Rules Of Thumb

Question 1

What’s useful to know about the U.S. quarter?

Answer 1

It’s just under an inch in width.

Question 2

What’s a potential way to determine if something you can see is not real?

Answer 2

Cross your eyes—if the thing doesn’t double, it’s not real.

Question 3

How can you tell a puppy is calm?

Answer 3

Its tail wags in time with its walk.

Question 4

How long does a 20-lb tank of propane keep a hot-air balloon airborne?

Answer 4

Half an hour.

Question 5

What positioning info is useful for hanging artwork?

Answer 5

Hang it so the center is at least 60 inches above the floor but never more than 10 inches above the furniture below it.

Question 6

What’s a useful way to evaluate a play’s stage?

Answer 6

Squint; if any prop or color stands out, tone it down.

Question 7

What building-to-street ratio is most visually appealing?

Answer 7

Height of buildings : width of street

Question 8

How should you price your knitted handiwork?

Answer 8

Three times the cost of materials.

Question 9

What’s one way to distinguish a real pearl from a fake?

Answer 9

Rub it against your teeth; a real pearl will grate.

Question 10

What’s a general ratio of time spent in hospital to time recovering?

Answer 10

1 day : 1 week

Question 11

How far can you travel per day on a highway bicycle at a leisurely pace?

Answer 11

50 miles

Question 12

If a road has a reflective center line that was a cost-effective improvement, what may be true of that road?

Answer 12

It carries 400+ cars per day.

Question 13

What is the general ratio of cartridges of caulk to windows/doors?

Answer 13

1:2

Question 14

How long can one live without blood/air/water/food?

Answer 14

3 seconds/minutes/days/weeks

Question 15

What’s a good metric for a maximum car payment?

Answer 15

No more than 10 percent of your monthly income.

Question 16

What’s the likely difference between surnames starting with Mc and Mac?

Answer 16

Mc is more likely Irish, Mac is more likely Scottish.

Question 17

What’s one way to tell a lobster was dead before it was boiled?

Answer 17

Its tail isn’t curled. D:

Question 18

What’s a good way to quiet down a drunk person?

Answer 18

Whisper to them.

Question 19

What’s the approximate ratio of front-line soldier to support personnel?

Answer 19

1:10

Question 20

What’s a rough purchasing criterion for a piece of equipment for a business?

Answer 20

It should pay for itself in three months.

Question 21

What can you say about the temperature when you can see your breath?

Answer 21

It’s 45 degrees or below

Question 22

How can you determine the readable distance (in feet) of words on a billboard?

Answer 22

100 x half the height of the letters in inches (or 50 times height of letter??)
(?? Check this??)

Question 23

How many hours of conversation to know whether you really like someone?

Answer 23

30

Question 24

What is the weight of your skin?

The surface area of your body?

Answer 24

About 1/16 your body weight.

Surface area of palm * 100.

Question 25

What are the proportions of the uses of a single butchered cow?

Answer 25

``` 1/4: Steaks Ground beef/stew meat Roasts Waste ```

Question 26

Roughly how long should you cook fish?

Answer 26

Ten minutes per inch of thickness.

Question 27

What's a rough serving amount for children?

Answer 27

One tablespoon per year of age

Question 28

How much wine can be made from a ton of grapes?

Answer 28

170 gallons

Question 29

How many albums to not tire of your music?

Answer 29

200, of varying genres

Question 30

Ratio of fluorescent light to indoor growing area?

Answer 30

20 watts per square foot

Question 31

What is the ratio of meteorite to its crater diameter?

Answer 31

1:20

Question 32

What's a moderately skilled Scrabble player score per word?

Answer 32

20

Question 33

Define conservative

Answer 33

A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.

Question 34

What's a good rule for eating?

Answer 34

Eat only if a 1 or 2 on a hunger scale of 1-10. Stop at 5.

Question 35

How deep should you plant a flower bulb?

Answer 35

Three times its length.

Question 36

How can you estimate a train's speed in mph?

Answer 36

Number of clicks / 29 seconds.

Question 37

Which should come first: characters or plot?

Answer 37

Characters

Question 38

What're two rules of thumb about flower arranging?

Answer 38

Put one third as many flowers as you think you need, then take half of them out. It should be 1.5x height or width of the container.

Question 39

How much life insurance should a person have?

Answer 39

If young kids, 5-6 times salary. If not, enough to pay off debt.

Question 40

What's a rough metric for bricklaying?

Answer 40

Six bricklayers plus foreman can lay 1,000 square feet/day

Question 41

What's a rough metric for saving for home repair (assuming ownership)?

Answer 41

$100/month

Question 42

Which two browsers should your site work in, minimally?

Answer 42

IE and Firefox

Question 43

What's a good rule of thumb for moving?

Answer 43

Set up the bed first so you have a place to pass out

Question 44

How can you tell if you blinked in a flash photo?

Answer 44

Close your eyes: if you blinked, the slot will be red

Question 45

Rule of thumb for size of herb garden?

Answer 45

Two square feet per variety

Question 46

What's a general rule for determining the max speed of a boat?

Answer 46

Multiply Square root of boat length in feet by 1.3

Question 47

How much food per person for long trips?

Answer 47

Two pounds

Question 48

How can you estimate the number of cost of groceries?

Answer 48

$3 per item

Question 49

How many labels can an (average/ambitious) person affix to envelopes, per hour?

Answer 49

400/800

Question 50

How firm should a medium-rare steak be?

Answer 50

The puffy area between thumb and index

Question 51

How long would it take four experienced workers to build an average-sized house?

Answer 51

~400 hrs

Question 52

What's a rule of thumb for the ratio of words in a speech to time it'll take to deliver?

Answer 52

150 words : 1 minute

Question 53

What's a rule of thumb for an exercise machine weight setting?

Answer 53

Choose weight that you can do 8-12 reps. with no fatigue means too light

Question 54

What's a rule of thumb for making a stew?

Answer 54

Use equal amounts of ingredients and double that amount of starch (rice, potatoes, etc)

Question 55

What's the rough relationship between cricket chirps and temperature in Fahrenheit.

Answer 55

(Number of times a cricket chirps in 15 seconds) + 37

Question 56

What's a rule of thumb for clothes shopping?

Answer 56

Scan racks from a distance. If nothing stands out, move on.

Question 57

What's an obvious difference between fish and sea mammals?

Answer 57

Vertical vs. horizontal tails

Question 58

What's a rough ratio of pounds of regular-grind coffee to cups of coffee in a commercial urn?

Answer 58

1:50-60

Question 59

How can you get an accurate estimate of the size of a crowd?

Answer 59

(Max reported by supporters + min reported by detractors) / 3

Question 60

What's a good ratio of flag to flagpole?

Answer 60

Width (hoist) of flag = 1/5 of flagpole height

Question 61

In composition, what are the associations with the direction the subject is looking / composition is flowing?

Answer 61

Left is past, right is future, up is positive, down is negative

Question 62

How much is the thumb worth?

Answer 62

40% of the entire hand, in worker's compensation cases

Question 63

Which way do the tips of tall, pointed trees typically lean?

Answer 63

Slightly north of east

Question 64

How can you predict a child's adult height?

Answer 64

Double their height on their second birthday

Question 65

How many sheets of paper can you mail with one first-class stamp?

Answer 65

Five

Question 66

What's one way to tell the length of an alligator?

Answer 66

Distance between eyes in inches = length in feet

Question 67

What's a kitten-adoption tip?

Answer 67

Get two; they'll entertain each other

Question 68

What's a rule of thumb for tipping a maid?

Answer 68

$1/night, more at expensive hotel or for extra service. Lots more if you made a mess

Question 69

What's a fast way to find a small object on the floor?

Answer 69

Roll a flashlight on the floor and look for the object's shadow