Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 4]

Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 4]

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Shakermaker

11,317 posts

102 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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SpeckledJim said:
Perhaps they're in the position of having more skips than customers to hire them, and also than space to store them, so it suits them to have a good portion of them sitting idle on folks' drives.

Supplementary question: Do skips stack? If I've got 3 empty skips and space for 1, can I pile them up?

Yes, they do stack, when one arrived to our driveway during some building work the lorry had three stacked up, we got the top one and then he was off to drop the next I assume.

Again, only get charged once for it, on collection. Was a fixed price to hire the skip as I think most of the cost comes from the disposal of whatever is inside it.

SpeckledJim

31,608 posts

255 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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Shakermaker said:
SpeckledJim said:
Perhaps they're in the position of having more skips than customers to hire them, and also than space to store them, so it suits them to have a good portion of them sitting idle on folks' drives.

Supplementary question: Do skips stack? If I've got 3 empty skips and space for 1, can I pile them up?

Yes, they do stack, when one arrived to our driveway during some building work the lorry had three stacked up, we got the top one and then he was off to drop the next I assume.

Again, only get charged once for it, on collection. Was a fixed price to hire the skip as I think most of the cost comes from the disposal of whatever is inside it.
Thank you. Seems bloody obvious now.

Rostfritt

3,098 posts

153 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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Shakermaker said:
Yeah but the longer its rented for, the longer they can charge for it.

And leaving it up on a site when it doesn't look like it is needed anymore, also means they don't have to store it in the yard, and can simply take it down a day or two before they need to take it on to the next site, and then leave it up there until it is needed again somewhere else
I wouldn't want to be the one who has scaffolding on the house up all over winter because the company didn't have any new customers to move it to.

227bhp

10,203 posts

130 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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There are no rules when it comes to scaffolding hire, it's very much a grey area and played by ear.

Shakermaker

11,317 posts

102 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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What are the criteria for a book to be a "Bestseller"

As it seems to be applied to nearly every book you see on the shelf.

Ayahuasca

27,428 posts

281 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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Why will airport security remove say a pair of tweezers from your hand luggage, yet airside restaurants allow diners to use metal cutlery including knives?

Not to mention metal cutlery being provided on aircraft.



Shakermaker

11,317 posts

102 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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Ayahuasca said:
Why will airport security remove say a pair of tweezers from your hand luggage, yet airside restaurants allow diners to use metal cutlery including knives?

Not to mention metal cutlery being provided on aircraft.
They won't remove small tweezers. The knives supplied on board have a rounded end and a short "blade" section - enough to cut your Wetherspoons breakfast sausages but they aren't very sharp.

steveo3002

10,560 posts

176 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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Shakermaker said:
Ayahuasca said:
Why will airport security remove say a pair of tweezers from your hand luggage, yet airside restaurants allow diners to use metal cutlery including knives?

Not to mention metal cutlery being provided on aircraft.
They won't remove small tweezers. The knives supplied on board have a rounded end and a short "blade" section - enough to cut your Wetherspoons breakfast sausages but they aren't very sharp.
all a big pantomime to make the public feel safe , those knifes would go between someones ribs easy enough or smash a duty free bottle

Flibble

6,477 posts

183 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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Ayahuasca said:
Why will airport security remove say a pair of tweezers from your hand luggage, yet airside restaurants allow diners to use metal cutlery including knives?

Not to mention metal cutlery being provided on aircraft.
I accidentally carried a Swiss army knife into airport security once. I was allowed to carry it on to the plane in Manchester, but lost it on the way back. frown

StevieBee

12,993 posts

257 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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Shakermaker said:
What are the criteria for a book to be a "Bestseller"

As it seems to be applied to nearly every book you see on the shelf.
There's no standard by which such a term can be applied in any official capacity. The more credible and honest publishers will reference published lists by the likes of the Times, Amazon, etc. But is a very loose term and open to much abuse.

You could write a book, self publish, printing 10 copies and sell nine of them in nine different countries and claim it to be a global bestseller!

'Award Winning' is another similarly abused term. I know of one company that used to field a pub quiz team and the quizzes they won went to justify their claim of being an 'award winning company'. No-one ever questioned it!

SpeckledJim

31,608 posts

255 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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StevieBee said:
Shakermaker said:
What are the criteria for a book to be a "Bestseller"

As it seems to be applied to nearly every book you see on the shelf.
There's no standard by which such a term can be applied in any official capacity. The more credible and honest publishers will reference published lists by the likes of the Times, Amazon, etc. But is a very loose term and open to much abuse.

You could write a book, self publish, printing 10 copies and sell nine of them in nine different countries and claim it to be a global bestseller!

'Award Winning' is another similarly abused term. I know of one company that used to field a pub quiz team and the quizzes they won went to justify their claim of being an 'award winning company'. No-one ever questioned it!
Back in the day my dad, tongue in cheek, sold MG-TFs under the label 'voted the most beautiful sports car in the world'.

Nobody ever challenged it, but he was looking forward to explaining that the voters in question were himself and his brother.

Shakermaker

11,317 posts

102 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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steveo3002 said:
all a big pantomime to make the public feel safe , those knifes would go between someones ribs easy enough or smash a duty free bottle
Mostly correct there, yes. Plenty of opportunities arise where you could improvise if you wanted to do so. I'd be of the opinion it generally works quite well though, compared to the standards applied in other countries I've been to. Ever notice all those people who get drunk on board and start fighting still only resort to hitting each other? The prices of duty free are enough to put you off wanting to risk damaging it just for a fight..

StevieBee

12,993 posts

257 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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Shakermaker said:
steveo3002 said:
all a big pantomime to make the public feel safe , those knifes would go between someones ribs easy enough or smash a duty free bottle
Mostly correct there, yes. Plenty of opportunities arise where you could improvise if you wanted to do so. I'd be of the opinion it generally works quite well though, compared to the standards applied in other countries I've been to. Ever notice all those people who get drunk on board and start fighting still only resort to hitting each other? The prices of duty free are enough to put you off wanting to risk damaging it just for a fight..
I think it was at Edinburgh airport where they had an perspex amnesty box 'loaded' with examples of things you couldn't take through; amount the various bottles and jars of liquids and the like was AK47! I wonder how many people got to the airport, saw that and thought 'doh, I've only gone and packed my rifle in my hand language!?"

Frank7

6,619 posts

89 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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Flibble said:
I accidentally carried a Swiss army knife into airport security once. I was allowed to carry it on to the plane in Manchester, but lost it on the way back. frown
The variations between security people around the world is amazing, at La Guardia airport, New York City once, I was taking an internal flight to Naples FL.
Just before security, there was a young uniformed guy, shouting intermittently, “Remove EVERYTHING from your pockets folks, money, keys, cell phones, wallets, plus belts and shoes.”
I’d already complied, right down to my TFL Oyster card, my British change was in my wife’s make up bag.
As I went through, the buzzer sounded, so this guy waved the magic wand over me, then said, “Okay pal, try again.”
Again with the buzzer, this time he asked permission to pat me down, I agreed.
After feeling all over my shirt, trousers, socks, etc., he tried the breast pocket of my shirt again, “What’s in here pal?”
It turned out to be the taxi CC receipt from the taxi we’d taken from JFK to La Guardia for the Naples leg, a thin, paper CC receipt, not a card type of size.
“What part of EVERYTHING don’t you understand pal?” he said.
I felt like saying, “I’m not your pal, you c**t”, and grabbing his throat, but I’m not that dumb, so I just mumbled “Sorry.” and moved to the conveyor to get my stuff, but I still can’t believe it was that CC slip that set the buzzer off.

Shakermaker

11,317 posts

102 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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Frank7 said:
The variations between security people around the world is amazing, at La Guardia airport, New York City once, I was taking an internal flight to Naples FL.
Just before security, there was a young uniformed guy, shouting intermittently, “Remove EVERYTHING from your pockets folks, money, keys, cell phones, wallets, plus belts and shoes.”
I’d already complied, right down to my TFL Oyster card, my British change was in my wife’s make up bag.
As I went through, the buzzer sounded, so this guy waved the magic wand over me, then said, “Okay pal, try again.”
Again with the buzzer, this time he asked permission to pat me down, I agreed.
After feeling all over my shirt, trousers, socks, etc., he tried the breast pocket of my shirt again, “What’s in here pal?”
It turned out to be the taxi CC receipt from the taxi we’d taken from JFK to La Guardia for the Naples leg, a thin, paper CC receipt, not a card type of size.
“What part of EVERYTHING don’t you understand pal?” he said.
I felt like saying, “I’m not your pal, you c**t”, and grabbing his throat, but I’m not that dumb, so I just mumbled “Sorry.” and moved to the conveyor to get my stuff, but I still can’t believe it was that CC slip that set the buzzer off.
It won't have been a piece of paper that set the scanner off. Either you had some metal on you that you didnt' know about, or the machine/operator picked you as a "random" search - mandated in the UK but not sure in the US, or the machine was faulty.

Clockwork Cupcake

74,919 posts

274 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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Frank7 said:
“What part of EVERYTHING don’t you understand pal?” he said.
"Fair enough", you replied, and started undressing. smile

gregs656

10,949 posts

183 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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Johnspex said:
Two questions;
Why do people say things like 'firing some movie soundtracks' when they mean playing, why do people say 'a good steer' be use that suggests it is only good at steering, it doesn't brake or accelerate well, just steers, why do people say 'he can pedal a car' when they mean a good driver.
It's not because they think it makes them sound cool is it?
They do it for exactly the same reason you have just used 'cool' - by which I am sure you don't mean 'cold'.

Clearly you are able to use slang, I am sure you also use idioms, so why are you surprised there are other phrases and words in our language that don't follow logic or make literal sense?

Roofless Toothless

5,760 posts

134 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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There's a fair bit of titanium inside my surgically reconstructed face. This has been known to set off walk through metal detectors at airports. Explaining this to the security staff is always entertaining.

V8mate

45,899 posts

191 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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Roofless Toothless said:
There's a fair bit of titanium inside my surgically reconstructed face. This has been known to set off walk through metal detectors at airports. Explaining this to the security staff is always entertaining.
Roofless, recently, caught on airport CCTV...


alorotom

11,973 posts

189 months

Wednesday 28th November 2018
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Flibble said:
Ayahuasca said:
Why will airport security remove say a pair of tweezers from your hand luggage, yet airside restaurants allow diners to use metal cutlery including knives?

Not to mention metal cutlery being provided on aircraft.
I accidentally carried a Swiss army knife into airport security once. I was allowed to carry it on to the plane in Manchester, but lost it on the way back. frown
I used to have a cutlery set I kept in my works suitcase that I flew up and down the UK with and to Thailand and back multiple times over the space of 12mths and then randomly on one flight back up to Newcastle from Heathrow they confiscated everything but my spoons and refused to believe I’d passed through so many airport securities previously (including theirs) without issue!

I replaced the cutlery set and haven’t been stopped since either! Ludicrous!
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