The Very-Many-Questions-Not-Worth-Their-Own-Thread Thread 36

[civvver]

I have no idea how the regulation is in Europe but in the US it's a new hot button issue in just the last ~10 years or so. Almost everyone buying a house now gets a test done as part of the inspection.

 

[Samez]

I know that there are test for heavy metals like lead, mercury and cadmium (usually due to industrial waste from the past) in the soil of building sites.
In Germany cellars are common, so different measures are probably take against the radon levels - there might be regulations regarding cellar windows, but TBH I am not sure about it.
Also the strontium levels due to Chernobyl fallout might be an issue.
In the area where I am living all hunted animals have to be tested for radiation.

 

[Takhisis]

They can legally order just about anything, no matter how unreasonable, unless it's extremely illegal. And even then it's hard to get it stopped, fixed, and the perpetrators dealt with.

One of my lottery fantasies is to own an apartment building that mandates that all tenants must have a cat (with proper checks to make sure they're properly cared for, of course).

So, other than a cat, what would you add in order to ensure that the tenants are properly cared for?

The company that owns the building I live in has buildings all across Canada. That's why the people staffing the 24-hour call centre have to be bilingual. You never know when your after-hours call about plumbing or some security matter could get re-routed to a call centre in Quebec. How that works is the Quebec agent would email the on-call staff here in Red Deer (or vicinity; one time the after-hours maintenance guy who came here had to come in from Innisfail and was quite peeved about it). It gets even more bizarre if said on-call person happens to be the guy who lives on the floor above me.

This sounds as if a dystopian zaibatsu had been allowed to take over Canadian residential real estate.

 

[Cutlass]

I know that there are test for heavy metals like lead, mercury and cadmium (usually due to industrial waste from the past) in the soil of building sites.
In Germany cellars are common, so different measures are probably take against the radon levels - there might be regulations regarding cellar windows, but TBH I am not sure about it.
Also the strontium levels due to Chernobyl fallout might be an issue.
In the area where I am living all hunted animals have to be tested for radiation.

What the age of the housing there? It's less of an issue with old housing, because cellars are much less air tight.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

So, other than a cat, what would you add in order to ensure that the tenants are properly cared for?

The human tenants or the feline tenants? Ideally there would be a small veterinary clinic on-site, so nobody would have an excuse that they couldn't take the cat to the vet.

This reminds me of the pitch I made to the former manager of this place when I made my appointment to see if I could get an apartment here: "We are three quiet middle-aged ladies, two of whom are cats."

This sounds as if a dystopian zaibatsu had been allowed to take over Canadian residential real estate.[/QUOTE]
I have no idea what a "zaibatsu" is, but if you mean it sounds disorganized, that's accurate. It was bizarre to hear a French-Canadian accent over the phone when I had to call the after-hours customer service agents one time. But she explained that because the company has properties in Quebec (Montreal, I think), all the agents have to be bilingual even if they don't live anywhere near Quebec.

 

[tjs282]

I have no idea what a "zaibatsu" is

I'm guessing you never read anything by William Gibson?

It's a general term for a (Japanese) industrial/financial (mega)corporation.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I'm guessing you never read anything by William Gibson?

It's a general term for a (Japanese) industrial/financial (mega)corporation.

Your guess is correct.

 

[Synobun]

I bought a bunch of birthday cards for all the birthdays I need to worry about for the next six months.

I also already filled them out. The material on two of them made it so that the ink smudged around quite a bit. It is a bit unsightly. The writing itself is fine and intact.

Is there a way to clean up the smudged ink without messing with the writing or the material of the card? A q-tip dipped in something, maybe?

 

[Gori the Grey]

I myself would just leave well enough alone in a case like that. But maybe some fellow posters will have good ideas.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I think people will care that you bought cards and handwrote in them. If they fuss about smudges then they didn't deserve the cards and you should strangle them unfriend them on Facebook.

 

[Mouthwash]

My family took in a stray puppy; anyone know the breed(s)? She's old enough to have a full set of teeth.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

IT'S BREED IS CUTE AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS

More pictures please!

 

[Broken_Erika]

Family took in a stray puppy; anyone know the breed(s)? She's old enough to have a full set of teeth.

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
*suffers brain hemorrhage from cuteness overload

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I bought a bunch of birthday cards for all the birthdays I need to worry about for the next six months.

I also already filled them out. The material on two of them made it so that the ink smudged around quite a bit. It is a bit unsightly. The writing itself is fine and intact.

Is there a way to clean up the smudged ink without messing with the writing or the material of the card? A q-tip dipped in something, maybe?

Get a duplicate card and start over. Use the old card to test various pens so you find one that won't smudge. You might need to write in pencil instead.

Family took in a stray puppy; anyone know the breed(s)? She's old enough to have a full set of teeth.

Aww...

It's some sort of terrier. I can't tell for sure what kind (there are a lot of different varieties of terriers). It might be a cross-breed, which would make it a bit harder to pinpoint. Are there any local vets who could tell?

 

[Synobun]

Ideally I'm hoping for a solution that doesn't involve "buy new cards" as the prevailing idea. Like I said, the writing itself is fine, the material of the card just made the ink not set all the way so it got smudged around a little. Get rid of the smudge = perfectly fine card + writing.

 

[Kyriakos]

Ideally I'm hoping for a solution that doesn't involve "buy new cards" as the prevailing idea. Like I said, the writing itself is fine, the material of the card just made the ink not set all the way so it got smudged around a little. Get rid of the smudge = perfectly fine card + writing.

You could consider asking Bootstoots.

 

[Takhisis]

I bought a bunch of birthday cards for all the birthdays I need to worry about for the next six months.

I also already filled them out. The material on two of them made it so that the ink smudged around quite a bit. It is a bit unsightly. The writing itself is fine and intact.

Is there a way to clean up the smudged ink without messing with the writing or the material of the card? A q-tip dipped in something, maybe?

Just leave it as it is, unless you have the time to post them down here, pay me for my awesome calligraphic services born froma lifetime of fixing homework, and then of course have them shipped back.

So leave it as it is.

Ideally I'm hoping for a solution that doesn't involve "buy new cards" as the prevailing idea. Like I said, the writing itself is fine, the material of the card just made the ink not set all the way so it got smudged around a little. Get rid of the smudge = perfectly fine card + writing.

You could consider asking Bootstoots.

I don't think Syn-chan can afford to buy a hazmat suit.

 

[Synobun]

I keep some uranium laying around just for this sort of occasion!

 

[Takhisis]

*quitely phones agent whatsisname*

 

[Kyriakos]

Best western scene ever?

Particularly from 0.40...