h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I don't know if this is unusual or if lots of people can do this, but I find that I can estimate weights and measures to extreme accuracy without even trying! As a (mundane) example, the exciting instant 'food' 'supernoodles', requires 300ml of water to be added to a pan. I find that almost without exception when I put the pan under the tap and splash what looks to me like 300 ml in, then weigh the pan, the result is either 299, 300 or 301 grams! (excluding the weight of the pan).

Another example is the splitting of food at meal times for my wife and I. So if for example I make a wok of stir-fry, then split it equally between plates, it *really* is equal. i.e. if I weigh each plate of food, they are usually identical to within around 5 grams! (usually in a plate of food weighing around 800-900 grams including the plate).

Now setting aside the anally retentive nature of me weighing food I'm just wondering if I have a hidden talent and if so, can anyone think of any real world use for this talent?

You can win lots of WI cakes by guessing their weight at the summer fayres

Ooo, just what I need; more cakes! Actually I don't

Don't some carnivals employ people to guess the weights of the patrons? Otherwise perhaps you can work at the airport, spotting people who have too much carry-on.

oo, working at a cheese/fresh meat counter, being able to get the amount people ask for spot* on each time

I'm sure i could do that 2-legs

I'm not too sure that guessing people's weight would make me very popular, whether I was accurate or not

I lack that talent. I'm useless at guessing how much things weigh. I can, however, figure out in my head how much change I will get back when I'm in the chekout line.

"An unusual (but pretty useless) talent"

We were well-suited for each other. I was useless when I was pretty. She was pretty when she was useless.

>>..if I have a hidden talent and if so, can anyone
think of any real world use for this talent? <<

I too have discovered many skills that were usually
things at which I was useless when younger but now
seem to have developed into the miraculous with almost
super-human accuracy and deftness.

Filling a coffee maker, cup by cup, from a limited
supply of bottled spring water, I seem to know just
how much to fill the last cup to bring the level to
perfect alignment with the 'full' line.

A few years ago I developed confidence in my ability
to throw wads of paper into a basket from very long
distances. This also applies to bottles, empty tins
and packaging aimed at any waste bin.

Of course, I can't do this with anyone watching so I
never mention it or boast of this skill but remain so
confident in my aim that I barely look anymore when
tossing away used tissue or dropping a book or paper
onto a table or a stack - my arm and hand calculate
all the variables and the item settles snugly and in
perfect order as if placed and positioned with gentle
fingertip precision.

I first developed this skill with a shovel and several
tons of gravel. Beginning with large stones to build a
driveway I began throwing large pieces of aggregate
(of four to six and even eight inch sizes) into the voids
from several yards away standing on the load in the back
of my pick-up. Underhand, overhand, sidearm, it didn't
matter after a while - I didn't even really have to look.
I could hear them roll or bounce and then settle with a
satisfying snick like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

As the roadbed built up and I began applying layers of smaller
and smaller gravel and rock dust I found it splayed out off
the end of my shovel like paint from a master's brush. Each
pebble and grain rolling into its perfect position.

The satisfaction is beyond description. And knowing how
clumsy I was as a child the satisfaction is also justified.
I can even toss a hat across a room and have it hook as
it should on a rack. (a la James Bond but more casually)

This capacity with throwing things with a perfectly balanced
but entirely subconscious judgment has now evolved to include
a casual and almost indifferent approach to pouring and mixing
liquids much as you have described winnoch2. You also seem to
have an inate knowledge and awareness of weights and measures
so I wonder if you too have discovered abilities with throwing
things.

I have come to conclude it is just a matter of life experience
and the quickening mind of our elder years. But it is certainly
a god-given or life-given talent that is difficult to share with
anyone. So, thank you for this chance to 'boast' of my gift.
God bless ye sirra!


~jwf~

Sorry if that long post put people off.
My point was simply that no talent is useless
if it brings personal satisfaction.


~jwf~

Well yes there is often a 'fist in the air' moment whenever the scales match precisely the required weight.

Can you divide things evenly into three? When I make pizzas I have to divide the dough into three, and I've developed a bit of a fixation about weighing the dough first, then dividing it by guesswork, and then weighing the pieces. I *always* have two pieces the same weight to within, at most, three grams, but the other will be about twenty grams different

I reckon I'm a pretty good aim, jwf, too, but don't like to tell anyone. I got the skill from tidying the kids' toys. You line up the boxes (Lego, Playmobil, building bricks, rubbish, whatever) and work through the room picking up objects and lobbing them into the boxes.

German kids are really not good at throwing and catching - they don't have regular practice at school. American kids, I have noticed, are really good at it.

There's lots of other special skills and talents which no one
has yet mentioned.

Like being able to touch the tip of your nose with your tongue.

Double-jointed fingers, thumbs and wrists.

Wiggling your ears.

Spinning a large (basket)ball on the tip of your finger.

Tossing peanuts or Smarties into the air and catching them
in your mouth.

Curling a cigarette with your lips and tongue so that it
flips inside your mouth, hidden from view until you blow
out some smoke.

Pick-pockets. Card sharks.
(Oh wait, those have economic possibilities.)

Riding a bike 'no hands'.

Riding a unicycle.

Skateboarding...

Hmm... lots of sports examples but many have career possibilities.


Interesting thread!

~jwf~

PS:

I used to be able to open and light a Zippo flip-top lighter
with a single one-handed snappy motion. This evolved
from being able to strike a cardboard match from a
packet with one hand. Dragging the match head across
the friction surface with my thumb resulted in a lot
burnt flesh and sometimes an explosive fire when all
the match heads lit from an errant spark.

For a time I practiced opening a fridge, getting a bottle
of beer and opening it, all with just my feet. (This was
in the days when I was identified by my friends as the
Marvel Comics character 'The Beast' - I was never really
that good at it.)


~jwf~

I tell people I'm an expert at duck impressions.

When someone comes over and says "I hear you're an expert at duck impressions", I go all coy and say "Well, I dabble".

That's funny, really funny.
It's truly hilarious.
But I'm damned if I know why.
I'm still chuckling.
You struck a chord.


~jwf~

Yep, you struck a chord all right!

I can burp at will.

PP