Odd Things You Have Noticed

[Sunset]

I've found it very strange that there is no confirmation we have been visited by aliens yet. I mean billions trillions? of galaxies and who knows how many planets? c'mon where is everybody?

Like us they are all stuck in their homes due to a virus...

Actually there are only 36 planets capable of life, and they are really far away, and may have died out before we even evolved as not everyone has to start at the same time.
https://bgr.com/2020/06/15/aliens-in-milky-way-galaxy-study/

 

[Z3Dreamer]

We park our cars in the 2 car garage. Every time a contractor comes to our house they park blocking one or both bays. We have this nice driveway that leads to the front door, but NO. They have to block our garage.

Recently, a contractor came to visit and I happened to be outside. I greeted him and said "Now, I am not going to tell you where to park, but I will tell you that DW is getting ready to leave and she backs out without looking." He decided to move his truck.

So, why do they block my garage 100% of the time?

 

[target2019]

So, what thing(s) have you noticed that you either 1) don't understand or 2) never noticed and thought it odd?

I never noticed the hookup for dishwasher is from the hot side under sink. I've done this hookup twice in 25 years, and was surprised when it was mentioned in another thread. And I'm even more surprised it was not in my internal book of knowledge.

 

[braumeister]

I never noticed the hookup for dishwasher is from the hot side under sink. I've done this hookup twice in 25 years, and was surprised when it was mentioned in another thread. And I'm even more surprised it was not in my internal book of knowledge.

I always run the hot water in the sink for a few minutes before turning on the dishwasher. That lets it start washing sooner and use less power to heat the incoming water since it's already somewhat hot.

 

[REWahoo]

I always run the hot water in the sink for a few minutes before turning on the dishwasher. That lets it start washing sooner and use less power to heat the incoming water since it's already somewhat hot.

Is this actually a savings? Doesn't your water heater use the same energy you saved by heating the replaced water you removed from the tank and ran into the sink? Plus that water was wasted?

 

[braumeister]

Is this actually a savings? Doesn't your water heater use the same energy you saved by heating the water you ran into the sink? Plus that water was wasted?

Most of the time it's probably useless, but we had a house once where the dishwasher took forever to get started, and we were advised to do that. It made a huge difference and just became a habit.

 

[REWahoo]

Most of the time it's probably useless, but we had a house once where the dishwasher took forever to get started, and we were advised to do that. It made a huge difference and just became a habit.

My solution to this is to set the dishwasher to run at 1:00 AM.

 

[ERD50]

Originally Posted by braumeister View Post
I always run the hot water in the sink for a few minutes before turning on the dishwasher. That lets it start washing sooner and use less power to heat the incoming water since it's already somewhat hot.

Is this actually a savings? Doesn't your water heater use the same energy you saved by heating the replaced water you removed from the tank and ran into the sink? Plus that water was wasted?

Well, on a first approximation basis, it would take the same amount of energy* either way. But the DW uses electric heating, which is typically more expensive than gas heating, if you have NG available. So it might be economical to run the water first.

The more detailed analysis is that the water heater is probably more efficient overall at heating since it is probably better insulated. But that would need to be weighed against the warm water going down the drain.

Either way, it's probably not significant, other than the time it takes for the DW to start. I do it if I think about it, our sink is close to the water heater, so it takes only a short time to get hot water there.

* it is "energy", not "power". Energy is power times time. The DW would have a lower power heater that runs longer than the higher power heater in the water heater.

-ERD50

 

[kcowan]

I’ll be the voice of dissent re the garages. Living in HCOL CA, a garage is valuable real estate! We have two large garages and have literally never parked in them. One is a workshop/home gym. The other is miscellaneous household storage. We could easily get our cars in it if we needed to, but I love walking in and seeing everything organized and spacious.

We did home swaps with a couple who had the 2-storey 2-car attached garage. The garage was packed full as was every spare space in the basement And one of the four bedrooms! We swapped for their cottage one summer, and there was a four car outbuilding completely full of stuff.

When we talked to them about it, they said their heirs would deal with it!

 

[MRG]

Oh yeah.

DW had a long lost cousin who we visited on the Florida panhandle. Its was late spring and they had 5 decorated Christmas trees up. His DW loved Christmas and always had their house decorated. [emoji16]

 

[target2019]

I never noticed the hookup for dishwasher is from the hot side under sink. I've done this hookup twice in 25 years, and was surprised when it was mentioned in another thread. And I'm even more surprised it was not in my internal book of knowledge.

I always run the hot water in the sink for a few minutes before turning on the dishwasher. That lets it start washing sooner and use less power to heat the incoming water since it's already somewhat hot.

That is an interesting suggestion and I've read it in other places. Does this solely waste water, or could it have some benefit for the hot water system? I don't think I could come up with a definitive answer. But if it makes one happy, I'd say do it!

We have a new HW system and new dishwasher. If I do as you suggest, it will waste a few gallons of water since the HW tank is within 20 feet of our sink. We keep the temp setting low on the HW tank.

There are at least 3 settings on dishwasher that also affect water temp.

 

[target2019]

My solution to this is to set the dishwasher to run at 1:00 AM.

Then you miss the free steam facial one gets when opening the dishwasher door just after it finishes.

 

[sengsational]

it's the storage of floor to ceiling, wall to wall boxes (junk) that is perplexing, and here people have basements in most houses.

Or worse: they've been paying $93/mo for seven years for a bin at one of those storage places and it's holding junk that's worth $500.

 

[JustVisitingThisPlanet]

Ever since retired I've noticed my fingernails grow twice as fast as my toe nails. Apparently it always had but just now noticing.

 

[REWahoo]

Then you miss the free steam facial one gets when opening the dishwasher door just after it finishes.

True, I miss the full effect. But the dishwasher cycle lasts 2.5 hours and I'm an early riser, so the dishes are still steaming hot when I get up. I have to let them cool for a while before I can unload (the dishes ).

On the plus side, that hot coffee mug keeps my cuppa joe warm for quite a while.

 

[JustVisitingThisPlanet]

Ever since retired have noticed that dung beetles form dog poop on grass into perfect little balls and by end of day they suck out the nutrients leaving little cylinders of ash. The cylinders lose their form by next day leaving a dark ash pile. Previously thought they were abandoned ant hills but since retiring have noticed the whole process.

 

[CRLLS]

Similar thing that has always struck me.
Near our cabin, we drive by a house on the highway and it's frankly a small pretty dumpy house.
Beside it is a GIANT boat, they kind you could take on the ocean or Great Lakes.
Yet this house is 100's of miles from the Great Lakes.

Last year I was going to take a photo, now I wish I had.

Maybe, Just maybe, they use it as guest accommodations at their otherwise small house? Or maybe he uses it as his He-Shed? Large(ish) un-seaworthy boats are cheap. One could put several on a lot and operate them as a B&B.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Ever since retired have noticed that dung beetles form dog poop on grass into perfect little balls and by end of day they suck out the nutrients leaving little cylinders of ash. The cylinders lose their form by next day leaving a dark ash pile. Previously thought they were abandoned ant hills but since retiring have noticed the whole process.

Jeez, retirement sounds great!

 

[JustVisitingThisPlanet]

^Maybe more of a stay at home COVID observation than retirement. Mix of both maybe.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Are they really driving on the wrong side of the road for the whole length of the street, or are they staying right, but then making a left turn when they get to the driveway they want? I do the latter. I make sure it is clear as I would for any left turn. It doesn't make sense for me to follow all the way around the cul de sac. In fact it seems more dangerous, especially if there are cars parked on the road. I may not see a car coming out of the driveway, or worse, a kid could come darting out between parked cars. I'd rather limit my exposure to those by only going as far as I need and making an easy left turn.

Am I missing something here?

They aren't going in a driveway, they are "turning around" and leaving. The approach the cul de sac in the right lane and eventually meander to the left side, circle around and then exit crossing back over the "center line" and back to the right side of the road (basically looking like a figure 8).

 

[John Galt III]

Many neighbors have their garage full of stuff, so they park the cars in the driveway. This goes on for years and years, the pile of stuff never goes away.

Related, is many neighbors have so many cars, etc. they cannot fit all on the driveway, so have to park the last vehicle across the end of the driveway. I think if they had a larger driveway to hold more than 3 or 4 cars, they would simply buy more cars to fill up the space.

LOL, related to that, many of my neighbors in our townhome development took to paving over their entire front yards( which I think looks horrible, but that's just my humble opinon) in order to have an extra parking space. And yes, probably more cars than people living in the residence.

 

[pacergal]

*People walking down our street whom I have never seen before. They must be expanding their walk area! Even though we have a neighborhood park nearby.
*Neighbors across the street always roll their garbage carts to our side at 530 AM, have no idea why they don't leave them on their side of the street? Maybe this belongs in the Pet Peeve thread.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

On the subject of garage parking, when we lived in San Antonio our house was on a small lot (about 1/5 an acre) and the front build line was about 20' from the street. Few people parked in the garage and since the driveways were so short, most people parked in the street. Of course, 80% of those people couldn't park well, so it was always a challenge to navigate the narrow street.

On the subject of storage places, I saw an ad for a company that will come get your stuff and store it for you. They are having a special that it's $100 OFF the first month...holy crap...how much does this service cost?!?

I am thankful that we have a HUGE garage. It's technically a three car garage but both sides are oversized and a little over 1,000 square feet in total. So, no issues parking the cars inside *and* having quite a bit of stuff in there. Thankfully, we aren't pack rats so there is lots of spare room in the garage!

 

[John Galt III]

Nothing important in this thread, just an observation. Similar vain to "what did you do today" or "rant of the day."

So, what thing(s) have you noticed that you either 1) don't understand or 2) never noticed and thought it odd?

My example is what I have noticed at home. We live on a cul-de-sac in a pretty small neighborhood. We don't get a lot of traffic, but I have noticed that when people come in (and then exit) the cul de sac, they go in the opposite direction that they should. Instead of "staying right" and completing the circle to the left (or counter clockwise) they go in the opposite side. To me, I think this is incorrect. Outside the fact that they are technically driving on the wrong side of the road, I am curious as to what human nature makes this so prevalent. The human mind is an odd, odd thing.

OK, glad you read to the end. And yes, it's a pretty slow day around the house.

I for one, would drive counterclockwise around your culdesac, the right way. I would guess those other folks are afraid hitting the mailboxes, so they drive on the left, so they can see exactly where the mailboxes are, so they don't hit them. Just a guess.

 

[aja8888]

I've found it very strange that there is no confirmation we have been visited by aliens yet. I mean billions trillions? of galaxies and who knows how many planets? c'mon where is everybody?

Did you ever consider that we HUMANS are the aliens since we are last to show up here?