Heymatt: I noticed that the cherry on my cigarette, the coals in my BBQ, and the element in my fish-tank heater all glow the same shade of orange. I believe this isn’t a coincidence. Could …
April 17, 2013
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Stories by Matthew Alice
Orange as the color of hot
Opposing traffic’s differing speed limit
Heymatt: Why do some local roadways have different speed limits depending on which way you’re going? Seaworld Drive between Friars and Ingraham is 55 in one direction and 50 in the other. West Point Loma …
April 17, 2013
Government travel reimbursement
Heymatt: Do taxpayers pay for congresspeople and senators’ flights to and from their home districts or is this built into their pay? Similarly, when the president flies on Air Force One to give a speech …
April 17, 2013
How much chicken is actually in chicken noodle soup
Heymatt: As a kid, I ate plenty of cans of chicken noodle soup and liked it. However, I could not help but notice the very few pieces, well, tiny pieces, okay, microscopic particles of what …
April 10, 2013
Who profits from movie theater ticket sales
Hi Matt, Like most people, I have been going to see movies since I was a kid. I even remember the newsreels that were at the theaters on military bases where we were stationed. But …
April 10, 2013
Mysterious yellow powder on recycling bin
Heymatt: I’ve noticed a yellow powder accumulating on the blue recycling bins in various parts of the city. What is it? I haven’t seen it on the black trash cans. — Observer, via email I …
April 10, 2013
Creeping carpets
Heymatt:In every place I have lived, throw rugs on top of carpeting have migrated in one direction. They move quite quickly. Even a six-by-nine-foot with furniture on it will migrate. I always assumed that foot …
April 3, 2013
Car closeouts
Heymatt: I am in the market to buy a new car. I have visited several dealerships looking for a good deal. Seeing all these new cars, I started to wonder if they all get sold, …
April 3, 2013
The battling 'Bertos
Hey Matt: I used to live in San Diego and ate at Aliberto’s, Rigoberto’s, and all the other iterations of ’Berto’s I could find. I just saw your article from March 16, 2000, and I …
April 3, 2013
Rough treatment for a charliehorse
Heymatt: Once or twice a year, I will wake to a charlie-horse. In my leg. I always instinctively pound the offending muscle group with my fist. I’d like to know if this is a universal …
March 27, 2013
The highest chair in Del Cerro
Matt: Going east along the I-8 before the College turn-off to SDSU, if you look left you will see a giant highchair on the hill below Del Cerro. Or a ladder. Or something. It’s out …
March 27, 2013
Mission Valley’s fiberglass go-go girl
Heymatt: Back in the ’60’s, ’70s, there was a big statue of a go-go girl on a sign in Mission Valley/Grantville that was visible from the 8. I seem to remember that she was all …
March 27, 2013
The opposite of a homonym
Homonyms vs. Homophones vs. Homographs vs. Heterographs vs. Heteronyms
March 20, 2013
Duggars and taxes
Heymatt: If the Duggars have 20 kids — that’s a lot, by the way — I was wondering what Ma & Pa Duggar claim on their taxes. Is it possible to claim all the kids …
March 20, 2013
Metal sidewalk markers
Hi MA, In my neighborhood, the sidewalks have these metal buttons embedded in the sidewalk. They look like an oversized Levi’s jeans rivet, are made of copper or brass, and are stamped with “LS 5456.” …
March 20, 2013
Cable-company monopolies
The travesty of cable-company monopolies held by Time Warner and Cox Communications.
March 13, 2013
Saggy-pants origin
Hello Matt: I hope this finds you and the Elves doing well. I know I am un-hip to most things these days, but something has puzzled me for quite some time. Why do certain fellows …
March 13, 2013
Calories out, calories in
Heymatt: For the last week I’ve been climbing Cowles Mountain every day. It takes me about 1 hour, round trip. At the bottom, I reward myself with an entire box of Girl Scout Thin Mints. …
March 6, 2013
Timekeeping across the ages
Hi Matt: Back when I was a kid, not too many people had wristwatches. This was not a problem, however, as all you had to do was turn on the radio to any station and, …
March 6, 2013
Bridge-construction practices and reflective tape on semi-trailers
Mr. Alice: Whenever I encounter bridge construction on the interstate, or most any other highways and roads, fastened onto the temporary supports at both sides of the road is a painted and illuminated, white board …
March 6, 2013
Why congress no longer approves gas prices
Heymatt: Please set the record straight. Back in the day, when gas prices first hit $2/gallon, Congress would have had to approve the increase. What happened to that law? There seems to be no need …
February 27, 2013
Moon reflections
Hi Matt: I was gazing at a full moon and a bunch of questions flooded my mind. How reflective is the surface of the moon? Does moonlight have a UV content? Would there be any …
February 27, 2013
Getting more ink from a ballpoint pen
Heymatt: Here is one no one can answer: how to restart ink flowing in a ballpoint pen after non-use. This has everyone stumped, so if you can’t answer, that’s OK. — John, via email At …
February 27, 2013
A roll up a gravity hill
Mattster: In my ’50s cruising days, after hitting Oscar’s Drive In on El Cajon Boulevard, one stop we would always make was at a “magnetic hill” where steel cans appeared to roll uphill. I believe …
February 13, 2013
Only one way in and one way out of the post office
Hey Matt: A colleague and I were at the Tierrasanta post office. It’s located in a typical shopping center with enough room for traffic lanes in each direction, yet they have signs showing only one …
February 6, 2013
Con-man math
Heymatt: My brother-in-law used to tell me this riddle all the time, but he passed away a few years ago and now none of my family can remember the answer, if ever there was one: …
February 6, 2013
Stepping into Mission Valley from Hillcrest
Heymatt: About 30 years ago I heard about some concrete stairs leading from the area around UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest down to Mission Valley. I went exploring and found them, but I only went …
February 6, 2013
Turn that down!
Heymatt: Why do some clubs have such loud music? I know loud volume is a substitute for quality tones, but do they really need to go that far? Some have sound levels of 105 decibels, …
January 30, 2013
International mail: which country gets paid
Heymatt: Curious as to how an international letter works through the United States Postal Service? How does the USPS get paid and how much does the country receiving the letter get? Do both countries just …
January 30, 2013
The difference between recreation and re-creation
Heymatt: How come you can “recreate” something (like a Civil War battle) and it would be a “RE-creation,” but when you go play tennis (or whatever) it’s “WRECK-reation?” Are they different words or just the …
January 30, 2013
Bullets in a bonfire
Do bullets thrown into a campfire go off with the same velocity as when they are fired from a gun?
January 23, 2013
Butchery’s history
Heymatt: Supposedly, butchers are supposed to retire after a set amount of years (10, 15, 20?) because they’re otherwise highly prone to mental problems, i.e. they go crazy. I’ve snooped around a little but have …
January 23, 2013
Rozzers — a slang term for police
Hey Matt: My English friend was riding in my car recently when I was pulled over by the police. I had not noticed them, but Nigel did and exclaimed, “Cripes, the rozzers are after us!” …
January 16, 2013
Are cats lazier than dogs?
Hey Matt: Why is it that a dog stays firm and muscular when you pick him up while a cat goes all loose and floppy and sags to the bottom like the stuff in a …
January 16, 2013
Where paper sizes come from
Heymatt: How did we arrive at our crazy “standards” for paper sizes? I mean, where did sizes like eight-and-a-half by eleven inches come from? Who is responsible for this mess? And what would have happened …
January 16, 2013
Story poles and oleander along I-5
Hi Matt: Travelling between San Diego and Oceanside via the 5 I’ve noticed a couple of things. At the Via de la Valle turn-off on both sides of the freeway there are white PVC pipes …
January 9, 2013
Why everyone loves pizza
Heymatt: So, everyone likes different kinds of music, clothing, TV shows, beer, food, jobs, cars, etc. My question is: if everyone likes all sorts of different things in life, why does everyone love pizza? At …
January 9, 2013
Firefighting CO2
Heymatt: If fire extinguishers use carbon dioxide to snuff out flames, why is it that the CO2 in expelled breath doesn’t blow out a fire? In fact, blowing on a hot ember usually causes it …
January 9, 2013
Some call sharrows a “bike in a house”
Heymatt: I use a bicycle a lot to get around San Diego, often avoiding hills and apparently clueless car drivers. Now, I see sharrows on some roads. What are people supposed to do when we …
January 2, 2013
No sex offenders in homeless shelters
Heymatt:How come San Diego is the only city on the entire West Coast that does not allow sex offenders to enter a homeless shelter? Don’t believe it? Check out www.lawsuit.tk.— Anonymous Well, I didn’t believe …
January 2, 2013
Concrete patches in the slow lane
Yo Matt: I have a question about some weird concrete patches in some of the slow lanes on our interstates. They’re rectangular cutouts, in two rows of four, very neatly patched. They seem to run …
January 2, 2013
How ducks find each other
Heymatt:I live near two parks that have hundreds of ducks that pair up during mating. When they all scatter from kids or dogs chasing them or from someone feeding them, the ducks quickly rejoin each …
December 19, 2012
Near-beer bust
Hey Matt! I’m an alcoholic and I’ve recently cut down my consumption to the point that I’m not hammered all day every day. Well, I’ve converted to nonalcoholic beer for the daytime — ’cause I …
December 19, 2012
A Closer Look at the Chula Vista Courthouse Flag
Heymatt: Why is a Mexican flag included at the courthouse at Third and H streets in Chula Vista? Does this mean some courtrooms there follow the “guilty until the level of extortion has been satisfied” …
December 19, 2012
The Unarius Movement, then and now
Heymatt:I was born and raised in San Diego County. Now I am living in North Carolina and I NEED an answer to my question. Back in the 1960s there was a late-night/early-morning television show. The …
December 12, 2012
Have all San Diego mayors been weasels?
Hey Matthew:Has there been a mayor in the history of the San Diego who hasn’t been generally considered a self-serving weasel?— Fred I guess it’s a general rule of thumb for any public official: give …
December 5, 2012
The scourge of plastic water bottles
Hey Matt: Watching the tube the other day, I thought I caught a commercial from a water-filter outfit that said the USA uses enough plastic water bottles to circle the Earth 19 or 119 times …
November 28, 2012