# A random thoughts thread. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 30, 2010, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809 "2010-12-30T07:10:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/41 "2011-01-03T03:06:07Z")
A bunch of the people I work with like to wear camoflage hats. Thing is, I can still see their hats, so it doesn’t seem to work very well. ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/42 "2011-01-03T03:09:40Z")
I didn’t do the laundry. I’ve been on vacation for more than a week now and I meant to do it, but I just didn’t. I’m going to have to wear the back up clothes to work tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![smokey78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@smokey78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smokey78)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/43 "2011-01-03T03:30:28Z")
jUlia louis dreyfuss is an heiress right? random moment: I just read how the Islamic law does not allow adoption. I never knew that! Having foster kids are okay, but adoption was banned. Ironic since Muhammed adopted a son. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/44 "2011-01-03T04:09:38Z")
> [@loshan](#): > > Why do bandaids only come in one “flesh” tone? Shouldn’t African-Americans (and others) have a right to bandaids that match their own flesh tone(s)? Have you ever met a person who is **that** color, though? Plain white would come a lot closer to matching my pasty skintone than the so-called flesh colored. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/45 "2011-01-03T04:47:52Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Have you ever met a person who is **that** color, though? John Boehner? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/46 "2011-01-03T05:29:34Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > John Boehner? 😃 It kind of does look like a spray tan, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/47 "2011-01-03T05:56:10Z")
Riding the DC metro, I always wonder if communists get a kick out of it when they ride the red line. If they do, does that mean cowards chuckle when they are on the yellow line? Environmentalists on the green? Do sad people feel it’s particularly fitting when they are on the blue line? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/48 "2011-01-03T06:21:16Z")
I once imagined having to explain the concept of sleep to an alien. In order to stay healthy and mentally sharp, I spend a third of my life unconscious (or in a state of altered consciousness, depending how you want to define things), lying on an elevated slab made of steel springs and cloth. I use a large blanket to keep warm, and a pillow to prop up my head. Most people in the same time zone sleep in roughly the same third of the day/night cycle. At this point the alien, its voice full of concern, asks, “What happens to you if you don’t use the pillow?”. I don’t have an answer. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/49 "2011-01-03T07:22:06Z")
> [@Rich\_Mann](#): > > Is it just me, or does it seem like the networks run movies with the same big name actor against each other? Like, you won’t see any Tom Hanks movies listed for weeks and then there’ll be three on at the same time. One of my talents used to be to rent a movie and have it show up on tv within a week of my renting it. It didn’t seem to matter when the movie was released, either (although I usually didn’t watch new releases). > [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > \ > > At this point the alien, its voice full of concern, asks, “What happens to you if you don’t use the pillow?”. I don’t have an answer. In my case, I wake up dizzy. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/50 "2011-01-03T08:09:17Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > At this point the alien, its voice full of concern, asks, “What happens to you if you don’t use the pillow?”. I don’t have an answer. I get cranky and don’t sleep well. I got so used to 2 stacked pillows at some point that now even one doesn’t put my head in the proper alignment to the rest of me and I can’t sleep and am restless all night. Basically I would be the easiest person to torture for information. “I’ll tell you whatever you want, just give me back my second pillow!” ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/51 "2011-01-03T08:33:12Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > A bunch of the people I work with like to wear camoflage hats. Thing is, I can still see their hats, so it doesn’t seem to work very well. You are only able to see the few defective hats. These days most people wear fully functional camouflage hats that are completely invisible. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/52 "2011-01-03T08:41:15Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > I once imagined having to explain the concept of sleep to an alien. In order to stay healthy and mentally sharp, I spend a third of my life unconscious (or in a state of altered consciousness, depending how you want to define things), lying on an elevated slab made of steel springs and cloth. I use a large blanket to keep warm, and a pillow to prop up my head. Most people in the same time zone sleep in roughly the same third of the day/night cycle. > > At this point the alien, its voice full of concern, asks, “What happens to you if you don’t use the pillow?”. I don’t have an answer. George Carlin had a [bit](http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/176057) about this: > [@](#): > > "People say, ‘I’m going to sleep now,’ as if it were nothing. But it’s really a bizarre activity. ‘For the next several hours, while the sun is gone, I’m going to become unconscious, temporarily losing command over everything I know and understand. When the sun returns, I will resume my life.’ > > If you didn’t know what sleep was, and you had only seen it in a science fiction movie, you would think it was weird and tell all your friends about the movie you’d seen. > > They had these people, you know? And they would walk around all day and be OK? And then, once a day, usually after dark, they would lie down on these special platforms and become unconscious. They would stop functioning almost completely, except deep in their minds they would have adventures and experiences that were completely impossible in real life. As they lay there, completely vulnerable to their enemies, their only movements were to occasionally shift from one position to another; or, if one of the ‘mind adventures’ got too real, they would sit up and scream and be glad they weren’t unconscious anymore. Then they would drink a lot of coffee.’ > > So, next time you see someone sleeping, make believe you’re in a science fiction movie. And whisper, 'The creature is regenerating itself." ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/53 "2011-01-03T08:45:10Z")
Does anyone else have dreams like this? I, along with several other people, was apparently being held hostage in either a walmart or a grocery store, and they made us wear those rainsuits [like lobster fishermen wear](http://img2.photographersdirect.com/img/21621/wm/pd1370958.jpg). You know, with the bibbed pants and everything, though the hats were a bit more top hat in shape. And then we were herded to the freezer section, and forced to dance to “singing in the rain” while someone sprayed water inside the milk and juice cases. None of us did very well, because, well, the rainsuits were cumbersome, and no one had bothered to teach us any specific dance moves anyway. So, _does_ anyone else have dreams like that? ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/54 "2011-01-03T09:47:18Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > George Carlin had a [bit](http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/176057) about this: > > > [@](#): > > > > "People say, ‘I’m going to sleep now,’ as if it were nothing. But it’s really a bizarre activity. ‘For the next several hours, while the sun is gone, I’m going to become unconscious, temporarily losing command over everything I know and understand. When the sun returns, I will resume my life.’ > > … Same vein in this [XKCD comic](http://xkcd.com/203/) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/55 "2011-01-03T16:17:07Z")
Sometimes I think about getting my hair cut or colored or something to make it look better, and then I remember that there is something I could do to it for free that would improve its appearance 100%, but I still don’t do it. I could _brush it_. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/56 "2011-01-03T16:46:52Z")
I was shit on by one person and vomited on by another in the space of 8 hours yesterday. My daughter had eaten something that turned her stomach and had two self-contained episodes of diarrhea. Very liquidy poo, which covered me from elbows to knees and had her giggling. I don’t feel bad about being annoyed about that. I do feel bad for complaining about getting vomited on, though. My friend is undergoing chemo and radiation for cancer. She insisted on meeting me at a cafe yesterday. She was tired. I tried to get her to go home and rest. Then we found out the hard way her anti-nausea meds hadn’t worked well. After we cleaned her up and called her husband, we got her outside to get some air. She got sick a few other times, but had already tossed out the bag we’d given her. I managed to get a cup into her hands the fourth time. I don’t think I’ll ever eat an asiago bagel again. And it’ll be a long, long time until I can eat anything remotely brown and liquidy, especially if it’s warm. Now I’m just tired. I feel like Eeyore. I can’t imagine how she feels. I’m going to check on her later today - I’m trying to think of the best way to do it so I’m not pestering. Maybe I’ll wait another day so she can have time to go to the doctor today and rest. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/57 "2011-01-03T17:04:15Z")
I really like the remote starter on my car on cold mornings like this one. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/58 "2011-01-03T17:17:25Z")
I discovered this last weekend that when my cramps are extra-strong, eating the sourest candy I can get my hands on just at the moment the pain starts to crest can short-circuit my brain a little bit. I just can’t process that much sensory input at once. Kinda helps. ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/59 "2011-01-03T17:29:54Z")
The squirrels here do not appear to hibernate. That is, at any time of the year - one can find squirrels doing squirrel things about the grounds and trees. This means that for an entire year, consisting of 4 distinct seasons, squirrels are exclusively outside, wearing the same clothes they always do. My question, then, is - do you think a squirrel ever wakes up one frosty morning and says, “Goddamn!! It’s really cold out today! Wish I had a jacket!” ? ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809/60 "2011-01-03T17:56:20Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > I don’t feel bad about being annoyed about that. I do feel bad for complaining about getting vomited on, though. Well, it depends. How old is your daughter? If she’s 14 or so, I’d be complaining pretty damned loudly, especially when she laughed about it. I can’t eat seasoned cheese snacks anymore after my 1 year old grandson threw up in my car after eating a boat load of them 5 years ago. Ugh, I feel queasy even now just thinking about it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-thoughts-thread/565809.md?page=4)