# Painful confession time: Things you \*ought\* to know but \*don't\* **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836 "2010-04-30T06:12:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/81 "2010-05-03T00:32:05Z")
I also can’t style my hair. When I had a ‘bob’, I didn’t have three arms (one to hold the mirror) and they weren’t long enough to make it turn under in the back, whether with a round brush or a curling iron. (I have as of this time mastered the curling iron after many years of trying, though not without burning at least one finger, badly, each session.) And one side of the turned under parts always managed to flip UP in a Mary Tyler Moore kind of way.:rolleyes: You’d think an inanimate thing like hair could be beaten into submission by any dolt with enough product and a blow dryer; you would be wrong. Lookit me, exhibit A. I like to play cards, like rummy, but mostly I fake it. I have to have the rules carefully explained to me before every single game, but about the third hand I sometimes feel, yeah, I got it now! I don’t know why this is so. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/82 "2010-05-03T03:45:27Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > I’m frequently not sure how old I am. I know the date I was born and today’s date, so I can do the math when I need to… Constantly. I know I’m 36 (Right? Does the math… Right!), but I just don’t trust myself. It’s very strange. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/83 "2010-05-03T03:48:22Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > I do not know how to make copies. I’ve been taught something like four times. Nope, still can’t do it. Then again, I rarely need to make them, so I rarely use a copy machine. I’m pretty sure if I had to do it on a regular basis, I’d pick it up eventually. What is it that gets you? Other than “put paper face down on glass, hit copy,” what’s the issue? If it’s orientation (which way is up/down, which is left-right), I make one practice copy, then change the orientation if necessary… Joe ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/84 "2010-05-03T06:24:17Z")
I’ve worked in IT and communications for over 30 years and I still can’t remember the [OSI Model](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model) of the various layers common to all network protocols. > [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](#): > > I don’t understand the Coriolis effect. It’s been explained to me by teachers, peers, textbooks and websites and I just don’t get it. I’ll have a shot at this. Check out [this globe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Australia_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg) with Australia in the centre. In your mind spin this globe exactly one time around an axis running through the poles. The northern-most point of Australia must travel a greater distance to return to the same spot than the southern-most point does\*, and obviously they both do it in the same time. Travelling a greater distance in the same time is another way of saying it moves faster. Now imagine Australia is on a piece of cardboard detached from the underlying globe, and stick a pin through the centre. If the top moves faster than the bottom, what happens? It spins in place, right? This is exactly the Coriolis effect, except you replace Australia with a mass of air.\*\* - because the equator (the horizontal line just north of Australia) is longer than 30S (through the middle of Australia), which is longer than 60S (near Antarctica). \*\* and no, this has nothing whatsoever to do with which way water goes down a plug hole or a toilet. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/85 "2010-05-03T07:30:14Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > What is it that gets you? Other than “put paper face down on glass, hit copy,” what’s the issue? If it’s orientation (which way is up/down, which is left-right), I make one practice copy, then change the orientation if necessary… > > Joe Yeah, orientation. That and fancy stuff like copying on both sides of a sheet of paper. Actually, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t take me all that long to figure out how to make decent copies…I just need to do it more than once a blue moon. ---
**Author:** ![NBYodo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9a28c/32.png) [@NBYodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NBYodo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/86 "2010-05-03T12:26:10Z")
Hmm, I’m pretty sure there are plenty of things that I can’t do that I should be able to do. Ok, my knowledge about politics is beyond abysmal. I try to learn once in a while, but it just totally doesn’t interest me. right? left? no idea (ok hardly any). (mostly personal) Finances? If I have money in my accout, all’s good. My wife knows pretty much to within a few dollars how much is in her personal account at any given time. Me? No clue. At the beginning of the month? Higher chance that there’s more than at the end of the month 😉 (slight excuse for me: living in Europe, I pay electronically for most things, and many bills are direct debit, even for variable bills like my cell phone). However, my wife can’t pee in the woods :eek:. But she grew up a city girl, so that’s okay. A bit foreign to me though. I camped every summer growing up… NB ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/87 "2010-05-03T12:59:19Z")
For 2 years I thought of myself as 38 (37 & 38) so when I turned 39, it felt so weird I just said “almost 40.” Now that I’m 40 - I just don’t think about age at all. I totally stumbled through geography in high school. So I bought a set of flash cards at a teacher’s supply store and periodically make my boyfriend quiz me on states and capitals. Someday, when I feel more confident, I would like to work on world geography - but for now -I just want to not feel so stupid about the country I actually live in. (I’ve gotten pretty good, btw, but I still do some guessing about which state is Indiana and which is Missiouri - middle states are killers!!) ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/88 "2010-05-03T14:08:28Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > Forgive me for being mildly crass, but don’t the boobies get in the way? No, you scootch it down far enough that they don’t. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/89 "2010-05-03T17:07:11Z")
> [@NBYodo](#): > > … > However, my wife can’t pee in the woods :eek:. But she grew up a city girl, so that’s okay. A bit foreign to me though. I camped every summer growing up… > NB Whaddya mean, _can’t?_ It’s not like you can hold it forever. Put my down as another one who doesn’t know her own age at any given time. Well, I’m coming up on a milestone birthday (“the Big Whatever-Oh”) so I’ll probably be able to handle it for a couple of months. (I hope.) But yeah, once I was legal, I went through most of my twenties having to do the math each time. I just knew I was over 21! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Vorpal\_Blade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9de0a6/32.png) [@Vorpal\_Blade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vorpal_Blade)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/90 "2010-05-03T18:00:00Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > … On that same note, I can also not be bothered to learn when to use “whom” and when to use “who.” I use “he” and “him” to cue when to use “who” or “whom”. _Whom_ should we invite? We should invite _him_. (whom/him) _Who_ said that? _He_ said that. (who/he). And so forth… ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/91 "2010-05-03T18:53:17Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Me too. Same for magnetism and gravity. For some reason though I think I have a handle on electricity, but I’m probably fooling myself. It’s not something I necessarily ought to know, but I’ve always had a hard time understanding electricity too. Volts, amperes, watts, and ohms don’t make sense. IIRC a light bulb or similar “consumer” placed along a single circuit works like a resistor, but a series of bulbs connected via parallel circuits to the same power supply will behave differently. Or is that wrong? In college I had two terms of simplified physics geared towards liberal arts majors, and I did well during the first term which dealt mainly with physical forces. But the second term was all about electricity, and it was a struggle. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/92 "2010-05-03T21:41:51Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > I do not know how to make copies. I’ve been taught something like four times. Nope, still can’t do it. Then again, I rarely need to make them, so I rarely use a copy machine. I’m pretty sure if I had to do it on a regular basis, I’d pick it up eventually. > > Percentages. Goddamn fucking percentages. Whenever I see something labeled “30% off!” in a store, I’ll stand there for ages trying to puzzle it out before giving up in disgust and whipping out my cell phone calculator (unless it’s stupidly obvious, like 30% off of 100). I have a friend who, when faced with the same situation, will think for about five seconds, then have it completely figured out. I feel like a failure whenever I watch her do this. Can you mentally take 10% off? Can you then multiply that 10% by 3? That’s how I do it. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/93 "2010-05-03T22:08:53Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > I’m an engineer (well…I have an engineering degree) yet I couldn’t tell you any of Maxwell’s equations. > > In fact, basic physics equations (like F = ma, X = 1/2at[sup]2[/sup] + vt + x[sub]0[/sub]) are about all I can pull from memory) I had a dream about teaching somebody about Maxwell’s equations last night. I’m not sure that’s an improvement on your situation. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/94 "2010-05-03T22:47:29Z")
In spite of working in finance I’ve never understood debits and credits, although they’re fundamental to double entry accounting. Although I never really wanted to either. When I was in school nobody ever explained debits and credits except in terms of “increase in X” or “decrease in Y”. I never saw a drawback to just saying “decrease this asset account” or “increase this equity account”. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/95 "2010-05-03T23:36:42Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Can you mentally take 10% off? Can you then multiply that 10% by 3? That’s how I do it. I do this too, and also figure out 1% from there, then put the 10s (or half-10) and 1s together until I get the amount I need. I was going to explain i.e. and e.g. but **WotNot** jumped in with an excellent excellent explanation. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/96 "2010-05-04T15:48:38Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > I don’t understand health insurance. Luckily, I haven’t had any serious health issues. I’m sure some day I’ll have to figure it out, but right now the thick pamphlets about it that they hand out at work about our health plan just confuse the hell out of me. I have a license to sell health insurance, but I’d be lying if I said I understood it beyond the basics from the consumer end. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/97 "2010-05-04T15:53:28Z")
> [@BigNik](#): > > O.K., people, this is how it’s done. While facing your bra-wearer of choice, hook your right thumb in behind the pad where the eyes are, with the tip of the thumb pointing toward her head. > > Place your index finger (first two fingers, if necessary) along the outside of and parallel to the bra strap, pointing toward her right side. Pinch these softly but firmly against the thumb. > > Slide the index finger straight along against the thumb. The finger should provide enough friction to catch the outer straps and the hooks should decouple. When you feel them do that, release your index finger and the elastic should encourage the strap to fall away from the body and boobage release can now occur. > > TIP FOR NOVICES: at this point you may be tempted to do one of the following: > [ul] > [li]yell “SPROING-G-G-G-G-G”[/li][li]do a victory dance of your own devising, or [/li][li]text everyone in your address book, especially if you have a camera phone.[/li][/ul]Experience has shown the results of such to be suboptimal. > > If she’s wearing a sports bra, however, you might want to bring along a pair of scissors for the same effect. Not my technique at all. I slide my index finger–pointing down–behind the hooks. Then I pull both rows of hooks together with my thumb and middle finger from the opposite side. The clasp goes slack, and the brassiere is unhooked. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/98 "2010-05-04T16:08:49Z")
> [@Ruby Sees](#): > > I took AP calculus and aced it. I had over 100% average in my pre-calc class. Never had a problem with algebra, imaginary numbers, graphing, sin/cosine/tangent/secant/etc, square roots, base-not-ten, integration, a train leaving…, etc. > > But you give me “What percentage of 232343 is 3432?” or “what is 12% of 342343?” and I can’t do it accurately, even with a calculator. If you have no problem with algebra, just translate your questions word-for-word into equations, and solve. “What” = the unknown (x) “percent” = /100 (“per hundred”) “of” = multiplication “is” = “=” (the equals sign). So “What percentage of 232343 is 3432?” becomes “(x/100)(232343) = 3432” and “What is 12% of 342343?” becomes “x = (12/100)(342343)” ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/99 "2010-05-05T00:57:28Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > If you have no problem with algebra, just translate your questions word-for-word into equations, and solve. > “What” = the unknown (x) > “percent” = /100 (“per hundred”) > “of” = multiplication > “is” = “=” (the equals sign). > > So “What percentage of 232343 is 3432?” becomes “(x/100)(232343) = 3432” > and “What is 12% of 342343?” becomes “x = (12/100)(342343)” Yeah… that lasts in my head about … well.. 12 hours was the max. I don’t know why. It’s like teflon. I just never can remember what I’m supposed to do and how. The formula(s) just won’t stay in my brain and I have to always work it out using logic, instead of plugging in variables. I’ll sit there and be like “if 50 is 25% of 200, then how do I what % 50 is of xyz instead?” And I’ll do all sorts of dividing and comparing, trying to figure out how I got 25 from 50 and 200. It’s a total brain block. It makes NO sense to me why I can’t remember and do it accurately when I can do other formulas. Thankfully, I don’t have to find specific numbers now that I’m out of school, so getting a rough idea suffices. And I can figure out a tip, at least, as 10% is easy to figure out and to get from 10 to 15 or 20 is easy. ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836/100 "2010-05-05T19:23:44Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > I’ll have a shot at this. Check out [this globe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Australia_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg) with Australia in the centre. > > In your mind spin this globe exactly one time around an axis running through the poles. The northern-most point of Australia must travel a greater distance to return to the same spot than the southern-most point does\*, and obviously they both do it in the same time. Travelling a greater distance in the same time is another way of saying it moves faster. > > Now imagine Australia is on a piece of cardboard detached from the underlying globe, and stick a pin through the centre. If the top moves faster than the bottom, what happens? It spins in place, right? This is exactly the Coriolis effect, except you replace Australia with a mass of air.\*\* > > - because the equator (the horizontal line just north of Australia) is longer than 30S (through the middle of Australia), which is longer than 60S (near Antarctica). > > \*\* and no, this has nothing whatsoever to do with which way water goes down a plug hole or a toilet. I never understood this before, and now I do. Thank you! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painful-confession-time-things-you-ought-to-know-but-dont/537836.md?page=6)