Questions for the Knowledge Pool

Tonight as I was walking, I noticed a spiderweb. A single strand that ran from just below the lamp on a street light, across the street, and into a tree. Does anyone know how a spider does this, or why? It didn't seem to be floating on a breeze or anything. In fact, the wind was blowing gently accross it.

Do the spiders hitch a ride on a bird's back and reel out web as the bird flies across to the tree? why is it pulled tight? I realize that I've always wondered about it, but never bothered trying to find out.

They ride the wind if they can.
If not, they walk, trailing out a non-sticky line, to pull up from the other end.

but why?

To get to the other side?

Too easy for the flying insects to evolve the tendency not to fly through smaller or enclosed places.

Here is a site that will tell you more about spider webs than I bet you ever wanted to know:

http://www.brantacan.co.uk/spider_webs.htm

Originally posted by lumberjim
but why?

Why ask why? ;)

Spiders first run a couple of anchor lines before spinning the actual "catching stuff" part of the web. They can often be quite long, like bridge cables.

Originally posted by Elspode
Spiders first run a couple of anchor lines before spinning the actual "catching stuff" part of the web. They can often be quite long, like bridge cables.

well, then this must have been a pretty optimistic spider.......apparently he had set out to catch himself some cars.

Originally posted by lumberjim


well, then this must have been a pretty optimistic spider.......apparently he had set out to catch himself some cars.

Reminds me of that old Far Side comic with the frog stuck by it's tongue to the bottom of a jet because it optimistically tried to catch the jet like a fly.

You didn't sell any cars today did you?

:blunt: I'd say somebody knocked off early...

The length and location of the anchor cable doesn't have anything to do with the ultimate size of the web itself. It is just an anchor point. Hey, it is miraculous that they can do it all. Let's not expect them to architects AND engineers! :p

Originally posted by blue58
You didn't sell any cars today did you?

Thursday night to me is like Friday night to you normal people. In my business, you work Saturday, so everyone takes another day of the week off. I've had Friday for about 2 years now. I prefer it to having saturday off. In fact, we rotate one manager off on each saturday except the last of the month. You have to work your normal off day, though. This was my weekend, but I'd rather be off and able to do all of my errands when the idiots are at work ( not you idiots, the idiots that congest my local area). Also, Saturdays are my most lucrative days, so I work them.

Today I went driving back and forth to home depot 3 times. And got sunburned from having the top down in the Wrangler. It was hazy, so you didnt feel the sun........sneaky bastard that it is......I have not bought this years bottle of sunscreen yet.

On my first trip, I filled the Jeep up with Peat moss. 11 yards of it. Then I went back and rented a rototiller. FUN. I only had it for 4 hours, so I had to go back yet again to return it. I got a new pushmower for Jinx while I was there. And some more solder so I could attach a new hose bib ....because this fucking old ass cute, quaint historic, house did not have A FUCKING OUTSIDE SPIGOT!!!.....boy, the things you miss when you look at a new house. And I was trying to be careful, having missed a bunch of stupid shit the first time I bought a house.......*breathing now* ......

the home depot is like 25 minutes from my house. That's 150 minutes driving back and forth. 2 1/2 hours in the Sun plus the time I was Rototillering. Yeah, I'm pretty red. dumbass.

Originally posted by lumberjim
....because this fucking old ass cute, quaint historic, house did not have A FUCKING OUTSIDE SPIGOT!!!.....

Can't you just have the boy haul the bucket up from the well?

Good call on renting the rototiller.

I cringe every time I hear my wife fire ours up, she's a holy terror with that thing. She only stops for gas, I'm pretty sure she could kick my ass if she ever realizes how strong her forearms have become using that thing.

Originally posted by lumberjim
Thursday night to me is like Friday night to you normal people. In my business, you work Saturday, so everyone takes another day of the week off. I've had Friday for about 2 years now. I prefer it to having saturday off. In fact, we rotate one manager off on each saturday except the last of the month. You have to work your normal off day, though. This was my weekend, but I'd rather be off and able to do all of my errands when the idiots are at work ( not you idiots, the idiots that congest my local area). Also, Saturdays are my most lucrative days, so I work them.

I had a schedule like that when I worked at a call center. God, I hated that schedule...and that job.

I got a new pushmower for Jinx while I was there.

Nice gift. Belated mother's day gift?:)

early fathers day gift

I tellya, it's a real luxury, getting to run errands when the rest of humanity isn't out there trying to get stuff done. You can drive down the highways at full speed, park close to your store, find an aisle with nobody in it etc.

I won't leave the house at 6pm weekdays.

Originally posted by lumberjim
early fathers day gift

coughbullshitcough

OK, i got it because the one we have sucks ass. the new one is self propelled and jinx can use it much more easily. I normally do the lawn, but when it rains on my days off, i'm screwed. unless i want to mow in the dark.

What rhymes with "orange"?

more flange

moron...sort of.

Forage

door hinge

Oh man, I was pretty sure nothing rhymed with orange, Clodfobble is a freaking genius!

You design video games right? Could you get to work on one I could actually win? Tapper was cool but to hard...there, you have a starting point.

In case you're curious, the (only) three other words in English that nothing rhymes with are silver, purple, and month. (I have some weird ass shit tucked away in my brain.)

And I don't design the games themselves, just the sounds for them. Never heard of Tapper... did it sound good? :)

So we have orange and purple as non-rhyming words. Who the hell named our colors????

Sliver, corporal and cunth, are close enough.:)

I've always figured "pilfer" was close enough for silver too.

Originally posted by Slartibartfast
So we have orange and purple as non-rhyming words. Who the hell named our colors????

Wasn't a poet.;)

Originally posted by Clodfobble
door hinge

this depends on how you pronounce orange.

I say 'AAARNJ' one sylable .......now that i've said it repeatedly, i'm pretty sure that it isn't a word at all.


When you repeat a word, it loses it's connotation. try saying "north" over and over 20 or 30 times.

Well, if you're not going to speak English, all bets are off.:rolleyes:

Originally posted by sycamore


I had a schedule like that when I worked at a call center. God, I hated that schedule...and that job.

[COLOR=indigo]Such is my life.[/COLOR]

why do moths fly towards the light?

in the li-i-ight... everybody needs the light... ooo-oohh yea-eah... everybody.. everybody...

In Scots English there is a word "hirple" to rhyme with "purple". It means to hurry along in a limping manner (probably comes from the same root as to "hobble").
Just thought you'd like to know ....

why does RX stand for pharmacy?

Subcontracted to another knowledge pool.

Summary: Probably from Latin recipe, "to take".

We rarely use that one at work, but often document tx and sx ...

There are a LOT of weird medical abbreviations. My personal favorite is SCUT. So descriptive, yet so mysterious.

I have to be careful when I'm writing lists and things longhand that other people are going to have to use, because a lot of the medical abbreviations, while they make sense, like many kinds of industry specific shorthand, only do so when you have the context.

Is there a rhyme for "window"? Or "meringue"?

And is there a rhyme for "people" other than steeple? Because I am tired of song writers twisting hell out of the the flow of the lyrics' meaning to squeeze in a reference to a steeple.

Is there a rhyme for "window"? Or "meringue"?

Lindow (as in Lindow Man) and Harangue *grins*

Whats SCUT, wolf?

DucksNuts;421732 wrote:

Whats SCUT, wolf?

Saddam Hussein's missile.:rolleyes: