we have to consider the geometry of the Earth’s rotation around its axis, the angle of the axis to the Sun, and the Earth’s movement around the Sun. Probably need a few diagrams...

WeeDangerousSpike · 22/12/2019 21:29

@beanaseireann yes.

Pick a speed you're comfortable with for the conditions, and do it in the highest gear (largest number) you can without stalling it. So that might be 3rd if you're going 10mph. Or 6th if you're doing 40.

Unless you're going downhill, then you want to be in a low gear (smallest number). Because this also keeps your speed low.

It's important to do everything gently, no hard braking, steering, sudden movements. If it's slippy it all gets magnified and you end up in a right mess.

And pull away in 2nd gear rather than 1st. Again, it helps you grip.

MillicentMartha · 23/12/2019 00:25

For dusk and dawn times, at the bottom of the curve the times for dusk (or dawn) don’t vary much day to day, but as you progress along the sine curve the rate of change speeds up. However the sine curve for dawn times isn’t exactly in sync with the the one for dusk so the point in time that the dawn times are latest and not varying much doesn’t line up exactly with the point in time that dusk times are earliest and don’t vary much.

DustyWindows · 23/12/2019 00:45

What do these [.......] mean in a sentence...

Usually someone’s name in the [...]

Graphista · 23/12/2019 01:41

“I can't post a question because they come to me when I'm in bed or in the shower.” I’m similar ideas come to me when I’m busy with something I recently got a dot and now I can tell Alexa! Then she reminds me later and I can then add to phone or google or whatever.

“Why are pregnant women told to avoid eg cured meats when the chances of catching listeria are absolutely minuscule? Why are women told different things in different countries?” Risk assessments on this stuff relate to prevalence of those bugs in the country where the food is being consumed and likely has been bought/produced/imported according to that countries regulations. Different countries have different food hygiene rules based on the risks per country - put VERY simply

“How do you put on liquid eyeliner and keep it in a straight, even line - is there a trick to this? I always look like I've applied it when I'm pissed....”
I’d like to know this one as each eye ends up with well applied but different eyeliner when I do it - dd however does it perfectly but cannot explain why. Eg often i’ll end up with one thick and winged and the other thin and unwinged no matter what I do. If I try and correct it ends up a right mess!

“What does it mean when a shop is for sale as a "going concern"? It sounds like it's bad, but I don't think it is?” It means (vaguely trying to recall my accountancy lessons) that it’s not just the physical assets being sold but the business, kind of including the customers/clients as a viable continuing business. Again VERY simply put.

Re surgeons and sustenance/pee breaks - they can and do scrub out to take a break but generally speaking they build up a tolerance for being able to go long periods without food, water or loo breaks, plus plan accordingly ahead of time eg having fruit juice just before heading into surgery - as do many non surgical staff out of necessity. I can hold it for up to 36 hours at a push and it’s a long time since I needed to. And yes also nurses and other theatre support staff can also help out.

8 hours is nothing!

“and he said it was egg mayo. I don't know if he said that just to shut me up.” Sorry but yes that’s pretty likely 😂 bless you for thinking of him though.

“How do I stop my top 6 notes from disappearing into an undignified squeak when I sing in public?” Either sing in the right key for your voice - this sounds like you’re starting in a key one higher than your voice is - or train your voice to sing in the higher key.

“You can put potato waffles in the toaster? Really? I had no idea” you can heat up/cook loads in the toaster! Waffles, potato scones, hash browns, pasties, square sausage, toasties (using toastie bags - these can also be used for beans, mushy peas, tinned sweet corn, creamed mushroom, tinned spaghetti, even scrambled eggs!)

“Nrtft yet but why do toaster companies not make toaster that hold the whole piece of bread in or why to bread makers not make a toast shape that doesn't have a bit poking out of the top?
(Or am I buying the wrong size toaster!)” you can buy bread designed to fit in conventional toasters but I agree I think toasters should be made to fit traditional bread proportions.

I also think eye level grills should make a come back so I can make proper cheese on toast again.

“Do maps look the same around the world? Or do Australian people’s maps show Australia in the centre rather than to the extreme right like U.K. maps do?”
Most maps are London centric for obvious historical/political reasons BUT there are loads (and you can view them online but it can be a head fuck!) with other countries centred, with the “Southern” Hemisphere placed at the top and (this will REALLY blow your mind it did mine) ones with all the countries/land etc to correct scale (bet you didn’t know they usually weren’t eh?) you’ll be amazed at how vast the continent of Africa really is and how utterly minuscule the Uk really is.

“When you fart, which meal does it stink of? What you just ate, or from that morning?”
Gastric not my field of expertise BUT I do know we digest different types of food and different elements of each food at different rates so each fart won’t be specific to one meal but to the foods that finished being digested at the same time - hope that makes sense

“the water goes to Scotland, keeps us from getting cocky about anything more than a two week summer.” I’m on the west coast we definitely get more than our fair share of rain! 2 dry weeks is usually a bloody miracle though we had several last year - which we didn’t cope well with at all! 😂

“why does she see black when she has a green scarf tied over her eyes?” Because to see colour you need light hitting the pertinent part of the eye.

“Am I imagining it completely or did you use to have to buy the Radio Times AND the TV Times at Christmas because the BBC wouldn't include ITV ?” You’re not imagining it I well remember this being the case that the bbc were only allowed to publish bbc programming and independent companies weren’t allowed to publish bbc info. I also remember the EXPLOSION of tv magazines when whatever rule created that situation was abolished - I think early 90’s?

Cold War - less about USA invading ussr and more the fear that ussr would invade USA.

Graphista · 23/12/2019 01:44

Oops forgot own question - asked several times on mn but never really got answer/s

I'd like to get into podcasts and audiobooks but I worry about unexpected charges (not so stupid part of question stupid part coming up) I'd likely listen to them as I fall asleep but would then next eve like to "rewind" to roughly where I remember getting "up to" any tips for managing this?

So how do I know they're free?

How do I rewind to last bit I was conscious of?

Cantbloodysleep · 23/12/2019 02:09

How do I rewind to last bit I was conscious of?
I don't have an answer to this but it really bothers me. I settle for using a sleep timer and having to add to it several times when awake but means when i do eventually fall sleep it's reasonably easy to find roughly where I need to pick up the next night.

Graphista · 23/12/2019 02:58

How does that work with the podcast/audiobooks own app do they come with sleep timers?

I've not used one for years used to have one on the telly I had then. Takes me a good hour to fall asleep at least but I can lose concentration before actually being asleep but I can see this could give a rough point to work from

JamieVardysHavingAParty · 23/12/2019 03:11

DustyWindows

What do these [.......] mean in a sentence...

Usually someone’s name in the [...]

Usually it's a way of making the subject of a quote clear, when you are directly quoting a small sentence talking about he/she/it, without the surrounding context of the conversation that make it clear what the he/she/it actually was .

For example, this is an extract from the wikipedia article about Prince Louis, son of William and Kate.

"Louis is from birth a prince of the United Kingdom, entitled to the style of Royal Highness under letters patent issued by his great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II on 31 December 2012, which gave the title and style to all children of the Prince of Wales's eldest son.[12] He is thus styled "His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge".[7]" Prince Louis is fifth in the line of succession to the British throne, behind his grandfather, father and older siblings, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.[2] Following the implementation of the Perth Agreement, which replaced male-preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture, he is the first British prince to be ranked behind an elder sister in the line of succession.

If I just quoted the final part of that, for whatever reason, like so, he is the first British prince to be ranked behind an elder sister in the line of succession, it wouldn't be clear who the frick "he" was. So it's convention to substitute the name in square brackets, like so:

[Louis] is the first British prince to be ranked behind an elder sister in the line of succession.

longwayoff · 23/12/2019 06:56

I heard a great one on the radio last week. How much does the Earth weigh? And does it weigh more than it used to because we've got all the buildings everywhere that we didn't have before? Xmas Smile

Cantbloodysleep · 23/12/2019 06:57

I use Audible and it has a sleep timer. I pay a subscription but stop it when I have books backed up. Its £7.99 a month for one book so not cheap but there are often really cheap books. Eg, daily deal today at 99p is an Agatha Christie book narrated by Richard E Grant. You can stop and start the subscription at any time and listen to books in your store.

halocompanach · 23/12/2019 06:58

5.972 × 10^24 kg

Otherwise known as a 'very very big number'

halocompanach · 23/12/2019 07:01

My stupid question is why does tea stop brewing when you add the milk? Even if you squeeze the tea bag the tea still stays the same colour. I wondered if it was due to the temperature but tea still brews if the kettle hasn't been boiled properly because I was too impatient to wait for it to finish

msmith501 · 23/12/2019 07:26

@halocompanach I think it is because the fat in the milk blocks the pores of the teabag and so the tea more or less stays the same colour afterwards.

beanaseireann · 23/12/2019 08:25

Thank you WeeDangerousSpike

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