# Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/miscellaneous-and-personal-stuff-i-must-share/10.md?page=1044 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 1045 --- ## [The best Christmas (or other December holiday) gift you ever gave](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-christmas-or-other-december-holiday-gift-you-ever-gave/642712)
**Author:** [@BTEzra04](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BTEzra04)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [December 8, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-christmas-or-other-december-holiday-gift-you-ever-gave/642712 "2012-12-08T01:42:35Z")
I’m feeling like we need some more joyful holiday spirit stuff to talk about, so, anyone care to share what they feel was the best gift they gave for Christmas (or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, etc. if you want) to someone? Me?… --- ## [Have to write a small speech for coworkers 30 year award - need help fast!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-write-a-small-speech-for-coworkers-30-year-award-need-help-fast/643320)
**Author:** [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-to-write-a-small-speech-for-coworkers-30-year-award-need-help-fast/643320 "2012-12-07T21:36:54Z")
I was just asked to write 75 words about a coworker who will be getting her 30 years of service award on Monday. She is a high-level admin. I have to have this done today and I’m not sure what to say. She’s very nice, a… --- ## ['I've never met a dog' Huh, really?!?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-met-a-dog-huh-really/643003)
**Author:** [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Replies:** 49\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-met-a-dog-huh-really/643003 "2012-12-07T20:23:29Z")
Inspired by a distinctly odd facebook conversation I was a disbelieving viewer of recently. A friend posted a pic of his dog and another person (friend of a friend) commented that he’d never ‘met’ a dog. From further qu… --- ## [7.3 Japanese Earthquake felt in Tokyo - Japan Dopers?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-3-japanese-earthquake-felt-in-tokyo-japan-dopers/643284)
**Author:** [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-3-japanese-earthquake-felt-in-tokyo-japan-dopers/643284 "2012-12-07T20:13:40Z")
Text from my husband, sitting at Narita waiting on a flight: “Whoa…that was a big big earthquake! My first one! I’m fine. Just weird.” Apparently it’s in the same place as the last big one and there’s a tsunami warning… --- ## [3KT of explosives improperly stored](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3kt-of-explosives-improperly-stored/643221)
**Author:** [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3kt-of-explosives-improperly-stored/643221 "2012-12-07T19:23:31Z")
This going off will make anyone’s eyes water. :eek: And maybe it’s as much as 6 KT. :eek: I think I’d like to be on the other side of a big hill. --- ## [Carolyn Hax's holiday chat](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carolyn-haxs-holiday-chat/643330)
**Author:** [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carolyn-haxs-holiday-chat/643330 "2012-12-07T19:18:00Z")
Carolyn Hax is the advice columnist at the Washington Post, and she does a live chat with readers every Friday. Once a year, she devotes a chat to Holiday Horrors, some comical, some tragic. This year’s is going on tod… --- ## [Bank robber reveals crime to world, is somehow arrested.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bank-robber-reveals-crime-to-world-is-somehow-arrested/643244)
**Author:** [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bank-robber-reveals-crime-to-world-is-somehow-arrested/643244 "2012-12-07T18:20:32Z")
Long story short: 19 year old robs bank. Posts YouTube video bragging about it. Gets arrested. Now, news reports don’t outright SAY that the video was the only, or even primary, reason for the arrest, but it’s sure fu… --- ## [One day in Johannesburg/Pretoria, what could I see?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-in-johannesburg-pretoria-what-could-i-see/643194)
**Author:** [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-in-johannesburg-pretoria-what-could-i-see/643194 "2012-12-07T16:39:06Z")
Next week I have to travel to Johannesburg to supervise a TV commercial shooting (I’ll be doing the VFX work for it) I arrive on the 17th, shooting on 18th and 19th and then I have the 20th for myself before departing on… --- ## [San Diego Dopers: Lady Washington in town through the 18th](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-diego-dopers-lady-washington-in-town-through-the-18th/643307)
**Author:** [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-diego-dopers-lady-washington-in-town-through-the-18th/643307 "2012-12-07T16:30:10Z")
Lady Washington, which featured as Johnny Depp’s ship in Pirates Of The Caribbean, portrayed the tall ship Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and has appeared in other shows and films, will be in San Diego thr… --- ## [whats the deal with this youtube thing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-this-youtube-thing/642650)
**Author:** [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-this-youtube-thing/642650 "2012-12-07T15:39:05Z")
\*Sorry for the interruption. We have been receiving a large volume of requests from your network. To continue with your YouTube experience, please enter the verification code below. \* never seen that before and I go o… --- ## [Things that start with H](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-start-with-h/643249)
**Author:** [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2012, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-start-with-h/643249 "2012-12-07T11:07:55Z")
I need a list of things, smallish things, that a English (or Japanese?) gentleman might own. Taking a clue from Through the Looking Glass, there is “Ham Sandwich” and “Hay”. Hourglass is another. Also, sometimes the E… --- ## [Great customer service from Amazon](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-customer-service-from-amazon/637125)
**Author:** [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-customer-service-from-amazon/637125 "2012-12-07T03:54:40Z")
Back on September 26th I purchased the Kindle version of Quicken 2012 The Official Guide to go with my September 13, 2012 purchase of Quicken 2012 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) \[Kindle Edition\] On October 6t… --- ## [Do companies sometimes use fake job interview to get free creative product or expert opinion?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-companies-sometimes-use-fake-job-interview-to-get-free-creative-product-or-expert-opinion/643049)
**Author:** [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-companies-sometimes-use-fake-job-interview-to-get-free-creative-product-or-expert-opinion/643049 "2012-12-07T03:15:24Z")
I’ll explain the question. I recently went through an interview process for a programmer/analyst position which was conducted entirely via phone and email. Part of the process included writing some software samples. Two… --- ## [You want mindless and pointless? Here you go.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-mindless-and-pointless-here-you-go/643255)
**Author:** [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-want-mindless-and-pointless-here-you-go/643255 "2012-12-07T01:56:11Z")
More e-mail glurge: If you ever feel a little bit stupid, just dig this up and read it again; you’ll begin to think you’re a genius… , (On September 17, 1994, Alabama’s Heather Whitestone was selected as Miss America … --- ## [Regional Food Names](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-food-names/642597)
**Author:** [@PotatoPeeler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PotatoPeeler)\ **Replies:** 146\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-food-names/642597 "2012-12-07T00:11:32Z")
I live in the Black Hills area of western South Dakota. While I haven’t lived here my entire life, I did grow up in the area. A few months ago, I was at a potluck lunch and I found myself in a conversation with a woman f… --- ## [Wow, interesting comic, XKCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-interesting-comic-xkcd/643247)
**Author:** [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-interesting-comic-xkcd/643247 "2012-12-06T23:35:14Z")
While perusing this thread in Cafe Society on the SDMB: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15770414, I decided to poke randomly around on XKCD, which I do from time to time. I encountered this comic: … --- ## [WANTED: Tutorial in defending yourself against wizards](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanted-tutorial-in-defending-yourself-against-wizards/642978)
**Author:** [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanted-tutorial-in-defending-yourself-against-wizards/642978 "2012-12-06T22:11:51Z")
Over in this thread, no less than four wizards have revealed themselves to me and their desire to wrench my precious sofa away from me once I go through great pains and sacrifices to acquire it. I am looking for an indi… --- ## [Convince a potential employer that I can do website maintenance with no live samples on web?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-a-potential-employer-that-i-can-do-website-maintenance-with-no-live-samples-on-web/643111)
**Author:** [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-a-potential-employer-that-i-can-do-website-maintenance-with-no-live-samples-on-web/643111 "2012-12-06T21:20:54Z")
Two jobs ago, I worked for a small web support and development firm that went out of business when it’s parent company went under. In my most recent position I worked for a consulting firm that had me placed in one comp… --- ## [Thank you family once again.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-family-once-again/637027)
**Author:** [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-family-once-again/637027 "2012-12-06T20:34:15Z")
Today mom went with a sister for a fall viewing car ride and to eat at a restaurant an hour away. I stayed home to do laundry and other house stuff. Mom told me the rest of the family and their kids and spouses were at t… --- ## [I Know Y'all Aren't Stand-Up Comics....](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-yall-arent-stand-up-comics/642802)
**Author:** [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-yall-arent-stand-up-comics/642802 "2012-12-06T19:41:10Z")
… but some of the comments you make are funny as hell, and even though I don’t post that frequently these days, I do read and I appreciate the laughs (some of which I share with my wife, Dondra). :smiley: Quasi --- ## ['him and me' is ok](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/him-and-me-is-ok/643145)
**Author:** [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/him-and-me-is-ok/643145 "2012-12-06T16:23:19Z")
Yes, yes it really is. I know we have the comma people, the apostrophe people and all kinds of grammar, spelling, etc. people. I am a ‘him and I’ person. It is not ‘him and I’, it is ‘he and I’ or ‘him and me’. Someo… --- ## [Doper with the least daylight?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-with-the-least-daylight/642614)
**Author:** [@Scathach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scathach)\ **Replies:** 53\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-with-the-least-daylight/642614 "2012-12-06T15:46:27Z")
So the full winter depression is setting in what with going to work in the dark & coming home in the dark. Who else is forgetting what the sun looks like? Sunrise in Ireland 8:15, sunset 16:11. Anyone worse off? --- ## [Share your offensive jokes.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-offensive-jokes/620403)
**Author:** [@Stelios](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stelios)\ **Replies:** 226\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-offensive-jokes/620403 "2012-12-06T15:29:01Z")
Bad taste jokes. We all love 'em, even though we may draw the line at different places. Why not share some of your best truly tasteless jokes here? The only rule in this thread, is that anything goes. No joke is too … --- ## [Tapeworm removal GIF](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapeworm-removal-gif/642935)
**Author:** [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2012, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tapeworm-removal-gif/642935 "2012-12-06T11:26:06Z")
An animated GIF of a tapeworm being pulled out of a human. Looks like it was in a male’s left upper arm, and it looks like it was removed by a female nurse in a clinical setting. It amuses me that, to this day, sometimes… --- ## [Aliens only abducted cows and stupid folk?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-only-abducted-cows-and-stupid-folk/642941)
**Author:** [@missyzilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missyzilly)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2012, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-only-abducted-cows-and-stupid-folk/642941 "2012-12-06T11:04:21Z")
Why does it seem only the stupid people and cows get picked! I want to get taken by Aliens … I never seen a ufo and I have the IQ of a pop tart. This is on my bucket list. --- ## [Who is having a Big Baktun 13 Party?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-having-a-big-baktun-13-party/643162)
**Author:** [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2012, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-having-a-big-baktun-13-party/643162 "2012-12-06T07:50:39Z")
Two years before the beginning of the 12th Baktun of thr Mayan calendar, Will Shakespeare died. Six months before this baktun began was “the defenestration of Prague” (no, they did not throw the whole city out the window… --- ## [NY Cop Buys Boots for Homeless Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716)
**Author:** [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Replies:** 46\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716 "2012-12-06T04:15:47Z")
I didn’t see a thread on this, but it deserves mention. A cop in Times Square bought a pair of boots for a shoeless homeless man shivering in the cold last month. Story and photo here. I first saw this on BBC TV. The ph… --- ## [Christmas observation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-observation/643032)
**Author:** [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-observation/643032 "2012-12-06T04:12:50Z")
Maybe its either just me, or its still early December. This has got to be the first year in memory, that I have not heard of anyone thats gotten their hands slapped, after either trying to cancel the christmas tree , or … --- ## [Why does my car get better \*after\* I make the appointment?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-get-better-after-i-make-the-appointment/643141)
**Author:** [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-car-get-better-after-i-make-the-appointment/643141 "2012-12-06T04:00:18Z")
For a few weeks now, my car has been having a wobble at all speeds, and also somewhat of a stumble to the engine. I figured I’d hold off and have the dealer check into it at my next scheduled service (not far off), but … --- ## [Ladies and Gentlemen, Voyager has Left the Building](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-and-gentlemen-voyager-has-left-the-building/643082)
**Author:** [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-and-gentlemen-voyager-has-left-the-building/643082 "2012-12-06T03:28:37Z")
Apparently Voyager has left the Solar System. I don’t know who gets to decide that, or how, or exactly what demarcation line you use, but it’s out there. 11 billion lmiles out, or 17 light-hours: http://news.yahoo.com/v… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/miscellaneous-and-personal-stuff-i-must-share/10.md?page=1043) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/miscellaneous-and-personal-stuff-i-must-share/10.md?page=1045)