# I'm an idiot... and... a genius! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 14, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916 "2011-05-14T19:02:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/41 "2011-05-16T03:42:13Z")
Wow, that _so_ beats my [cookie story](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8469117&postcount=29). Frankly, I wouldn’t’ve’d a clue what to do about a sudmaniacal dishwasher. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/42 "2011-05-16T17:56:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Wow, that _so_ beats my [cookie story](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8469117&postcount=29). Frankly, I wouldn’t’ve’d a clue what to do about a sudmaniacal dishwasher. I find that hard to believe! About the chocolate chip cookies, you couldn’t taste even a hint of dill? ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/43 "2011-05-16T19:51:48Z")
So I was reading this the other night in my office, and chortling, when my 12 yr old son asked me some version of ‘whatcha reading?’ So I read it aloud to him as best I could amidst my continuing chortles, and he thought it was the funniest thing he’d heard in some time. (This was before the ‘rogering’ comment, BTW…) Finally, I turned the kid on to some intelligent humor. Thanks to all… ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/44 "2011-05-16T19:56:22Z")
That’s awesome to hear. (did you show him The Shining trailer?) :eek: ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/45 "2011-05-16T20:15:13Z")
It’s a wonder that they don’t have “No Dishwashing Soap!” in raised relief (pardon) emblazoned somewhere conspicuous inside the dishwasher. You miss a day or two of Bachelor 101 and you’re going to pay for it in spades. Fabric softener, eh? If I ever have a son, I’ll have to include that as part of _the talk_. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/46 "2011-05-16T20:20:03Z")
The thing is, I _knew_ you don’t put dish soap in the washer. It was more a case of mistaken-identity and not double-checking. But yeh, even knowing you shouldn’t do that, I’d have never guessed the amount of suds that was produced would reach that of sit-com proportions. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/47 "2011-05-17T07:18:49Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > My idiocy is always funnier, so long as you’re not an innocent-bystander, or there’s any \*\*manslaughter \*\*involved. So far, so good on the latter. For now. > > I love The Fifth Element. **Lobohan’s** almost immediate rejoinder summoned an image no one can top. For some reason I read this as “mans laughter” which I guess is accurate in some circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/48 "2011-05-17T15:15:16Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > For some reason I read this as “mans laughter” which I guess is accurate in some circumstances. Heh. Reminds me of [this gag](http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp201/dragonwings_DL/The%20Dark%20Knight/Slaughter.jpg) in _The Dark Knight._ ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/49 "2011-05-18T03:04:04Z")
I did that once. I didn’t know about the fabric softener trick. My shame was mighty and prolonged. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/50 "2011-05-18T06:49:34Z")
I feel your pain. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/51 "2011-05-18T15:36:09Z")
Quoth **cmyk** : > [@](#): > > I find that hard to believe! About the chocolate chip cookies, you couldn’t taste even a hint of dill? They were sweet pickles. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/52 "2011-05-18T15:41:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quoth **cmyk** :They were sweet pickles. ::khaaack:: I require my pickles to be full of dill, garlic, sour, hate, and evil… with a fresh crispness. ---
**Author:** ![Didwhy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Didwhy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didwhy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/53 "2011-05-19T04:02:34Z")
I don’t have a job yet, I’m barely into high school, and the moment I saw this website and post I thought to myself this is a place alot of people I know need to see, including myself. This is insanely informative and entertaining to boot, I couldn’t ask for anything better. Next time I’m covered in bubbles, I’ll run to the fabric softener. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/54 "2011-05-19T14:18:56Z")
I stumbled upon this place 10 years ago, and it’s become my main internet hangout. Welcome aboard. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/55 "2011-05-19T14:23:35Z")
it is also one of the few online places I’ll pony up an annual subscription for. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/56 "2011-05-19T14:38:40Z")
Agreed. I spent more for a ticket to Transformers 2, and that was negative entertainment, subtracted 2 hours of my life, and I lost the ability to see the color blue because I think it broke something important in my head. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/57 "2011-05-19T14:45:14Z")
We bought our house almost nine years ago. It was built in the late '40s and still had the original kitchen, which means, of course, that there was no dishwasher. Fortunately, we made a healthy profit on the sale of our condo, so we could afford to remodel the kitchen. Well, you know those things never go as quickly as you’d like and it was a full six months before the dishwasher was installed in the almost finished kitchen. We didn’t have any dishwashing liquid, but we were so excited at the prospect of not washing dishes by hand that Mr.Q ran to the store for a new bottle. He didn’t read well. It was dish soap. We turned on the dishwasher and left the house for some reason that I’ve blocked from memory. We returned to a standing lake of vaguely soapy water in our nice, new kitchen. The water seeped between the tiles and warped the subfloor, which cracked all the tiles. The new kitchen was delayed and our budget was further exceeded as the contractors ripped out the tile and put new tile down. We are now extremely careful about what goes in the dishwasher. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/58 "2011-05-19T15:09:56Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Lol. It’s wax in a liquid suspension. Know how when you have a really greasy pan from cooking hamburgers and you squirt a bunch of dishsoap right in there and it sort of makes a bleh grey foam, instead of copious white fluffy bubbles? Too much oil (grease, wax, whatevs…hydrophilic molecules) and the surfactant action of the soap is all used up breaking up the fat into teeny tiny blobs and there’s not enough left to make fluffy bubbles. > > But yeah, chemically speaking, you’re close enough. Okay, from my recollection of chemistry, soaps have a little hydrophobic end and a hydrophilic end, and the hydrophilic part wants to hide from the water, so it burrows into the fat like an arrow. A whole bunch of them then act as wee wedges to peel fats off of dishes. Then the fats are essentially surrounded by soap molecules, much as WhyNot said. This then, makes me wonder - could the OP have alternatively dumped vegetable oil into the dishwasher to use up the foamy soap? I figure I need a back up plan for when I do this. > [@Didwhy](#): > > I don’t have a job yet, I’m barely into high school, and the moment I saw this website and post I thought to myself this is a place alot of people I know need to see, including myself. This is insanely informative and entertaining to boot, I couldn’t ask for anything better. Next time I’m covered in bubbles, I’ll run to the fabric softener. Thank you. Welcome to the dope **Didwhy** , glad to have you aboard. Are you related to **WhyNot**? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/59 "2011-05-19T17:35:02Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > We bought our house almost nine years ago. It was built in the late '40s and still had the original kitchen, which means, of course, that there was no dishwasher. Fortunately, we made a healthy profit on the sale of our condo, so we could afford to remodel the kitchen. Well, you know those things never go as quickly as you’d like and it was a full six months before the dishwasher was installed in the almost finished kitchen. We didn’t have any dishwashing liquid, but we were so excited at the prospect of not washing dishes by hand that Mr.Q ran to the store for a new bottle. > > He didn’t read well. It was dish soap. We turned on the dishwasher and left the house for some reason that I’ve blocked from memory. We returned to a standing lake of vaguely soapy water in our nice, new kitchen. The water seeped between the tiles and warped the subfloor, which cracked all the tiles. The new kitchen was delayed and our budget was further exceeded as the contractors ripped out the tile and put new tile down. We are now extremely careful about what goes in the dishwasher. Ouch! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916/60 "2011-05-19T17:40:34Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Okay, from my recollection of chemistry, soaps have a little hydrophobic end and a hydrophilic end, and the hydrophilic part wants to hide from the water, so it burrows into the fat like an arrow. A whole bunch of them then act as wee wedges to peel fats off of dishes. Then the fats are essentially surrounded by soap molecules, much as WhyNot said. Yep. And now we know way too much about soap than anyone should ever know. Let us charge ourselves so as not to abuse this knowledge to wield evil. > [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > This then, makes me wonder - could the OP have alternatively dumped vegetable oil into the dishwasher to use up the foamy soap? I figure I need a back up plan for when I do this. I’m thinking no, since the oil needs to be suspended in an emulsion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-an-idiot-and-a-genius/581916.md?page=4)