# "I can't..(fill in the blank) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 16, 2021, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123 "2021-04-16T02:39:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/142 "2021-04-26T19:15:21Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Pittsburgh for me. Not a straight road in sight. And often overcast. I’ve been in GIS for 30 years. I know maps, I know direction, but Pittsburgh remains a mystery. They even wrote a book about it! Spoiler alert: it’s not about navigation. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/143 "2021-04-26T20:00:59Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > They even wrote a book about it! > > Spoiler alert: it’s not about navigation. So, what is the book? ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/144 "2021-04-26T20:01:45Z")
_The Mysteries of Pittsburgh_ by Michael Chabon. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/145 "2021-04-26T20:04:22Z")
Thanks! One of my kids lived there recently for medical school and postdoc, I’m going to recommend the book to him. He’ll enjoy it, as might his Pittsburgh born and bred sweetie now enjoying their new locale much west of Pittsburgh. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/146 "2021-04-26T20:20:46Z")
Oh, gosh. It’s a novel. About a guy, well, exploring his identity, shall we say. Good book, but **not** a guidebook to Pittsburgh! ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/147 "2021-04-26T20:31:40Z")
They’ll enjoy just reading about the settings, descriptions of neighborhoods and landmarks, foods, bars, traffic quirks, etc. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/148 "2021-04-26T20:33:26Z")
O.k. then! I found the descriptions of the city interesting in the book. And all the hills and rivers make it look like a fun place to drive around. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/149 "2021-04-27T14:32:20Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > > [@Limmin](#): > > > > But drop me into a city, especially one whose major roads are not oriented NSEW, and I’m hopeless. (Like, downtown San Jose.) > > Don’t ask me about the time I lost my parked car in Greenwich Village. I lost my parked car once too! My son and I were at the university hospital complex for a procedure related to his cancer. We parked in a massive ramp and because of my mind being in a constant state of worry with everything going on, I forgot to make note of what level I parked on. He was having an hours-long procedure and I was told to come back later in the day. I went back to the ramp and had no idea where I was parked. I can’t wrap my brain around the design of a parking lot, so I was really lost. I got off of the ramp elevator and started walking (and mind you it’s freezing cold besides). I pressed the key fob to hopefully hear my car beep. Finally, I heard it and walked towards the sound. I could see my car in a level below me but I couldn’t figure out how to get to it. I couldn’t walk down from where I was because walking down eventually brought me higher. So I had to walk up the ramp and then was eventually able to wind around and reach my car. What a nightmare! As I was driving out, I noticed the cashiers had CCTV. They must have had some real entertainment watching me wander around. After that fiasco, I ALWAYS make note of where I am parking. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/150 "2021-04-27T14:50:19Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > After that fiasco, I ALWAYS make note of where I am parking. That sounds…nightmarish. So sorry to hear. I guess it’s a good idea to associate different parking levels with uncommon words and/or colors. For example, in the parking garage of a children’s hospital I visited (I think it was Seattle Children’s), the parking garage floors were named for animals, e.g. elephant, giraffe, etc. So even in a stressed-out state you might remember the animal rather than “4b.” ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/151 "2021-04-27T15:20:17Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > I lost my parked car once Imagine disney world, where people fly in, rent a car, park it in the massive parking lot and then have to try to find it. A car that they are only sort of familiar with. I have heard they is a shuttle that roves the parking lot full of people desperately clicking their remotes in hopes of locating their anonymous car in the vast anonymous lot. ---
**Author:** ![TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thegunismightierthanthepen/32/2981_2.png) [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheGunIsMightierThanThePen)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/152 "2021-04-27T15:30:26Z")
After parking in a multi-level garage and getting out, I always use my phone to take a picture that encompasses my car, one of the big columns that has the level number painted on, and a small area surrounding it (to help navigate within that level). If I can remember the level number when I come back to the garage, then great, no need for the picture. But if I can’t, it’s an absolute life-saver. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/153 "2021-04-27T16:14:13Z")
> [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](#): > > After parking in a multi-level garage and getting out, I always use my phone to take a picture that encompasses my car, one of the big columns that has the level number painted on, and a small area surrounding it (to help navigate within that level). I do this too~a trick that has never failed me. If there is more than one garage in the area, like the municipal ones near our huge event center, I also take a picture of the street level door of the garage I exited from. It helps. ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/154 "2021-04-27T17:33:59Z")
I can’t do yoga. I took classes for 6mos and I was no better at the end than I was at the beginning. Plus for whatever reason it made me sweat a ton while everyone else there continued to look perfectly pulled together-- and this wasn’t Bikram yoga I’m talking about-- so ultimately I gave up. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/155 "2021-04-27T18:27:47Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > I have an extremely short attention span when being read to. I think it’s because the only time I can remember ever being read to as a child was in fifth grade, when the teacher read us a book in class over the course of a few weeks. Funny, my fifth grade teacher also read a book to us. But it was The Wizard of OZ and, believe me, we listened. This was before the movie. I still remember her explaining the word “humbug”. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/156 "2021-04-27T18:38:32Z")
This is pretty much me as well. Physically, I’m terribly inflexible and one of my super powers is sweating. Like, if someone were attempting to kidnap me on a hot summer day I’d get away because I’d sweat so much I’d slip out of their grip and slow jog away long enough the kidnapper would roll their eyes in disgust and go home. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/157 "2021-04-27T18:40:19Z")
I’m 6"4’ and I can’t play basketball either. I can’t whistle. I can’t use a yo-yo correctly. I can’t swim in a watermelon patch. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/158 "2021-04-27T18:51:59Z")
My nephew who’s an art teacher claims he can teach me how to draw like an adult, but I’m sceptical. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/159 "2021-04-27T18:56:16Z")
I have no art talent. NONE. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/160 "2021-04-27T18:58:24Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Imagine disney world, where people fly in, rent a car, park it in the massive parking lot and then have to try to find it. A car that they are only sort of familiar with. I have heard they is a shuttle that roves the parking lot full of people desperately clicking their remotes in hopes of locating their anonymous car in the vast anonymous lot. This is related to the post immediately preceding this one. At Disney **land** the different areas were named after animals. We liked to park in Z for Zebra, but we called it Zamboni. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123/161 "2021-04-27T19:58:22Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Funny, my fifth grade teacher also read a book to us. But it was The Wizard of OZ and, believe me, we listened. This was before the movie. I still remember her explaining the word “humbug”. For us it was _He Went with Marco Polo_. Got it from the library a few years back so I could read it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-fill-in-the-blank/940123.md?page=9)