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

[TootsNYC]

If I get my mom a Kindle for Christmas, do I need to buy the charger, or would her Apple charger work?  Charging from the computer is less likely for her than the wall.

I can't quite tell if it is just a USB charger, or if it has a proprietary connection, like everything else in the world! (Hmmm may need to go to things that drive you up a wall...)

It's a micro-USB charger, nothing proprietary. It will come with a cable to plug it into a computer, but you would need a wall adapter to plug it into the wall. The Kindle wall adapter on Amazon is ridiculous (something like $16?) but you can buy either a micro-USB charger or just a USB wall adapter on ebay for under $3.

My Kindle came with both the cable and the wall adapter. I use a Belkin surge suppressor with two USB ports that I use anyway.

Odd. Mine only came with the cable, and I thought that that was the norm.

They changed. Either over time, or by price point.

My first Kindle came with cable AND adapter. My second Kindle came with cable only.

[mechtilde]

I used to work with a woman who crocheted. She was left handed and I am right handed. I wanted to learn, so I sat directly across from her and mirrored what she did. Worked out perfectly.

That's really helpful- I was wondering how to teach my lefty son to knit!

[Louie_LI]

It's possible that you're more ambidextrous than you realize.  I think most people with a fully dominant side would have experiences like Slartibartfast described.

I can generally switch back and forth with anything that requires gross motor skills with relative ease.  I was a left handed child but my early teachers forced me to write right handed. My handwriting is pathetic, btw.  I have one child who is fully ambidextrous (he switches his writing hand when he gets tired, and it's impossible to tell what he wrote with what hand), one who's left handed, and one who's right handed. It really is interesting to watch them tackle new tasks.

That is really cool. Part of my job is taking minutes, and I would so love to be able to switch hands during the day! Oh, the envy!

[mmswm]

It's possible that you're more ambidextrous than you realize.  I think most people with a fully dominant side would have experiences like Slartibartfast described.

I can generally switch back and forth with anything that requires gross motor skills with relative ease.  I was a left handed child but my early teachers forced me to write right handed. My handwriting is pathetic, btw.  I have one child who is fully ambidextrous (he switches his writing hand when he gets tired, and it's impossible to tell what he wrote with what hand), one who's left handed, and one who's right handed. It really is interesting to watch them tackle new tasks.

That is really cool. Part of my job is taking minutes, and I would so love to be able to switch hands during the day! Oh, the envy!

I know!  I'm more than a little jealous of him in that regard.  It was sort of a process though.  When he was in Kindergarten he would work the left side of a page with his left hand and the right side with his right hand.  In 1st grade (the first time, he repeated 1st), his teacher made him choose a hand.  Since every other kid in the class was right handed, of course, he went with his right.  He still did everything else with both hands, but kept using his right for writing for a couple years.  Then two years ago he developed a large bone tumor that gradually locked up his right wrist.  He began using his left hand again.  The doctors told me they'd never be able to restore full range of motion in his right hand, so I encouraged the left-handedness, since he doesn't have any deformities in that hand/wrist. After about 6 months of trying again, his left hand writing is indecipherable from his right hand writing.

On a side note, he goes into surgery on Monday for the first of several procedures to attempt to remove the tumor and straighten out the radius (which is curved as a result of the tumor growing and pushing it outward).  We've moved to a different hospital, and this hand surgeon wants to use a different technique than his old hand surgeon, and she thinks we might be able to restore 80% of his range-of-motion, which double what the old surgeon was aiming for.

[Slartibartfast]

I have heard (and this is worth what you paid for it) that midline switching like that can be an early sign of dyslexia, mmswm.  Not that it necessarily applies in this case, of course, but it's worth looking into if you think that might be an issue later on.

[Dazi]

I have heard (and this is worth what you paid for it) that midline switching like that can be an early sign of dyslexia, mmswm.  Not that it necessarily applies in this case, of course, but it's worth looking into if you think that might be an issue later on.

I did the switching hands as a kid....actually I still do it.  If one hand starts hurting, I'll swap.  Or if space is cramped on one side and not the other, I will swap.  The best advantage is I can jot notes lefty and scroll my mouse righty at the same time...it's very efficient.     My hand writing is slightly better with my right, but not by much.  I usually eat lefty and can play most sports either handed, though I bowl and bat marginally better lefty.

FTR, I am very dyslexic.

[ladyknight1]

One of my DFIL's professors at Georgia Tech used both hands to write on the blackboard at the same time. Being ambidextrous, to that extent, is a marvelous thing!

mmswm, I am praying and hoping your son's procedure and recovery are quick and that he recovers all motion.

[mmswm]

I have heard (and this is worth what you paid for it) that midline switching like that can be an early sign of dyslexia, mmswm.  Not that it necessarily applies in this case, of course, but it's worth looking into if you think that might be an issue later on.

I am dyslexic, as is my father, so it is something I've kept an eye out for in my own kids.  So far, other than the switching at midline thing, he's not shown any signs of being dyslexic himself.  Of course, he's only 10, so I'm still watching, but hoping for the best.  The poor kid has enough going against him, I really hope not to add anything else.

Ladyknight, thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers.

[Doll Fiend]

I just have to ask this. Dad and I had a laugh talking about this.

Earlier this year, he got married in Second Life, a virtual online world. Next year, he will be marrying her in real life. He wanted to know if he was doing an etiquette blunder of having two weddings.

Sadly I was unable to attend the first wedding and I hope to make the second. They live several thousand miles from each other and plan on a Vegas wedding in the middle.

[Shoo]

I just have to ask this. Dad and I had a laugh talking about this.

Earlier this year, he got married in Second Life, a virtual online world. Next year, he will be marrying her in real life. He wanted to know if he was doing an etiquette blunder of having two weddings.

Sadly I was unable to attend the first wedding and I hope to make the second. They live several thousand miles from each other and plan on a Vegas wedding in the middle.

Virtual?  To me that means it's not real.  So he had a not real wedding in a not real world.  And he's wondering if his real wedding is not etiquettely correct?  Am I missing something here?

[RingTailedLemur]

I just have to ask this. Dad and I had a laugh talking about this.

Earlier this year, he got married in Second Life, a virtual online world. Next year, he will be marrying her in real life. He wanted to know if he was doing an etiquette blunder of having two weddings.

Sadly I was unable to attend the first wedding and I hope to make the second. They live several thousand miles from each other and plan on a Vegas wedding in the middle.

Virtual?  To me that means it's not real.  So he had a not real wedding in a not real world.  And he's wondering if his real wedding is not etiquettely correct?  Am I missing something here?

I think Doll Fiend's dad is just joking.

[Shoo]

I just have to ask this. Dad and I had a laugh talking about this.

Earlier this year, he got married in Second Life, a virtual online world. Next year, he will be marrying her in real life. He wanted to know if he was doing an etiquette blunder of having two weddings.

Sadly I was unable to attend the first wedding and I hope to make the second. They live several thousand miles from each other and plan on a Vegas wedding in the middle.

Virtual?  To me that means it's not real.  So he had a not real wedding in a not real world.  And he's wondering if his real wedding is not etiquettely correct?  Am I missing something here?

I think Doll Fiend's dad is just joking.

I would hope so, but Doll Fiend said she couldn't attend the "first wedding."  But there wasn't a first wedding.  It wasn't real life. 

Is this a joke or what?

[Mental Magpie]

I just have to ask this. Dad and I had a laugh talking about this.

Earlier this year, he got married in Second Life, a virtual online world. Next year, he will be marrying her in real life. He wanted to know if he was doing an etiquette blunder of having two weddings.

Sadly I was unable to attend the first wedding and I hope to make the second. They live several thousand miles from each other and plan on a Vegas wedding in the middle.

Virtual?  To me that means it's not real.  So he had a not real wedding in a not real world.  And he's wondering if his real wedding is not etiquettely correct?  Am I missing something here?

I think Doll Fiend's dad is just joking.

I would hope so, but Doll Fiend said she couldn't attend the "first wedding."  But there wasn't a first wedding.  It wasn't real life. 

Is this a joke or what?

Yes, it's a joke.  She couldn't attend the first wedding because it was online in a virtual game; that's part of the joke.

[mbbored]

Has anyone else ever gone to law (or grad) school and finally "hit the wall", so to speak, of feeling genuinely stupid? I get the material we're covering in class. I did well on my midterm, but legal writing is killing me. My professor probably thinks that I'm unteachable at this point. I've also heard that a lot of people start out their first year feeling this way, but right now I'm having to force myself through another memo that I'll be embarrassed to turn in. I feel like putting a disclaimer or attaching a copy of my LSAT score to try and prove that I am not as stupid as the words I've strung together on the page.

I went though the same thing at uni.  It's okay, it's certainly not uncommon and you will be just fine.  Just keep plodding along until you break through.

Is there any way an older student could guve you some extra tuition or something, to get your confidence up?

I'm a grad student and I feel like this on a daily basis. Speaking to my classmates and those from previous cohorts, everybody feels like this in some aspect. Some topics I understand in no time and generate quality work with little effort and others I feel like are in a different language. One of my weak points is writing and I broke down a science writing for dummies type book and it's been my saving grace: that and some heavy editing.

[Shoo]

I just have to ask this. Dad and I had a laugh talking about this.

Earlier this year, he got married in Second Life, a virtual online world. Next year, he will be marrying her in real life. He wanted to know if he was doing an etiquette blunder of having two weddings.

Sadly I was unable to attend the first wedding and I hope to make the second. They live several thousand miles from each other and plan on a Vegas wedding in the middle.

Virtual?  To me that means it's not real.  So he had a not real wedding in a not real world.  And he's wondering if his real wedding is not etiquettely correct?  Am I missing something here?

I think Doll Fiend's dad is just joking.

I would hope so, but Doll Fiend said she couldn't attend the "first wedding."  But there wasn't a first wedding.  It wasn't real life. 

Is this a joke or what?

Yes, it's a joke.  She couldn't attend the first wedding because it was online in a virtual game; that's part of the joke.

Okay, that's good.  Whew!    You never know sometimes!