Things that baffle you? (4 Viewers)

[TravisR]

Why families schedule holiday meals for odd times outside the regular meal schedule?

Holiday dinners in my family are usually scheduled somewhere around 2 to 3PM. I'd much rather eat around Noon or 5-6PM. With dinner at 2PM, you're starved because you don't dare eat lunch, then you gorge yourself at 2PM, only to end up hungry again at bedtime.

Is it just my family that does this? I've never understood it.

It ain't just your family and I'm just as confused as you.

 

[TJPC]

How about being baffled by the date of US Thanksgiving? You have a holiday that promotes family get togethers, followed only one month later by a very similar holiday.

Up here in formerly “British North America”, our thanksgiving is always on or near October 7th. This is over two months before Christmas.

 

[Radioman970]

White House pardons turkey. Then... there is no turkey at the WH...? (I'm a veggie so I shouldn't worry about this so much)

 

[Malcolm R]

Yeah, I've never really understood that, either. I guess it's supposed to be a celebration of the harvest, which is in the fall.

But I agree. We have Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, in quick succession, then not much of anything else until we get back to Memorial Day in May (unless you observe Valentines or St. Patrick's days). I think that's part of why it get so depressing in January/February/March. Nothing is going on and in the north it's dark and cold all the time.

 

[TJPC]

We have an artificial holiday created a few years ago call “Family Day” which gives a long weekend in February. In March school children have a week off called March Break, and of course there is a 4 Day weekend in April usually for Easter. Lastly there is the 24th of May weekend holiday (Queen Victoria’s Birthday).

 

[BobO'Link]

Why families schedule holiday meals for odd times outside the regular meal schedule?

Holiday dinners in my family are usually scheduled somewhere around 2 to 3PM. I'd much rather eat around Noon or 5-6PM. With dinner at 2PM, you're starved because you don't dare eat lunch, then you gorge yourself at 2PM, only to end up hungry again at bedtime.

Is it just my family that does this? I've never understood it.

It's not just your family. We usually do Thanksgiving dinner around 1-2pm. That's as much as anything to allow for time to get all the extra food ready (although we'll be up cooking as early as 6am) and us to have time to shower and dress before guests arrive. I'd much rather eat at a "normal" time but my wife won't allow it. It'd give time to visit after lunch and people to leave earlier (although some of my in-laws just don't know when to leave and will stay as late at 10pm).

The kids are the worst part as they eat lunch at school around 11 or so and are used to that. They're absolutely starving by 1pm, even if they had a "late" breakfast.

To help with the late start we have appetizers (sausage balls, pinwheels [cream cheese/mild peppers/dried beef/mushrooms rolled in a tortilla shell and sliced - served with salsa], pineapple cheese ball, etc.) around for grazing.

What baffles me about the whole process is:

Set a "We're serving dinner at 1pm" and people start arriving at 11am! That's exactly when we take a short break to shower. They always want to "help" but usually get in the way as they don't know where things are to go nor what's been prepared other than what they might have brought for the meal. They usually wind up sitting in the kitchen, in the way, asking every 15 minutes or so "Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help?" I really want to say "Yes, don't come so early next time!" or "Here's $5 - Go get some ice. There's a really good automated ice house over on (directions to location)." It takes at least 30 minutes to go and get back. Of course that only solves one such instance...

I have a brother-in-law who's *always* late. Set 1pm, he shows up between 1:30 and 2. Set 2pm and he's there 2:30 or so. Yet my wife insists on waiting for him and his family. I'm from the "We said 1pm, we start at 1pm." crowd. If you're late and everything's gone you have no one to blame but yourself.

 

[Malcolm R]

The popularity of "Christmas" music by artists such as Mannheim Steamroller and TransSiberian Orchestra. Nothing seems less Chrismasy to me than a bunch of screeching synthesizers, yet they sell millions of copies.

 

[MatthewA]

I am always baffled that so many people believe in fortune tellers and horoscopes.

A very funny story about this: Dionne Warwick added an "e" to the end of her last name (which used to be Warrick, as in Ruth) upon the advice of a fortune teller who said it would increase her record sales. It had the opposite effect: her record sales went back up again after she went back to the old spelling because the records with the "e" at the end of her name were tracked as a separate artist.

 

[Tony Bensley]

The following definitely falls under the baffles me category.

Last night, while playing around with my Android device, I somehow managed to get something called a Peel Remote app. The long and the short of it is that I'm now set up for our Toshiba TV, Samsung Blu-ray player, and Apple TV devices.

Ahh, the joys of midlife!

CHEERS!

P.S. Does anyone know how to remove remote setups. I accidentally started to setup for a Samsung TV which we don't have, and unfortunately, there appears to be no device removal option that I've been able to locate within the Peel remote setup.

CHEERS!

 

[Stan]

The following definitely falls under the baffles me category.

Last night, while playing around with my Android device, I somehow managed to get something called a Peel Remote app. The long and the short of it is that I'm now set up for our Toshiba TV, Samsung Blu-ray player, and Apple TV devices.

Ahh, the joys of midlife!

CHEERS!

P.S. Does anyone know how to remove remote setups. I accidentally started to setup for a Samsung TV which we don't have, and unfortunately, there appears to be no device removal option that I've been able to locate within the Peel remote setup.

CHEERS!

Reminds me of why updates to computers, my DISH receiver, etc. always have that "Please don't unplug, power-off..."

Just teasing, you're stuck in midlife just like me

Have a part-time day job this weekend, Surprisingly computer nerds are still in demand, and they actually think I know what I'm doing

 

[bmasters9]

One thing that's really baffled me lately: why the portrayers of certain characters are/were from other places than their characters are/were from.

Example: on Rizzoli & Isles, Jane Rizzoli was a detective w/the Boston Police Department, yet her portrayer (Angie Harmon) is from Highland Park, TX (in the Dallas area). Why was the character written to be a Boston detective, if the portrayer was from elsewhere?

Of course, not every character has been like this-- some have been from the same places as their portrayers (like Tony Petrocelli [Barry Newman is from Boston, and so was Tony] and his wife Maggie [Susan Howard is from Marshall, TX, and so was Maggie]).

 

[Johnny Angell]

One thing that's really baffled me lately: why the portrayers of certain characters are/were from other places than their characters are/were from.

Example: on Rizzoli & Isles, Jane Rizzoli was a detective w/the Boston Police Department, yet her portrayer (Angie Harmon) is from Highland Park, TX (in the Dallas area). Why was the character written to be a Boston detective, if the portrayer was from elsewhere?

Of course, not every character has been like this-- some have been from the same places as their portrayers (like Tony Petrocelli [Barry Newman is from Boston, and so was Tony] and his wife Maggie [Susan Howard is from Marshall, TX, and so was Maggie]).

I had no idea Harmon was from TX. I accepted her as from Boston, but then I've never been to Boston. This kind of casting is done all the time, particularly English actors portraying American. The actor portraying the autistic doctor in The Good Doctor is English.

 

[bmasters9]

I had no idea Harmon was from TX. I accepted her as from Boston, but then I've never been to Boston. This kind of casting is done all the time, particularly English actors portraying American. The actor portraying the autistic doctor in The Good Doctor is English.

That's a great point! Another example: Brian Keith's character on Hardcastle and McCormick (Judge Milton C. Hardcastle) was written to be from the fictional town of Clarence, AR (whereas Keith himself was from Bayonne, NJ).

 

[Malcolm R]

Why blu-ray cases from the UK are slightly wider/thicker than the rest of the world. U.S. releases and other discs I've got from Hong Kong and Spain are all what I would call "regular" cases, but the UK editions are slightly wider. Takes up more shelf space.

 

[Stan]

One thing that's really baffled me lately: why the portrayers of certain characters are/were from other places than their characters are/were from.

Example: on Rizzoli & Isles, Jane Rizzoli was a detective w/the Boston Police Department, yet her portrayer (Angie Harmon) is from Highland Park, TX (in the Dallas area). Why was the character written to be a Boston detective, if the portrayer was from elsewhere?

Of course, not every character has been like this-- some have been from the same places as their portrayers (like Tony Petrocelli [Barry Newman is from Boston, and so was Tony] and his wife Maggie [Susan Howard is from Marshall, TX, and so was Maggie]).

Love that show, still watching repeats. Had no idea she was from Texas, she pulls off the accent beautifully. Not being from that area, sounds totally realistic to me. Had some dealings with New Yorkers, and other "Northeast people", etc. Strange voices and really bad attitudes.

 

[TravisR]

Love that show, still watching repeats. Had no idea she was from Texas, she pulls off the accent beautifully. Not being from that area, sounds totally realistic to me. Had some dealings with New Yorkers, and other "Northeast people", etc. Strange voices and really bad attitudes.

I'm from outside of Philadelphia and there's a joke that goes "What makes a Philadelphia accent sound better?" "A Baltimore one." It's funny because it's true.

 

[TJPC]

Today I went to Target to buy “The Greatest Showman”. The special racks for it were only about half full. I took it up to the check out counter to pay for it. The clerk said to me “Everybody is buying this movie. Is it good?”!

Mind you, the paper bag she wore over her head did look like it had been there since before Christmas!

 

[Hemiram]

I wish that people would learn what a green arrow means. I get behind people all the time who stop at a left arrow, and sit and can't decide to go or not until the green arrow disappears, and then they can't go because there is oncoming traffic. And it usually happens when I'm in a hurry, so I get very..um...tense.

 

[Malcolm R]

Amen, 1000% yes.

Also, those who don't understand "right on red". It's Driver's Ed 101, people.

 

[BobO'Link]

I watched a car sit completely through a flashing amber left arrow a few days back - almost a full 60 seconds. The entire time it was safe to make the turn. Guess they don't get that flashing amber on a left indicator simply means "go ahead, just watch for oncoming traffic" until all lights start flashing amber. It's a good thing I wasn't behind them.