# Neat useful tricks that you think most people are not aware of **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 31, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959 "2013-01-31T21:35:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![JerseySwamps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@JerseySwamps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseySwamps)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/321 "2013-03-10T16:46:57Z")
> [@kjbrasda](#): > > Open a banana from the other end (not the stem end). It opens neater, less squishing, seems to leave less strings, and you still have a handle! just pinch and pull apart. This is what monkeys do and they are the experts. ---
**Author:** ![sidhechaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sidhechaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidhechaos)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/322 "2013-03-10T21:27:39Z")
> [@slitterst](#): > > Yes, it is counter-intuitive, but here’s what happens. > > A regular nail uses the point to slide between the wood fibers. At the end of the board, this leverage within the grain can cause the board to split. > > Blunt the tip and the nail will now have to sever the wood fibers, rather than sliding between them. by cutting its way through the board, the nail isn’t applying leverage to the grain. No splitting. > > Here’s my related trick. To keep a screw from splitting the end of the board, run your drill in reverse as you push the screw in. This will drill a pilot hole. Once you’re about halfway through, put the drill in forward and finish driving the screw normally. I seem to remember my uncle rubbing nails with bar soap for the same thing ---
**Author:** ![sidhechaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sidhechaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidhechaos)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/323 "2013-03-10T21:48:08Z")
> [@brainstall](#): > > Chisanbop… I never knew it had a name. I learned that finger counting thing as a kid. I don’t think I know anyone who does it, but then again, the subject doesn’t come up much. One of those usef now ul skills, like giving change by counting up, rather than trying to do the math in your head. what a trip, I was trying to find this the other day but couldn’t come up with a google string that would locate it. When I was in school they taught this at the smarmy prep school but would not allow it to be taught in standard public school:mad: (where unlike the smarmy prep school we couldn’t afford calculators) thanks for posting the name, now I can try to learn it ---
**Author:** ![sidhechaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sidhechaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidhechaos)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/324 "2013-03-10T22:03:04Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I happen to know that the distance from the end of my middle finger to the bottom of my hand (above the wrist) is exactly eight inches. I sometimes measure a piece of furniture or something using my hand this way, and as I do so I’ll give my wife a knowing look. Whereupon, she will roll her eyes. for me its 5 inches from the bird finger to base of palm, pinky from tip to second knuckle is one inch. 12 inch from wristbone to elbow, and inversely it was my ex hubby rolling his eyes, but hey it works!😃 ---
**Author:** ![sidhechaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sidhechaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidhechaos)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/325 "2013-03-10T22:22:24Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Which makes a lot more sense than leaving the alcohol out of the glass. Unless you’re a crooked bartender I don’t where the intended advice would be useful. I’ve been “drafted” more than a few times on poker nights my uncle held to play bartender, this would have been much easier to do partway into the night so they’d be nigh sober time to go home rather than literally having to fight them for their keys. old bastards fight dirty when drunk and don’t care if the other person is female and trying to look after them. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/326 "2013-03-12T06:02:57Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > I just remembered one of my favourites: if you’ve forgotten someone’s name, and are too embarrassed to ask them again, ask them how to spell it. Tip: it doesn’t work so well if their name is Joe, though. Recently heard a fantastic variation on this: bluntly say “I’m sorry, what was your name again?” They will of course be crestfallen and sigh “Joe.” but you respond with “No I meant your LAST name!” thinking you liked them enough to remember their first name, but made enough of an impression for you to want to know their last. Mine will most likely not be helpful unless you have a teenage girl in the house (or are merely insane like me) but I’m tickled I figured it out on my own. One sad night I was growing frantic at not being able to break the seal on a bottle of vodka and knew I didn’t have one of those grippy jar opener things. I set about looking for a rubber band, which is the default, right? None. Thought long and hard about things rubbery and grippy and happened to glance at my wrist holding the bottle neck. Cackled maniacally as I peeled off a Big Time Rush jelly bracelet, wrapped it around the lid and CRACK! it was cocktail hour. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/327 "2013-03-12T13:15:59Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > You may want to investigate what, exactly, this means. Some shelters are notorious for setting “adoptable” standard extremely high in order to make this claim; it’s a bit of a book-cooking maneuver. Wife used to work for the County run shelter, and we both work for the County. I’m pretty sure my info is good. They also have a very nice new building, so conditions are good. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/328 "2013-03-12T14:22:57Z")
> [@Dancer\_Flight](#): > > Pull box cutter from back pocket, thumb blade open, slice band off, allow blade to retract, return knife, dispose of band. Takes 2 seconds and much less lifting. > > Where I work, everyone has a knife on their person. > > -DF This also cuts down on thefts of lunches from the breakroom fridge. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/329 "2013-03-12T14:28:48Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > On a related note, since I had heard from you folks that HE washers tend to get musty smelling, I’ve left the door open and the spot for the soap open after using it since we bought it three years ago, and it smells as fresh as the day we bought it. That trick’s been very useful for me. 🙂 Leave the drawer where you put the detergent in open a little, too, to prevent mold from growing in there. I guess if you live in Arizona, you don’t need to do this. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/330 "2013-03-12T14:43:40Z")
Which brings to mind something they do in Asia to keep salt from clumping from the humidity inside a salt shaker: mix it in with dry grains of uncooked rice, which absorb moisture and keep the salt separated but at the same time are too large to come out the holes at the top. I don’t recall ever seeing that done in the US, where it’s probably unnecessary. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/331 "2013-03-12T15:20:17Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Which brings to mind something they do in Asia to keep salt from clumping from the humidity inside a salt shaker: mix it in with dry grains of uncooked rice, which absorb moisture and keep the salt separated but at the same time are too large to come out the holes at the top. I don’t recall ever seeing that done in the US, where it’s probably unnecessary. Actually, I’ve seen that a lot in the US, but mostly in Mom & Pop diners, old-timey ones that probably didn’t always have air conditioning. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/332 "2013-03-12T17:12:18Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Which brings to mind something they do in Asia to keep salt from clumping from the humidity inside a salt shaker: mix it in with dry grains of uncooked rice, which absorb moisture and keep the salt separated but at the same time are too large to come out the holes at the top. I don’t recall ever seeing that done in the US, where it’s probably unnecessary. It’s a fairly common practice in Louisiana, at least, though it’s less common than it used to be. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/333 "2013-03-12T17:21:36Z")
You’ll often see rice in the salt in humid locations. Although, I’ve heard it’s because the larger pieces of rice smash up the salt clumps, not because it’s absorbing the humidity. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/334 "2013-03-12T17:22:59Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Which brings to mind something they do in Asia to keep salt from clumping from the humidity inside a salt shaker: mix it in with dry grains of uncooked rice, which absorb moisture and keep the salt separated but at the same time are too large to come out the holes at the top. I don’t recall ever seeing that done in the US, where it’s probably unnecessary. I’ve lived in San Antonio, which is a very humid place, and I used this trick, plus a lot of my friends did, and it was pretty common in restaurants, too. Not only will the grains of rice absorb moisture, but they’ll break up minor salt clumps. I’ve also seen a wooden toothpick broken in half in a salt shaker, it absorbs moisture and breaks up clumps, but it looks tackier IMO. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/335 "2013-03-12T17:57:05Z")
> [@Chef\_Troy](#): > > Somewhere in the middle of a really big Word document and want to get to the beginning (or the end)? Just hit Ctrl+A to select all the text, then hit the left arrow to skip back to the space before the selected text (i.e. the beginning of the document), or the right arrow to go straight to the end. Or you could just grab the slider at the right, and pull it up to the top. Much more intuitive, and nothing to memorize. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/336 "2013-03-12T18:03:03Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Or you could just grab the slider at the right, and pull it up to the top. Much more intuitive, and nothing to memorize. Coming from the Unix/tty/vi world, I often use keyboard shortcuts in GUI programs. I’ll use the mouse if I don’t know the shortcut, but otherwise I’m using the keyboard as much as possible. ---
**Author:** ![destineal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@destineal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/destineal)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/337 "2013-03-12T18:35:57Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Think: nearly-empty bottle. Stuff left in, can’t get it out. Don’t want to throw it away because Mom might be watching and wants you to be thrifty. So you put a little water in the bottle and you can get to the last (diluted) drops of miracle elixir. Your Mom watches you shower? ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/338 "2013-03-12T19:24:30Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > This year, I’m trying to collect these “Life Hack” pictures: [https://picasaweb.google.com/102844392150412393724/201305LifeHacks](https://picasaweb.google.com/102844392150412393724/201305LifeHacks) Some seem promising, some don’t make sense. I’m trying to collect everything without discrimination. A most excellent collection there. The one about fold in tabs for the roll of foil made me think of the gas cap situation. I had owned a car for 7 years and the one time I used an old fashioned gas station, where the fellow pumps the gas for you, I watched with absolute dismay, as he put the cap in the holder built into the gas cover. Ever since I noticed all cars have such a device, so you don’t have to set the gas cap down on the car, or the pump, which means you can drive off with out it. Which I had done before. Yes, some cars have the cap connected by a plastic strap, meaning the y might have skimped on the holder. But finding out there was a built in place to put the cap blew my mind. All the more so since I just didn’t realize they have always been there. If this helps just one person my life will be complete. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/339 "2013-03-12T19:28:44Z")
And yes, I felt much like some kind of idiot at the time. Much like when I realized you can punch holes in a paint cam rim to let the paint drain back into the can, and the top still seals the can. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959/340 "2013-03-12T20:51:08Z")
> [@kjbrasda](#): > > Open a banana from the other end (not the stem end). It opens neater, less squishing, seems to leave less strings, and you still have a handle! just pinch and pull apart. I just tried this and, as I suspected, the flaw is that you start off with the little “spike” in the end , which I normally discard by leaving the last half-inch or so in the bottom of the peel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-useful-tricks-that-you-think-most-people-are-not-aware-of/648959.md?page=18)