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

[Piratelvr1121]

You and me both, Traska.  I haven't had them in oh, about 17 months?  Yep, that's right, as we had them on Labor Day of 2011 and the babe was born in early November of that year.   

I will ask though when we go again, to be on the safe side.  Since we're going from Mother's Day to the following Thursday it will be in early May and I think that's when the season starts so I don't know how the crabs will be at that time of the year.  Plus DH won't be with us so he'll miss out.  Course Evil pirate figures it would be just rewards for the times he's had steamed crabs without me when his former job would treat them during conferences.

[Diane AKA Traska]

Because of finances (and broken pinky), I had to postpone my birthday dinner for a month or so... I think I'll make crabs.

Yes, I make my own birthday dinner.  But it's more of a "have something I never get to have" thing, because M can't cook. 

Of course, there's always seafood houses...

[jpcher]

New stupid question . . . RE: Internet signals.

I have a lap-top and my favorite place to use the internet is on my enclosed porch. The router/modem/whatever is in my basement.

I would say that 95% of the time my lap-top internet usage is zooomin. Works like a charm.

Then there are the times when I'm in my usual place, and internet access is so very slow, even though it still shows 3-4 bars on the internet icon. (It can take up to 5 minutes to call up an internet site.)

If I bring my laptop inside (maybe a difference of 7 feet) I can sign onto whatever site, then bring my laptop back outside and internet is, again, zooming. I can browse different sites with great speed.


Stupid question . . . why does this happen?

[Dindrane]

jpcher, I'm not sure why that happens (although I notice that sometimes my internet will just randomly struggle to open specific sites and then be fine if I refresh the page). One thing I do know, though, is that the little bars symbol generally refers to your connection with the wireless router. If your connection to the router is good, your internet will be faster than if your connection to the router is weak, but the speed of the internet itself would not be affected by that.

[Elfmama]

Is your wireless network properly secure?  Or could your neighbors be helping themselves to your bandwidth?

[hobish]

This is my stupid question and i wouldn't be able to ask this anywhere else. I work with a black guy in his mid 20's or who has a widow's peak kind of thing going on with his hair. In between the hair on the side of his head and the hair on his forehead is skin that is black - not African American black, not caramel, not brown, just black. It isn't a birthmark, the line is too straight. What is that?

[Dazi]

This is my stupid question and i wouldn't be able to ask this anywhere else. I work with a black guy in his mid 20's or who has a widow's peak kind of thing going on with his hair. In between the hair on the side of his head and the hair on his forehead is skin that is black - not African American black, not caramel, not brown, just black. It isn't a birthmark, the line is too straight. What is that?

As a girl....my first thoughts are...

Hair dye line? or little messy with using Grecian Formula?

[Anniissa]

Just a word to say that some lowcost airlines only let you have one carry-on, no purse/backpack if you already have something else. It's always a good idea to check the airline site for this kind of info.

And some airports have the same restrictions, regardless of the airline. Heathrow was still one item only, with no exceptions, at Christmas time. So you need to check both ends.

It may just have been a Christmas thing to shorten queues but usually there is no longer a specific restriction at Heathrow to limit you to one item but it is dependent on which airline. British Airways have certainly been allowing more than one item for at least the last year as I have flown multiple times with more than one bag without any issues. It may also differ within the same airline as I know BA have different allowances for different cabins/exec club membership etc. Still as you never know when things might change, it's probably worth being prepared to limit yourself to putting everything in one carry on.

[Thipu1]

It's good to know about the carry-on restrictions.  We each have a roll-aboard for the overhead bins or to be gate checked if necessary.  Mr. Thipu usually has a camera bag and I use a tote bag as my purse.  If we're limited to the roll-aboard bags, there'll be a problem with carrying reading matter. 

[WillyNilly]

This is my stupid question and i wouldn't be able to ask this anywhere else. I work with a black guy in his mid 20's or who has a widow's peak kind of thing going on with his hair. In between the hair on the side of his head and the hair on his forehead is skin that is black - not African American black, not caramel, not brown, just black. It isn't a birthmark, the line is too straight. What is that?

Scalp tattoo?  Maybe he used to shave his head, got it tattooed, and now that he grows hair you can only see part of it?

[jpcher]

Is your wireless network properly secure?  Or could your neighbors be helping themselves to your bandwidth?

I certainly hope it's secured. I do have it passworded.

If the problem was with the bandwidth, wouldn't it be the same slowness no matter where I had the laptop?

This is my stupid question and i wouldn't be able to ask this anywhere else. I work with a black guy in his mid 20's or who has a widow's peak kind of thing going on with his hair. In between the hair on the side of his head and the hair on his forehead is skin that is black - not African American black, not caramel, not brown, just black. It isn't a birthmark, the line is too straight. What is that?

As a girl....my first thoughts are...

Hair dye line? or little messy with using Grecian Formula?

This was my first thought, too.

[Slartibartfast]

Is your wireless network properly secure?  Or could your neighbors be helping themselves to your bandwidth?

I certainly hope it's secured. I do have it passworded.

If the problem was with the bandwidth, wouldn't it be the same slowness no matter where I had the laptop?

I have had the same problem and I know for sure there's no neighbor issues - sometimes moving the iPad two feet to the left makes all the difference and I don't know why.

[kherbert05]

You and me both, Traska.  I haven't had them in oh, about 17 months?  Yep, that's right, as we had them on Labor Day of 2011 and the babe was born in early November of that year.   

I will ask though when we go again, to be on the safe side.  Since we're going from Mother's Day to the following Thursday it will be in early May and I think that's when the season starts so I don't know how the crabs will be at that time of the year.  Plus DH won't be with us so he'll miss out.  Course Evil pirate figures it would be just rewards for the times he's had steamed crabs without me when his former job would treat them during conferences.

You might ask if you can get a "set up" for the toddler for a nominal fee. When we were little Mom and Dad would order their food and a "set up" for us - basically an empty plate and we would get some of their food. A little older they would order us 1 adult plate and a set up and split the food between us. That didn't work very long - because sis is more adventurous food wise than I am. (She ordered 1/2 dozen oysters on the half shell don't forget the horseradish at age 3 or 4 and ended up with a circle of adults from other tables watching her down them.)

[VorFemme]

New stupid question . . . RE: Internet signals.

I have a lap-top and my favorite place to use the internet is on my enclosed porch. The router/modem/whatever is in my basement.

I would say that 95% of the time my lap-top internet usage is zooomin. Works like a charm.

Then there are the times when I'm in my usual place, and internet access is so very slow, even though it still shows 3-4 bars on the internet icon. (It can take up to 5 minutes to call up an internet site.)

If I bring my laptop inside (maybe a difference of 7 feet) I can sign onto whatever site, then bring my laptop back outside and internet is, again, zooming. I can browse different sites with great speed.


Stupid question . . . why does this happen?

Three options - someone is piggybacking on your signal, slowdown is the internet signal to the neighborhood (cable or satellite) due to more people being home (cable) or weather, or - you're sitting in an area with more "stuff" between you & the router - move over a bit.  Or put a signal booster just inside the house by the porch. 

Kim Komando has instructions on how to do it with an empty soda can on her website......

[Tea Drinker]

Wireless means radio/electromagnetic signals. All sorts of devices put out signals that can interfere with that. Not just things that are supposed to be signaling, like a portable phone handset or a cell phone. If there's imperfectly insulated wiring in the wall, that could be creating interference. The amount might vary depending on how much current is flowing; if what's plugged in is a light or television that's only on part of the time (rather than, say, an electric clock), you'll have an intermittent problem.