# Random thoughts **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 24, 2019, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234 "2019-10-24T13:30:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/1 "2019-10-24T13:30:06Z")
Please feel free to post your own mental detritus here. What is up with people painting around switchplates? I can’t understand why someone would put all the effort into painting a room to make it look nicer, but not take two minutes to remove and replace that little piece of plastic. In almost every place I’ve ever lived, I’ve found that someone didn’t take the switchplate off. Do people not _know_ that they come off? Are they really just that lazy? Maybe they didn’t own any screwdrivers or butter knives. The other day, I looked down and saw that the hem of my dress was folded up. So I kissed it and folded it back down, because that means I’ll get a new dress. Then I started wondering if I’m the only one who knows that old superstition. Possibly, because my new dress hasn’t shown up yet. I think I invented a new way to counter procrastination at work. [“But you’re fucking off right now.” “Yes, yes, never mind that.”] Anyway, the deal is, you do one easy task, then a harder one. Then another easy one, then a hard one, etc. So it’s a little easier to get started, and some of that stuff I’ve been pushing away gets done. Plus it turns out the hard stuff wasn’t that bad. One time my son told me that whenever his kindergarten teacher wanted the class to sit down and pay attention, she’d play the song [Celebration](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwjfUFyY6M) by Kool & the Gang. That seems like a really poor choice to me! Now every time I hear that song I picture a kindergarten teacher getting all flustered while a bunch of little kids get down and shake their booties. 😃 ---
**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:** [October 24, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/2 "2019-10-24T15:49:28Z")
My wife is convinced that if I remove that switch plate, the electricity will jump out and bite her. But basically I agree with you. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/3 "2019-10-24T15:51:58Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > What is up with people painting around switchplates? I can’t understand why someone would put all the effort into painting a room to make it look nicer, but not take two minutes to remove and replace that little piece of plastic. In almost every place I’ve ever lived, I’ve found that someone didn’t take the switchplate off. Do people not _know_ that they come off? Are they really just that lazy? Maybe they didn’t own any screwdrivers or butter knives. Me Ex painted over switches and outlets. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/4 "2019-10-24T15:52:27Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > but not take two minutes to remove and replace that little piece of plastic. :eek: “little piece of plastic”??? Heh, one of my eccentricities involves switch plates. Over the decades I’ve replaced all the generic plastic switch plate covers with works of art. I have mosaic switch plates, stainless steel switch plates, hand painted switch plates, etc. Some of the coolest art pieces in our home are covering switches.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/5 "2019-10-24T15:55:09Z")
I hang out with the kind of people who just paint the switch plate. Once I had a friend help paint the living room of a house I was selling. I took it on myself to remove all the cover plates and she just ran the roller right over the switches. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/6 "2019-10-24T16:16:48Z")
You want detritus? You got it: I was just working a Sudoku puzzle and tabulating which numbers I needed for a particular column; let’s see–1, 2, 5, and my brain yells out THREE, SIR! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/7 "2019-10-24T16:37:25Z")
Random thought: I’ve never done a Sudoku puzzle. In fact, I do not really know what they are. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/8 "2019-10-24T16:41:55Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Me Ex painted over switches and outlets. Tis you a Pirate, Be? Arrrgh! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/9 "2019-10-24T17:37:36Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Some of the coolest art pieces in our home are covering switches.🙂 I think that’s great! We’re nearing the end of our bathroom remodel and I was thinking of replacing those switchplates with the nice kind, but then we’re going to have this deluxe lavatory attached to this quotidian house. Obviously that would be simply dreadful. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/10 "2019-10-24T17:49:53Z")
I was in a crowd. Not my crowd. Just a random group of people walking into the same medical building. It seemed like we’d grow close and become friends on the elevator. Small talk was bantering about.But nope, I went left and every single one if those peeps went right. Just like highschool. All my friends got the cool teacher for biology and I got the old hag bitch who gave homework every night. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/11 "2019-10-24T18:00:44Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I think that’s great! We’re nearing the end of our bathroom remodel and I was thinking of replacing those switchplates with the nice kind, but then we’re going to have this deluxe lavatory attached to this quotidian house. Obviously that would be simply dreadful. 😃 Maybe you could have a quotidian house attached to a deluxe lavatory, instead. Would that work better? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/12 "2019-10-24T18:06:05Z")
What is the purpose of super-proprietary cord connectors if you are not going to then sell the cords separately? This message brought to you by my Norelco hair clippers with the insane double-tipped charger cord connector and the missing cord. I mean, I get the whole iPhone scam where people lose the cords and end up spending a fortune to get new ones. But I can’t find a place to even buy this ridiculous thing. So what was the point of tooling up a factory to make something completely different than every other connector on the market? Oh, and switch plates? I am totally with the “paint over it” crowd. If you are not going to use something decorative, then make it match the dang wall. That’s why they made it white in the first place. But don’t get paint on the switch, that makes it stick. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/13 "2019-10-24T18:43:39Z")
Why is it that all electrical outdoor tools (mowers, leaf blowers,and tools like drills) now have a two-pronged plug when any extension cord over six feet is always designed for three prongs? Why is it that when you see a road sign with the “not” symbol – a red slash in a circle – the “not” symbol fades away? And yet red stop signs show no sign of fading. And if the red fades, why use it when it make the “not” part of the sign unreadable? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/14 "2019-10-24T19:34:40Z")
It’s 12:34! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/15 "2019-10-24T19:38:24Z")
Never saw the “painted around switch plate” thing. It’s always been taken off or (in all the rentals I’ve lived in) painted over. Ditto outlets. I wonder how much herd thinning is going on each year of those idiots who paint over live outlets. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/16 "2019-10-24T20:45:07Z")
Obscure problem with being cheap - I’m just now getting around to watching True Blood, and I have no one with which to discuss it. I’ve taken to reading the old Cafe Society threads after I watch each episode. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/17 "2019-10-24T21:06:40Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Never saw the “painted around switch plate” thing. It’s always been taken off or (in all the rentals I’ve lived in) painted over. > > Ditto outlets. I wonder how much herd thinning is going on each year of those idiots who paint over live outlets. I didn’t realize painting over switch plates and outlets was so common until I read this thread. I thought it was just the people who used to own my house. My own random thought: In “Jail House Rock” number 47 says to number 3 “You’re the cutest jailbird I ever did see.” I assume back when Elvis wrote that song prisons were segregated by gender the same as they are now. So I can only conclude that this relationship between 47 and 3 is a same-sex prison relationship. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/18 "2019-10-24T21:29:07Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Why is it that all electrical outdoor tools (mowers, leaf blowers,and tools like drills) now have a two-pronged plug when any extension cord over six feet is always designed for three prongs? The extension cord is universal; it can accommodate two-prong and tree-prong plugs. So that makes sense. Many electrical things today are “double insulated.” This means they have two levels of insulating materials between the electrical parts (inside the device) and any parts on the outside you touch. It is not necessary for the outer chassis of these devices to be connected to ground. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2019, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/19 "2019-10-25T02:25:41Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > :eek: “little piece of plastic”??? > > Heh, one of my eccentricities involves switch plates. Over the decades I’ve replaced all the generic plastic switch plate covers with works of art. I have mosaic switch plates, stainless steel switch plates, hand painted switch plates, etc. > > Some of the coolest art pieces in our home are covering switches.🙂 One of the requirements here is that if a room is going to be painted, all the crappy plastic switch plates go in the trash and are replaced by much nicer ones. Over the years, we’ve had plates made of wood, metal, ceramic and leather. We do have one odd one in this house that I couldn’t find a replacement for, so all the ones in that room got a makeover with an antique gold hammered finish. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234/20 "2019-10-25T15:26:08Z")
Re: switch plates: I think I did the opposite of all of y’all, and replaced the [ornate metal](https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Metal-Amerock-Light-Switch-Plate-Cover-SA-Single-Ornate-L2/392480041631?hash=item5b61a22a9f:g:4WoAAOSw99JdfTg4) switch and outlet plates for plain plastic [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thoughts/842234.md?page=2)