Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 December 6

= December 6 =

Toy
Hi, I have a toy that reminds me of Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street and I see your article that says he has different names and characters in different areas of the world. I could not find anything on this one though. Can you tell me what this one's name is and what country he would be from? I cannot figure out how to include a photo, but he has a smooth green head and his barrel has a roman looking scroll design. Thanks! my e-mail for your response is :  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.220.98.89 (talk) 06:44, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Removed the email address to prevent spam, and added a title. 92.24.184.218 (talk) 11:47, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
 * On the off chance that the questioner comes back and sees this: the easiest way to include a photo is to go to this site, upload a photo there and then add the URL here. --Viennese Waltz 14:42, 6 December 2010 (UTC)


 * You might be referring to Rumpel, the German Grouch from Sesamstraße. He's less fuzzy than Oscar, still green, and lives in a barrel. Not sure about the "roman scroll design" though. By the way, the Muppet Wiki (muppet.wikia.com, see the Grouch Gallery) has pictures and info on almost all muppet characters from around the world. -- 140.142.20.229 (talk) 18:35, 6 December 2010 (UTC)

Questions about green coconuts
Someone I know is meant to be getting me some. Does anyone know, or is there an FAQ somewhere about how to open them to drink the juice without making a mess? I've seen guys in tropical countries opening them, making a hole in the top with a machete, but I don't have one of those. Can an axe be used instead?

Also, is the juice and the flesh safe to give to a hyacinth macaw? I thought that I might let her have at one of them, see what she thinks of it. --95.148.106.42 (talk) 07:35, 6 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Google is faster than we are. Typing "How to open a coconut" in to Google provides many promising results.  Dismas |(talk) 07:58, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
 * The OP is referring to green coconuts, not the ordinary brown sort. See for example http://southeastasianfood.about.com/od/dessertsfruitsanddrinks/ss/OpenYoungCoco.htm 92.24.184.218 (talk) 11:41, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Fair enough but my point is still valid: Google is often faster for straight-forward questions such as these. Dismas |(talk) 12:47, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Just drill two holes, stick a straw in one, and drink. --Sean 19:29, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Two holes are necessary if you want to pour out the coconut milk, but one hole suffices if you use a straw.   D b f i r s   19:46, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Pedantry: coconut water is the fluid inside the coconut. Coconut milk is produced from grated and filtered coconut flesh.  Paul (Stansifer) 14:20, 7 December 2010 (UTC)
 * That's not pedantry at all, but actually a very important distinction. I would hate to eat a curry made with coconut water in the misguided belief that it was the same thing as coconut milk/cream.  --   Jack of Oz    ... speak! ...   19:38, 7 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Pedantry again, but, as our article correctly states, coconut milk is used in many parts of the world to mean what you seem to call coconut water, though I've never heard the latter term or tasted the former. Nevertheless, I apologise for using a term that seems to be rare for the contents of an uncooked coconut in some parts of the world.     D b f i r s   00:05, 9 December 2010 (UTC)

Just bought a car; strange smell from heater
Hi:) I just bought a used car and have noticed that there is a strange smell coming from the heater. The smell is not antifreeze, but is somewhat sweet, very chemical in nature. It is more noticeable when the car is not moving and does not seem to diminish with driving. Sometimes the transmission sounds like it is having trouble kicking into higher gears, the smell tends to intensify at this time. There does not appear to be any fluid leaks or anything of that sort; under the hood it appears the dealer cleaned everything (could this create the odour?) At any rate, its been driving me nuts, I don't know much about cars, and can't afford to take it to a mechanic; any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you:-) 209.252.235.206 (talk) 10:22, 6 December 2010 (UTC)


 * These guys give out free advice, if you don't mind being on the radio. -- Jayron  32  16:00, 6 December 2010 (UTC)


 * What happened when you tried calling a couple of mechanics on the phone to see if they could offer an instant diagnosis? Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:30, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
 * You should really call the dealer that sold you the car. Many times they will resolve problems with no charge. 10draftsdeep (talk) 19:39, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
 * "somewhat sweet, very chemical" sounds like windshield washer fluid to me. It smells strongly when actually used, but if it smells when not used then something might be wrong. I also don't know why it would intensify when kicking into higher gears, if anything it also suggests something is wrong. You should get it checked out, I guess. Rimush (talk) 19:53, 6 December 2010 (UTC)


 * It sounds like the previous owner may have put the fluids into the wrong reservoirs. I'd check them right away, to see if the colors are what's expected.  If not, you need to drain (and maybe flush) the bad fluids out and replace them with the proper fluids. StuRat (talk) 23:51, 6 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Also, you said it doesn't smell like antifreeze, but do you know what all antifreezes smell like ? You probably mean ethylene glycol, but there are others in use, which are marketed as being less toxic to pets and children. StuRat (talk) 23:59, 6 December 2010 (UTC)

Price of natural gas
if natural gas costs $4.50 per mcf, how much does it cost per us fluid gallon? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.96.134.130 (talk) 18:49, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
 * 1 cubic foot = 7.48051948 US gallons, according to google. -- Jayron  32  18:51, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
 * But if you are talking about LNG, then 1 cubic foot of LNG is equal to roughly 4500 gallons of gas. Googlemeister (talk) 19:12, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Umm, that strikes me as extremely unlikely. In a liquid, atoms and molecules are about as close as they can be without deforming the electron orbitals &mdash; that is, they're essentially touching.  So I very much doubt that LNG has more than, say, twice the energy density (or mass density) of gasoline.  If I'm mistaken, please elaborate.
 * (Oh, I suppose maybe you didn't mean gasoline, but rather gas-phase natural gas, say at STP? That seems plausible, I guess.) --Trovatore (talk) 21:26, 7 December 2010 (UTC)
 * MCF means 1,000 cubic feet, or just about 7,480 US gallons. So $4.50 per MCF would be just over $0.0006 (or 0.06&cent;) per US gallon. --Anonymous, 19:55 UTC, December 6, 2010.

Exotic Animal License
Do you have to have a license to raise tigers in Texas? 74.192.250.52 (talk) 23:15, 6 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Yes, according to this website, which helpfully seems to point to the relevant state codes. Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:22, 6 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Well, that's just gr-r-reat. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:34, 6 December 2010 (UTC)


 * The entry on that list below Texas is for Utah, and it says:


 * Prohibited animals include, but are not limited to, the following families: Ursidae (bears), Canidae (all species), Felidae (all species except non-domesticated cats)…


 * I am having real difficulty understanding the last-cited parenthesis. Does it really mean that the only Felidae to be prohibited in Utah are housecats? Marnanel (talk) 03:18, 7 December 2010 (UTC)


 * I don't think it does. It seems to say you can keep housecats as long as you don't domesticate them. It also seems to prohibit dogs, which were Canidae last time I looked. I think the Utah legislature may have been a little confused... AndyTheGrump (talk) 03:30, 7 December 2010 (UTC)
 * I think that the weird treatment of cats is the website's error, not the legislature's. If you look here, you'll see that all feline species except felis catus, the domestic cat, are prohibited.   But I'm with you in wondering why they prohibit all canids.  John M Baker (talk) 06:41, 9 December 2010 (UTC)