Faux Life: Things That Happen On TV But Not In Reality

[janie jones]

4 minutes ago, Lugal said:

It reminds me of a real life case I read about where the guy claimed that his wife drowned in the bathtub, but when the detectives arrived they noticed the water had pooled on parts of her body in a way that would be consistent if he just drained the tub and did not move her to try and revive her.

I'm confused.  Isn't the fact that she wasn't moved a bigger clue that she wasn't moved to be revived?  Did the guy claim he tried to revive her in the tub, while it was draining?

[Lugal]

1 minute ago, janie jones said:

Isn't the fact that she wasn't moved a bigger clue that she wasn't moved to be revived?

That's what I meant, sorry if the wording wasn't clear.

[janie jones]

7 hours ago, Lugal said:

That's what I meant, sorry if the wording wasn't clear.

No I think I wasn't clear.  Shouldn't the fact that her body is still in the tub be a bigger clue than whatever the puddle formations are?  (I mean, I don't know what the typical reaction is when someone finds a loved one submerged in a tub, but I would think that if you're going to attempt to revive the person, you're going to drag them out of the tub, not leave them there and try to resuscitate them in the tub.  Ergo, if the person is still in the tub, I am doubtful as to whether you actually tried to revive them.)  Although I suppose the puddles are more concrete as evidence than assumptions about human behavior!

[ganesh]

9 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

The reason to turn your car radio off before turning off your car is so that when you next start the car, the battery isn't also draining into the radio.

Did you watch the latest season of Black Mirror?

[Lugal]

30 minutes ago, janie jones said:

No I think I wasn't clear.  Shouldn't the fact that her body is still in the tub be a bigger clue than whatever the puddle formations are?  (I mean, I don't know what the typical reaction is when someone finds a loved one submerged in a tub, but I would think that if you're going to attempt to revive the person, you're going to drag them out of the tub, not leave them there and try to resuscitate them in the tub.  Ergo, if the person is still in the tub, I am doubtful as to whether you actually tried to revive them.)  Although I suppose the puddles are more concrete as evidence than assumptions about human behavior!

If I recall correctly (and it's been a while since I read about this) the guy claimed he found her and tried to revive her in the tub, but the way the water puddled on and around her showed the body had not been moved after the water drained.

[shapeshifter]

15 minutes ago, ganesh said:

Did you watch the latest season of Black Mirror?

No, I haven't seen the show at all. So please do tell us all about how car radios were featured in the plot—although I bet if it's not the battery getting drained, it's either the blaring noise of the still-on radio foiling the getaway, or a nostalgic song makes someone take action, or the announcement of a serial murderer on the loose causes an exchange of looks between the two people in the car that conveys I-now-know-that-you-know-that-I-know (which is most likely something that Only Happens On TV).

[Anela]

29 minutes ago, ganesh said:

Did you watch the latest season of Black Mirror?

Are you talking about Crocodile?

[ganesh]

No, the final episode. 

[Anela]

2 minutes ago, ganesh said:

No, the final episode. 

I haven't seen that one yet. 

[ganesh]

15 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

No, I haven't seen the show at all. So please do tell us all about how car radios were featured in the plot—although I bet if it's not the battery getting drained, it's either the blaring noise of the still-on radio foiling the getaway, or a nostalgic song makes someone take action, or the announcement of a serial murderer on the loose causes an exchange of looks between the two people in the car that conveys I-now-know-that-you-know-that-I-know (which is most likely something that Only Happens On TV).

Exactly.

[Raja]

Rich kids  don't commute but get to take up a dorm room in their local state public university which they decided to attend rather than the Ivy League school at the last minute.

[2727]

The goddamned wall of a hundred photos tacked up in a murderer's lair. The subjects are either the victims or (bonus points!) the detective who's investigating. Dun, dun, dun!

[ratgirlagogo]

3 hours ago, 2727 said:

The goddamned wall of a hundred photos tacked up in a murderer's lair.

The same thing in the obsessed detective's home - usually in a "secret" room - complete with the Beautiful Mind strings and pins connecting one clue to the next.

[Shannon L.]

Apparently it's appropriate and commonplace to walk into someone's office, walk around to their side of the desk and sit on it while chatting with them.  Forget the fact that there's a chair or two right on the other side. 

[auntlada]

50 minutes ago, Shannon L. said:

Apparently it's appropriate and commonplace to walk into someone's office, walk around to their side of the desk and sit on it while chatting with them.  Forget the fact that there's a chair or two right on the other side. 

I actually have a coworker who does this to our boss. It drives us all crazy, including him. Her skirts also tend to be a little short and loose-fitting for that kind of behavior. (She's not making a pass at him or anything. She's just clueless.)

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, auntlada said:

I actually have a coworker who does this to our boss. It drives us all crazy, including him. Her skirts also tend to be a little short and loose-fitting for that kind of behavior. (She's not making a pass at him or anything. She's just clueless.)

Maybe she's watched all seasons ofThe Nanny so many times that she thinks she's living it?

[auntlada]

She does have an annoying voice.

[shapeshifter]

11 minutes ago, auntlada said:

She does have an annoying voice.

Does she have a retro hi-fashion style?

[ganesh]

3 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

Apparently it's appropriate and commonplace to walk into someone's office, walk around to their side of the desk and sit on it while chatting with them.  Forget the fact that there's a chair or two right on the other side. 

I leave my door open so people can just walk in, but no one would ever dare do that. They either lean in the door way or go sit in the chair. I have a very nice set up. Magazines laid out, and a neat Japanese cloth laid out with a lion on it!

[auntlada]

12 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Does she have a retro hi-fashion style?

Sadly, no. Her style is hard to describe, but it's not particularly stylish at all.

[Raja]

Only on TV do the owners of all car brands, except for one in a town, remove the make and model emblems.

Edited January 27, 2018 by Raja

[Rockstar99435]

Watching A.P. Bio reminded me, if you teach high school in TV land, you'll only teach one class a day. You'll still have to be at school for the whole school day, but you'll just have the one class. You probably spend the the other 5 periods sleeping in the staff room or something. We all know you're not going to use that extra time for planning or grading. On the down side, your class time will switch randomly. One day, your class will be first period and the next day, your class will be in the afternoon. 

[ganesh]

To be fair, my classes were rotating 1,2,3,4,5,6, 7,1,2,3,4,5 6,7,1,2,3,4. So they were at different times. But of course the teachers had 4-6 classes per day. 

[Katy M]

Yeah, rotating schedules are a thing.  One of my friends went to a different HS and they had a rotating schedule so they wouldn't always miss the same classes when there were snow delays.  And, in 7th grade we had a rotating schedule because we had a split period for lunch and they wanted us to have different classes disrupted.

[ganesh]

It sucked when you had band first period in the morning though. 

[auntlada]

My high school did not have a rotating schedule, and band was always first period, presumably so they could have extra marching practice time before school. It couldn't be last period because boys' athletics was last period, presumably so they could have extra practice time also. Of course, that doesn't explain the mid-day girls' athletics. We just had to regroup after school for track and cross country, and I think all the girls' sports besides basketball did the same.

[legaleagle53]

Wow. It was so much simpler back in my day.  We had a fixed schedule, and there were certain classes that I always had at the same periods all through high school.  Fourth period was always French, and fifth period was always Spanish, with lunch in between.  What was even more fun is that in my sophomore year, I had the same teacher for French (4th period, remember) and Sophomore English (6th period), so I'd have French for 4th period, walk through the language lab to get to my 5th period Spanish class, and then go back through the language lab for 6th period English.  Good times!

Edited February 4, 2018 by legaleagle53

[Haleth]

8 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

Wow. It was so much simpler back in my day.

I graduated from HS in 1975 and we had rotating schedules, so it's not a new thing.  

[ABay]

I don't even remember what scheduling was like in my high school. I wish I could forget the rest of it.

[shapeshifter]

12 minutes ago, ABay said:

I don't even remember what scheduling was like in my high school. I wish I could forget the rest of it.

I get closer and closer to forgetting it, and that's a good thing. ;-)

Although in the light of the stomach churning news of our times, I do fondly remember the crush I had on my young algebra teacher who never ever gave a hint of looking at students that way.

[Rockstar99435]

We've never used a rotating schedule in my school district. I didn't even know that was a thing. Those who have it, do you live in an area with a lot of snow? We usually only get 1 or 2 late starts because of snow, so we just use a shortened schedule on those days. But the classes end up being only about 25 minutes so there's not enough time to do much. I can see how places with a lot of snow would come up with a different solution.

[ganesh]

Yes. We had more 1 hour delays due to snow than outright cancelations. 

[Blergh]

Oddly enough, the only show I recall having a snow day getting the students sent home was "Little House on the Prairie" ( not only was that very far back but also a guarantee that things weren't going to end well for all of the one-shots).

[Anela]

We had the same schedule all year, and the same teachers taught all of the students. This was in England. 

I don't remember us ever getting snow days, unless I'm forgetting something. We had to go to school in the middle of hurricanes, and we froze our butts off on the playground, in snow. This is sounding dangerously close to "I had to walk five miles in the snow, with holes in my shoes", but it was true. I remember resenting mum for keeping my younger sister home, but making me go to school, during the first hurricane. I was "assisted" across a huge road, by the wind.

[Katy M]

54 minutes ago, Blergh said:

Oddly enough, the only show I recall having a snow day getting the students sent home was "Little House on the Prairie" ( not only was that very far back but also a guarantee that things weren't going to end well for all of the one-shots).

I think they had a snow day on Growing Pains once.  And Something So Right.  And Kate & Allie.  The stupid stuff, I remember, seriously.  Obviously they're not going to have snow days on shows that take place in California, but the ones in New York and Chicago, way more likely.

[HunterHunted]

Young Justice had a snow day episode where school was cancelled on November 11th? November 11th is Veterans/Armistice Day. It's a holiday in the United States and many allied nations so there is no school on that day. I'm sure it was an oversight, but it made wonder how different the events of WW II were in the DC universe.

6 minutes ago, Anela said:

We had the same schedule all year, and the same teachers taught all of the students. This was in England. 

I don't remember us ever getting snow days, unless I'm forgetting something. We had to go to school in the middle of hurricanes, and we froze our butts off on the playground, in snow. This is sounding dangerously close to "I had to walk five miles in the snow, with holes in my shoes", but it was true. I remember resenting mum for keeping my younger sister home, but making me go to school, during the first hurricane. I was "assisted" across a huge road, by the wind.

It doesn't snow in England quite like it does in the US. One of the coldest recorded temperatures in the UK was something like -17°F. It routinely gets colder than that in the continental US in many places. The coldest recorded temperature in the US is -80°F in Alaska, but I've been in -30°F weather in Minnesota. The massive size of the Great Lakes means that places in the Midwest, Pennsylvania, and New York routinely get lake effect snow storms with 3, 4, and 5 feet of snow. The US has just so many climates, which means that sometimes we'll get 3 or 4 feet of snow at the drop of a hat.

Honestly, one of the best things to come out of film tax incentives is that more shows film all over the US. I don't think most people watching tv in foreign countries truly understand the climate diversity of the US. Heck, they don't even get it if you're from the US. I grew up in Pennsylvania. We took a family trip to San Francisco when I was a kid. My folks expected LA. We got South Portland.

[Katy M]

Just now, HunterHunted said:

Young Justice had a snow day episode where school was cancelled on November 11th? November 11th is Veterans/Armistice Day. It's a holiday in the United States and many allied nations so there is no school on that day. I'm sure it was an oversight, but it made wonder how different the events of WW II were in the DC universe.

I'm relatively sure we never got Veteran's Day off.  We usually got Memorial Day off, but one year we didn't.  But, Veteran's Day?  I really don't think so, but it was a while ago, so I could be wrong.  And, I'm in the US.

[Annber03]

Yeah, I have no memory of having Veterans' Day off, either.

I remember "Rugrats" and "Hey Arnold" mentioning snow days. But most of the shows I've watched, they either weren't set in snowy climates, or if they were, they centered on adults instead of kids, so since adults don't have to deal with snow days (unless they're teachers themselves), it just wasn't mentioned. 

[HunterHunted]

15 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I'm relatively sure we never got Veteran's Day off.  We usually got Memorial Day off, but one year we didn't.  But, Veteran's Day?  I really don't think so, but it was a while ago, so I could be wrong.  And, I'm in the US.

It's a federal holiday. There's no mail. The banks are closed. Federal offices are closed. State offices and the schools usually follow suit and take the day off too. Although, sometimes they'll designate it as a teacher in service day where there is no school, but teachers might have some supplemental training. I've never been to a school where we didn't have it off, but that's not to say that there aren't schools that don't get the day. However, schools are usually closed on Veterans day in the largest school districts. 

Edited February 4, 2018 by HunterHunted

[shapeshifter]

45 minutes ago, HunterHunted said:

It's a federal holiday. There's no mail. The banks are closed. Federal offices are closed. State offices and the schools usually follow suit and take the day off too. Although, sometimes they'll designate it as a teacher in service day where there is no school, but teachers might have some supplemental training. I've never been to a school where we didn't have it off, but that's not to say that there aren't schools that don't get the day. 

Many colleges (like where I am going to work in a couple of minutes and hoping the snow is plowed)* don't observe most Monday holidays because of the impact on classes that only meet on Mondays and Wednesdays. 

*ETA: It was sort of plowed.

 

1 hour ago, HunterHunted said:

Young Justice had a snow day episode where school was cancelled on November 11th? November 11th is Veterans/Armistice Day. It's a holiday in the United States and many allied nations so there is no school on that day. I'm sure it was an oversight, but it made wonder how different the events of WW II were in the DC universe.

When is Young Justice set? According to Wikipedia:

Quote

Although originally scheduled for celebration on November 11 of every year, starting in 1971 in accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Veterans Day was moved to the fourth Monday of October (Oct 25, 1971; Oct 23, 1972; Oct 22, 1973; Oct 28, 1974; Oct 27, 1975; Oct 25, 1976, and Oct 24, 1977). In 1978, it was moved back to its original celebration on November 11. While the legal holiday remains on November 11, if that date happens to be on a Saturday or Sunday, then organizations that formally observe the holiday will normally be closed on the adjacent Friday or Monday, respectively.

Edited February 4, 2018 by shapeshifter

[HunterHunted]

5 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Many colleges (like where I am going to work in a couple of minutes and hoping the snow is plowed) don't observe most Monday holidays because of the impact on classes that only meet on Mondays and Wednesdays. 

Apparently, I'm a lucky person because all 4 of the universities that I attended for undergrad and grad school had veterans day off. I have very strong memories of having veterans day off because I have a November birthday and we'd usually have my birthday parties on November 11th because we had the day off. I'm kind of shocked to hear that it isn't observed everywhere, but I was shocked to hear that MLK Jr. Day isn't observed everywhere and in someplaces Confederate Heroes Day is observed.

[Annber03]

2 minutes ago, HunterHunted said:

I was shocked to hear that MLK Jr. Day isn't observed everywhere and in someplaces Confederate Heroes Day is observed.

I recently found out that some places celebrate both at once. 

[Katy M]

The wonders of the internet.  Just for the fun of it, I looked up the school calendar for my old school and they did  not have Veteran's Day off last year.

[shapeshifter]

22 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

26 minutes ago, HunterHunted said:

I was shocked to hear that MLK Jr. Day isn't observed everywhere and in someplaces Confederate Heroes Day is observed.

I recently found out that some places celebrate both at once. 

That sounds like something that is Only Seen In Real Life But Not On TV.

Edited February 4, 2018 by shapeshifter

[Anela]

1 hour ago, HunterHunted said:

Young Justice had a snow day episode where school was cancelled on November 11th? November 11th is Veterans/Armistice Day. It's a holiday in the United States and many allied nations so there is no school on that day. I'm sure it was an oversight, but it made wonder how different the events of WW II were in the DC universe.

It doesn't snow in England quite like it does in the US. One of the coldest recorded temperatures in the UK was something like -17°F. It routinely gets colder than that in the continental US in many places. The coldest recorded temperature in the US is -80°F in Alaska, but I've been in -30°F weather in Minnesota. The massive size of the Great Lakes means that places in the Midwest, Pennsylvania, and New York routinely get lake effect snow storms with 3, 4, and 5 feet of snow. The US has just so many climates, which means that sometimes we'll get 3 or 4 feet of snow at the drop of a hat.

Honestly, one of the best things to come out of film tax incentives is that more shows film all over the US. I don't think most people watching tv in foreign countries truly understand the climate diversity of the US. Heck, they don't even get it if you're from the US. I grew up in Pennsylvania. We took a family trip to San Francisco when I was a kid. My folks expected LA. We got South Portland.

I've lived in the US since 1990, and for three years when I was a baby (we left just before my 4th birthday), so I know about the weather here. I've been living through it, and have never felt the urge to move somewhere like Minnesota. Ohio gets cold enough. We got enough cold weather in England, too, though. And blazing hot weather, with no air conditioning. :/ Wherever I've lived over here, our air conditioning craps out - it's like some kind of bad luck - so we have to rely on one or two in windows, but I don't remember having anything like that over there. I do remember the teacher drinking hot or cold drinks, depending on the weather, and we hated them for it. We weren't allowed to eat or drink in class. 

[ganesh]

59 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Many colleges (like where I am going to work in a couple of minutes and hoping the snow is plowed)* don't observe most Monday holidays because of the impact on classes that only meet on Mondays and Wednesdays. 

My university does not take Veterans day off. They call MLK human rights day.

But check my genius. I insist on class on Mondays. The semester starts on a wednesday, then the next monday is MLK day, so I don't start until 3 weeks in. Then, president's day is off. And of course spring break. 

I lived in a rural area, but if there was even a hint of snow, they'd be out at 4 am laying sand down, and plowing as soon as it stuck. So 1 hour delays were common if it snowed hard so they could take the extra time to plow for the buses. I drove all the time though. 

The city I live in now is *terrible* at snow removal. 

[Annber03]

I definitely remember having snow days when I was a kid. Heck, sometimes they'd shut school down simply because the temperatures were exceedingly cold (like, -20 below zero or colder). I lived within city limits, though, so while we had snow days, it was also easier for us to just have delays, compared to the kids who lived in rural town. 

I also remember us getting occasional delays for excessive fog.

[Anela]

I'm watching yet another show where a cop has to visit strippers and prostitutes. I have a sudden urge to watch Poirot - something I've never experienced before. 

[kassygreene]

Veteran's Day is a federal holiday in the U.S.  The day after Thanksgiving is not.  This is partly due to what I think was a Depression-era law: in the U.S. banks can not be closed two weekdays in a row (this made banking in the week following 9/11 a little tricky - the banks had to re-open no later than Thursday).  Interacting with the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank is not for the faint of heart.

Federal holidays are paid time off for salaried folks (and sources of overtime pay for non-salaried).  Most places I worked in my career had us working on Veteran's Day so we could have the four-day weekend at Thanksgiving (and I think this was the case for my school years, 1962-1974, because I remember special class projects and stuff tied to Veteran's Day).  But the last five years I worked at a bank, and on Veteran's Day there was no Fedwire (end-of-day real-time settlement of funds transfers which, if you missed it or screwed up the process, would cost your institution penalties and lost interest, which for a bank could hit seven figures or more in one day pretty easily), while the day after Thanksgiving there was a Fedwire and we by-gum had to have back office people working.

And this is a pretty good description of the weirdness that is the U.S. Federal Holiday schedule.

Edited February 4, 2018 by kassygreene

[CoderLady]

26 minutes ago, Anela said:

I'm watching yet another show where a cop has to visit strippers and prostitutes. I have a sudden urge to watch Poirot - something I've never experienced before. 

Poirot would make a good palate cleanser, for sure. Not a bit of flaunted female flesh to be seen.