Stupid Questions

[Warg Arry]

Assuming you mean alkaline batteries, there are three possibilities:

1. Manufacturer defect.

2. The manufacturer lied about or accidentally mislabeled the "use by" date.

3. You did something weird like wrapping them in aluminum foil before storing them.

No I only use tin foil to keep the aliens and government from reading my thoughts :P

One of the packs did have a UbD sticker over where the UbD is usually printed. I discovered that it was 6 months out of date. Bloody scammers.

But as for the rest of them. After reading- A wooden chairs post. I have a theory.

Moved December where our stuff was stored and then delivered in January. It's Summer then. So the temps were reaching 43c (109.4 f) up to 47 (116.6). The containers are suppose to be temperature regulated.

So I ruled out heat as the battery drainer. But I'm guessing inside one of those containers sitting in the sun at the peak of summer, It had to be pretty hot. and now I think about it, I assumed temperature regulated meant, keeping the contents cooler than the outside degrees.

Also I usually store my batteries along with an emergency supplies kit in the garage or at a push laundry cupboard. Since I was in hospital when we moved into the new place. My mother in law put them in the cupboard above the microwave and oven. And I haven't bothered to move them yet.

I wonder if that was the factor that lead to the mass death of my batteries.

[Warg Arry]

question:

how many batteries do you people have, that you ve got to store them or years?

i ask because i have about three spare batteries lying somewhere around and if i need them i ll probably go buy some new ones because i ve no fuckin clue where i strategically hided stored them

Lots. I have kids. and every birthday and Christmas gift and everything in between runs on batteries.

I had about 60 AA (but there was a mass death of those) but now I'm up to 8AA

8Cs

8Ds

10AAAs

9vs I buy every January to replace the ones in the smoke alarms.

To give you an idea of the battery use.

My youngest, He has for his cot, a mobile that runs on 4Ds and the remote for that is 2 AAs It shines light on the ceiling in the shape of animals and plants that rotate. Plays music and spins the stuffed animal toys hanging from it slowly around. It turns off after 10min Or I can use the remote from the door to shut it off sooner or start it up again without the kid spotting me. Handy ;)

He also has an aquarium that straps to his cot. lights up, plays music, the fish swim around and there is things he can roll and hit on the front. That uses 4Cs

Then there is the Lion in his cot that has a heart beat 2AA

The monitor 8AAs all together. His pop and play toy thing is another 4Cs

That is just his bedroom. If I went outside of his room and also into my other sons things. Well it's a very long list.

I also keep extras because we get really bad electrical storms and power outages happen a bit. While I do have a good store of candles. With two little boys, fire is just too attractive and dangerous.

[Tobin]

Good gods - 4 Ds for a mobile? does it secretly launch space shuttles too?

Granted it sounds like it has lots of nifty features - but I hope you don't have to change the batteries except for once a year.

When I was growing up, our power company was nicknamed 'Key West Flicker and Flash'. We'd always have to stock batteries and candles because it seemed like whenever a bird sat on a line it knocked the power out.

[litechick]

I keep AA and 9V for work. Lots of wireless microphones use 9V. I keep them in the fridge both for charge retention and so I know where to find them.

My work flashlight runs on one of those lithium camera batteries so I keep a few of those in the briefcase even though I don't change them very often. A bit of paranoia because if I need them they aren't necessarily going to be found at the nearest convenience store.

[Tears of Lys]

The forum has no less than 72 smileys.

Some, obviously, it would be entirely impossible to communicate without:

but does anyone ever use:

?

and whats the difference between:

:dry:

anyway?

:unsure: = sadly uncertain

:ohwell: = pathetically uncertain and/or unknowing

:dry: = sceptically uncertain/looking askance at

Why don't we have a Snoopy Happy Dance smilie?

and...

Why the LIVING HELL do I have to go back in and correct the smilies so they display properly??!!11!

[Tobin]

= sadly uncertain

= pathetically uncertain and/or unknowing

:dry: = sceptically uncertain/looking askance at

Why don't we have a Snoopy Happy Dance smilie?

and...

Why the LIVING HELL do I have to go back in and correct the smilies so they display properly??!!11!

How the Hell do we go back and correct the smilies? I seem to hit it right randomly...

[Tears of Lys]

Edit the post and put them back in and then repost.

Now answer my question: Why don't we have a Snoopy Happy Dance smilie?

[Mad Monkey]

I have a question too; how does FIFA pick the country codes for each team? I can't figure out what "SUI" means, for example. Is it an acronym or something?

[Lady Blackfish]

Why don't we have a Snoopy Happy Dance smilie?

This is a spectacular question.

[lacuna]

I have a question too; how does FIFA pick the country codes for each team? I can't figure out what "SUI" means, for example. Is it an acronym or something?

Switzerland in French = Suisse.

[Maltaran]

I have a question too; how does FIFA pick the country codes for each team? I can't figure out what "SUI" means, for example. Is it an acronym or something?

It's confusing - Switzerland is SUI, from the French name Suisse, but Germany is GER, which is based on the English name - if they used local language consistently it would be DEU.

[Mad Monkey]

Thanks, guys! So is Spain called "ESP" for the French (Spanish? German!?!) name for their country?

[Maltaran]

Thanks, guys! So is Spain called "ESP" for the French (Spanish? German!?!) name for their country?

Not German - that's Spanien.

[Ocean of Notions]

Thanks, guys! So is Spain called "ESP" for the French (Spanish? German!?!) name for their country?

Spanish. España. But that's a damn good question. Why isn't Germany DEU?

[elmis]

I got a question! :)

The backstory:

I'm going to Houston this summer and plan to drive to Austin and stay there for a few days before flying from Austin to NYC. For this drive and these few days, I want to rent a "fun american car", like a Camaro or a Mustang. Ie. something I never get to drive in Norway.

Anyone know any local places in Houston that will allow me to rent one and deliver it in Austin?

All the big companies seem to not have any such cars. :|

[Antonius Pius]

Spanish. España. But that's a damn good question. Why isn't Germany DEU?

I don't think there is a specific format for this. Then again, it may also derive from some Anglo-Franco diplomacy thing from earlier in the 20th century. "Deutschland" could be considered too hard to say, or have wrong connotations. I dunno.

At the 1998 WC I remember thinking "what the hell could Ecosse be?", until I saw it was Scotland. The French simply used the French names for every country.

[A wilding]

I don't think there is a specific format for this.

There is an international standard for 3 letter codes for countries, ISO 3166. It doesn't look as if FIFA are using it though. Perhaps because it doesn't cater for "countries" like England.

[Mme Erzulie]

Ok, I've got a proper stupid question. Taking the tube in London, I can't help but notice how uncomfortably warm and stuffy it gets the more sets of escalators you go down. Is this because you're getting closer to the earth's core, or is it due to something else?

[kungtotte]

My guess is it's because of the lack of efficient air circulation. Theoretically speaking it should get warmer the closer to the Earth's core you get, but each escalator corresponds to about what, 10 meters difference? It's not enough to notice any significant increase in temperature due to that fact alone.

[Mme Erzulie]

The deepest station is 59 metres underground. Don't know if that makes any difference.