Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 3]

[fizz47]

1) Wherever you are in the world and are staying in a decent hotel why is Tobelerone always stocked in the Minibar. Sometimes there are other chocolates in addition but why is Tobelrone the de facto choice?

[sooperscoop]

fizz47 said:

1) Wherever you are in the world and are staying in a decent hotel why is Tobelerone always stocked in the Minibar. Sometimes there are other chocolates in addition but why is Tobelrone the de facto choice?

Toblerone is a universal food - you will find it at every supermarket or corner shop in the world, from Southend to Shanghai. You will also find Coke and Pringles. If we ever find life on Mars, they will sell Mongmonster livers, Flibbertgrowl steaks, Toblerone, Coke and Pringles.

[StevieBee]

fizz47 said:

1) Wherever you are in the world and are staying in a decent hotel why is Tobelerone always stocked in the Minibar. Sometimes there are other chocolates in addition but why is Tobelrone the de facto choice?

Packaging. The triangular design means that more products can be packed for distribution which means the unit costs is less for a product that is marketed and thus sold as a premium product at a higher margin. This also means that there are more distributional channels around the world which makes it more available.

[austinsmirk]

if its down to packaging, why don't you also get dairylea triangles in such abundance then ?

[schmunk]

austinsmirk said:

if its down to packaging, why don't you also get dairylea triangles in such abundance then ?

Because, despite their name, they're not triangles.

"Dairylea Sectors" isn't quite so catchy...

[droopsnoot]

A bloke has just been to the door, offering to buy old unwanted goods such as broken watches and the like. He's made a big point of telling us that he's carrying a load of money so he can pay for stuff straight away, given us a leaflet then come back forty minutes later to see what we could find, which was nothing.

The two things I wonder are - (a) what is the point of making such a big play of telling us how much money he's carrying, and (b) why is he wearing a logo'ed shirt for "Best of the Best"? Last time I heard of them, they did competitions to win supercars and the like, and I can't think why they'd be going door to door collecting broken watches. Logo on top left front of shirt, and big one across the back, and with the 'bb' design too.

And no, I didn't talk to him at the door and he's gone now, so I can't just ask him.

[StevieBee]

schmunk said:

austinsmirk said:

if its down to packaging, why don't you also get dairylea triangles in such abundance then ?

Because, despite their name, they're not triangles.

"Dairylea Sectors" isn't quite so catchy...

And the joy of finding some Dairylea in the minibar is several notches below that of finding some Toblorone.

[Hugo a Gogo]

how many variant spellings of Toblerone are we going to get on this thread?

[thismonkeyhere]

droopsnoot said:

A bloke has just been to the door, offering to buy old unwanted goods such as broken watches and the like. He's made a big point of telling us that he's carrying a load of money so he can pay for stuff straight away, given us a leaflet then come back forty minutes later to see what we could find, which was nothing.

The two things I wonder are - (a) what is the point of making such a big play of telling us how much money he's carrying, and (b) why is he wearing a logo'ed shirt for "Best of the Best"? Last time I heard of them, they did competitions to win supercars and the like, and I can't think why they'd be going door to door collecting broken watches. Logo on top left front of shirt, and big one across the back, and with the 'bb' design too.

And no, I didn't talk to him at the door and he's gone now, so I can't just ask him.

Just out of interest, where are you based?

[Ayahuasca]

Do tanks have horns?

[RobinOakapple]

Digital calipers. You can turn them off and then open or close them, and when you turn them on again they indicate the new measurement. How do they do that? Is there something in the strip the sensor moves over that tells them the absolute position along its length? If so, how does that work? How long could the sensor strip be before it starts to repeat?

[P-Jay]

Ayahuasca said:

Do tanks have horns?

Yes.

It was asked a while ago, maybe on one of the previous TYAWTKTAT threads.

Whilst it might seem pointless as 1) you wouldn't hear them if the tank was moving thanks to the noise they make 2) given 1) do you really need them? it's beneficial for the MOD that Tanks and smaller armoured vehicles are road legal, to be road legal they need to pass an MOT, to pass an MOT you need a horn.

[droopsnoot]

thismonkeyhere said:

Just out of interest, where are you based?

Between Crewe and Nantwich, Cheshire.

[Shaolin]

StevieBee said:

Packaging. The triangular design means that more products can be packed for distribution which means the unit costs is less for a product that is marketed and thus sold as a premium product at a higher margin.

Was this before the invention of the square?

[ChemicalChaos]

droopsnoot said:

thismonkeyhere said:

Just out of interest, where are you based?

Between Crewe and Nantwich, Cheshire.

That's interesting, so am I. I'll have to keep an eye out

[schmunk]

Shaolin said:

StevieBee said:

Packaging. The triangular design means that more products can be packed for distribution which means the unit costs is less for a product that is marketed and thus sold as a premium product at a higher margin.

Was this before the invention of the square?

You can fit two triangles in every square.

That's science.

[steveo3002]

do any animals go bald at old age like some humans do?

[P-Jay]

steveo3002 said:

do any animals go bald at old age like some humans do?

Some do, Cats (domestic and big) can, bears can and gorillas and Orangutangs go grey and 'thin'.

Humans are unique though, we can all these age-related issues because we live very, very long lives. I seem to recall average life expectancy before civilisation was around 35 which I suppose is more of a 'natural' life expectancy for homosapiens - if that was still the case you'd rarely seen baldness, grey hair or more serious age related issues.

[MissChief]

P-Jay said:

Yes.

It was asked a while ago, maybe on one of the previous TYAWTKTAT threads.

Whilst it might seem pointless as 1) you wouldn't hear them if the tank was moving thanks to the noise they make 2) given 1) do you really need them? it's beneficial for the MOD that Tanks and smaller armoured vehicles are road legal, to be road legal they need to pass an MOT, to pass an MOT you need a horn.

Didn't help this unfortunate German Learner driver though!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/g...

[Vipers]

Bearing in mind the way Chinese, Japanese, and those Middle eastern countries write, which seem to be quite big icons if you get me, do they have crosswords, just thinking that as I am standing here doing the daily paper crossword, where single letters fit in small squares.