# post obscure facts about your profession! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 21, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859 "2010-01-21T16:51:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/41 "2010-01-25T18:49:37Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > As a magistrate, I can do everything a judge of our court can do _except_ marry people Really? That’s outrageous! Come on, Dopers - write to the Ohio legislature! Legalize magistrate marriage! Legalize magistrate marriage! ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/42 "2010-01-25T18:54:25Z")
I personally see about twice as much attempted worker’s comp fraud by employers than I do by workers. —WC claims adjuster ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/43 "2010-01-25T19:01:53Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Really? That’s outrageous! > > Come on, Dopers - write to the Ohio legislature! Legalize magistrate marriage! Legalize magistrate marriage! Ah. Perhaps I should rephrase to “I cannot conduct wedding ceremonies.” Also oddly enough, only two kinds of judges in Ohio can conduct wedding ceremonies: probate judges and municipal court judges. Judges of the courts of common pleas, court of claims, juvenile courts, courts of appeals and even the Supreme Court of Ohio cannot. Some judges of those courts will get one-day appointments as probate or muni judges in order to conduct ceremonies for friends or relatives. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/44 "2010-01-25T19:13:05Z")
Clients can give me information about the other party, I can confirm they’ve given me the information and followed up on it, but I cannot confirm the veracity of the information. If a custodial parent gives us an employer for the other party and we do what we need to do, and s/he then calls back to see if the money she received was from that employer all we can say is that we have a payor of funds. We send out copious amounts of information regarding tax intercepts, but cannot confirm if we receive said intercepts. If you’ve not received child support in eons and suddenly there’s $1000 on your case in April? Pretty logical. However, we cannot say anything about it, just that a payment was received. Many may not know that our judges are literally balls of gas. They fart loudly and freely and are the stankiest foofs ever. ---
**Author:** ![RunSilent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@RunSilent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RunSilent)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/45 "2010-01-25T19:13:50Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > I am in the US Navy. Onboard ships they ring bells every half hour. Noon gets 8 bells. 1230 is 1 bell. 1300 is 2 bells. Up to 8 bells for 1600 (4 P.M.) Then it starts again. They do this from revellie (sp?) (0600) to Taps (2200 or 10 P.M). Every half hour. On the half hour. All day. They also ring bells for visiting officers and dignitaries. I was on a ship one time that was hosting a gala for a bunch of Ambassadors. Each one got 8 bells. As they got on and off the ship. 8 On, 8 Off. There were about 30 ambassadors. Thats 480 @#%%! bells, plus the half hour ones too. And there are whistles too, and stingers, which is one bell after the regular 8 bells. Lets just say, I retire in 2 years, and bells will be banned from my house. When you touch my doorbell, there will be a voice, or dogs, or anything but Bells! Don’t read Poe… ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/46 "2010-01-25T19:15:57Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Ah. Perhaps I should rephrase to “I cannot conduct wedding ceremonies.” How disappointing: I was wondering what you might be able marry, if not people. ---
**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:** [January 25, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/47 "2010-01-25T19:21:43Z")
I’m currently working as a technical writer for a door manufacturer. The Lacey Act is an environmental protection act meant to prevent the use of illegally harvested or endangered plant or animal life. As a result, any piece of lumber that enters the USA from outside borders must have a written affidavit or affirmation identifying each species of wood used and where it was harvested. Okay, no big deal, right? Right. Think about particle board - where they shred scrap pieces of wood and glue them together to make a composite piece of lumber. Each scrap has to be identified and verified. One piece of door we were looking at had over 83 different species of wood used in it! And each species has to be listed and the point of origin and trail of ownership has to be traced. _Technically_, if at any point in the chain, it is discovered that some portion of the wood was illegally harvested, the government has the right to seize the wood. Up to and including if they find it installed in someone’s home. Not that they necessarily would. But they _could_. ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/48 "2010-01-25T21:30:00Z")
Maybe not as much an obscure fact, but a common misperception: Environmental consultant does not at all mean environmentalist. An environmental consultant’s job is to help clients get their projects done within the constraints of current environmental law, one hopes in as environmentally sound a manner as possible. The environmental consultant who always tries to stop projects from happening will quickly find himself with no job. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@Mister\_Owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Owl)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/49 "2010-01-25T22:07:46Z")
Land surveyors sometimes jokingly refer to Mt Rushmore as “Three Surveyors and the Other Guy.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/50 "2010-01-25T22:13:37Z")
Michael Jordan majored in geography at the University of North Carolina, which has one of the better programs in the country. No, I’m not a pro basketball player. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/51 "2010-01-25T22:21:43Z")
> [@T.Slothrop](#): > > C > I’m pretty sure that the military are allowed to bring it in because of the improbable assumption that they may someday be hanging from a tree in a parachute harness with one broken arm and need to get themselves loose. Possibly because the standard USAF survival knife was (is?) a switch blade. Looks like a big orange boy scout knife, not something a gangsta would carry. It also has a non-automatic hook blade. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/52 "2010-01-25T22:24:00Z")
> [@NicePete](#): > > The oath I took to become an attorney in Kentucky required me to swear that I had not participated in a duel, nor had I acted as a second in a duel. And? Had you? ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/53 "2010-01-27T07:28:02Z")
Wearing wigs and gowns to work is not as much fun as you might think. Your bald spot wears away the netting inside the front of the wig. Or maybe vice versa. The wig itself feels like a hat, only it clings more. It smells faintly of horse. Robes have a habit of getting caught on the handle of the water jug as you reach for a book, with disastrous results. And the sleeves have a habit of draping on the floor and underneath the casters of your chair so that when you try to stand up, catastrophe ensues. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/54 "2010-01-27T07:36:13Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > **Post obscure facts about your profession** A “ballcock” is not what you think it means. And neither is a “female connector”. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/55 "2010-01-27T08:46:40Z")
Since I’m not actually working in my field right now (well, in a museum, so close), I’ll just post about the field I study. About my field (anthropology): It was fairly instrumental in both the eugenics movement AND the argument against a biological basis for race. It’s almost as if they’re saying “hey, racism is totally cool because it’s supported by ~science~. Oh wait…just kidding, guys! It’s actually not! …Guys?” Also, depending on where you are, anthropology has four subfields: archaeology, cultural, physical, and linguistic. All four work together in some way, but you can specialize in a particular subfield. However, as I hinted above, these determinations are not the same from one place to the next. The four subfields model is followed in the States, but in Britain, archaeology is its own separate field. The most difficult subfield, IMO? Linguistics. I took one class in it and wanted to claw my face off (though to be fair the professor wasn’t that great at teaching it). I’m not the only one, though: I once read an article written by a cultural anthropologist who’d studied some linguistics writings–and he found them so difficult to read he had to take a shot of whiskey before he could even try! ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/56 "2010-01-27T18:25:13Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > Since I’m not actually working in my field right now (well, in a museum, so close), I’ll just post about the field I study. Heh, ex-anthro person here, too (physical/forensic anthropology), and I hated my graduate Cultural Linguistics seminar, which was mostly philosophy. It’s not all that unusual, at least in Oklahoma, for a farmer to turn up a bit of human skeleton when he’s plowing. The Sheriff, in turn, will often contact the Archaeology Survey to determine whether it’s prehistoric or not, seeing how 400-year-old murders are generally out of his purview. What’s the quickest way to determine whether a skeleton found in America is prehistoric? Look at the teeth. The grit from stone-ground corn generally wears down the teeth something fierce (although there are a few exceptions). Generally, by the time someone is around 35 or so, the teeth are nothing but nubbins. MUCH more interesting than my current profession, which is Corporate Drone. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/57 "2010-01-27T18:34:38Z")
Forgot to add: The skeleton is excavated, and if it _is_ determined to be prehistoric, the skeleton is offered to whatever tribe is probably most related to the remains. ---
**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:** [January 27, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/58 "2010-01-27T18:35:10Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > Heh, ex-anthro person here I now love your name more. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/59 "2010-01-27T18:50:42Z")
I’m a video game developer. One thing I think people might find interesting is that something that might seem like a useful and very easy cosmetic feature, namely loading bars, are actually REALLY hard to do right. One former employee here had a nervous breakdown while trying to implement good loading bars. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![thebenn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@thebenn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thebenn)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859/60 "2010-01-27T21:15:45Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I’m a video game developer. One thing I think people might find interesting is that something that might seem like a useful and very easy cosmetic feature, namely loading bars, are actually REALLY hard to do right. > > One former employee here had a nervous breakdown while trying to implement good loading bars. Seriously. Which development house do you work for? Have you worked on any famous games? Have you ever considered doing an “Ask the video game deveoper thread”? There would be a lot of interesting questions, I bet!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-obscure-facts-about-your-profession/525859.md?page=4)