Re: LMGTFY: Random questions thread!

[Caffeinated]

Thank you KMR and Sky!

[Wondering]

Those of you non-Americans:

In your recipes, do you use teaspoons and tablespoons, even though they're not metric? Or do you use metric measurements for things that small? If so, what are they called?

I assume for cups you use metric measurements in liter fractions and multiples. But maybe not?

[Hirundo Bos]

I'm in Norway, and we use teaspoons and tablespoons. In my experience at least, they're used as approximate rather than precise measurements – I don't know their equivalent in liters at all, or any other units of volume. And you're right about cups, we don't use them. (Other than for drinking coffee and stuff.)

[Enail]

Canadians use tsp, tbsp and cups. The ones in my kitchen also have a metric measurement written on them in millilitres, but I'd say most people only really use the metric equivalent with cups and wouldn't be able to tell you offhand what a tsp or tbsp is in mL.  

But since we use a mix of metric and imperial in general, I don't know how much that relates to other places.

[Wondering]

Yeah, I was thinking that Commonwealth countries may use more standard measurements than other countries, so I'm glad to see both a Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth answer.

[Enail]

Canada is more messed up on this stuff than the other Commonwealth countries, though, so I think you still don't have a complete picture!

[Wondering]

Oh, yes. A non-cooking example, on the Alaska Highway through the Yukon and norrrrthern BC, even though the distance markers on the road are in kilometers, the addresses are all still miles: Such and Such Lodge, Mile 530, Alaska Highway.

[Wondering]

Question for those of you who don't have kids and don't want them. If you had friends (not super good friends, just friends friends) whose house you had been over to for dinner and who you had also had over for dinner at your own place, and those friends then had a kid who is now a toddler, would you be interested in going to their place for dinner currently, while the toddler is a toddler?

Asking for, um, a friend! Yeah, that's it.

[Enail]

Yes, I definitely still would, and I'm very much not a kid person. Especially b/c most of the people I know in their 30s who don't want kids are worried about losing touch with friends who have kids.

[eselle28]

Question for those of you who don't have kids and don't want them. If you had friends (not super good friends, just friends friends) whose house you had been over to for dinner and who you had also had over for dinner at your own place, and those friends then had a kid who is now a toddler, would you be interested in going to their place for dinner currently, while the toddler is a toddler?

Asking for, um, a friend! Yeah, that's it.

I have a couple of friends who that applies to. One of them actually has two toddlers, so her house is very busy. Both friendships basically consist of evenings like you describe and sending each other text messages. It's a nice way to catch up with an old friend or get to know a newer one better (in my case, I met both of the women after they were already mothers), especially for people who are already used to socializing over dinner at home rather than only going out to bars.

And, yeah, sometimes toddlers have bad days that don't coordinate with when their parents have guests. It happens. It's not that big of a deal. I have met some people who don't have children who really aren't up for that, but I think that most of them telegraph that long before their friends' children hit that age. To the extent there was some awkwardness, it was because my place and particularly my pets aren't all that suited to hosting children, but I worked out some ways with each woman where it feels like there's a reasonable amount of reciprocation.

[waxingjaney]

I wouldn't have any problem with it. There are some childfree folks who get militant and arrogant about it, but you should be able to spot them easily. They key here is that your guests are visiting, and if the kids get weird or barfy, then your guests have the freedom to leave if they want to.

[Wondering]

Thanks for the comments. This makes me feel more comfortable about offering an invitation for dinner.

I do have several friends who are anti-kid, as in they are the sorts who call parents "breeders" and make snide comments about kids every so often. So that colors my perception of any childfree people's attitude toward being around kids.

[Enail]

Oh, one thought, though. People with young kids tend to be a little more casual about said kids' bodily fluids than those without might be, so some extra care around that point would probably be appreciated (not that you can stop your kid from producing bodily fluids, but maybe don't let hands that have been in their mouths go straight into passing out food or change diapers on the dinner table (my sister tried to do that in a restaurant!?! ))

[Wondering]

No worries there! I am NOT a fan of bodily fluids, especially saliva. And I don't tell stories about puke, poop, or urine, and especially not at the dinner table. The casualness with bodily fluids comes from me just testing my blood where the heck ever. Prerequisite of being friends with me.

[waxingjaney]

I do have several friends who are anti-kid, as in they are the sorts who call parents "breeders" and make snide comments about kids every so often.

Yeah, those folks are assholes who probably use the term "crotchfruit" sincerely. I wouldn't invite them to dinner, or anything else at all.

[Werel]

Does anybody else's Word do this? Like, the past tense of "to color"? What's the problem, spellcheck, are you trying to stop me from accidentally being offensive?

[Wondering]

My version of Word doesn't do that, so I have no idea.

[sky]

Perhaps it's set to British English? Does it also have a problem with coloured?

[Kiskadee]

Is there a reasonably easy way to report very discriminatory job ads? I just ran into this shit:

"preference is causasian / born in America (not a foreigner) - sorry but its unusual to find this otherwise. "

(Good work spelling, btw. At least you're a smart rassist.)

[Werel]

Are you in the US? The EEOC website has a little tool to decide if it's a case they'd take, and their local offices are usually pretty helpful.

[Kiskadee]

I had seen that tool, but it looks like you have to demonstrate that you have personally been discriminated against. I'm white, I just think it should be taken down and the company fined or something.

I tried reporting it to the website where it was posted.

[Werel]

Ah, yeah, if it was on a job site definitely report it to the site. I might also just forward a screenshot to your local EEOC office--in case someone else files a complaint against that company, it'd be helpful to have a record of their crappiness established.

Edit: while I'm not intending to do EEOC evangelism here, they really did have my back astonishingly well when I was dealing with this junk, so even if you're as skeptical as me about government services, give it a shot.

[caliseivy]

Okay got a question:

I'm trying to get a birthday gift for my uncle, who's in his 40's, but I don't know what to get him. He's been in the military most of my life, much of that overseas so I don't know what he likes.
Is there a site or some general type of gift that's nice and appropriate for an older guy? All I can find are terrible shirts and baby stuff.

[litterature]

Okay got a question:

I'm trying to get a birthday gift for my uncle, who's in his 40's, but I don't know what to get him. He's been in the military most of my life, much of that overseas so I don't know what he likes.
Is there a site or some general type of gift that's nice and appropriate for an older guy? All I can find are terrible shirts and baby stuff.

How about a book you like? If you choose a reasonably safe book, I think it can be both generic and personal enough so it might be good as a gift for someone you don't know terribly well.


By the way, what do you think about publishing screenshots of IM convos where someone expresses bigoted opinions? Is it unethical, provided you remove all personal information? I recently ran into trouble for criticising an acquaintance who had randomly played the #notallcis card in an absurd context where gender wasn't part of the discussion at all.

[eselle28]

By the way, what do you think about publishing screenshots of IM convos where someone expresses bigoted opinions? Is it unethical, provided you remove all personal information? I recently ran into trouble for criticising an acquaintance who had randomly played the #notallcis card in an absurd context where gender wasn't part of the discussion at all.

In a large, anonymous internet setting, I think it's fine. Frankly, I think that unless people have some power to do that, it ends up being very hard for them to document abusive behavior to those who don't share their experiences.

If the situation is more along the lines of emailing a couple of friends, posting the messages on Facebook, or sharing them in a small internet community where the person will see their own words being posted and others might identify them by grammar and subject matter alone, then I think it should be considered to be the same as calling someone out by name. That doesn't mean it's never appropriate, because sometimes bad behavior needs to be disclosed so people can make decisions about how they maintain their relationships with the person in question, but I think the same ethical consideration apply and I'd say that kind of disclosure is probably best done without any attempt to anonymize.

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