Yahoo! Answers

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A good friend of mine is heading out of town for the Fourth of July weekend, and since I had no big plans, I volunteered to dog-sit for his great little mutt, Juicebox. Being a frustrated animal lover with no pets of my own (aside from some less-than-affectionate guppies), I jumped at the chance to get in some doggie time.

But now, as the weekend approaches, I’m starting to get a little worried. This is Juicebox’s first Fourth of July, and he’s a bit on the skittish side — I’m not sure how he’s going to react once the night is in full swing. I remember how scared the dogs I had as a kid would get — all those loud whistles and booms from the fireworks were just too much for their nerves. Apparently, it’s pretty common for dogs and other animals to become frightened at extremely loud noises like fireworks or thunder, but is there anything that can be done to help soothe their anxiety?

Answers users have apparently been dealing with this problem for a while, and I ferreted out some great ideas to help keep Juicebox from going bonkers. Obviously, the best idea is to take your dog away from the noise. But if that’s not an option, most people recommend keeping pets inside and distracted during fireworks displays. Playing soothing music or turning on the TV can help diminish the auditory melee outside. Keeping your pet’s favorite toys and treats on hand can also help keep them occupied.

A good piece of advice that many users suggest is to avoid coddling the dog while he’s displaying fear, as this will only make things worse. It’s better to keep things light and playful, and to demonstrate that there’s nothing to be afraid of.

For particularly anxious dogs, a sedative might be the best choice. Your veterinarian can suggest the best pharmaceutical for your particular breed, but there are a number of safe, herbal alternatives to consider as well. One user suggests using a couple drops of Bach flower remedy in their water or spearmint oil on their paw pads as a calmative option. Another recommends chamomile tea as a way to keep your pooch mellow and relaxed.

If all else fails, you can invest in some doggie earphones. It’s probably too late to pick up a pair this year, but thanks to LolaMarigolda, I learned about a product called Mutt Muffs which act like noise-canceling headphones for dogs. Who knew?

Hopefully, Juicebox will be perfectly fine come fireworks-time, but at least I feel better armed with some great ideas in case he starts to get worked up. Is there anything else I should know? What suggestions do you have for keeping your pets calm and stress-free during the big fireworks show?

Hey Guys,

There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who have vanity license plates and those who don’t. I’m the latter category, but I do find custom plates a nice distraction. I wondered, is there a way to determine who had the very first custom plate?

I asked the Yahoo! Answers community and was greeted with a variety of responses. Several folks wrote that, while they don’t know exactly who had the first plate or what it said, it very likely came from the great state of Pennsylvania. An article on licenseplates.tv agrees, explaining that the keystone state “manufactured the first custom, vanity or personalized license plate in 1931.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t go into further detail, but the information was confirmed on another site, which also noted that Idaho was the first state to use an image on their license plates (in this case, a potato).

While researching this question, I was surprised to learn that there is a vocal community of license plate collectors on the Web. One site, the appropriately titled “pl8s.com” explains that the “earliest license plates on actual ‘motorized vehicles’ were probably used in France in 1893.” In the United States, the first license plates were used in New York in 1901. And, get this, they were made of leather!

Getting back to personalized plates, while I wasn’t able to locate the very first custom plate, I did find a great list of personalized licenses, and a nice history of the psychology of personalized plates. But, hold on. This last site writes that vanity plates started in 1937 in Connecticut, a contradiction of the 1931 Pennsylvania theory. I checked with the Connecticut DMV and they claim their first custom plate was produced in 1941. Sheesh, some facts are just too hard to find.

What about you? Do you find custom plates clever or annoying? Do you have a favorite plate? Leave a note below and let me know.

THX4RDG,

The experience of putting a question to the community and seeing the answers flowing to your inbox is gratifying. And picking the ultimate answer for your question gives you the opportunity to share the outcome of your query with millions of people.

Yet for those indecisive people out there who can’t really make their minds up on a Best Answer, they can put their question up for voting and let the community decide.

Voting for Best Answer is a way to share your opinion and make a difference within the community. Not only do you help other members resolve their sticky situations or philosophical flounderings, you also gain points as you vote.

In his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde wrote: “You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know.” Voting for Best Answer can help you master both. You can share your opinions and test your knowledge by resolving others’ problems. But you might also discover great new things by browsing undecided questions and judging which responses deserve to be chosen as Best Answer.

So, if you know a good indoor plant for the bathroom, are familiar with the best books for young adults, or have already explored which is the best LCD screen TV to buy, why not help the community now?

Hey Guys,

Some of the best questions are the ones that can’t be answered. Sorry if that sounds a bit like a fortune cookie, but it’s true. The other day I stumbled upon a question that nobody could possibly answer, but it still stuck with me for days.

The always interesting Cheers UK (who I have given props to before) asked the community for their best estimates as to the value of all the sunken treasure at the bottom of the ocean. Now think about that for a moment. All of the sunken treasure. Would it be millions of dollars? Billions of dollars?

Knowing my best efforts would probably be fruitless, I still went and searched for an answer. I found an article from MSNBC on a recent discovery of treasure at the bottom of the Atlantic. Explorers brought it to the surface and found the loot to be worth $500 million bucks. Not a bad haul, but compared to all that’s out there, really just a drop in the bucket.

After some more searching, I found pay dirt. Well, kind of. An article from CNN estimates that the value of treasures under the world’s oceans range from billions to trillions of dollars. Furthermore, the article speculates that new technology will help folks recover nearly all that loot over the next “10 to 20 years.”

For some reason, all that treasure being brought to the surface strikes me as kind of sad or unromantic. But, on the bright side, at least we’ll finally have an answer to Cheers UK’s question.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

p.s. — What’s the strangest “treasure” you’ve ever discovered? A $10 bill in your pocket? A really cool seashell? $500 million in ancient coins? What?

Some people take themselves far too seriously. Others, not enough. But occasionally on Answers I find a unique combination of a tongue-in-cheek question followed by a sober, thoughtful response, and it never fails to make me smile.

In one case, Answers user Sir Marmalade Beauville-Lobe IV (a serious name if ever there was one) asks, “How much would it cost to install a tank of sharks underneath a meeting room?“

The straightforward tone of this “utterly ludicrous question” prompted a number of earnest replies. Then again, maybe some Answerers have experience in such matters. This community is, after all, exceptionally large and diverse.

Of all the responses, Gruntled Employee’s helpful reply definitely deserves its Best Answer rating. Without so much as batting a virtual eye, he provides a breakdown of the cost of building the tank, as well as the ongoing expense of maintaining the sharks. (Now that I have this information, I want to build one of my own. Seriously.)

Have you found anything recently on Answers that surprised you or made you laugh?