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

[Pen^2]

new stupid question ...
I usually have owned dark cars, but I recently got a light colored one.  I seem to notice a lot of wasps buzzing around my new car.  Why?

Possibly, the colour of the car looks more like whatever the wasps have evolved to be attracted to, in their eyes (they don't see the exact same area of the EM spectrum as us). A giant juicy caterpillar or something. Your car might be absolutely fluorescent in UV for all anyone knows.

[Elfmama]

And here's one for the insulin dependent diabetics out there.  If your blood sugar is getting a little high, does insulin immediately make you feel better?

I ask because there are two animals in the family who are insulin dependent, my cat Willow and DD's Old Dog.  Now I figured that I'd have to pry Willow out from under the bed twice a day to give her the insulin, but it doesn't work that way.  About 15-20 minutes before she's due to get her shot, she comes and hollers at me.  Old Dog does the same thing, without the hollering.  He just lays his head on your knee and sighs. They stand quietly for the shots without attempting to run away or avoid the needle. It can't be because we feed them at the same time, because Willow ignores the food about half the time, and only licks  up a bit of gravy off her wet food the other half. 

So the only thing we can figure is that the animals know that the shot helps them.  How?  I would not have thought that it's a "magic bullet" type painkiller, but that since it's a systemic substance, it's absorbed gradually. 

[violinp]

Did First Class children on the Titanic (or any steamship, actually) eat off the same menu as their parents or even at the same time/table?  Except for a glance of one young girl in the Cameron movie, and some license with the 1953 movie, you see no children in the fancy dining room.  The menu has some pretty fancy things on it; I suppose if Filet Mignon Lili didn't float their boat (ha), there was always bread and vegetables.

My guess is that they stayed in the cabin and got their meals in there, so they wouldn't be a bother to the adults in their eyes.

[Thipu1]

Did First Class children on the Titanic (or any steamship, actually) eat off the same menu as their parents or even at the same time/table?  Except for a glance of one young girl in the Cameron movie, and some license with the 1953 movie, you see no children in the fancy dining room.  The menu has some pretty fancy things on it; I suppose if Filet Mignon Lili didn't float their boat (ha), there was always bread and vegetables.

My guess is that they stayed in the cabin and got their meals in there, so they wouldn't be a bother to the adults in their eyes.

There's a wonderful little poem about a child's experience on an Atlantic crossing That may explain a bit of this.

'When the porthole light goes dark and green because of the seas outside,
When the ship goes BUMP with a wiggle between
And the steward falls in rhe soup tureen
and the trunks begin to slide.

When Nanny falls to the ground in a heap
And Mama begs you to let her sleep,
And you haven't been bathed or fed or dressed,
You should know by now, if you haven't guessed.
You're at 50 north and at 40 west.'

At the time, First Class passengers often had much less contact with their children than is common today.  Children were mostly left in the care of Nannies or nurses and First Class cabins normally had attached cabins where children and their caretakers stayed.  The poem tells us that a young child's breakfast was normally eaten in the cabin. 

It might not have been true on the Titanic but slightly later ships had a separate dining room for children and their caretakers.  First Class menus were quite extensive but there was no special menu for children and the food they were served was chosen by their parents.  The reference in the poem to the steward 'falling in the soup tureen' indicated that children were served at table. 

Please remember that this was an era in which children were not expected to survive  on pizza, chicken nuggets or Mac&Cheese.  Little kids may have been helped at table by their caretakers but they were served food very similar to what their parents ate.  It was also expected that children would BEHAVE at table.  A good child might be rewarded by being allowed to have luncheon with her/his parents but that kid had better be GOOD! 

Also, food on these ships was not quite as fancy as we would like to believe.  Many of the First Class passengers were Britons and Americans who were meat and potato people. Fairly simple beef, pork or mutton dishes were the norm.  Children of the time would have no problem eating this sort of food. 

Oh, BTW, at the time, Mac&Cheese was called Macaroni a la Reine. 

 

[LadyJaneinMD]

And here's one for the insulin dependent diabetics out there.  If your blood sugar is getting a little high, does insulin immediately make you feel better?

I ask because there are two animals in the family who are insulin dependent, my cat Willow and DD's Old Dog.  Now I figured that I'd have to pry Willow out from under the bed twice a day to give her the insulin, but it doesn't work that way.  About 15-20 minutes before she's due to get her shot, she comes and hollers at me.  Old Dog does the same thing, without the hollering.  He just lays his head on your knee and sighs. They stand quietly for the shots without attempting to run away or avoid the needle. It can't be because we feed them at the same time, because Willow ignores the food about half the time, and only licks  up a bit of gravy off her wet food the other half. 

So the only thing we can figure is that the animals know that the shot helps them.  How?  I would not have thought that it's a "magic bullet" type painkiller, but that since it's a systemic substance, it's absorbed gradually.

Yes.  Short-acting insulin does make me feel better when my blood sugar is a little high. It's not immediate, but it does work that way. 
But that may not be your cat's problem.  He apparently has matched up the insulin shot with feeling better.   It's a good thing.  Enjoy it.
For what it's worth, insulin needles are so tiny and short that it really doesn't hurt at all.  I thought I'd hate it, but I don't.  Now I joke about 'shooting up' at times. 

[fountainof]

It can differ among congregations, but there's a Wikipedia page that covers a good chunk of it.

I read the Wiki link and it was very interesting.  So now I have my own stupid question.  If all the work things indicated are forbidden, what can one do?  How would a Sabbath day be generally spent?  I cannot imagine not doing at least a few things on the list everyday so I just cannot picture what one would do all day that wouldn't violate some of the restrictions as some things I think of as leisure, like gardening, are part of the restrictions.

[perpetua]

A possibly stupid question: Is there an equivalent of the BBC news website in the US?

Where does one go in terms of American news sites if you want a simple report of what's happening rather than something tied to a TV network?

[fountainsoflettuce]

NPR - National Public Radio

[Virg]

fountainof wrote:

"How would a Sabbath day be generally spent?"

Many of those I've known who are more orthodox about these things spend Sabbath days vacationing (trip to the beach or park or some such thing) or socializing.

Virg

[Elfmama]

fountainof wrote:

"How would a Sabbath day be generally spent?"

Many of those I've known who are more orthodox about these things spend Sabbath days vacationing (trip to the beach or park or some such thing) or socializing.

Virg

But how?  If you can't walk more than X steps, and can't start the car because that's the equivalent to 'starting a fire', how do you get there?  Is it OK to take a cab or bus, because then some gentile is 'starting a fire'? 

[fountainof]

But how?  If you can't walk more than X steps, and can't start the car because that's the equivalent to 'starting a fire', how do you get there?  Is it OK to take a cab or bus, because then some gentile is 'starting a fire'?

That  is a good question and kind of what I was thinking too.  There also was a part about not taking things from private to public domains unless it doesn't leave your person, at least that is how I read that, so to me that would mean you couldn't leave your towel/bag on the beach either.  It is very interesting and seems very complicated to follow 100%, it would be hard to analyze all the small details to ensure compliance.

[jpcher]

new stupid question ...
I usually have owned dark cars, but I recently got a light colored one.  I seem to notice a lot of wasps buzzing around my new car.  Why?

Just taking a wild guess here . . . I'm wondering if it might have something to do with the new-car smell and not the color.

If the new car was treated with a lemony-fresh! sweet scent, that would attract the wasps. Your old car probably smelled (to the wasps) of gas and oil, not especially attractive to wasps.

[magicdomino]

But how?  If you can't walk more than X steps, and can't start the car because that's the equivalent to 'starting a fire', how do you get there?  Is it OK to take a cab or bus, because then some gentile is 'starting a fire'?

That  is a good question and kind of what I was thinking too.  There also was a part about not taking things from private to public domains unless it doesn't leave your person, at least that is how I read that, so to me that would mean you couldn't leave your towel/bag on the beach either.  It is very interesting and seems very complicated to follow 100%, it would be hard to analyze all the small details to ensure compliance.

One of my co-workers has become a strict observer of the Sabbath.  She drives to her parents' house on Friday and stays overnight.  My impression is that the Sabbath is a day for religion and family, and if you aren't at the synagogue, you are at home with family and maybe friends. They walk to synagogue, then usually go back home and spend the day together.

[Tea Drinker]

But how?  If you can't walk more than X steps, and can't start the car because that's the equivalent to 'starting a fire', how do you get there?  Is it OK to take a cab or bus, because then some gentile is 'starting a fire'?

That  is a good question and kind of what I was thinking too.  There also was a part about not taking things from private to public domains unless it doesn't leave your person, at least that is how I read that, so to me that would mean you couldn't leave your towel/bag on the beach either.  It is very interesting and seems very complicated to follow 100%, it would be hard to analyze all the small details to ensure compliance.

It's complicated, in part because the definitions of public and private domain aren't obvious. There are ways that people define large areas as within those domains--large areas meaning entire neighborhoods. (Google "eruv" for more information.)

I've had observant friends arrange to go out for dinner in a group (if people were going anyhow), and arranged for someone to pay their share of the bill and get the money back after sundown Saturday, so the observant person wasn't carrying money on the Sabbath.

From another angle: a disabled friend of my mother's has special permission from her rabbi to take a taxi to synagogue for Sabbath services, because she and the rabbi both think that going to services is more important than not riding in a car on the Sabbath. This is pre-arranged with the cab company (I think she has given them a credit card number) so carrying money isn't an issue.

Part of the complication is that along with broad patterns, there are endless variations in how people practice.

[Outdoor Girl]

I know there isn't really an answer to this question; it is just more of an observation:

Why do children and pets think we can't go to the bathroom by ourselves?

My one cat will always come in as soon as I sit down, unless I close the door tightly.  Over the weekend, my neighbour had some company over and they were sitting in the backyard while I was gardening.  One of the mom's went in to use the washroom.  Her young son stayed outside but then went over to the window and started talking to his mom.  There were 2 other adults and 2 other children out there!  I stated the above to her when she came back out and she laughed and said she hadn't been to the bathroom by herself in over 6 years.