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

[Virg]

WillyNilly wrote:

"The blue and green and gold and other colors are the result of light reflections due to the structure of your eye, like the way the sky looks blue even though there is no actual blue color pigmentation anywhere in the upper atmosphere."

As a side note, this is called Rayleigh scattering in case anyone wants to blow some time on Wiki.

Virg

[jpcher]

Carotte, could you get one of those coathooks that hang over a door?  That way you can simply hook it over the top of the door, and remove later if needed - no marks.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/1/3/over-the-door-coat-rack

That's a good idea. I have several in my clothes closets and one in the bathroom (for towels)


Or a coat tree:

http://www.target.com/p/coat-rack-mahogany/-/A-10390983?ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001&AFID=Google_PLA_df&LNM=|10390983&CPNG=Furniture&kpid=10390983&LID=PA&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=10390983

[kherbert05]

Is today a public holiday in the US/Canada or Australia?

Many schools have Easter Monday off because school admin know people are traveling. Boy am I hearing griping about Texas not having today off. TEA scheduled STAAR tests for this week. 4th, 5th, 7th, and 8th have STAAR tomorrow. HS students may have had tests scheduled today.

[Slartibartfast]

Is today a public holiday in the US/Canada or Australia?

Many schools have Easter Monday off because school admin know people are traveling. Boy am I hearing griping about Texas not having today off. TEA scheduled STAAR tests for this week. 4th, 5th, 7th, and 8th have STAAR tomorrow. HS students may have had tests scheduled today.

I grew up getting Good Friday and Easter Monday off.  Where I live now, we get neither (despite it being the Bible Belt) but people would riot if we had to work on Martin Luther King day - where I grew up, MLK day was just a bank holiday.  So it really varies by region.

[Outdoor Girl]

Good Friday is a STAT here.  Very few places are open on Easter Sunday, either.  Grocery stores are always crazy on Easter Saturday!

Easter Monday isn't a STAT.  Some of us, like government, schools and bank workers do get it off but most retail locations are open.

[jpcher]

We never got the Monday after Easter off. I've never heard of this.

We use to get Good Friday off, but since it's considered a religious holiday that stopped quite a while ago.

[stitchygreyanonymouse]

Do you order new checks right after you move, or do you just keep using the old ones until you run out and have to reorder? Do the banks require you to reorder immediately to have the new address on them?

I have a whole box, and just finished the first book after two years… I really don’t want to have to pay for new ones, but at that rate of use I may very well pay off the new(ish) house first!

[Elfmama]

I always kept using the old ones.  Line through the old address and write in the new one.  The bank doesn't care what's on your checks, only what address they need to have for statements and bills and such.

And if you use online check places, they're a LOT cheaper than buying checks from your bank.  Never had any problem, and I've used several different vendors. Google "ordering checks online."

[amandaelizabeth]

Kiwi here.  Good Friday was  a public holiday as was Easter Monday.. On both friday and sunday no shops garden centres etc were open, and to eat out over the emtire weekend there is often a surcharge.  Today, Tuesday, is a school holiday so many people have taken today off as well. 

[DaisyG]

And if you use online check places, they're a LOT cheaper than buying checks from your bank.  Never had any problem, and I've used several different vendors. Google "ordering checks online."

I guess this is a difference between the USA and the UK but why do you buy checks from the bank? My bank sends me a book of blank cheques (if I need it) for nothing and then money is taken from my account when someone else presents the cheque to their bank. Is this different in the US? (Although it's quite a while since I've used a cheque).

[Mental Magpie]

And if you use online check places, they're a LOT cheaper than buying checks from your bank.  Never had any problem, and I've used several different vendors. Google "ordering checks online."

I guess this is a difference between the USA and the UK but why do you buy checks from the bank? My bank sends me a book of blank cheques (if I need it) for nothing and then money is taken from my account when someone else presents the cheque to their bank. Is this different in the US? (Although it's quite a while since I've used a cheque).

It's the same, you're just forgetting the step where your bank has to verify that check really is from your account before they give the other bank money.


I will caution, however, that some stores will not take checks where the address on the check is a) handwritten or b) doesn't match the address on the person's ID.

[lady_disdain]

MM, then why do people talk about buying blank checks? I am confused.

I dislike the idea of using checks that did not come from my bank. That must make it harder to check that it is an authentic check, with their safety features.

[Luci]

We get our checks free with our account, but they are not fancy or cute, and we get no interest on the money in the account as some checking accounts do. Since interest is so low for the past few years, it is cost effective to do it this way.

In the 1950s, my parents had to pay 10˘ a check for each one they wrote. Until 10 years ago, I bought the blank checks but didn't have to pay for using them. Now, it is as above.

We have a Money Market account that pays interest, I think all of 1.5 % now, and I can write up to 3 checks a month on it, but we rarely do that. The first 50 were free, so I don't know if we have to pay for those.

(All of this is in Illinois.)

[Thipu1]

We buy checks from our bank and they don't cost much at all.  We write about four checks a month so a box of 500 lasts us a long, long time.  The last time we bought checks the big box cost about 10 USD.  Also, a fee isn't charged for individual checks. 

[Carotte]

MM, then why do people talk about buying blank checks? I am confused.

I dislike the idea of using checks that did not come from my bank. That must make it harder to check that it is an authentic check, with their safety features.

I don't know about other countries but the fact that here you can write a check on any piece of paper, provided there's all the right info on it, makes me think the only safety features are "having the right numbers" and your signature.
Sure a check from your bank will go faster and smoothly.