Stupid/Small Questions Megathread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Stupid/Small Questions Megathread

Ancillary Character: Jul 25, 2007; Going about life as if I were a third-tier ancillary character

KentuckyFriedBonBon posted:

This is the strainer I use in the other side of my sink instead of the metal one that came with it. It works much better, but still gets pretty gross and also necessitates hauling a wet strainer full of glop across the room to the trash can. If I didn't have a garbage disposal it wouldn't be the end of the world, but it's easier to just. Not have to do that. And just hit the blendy button instead.

It's like an ice maker, or a removable showerhead. You don't really need it, necessarily, but if you're used to it then you miss it when it's gone.

Move your trashcan closer to the sink.

# ¿ May 22, 2020 04:59

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 00:28

Ancillary Character: Jul 25, 2007; Going about life as if I were a third-tier ancillary character

How would new language formation happen in the global era? Can there be enough communication isolation for a group's dialect to deviate enough to a new language?

# ¿ Jun 18, 2020 15:21

Ancillary Character: Jul 25, 2007; Going about life as if I were a third-tier ancillary character

Sundae posted:

Like ten years ago, I saw a stupid skit on TV from some comedy show. It could've been SNL, could've been a random thing on MTV, no idea. It was a fake tweenage boy band music video (with fake audience reactions), with refrain lyrics of "If your day has gone to heck, you can still borrow my warm turtleneck. 'Til our puberty is through, this I promise you," or something of that sort.

I cannot find this loving thing on the internet for the life of me, and I need to confirm that the thing actually existed and isn't just my brain loving with me. Anyone have a link (or at least remember the damned thing)? Save my sanity, thanks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Foz9KKqxZ-I

It was MadTV, the superior Saturday night sketch show.

# ¿ Jul 26, 2020 16:56

Ancillary Character: Jul 25, 2007; Going about life as if I were a third-tier ancillary character

Ramrod Hotshot posted:

Has anyone gotten their teeth whitened? How did you do it and what would you recommend, ie buy strips at the pharmacy or go to a dentist

I tried it with strips years ago and had to stop using them because I would start to feel shooting pain. So I'm wondering if going to a dentist for this is better in terms of the pain (or worse!)

Kind of a late answer to this, but in-office whitening will likely result in more tooth sensitivity compared to whitening strips you can buy over the counter. This is because in-office whitening uses either equal or higher concentrations of the bleaching agent than what you can get over the counter. The fewer the sessions you're told will be needed to achieve the whitening effect, the higher the concentration of bleaching agent that will likely be used. If the over the counter stuff makes your teeth sensitive, then expect that your teeth will likely be sensitive from an in-office whitening.

Some dentists may give you fluoride trays to use for a couple of weeks before the whitening appointment to try and mitigate the sensitivity issue. However, the studies are kind of mixed on the success of this, and usually patients will still be sensitive, though with perhaps a lower intensity of sensitivity.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2021 00:21

Ancillary Character: Jul 25, 2007; Going about life as if I were a third-tier ancillary character

Trapick posted:

Can you butt chug coffee? Do that. Probably not hot though.

Edit: perhaps my worst snipe, adding a question.

Is school starting today (the day after labour day) just a Canada thing? I thought I heard some yanks talking about school in August.

The day after Labor day was always the case for me from elementary through high school. But school started in late August once I was in college and post-grad studies.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2022 23:30

Ancillary Character: Jul 25, 2007; Going about life as if I were a third-tier ancillary character

I've always held the fork in my right hand and used the knife with my left. All the muscle memory from normally using a fork in my right hand makes holding it in my left feel real weird. For the hand switchers, are your off-hands so atrophied that you can't cut a piece of meat with it?

# ¿ Feb 6, 2023 15:34

Ancillary Character: Jul 25, 2007; Going about life as if I were a third-tier ancillary character

Ham Equity posted:

It's not MFA. It's literally the site wants a phone number to text to tell that I'm a real person, and it doesn't want to accept a number that isn't (for lack of a better term) a "real" phone number, I'm sure they would say for purposes of spammer/fake account detection, but the fact that those sorts of numbers aren't good for being able to track users definitely factors into it as well.

What if you ported your personal number to Google Voice and then use the new number assigned to your phone line for all that stuff?

# ¿ Mar 3, 2023 00:28

Ancillary Character: Jul 25, 2007; Going about life as if I were a third-tier ancillary character

Ham Equity posted:

The socks in question have elastic in them, which is why I don't think patching would work.

I have extremely wide feet, and so the socks I buy just barely fit me. I suspect this is happening at that point because it's where the relatively thin part of the sock that goes up my calf meets the relatively thick part of the sock that covers the ankle/heel, and thus that is the weakest part of the sock, where tearing from being overstretched naturally occurs.

Could it be that your wide feet are causing you to buy shoes in a larger size lengthwise, which results in more slipping at the heel, this more friction on your socks in that ankle area?

# ¿ Aug 14, 2023 07:11

Ancillary Character: Jul 25, 2007; Going about life as if I were a third-tier ancillary character

Grassy Knowles posted:

When does late afternoon turn into early evening

It's 6PM because unless you're some backwater farmer, it's when you should have your evening suit on.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2023 04:01

Ancillary Character: Jul 25, 2007; Going about life as if I were a third-tier ancillary character

Carbon dioxide posted:

This reminds me of Chinese.

Cantonese and Mandarin are different spoken languages but share a writing system. My understanding is, a Mandarin speaker can perfectly understand what a Cantonese speaker is writing, but they would pronounce the characters in a completely different way.

Written Chinese is standardized to Mandarin, that is, is written how it would be spoken in Mandarin. A Cantonese speaker would often not say aloud the same characters or use the same word order as "proper" written Chinese. If you transcribed Cantonese as it is spoken, you actually have to use a bunch of characters unique to Cantonese.

# ¿ Nov 15, 2023 00:06

Ancillary Character: Jul 25, 2007; Going about life as if I were a third-tier ancillary character

artsy fartsy posted:

I'm in Texas. I live in this little apartment, I actually really like it despite its various problems (my apartment before this was godawful), but one odd thing is that it doesn't have a back door or window in the bedroom. I have one small window in the front dining/living space. I understand this is a fire code violation.

What exactly does this mean, in practical terms? I've been here a little over a year, and when I renewed my lease for another year they raised the rent. Annoying, but still an okay deal for the area. If they raise it again this year, and I'm like "wtf this place isn't even up to code and you haven't made any improvements to my weird little shithole" they're just gonna kick me out, right? Like there's poo poo I can do about this? Even if I report to this to...whatever authority, there's no happy ending here, right?

The other practical problem is if there is a fire at your door, you have no other mode of escape.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2024 08:14

Ancillary Character: Jul 25, 2007; Going about life as if I were a third-tier ancillary character

Hughmoris posted:

Do we have an Insurance Questions megathread?

I am trying to understand the process for a typical dental insurance claim. I had an appointment. Their office said my insurance was out of network and I needed to pay the whole fee up front. After I paid, they submitted a claim on my behalf.

My claim was processed and insurance says I only owe $40 total for the visit. Who pays me back the difference, the insurance or the dental office?

*I'm going to contact both parties tomorrow when offices open, just trying to better understand what process I should follow typically for a dental appt with insurance.

You're most likely not going to get as much money back as you think based off your EOB because of the key phrase I bolded in your original post. Your dental insurance has a maximum fee that they base their percentage calculations on. That is, if they say they'll cover 80% of the cost of a filling, it's not 80% of an unlimited number, but 80% of what your insurance thinks the filling should cost (usually, it's set at whatever rate they have their in-network dentists take). An out-of-network dentist is not obligated to accept this maximum rate that your insurance sets and can charge you at their own rate.

The only reason you would get money back from the dental office is if the insurance company also sends their check to the dental office and not you. In which case, the dental office owes you whatever the insurance companies paid them provided you paid their fee in full at your visit. If the insurance company mails you the check for your claim directly, then I wouldn't expect to get anything back from the dental office.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2024 05:35

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 00:28

Ancillary Character: Jul 25, 2007; Going about life as if I were a third-tier ancillary character

two fish posted:

I've just noticed my gas company has not charged me at all for the past year of usage. This was a bill that I had set on auto-pay, and I just didn't notice it until right now. I was getting the monthly service charges, but with zero therms of usage.

What's the worst that is going to happen, and what is the best way to deal with this?

I had something similar happen to me. I got a letter from the gas company a few months later saying there might be a problem with my meter and to make an appointment for a technician to come check. They came, it was broken and he swapped it out with a new one. I don't think I was charged for the previous usage. If your meter is working but not reporting, they might be able to charge you for that past usage.

# ¿ Feb 20, 2024 14:49

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Stupid/Small Questions Megathread