Questions: Miscellaneous

I have mind block - I need to look up an image of a thingy, but I can't remember what it's called.

The thing I need an image of...

It's a piece of plastic (sometimes metal) used for measuring 90 degree angles, so it's pretty much shaped like the capital letter "L," and it's not a T-square (well, obviously, since a T-square ain't shaped like an L ) Companies also make a similar thing to this one, to measure angles, only the other kind is shaped like a half-circle. I need to know what the L-shaped one is called.

I don't think architects use these thingies anymore since they have C.A.D. now, but they used to use these things to draw up plans.

I don't think this thing is called a 'compass' (the metal dealie you stick to a pencil to draw circles), but that word keeps popping into my head. I typed 'protractor' into google images, but only half circle shaped things showed up, and I need the L-shaped kind.

Any help anyone can shed on this would be appreciated!

Are you talking about a rafter square?

Hmm, is that what they're called? I'll look into it. Thanks for the help.

I hate having "senior moments," (memory blocks / writer's block, etc) and I'm not even over 35 (yet).

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Does anyone know what would clean costume jewelry, especially stuff that looks like silver (but is NOT silver)?

Are there any products available at the store that will do it, or anything made from common household products that would work?

I'm also open to any info on products or home made mixes that would clean real silver and gold.

I saw a guy on PBS give a 'receipe' of everday items you can find around your home that instantly removes tarnish from silver ware. I don't know if it would work on jewlery.

This guy wrote a book called "Haley's Hints." He has a one page website, Hints from Haley

It doesn't have any info about cleaning jewelry, though.

Haley's Book on Amazon

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Aw c'mon, nobody here knows didley about cleaning costume jewelry?

Maybe this will do...

So far, all I've found is -

Why jewelry tarnishes

Be aware of tarnish which may occur as a result of oxidation, caused by the interaction of metal, silver or gold plated costume jewelry with certain elements such as oxygen or sulfur as well as with certain acids.

To keep your costume jewelry tarnish-free, frequently clean your costume jewelry in a mild dishwashing liquid diluted in water. Thoroughly dry your silver jewelry after exposure to water. Store your costume jewelry in a dry container or a plastic bag with anti-tarnish paper.

You can use fresh, uncontaminated commercial silver dip liquid, only. Use of a polish cloth, paste or other strong jewelry cleaner is not recommended.

Costume Jewelry Care And Cleaning

How to clean costume jewelry

A few excerpts from the above page:

The safest route is the driest method. Start with the dry baby toothbrush to brush the piece off. If the face of the rhinestones have fingerprints, or smudges, use a cotton-tip swab with a bit of solution on the tip.

I use a very mild solution of ivory liquid soap in water. Just gently work the top of the rhinestones or glass. The biggest enemy to foiled rhinestones is moisture. If you soak the rhinestones, the foiling may become damaged, leaving your rhinestones "dead" or, if they are glued it may dissolve the glue.

.... On the base metals of your pieces, work the baby toothbrush with a bit of solution in a gentle manner. When finished, lay your piece on the paper towel, and completely dry with the hair dryer on a cool setting.

A question for female readers here...

I'm watching this teen comedy movie, and there's a scene where a teenage guy snuck into the girl's shower room, and he sneaks a peek of his dream girl taking a shower.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I never took showers after gym class - I wanted to, but I refused to because

-I'm very modest;
-I was scared of getting athlete's foot or some other kind of crud from the shower;
-any school I went to gave us three nano-seconds to shower (they didn't give us enough time); if you took one, you'd be late to your next class

So my question to you is, did you take showers after gym?

This may seem like a weird question, but that movie scene seemed so fake and unreal to me.

(I don't remember any of the girls I went to gym class with taking showers after class, either. They would all run to the mirrors to refresh their lipstick - that was the extent of their clean-up.)

No. I never took a shower after gym class. There was never any time.

And it makes me wonder why high schools bother having showers. (Maybe for the guys it makes sense to have showers in the locker room, because they have football practice after school hours.)

But if you don't give the students enough time to take one after class, what's the point?

I've seen other movies (such as the '70s movie Carrie) where high school girls are shown having showers after gym class, and my feeling was always, 'that's not realistic.'

I guess the film makers need some excuse to have female nudity on screen.

Maybe those who were on the girls' basketball team or the cheerleading squad took showers after practice, as well?

That's possible, too.

I perceive guys as being more into sports than girls, which is why I gave the football example.

I am just annoyed that movie makers use the unrealistic 'girls taking showers after gym class' scenario to set up the tired gag of 'guy spying on naked girls in locker room.'

Here's another good reason to pass up a shower after gym class:

School defends spy cameras in bathrooms

Maybe I should start a "privacy" thread in the Outlook forum sometime and put this link there too?

Anyway, here are excerpts from the article:

A head teacher has defended installing CCTV cameras in a secondary school's toilets, which led to a teenage girl being withdrawn by her angry father.

The cameras have been put in to tackle the misuse of paper towels and soap, says Aeron Rhys, head of Ysgol Dyffryn Teifi in Llandysul, Ceredigion.

The pupils's father called it an "outrageous invasion" of privacy.

But Mr Rhys said children had been concerned about cleanliness, and the cameras had "done the trick".

The leader of Ceredigion council has also supported the move.

Anthony White, from Llandysul, has withdrawn his 14-year-old daughter from the school over the issue.

He told the Carmarthen Journal that the cameras at the Welsh-medium school were an "outrageous invasion" of privacy.

But Mr Rhys denied it was an invasion of privacy or an over-reaction.

He said pupils had "expressed concern that the wash basin areas were not being respected by a small minority" of children.

He said some pupils had engaged in "horseplay" and in the past had misused paper towels and soap.

'Significant improvement'

He added: "The CCTV was installed to monitor these areas and it's done the trick. There's been a significant improvement.