11. What are these dollar signs on my level for?
Answer: That is an electrician level. An S with a line through it is the electricians symbol for switch.
12. Nazi key??? So I found this key in with a bunch of things I was given decades ago when my grandfather died. Anyone ever seen a key like this before? it’s about 2cm long an I have no clue where it came from
Answer: It looks like a jewelry piece by Charles Horner. These were made circa 1910. It was a symbol of good luck.
This was before the swastika was known for a symbol of Nazism. (They adopted it around 1920.)
13. Metal (copper?) inlay on hotel room shelf?
Answer: I design Residence Inns. It’s for dropping your keys off when you walk in the front door (more durable than just wood, wears better over time, and adds a design element). At least that’s the brands intent.
14. Thin slabs of ivory with days of the week on the top found in my closet.
Answer: Product Description: “…Fabulous antique early Victorian chatelaine aide memoir from mid 1800s. Made of sheets of bone, it would have hung on a lady’s chatelaine chain or been kept securely in her pocket and she would have used it to make note and appointments for the week to come. It has 6 pages for the days Monday to Saturday, of course a lady would never have made appointments on a Sunday!…”
15. Plaque with numbers inscribed on it. Found on the sidewalk outside a building at my university.
Answer: It’s a magic square. Each row, column, and diagonal sums to the same number (34 here)
16. What Is The Point Of Such A Device?
Answer: USB charging condom. This way you can plug your phone into a random USB port and be sure that no data is exchanged. Only the power pins are passed through to the phone. Also called a sync stop.
17. Grandmother Received This From Her Friend After His Death. Nobody At The Senior’s Center She Lives At Knows What It Is. What Is This Thing?
Answer: Opium pipe
18. This Belonged To My Great Grandfather. What Is This Thing?
Answer: If it’s legit, that’s a really old Gibson, from between 1903 and 1933. It’s going to be worth more than you think, so be really careful with it. Seriously.
19. Went Exploring In White Sands, New Mexico And Found An… Object. What Is This Thing?
Answer: Looks like it could be titanium – titanium spheres of similar size are a relatively commonly found space debris
20. My Girlfriend Found These In Her Dinner? Are They Seeds?
Answer: Pretty good picture of insect eggs.