# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 372
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7811 "2026-08-05T12:38:38Z")
OK, here is another AC adapter story, and it is a triumph! So, I am a packrat bordering on hoarder, who can never throw anything away ‘just in case I might ever need it’. We had a kitchen trash can that was motion-activated-- you wave your hand over a sensor and it opens. Nice, but it was a battery hog. Went through _lots_ of batteries. My wife found a YouTube video where a guy wired the same model of trash can with an AC adapter. She asked “can you, with your cardboard boxes full of old adapters, do this?” So I got to work. The guy said that the adapter needed to be (x) volts and (y) amps, which I had to look through many to find, but I finally found one that was close. And it worked! _Totally_ justified my saving 157 or so old adapters. Sure, it died for good maybe 6 months later (guessing the adapter was a little overpowered and eventually burned out the motor), but still, that was a good 6 months. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7812 "2026-08-05T12:56:57Z")
> [@solost](#): > > but still, that was a good 6 months. I assume for those six months you strutted around the house like a God King and demanded tribute each time the garage can lid opened. I sure would have. * * * This thread inspired me to clean out my cable bins. I tossed 4 of my 5 USB standard A-to-B cables. It feels like the end of an era. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7813 "2026-08-05T13:14:09Z")
> [@robby](#): > > I thought the quoted comment was over the top, Absolutely nothing in that post was OTT and nothing in it deserved a pitting. Just because Kroptkin was chill about it doesn’t mean it was OK to do. The right thing to do was _debate_ them there, if you thought they were exaggerating or factually wrong. > [@robby](#): > > In any event, I’ll let everyone get back to the cable discussion. Oh, please, no!!! Make it stop! ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7814 "2026-08-05T13:17:40Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > > [@robby](#): > > > > In any event, I’ll let everyone get back to the cable discussion. > > Oh, please, no!!! Make it stop! I’m tempted to start a fight somewhere just to give this thread a reason to change the subject. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7815 "2026-08-05T13:26:14Z")
I was thinking of getting back to **Filbert** , but haven’t had the \*energy just yet. Not necessarily for a fight, mind you, but to clarify my point. Which is going to require time and energy I don’t have at the moment. But the gist is, I deal a lot with people whose citizenship or nationality is subject to dispute, being an immigration attorney along the US border with Mexico. And I have some thoughts on how governments, not children whose parents are already marginalized, are to blame for problems that lead in turn to the marginalization of subsequent generations. \*Ugg. Haven’t had a good night’s sleep in a week at least (since one of my clients whose citizenship is still up for debate was summarily deported). ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7816 "2026-08-05T13:29:37Z")
You’re doing righteous work these days ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7817 "2026-08-05T13:30:39Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > > [@robby](#): > > > > I thought the quoted comment was over the top, > > Absolutely nothing in that post was OTT and nothing in it deserved a pitting. Just because Kroptkin was chill about it doesn’t mean it was OK to do. > The right thing to do was _debate_ them there, if you thought they were exaggerating or factually wrong. > > > [@robby](#): > > > > In any event, I’ll let everyone get back to the cable discussion. > > Oh, please, no!!! Make it stop! Well, I’m enjoying the cable discussion, which is directly relevant to choices i make many days. But i, also, was surprised by that pitting, because i thought kropotkin added interesting perspective to the communism discussion. And if you thought his comments were wrong, I’d have thought that thread was a fine place to debate them. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7818 "2026-08-05T13:31:55Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Well, I’m enjoying the cable discussion, which is directly relevant to choices i make many days. Aren’t you mods always telling us to use the “start new thread” option for stuff like this? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7819 "2026-08-05T13:35:12Z")
This is the pit, which has different rules. But maybe the cable discussion has drifted far enough from the cable discussion that was closed to be worth starting a new thread. It would be hard to find an appropriate start, since it started as a well-deserved pitting on the topic of cables. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7820 "2026-08-05T13:35:21Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Aren’t you mods always telling us to use the “start new thread” option for stuff like this? Speaking of threads, does anyone have a drawer filled with spare thread, string, and similar non-electronic rope-like objects? I have a rubber-band drawer, which I often use. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7821 "2026-08-05T13:36:36Z")
I’ve given up on this thread. It is not worth following, I tried to keep it cleaner at one point and got a lot of push back about that. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Speaking of threads, does anyone have a drawer filled with spare thread, string, and similar non-electronic rope-like objects? I have a rubber-band drawer, which I often use. So like Dr. Farnsworth: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Wxu7z7hfVns/hqdefault.jpg "Futurama - Let me show you some of the different lengths of wire I used") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxu7z7hfVns) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7822 "2026-08-05T13:46:36Z")
> [@CaveMike](#): > > I assume for those six months you strutted around the house like a God King and demanded tribute each time the garage can lid opened. I sure would have. More like 6 minutes. My wife wouldn’t have let me get away with 6 months of that 😏 ETA: oops, I wouldn’t have replied to that if I had read the latest couple posts first. I promise not to post to this thread any more until I have an appropriately inappropriate poster to complain about… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7823 "2026-08-05T14:11:40Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I have a rubber-band drawer I have an enormous rubber band _ball_. [![](https://i.imgur.com/Ynlmgui.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/Ynlmgui.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7824 "2026-08-05T14:14:43Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I’ve given up on this thread. It is not worth following, I tried to keep it cleaner at one point and got a lot of push back about that. I haven’t given up yet, but I do get frustrated with these multi-day digressions. I always see the excuse “but there’s currently no other activity, so 100 posts about cables aren’t a problem.” It ignores that people following the thread are constantly getting notifications of new posts and are wasting time looking for content actually of interest to them. Ten posts about cables? Knock yourself out, the little sidetracks are part of the fun here. But by day 5, maybe consider it’s time for a new thread. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7825 "2026-08-05T14:21:05Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Speaking of threads, does anyone have a drawer filled with spare thread, string, and similar non-electronic rope-like objects? My mother-in-law used to joke about the person who had a bag of pieces of string, and another bag of pieces of string that were too short to save. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7826 "2026-08-05T14:21:31Z")
“And force and violence are still used to maintain the [current economic] system and to disrupt and destroy alternatives when they spring up” isn’t OTT? YMMV. That’s the part I took issue with and made a wry comment about, since the poster uses the name and avatar of a Russian anarchist. > [@MrDibble](#): > > Absolutely nothing in that post was OTT and nothing in it deserved a pitting. Just because Kroptkin was chill about it doesn’t mean it was OK to do. It was my understanding that this thread was for light pitting when you think someone says something OTT. Again, YMMV. And any cute comment I made about his username and avatar would seem to be inappropriate for a GD thread. In any event, it obviously fell flat. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7827 "2026-08-05T14:25:51Z")
That does it! I’ve had _enough!!1!_ Let’s string him up. With some combo of obsolete PC cables, saved odd bits of string, and a few old rubber bands! 🤪 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7828 "2026-08-05T14:30:03Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I have an enormous rubber band _ball_. I have an enormous rubber ball band. [![](https://i.ibb.co/35PByf6t/Gemini-Generated-Image-vx779avx779avx77.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/35PByf6t/Gemini-Generated-Image-vx779avx779avx77.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7829 "2026-08-05T14:53:23Z")
A cute comment about the user name and avatar belongs here. Although “user name fits” is usually accepted in other threads, i think? It’s certainly okay in IMHO threads. Objecting to his claim about force and violence being used to maintain crony capitalism would be relevant content for the primary thread, though. And I, for one, would tend to support Kropotkin in that claim, which doesn’t look over the top to me. But I’m the interests of avoiding a new suggestion in this thread, I’m not going to engage with that further in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/7830 "2026-08-05T15:22:26Z")
> [@robby](#): > > “And force and violence are still used to maintain the [current economic] system and to disrupt and destroy alternatives when they spring up” isn’t OTT? YMMV. [![](https://www.montypython.com/uploads/General_FOLDER_HG40_medieval%20meme_violence%20%28ParkCircus_2Oct2015%29.jpg) ](https://www.montypython.com/uploads/General_FOLDER_HG40_medieval%20meme_violence%20%28ParkCircus_2Oct2015%29.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=371) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=373)