I have to ask. What is it?

[me203]

I wonder if there is a website where you can post what-is-it pics and have people respond?

And if there isn't, is that a business opportunity?

I mean, engineers exist. Moths to a flame.

Smart ass comment (like I have any other kind ): that site in this case was JUB!

Seriously, though, it's kind of an interesting idea. The one problem I see is that would such a site generate enough traffic so questions could be answered--and to potentially allow monetization of the site? It seems like one problem is that the only time someone would go there would be if they have a question about that weird, ugly thing they found while cleaning out Grandma's house.

 

[NotHardUp1]

A couple of apps exist, but they include ads, which I'm not up for, plus they want to load on my phone instead of my laptop, so fuck that.

A site called Wolfram identifies objects. It thinks Vannie is right:



But it isn't 100% sure.


That should prove interesting if I can wire it to the socket.

And, there's this:



I'm not sure if that means I should move heavy furniture atop it, or shake sugar out of it. Isn't the digital age incredible?

 

[NotHardUp1]

Smart ass comment (like I have any other kind ): that site in this case was JUB!

Seriously, though, it's kind of an interesting idea. The one problem I see is that would such a site generate enough traffic so questions could be answered--and to potentially allow monetization of the site? It seems like one problem is that the only time someone would go there would be if they have a question about that weird, ugly thing they found while cleaning out Grandma's house.

You underestimate the number of engineers who would habituate a site that would let them share their wealth. It's all I can do to keep my neighbor from coming over every time I'm working on something to tell me how to do it.

 

[Vannie]

There was a good site that identified plants all the time.

Lol at tiara.

 

[Alistair]

I wonder if there is a website where you can post what-is-it pics and have people respond?

And if there isn't, is that a business opportunity?

I mean, engineers exist. Moths to a flame.

There’s a Facebook group that does

 

[Essex Boy]

I thought it might be a menorah but the candles would all point at a jaunty angles and the dripping wax would make a right mess. Could there be a bit missing? It might be a part of something more elaborate. Maybe somebody else bought the other part and is wondering what it's for.

This question reawakened a very distant memory of an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show. The whole thing is on YouTube. I must have been about five when I last saw this. Now here's a treat!

 

[NotHardUp1]

Could there be a bit missing? It might be a part of something more elaborate. Maybe somebody else bought the other part and is wondering what it's for.

Very likely, else the use is so eclectic, we cannot imagine it without the common items intented to be held.

It is almost unquestionably a rack, but for what purpose? When I bought it, the weight of it made me buy it, thinking it would indeed be useful once I discovered its purpose, and that it was certainly hard to come by if I had never seen one before. I'm in the habit of buying upscale organizers and kitchen things that come from Williams Sonoma or snobby catalogs, before their owners or their surviving kids donate them to thrift stores.

To your menorah suggestion, I do own a wrought iron rack that holds votives that are not round, but square, and heavy, and custom made for the rack. It was designed to go in the center of a table, on a mantel, on a hearth, or similar. Without the votives, it would appear strange.

Along those lines, I have another art piece that is meant to be an elaborate vase collection, which is a series of seven open metal tubes, joined with hinges, that hold longer and taller glass tubes to place flowers or vines and then stand, allowing the owner to make an S curve, a bow, or a straight line. It's very possible this rack is the base of some floral display, and the glass tubes are missing, which would make a floral arch on an altar, table, or anywhere. I have seen wooden racks for such a purpose at flower shows.

I still think it likely the loops are an illusion to us seeing it as an empty rack. We imagine them containing handles, or necks of bottles, or the stems or flowers, or the base of long feathers, grasses, etc. But, I think it more likely they are only loops to make them not damage what they hold between them and the next loop, such as rolls of terrycloth towels, wooden somethings, or anything that might be gouged or scratched.

 

[NotHardUp1]

My mind keeps seeing it as some institutional supply, like a cruise ship, or buffet at a casino, or a spa, would use, to offer something that is picked up by the customer. The slight ornamentation below the arch hints at that. It's utilitarian purpose is dressed up due to its setting, so a buffet, or a spa.

I can imagine shaped and folded napkins tucked in the areas between the loops, or hand towels rolled, or even bath towels. If that is right, the only chance I have at getting an answere is if someone has seen this or worked with it and happens across the pics.

 

[Vannie]

Anything to do with a florist? Bud vase holder? No....

This is getting on my nerves now.

Free blowjob if someone can tell me.

I might even take my teeth out.

 

[Alistair]

It could be a branding iron if you want it to be.

 

[NotHardUp1]

It could be a branding iron if you want it to be.

And anything can be a dildo if you're brave enough.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Anything to do with a florist? Bud vase holder?

That kind of gets back to my comment about flower shows. This could be some aid for displays at state fairs, flower shows, etc., where they exhibit a single stem of flowers. This might be for display of winners, or even a single display of the 24 (or . . . ?_) stems of your peony, etc.

The examples I have seen use test tubes and they are vertical. These loops look big enough to hold test tubes, and the arch would be an artistic way of displaying them as well as flaring the blossoms apart to keep them from touching but not taking up as large a footprint on a display table.

Also, the fact that none of the ribs are true horizontal would support that, as the tubes at lowest angle would still hold water.

The problem with that theory is that the ribs holding the tubes would more logically be alternate on the arch rather than opposite, allowing greater visibility.

But, you may be right.

 

[unloadonme]

And anything can be a dildo if you're brave enough.

Here you go then:

 

[belamyi]

 

[NotHardUp1]

And anything can be a dildo if you're brave enough.

My post had no link in it.

And to think this site corrected a post I made when I quoted someone and changed the post with strikethroughs, but made it explicit I had edited it for comment.

And here a mod changes my post out of whimsy.

This is the mods' playground. Got it.

 

[me203]

Maybe this is what happened.

Scene: a high school shop class.

Boy !: "What is THAT thing you are making."

Boy 2: "It's a practical joke. I'll donate this to a thrift store. And everyone who sees it will wonder what the fuck it is!"

 

[Alistair]

My post had no link in it.

And to think this site corrected a post I made when I quoted someone and changed the post with strikethroughs, but made it explicit I had edited it for comment.

And here a mod changes my post out of whimsy.

This is the mods' playground. Got it.

The mods aren’t to blame. It’s a site feature. It always makes dildo a link. Just like if you write Broke Straight Boys

 

[NotHardUp1]

The mods aren’t to blame. It’s a site feature. It always makes dildo a link. Just like if you write Broke Straight Boys

I guess I have never written "dildo" on the site before, but I also don't remember it being a link whenever anyone wrote it in other posts.

I apologize for misinterpreting it and blaming what I thought had been a lampoon.

Guess the concession stand has to sell its popcorn . . .

 

[NotHardUp1]

Here is an easy one, albeit horrific.
What is it?

 

[Essex Boy]

Earwax. Why has it been brushed with egg white though? I haven't got that one in any of my earwax recipe books.

Coincidentally I've been meaning to bring up this subject in HT. I'll have lunch first though.