@theforestecologist - The lack of ability to ping moderators (it worked for me today, but often doesn't) and low chat room activity is another largely unintentional and difficult to "solve" issue making the site seem (not "be") unwelcoming. I have an issue with a comment on this question (sorry to bring it up here, but comments are another thing I'm thinking about and have been considering posting in meta about.

Is it me? Am I missing something? This seems to me to be a simple physics question. The commenter makes it appear to be much more difficult than it is, or seems to be requiring something the OP might not have and thus confuses the issue. This is an example of "other" under your second (and very helpful) meta question.

I would/could have just flagged it, but this is a pattern I see a lot, so I'm asking directly.

I should add that I have a "bit" (I wish) of dementia (I'm the right age) and am very often unsure of myself. I'm not a confident idiot anymore; I question everything because of my lapses (e.g. I recently asked my son to call me on his way home from work. Since I didn't hear from him, I texted again the next day with the same question. It turns out he had called me, and we spoke for over an hour! It was just not there.

When I asked what we talked about, it brought back flashes of the conversation (which are gone now). And I wasn't on drugs and hadn't had any alcohol.

Anyway, that's an aside. I've never been laconic, but I'm even worse now. Sorry.

Ok, I posted too early, i.e. before reading all the comments. Look at A Rogue Ant's comment (I think that's the user's name.) What on God's green earth is he talking about? Do I need a timescale to know that a puddle in my yard will freeze sooner than the little pond up the road?

Both of those comments would make me feel absolutely stupid if I asked a question here. I might feel so stupid that I would never come back. Is that the actual reason for the comments? To me, this is a problem I see almost all the time. Is it a problem, or is it me? (I'm serious. Is it me? Am I missing something? Maybe I am still a confident idiot after all.) Is there a solution?

If you're wondering why my comments are an hour apart, I went down a very interesting rabbit hole or two regarding epistemology.