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

[Harriet Jones]

Do you have a place where you can put the sheets out in the sun?

[blue2000]

Do you have a place where you can put the sheets out in the sun?

I have a balcony. And it has been roasting hot and sunny here. You think that will do the trick?

[Ms_Cellany]

Ok, this is something that is annoying the heck out of me lately...

I want some new sheets. I can't afford to buy expensive ones. But the cheap sheets that I have found stink horribly of chemicals. I know from working in retail that this is because they come from overseas and the boxes get sprayed with bug killers, etc. during shipping.

Slight problem - I can't wash the stink out. I'm pretty limited in my detergent choices, since I have allergies. But I've tried soaking them in vinegar which will get out most smells and this doesn't even budge. Anyone got any ideas?

Borax.

[cwm]

Why are cars such boring colors?

White, black, gray, silver, tan/beige are the most common--all colors that are easily spotted at night and in the rain or fog. ( Not)
Red, of course and the very occasional green or blue (my car is that dark blue that you see).

BORING!  Where are the pastels?  The pinks?  Orange? Beautiful leafy green?  Deep rich brown? Robins egg blue?

That is something i have been noticing recently, too. Even the reds are toned down earthy reds, and the blues are muted dark blues. (Now i've got to read the rest of the thread to see if anyone kows...)

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/07/23/boring-car-buyers-mostly-still-pick-black-white-or-silver-paint/

I guess that the answer is that there's more demand for them. I've been doing ads for used car dealers lately at work and it's rare that there's even been a red car, they're mostly white or black (though they tend to sell cars that cost something like 20000 even used so I guess the original buyers had reason to be conservative with colour). That reminds me of my stupid question: what is a car with four doors like? It usually seems to be five. I don't drive and I don't think that I've ever even talked to a car dealer before so covering for my collegue has been interesting.

Five doors? Unless you're counting the back hatch/trunk as a door, or the "fuel door", which is literally a tiny flap over where you put the gas in.

Four door cars generally have more space in the back for passengers than two door cars. More leg room, room for toys for kids, for stuff you're moving or carting around. It's also much easier access to the back seat. You don't have to open a front door, slide a seat up, and lean into the back seat from the front door.

Is that what you're asking? I'm not entirely sure on your question here...

[Ereine]

I guess it's different here but from what I've seen cars seem to be advertised as having five doors (that is, foor doors and the trunk) or three doors (two front doors and trunk) so a car with four doors seemed strange (does it have no trunk? Only three doors?).

[KenveeB]

I guess it's different here but from what I've seen cars seem to be advertised as having five doors (that is, foor doors and the trunk) or three doors (two front doors and trunk) so a car with four doors seemed strange (does it have no trunk? Only three doors?).

I've never heard the trunk advertised as a door! Different terminology. The trunk is the trunk. The only "doors" are entrances into the passenger compartment. Just picture a four-door as the five-doors you're used to.

[Ereine]

Google managed to really confuse me but I guess that it has something to do with the kind of trunk the car has. There was some reference to a "five door hatchback".

[Hillia]

I guess it's different here but from what I've seen cars seem to be advertised as having five doors (that is, foor doors and the trunk) or three doors (two front doors and trunk) so a car with four doors seemed strange (does it have no trunk? Only three doors?).

I've never heard the trunk advertised as a door! Different terminology. The trunk is the trunk. The only "doors" are entrances into the passenger compartment. Just picture a four-door as the five-doors you're used to.

I've seen 3 door or 5 door used to refer to hatchback cars...there's not a truck, per se, but an open cargo area in the rear that is accessed by a top-hinged door. 

[LadyJaneinMD]

I guess it's different here but from what I've seen cars seem to be advertised as having five doors (that is, foor doors and the trunk) or three doors (two front doors and trunk) so a car with four doors seemed strange (does it have no trunk? Only three doors?).

I've never heard the trunk advertised as a door! Different terminology. The trunk is the trunk. The only "doors" are entrances into the passenger compartment. Just picture a four-door as the five-doors you're used to.

I've seen 3 door or 5 door used to refer to hatchback cars...there's not a truck, per se, but an open cargo area in the rear that is accessed by a top-hinged door.

That's exactly it.  The trunk is not the 5th door, but the hatchback is.  I bought a new car last year, and I specifically looked for a 3- or 5-door car, because there's so much more ROOM with a hatchback!!
I got an SUV, actually.

[Virg]

Moonie wrote:

"Virg, I usually want to use the terms when specifically referring to tires. I have a slow leak in one of my tires, so when I go in to have it fixed I know now that it is the right front tire....or the front passenger side tire. I always had a problem knowing which was left and right because the guy at the shop would ask which tire it was....so I resorted to "passenger side" and "driver's side.""

In this particular case, when I dropped off the car, I'd just point to the leaky tire and say, "that one." 


cwm wrote:

"I have a cheap digital camera. Nothing fancy. Have had it for years, and it's great for upcoming trips where I don't want to take my $800 camera. I left it in a box and the batteries exploded. There's a bit of that white-ish crusty stuff on the swing-arm of the battery compartment, but not too much, and it doesn't look like there's any within the battery compartment itself. Is there a way to salvage this so it still works? Or should I just write it off and look for another cheap one?"

Just clean it, dry it and then put in new batteries and turn it on.  If it's messed up beyond recovery, it won't power up, and if it powers up then you cleaned it sufficiently.


Ereine wrote:

"That reminds me of my stupid question: what is a car with four doors like? It usually seems to be five. I don't drive and I don't think that I've ever even talked to a car dealer before so covering for my collegue has been interesting."

A four door car is just a sedan (a front door and back door on each side of the car).  A five door car would be a car with four passenger doors and a back lift gate, as opposed to a simple trunk.

Virg

[Ereine]

I paid extra attention to cars on my commute yesterday (not just where they were but what they looked like) and it seemed to me that very few cars had separate trunks, though not knowing cars I may be mistaken. Most cars owned by people I know have the sort of rear seats that can be flattened to make one big space so they at least have cars with five doors.

[Bluenomi]

I paid extra attention to cars on my commute yesterday (not just where they were but what they looked like) and it seemed to me that very few cars had separate trunks, though not knowing cars I may be mistaken. Most cars owned by people I know have the sort of rear seats that can be flattened to make one big space so they at least have cars with five doors.

Most 4 door cars will still have back seats that fold down as well. The easiest way to tell is that a 3/5 door has a boot/trunk that is open to the rest of the car like a station wagon/hatchback where as a 2/4 door has the boot completely seperate when the back seats are up. Sedans are 4 doors. If there is a soild, non removable parcel tray in the back, it's a 4 door.

[ladyknight1]

When did rompers become acceptable for adults to wear outside the house? It seems like I see several women in them every day and they are always tugging the top up and the bottom down.

[Mental Magpie]

When did rompers become acceptable for adults to wear outside the house? It seems like I see several women in them every day and they are always tugging the top up and the bottom down.

The '60s?

[Twik]

What are rompers?