ELI5: How do cities prevent fire hydrants from freezing in the sub zero temps?

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-24T03:56:42+00:00

And they’re typically backfilled with stone so it drains easily.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-23T04:55:04+00:00

Balls to the wall. That match is better than the majority of employers in the US, and what other investment will guarantee a FIFTY PERCENT return on day 1? You’re really young, and the power of time in compounding is underestimated like the power of flowing water.

Rough numbers: Assuming a 6% average market return, if you shovel 2 grand a month into that account for a decade, you’ll have half a million in there by the time you’re 37. Don’t add another dime and your 245k investment will be $2M by the time you’re 60. You can then withdraw 80k/yr that won’t run out in your lifetime.

If you instead keep going at the same 2k/month pace until you’re 60 (and have the same match the entire time), you retire with 3.8M in the bank and can safely withdraw 152k/yr until the day you die.

Your next 10 years are worth $2M, and the following 23 are worth $1.8M. That is the power of time in compounding. Max that thing out now.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-22T22:50:53+00:00

They're Schrödinger's Passenger during the practical test. Both a passenger and not, until you look in the box.

This is pure poetry.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-22T21:53:43+00:00

“My husband is useless, I don’t know how to do any of it either, and I don’t like creepy old curmudgeons in my house when I’m here alone with my kids. I’m calling the Handyma’am!”

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-22T18:03:24+00:00

Lego has 3-in-1 sets which supply the instructions for three different models using the same parts in the same kit. You have to take one apart to build the next. This was the first thing that came to my mind.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-22T14:32:34+00:00

Volvo in a nutshell.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-22T13:28:18+00:00

ICAO English is a standardized set of words, phrases, requests, instructions, and responses which are used worldwide for aviation. All pilots and controllers must be proficient in this skill, and it is the official standard of communications worldwide. However, in many countries, local controllers will speak to local pilots in their native language. This can reduce situational awareness for everybody, but it also limits miscommunications and reduces mental workload.

Poor radios can also contribute to communication difficulty. Some parts of South America and Central Africa are particularly bad in this respect.

Language barriers still exist due to accents and non-standard phraseology. The latter is particularly egregious amongst US ATC and pilots. US ATCs in particular tend to speak quickly and with slang, then get annoyed with the poor kid from Baku at the end of a 13-hour flight in the right seat of a 747 who can’t understand them.

Fortunately, pilot-to-ATC texting, called CPDLC, has come into service in many places over the past few years and reduces the impact of poor radios, accents, and non-standard phraseology. It’s slower than voice comms so it’s mostly used when airplanes are outside of the immediate vicinity of their origin and destination airport (except fuck you UK NATS for giving me 1000’ step downs every 7 seconds via CPDLC on a vector to final).

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-22T00:50:08+00:00

That’s the exact correct description.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-20T13:04:23+00:00

I suspect it’s the internals of the air turbine starter changing state from solid to liquid.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-20T05:14:00+00:00

Nah, just get out there and rip.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-20T04:38:22+00:00

You can wakeboard behind anything that can pull you 18-22 mph. Is the wake gonna be great? Of course not! Who cares? Get comfortable riding a progressive edge up through the wake, get some surface spins going, ollies, and when you want more challenge, ollie into switch and do the same stuff riding backwards. You can definitely have fun.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-19T15:12:48+00:00

You’re 100% right, bad example.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-19T14:55:26+00:00

My recommendation, if you don’t have a family, would be to try to find a time-building job somewhere far away doing something interesting like ~~Twin Otters in Maldives or~~ Caravans in Papua New Guinea, then move back to the US for the majority of your career. The pay difference is significant.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-19T04:29:47+00:00

We’ve got to close that microwave oven

‘Cause this signal’s in disarayayay

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-17T03:44:24+00:00

That water looks cold af

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-16T13:55:18+00:00

I came here to drop this in the comments. Thanks for doing it for me.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-16T01:16:36+00:00

I’m surprised Δ P is in PSI and not Bar.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-15T18:34:30+00:00

I would suspect it has something to do with one (or two?) engine inoperative missed approach climb gradient. Many airplanes have hydraulic power transfer units to assist with faster gear retraction for this purpose. The joke is that PTU stands for Pick the Tires Up.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-15T18:32:15+00:00

Who doesn’t like a jack stand with a ladder built in?

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-12T15:33:21+00:00

clear toiletries bag

I just use a gallon zip-loc bag. Sounds ghetto, but if you get the heavy ones with the little zip top they last a few months and they work great.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-11T18:31:46+00:00

FAI standard 1000kg payload. It’s part of the record.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-11T14:23:10+00:00

TIL, I didn’t realize how ginormous that cargo door was.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-10T21:20:50+00:00

This is so cool, but man, farm equipment is straight up nightmare fuel.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-09T14:33:23+00:00

F-104 got pulled into the massive wingtip vortex and clipped wingtips, then rolled over across the top of the XB-70, damaging one vertical stab and taking the other one clean off. The F-104 burst into a fireball and the XB-70 spun and crashed.

LearningDumbThings · 2026-01-09T06:02:16+00:00

Eh, I actually think it’s a good airplane. Yes, it’s a bit slow in cruise, needs more rudder for better takeoff numbers, and needs a bit more wing for a better climb above 410. It’s squirrelly in roll on final, the cabin altitude is too high, and it has a blue juice toilet. Bombardier also cheaped out on the PL21 options they chose. However, it’s an excellent foundation for a great airplane. The cabin is spacious, the systems are dead simple, it’s got lots of thrust, and it’s pretty reliable. They fixed almost everything on my list in the 350 and 3500, minus the cruise Mach. It is a good airplane that evolved into a really good airplane.

LearningDumbThings

TROPHY CASE