The "This Might Be A Stupid Question, But...." Thread

[Baxter]

How many bath towels should a family of 4 own? 

[DottyG]

What does "stupid is as stupid does" mean?

It means that stupidity is demonstrated by stupid acts. If you act stupid, people will think you're stupid.

It also meant a heck of a lot of money for Tom Hanks by saying it!

[Slartibartfast]

Corset design also changed during the Victorian period - up until then, the corset really only came down as far as the ribcage.  It wasn't until bustles came into fashion (and steel became available) that corsets starting being an "arrow" shape, covering the entire stomach and hip area.  They just didn't have the construction materials to make them like that before the 1850's (1860's?).  So a pregnant woman could wear a corset several months into the pregnancy without too much trouble, as long as she didn't lace it as tightly.

As for quotes: if you want to quote someone directly, type [quote]Whatever they said[/quote].  If you want to include their name, do it as [quote="TheirName"]Whatever they said[/quote] and it will come out as

Whatever they said

My dumb question: you know that little tab on your rear view mirror?  The one in the middle on the bottom?  (Picture to refresh your memory.)  You know how at night, you can flip that little tab thingy and it makes the headlights in your rear view mirror be not as bright?  How does it do that?  I assume it's something about having a double mirror inside, or something, so you're changing the angle - but I've never had the opportunity to take apart a rear-vew mirror to look.  And now DH's car has one without the little tab, and I don't know if it's supposed to do something automatically, or if he's just supposed to deal with some idiot with his brights on behind him . . .

[Brentwood]

How many bath towels should a family of 4 own? 

Minimum 2 per person. For less frequent laundry, I'd try to own 4 per person, more if storage space isn't a consideration.

[hkkatie]

How many bath towels should a family of 4 own? 

Minimum 2 per person. For less frequent laundry, I'd try to own 4 per person, more if storage space isn't a consideration.

Agreed. It's always good to have a few spares around. Also, if you are washing them frequently, might be better to have more to rotate through so they don't get worn out too quickly.


How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop??? Have any of you actually done it?

[Iris]

How many bath towels should a family of 4 own? 

Eight million. But I'm just going by the rate DD1&2 use them up.

My dumb question: you know that little tab on your rear view mirror?  The one in the middle on the bottom? You know how at night, you can flip that little tab thingy and it makes the headlights in your rear view mirror be not as bright?  How does it do that?

I always assumed that the ceiling of the car was reflective enough to reflect the headlights enough to make the lights visible when you pointed the mirror up. A double mirror never occurred to me, although it makes much more sense. Now I want to know too!

[StarDrifter]

How many bath towels should a family of 4 own? 

Eight million. But I'm just going by the rate DD1&2 use them up.

My dumb question: you know that little tab on your rear view mirror?  The one in the middle on the bottom? You know how at night, you can flip that little tab thingy and it makes the headlights in your rear view mirror be not as bright?  How does it do that?

I always assumed that the ceiling of the car was reflective enough to reflect the headlights enough to make the lights visible when you pointed the mirror up. A double mirror never occurred to me, although it makes much more sense. Now I want to know too!

I asked my Dad (a mechanic). The rearview mirror is double glazed and polarized. This means when you flip it up it's a second layer of glass and polarization will make the bright lights less bright.

[StarFaerie]

My dumb question: you know that little tab on your rear view mirror?  The one in the middle on the bottom?  (Picture to refresh your memory.)  You know how at night, you can flip that little tab thingy and it makes the headlights in your rear view mirror be not as bright?  How does it do that?  I assume it's something about having a double mirror inside, or something, so you're changing the angle - but I've never had the opportunity to take apart a rear-vew mirror to look.  And now DH's car has one without the little tab, and I don't know if it's supposed to do something automatically, or if he's just supposed to deal with some idiot with his brights on behind him . . .

I asked my Dad (a mechanic). The rearview mirror is double glazed and polarized. This means when you flip it up it's a second layer of glass and polarization will make the bright lights less bright.

Yep and you don't have a problem with the reflection from the front mirror because it's just reflecting the dark car roof.

New mirrors have an electrochromic layer at the front which darkens when electricity is passed through it and they have a light sensor which detects the brightness and tells the computer to dim the mirror.

[DottyG]

Ok, to expand on the rearview mirror thing, so it doesn't reflect back to the car behind you thereby letting them know they need to turn their brights off? Maybe that was always just wishful thinking on my part. But, I kinda wondered if they could tell that I'd had to "mute" their lights.

[MariaE]

Continuing the 'rag' questions - what is the 'belt' Margaret uses in "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret"? I'm probably showing my age here, but that's the only place I've ever heard of it.

[marcel]

Why do most people use cold water to brush their teeth?  In other things (our bodies, laundry, dishes, etc.) we use warm or hot water to get things cleaner.  Why don't most people use warm or hot water when cleaning their teeth too?  Is toothpaste formulated to work better with cold water?

I do not brush my teeth with water, I brush my teeth with toothpaste.
I only use water to rinse my toothbrush in advance, and I rinse my mouth and toothbrush afterwards with water, but that is different from other cleaning activities where I actually use the water during cleaning.

[HappilyInsane]

Continuing the 'rag' questions - what is the 'belt' Margaret uses in "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret"? I'm probably showing my age here, but that's the only place I've ever heard of it.

Before the days of the pads with adhesive on the bottom to hold them to your underwear, you had to use a "belt". Basically it was similar to a garter belt except it had the strings in the middle instead of on the sides. The pads had a tail on the front and back that went through a loop on the string to hold them in place.

Example here (NSFW) http://www.mum.org/insideMUM1.htm

(Who knew there was a "Museum of Menstruation?)

[MariaE]

Ah! I should have guessed. Thanks.

... and somehow it doesn't come as a surprise to me that there is such a museum

[ClaireC79]

The letter referred to my due date as "EDC" - "Expected Date of Confinement."

My now 8 year old was born at home and had a renal abnormality (diagnosed prenatally) her paedatric notes have HOME CONFINEMENT in bold letters on the front (because obviously it's the place of birth that means she only has one kidney, I must have lost it down the sofa or something

[StarFaerie]

Ok, to expand on the rearview mirror thing, so it doesn't reflect back to the car behind you thereby letting them know they need to turn their brights off? Maybe that was always just wishful thinking on my part. But, I kinda wondered if they could tell that I'd had to "mute" their lights.

Unfortunately no. That would not be safe, or really possible.