The questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread VIII

[Brighteye]

Of course alcohol can dissolve fats. Ethanol has the OH group, which helps it dissolve in water, but the CH3 is lipophilic.

 

[say1988]

Has anybody ever seen a bruise spread before?

As it first appears, yes.
If it continues to spread over a long period of time, you may have a problem.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Long-chain fatty acids aren't that polar.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

What would happen to the skyscrapers of a metropolitan area such as Minneapolis if the downtown area suffered a direct strike from an EF 5 tornado with winds 250 to 300 mph (402 to 482 kph for you metric bastards )?

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

I would guess some considerable damage. Those large buildings would not be prepared for pressure differences. And projectiles launched by the tornado would shatter many windows.

 

[Cutlass]

What would happen to the skyscrapers of a metropolitan area such as Minneapolis if the downtown area suffered a direct strike from an EF 5 tornado with winds 250 to 300 mph (402 to 482 kph for you metric bastards )?

Lots of broken glass and scattered office furniture. Unlikely to be much in the way of structural damage.

 

[holy king]

Has anybody ever seen a bruise spread before? This is strange.

pretty much every bruise ever?

 

[Birdjaguar]

Does anyone know if California has any laws regarding volunteer work and overtime hours for said volunteers?

My mom works at a bingo hall for my sisters swimming club to pay off 90% of the monthly dues. The last couple of weeks, the hours have gotten longer and longer. A 6-12:45 turned into a 6-1 and then to 6-1:30. Problem is, only the 6-12:45 is counted against their monthly quota, and all the extra hours are pretty much thrown out. The club management refuses to count the hours and is telling all the 'volunteers' that if they leave before the bingo hall is closed up (if they're scheduled until 12:45) then next quarter they will have no hours and have to pay the full monthly dues (over 1000 USD)

Pretty much I'm looking for some ammo to go to the management and tell them to frak off and manage the schedule better. I help out once in a while so this affects me too. I have no intention to stay past the end of my scheduled shift and not have it count in any way.

One thing Im wondering is if the volunteers are working to get reduced monthly dues, does that count as a material reward for the work, and therefore make the volunteers employees?

Federal labor laws are pretty well defined and stiffing people for time worked is frowned upon. contact your dept of labor and ask them about your mom's situation. Generally, you cannot make people work for free and you must pay over time if they work more than 40 hours in a week. If your mom is working to to get an offset to paying dues, then she is not volunteering, but earning money at a set rate. If she must work extra hours that don't accumulate towards her dues, then she is no longer volunteering. I see all kinds of legal complications for the employer. Is he paying taxes for her work? Is she?

Call or go by (better) the labor department in your city and ask them.

http://www.dol.gov/compliance/

The DOL has all the ammo anyone needs to bring employers into line.

When Does Compensating Volunteers Turn Them Into Employees?

Last year the questions flowing from the Center’s newsletter article on this issue were surprising. We didn’t realize that so many organizations find ways to “pay” their volunteers in small, and sometimes, big ways! New guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor may help answer questions about when paying a volunteer is “too much.” In two recently issued opinion letters, the DOL has indicated that a “20% rule” seems to be in play when determining whether a volunteer should in fact be treated as an employee for Fair Labor Standard Act purposes (minimum wage, overtime, and other hour and wage regulations).

In one fact pattern involving a public agency, the DOL determined that when a public agency pays volunteer fire fighters who provide a minimum of 24 hours of volunteer service in a month, a monthly stipend to reimburse them for their expenses, but no other benefits, the fire fighters are still considered volunteers, as long as the fee is “not a substitute for compensation or tied to productivity” and does not exceed 20% of the total compensation that the agency would pay an employee for performing similar services. FLSA 2008-15 (December 18, 2008)

In the other fact pattern involving a public agency, the DOL determined that employees who also volunteered in a different capacity for their employer and were paid more than a nominal fee, should be treated as employees when volunteering because the fee they received exceeded 20% of the total compensation that would have been paid to an employee to perform similar services. Additionally, and in contrast to the first case above, the payments were not reimbursements for expenses incurred by the “volunteers.” FLSA 2008-16 (December 18, 2008)

In a third opinion letter involving a private nonprofit, the DOL underscored its position that employees can only volunteer for their employer if they do so in a capacity that is different from their regular employment duties. If the employer is volunteering in the same capacity (doing the same duties for which s/he is also paid) then the hours worked, whether “volunteered” or not, must be combined for FLSA purposes and the employee must be paid for all the service hours provided to the employer. FLSA 2008-14 (December 18, 2008)

See this also: http://www.dol.gov/whd/opinion/FLSA/2008/2008_12_18_15_FLSA.pdf

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Thanks Birdjaguar, thats exactly what I was looking for.

 

[Shekwan]

Does anyone know any good websites for finding detailed reports on terrorist and insurgent attacks in certain countries? I'm particularly interested in Colombia and Pakistan.

I tried Global Security.org which is good but I need more than one source.

 

[Lord Baal]

Has anybody ever seen a bruise spread before? This is strange.

<snip>



Seriously, of course. Bruises tend to spread for a few days, then retract. Surely you've had bruises before?

 

[Birdjaguar]

Thanks Birdjaguar, thats exactly what I was looking for.

Let me know how it turns out.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

It wont be for a while that I go to help out, but I am pretty much just going to sign off at the time I'm scheduled to and go from there.

 

[_random_]

What exactly do you need it for? You can make a pretty good substitute using just sugar and water.

It's for a science fair project comparing HFCS and sugar, so that won't work.

 

[Irish Caesar]

Is it possible to buy pure high fructose corn syrup? If so, where could I do so?

Your supermarket probably sells Karo syrup; I don't know if it's high fructose or not--you'd have to check the label.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Your supermarket probably sells Karo syrup; I don't know if it's high fructose or not--you'd have to check the label.

I dont believe Karo has HFCS.

 

[PiMan]

What currencies does the US dollar get compared to in the finance news on TV? For example, the Australian dollar is generally compared to the US dollar, the Euro, the British Pound, the Yen and the New Zealand Dollar.

 

[Ulyaoth]

Typically I remember seeing it usually compared against the Yen and Euro.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Yen, Euro, and sometimes the Pound.

EDIT -- Ive also seen the USD compared to the Chinese Yuan from time to time.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I over have 850 books in my database. Is this a bad thing?

EDIT: I divided the number of pages (program gives) by the number of books and got average of 203 pages per book. But some of them are childhood picture books and others are huge 1000-page textbooks and most of them are in between.