explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1894: Real Estate

2017-09-26T08:24:58Z

162.158.89.121:

That comic would've been funny ten years ago, but I'm not buying it from an author that is 33, sorry. Is Cueball supposed to be still in college? Is Munroe poking fun at fatuitous sophomores? Boring. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.121|162.158.89.121]] 12:11, 25 September 2017 (UTC)
:I think Randall still feel confused about owning a home, and the prices. When buying for hundred of thousands dollars and then some one cuts 10.000 dollars of the price, that is not that much relative, but it would be a huge deal to save that much in any other situation. Is that then a good offer or nor? As can be seen from my initial start of the explanation by just adding refs to three other comics, this is an issue Randall has returned to several times over the span of xkcd's lifetime. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:18, 25 September 2017 (UTC)
:Rings completely true to this 41 year old[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.32|162.158.155.32]] 14:29, 25 September 2017 (UTC)
:It highlights what basically becomes an enormous difference in number size when doing some of these financial transactions. Having owned a house for three years now, I ''still'' cannot fully conceptualise the amount of debt I'm in. Sure, I know the number, and I signed all the papers, but it's an order of magnitude more than buying a car, which is an order of magnitude more than buying a 4k UHD TV, which itself is one of those things you don't even do every year. Within that context, being able to properly appraise whether that 10k discount (and driveway repairs) are worth it is fairly difficult to do. I got a 6k discount for a roof job that needed to be done on the house, along with an estimate that coincidentally expired before closing, that ended up costing me 11k. I had nowhere near any experience to know if any of that was reasonable, and, quite frankly, I still don't think I would have if I did it again. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.64|172.68.141.64]] 18:17, 25 September 2017 (UTC)
: If you're correct as to his age, I'm a chunk older than him and I still identify with comics like this. I've never bought a house and am sure it would likewise overwhelm me, it would be difficult to grasp that I'm considering encurring such a large debt. I too sometimes don't feel like I'm an adult and am just faking, I spent so many years growing up knowing I wasn't an adult that once I became one it was difficult to grasp that this has "magically" changed. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:29, 26 September 2017 (UTC)
::Well, he cracked the joke about Cueball drilling too many holes in his first own walls (xkcd no 905) six years ago. Don't know why, Dilbert certainly hasn't aged in decades, but it bothers me here. ;-) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.121|162.158.89.121]] 08:24, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

So, what are driveaway repairs? How much value does it normally have? Sorry for being stupid.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.182.64|172.68.182.64]] 19:19, 25 September 2017 (UTC)
:It could be broken tiles in the driveway for instance. Depending on how many and what type it could be a whole range of values. The idea is that Cueball also has no idea if this compares to the 10,000 $ discount he already has on offer. Probably not though...--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:45, 25 September 2017 (UTC)
:: As far as I know, the average driveway is paved (at least here in North America, which is also where Randall is). A driveway could have oil stains and such, and/or could be developing damages like roads get potholes, and cracks. "Repairing" any of these would require repaving (though I suspect they never dig it up like roads to start fresh). I think even a simple repaving would run into the thousands of dollars, depending on the size of the driveway. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:38, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

Seems to me that part of the joke is Cueball, being stunned by the numbers, still uses his normal "let me think about it" response, even when the offer being presented is possibly already a concession to his indecisiveness, and has no drawback (they offer to both reduce price '''and''' cover the repairs). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.21|162.158.62.21]] 20:59, 25 September 2017 (UTC)
: It has a drawback. He can still decide not to but the house at all and "save" a whole lot of money.
:: He might also be considering other houses, is this now the better deal? Was it overpriced to begin with and this $10G only a drop in the bucket? Are there other necessary repairs which will cost even more than the money reduction, meaning that it should be reduced further, since the final cost to Cueball will still be higher than the previous price? Are there other issues he hasn't found yet, devaluing the place? (I'm thinking of an episode of How I Met Your Mother, where they bought a place in the "upcoming" neighbourhood of Dowisetrepla - DOwn WInd from the SEwage TREatment PLAnt, a plant that was closed for the weekend, and thus not stinking up the whole neighbourhood when they saw it). [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:29, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

This may also have a poke at some recent radio commercials (I forget for which bank) where, in the commercials, real estate agents and home buyers refer to home prices in terms of "years of really hard work" or similar. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.108|172.68.65.108]] 03:02, 26 September 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1894: Real Estate

2017-09-25T12:11:37Z

162.158.89.121: notfunny

1713: 50 ccs

2017-04-07T22:44:07Z

162.158.89.121: Undo revision 138455 by RamenChef (talk). Usually spelled lower case

{{comic
| number = 1713
| date = July 29, 2016
| title = 50 ccs
| image = 50_ccs.png
| titletext = There's been a raccoon accident at an accordion bacchanalia! Double doses!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic presents a busy day in the clinic for doctor [[Ponytail]], who orders 50 ccs from a nurse (probably [[Megan]] who walks in front of her rather than [[Cueball]] walking away behind her), all the while everyone is hurrying along the hall. This could be a typical scenario in a busy hospital. However the pun is that the 50 ccs are not medicine but should be used to write "hiccup vaccine" 25 times.

In medicine, "cc" usually means "{{w|cubic centimeter}}", and is often called that by medical personnel. A cubic centimeter is equal to 1 ml (milliliter), so "50 ccs" usually means 50 ml of a certain medicine. In this case however, the doctor has not told the nurse to bring 50 ccs of any given medicine; she needs to write "hi'''cc'''up va'''cc'''ine" 25 times, with both words containing the letter combination "cc", so she needs to write those combination 50 times.

That is the joke, that the 50 ccs literally means the two-lettered 'cc' fifty times.
*50 cc would be
**cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc
** just enough 'cc's to spell ''hiccup vaccine'' 25 times.

There's no conventional {{w|vaccine}} against {{w|hiccup}}s. However, performing tasks meant to distract one's self is a method to stop hiccups. Therefore the act of writing "hiccup vaccine" 25 times would itself comprise one more of those hiccup cures that never seems to work.

The title text text refers to a fictional event with four words containing "cc" (ra'''cc'''oon, a'''cc'''ident, a'''cc'''ordion, ba'''cc'''hanalia), which means she needs to write "cc" 100 times. Referring to the 50 ccs from above, this would be a double dosage.

Although the words of the sentence has been chosen based on their cc's the sentence is quite interesting in itself:
*An {{w|accordion}} is a box-shaped musical instrument with tangents like on a piano. The instrument is played by compressing or expanding the bellows. It has sometimes been accused of being a [http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f193/ZenLunatic82/FarSide-Accordion.jpg hellish instrument]. It has not been used in xkcd before.
*The ''{{w|Bacchanalia}}'' were Roman festivals of {{w|Bacchus}} (Roman name for the equivalent Greek wine God Dionysus). The festivals were based on various ecstatic elements of the Greek {{w|Dionysia}}.
*The animal {{w|raccoon}}, has begun to appear in {{w|Raccoon#Urban_raccoons|urban areas}} which has given rises to increasing {{w|Raccoon#Conflicts|conflicts with humans}}. A dead raccoon had thus found its way into Cueball's car in [[1565: Back Seat]] and already back in [[1025: Tumblr]] Megan has a raccoon sex dungeon in her attic!

So here there is talk of a wine festival with music played on accordions that has had an accident involving raccoons, in addition to the need for vaccine against the hiccups.

A similar doctor Ponytail is shown in [[883: Pain Rating]] also along with Cueball and Megan and just with Megan in [[996: Making Things Difficult]].

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail in a doctor's coat, walks right while reading from a clipboard, passing Cueball walking the other way while she talks to Megan walking in front of her.]
:Ponytail: Nurse, bring me 50 ccs!
:Ponytail: I need to write "hiccup vaccine" 25 times!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
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[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
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