Annoying Questions I'd Like Answered...

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 3:22 am

oh, hell, ok, thanks.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 11:51 pm

So I've heard that Pantothenic acid and niacinamide can help a person lose weight more easily. Anyone able to tell me anything about these? I'm tempted to try it out, but the place I heard about it isn't exactly a bastion of trustworthyness. But, I know people here know their shit.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 3:17 am

Those are just a couple of B vitamins (Niacinamide = B3; Pantothenic Acid = B5). The Bs are water soluble (meaning your body uses what it needs to and dumps the rest so you should replenish them frequently) and play vital roles in lots of parts of the body. As relates to weight loss, functions they assist with are metabolism of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates; and creation of thyroid hormones that regulate metabolism.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 8:26 am

So does anyone here know why someone would run their bathtub 24/7?

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 8:29 am

Thanks Maj, I picked up a B-complex vitamin and some vitamin d yesterday, we'll see if they help me shed a bit of weight and not be morose and depressed.

As for the bath tub... hiding some form of deep sea creature? creating a barrier against vampires if the tub is under a window? trying to destroy a magic artifact that must be left under running water? waterfall training their small furry pet?

I'm spent.

...ooh! recreating an accurate mini niagra falls in their tub.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 10:44 am

NP, Prak.

This is the second resident above us who does the running water thing. I got worried the first time the neighbors upstairs did it because when we moved into our apartment, the ceiling in the bathroom had some severe issues. Afraid of a leak, I called the apartment manager and let them know - they told me that they would send someone out to check/repair things. Two weeks later, the water was still running. I told the apartment manager again, and the next morning, the police showed up and that was the last thing I heard.

We've since been through a few sets of neighbors, and about a week ago, the bathtub started up again. Every now and again, they turn it off and take showers (?) - unlike the previous tenants - but for the most part, it's nearly constant running water.

RobbyPants · Post by **RobbyPants** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 12:00 pm

Broken valve? If they take a shower, they just direct the water through the shower instead of the faucet.

Are you saying it hasn't gone off, even when someone new moved in?

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 1:00 pm

Robby Pants wrote:Are you saying it hasn't gone off, even when someone new moved in?

No. It can turn off. It's actually currently off and has been for an hour or so.

I think it was two years ago when we had the constant water the first time. It's a slow trickle into a full tub - you can hear the echo of the water burbling through our ceiling - but the tub is also draining at the same time (you can hear that, too).

The same thing is happening again now, only every couple of days, the water stops, the tub drains, and the peeps upstairs take a shower (sometimes they leave the water off for a few hours). Then the water starts up again and it's just weird.

Ess joked that it was hydroponic weed cultivation, which given where we live, wouldn't surprise me one iota.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 2:30 pm

Maj wrote:So does anyone here know why someone would run their bathtub 24/7?

Spiting the person (who isn't you) who pays the water bill.

RobbyPants · Post by **RobbyPants** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 2:49 pm

You know, it actually could be that stupidly simple.

When I used to change water meters, I heard of a guy who's pipe was leaking before the meter and emptying harmlessly into the drain. He was asked about repairing it and he said he didn't care because he wasn't paying for the water that doesn't pass through the meter. That, and you'd have to pay the utility company to shut it off at the road to make the repair.

He wasn't doing it to spite anyone, but he also had no incentive to stop wasting water, which was costing the utility company (a small amount of) money.

Count Arioch the 28th · Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:25 pm

That's odd, here they would have repaired it themselves and if the guy didn't like not having water while they repaired it he'd be told to deal.

RobbyPants · Post by **RobbyPants** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:32 pm

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:That's odd, here they would have repaired it themselves and if the guy didn't like not having water while they repaired it he'd be told to deal.

I think the reason was that I was a contractor and didn't work directly for the utility company, and I think that the guy who told the story was also a contractor.

There's a good chance the utility company never found out. Legally, I don't know who owns the pipe in the house before the meter. And even if it is your pipe, there's a good chance there's something buried in the terms that you have to keep the supply lines off of the main maintained.

Who knows?

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:57 pm

For single-unit homes, the utility owns and maintains the line to the meter, but is sometimes limited in the repairs they can do (they have to jump through hoops) to get access to a closed off yard or building.

With apartments, the complex owner is responsible, but have little reason to fix things often.

With Maj's situation, I wonder if there's a leak in the wall that she's hearing diverting water from the end of the building main into the air riser. That could make for a situation where when they're using the water, it doesn't go down the riser, but into their taps, and vice versa.

In the little house we lived in (with its original walls up up in 1890) it had a similar problem with crossings between the drain vents which meant we had a situation where a sink drained into a sink, and the sewer vented outside accidentally. It was quite a mess.

-Crissa

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:46 pm

In Czech Republic, the water sits around in big iron tanks - if you're lucky. As such, if water sits around for a long time, it'll be brown with rust when you turn the water on.

-Username17

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Jul 31, 2010 1:43 pm

speaking of water, I'm house sitting for my aunt and uncle, and they were fillling their pool just before leaving, and told me to turn it off after 45 minutes or so....
...yeah, I kinda forgot about it and it got an hour and a half.

So now it's filled to the brim and overflowing. That was thursday (todays saturday in my time zone).

They get back tonight, and I haven't done anything about it because I figured it at least evaporate down below the brim by today but it hasn't.

Short of physically bailing water into the grass, what can I do?

I turned the damn faucet the wrong way. The flow was on all damned day yesterday. [/idiot]

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 10:15 pm

Maj, earlier wrote:Does anyone here know the difference between hydrocortisone and hydrocortisone acetate?

Just an FYI in case someone else should need the info: The correct answer to my question appears to be that hydrocortisone acetate sucks ass and doesn't do anything.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Wed Aug 04, 2010 10:19 pm

Well, generally, hydrocortisone is now given in such tiny amounts as to not do much of anything, anyhow.

-Crissa

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:38 am

I had originally bought the acetate because it was a much better buy, but it literally did nothing to help my son's arm. Olive oil was more effective.

Since there's not a lot of information about the differences between the two, and the doctor wasn't helpful, either, I just figured that the hydrocortisone idea was crap and didn't give it a third thought until the other day when I cleaned out my medicinal drawer and found that there was a small tube of the regular stuff in my first aid kit.

Figuring that the worst it could do was not work again, I tried it and the problem cleared up within three hours.

So regular hydrocortisone worked fine. Hydrocortisone acetate was just expensive lotion in a tube.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 2:16 am

The two shouldn't work differently. But different products often have wildly different results on individual cases, alas.

-Crissa

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Fri Aug 06, 2010 4:23 pm

Is having sex with a dragon bestiality?

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Fri Aug 06, 2010 4:25 pm

Frank thinks so.

-Crissa

Count Arioch the 28th · Fri Aug 06, 2010 5:04 pm

Maj wrote:Is having sex with a dragon bestiality?

Depends on where you stand. From the Dragon's standpoint, it's bestiality. From the human's standpoint, it's borderline rape at best. YMMV, of course.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Fri Aug 06, 2010 6:20 pm

It depends on your magical reproduction perspective. One line of reasoning is that there are viable half-dragons, which means that humans and dragons must be the same species. In that case it's just sex between two very different looking human beings.

If you start from the standpoint that despite any evidence otherwise, different fantasy races are different species, then yes, it's bestiality. So too would be getting it with an elf.

PoliteNewb · Post by **PoliteNewb** » Fri Aug 06, 2010 6:34 pm

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:
Maj wrote:Is having sex with a dragon bestiality?
Depends on where you stand. From the Dragon's standpoint, it's bestiality. From the human's standpoint, it's borderline rape at best. YMMV, of course.

I LOL'd.

It depends on how you define bestiality. I would classify it as xenophilia, personally, not bestiality, because dragons are highly intelligent beings, not animals...they just happen to be shaped differently.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Aug 06, 2010 9:45 pm

PoliteNewb wrote:
Count Arioch the 28th wrote:
Maj wrote:Is having sex with a dragon bestiality?
Depends on where you stand. From the Dragon's standpoint, it's bestiality. From the human's standpoint, it's borderline rape at best. YMMV, of course.
I LOL'd.

It depends on how you define bestiality. I would classify it as xenophilia, personally, not bestiality, because dragons are highly intelligent beings, not animals...they just happen to be shaped differently.

this is how I look at it, really, beastiality specifically refers to sexing up a different species below a certain intelligence threshold.

Although even this gets iffy, since that would make sex with zombies bestiality rather than innecrophilia...

(psuedo-edit: given that, I would say bestiality is specifically having sex with an animal, regardless of intellect or sentience, so the druid fucking their animal companion is still committing bestiality, just possibly morally neutral bestiality, fucking a dragon would either be xenophilia or dracophilia, depending on how pedantic you want to get)
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....and now you've given me an idea for an npc who is asapienphilic... You're all terrible people.