Trivial (or not so trivial) stuff that makes you happy.

[Noclevername]

I haven't received that pronunciation.

Here in the US we usually say Ma'am as it rhymes with Spam, and if you say Mama it rhymes with Pajama.

[Jens]

As I said, they're homophones, both pronounced /mæm/ in Received Pronunciation (short near-open front vowel). But when you address your mother as /mæm/, you're not calling her "Ma'am". And when calling anyone else but royalty "Ma'am", it's generally pronounced /mɑːm/ (long open back vowel).
Scots pronounce both differently, of course.

Thanks. That makes sense. Somehow I missed the "homophonous". It's interesting that Ma'am is pronounced different depending on whether it's the queen or not.

[grant hutchison]

It's interesting that Ma'am is pronounced different depending on whether it's the queen or not.

Royal family or not. I've never been able to find a reason for it, though I suspect that the short "a" originated as a U/non-U distinction, and ended up becoming confined to the most U of U families as the usage of "Ma'am" generally declined.

Grant Hutchison

[Van Rijn]

I haven't received that pronunciation.

Here in the US we usually say Ma'am as it rhymes with Spam, and if you say Mama it rhymes with Pajama.

And “mama” is nearly a universal word. I looked that up years ago after noticing the same sounding word in very different languages and it turns out these are very easy sounds for a baby to say. See:

https://www.parent.com/blogs/convers...universal-word

[Jens]

And “mama” is nearly a universal word. I looked that up years ago after noticing the same sounding word in very different languages and it turns out these are very easy sounds for a baby to say. See:

Yes, "m" is one of the easiest sounds to make (bilabials), so babies usually start by saying "m" and "b". Also, almost all languages (maybe all) have an m sound.

[Noclevername]

And “mama” is nearly a universal word. I looked that up years ago after noticing the same sounding word in very different languages and it turns out these are very easy sounds for a baby to say. See:

https://www.parent.com/blogs/convers...universal-word

In many languages the baby term for father is something like aba, baba, papa or dada. A grandmother can be nana.

[Swift]

Little known fact. You can refuse mail by simply crossing out the delivery address, writing “refused” on the envelope, and putting it back in your mailbox.

I do this for any non-junk mail that isn’t for us. I usually add “Moved” or “No such person”.

(You’re welcome for the ear worm )

I've done that but it just gets rid of that single piece of mail. I've never noted that it stops future delivery of wrongly delivered mail, even to the same person.

[Trebuchet]

After being diagnosed with T2 diabetes, I've been trying to eat better and lose weight. But I've been stuck for a week or so. Then this morning's weigh-in was a new low! Woo-Hoo!
Unfortunately, today is $12 Tuesday at Papa Murphy's Pizza.

[Jim]

(You’re welcome for the ear worm )

You mean,

Return to sender, address unknown
No such person, no such zone

[Gillianren]

Six and half years is more than enough time to notify folks of your new address.

We'd been getting a package once a month for a kid who used to live in our house. I knew what it was--we actually got something from the company for Simon for Yule--and I knew my kids would've loved it. The parents of the previous owners live right where we turn to get out of our neighbourhood, so it wasn't a huge hardship to drop it off once a month, but we were still getting them in December. I wrote "please update address" on that one, and honestly I might've started keeping them if they hadn't. Either the kid's subscription ran out or they actually updated the address; we didn't get one in January.

[SeanF]

Here in the US we usually say Ma'am as it rhymes with Spam, and if you say Mama it rhymes with Pajama.

You know there's more than one way to pronounce "pajama", right?

[Noclevername]

You know there's more than one way to pronounce "pajama", right?

Yes, there's the right way, and everything else.

[Roger E. Moore]

My first Social Security check came today!

I want to thank each and every one of you for paying into the Social Security fund that is now paying me. You are wonderful and I love you. Woo-hoo!

[Noclevername]

My first Social Security check came today!

I want to thank each and every one of you for paying into the Social Security fund that is now paying me. You are wonderful and I love you. Woo-hoo!

You're welcome for both dollars I paid.

[Trebuchet]

My first Social Security check came today!

I want to thank each and every one of you for paying into the Social Security fund that is now paying me. You are wonderful and I love you. Woo-hoo!

You've been paying me an my wife for some year now! Woo-Hoo!

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

You people still use cheques?

[Trebuchet]

You people still use cheques?

Ned Ludd and I certainly do!

[Van Rijn]

I certainly use checks, but not that often. For most things this year I’ve used a credit card. I normally use cash for small purchases and a credit card for intermediate ones but I’ve used almost no cash this year. Occasionally I do bank transfers, and I have direct deposit, so actual paper checks only come up rarely. I’ve probably written one twice in the last year and received one paper check, which I entered into my account by taking a photo of it with my tablet using banking software.

It’s not like the old days.

[Jens]

Ned Ludd and I certainly do!

My Yugoslavian friend Anna Kronistic also uses them.

Actually, in Japan I don’t think they were ever really used. But actually I’m even more of a Luddite because I still use those dirty coin things. I never got into using my credit card a lot.

[Extravoice]

I never got into using my credit card a lot.

The pandemic changed that for me. I haven’t handled cash in almost a year. Most of my smaller purchases have moved to ordering online or by phone for pickup.

[profloater]

Cheques now rare in UK but still used for some high value transactions. In France I still see about half supermarket customers using them. It takes longer than cash (now rare) and credit cards especially with raised limits on “touch” transactions. The machines print the details on a blank cheque and then the customer signs. But still less fraud attached to cheques, versus cards, and cash fuels the “black, i.e. tax avoiding” economy. The USA seems to catching up on use of pins.

[Roger E. Moore]

You people still use cheques?

When I said "check" I actually meant "direct deposit". Just a habit.

[Swift]

You people still use cheques?

For things I'm paying, I rarely use paper checks; I might write a half dozen a year. Everything else is either credit card or online payments through my bank.

For incoming, almost everything is electronic transfers, though my wife's pension is still a physical check.

[Gillianren]

We used to pay our landlord in physical checks, because he insisted.

[Trebuchet]

I took my wife's watches in for batteries yesterday and was going to pay in cash. There were only two one-dollar bills in my wallet! Guess I should hit the ATM.

[Extravoice]

One of the headlights of Mrs EV’s Mini Countryman burned out. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to replace, especially given the horrors I’ve encountered with other vehicles we’ve owned.

[Swift]

One of the headlights of Mrs EV’s Mini Countryman burned out. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to replace, especially given the horrors I’ve encountered with other vehicles we’ve owned.

That's nice to hear, having run into the same issue. I've also found that the replacement headlights are shockingly expensive.

[Extravoice]

That's nice to hear, having run into the same issue. I've also found that the replacement headlights are shockingly expensive.

YouTube and the Internet in general, are invaluable for this type of simple repair.

That said, we found detailed instructions for replacement of one headlight on a previous car (4 pages, including small photos), but for the other side, they said “just pay your dealer to do it”.

[PetersCreek]

That's nice to hear, having run into the same issue. I've also found that the replacement headlights are shockingly expensive.

The associated lights around them can be a bit pricey, too. The Wife's previous car, a VW Tiguan, had cornering lights that seemed to go out pretty often. The dealership wanted $100-120 to change one. I could buy a pair for $15-20. The weren't the easiest to reach and I'm no 'car guy' by any means but I'd get it done. I'll pay a mechanic when I need to but to change a bulb? Nope. I even changed out the fog light assemblies one time because, Alaska rocks. Skid panels are nice to have until you need to take them off.

[Trebuchet]

I'm not sure if it was here or the other forum where I posted the saga of the Honda CRX headlight replacement. A non-standard sealed beam (expensive), very vulnerable to rocks and such. About 30 tiny screws, multiple sheet metal rings, etc. Oh, and then there were the tail lights:
1. Use coin to pop plastic panel off in cargo area.
2. Turn bulb holder 60 degrees to remove it from lamp.
3. Turn bulb 60 degrees to remove it from holder.
4. Install new bulb thoughtfully provided on the plastic panel.
5. Reinstall bulb holder and panel.
6. Elapsed time: About 3 minutes. About 1% of the time for the headlight.

In the "makes me happy" department:
I have a doctor appointment next week, followup to my T2 diabetes diagnosis in November. So I went to have lab tests this morning. They posted my results on their "mychart" site and it was VERY much better! I've also lost about 18 pounds.

Not quite so happy: This hasn't been a good day for my diet. Leftover pizza!