[nraynaud]

A long time ago, in western Europe, kids wouldn't go to school if they were sick. To check if they were sick the mother would check their temperature with an alcohol thermometer. Of course the kids understood the goal and used the night lamp to get the appropriate temperature displayed to skip school.

When talking about metric in corporate setting I like to remind everybody that I have a strong suspicion that the guy who invented the thermometer also discreetly invented the night lamp.

(most of the context is disappearing: blinds that force you to use the night lamp in the morning, alcohol thermometers and incandescent light bulbs)

[dsirijus]

Eating raw potato worked too. Eastern Europe, not so long time ago. :)

[JonnieCache]

My memory of this involves dunking the thermometer in the cup of tea.

[watwut]

I did the same. The top of the thermometer exploded as the mercury inside got too large. Apparently, the thermometer was not designed to measure freshly made tea.

[watwut]

Any source of heat, such as radiator, would do the same job.

[mcguire]

And any thermometer. I've used friction on those goofy liquid crystal, flat plastic thermometers.

[nraynaud]

yeah, the trick is that you probably can't get out of bed without being caught.