Once in awhile I try to do readers a favor, finding out the answers to random questions that may perplex people. Here are some answers to questions you might have wondered about.

 

What happened to the Gund Gallery designed by I. M. Pei at the Museum of Fine Arts now that it’s called the Linde Family Wing? 

It moved. And it was only a large room and never the whole addition anyway.

The Gund family’s name was on a long gallery that architect Graham Gund designed in the 1981, I. M. Pei addition—the one with a blank wall near the surface parking lot. (You might detect in that sentence a less-than-favorable opinion of the addition’s contribution to our urban fabric.) In a recent renovation that turned the Pei addition into the Linde Family Wing, that gallery was transformed into several adjoining contemporary art galleries. When the new Art of the Americas wing opened last year, the Gund Gallery for Rotating Exhibits was moved into the lower level of that part of the museum, according to museum spokesperson Julie Frey.

At least one person at a recent museum event complained publicly that this location, which now is showing “Degas and the Nude,” is off the beaten path and is a come-down for the Gunds, who had been front and center before. Surely, however, the MFA has checked this out with the Gunds. And Degas’ naked ladies are sure to draw a large crowd.

When you are in the museum, there is a notable distraction from the art. Almost as if word artist Jenny Holzer had arranged them, such names as Sharf, Ives, Druker, Foster, Shapiro, Morse, Calderwood and Riley adorn rooms, hallways and even stairways. It’s understandable that the museum wants to honor its generous patrons. But stairways?

Despite the clutter of names and the 1981-era blank wall, the MFA is more interesting than ever and continues to do Boston a good service by having both a Huntington Avenue entrance and a Fenway entrance. What an improvement over the days when it seemed as if you were welcome only if you arrived by car.

 

 

Why do women no longer wear panty hose?

No one I spoke to could identify when this trend officially began but it was here by the late 1980s when a Stanford Business School graduate could have been spotted on a June day walking from her State Street office in high heels and bare legs. Now, most women go bare-legged all summer until they are forced by the cold to put on opaque tights and boots.

It’s part of the evolution of women, theorized fashion designer Sara Campbell. (Yes, there is a real Sara Campbell. It’s not just a made-up name affixed to a Beacon Hill and a South End shop.)

A certain formality stopped being required at work, said Sara. It was easy to dump the hose since the material is fragile, runs were a hassle, and fake suntan spray evened out the skin tone of in-shape legs. The opaque tights are more durable, she said, so they are acceptable in the winter.

But the trend could be changing, observed Sara. The reason: Kate Middleton. She has been spotted in sheer stockings, and whatever the new Duchess of Cambridge wears, fashionistas copy.

Another fashion trend some women have adopted is letting bra straps show. “I’m not quite getting that one,” said Sara. “I put lingerie straps in all my clothes.”

 

Where are the countdown signs that the T has been promising us?

On your smartphone, silly.

The T still doesn’t have them.

For a decade the oldest underground rail system in the world, London’s Tube, has had electronic signs that let you know how many minutes it will be before your train arrives. But in America, which appears to be technologically challenged, our oldest underground rail system, Boston’s T, is still trying to get these signs installed. Planning began more than a year ago, said T spokeswoman Lydia Rivera, and the half-million dollar installation is not delayed. “It’s a major modification,” she said about the 400 signs that are due to go in. “The system wasn’t built with this in mind.”

Last year, another T spokesperson, Joe Pesatura, told me that the Silver Line had some of these signs. But when I checked the Silver Line stop on Temple Place a couple of weeks ago, no countdown information was visible.

Meanwhile, if you search on your phone for mbta, several apps will appear and you can download one for 99 cents. They display arrival times for the next trains on the Red, Blue and Orange lines. Even I could figure out how to download an app and find the information.

Meanwhile, said Rivera, $75 million in federal stimulus money is being used to upgrade Fitchburg commuter rail, and the T has use more federal money to install a wind turbine at the Kingston station that provides 65 percent of the power needed there.