Yahoo! Answers

It’s August and whether you are planning a holiday to some great, exotic locale or are just back from one, Answers is the place to celebrate your vacation! This month, we are doing a special initiative in the Travel category where we invite you to share your fondest memories of landscapes, cityscapes, seascapes and skyscapes through your travel stories and anecdotes.

Spread over four weeks, with each week catering to one particular theme, this initiative will showcase the best holiday destinations and the most awesome travel stories that come from you! So start working on that travelogue of yours and include details like places to stay, things to see, best shopping deals and the like. And don’t forget to tell us why it is among your favorite holiday destinations! We’ll be awarding 50 bonus points for the best story each week.

Not only that, we invite you to share your favorite photograph of the vacation on one of these Flickr groups:

Landscape group -  http://www.flickr.com/groups/100naturallandscapes/

Photo by Ian BC North

Cityscape group -  http://www.flickr.com/groups/26328425@N00/

Photo by aufmkolk (hafoto.de)

Seascape group -  http://www.flickr.com/groups/seascape/

Photo by S John Davey

Skyscape group - http://www.flickr.com/groups/98509261@N00/

Photo by Cobalt123

Once you post your picture there, remember to leave us a comment with the Flickr link on the blog, or add the link in your answer. At the end of four weeks, your story and photograph could be featured on our blog.

And here are 5 steps to ensure your Flickr photo makes it to the contest:

1. Log in to http://www.flickr.com/
2. Sign up for Flickr with your Yahoo! id if you don’t have a Flickr account already
3. Join the Groups (whose links are mentioned above)
4. Upload your Travel photos there
5. Copy the link of your photo and use that in your answer!

This week’s question is about dreamy landscapes. Meadows full of flowers and green grass, a winding river, a roaring waterfall, awe-inspiring mountains, or endless deserts – what landscape inspired you the most and made for an unforgettable holiday? What was your most picturesque and idyllic holiday in the countryside?

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Hey Guys,

While reading your comments from a recent column I did on why we say “God bless you” after somebody sneezes, I came across another interesting question. Does the heart really stop during a sneeze?

Good news — your heart does not stop, not even for a moment, when you sneeze. Baby just keeps on ticking. An article from the Library of Congress explains that a sneeze does cause the pressure in a person’s chest to change. This “also changes your blood flow, which may change the rhythm of your heartbeat.” This can give the person the sensation that his or her heart is “skipping a beat.” Indeed there may be a delay from beat to beat, but that’s not the same as having your heart stop. So, sneeze all you want. Nothing to fear.

The LOC mentions a few other interesting sneeze-related facts at the end of their article. For example, did you know that “sneezes can travel at a speed of 100 miles per hour”? All the more reason to cover your mouth. And, ever wonder why people don’t sneeze when they’re sleeping? The reason has to do with nerve endings. The ones “involved in nerve reflex are also resting.”

It’s impossible to write about this topic without mentioning explaining whether it’s really impossible to keep your eyes open during a sneeze. Near as I can tell this is actually true. Try all you want, you can’t keep your eyelids up when you sneeze. I wrote a column on this in 2005, and found that, “the sneeze impulse affects a variety of body parts, including the abdomen, chest, neck, and face. During a sneeze, the impulses that travel through your face cause your eyelids to blink. This response is entirely automatic. There’s nothing you can do about it.” (First time I’ve quoted myself — feels a little weird.)

Oh, and by the way, even if you held your eyelids in place and then sneezed, your eyes still wouldn’t fly out of your head. You know, just in case you were worried.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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Hey Guys,

Some say that the President has the world’s toughest job. I think the honor should go to anyone who works in customer service. Imagine how many times these brave men and women hear the following from a ticked-off client: “But I’m the customer! And the customer is always right!”

Never mind that the well-worn phrase is usually false. What I’d like to know is who coined it? I did some searching and found that the expression has an interesting back story. According to phrases.org.uk, the customer mantra likely originated from one of two men: Marshall Field or Harry Gordon Selfidge.

Most sources I found seemed to think Mr. Field was more likely the creator (Selfridge was an employee of his). Legend has it that Field came up with it as a way to distinguish his store from the competition. Over the years the phrase has been misused and misunderstood. Phrases.org.uk points out that Field never intended it be taken literally. I’m talking to you, lady who is trying to return her sweat-stained dress.

And if the Field name sounds familiar, it should. For a long time, Marshall Field’s department stores were among the biggest, grandest retail spaces in the United States. The brand was acquired by Macy’s several years ago, though some are still protesting the sale.

What do you guys think about the customer being right? Is it always true or is there a limit? Have you seen people try to “abuse the system”?

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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Hi Guys:

By now you’ve had a chance to get to know me — yes, the woman who loves Belgian chocolate, ponders about gender studies, lovingly calls the Delicious community “geeks,” and joins all kinds of twisted Yahoo! Groups. But I’d like to share something even more personal here — and ask your opinion on what to do.

Every morning, I wake up with a smile and sigh, because I could really use another hour of sleep, but my daughter’s “cooing” is just too adorable to ignore. Our family has a pretty regular routine down:

• The baby wakes us up
• My husband and I argue about whose turn it is to get up, even though we both know it will be me
• I breastfeed and then bring the adorable bundle of joy to her father so they can have their bonding moment as well, which is — you guessed it — getting her diaper changed. (Who said life isn’t fair?)

We try to have breakfast as a family, but that usually collides with some phone calls with our European offices, my daughter insisting that she can eat by herself and throwing rice cereal all over our brand new sofa (thank God for IKEA), and my husband remembering he forgot to iron his shirt while texting one of his customers on his BlackBerry.

Usually a moment of calm and peace reappears when our nanny enters our apartment, but this time she is late, and when she finally arrives, she has some news to share: “I am going back to school full time, and this will be my last week.”

We are absolutely thrilled for her, but where are we going to find a new nanny on such short notice? As I drive to work and try to recall all the places I posted an ad last time, I wonder whether it’s time to finally consider placing our daughter in daycare so she can be in a more social environment. She is only 9 months old and truly enjoys the personal attention she gets, but nannies are expensive and hard to find.

Luckily for me, you guys already had a conversation about this on Yahoo! Answers.

That said, I figured you wouldn’t mind dropping me a few comments on the topic. Ask Mike has all the answers, so I figured you wouldn’t be too bothered with me asking a question.

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Hey Guys,

A friend of mine woke up the other morning to a most unpleasant surprise. Her apartment had been invaded by bed bugs.

Despite its cutesy sounding name, the bed bug is one of the vilest creatures around. It is also one of the most resilient. My friend wanted to know: How does one get rid of the pests without losing her sanity?

The good folks at Harvard suggest that before you start throwing away all your furniture, you’ll want to make sure that the “bed bugs” are indeed bed bugs. In order to do that, you’ll have to capture one, and have it examined by an expert. If the expert says, “Yep, that there’s a bed bug, buddy boy” then here’s what’s next.

Conventional wisdom says you’ll have to ditch your carpet, couch, bed, etc. Or, in extreme cases, move. However, there are many exterminators who will treat an infested home. Some services attempt to freeze the bugs. Others bombard them with chemicals. If you don’t believe exterminators will be successful, you can always purge yourself of anything that you think might be infected.

Obviously, this can be an expensive proposition. One doesn’t want to throw away items that aren’t infected. A popular way to tell if a piece of furniture has been taken over by bed bugs is to “sic the dogs on ‘em.” That’s right, there are specially trained canines that can sniff out bed bugs and (sorry for this) their feces. Near as I can tell, it’s a legit industry. Man’s best friend, indeed.

Bed bugs are particularly prevalent in hotels and other highly visited areas. When traveling away from home, some folks recommended that you not put your suitcase directly on the bed. Why? If there are bugs in the comforter, they’ll easily make the jump to your baggage and come home with you.

That’s not to say that you have to act like Howard Hughes when you travel. But, as is often the case, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Got any tips on dealing with bed bugs? Please leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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