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

[Virg]

squeakers wrote:

"Under 32 degrees liquids freeze. Diet soda is very similar to water so will freeze near the same temp (30-32 degrees).. regular soda can stand temps a bit chillier but at 16 degrees will probably freeze too."

There are two things at work here that can change the situation.  Firstly, an enclosed garage that has contact with a house will generally not drop to the ambient outside temperature unless the door is open, so in 16 degree weather the interior of the garage is not likely to be nearly that cold.  Also, if you'll pardon the pun there are degrees of freezing to consider.  Soda in a can has to freeze hard, crystallizing all the way through to expend enough to deform the can or damage it.  Very near its freezing temperature, soda (even diet soda) tends to be slushy because it doesn't freeze uniformly until it's well below its base freezing temperature.  So given these two things, I wouldn't be concerned that soda in the car would freeze hard enough to burst.

Betelnut, the ultimate easy test for you is to go into your garage sometime when the weather is well below freezing.  If you can't see your breath, or if you don't have to scrape your windows when your car is in the garage, it's not likely that the inside temperature is below freezing.

Virg

[jpcher]

Betelnut, the ultimate easy test for you is to go into your garage sometime when the weather is well below freezing.  If you can't see your breath, or if you don't have to scrape your windows when your car is in the garage, it's not likely that the inside temperature is below freezing.

Virg

Or how about this for a test . . . leave one or two cans in the trunk, put the cans in a zip-lock for just in case. See what happens.

[Outdoor Girl]

I've known forest firefighters who do anything and everything when the weather isn't conducive to fires.  One guy I know told me that he and his crew planted the town's flower boxes one spring when they started the season and there was little to no chance they'd get called out.  They didn't mind; it was better than sitting around.

A coworker's husband works forest fire crew.  He hates being on 'Red Alert' because it means they have to be at the base 24/7, can't go anywhere or even do a whole lot.  Playing cards gets old fast.

Taking away the soap opera aspects of everyone sleeping with everyone else  , I would think 'Chicago Fire' is reasonably accurate - they sit around, watching the game on TV, cooking, talking, going through the gear, etc., and drop everything when the bell rings.

[Mental Magpie]

I've known forest firefighters who do anything and everything when the weather isn't conducive to fires.  One guy I know told me that he and his crew planted the town's flower boxes one spring when they started the season and there was little to no chance they'd get called out.  They didn't mind; it was better than sitting around.

A coworker's husband works forest fire crew.  He hates being on 'Red Alert' because it means they have to be at the base 24/7, can't go anywhere or even do a whole lot.  Playing cards gets old fast.

Taking away the soap opera aspects of everyone sleeping with everyone else  , I would think 'Chicago Fire' is reasonably accurate - they sit around, watching the game on TV, cooking, talking, going through the gear, etc., and drop everything when the bell rings.

I kind of suspect it is like my job in the sense that we are trained for what may happen, not necessarily what happens every day.  In the mean time, we do other aspects of the job and maintain/account for equipment.

[Betelnut]

squeakers wrote:

"Under 32 degrees liquids freeze. Diet soda is very similar to water so will freeze near the same temp (30-32 degrees).. regular soda can stand temps a bit chillier but at 16 degrees will probably freeze too."

There are two things at work here that can change the situation.  Firstly, an enclosed garage that has contact with a house will generally not drop to the ambient outside temperature unless the door is open, so in 16 degree weather the interior of the garage is not likely to be nearly that cold.  Also, if you'll pardon the pun there are degrees of freezing to consider.  Soda in a can has to freeze hard, crystallizing all the way through to expend enough to deform the can or damage it.  Very near its freezing temperature, soda (even diet soda) tends to be slushy because it doesn't freeze uniformly until it's well below its base freezing temperature.  So given these two things, I wouldn't be concerned that soda in the car would freeze hard enough to burst.

Betelnut, the ultimate easy test for you is to go into your garage sometime when the weather is well below freezing.  If you can't see your breath, or if you don't have to scrape your windows when your car is in the garage, it's not likely that the inside temperature is below freezing.

Virg

Thanks Virg!  That's good advice.  I've never had to scrape my car but I've only lived in this house for 1 1/2 years and last winter in Maryland was mild, mild, mild.  I did end up taking the sodas inside but I suspect they would have been fine.

[snowfire]

  Recently, the neighbors cat ALSO figured out the doggy door, and not only harasses my cat and ears her foods, but also 'lays claim' to anything that's around.  So in the morning my cat now has the option of being in all day or being out all day...

You might try one of the pet doors with an electromagnetic latch.  Kitty wears a small magnet on her collar and that releases the latch on the door.  Non-magnet-wearing kitty (& stray wildlife) can't get in.  Or you can totally geek out and set up a computer controlled pet flap with a digital camera...There used to be a website about a guy who did that to keep out neighbors cats, possums, raccoons, and cats bearing "gifts".  Can't find it now, though.

[Mental Magpie]

  Recently, the neighbors cat ALSO figured out the doggy door, and not only harasses my cat and ears her foods, but also 'lays claim' to anything that's around.  So in the morning my cat now has the option of being in all day or being out all day...

You might try one of the pet doors with an electromagnetic latch.  Kitty wears a small magnet on her collar and that releases the latch on the door.  Non-magnet-wearing kitty (& stray wildlife) can't get in.  Or you can totally geek out and set up a computer controlled pet flap with a digital camera...There used to be a website about a guy who did that to keep out neighbors cats, possums, raccoons, and cats bearing "gifts".  Can't find it now, though.

Until said kitty gets in the sink and winds up taking one of your spoons outside...

[GreenHall]

  Recently, the neighbors cat ALSO figured out the doggy door, and not only harasses my cat and ears her foods, but also 'lays claim' to anything that's around.  So in the morning my cat now has the option of being in all day or being out all day...

You might try one of the pet doors with an electromagnetic latch.  Kitty wears a small magnet on her collar and that releases the latch on the door.  Non-magnet-wearing kitty (& stray wildlife) can't get in.  Or you can totally geek out and set up a computer controlled pet flap with a digital camera...There used to be a website about a guy who did that to keep out neighbors cats, possums, raccoons, and cats bearing "gifts".  Can't find it now, though.

r

...Ren worked out that the break away collar was easy to get off,  she tajes it off anytime I put it on (okay thats rare since the week she proved I can't make her keep it on). She is microchipped.  We found one of our old cats half hung with a non break away collar, so I won't do that.  Pet shop said they could sell me another/different break away collar, but she would still take it off, most likely...

[Diane AKA Traska]

  Recently, the neighbors cat ALSO figured out the doggy door, and not only harasses my cat and ears her foods, but also 'lays claim' to anything that's around.  So in the morning my cat now has the option of being in all day or being out all day...

You might try one of the pet doors with an electromagnetic latch.  Kitty wears a small magnet on her collar and that releases the latch on the door.  Non-magnet-wearing kitty (& stray wildlife) can't get in.  Or you can totally geek out and set up a computer controlled pet flap with a digital camera...There used to be a website about a guy who did that to keep out neighbors cats, possums, raccoons, and cats bearing "gifts".  Can't find it now, though.

r

...Ren worked out that the break away collar was easy to get off,  she tajes it off anytime I put it on (okay thats rare since the week she proved I can't make her keep it on). She is microchipped.  We found one of our old cats half hung with a non break away collar, so I won't do that.  Pet shop said they could sell me another/different break away collar, but she would still take it off, most likely...

I wonder if there isn't some way to make an electronic lock work with the chip...

[kherbert05]

How does one "shop" for a financial adviser?  I always thought I could save without help, but I could really use some help in figuring out how to budget things.  How can you tell a good one from a bad one?  What are important things for which to look?

I got mine on recommendation of our lawyer - after settling Mom's Estate. (Note our lawyer was Dad's childhood friend I grew up calling him Uncle, so I've known him over 40 years). I admit is the old neighborhood network. The adviser is the son of a man that Dad and lawyer grew up with.

Also he deferred to Sis and Me not BIL at our first meeting. He explained to Sis and BIL details about keeping Sis inheritance separate from their mutual money. (Basically Older Niece's Mom tried to come after the inheritance. The lunitic was convinced our parents were multi-millonaires because we grew up in Memorial. In a 1970's ranch house bought just before the area became the want to be River Oaks.)

His answers always matched things I knew to be correct. Also one of my cousins does a good deal of investing - I've run things by him and everything has always been up and up.

[JoW]

squeakers wrote:

"Under 32 degrees liquids freeze. Diet soda is very similar to water so will freeze near the same temp (30-32 degrees).. regular soda can stand temps a bit chillier but at 16 degrees will probably freeze too."

There are two things at work here that can change the situation.  Firstly, an enclosed garage that has contact with a house will generally not drop to the ambient outside temperature unless the door is open, so in 16 degree weather the interior of the garage is not likely to be nearly that cold.  Also, if you'll pardon the pun there are degrees of freezing to consider.  Soda in a can has to freeze hard, crystallizing all the way through to expend enough to deform the can or damage it.  Very near its freezing temperature, soda (even diet soda) tends to be slushy because it doesn't freeze uniformly until it's well below its base freezing temperature.  So given these two things, I wouldn't be concerned that soda in the car would freeze hard enough to burst.

Betelnut, the ultimate easy test for you is to go into your garage sometime when the weather is well below freezing.  If you can't see your breath, or if you don't have to scrape your windows when your car is in the garage, it's not likely that the inside temperature is below freezing.

Virg

Thanks Virg!  That's good advice.  I've never had to scrape my car but I've only lived in this house for 1 1/2 years and last winter in Maryland was mild, mild, mild.  I did end up taking the sodas inside but I suspect they would have been fine.

When the Coke in my garage froze and ruptured I didn't see my breath in the garage and I didn't have to scrape the ice off the windows of the car in the garage.  But I did store the Coke out there for over a week.

[afbluebelle]

I guess the main part that was the stupid question was the part of the base firefighters... The base is much smaller than a town, so I always figured they would have way more downtime.  Forgot about base housing nearby though, I guess that would add a fair amount extra calls.



Told you it was a stupid question 

[WillyNilly]

afbluebelle wrote:

"What do firefighters do? I mean, obviously they fight fires. But stuff isn't always on fire! And you can't train 24/7, can you?"

Most "firefighters" are really emergency response people, and they handle stuff that requires heavy equipment in most towns.  So, they not only respond to fires, they respond to other stuff like car or boating accidents, natural disasters like mudslides or flooding, non-fire emergencies like someone trapped in a drain/stuck on a roof/caught in a structure collapse and lots of other stuff of that nature.  That said, training does take up a reasonably large amount of their time because they're not just training to put out fires.  Learning how to cut a car open with the Jaws of Life takes time, for example.  Maintaining their equipment also takes up a lot of time.  They don't "wash the fire truck" every week just because they like it shiny, it's also to test all of the pumps and safety systems and make sure the truck runs and the hoses work and the gear is sorted and the oxygen tanks are filled and prepped and so on.  When they're not doing the job or training (or dealing with the upkeep of the job like paperwork or keeping the station), they do whatever they care to do while being ready to drop it all and respond to a call.

Virg

In a great many jurisdictions in Canada, Firefighters first respond to medical scenes to help the ambulance. Patients can be heavy, or require difficult extrications. Sometimes you just need an extra set of hands to do CPR or hold pressure on a wound. Sometimes it's for crowd control. They will sometimes also drive the ambulance for a crew, so that both medics can attend a patient/patients in the back. As there are always more fire crew than paramedics, they may also serve as "first on scene" to a call until an ambulance clears and responds- in my city they carry a heart monitor and oxygen, as well as some basic bandage and compress first aid supplies. They do not transport patients or administer any medications, but they can help with breathing, CPR and blood loss control until the medics arrive and take over.

In NYC firefighters are the ones who come if you get stuck in an elevator and call 911. They come for weird smells too. And they have ambulances they send out. But also during their station house time I know at least in part they work out - they need to be able to climb plenty of stairs and lift heavy things (wearing 60lbs of gear!) in order to do their jobs, so physically training is part of the job.

[Mental Magpie]

I guess the main part that was the stupid question was the part of the base firefighters... The base is much smaller than a town, so I always figured they would have way more downtime.  Forgot about base housing nearby though, I guess that would add a fair amount extra calls.



Told you it was a stupid question 

The Eagle (former Air Force) says as far as he knows, base firefighters were either running laps around the station, training, or washing the trucks.  That's all he ever saw them do, anyway.  Oh, and the automated fire alarms that were just false alarms.

[afbluebelle]

I see them when they come out for emergencies, and sometimes they sleep out near the Entry Control Point. Our usual flightline cop and the sleeper truck take turns scaring each other awake with their sirens.