# Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/miscellaneous-and-personal-stuff-i-must-share/10.md?page=303 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 304 --- ## [Kim Jong-Un in a coma?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-in-a-coma/918847)
**Author:** [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [September 13, 2020, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kim-jong-un-in-a-coma/918847 "2020-09-13T23:04:19Z")
N. KOREA’S KIM JONG-UN REPORTEDLY IN A COMA … North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is once again on his death bed … that is, if you buy what some South Korean officials are saying about his mysterious health status… Th… --- ## [Calculus of similar shapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-of-similar-shapes/920218)
**Author:** [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [September 13, 2020, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-of-similar-shapes/920218 "2020-09-13T21:54:24Z")
This is something that I came up with this morning and ran a couple of examples in the shower. I haven’t seen it before. Wikipedia notes in the history of Calculus the method of exhaustion and Cavalieri’s principle, bu… --- ## [Cherished childhood pets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cherished-childhood-pets/920384)
**Author:** [@Hilary\_Algar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilary_Algar)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [September 13, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cherished-childhood-pets/920384 "2020-09-13T19:18:36Z")
Did you have any cherished pets when you were a child? We had quite a few small pets growing up but almost all of them turned out to be short-termers. First pet was a parakeet named Conrad, given to my father by his HS… --- ## [Let’s identify these 63 languages](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346)
**Author:** [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Replies:** 115\ **Last updated:** [September 13, 2020, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346 "2020-09-13T11:17:09Z")
I’m at my mother in law’s house and she receives a monthly insert with instructions to call in 63 different languages. I’m curious how many of them we can identify. Some of them are really cool looking. After the first p… --- ## [The extraordinary physics of dried pine needles](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-extraordinary-physics-of-dried-pine-needles/157929)
**Author:** [@Parthol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parthol)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [September 12, 2020, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-extraordinary-physics-of-dried-pine-needles/157929 "2020-09-12T22:28:01Z")
This is as mundane and pointless as it gets. A single response would be one more than I expect or deserve. But I have to ask… A couple of months ago, when we finally took down our Christmas tree, we were left with a g… --- ## [Canada reports zero new deaths!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-reports-zero-new-deaths/920427)
**Author:** [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [September 12, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canada-reports-zero-new-deaths/920427 "2020-09-12T20:46:19Z")
In a FIRST since March, we’ve had zero new deaths reported, as of yesterday! WOOT ! High Five to all my fellow Canadians. I have to say, this has really lifted my spirits. (Which are particularly low as autumn is def i… --- ## [So. My husband is in the hospital](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-husband-is-in-the-hospital/920147)
**Author:** [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [September 12, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-husband-is-in-the-hospital/920147 "2020-09-12T19:13:24Z")
…and they have no clue what’s up with him. Apparently. His thyroid swelled up like a golf ball over the last 24 hours, and the GP was like…Hospital. Now. Go in at the emergency exit. Not quite “go in an ambulance” terri… --- ## [Running Away](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-away/920169)
**Author:** [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [September 12, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/running-away/920169 "2020-09-12T15:52:29Z")
We’re off to AZ this AM! Morning news sez there are now 14,000 fires (FOURTEEN THOUSAND!) in California now. Neither one of my kids is in a threatened area, but the smoke is everywhere. Mr VOW has a POA meeting to atte… --- ## [Romania sure has changed](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romania-sure-has-changed/920407)
**Author:** [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [September 12, 2020, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romania-sure-has-changed/920407 "2020-09-12T14:05:10Z")
I was making some comments on grocery delivery in Romania in this thread, and Chefguy remembered how bad Romania was in 1990: Well, I agree. One should remember that Romania was a communist state until 1989 and the reg… --- ## [My unorthodox fish tank (long and probably really boring)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-unorthodox-fish-tank-long-and-probably-really-boring/843800)
**Author:** [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [November 27, 2019, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-unorthodox-fish-tank-long-and-probably-really-boring/843800 "2019-11-27T18:56:06Z")
So I’ve done all the things you aren’t supposed to do for a fish tank and it’s turned out beautifully. It was a bit of an accidental process that started with my failed pickle jar ecosphere where I scooped up some pond w… --- ## [Drone weed attack!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drone-weed-attack/919754)
**Author:** [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [September 12, 2020, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drone-weed-attack/919754 "2020-09-12T01:31:03Z")
Dozens of pot packets rained down from the sky in Tel Aviv — sending folks running into the street to snag them and leading to two arrests. Two men who allegedly operated the weed-wielding quadcopter were likely affili… --- ## [I'm getting drunk today](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-drunk-today/919942)
**Author:** [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [September 11, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-drunk-today/919942 "2020-09-11T16:44:38Z")
Just cause I feel like it. I started with orange flavored vodka at 8:00 am and told myself that it was close enough to orange juice to not matter. I might need better reasoning for the tequila at 9:00 am. Any suggesti… --- ## [I wish I was ambidextrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-i-was-ambidextrous/110394)
**Author:** [@Neptune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptune)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [September 11, 2020, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wish-i-was-ambidextrous/110394 "2020-09-11T01:46:30Z")
I wish I was ambidextrous so that I could tweeze hair from my left ear as easily as from my right. As it is, I’ve got one hairy ear. I fear I’m going to end up like Solomon Grundy. --- ## [Ohio mayer wants a Starbucks because](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-mayer-wants-a-starbucks-because/919991)
**Author:** [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [September 10, 2020, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-mayer-wants-a-starbucks-because/919991 "2020-09-10T19:53:14Z")
It would make her city a “destination”. If a Starbucks makes your city a destination, that’s just sad. --- ## [What Lies Beneath, or Subterranean Shivers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lies-beneath-or-subterranean-shivers/849818)
**Author:** [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [September 10, 2020, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-lies-beneath-or-subterranean-shivers/849818 "2020-09-10T14:34:14Z")
There is something even more frightening than famine, war and pestilence. The Basement. Those who live in parts of the country lacking basements (i.e. areas with high water tables like the Gulf Coast) may have had no e… --- ## [Driver who was doing 187 mph charged with drug smuggling](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driver-who-was-doing-187-mph-charged-with-drug-smuggling/920115)
**Author:** [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [September 10, 2020, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driver-who-was-doing-187-mph-charged-with-drug-smuggling/920115 "2020-09-10T14:13:01Z")
I thought smugglers were supposed to avoid cops. --- ## [Massachusetts has NEGATIVE CoVID cases today](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massachusetts-has-negative-covid-cases-today/920156)
**Author:** [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [September 10, 2020, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/massachusetts-has-negative-covid-cases-today/920156 "2020-09-10T11:06:30Z")
I just had a look at the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus site this morning\* and noticed something weird about the plot for New Cases in Massachusetts. It goes negative. It does the same in the other Cases by State page, too … --- ## ["Black" professor says she is really white](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-professor-says-she-is-really-white/919751)
**Author:** [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [September 10, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-professor-says-she-is-really-white/919751 "2020-09-10T02:18:57Z")
Used a fake name too --- ## [AI-written Guardian Op-Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-written-guardian-op-ed/920139)
**Author:** [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [September 9, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-written-guardian-op-ed/920139 "2020-09-09T17:37:33Z")
The British news outlet The Guardian has published an op-ed written (in some manner of speaking) entirely by OpenAI’s text generator AI GPT-3: The article is, overall, surprisingly coherent, and puts forward some perti… --- ## [Driver busted in ky trying to use homemade license plate apparently hes not the only one recently](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driver-busted-in-ky-trying-to-use-homemade-license-plate-apparently-hes-not-the-only-one-recently/920079)
**Author:** [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [September 9, 2020, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driver-busted-in-ky-trying-to-use-homemade-license-plate-apparently-hes-not-the-only-one-recently/920079 "2020-09-09T00:21:44Z")
Here ya go : https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/kentucky-driver-caught-with-hademade-license-plate/ar-BB18NucQ?ocid=hplocalnews The cop didn’t notice bourbon was misspelled also? I didnt hear about the CA one tho --- ## [The worst, most useless, frustrating car you've ever owned.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-most-useless-frustrating-car-youve-ever-owned/842287)
**Author:** [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Replies:** 105\ **Last updated:** [September 8, 2020, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-most-useless-frustrating-car-youve-ever-owned/842287 "2020-09-08T23:21:59Z")
Car threads have been popular lately, and one recent thread had people waxing nostalgic about “the one that got away”: the car they most regret getting rid of. I’m curious about cars at the other end of the spectrum: ca… --- ## [Our month of home-repair hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-month-of-home-repair-hell/915801)
**Author:** [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [September 8, 2020, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-month-of-home-repair-hell/915801 "2020-09-08T20:58:28Z")
So Mrs R says to me, a couple months ago now, “Can we paint the downstairs bathroom and put in new flooring?” Sure, how much trouble could it be? Biut the bathroom is below grade, and, despite the improvements Dad and … --- ## [Cathy Smith dies, injected John Belushi with fatal drug dose](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000)
**Author:** [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [September 8, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cathy-smith-dies-injected-john-belushi-with-fatal-drug-dose/920000 "2020-09-08T17:42:52Z")
I didn’t see this posted anywhere yet. Cathy Smith, groupie, occasional backup singer and drug dealer, who served 15 months of a 3-year sentence for injecting John Belushi with his fatal dose of heroin+cocaine, died Au… --- ## [Up bright and blurfy in the MMP](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-bright-and-blurfy-in-the-mmp/919431)
**Author:** [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Replies:** 279\ **Last updated:** [September 8, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/up-bright-and-blurfy-in-the-mmp/919431 "2020-09-08T17:17:08Z")
Good morning all! For the second morning in a row I got woken up the fire alarm going off (no fire, it just apparently felt like it)- it is a glorious sunny morning, and I was just about to get up anyway, but I’d still … --- ## [Has anyone ever used those grout pens?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-used-those-grout-pens/919940)
**Author:** [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [September 8, 2020, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-used-those-grout-pens/919940 "2020-09-08T17:00:20Z")
Like these. After twenty years, all the grout in my house looks grody. Scrubbing with bleach does nothing to lighten it, so I decided to try grout pens. Has anyone else used them and has any advice for me? For instan… --- ## [So, fireworks are a thing for Labor Day weekend now?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-fireworks-are-a-thing-for-labor-day-weekend-now/919914)
**Author:** [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [September 8, 2020, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-fireworks-are-a-thing-for-labor-day-weekend-now/919914 "2020-09-08T04:04:44Z")
… or is it just my 'hood setting them off? --- ## [Well that was fast: got my first scam call on my new phone](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-that-was-fast-got-my-first-scam-call-on-my-new-phone/920056)
**Author:** [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [September 7, 2020, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-that-was-fast-got-my-first-scam-call-on-my-new-phone/920056 "2020-09-07T19:33:12Z")
My employer mailed me a cell phone. I don’t recall if I got it on Thursday or Friday, but I couldn’t insert the SIM card until after work on Friday. So as far as I’m concerned, Friday, September 4th was the phone’s “birt… --- ## [So I had an opportunity to wash my slippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-had-an-opportunity-to-wash-my-slippers/919955)
**Author:** [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [September 7, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-had-an-opportunity-to-wash-my-slippers/919955 "2020-09-07T18:34:09Z")
I’m particular about the things I can wash together. My personal “ick” is throw rugs: they collect until I have a load. I certainly don’t wash them with underwear or kitchen towels. A perfect ride-along item with thro… --- ## [New kitten at Casa Silenus!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-kitten-at-casa-silenus/919812)
**Author:** [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Replies:** 27\ **Last updated:** [September 7, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-kitten-at-casa-silenus/919812 "2020-09-07T18:18:30Z")
\[Album\] Tango Brought him home last night. A friend found him in h… --- ## [Starting a new life](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-new-life/918791)
**Author:** [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [September 7, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-a-new-life/918791 "2020-09-07T16:39:10Z")
Another chapter in my life is almost done, about to be printed but only a rough draft of what I wanted it to be. I am laid off from a job I hoped I would do until I retired, moving from the NYC/NJ area to Virginia, will … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/miscellaneous-and-personal-stuff-i-must-share/10.md?page=302) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/miscellaneous-and-personal-stuff-i-must-share/10.md?page=304)