Yahoo! Answers

Photo by Eli Hodapp

As much as I love my job with Yahoo! Answers, I looked forward to taking a break from all things work-related during the recent holidays. But during that time, I found myself back among the Yahoo! Answers community—only this time as the beneficiary of some great information and advice. I spent a few weeks at my sister’s home, and Answers helped us at least three times while I was there.

The first need to consult Answers came while watching “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (all 168 humorless minutes of it). Just before the last bit of my interest waned, a moment in the film caught my attention. It was talk of the green flash seen at sunset. It prompted childhood memories of spending days on my sea-loving grandfather’s boat. He often regaled us with tales of the green flash and would wake us before dawn in an unsuccessful attempt to show us the spectacle as the sun rose. As my sister and I reminisced about those frustrating early mornings, we questioned the veracity of the tale, but a quick search on Answers shed light on the phenomenon. Unfortunately, it didn’t make the movie any more watchable.

My second foray into Answers came while blowing bubbles with my 18-month-old niece. She quickly grew bored with my abilities and wanted to try her own hand at it. Anxious to win her favor, I handed her the wand and bottle of solution, which she promptly upended and emptied onto her patent leather Mary Janes. Fortunately, Answerers provided some great suggestions for making your own bubble solution. Many suggested the use of glycerin (which we didn’t have), but blueyez recommended substituting light Karo syrup, which worked beautifully.

Finally, New Year’s Eve saw the entire family enjoying a huge platter of shrimp cocktail. At one point, my aunt plopped an entire shrimp into her mouth — tail and all. I admit that I was a little repulsed and made no attempt to hide it. I mean, devouring shrimp tails seems about as appetizing as gnawing on a plate of fingernails. Surely they aren’t meant to be eaten, are they? She insisted that they are perfectly suitable for ingestion, tasty, and nutritious to boot. The jury is still out on that one, but Marion makes a great point when she asserts that it’s “a personal choice—just do what you like and be polite.” Bon appétit, Auntie JoAnne!

Thanks to all of you for helping me get through the holidays! Whether at work or at play, I guess Answers truly has become part of my daily life.

How did you use Answers to help you through the holidays?

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