# The "What The Hell?" thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 9, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173 "2014-11-09T18:41:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/21 "2014-11-10T20:31:07Z")
The week before last, the detonation of a mousetrap in the kitchen woke me up in the night. There was a little commotion for 20-30 seconds afterwards (which is perfectly normal) and then it was silent so I went back to sleep. When I got up in the morning and turned on the kitchen light, there was this mouse running slowly (for a mouse) in a two-three foot diameter circle on the kitchen floor. It didn’t seem at all concerned by my presence. So I went to the bathroom, hoping it would go away by the time I got back. I came back and it was still traveling in circles. So I grabbed the kitchen tongs and drowned it in the kitchen sink. (I hate having to do that but sometimes you’ve got to.) One of the traps was sprung but there was no mouse in it. Brain damage? A couple of years ago I saw a mouse ROLL (lenghthwise, not somersault-wise) from under the utility closet door in the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![Orionizer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orionizer/32/4442_2.png) [@Orionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orionizer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/22 "2014-11-10T20:47:17Z")
Coming out of Walmart one Sunday, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye near my car. It was [this](https://www.dropbox.com/s/qfyxesc7tzefuh1/IMG_0687.JPG?dl=0). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/23 "2014-11-10T20:50:43Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Quitter. 😛 Perzactly … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/24 "2014-11-10T21:03:15Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Perzactly … 😃 Hey, I know Arkansas worries about snow like Chris Christie worries about carbs, but a lot of the country [is in a cold snap](http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/10/us/cold-snap/index.html?hpt=hp_t1). Look, I don’t regret chopping wood. Its good honest work and when I burn it for my family on really cold days or special occasions, I can take some pride in it. Whether its the warm glow that draws the family together or the gentle scent of the wood I can’t say. Its more of a sense of pride in accomplishment than vindictiveness. I don’t think anyone adds wood to a fire thinking, “I remember that piece of wood! Burn… Burn, you Rat-Bastard…!” ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/25 "2014-11-10T23:46:29Z")
When I was a young kid, maybe 8 or 10 years old, I was riding in the family car headed west on Interstate 80, daytime. In the eastbound lanes, crossing my field of vision, was a naked, laughing man on the hood of a car that was driving at interstate speeds. My dad muttered “hippie” underneath his breath, and that settled that. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/26 "2014-11-11T00:39:20Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > When I was a young kid, maybe 8 or 10 years old, I was riding in the family car headed west on Interstate 80, daytime. In the eastbound lanes, crossing my field of vision, was a naked, laughing man on the hood of a car that was driving at interstate speeds. My dad muttered “hippie” underneath his breath, and that settled that. I was heading south on I-45 in the Houston 'burbs one day when I saw a motorcycle overtaking on the adjacent feeder road. He must have been going at least 70 in a 45 zone, but the real item of note was that the rider was standing up on top of the seat, with his arms stretched out like Jesus. Who he was likely to meet very soon, if he kept that shit up. I could go on all day about odd crap I saw when I lived in Paris, but a random event that springs to mind was the time I was walking down a sidewalk near Gare du Nord, when a set of double doors opens up in a building just ahead and a man walks out, leading a horse on a rope. The structure was definitely not a stable. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/27 "2014-11-11T03:45:17Z")
Every once in a while, my internal jukebox will start - audio hallucinations which sound exactly like a 60’s “portable record player” being played one or two rooms over. I can’t start/stop it, but sometimes I _can_ program it. Weird, but enjoyable. I know of no reason or even mechanism by which this could exist, so it qualifies as a WTH? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/28 "2014-11-11T04:19:16Z")
Early one morning on my way to work I saw a skateboarder in the middle of the street, going uphill and coming straight towards me; I swerved and he swerved. I don’t think I was asleep at the time but------ ---
**Author:** ![Sodalite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@Sodalite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sodalite)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/29 "2014-11-12T02:05:54Z")
Yesterday coming out of the Walmart. There was a guy pushing a shopping cart with what I thought were a couple of kids in it. When he got closer I saw that it was one 20-something adult woman in her pajamas. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/30 "2014-11-12T02:31:44Z")
I posted this in its own thread, but then realized it was better-suited to this thread instead of its own (I’ve asked a mod to lock that thread). _ahem_ I’m currently waiting for my current POS car to quit on me, so I hit up Craigslist to see if I can find my next POS. The first ad I spotted was advertising a 1987 Toyota Camry for $800. I read through the ad, and the seller seems to be quite upfront with the issues the car has. Then I got to the next-to-last paragraph: "Every now and again the car will stall out, (rare nowadays, but still happens sometimes) we spent about $1000-1500 dollars to repair various things it might be, and while it made the car run better, it didn’t completely solve the problem. Just needs to be restarted, and it runs again. **But I wouldn’t recommend this car to any woman who feels insecure driving**. " (bolding mine) WTH? Was this ad written by some guy over 70? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/31 "2014-11-12T06:45:04Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Hey, I know Arkansas worries about snow like Chris Christie worries about carbs, but a lot of the country [is in a cold snap](http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/10/us/cold-snap/index.html?hpt=hp_t1). > Look, I don’t regret chopping wood. Its good honest work and when I burn it for my family on really cold days or special occasions, I can take some pride in it. > Whether its the warm glow that draws the family together or the gentle scent of the wood I can’t say. > > Its more of a sense of pride in accomplishment than vindictiveness. I don’t think anyone adds wood to a fire thinking, “I remember that piece of wood! Burn… Burn, you Rat-Bastard…!” That was funny. The nippy stuff finally got here. 28° F right now & falling. 30° F the night before last. Nothing like up to the North but them folks chose to live up there. Still wearing shorts but not taking long walks either. We have a small free standing wood stove which works good but for ambiance I prefer an outdoor fire, lawn chair & a blanket with wood provided by a good hard working man such as yourself. 😃 If I have to cut the wood, I do say, “I remember that piece of wood! Burn… Burn, you Rat-Bastard…!” 😃 [Our big fluffy dog Zeus is prancing around like he has gone to heaven. Refuses to come inside.](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ak1Q4vecK-o/UHed9MrnpYI/AAAAAAAA3jc/OXOH3qSwB8o/s800/6crittercam002.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/32 "2014-11-12T07:09:44Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Spent the morning splitting wood by hand (and using a Sven saw on the rest. I don’t have a chain-saw & forgot to ask for one in the $500 thread). > I only chopped a 1/2 a ring of wood, but somehow I broke the wood handle on my sledge-hammer while driving steel wedges through chunks of wood. > > Its kind of funny to be typing here while stopping on occasion to pick another splinter of wood out of my hand. :o Sledge hammer and wedges? :eek: Why don’t you use an axe? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/33 "2014-11-12T11:51:38Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Sledge hammer and wedges? :eek: > > Why don’t you use an axe? Please let me explain. Towns near where I live will let you cart away sections of tree trunks from trees that they cut down for free (the diameter is usually 2 feet or larger and if you are lucky the height is about 2 feet also). The trick is to convert something like [this](http://fromthegarret.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/base-of-tree-trunk.jpg) into something more like [this](http://cache4.asset-cache.net/gc/147383528-chopped-fire-wood-stacked-between-trees-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=9i06X40ctPuZ2SpUcyfHFvFxfXl6iNufBUJBaLb5UkI%3D). Yes, technically you can chop that monster with an axe, but it would take hours longer and half of your wood could end up looking like saw dust and pencil shavings. What I do is to place a section of trunk flat-side down and drive a wedge through the center. The wood splits along the seems of the grain and slowly but surely you get from A to B with less work and less lost wood. That said, I’ll confess that yesterday I cheated. :eek: When I heard that the cold snap was coming, I wanted all uncut wood chopped and piled quickly, so I rented a chainsaw from Home Depot cleared it all in an hour. I really should put “Stihl Chainsaw” on my Xmas list… ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/34 "2014-11-12T13:38:42Z")
I cleared Home Depot in an hour once with my chainsaw. Good times… We should get together! ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/35 "2014-11-12T14:48:44Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Every once in a while, my internal jukebox will start - audio hallucinations which sound exactly like a 60’s “portable record player” being played one or two rooms over. > > I can’t start/stop it, but sometimes I _can_ program it. > > Weird, but enjoyable. > > I know of no reason or even mechanism by which this could exist, so it qualifies as a WTH? I’ve heard of this before, associated with deafness/tinnitus. Apparently, if the brain’s getting faint, random signals from the ears, it’ll keep trying to match it up to a recognisable pattern. Sometimes it decides that it’s music, and then won’t hear it as anything else. I heard a radio programme that discussed the problem, and invited listeners to phone in with their experiences – which was entertaining: Host: And how long have you been deaf? Caller: Pardon? ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/36 "2014-11-12T15:24:22Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > f > The trick is to convert something like [this](http://fromthegarret.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/base-of-tree-trunk.jpg) That wasn’t what I had in mind, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/37 "2014-11-13T17:40:13Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > It took _forever_ to realize that I had poured my tea into a novelty mug that played music and was activated by lifting the mug. The battery was flat, so it was playing very quietly which made it sound like it was far away, thus part of the difficulty in isolating the noise. The other part being that I am apparently very slow on the uptake. That’s what the invisible clown aliens _want_ you to think. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/38 "2014-11-13T18:55:01Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > That wasn’t what I had in mind, indeed. No problem. Wood may grow on trees, but separating it into nice pieces of firewood may take some doing. 😉 😃 ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/39 "2014-11-13T20:11:47Z")
I saw [this.](http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/theater/duck-dynasty-musical-las-vegas.html?referrer=&_r=1) ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173/40 "2014-11-19T04:37:06Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > I cleared Home Depot in an hour once with my chainsaw. Good times… We should get together! You CLEARED the place?! What did you do–run around through the store with the saw running, and point it at people? :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-what-the-hell-thread/704173.md?page=3)