Pet Peeves: Aka Things That Make You Go "Gah!"

[bilgistic]

4 hours ago, Lord Donia said:

Secondly, if it was damaged or if there are newer/better bags, then shitting leave me one of those to use from now on.

I know that you are annoyed, and I don't mean to make light of that when I tell you I am cracking up at your creative use of the word "shitting".

On a related note, I now think you are rich because of how my mom reacted when someone in our neighborhood got Schwan's delivery service when I was growing up. My mom made some comment about it being expensive or "nice"--who knows--but it stuck with me that people who get Schwan's are "rich". I mean, pretty much everyone had more money than we did because my mother was raising three girls on a secretary's salary throughout the 1980s.

[zxy556575]

4 hours ago, Quof said:

Do you think he truly was weary, as opposed to wary? Because so many people use those words incorrectly.  

That didn't occur to me! I'd still cling to my irritation either way. A bag that won't close is easily fixed, although the mental image of him being frightened of it pleases me.

9 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

On a related note, I now think you are rich because of how my mom reacted when someone in our neighborhood got Schwan's delivery service when I was growing up.

Heh. Don't I remember that you have a cleaning service, missy? Now that's fancy!

Schwan's is expensive, though. Like, a 28 oz container of tomato basil soup is $9.99. That's about what my local Fresh Market charges from their deli, but you know. There's always Walmart and Campbell's.

[bilgistic]

Oh, I know. I have a woman come clean once a month because I am a horrific housekeeper. It's one of the very few things I do "for me". Cleaning wouldn't happen otherwise; I hate to clean (the act of physically cleaning things, but I don't leave shit laying around). I otherwise only spend money on the cat. He eats a lot better than I do.

Edited March 2, 2017 by bilgistic

[BookWoman56]

I wish people would realize that the middle of a grocery aisle is not an appropriate place to stop and have a serious discussion about their relationship. I go to the grocery store to get groceries. If I wanted to watch relationship drama, I'd watch TV.

[topanga]

10 hours ago, bilgistic said:

Oh, I know. I have a woman come clean once a month because I am a horrific housekeeper. It's one of the very few things I do "for me". Cleaning wouldn't happen otherwise; I hate to clean (the act of physically cleaning things, but I don't leave shit laying around). I otherwise only spend money on the cat. He eats a lot better than I do.

I often fantasize about having to choose between a live-in house keeper and a full-time cook. I hate both jobs (cooking and cleaning), so it's a real Sophie's choice. 

 

9 hours ago, BookWoman56 said:

I wish people would realize that the middle of a grocery aisle is not an appropriate place to stop and have a serious discussion about their relationship. I go to the grocery store to get groceries. If I wanted to watch relationship drama, I'd watch TV.

Oh, yeah. That's a popular one on this thread. What's even worse is when people stop to talk and their little bad-ass kids run all over the aisle. I'm a mother myself, so I understand that kids can get away from you in the store. But when you're not watching them and don't care about the havoc they're creating, you're essentially giving them permission to be turds. 

[Qoass]

Yogurt containers that come with the yogurt in one compartment and the fruit in another are stupid.  They're so small that they are a lousy value for the price even if you could fit your spoon in to get all the fruit slopped over into the dairy.

Edited March 2, 2017 by Qoass

[ari333]

15 hours ago, Quof said:

Do you think he truly was weary, as opposed to wary? Because so many people use those words incorrectly.  

Maybe the closing clasp was "lose" and he was afraid to "loose" another bag out of his stack. :-) I"ll be in hell if you need me.

I hate this one. Two people with carts stop in the aisle of a grocery to talk. They both have carts and block the whole aisle.  When I ask if I may get by,  they act like I asked for a kidney.

[JTMacc99]

2 hours ago, topanga said:

I often fantasize about having to choose between a live-in house keeper and a full-time cook. I hate both jobs (cooking and cleaning), so it's a real Sophie's choice. 

I'll second you on the fantasy of a house keeper. I don't mind doing any other job. I like cooking, and regularly do all the rest of the shit from laundry, to grocery shopping to repairs to yard work. It all gets done. But other than the immediate area around where I prepare food, I can't stand cleaning the house. If life leads me to a place where I'm sharing my home with another adult in the future, I'm putting "doesn't mind cleaning the house" on my wish list.

2 hours ago, Qoass said:

Yogurt containers that come with the yogurt in one compartment and the fruit in another are stupid.  They're so small that they are a lousy value for the price even if you could fit your spoon in to get all the fruit slopped over into the dairy.

My daughter saw somebody with one of them at her school and made me buy some for her.  She ate like two of them and left the rest for me. I came to the exact same conclusion. They are stupid.

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, Qoass said:

Yogurt containers that come with the yogurt in one compartment and the fruit in another are stupid.  They're so small that they are a lousy value for the price even if you could fit your spoon in to get all the fruit slopped over into the dairy.

I agree but, perhaps there's a customer demographic out there who likes yogurt in one compartment and fruit in the other so they don't get mixed together until the last possible minute. Then, too, maybe some folks like to each each item at very separate times.

Still, this DOES fall under my pet peeve of 'overpackaging'. I can think of a local firm that makes delicious cupcakes but they not only put them in a domed plastic container lid attached to the plastic bottom but they also have an innerhard plastic cup liner even though they're already in a paper cupcake liner so that means that one has to pop off the top lid, then try to squeeze the inner hard plastic cup liner THEN eat it by holding the paper liner. Yep THREE pieces of landfill. ARRGH!!

[ari333]

PEEVE. I'm old and still buy CDs. (I know)

I cant get that stupid wrapper off. I need scissors. Cant find scissors. I would use a knife, but one slip and there's a trip to the ER.  Have to go buy scissors in that hard plastic  wrapper thing; and then I  need scissors to get INTO/open  the new scissors

Same with batteries. If I drop one while opening it wont hurt it. (will it?) I cannot get the dang wrapper open. But let me buy fragile lightbulbs and they're in a light half open at each end little cardboard thingy. WUT?

Edited March 2, 2017 by ari333

[janestclair]

I like the yogurt with the fruit and yogurt separated if we're talking about Fage.  That stuff is freaking delicious, especially the cherry.  It's like having dessert. I don't mix it, but put a little bit of both on the spoon. You do have to use a narrower spoon to get it all, which is annoying.  

I would love a housekeeper or someone to come clean. I like things to be clean, but I hate cleaning.   

[Guest]

1 hour ago, janestclair said:

I would love a housekeeper or someone to come clean. I like things to be clean, but I hate cleaning.   

When I was a kid we cleaned before the cleaning service came.  My mother's theory was if the place was clean then they would do the "deep cleaning" stuff that she didn't like to do.  I stayed home from school sick one day and reported on what they actually did (which was not a lot because it was already clean) and they were let go.

This formative experience led to a span of years where I would touch up the trim (with paint) before my Mom came for a visit (ok it was just one time) because she couldn't relax if the house wasn't entirely clean.  I also used to put away the vacuum cleaner in different places to see the level of effort that would be taken to vacuum.  it was not a critical thing.  Just a level of 'this must be clean' that she dealt with in terms of anxiety before relaxation was possible.

She has mellowed since then.  To the point that I once found dust at her house.  And I was merciless :)

I'm still a slob on a comparative basis.

[riley702]

I like the Chobani flips because otherwise, the crunchy toppings would be soggy. That said, I just saw an ad for a drinkable Chobani and gagged.

[bilgistic]

I need a vegan chef and weekly housekeeper. The woman who cleans my place once a month is 71. She doesn't do the greatest job (like, she doesn't seem move the shampoo and conditioner bottles to clean the side of the tub), and she's a little too expensive, but I feel bad because I don't clean...and she's 71.

[backformore]

12 hours ago, Qoass said:

Yogurt containers that come with the yogurt in one compartment and the fruit in another are stupid.  They're so small that they are a lousy value for the price even if you could fit your spoon in to get all the fruit slopped over into the dairy.

 

2 hours ago, riley702 said:

I like the Chobani flips because otherwise, the crunchy toppings would be soggy. That said, I just saw an ad for a drinkable Chobani and gagged.

I ate a few of those Chobani yogurts annoyed at how difficult they were to eat, before I saw the  commercial showing how you're supposed to "flip" them.  Boy did I feel stupid.   I love them,  the flavors are great.

[StatisticalOutlier]

13 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

There are so many good flavors and what does the local store have? blueberry, strawberry, lime/coconut. Jackasses! 

I'm with you on the blueberry and strawberry, but lime/coconut?  That sounds heavenly.

I'm currently having a love affair with Noosa coconut.  I have figured out that my keys are whole milk and sugar.  Whole milk yogurt, even plain, is very good.  And I detest artificial sweeteners.  But these can be hard to find because everything is low fat and low calorie.  Blech.

My first "flip" yogurt was Muller, with caramelized almonds.  Just the plain yogurt, even without the almonds, was noticeably good, and I looked up the ingredients and found out it has tilapia in it.  Yikes.  Turns out it's what they make kosher gelatin out of.  That sounded gross, but then I thought about regular gelatin (also gross), and got to wondering why they need gelatin in yogurt at all. 

Unfortunately, my Noosa coconut has kosher gelatin, which makes me sad, but man that stuff is good.  I guess I should let Muller off the hook, too--that one with the caramelized almonds is very tasty.

But damn, that stuff's expensive.  However, I economize by never throwing it out.  I don't know what the expiration dates are based on, but...it's yogurt.  Spoiled milk, right?  I've eaten it a couple of months past the expiration date and it's fine.  I think back to when I used to throw it out if it was past the expiration date at all, and, well, I'd say I regret it but it was shitty yogurt anyway, so who cares?

I help out at a soup kitchen and for a while, there were some people who brought expired stuff from a Safeway store in their neighborhood, and they always had fancy greek yogurt.  I'd happily eat three of them while working.  But when Albertson's bought Safeway, the store stopped letting these people have the expired dairy.  Boooo!

[ari333]

8 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I'm with you on the blueberry and strawberry, but lime/coconut?  That sounds heavenly.

I'm currently having a love affair with Noosa coconut.  I have figured out that my keys are whole milk and sugar.  Whole milk yogurt, even plain, is very good.  And I detest artificial sweeteners.  But these can be hard to find because everything is low fat and low calorie.  Blech.

My first "flip" yogurt was Muller, with caramelized almonds.  Just the plain yogurt, even without the almonds, was noticeably good, and I looked up the ingredients and found out it has tilapia in it.  Yikes.  Turns out it's what they make kosher gelatin out of.  That sounded gross, but then I thought about regular gelatin (also gross), and got to wondering why they need gelatin in yogurt at all. 

Unfortunately, my Noosa coconut has kosher gelatin, which makes me sad, but man that stuff is good.  I guess I should let Muller off the hook, too--that one with the caramelized almonds is very tasty.

But damn, that stuff's expensive.  However, I economize by never throwing it out.  I don't know what the expiration dates are based on, but...it's yogurt.  Spoiled milk, right?  I've eaten it a couple of months past the expiration date and it's fine.  I think back to when I used to throw it out if it was past the expiration date at all, and, well, I'd say I regret it but it was shitty yogurt anyway, so who cares?

I help out at a soup kitchen and for a while, there were some people who brought expired stuff from a Safeway store in their neighborhood, and they always had fancy greek yogurt.  I'd happily eat three of them while working.  But when Albertson's bought Safeway, the store stopped letting these people have the expired dairy.  Boooo!

This may be a peeve in some way in that I don't understand it, but at least it does relate to your post. There is a grocery  a few miles away called.." (something or other) SALVAGE." It sells expired food.  I don't know how they legally do that. They are not donating it. They are selling it.

[Bastet]

Those sell-by or best-by dates are largely arbitrary and meaningless (and contribute to the huge amount of food wasted); food doesn't actually "expire" because that date has come and gone.  When a particular food item will spoil cannot be predetermined, and depends on a variety of factors.

[ari333]

5 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Those sell-by or best-by dates are largely arbitrary and meaningless (and contribute to the huge amount of food wasted); food doesn't actually "expire" because that date has come and gone.  When a particular food item will spoil cannot be predetermined, and depends on a variety of factors.

Ok, that makes sense. Thanks.

One guy who works at the regular grocery (not the Salvage  one) said that I can safely eat  eggs 30 days past the expiration date (if they're in the frig, of course.)

[StatisticalOutlier]

1 hour ago, ari333 said:

One guy who works at the regular grocery (not the Salvage  one) said that I can safely eat  eggs 30 days past the expiration date (if they're in the frig, of course.)

Eggs can go a long time.  And you can test an egg by putting it in a bowl of water.  If it floats, it's no good.

I think milk may be the only product I really pay attention to the sell-by date on.  If it's past the date, I'll smell it and if it's even remotely weird, I toss it.  I hate spoiled milk. 

But stuff does go bad.  I had some Wick Fowler chili mix, which is mainly spices.  It was well past the expiration date and I used it anyway; the spices seemed fine but the masa (which is used to tighten it) had gone rancid.  But I could tell by the smell and just didn't use the masa.

[ari333]

9 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Eggs can go a long time.  And you can test an egg by putting it in a bowl of water.  If it floats, it's no good.

I think milk may be the only product I really pay attention to the sell-by date on.  If it's past the date, I'll smell it and if it's even remotely weird, I toss it.  I hate spoiled milk. 

But stuff does go bad.  I had some Wick Fowler chili mix, which is mainly spices.  It was well past the expiration date and I used it anyway; the spices seemed fine but the masa (which is used to tighten it) had gone rancid.  But I could tell by the smell and just didn't use the masa.

If it floats, it's no good.  Put the whole egg in water unbroken? Sorry I feel dumb. :-) So if one of the dozen is good, then the other 11 maybe are good too?

When I was early 20s some date took me to a great dinner.. I knew him, trusted him. He was a good guy and potential  bf material :-) Anyway, he made me a margarita and I was right there helping him. (no drugging of the mix if our minds want to go there)  We used a powder mix that he had. (He was drinking some straight scotch or some other drink. Not my margarita ) Anyway, I became so sick, I still remember it. The mix had expired, long expired and there were probably little bugs in it. I might urp just thinking about it. GACK. I should have had straight tequila :-) no mix!!!

I know for sure that he didn't drug me. That sickness from all orifices was NOT sexy and NOT romantic. Ewww. I'll leave it there. So to be on topic, my peeve is.... expired margarita mix :-)

Edited March 3, 2017 by ari333

[rcc]

17 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I need a vegan chef and weekly housekeeper. The woman who cleans my place once a month is 71. She doesn't do the greatest job (like, she doesn't seem move the shampoo and conditioner bottles to clean the side of the tub), and she's a little too expensive, but I feel bad because I don't clean...and she's 71.

I feel bad for any 71 year old who has to go out and clean other peoples' houses to make ends meet. She probably has a small social security check and can't live on that alone.

[StatisticalOutlier]

2 hours ago, ari333 said:

If it floats, it's no good.  Put the whole egg in water unbroken? Sorry I feel dumb. :-) So if one of the dozen is good, then the other 11 maybe are good too?

Yep, just put the unbroken egg in enough water that if it were going to float it would have room to do it.  If it lies on the bottom on its side, then it's fresh.  If it stands up on its end but doesn't float, it's still good.  But floating = no bueno.

If they're to a point where I think I should test them, then I test each one.

[ari333]

38 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Yep, just put the unbroken egg in enough water that if it were going to float it would have room to do it.  If it lies on the bottom on its side, then it's fresh.  If it stands up on its end but doesn't float, it's still good.  But floating = no bueno.

If they're to a point where I think I should test them, then I test each one.

Wow that is a great tip! Ive never heard of it . Thank you for the details!

Not that it matters much, but what is the science behind it floating if no good? I'm all curious like that. :-)

[janestclair]

This is a total guess, but probably decomposing egg produces some hydrogen sulfide which then leaves the egg, causing it to be less dense than the water, so it floats.  Of course, I teach biology not chemistry, so I could be wrong. 

[ari333]

4 minutes ago, janestclair said:

This is a total guess, but probably decomposing egg produces some hydrogen sulfide which then leaves the egg, causing it to be less dense than the water, so it floats.  Of course, I teach biology not chemistry, so I could be wrong. 

woot! Thank you. Makes total sense.

[harrie]

1 hour ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Yep, just put the unbroken egg in enough water that if it were going to float it would have room to do it.  If it lies on the bottom on its side, then it's fresh.  If it stands up on its end but doesn't float, it's still good.  But floating = no bueno.

If they're to a point where I think I should test them, then I test each one.

Another egg tip - older eggs peel easier when hard-boiled. So if you're hard-boiling eggs, float them first and look for the ones that are closer to standing on end.  Of course, if they float, toss them.  But the more upright ones will peel easier. (Thanks to Stacia and George, my egg providers, for the tip.)  

[bilgistic]

8 hours ago, rcc said:

I feel bad for any 71 year old who has to go out and clean other peoples' houses to make ends meet. She probably has a small social security check and can't live on that alone.

She's doing fine financially. She likes staying active doing housekeeping, and has several years-long clients that she sees way more frequently than me. I just can't afford to have her clean more often.

She also just celebrated her 10-year wedding anniversary with a beach vacation. I can only hope to be as fortunate in 30 years.

[Lisin]

6 hours ago, janestclair said:

This is a total guess, but probably decomposing egg produces some hydrogen sulfide which then leaves the egg, causing it to be less dense than the water, so it floats.  Of course, I teach biology not chemistry, so I could be wrong. 

Actually (because I'm pedantic ;)) Eggshells are porous and as the egg ages, air gets in and that part that is the air pocket when you hard boil an egg gets bigger so the older the egg the more air and then eventually it floats. This is also part of why older eggs are easier to peel because the egg releases carbon dioxide which makes the albumin less "sticky" so it doesn't stick to the egg and that combined with a smaller white (because of the air pocket) makes for an easier peel. So, if you're making deviled eggs use old eggs! 

[Bastet]

Yeah, the gas produced by an aging egg is a factor in the changing density that leads to floating, but the main culprit is the expansion of the air pocket between the membranes over time as more and more air penetrates the shell.

[DarkRaichu]

16 hours ago, Bastet said:

Those sell-by or best-by dates are largely arbitrary and meaningless (and contribute to the huge amount of food wasted); food doesn't actually "expire" because that date has come and gone.  When a particular food item will spoil cannot be predetermined, and depends on a variety of factors.

I found milk is the only food which spoils right on the date.  How does milk turn the day after its expiration date anyway?  It does not matter if the carton was opened a week before or a day before the expiration date and put back into refrigerator.

[TattleTeeny]

On 2/28/2017 at 7:02 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

I'll admit I'm not at all into this Facebook/internet tell-everything scene we're living in now, but I think it's inappropriate for a teacher to be talking about her students at all.  Even praising them.  I just don't get it.

This whole scenario is crazy! I can't even get my head around the idea that someone could even think it might be OK at all. My teacher friends do have FB accounts but they almost all use a fake name (even just first and middle, leaving off last--even the college professors!), keep the profile set to private, and don't have students as friends (and some might actually have a separate profile for work/parent-related FB groups). And in the case that they do talk about students, it's something like, "I'm so proud of my class after reading their fabulous essays on [whatever]" or "Those kids wore me out on today's field trip" or even "One of my students made me laugh today by saying [blah-blah-blah]"--keeping it more about a story from their workday than the kids.

Edited March 4, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[rcc]

12 hours ago, bilgistic said:

She's doing fine financially. She likes staying active doing housekeeping, and has several years-long clients that she sees way more frequently than me. I just can't afford to have her clean more often.

She also just celebrated her 10-year wedding anniversary with a beach vacation. I can only hope to be as fortunate in 30 years.

Well, that answers that. Whatever floats her boat.

[Bastet]

10 hours ago, DarkRaichu said:

I found milk is the only food which spoils right on the date.

Mine often spoils before the date, because I don't use it very often, so it's about how long it has been open (and I use organic, which seems to spoil faster than the non-organic milk at my parents' house, even though it's supposed to be the opposite).  Milk is something I automatically sniff before using, unless I've just opened it.

If I went by dates, rather than how the food smells, looks, etc., I would waste so much food (as a friend of mine does, which drives me around the bend -- I know, I know, it's not a long trip) -- it's just me, and while I don't go crazy stocking up on things, I don't want to be running to the market every few days, and there are some things that just are the size they are, so food takes a while to be used up in my house.  I have never thought something was still good and had it turn out to be spoiled.

Edited March 4, 2017 by Bastet

[auntlada]

I have a coworker who will throw out anything past the date, whether it is sell by, use by or best by. She cleaned the office fridge once and threw out the mustard, which wasn't even hers and which she never used, because it was past the date. We tried to tell her that it's mustard. It's still good. And that it wasn't hers. Didn't matter.

On the other side, my husband grew up in Africa and talks about looking for the least expired date when shopping.

I can't tell about milk. It often smells bad to me when it isn't.  Ever since pregnancy, when I couldn't drink milk because it all tasted spoiled, milk always smells spoiled to me.

[bilgistic]

I remember when food didn't have expiration dates. I think milk has always had them in my lifetime (we never had a milkman) but things like canned and jarred foods and BOTTLED WATER having expiration dates is kind of ludicrous. Ask your grandmother what the expiration date is on on her home-canned (glass-jarred) vegetables.

I do realize that the makeup of the container (cans and plastic bottles) can leach into the food, but I think that expiration dates are largely an attempt to get consumers to throw out and buy more product, capitalizing on consumer fear. I am not a crackpot.

Edited March 4, 2017 by bilgistic

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

There were 7 file clerks in an area with the files, and we each had one of those yellow or orange or blue steelcase desks.  

Oh my goodness, if the desk you're talking about is what I picture, allow me to post an anti-peeve! It is my dream to have the space for one of those mid-century mammoths! I love them so much--those and vintage doctor's office cabinets with the glass fronts. Oh, I love them so. 

Carry on.

[ari333]

I want to respond about the houses and décor. I guess I'll go to small talk or chit chat? (I'm afraid of posting in the wrong spot.) :-) bc it's not really a peeve for me

[TattleTeeny]

Did I post in the wrong place, I wonder? I can't even find who talked about the fabulous desk now! 

Oy, never mind; found it. I am way too excited about an old desk, clearly.

Edited March 4, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[ari333]

35 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

Did I post in the wrong place, I wonder? I can't even find who talked about the fabulous desk now! 

Oy, never mind; found it. I am way too excited about an old desk, clearly.

It was me rambling along in the wrong thread. :-)

[DarkRaichu]

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

Mine often spoils before the date, because I don't use it very often, so it's about how long it has been open (and I use organic, which seems to spoil faster than the non-organic milk at my parents' house, even though it's supposed to be the opposite).  Milk is something I automatically sniff before using, unless I've just opened it.

If I went by dates, rather than how the food smells, looks, etc., I would waste so much food (as a friend of mine does, which drives me around the bend -- I know, I know, it's not a long trip) -- it's just me, and while I don't go crazy stocking up on things, I don't want to be running to the market every few days, and there are some things that just are the size they are, so food sits in my fridge for a while.  I have never thought something was still good and had it turn out to be spoiled.

I actually agree with you regarding expiration date & waste.  Also about the arbitrary expiration date, although in my experience 85% of things with "refrigerated after open" label last past the expiration date when refrigerated after opening.  Except for milk.  I throw away milk 1 day past the expiration date without smell or taste test.

 

3 hours ago, auntlada said:

On the other side, my husband grew up in Africa and talks about looking for the least expired date when shopping.

I do that too. Presumably item with expiration date farther to the future spends less time on the (cold) shelf.

[zxy556575]

Everlasting peeve: me and my bad financial decisions. I invariably make the wrong ones, and while I know there's no such thing as being cursed, I still think I am.

[Moose135]

6 hours ago, Bastet said:

Mine often spoils before the date, because I don't use it very often, so it's about how long it has been open (and I use organic, which seems to spoil faster than the non-organic milk at my parents' house, even though it's supposed to be the opposite).  Milk is something I automatically sniff before using, unless I've just opened it.

The last two cartons of milk I bought spoiled before the expiration date, and I don't use it frequently once opened either.  I've gotten to checking it every time too.

A few years back, my father found a can (soup, I think) in the back of a closet - it was a small closet build into the wall of the back hallway, and we used it to store canned stuff from the store.  It didn't have an expiration date he could read, just a code of numbers and letters.  He contacted the company to check on it.  They said "We have no idea how old that is, but we stopped using those codes more than 7 years ago.  We suggest you don't consume it."

[theredhead77]

On 2/26/2017 at 9:27 PM, Frisson said:

I am so tired of people who can't be bothered to socialize without being on their phones the whole time. I hosted an Oscar party, complete with red carpet, a photo booth, and mini-statues for guests. One guest couldn't be bothered to put down her phone to fill out her ballot or watch trailers for the movies she didn't see. Ugh!

 

On 2/27/2017 at 5:59 AM, Qoass said:

Yeah, I hate being on the phone at all and knowing that the person I'm speaking to is likely multitasking makes me feel like I'm low priority.

@Frisson, I had the same experience at a Super Bowl party:  everyone in the room was actually socializing with somebody at another party via phone.  Hate.

That shit drives me crazy. One [former?] friend (I ranted about him in a different thread) lives in his phone. I would stop talking and fidget with my fingers or look at him until he put the phone down. No one cares what you're eating, or that you're posting the 5th slanted wine glass photo of the night. You aren't being artsy, you're being rude. And for the love of god, tell the person you're texting with that you're busy and will hit them up later. I actually said I was going to go so they could go hang out with whomever they were texting with instead.

 

On 3/3/2017 at 11:19 AM, Bastet said:

Those sell-by or best-by dates are largely arbitrary and meaningless (and contribute to the huge amount of food wasted); food doesn't actually "expire" because that date has come and gone.  When a particular food item will spoil cannot be predetermined, and depends on a variety of factors.

California is going to change their requirements to help eliminate food waste. I just discovered a bottle of A1 from 2014. I've been using it and using it (recently). That I'll replace. Spices get tossed when they lose their potency. Otherwise if it pasts the smell test I'll try it, if it tastes fine, I'll eat it.

[auntlada]

3 hours ago, DarkRaichu said:

I actually agree with you regarding expiration date & waste.  Also about the arbitrary expiration date, although in my experience 85% of things with "refrigerated after open" label last past the expiration date when refrigerated after opening.  Except for milk.  I throw away milk 1 day past the expiration date without smell or taste test.

 

I do that too. Presumably item with expiration date farther to the future spends less time on the (cold) shelf.

I mean his family would look for the products that had expired most recently. They were all past the expiration (or best buy) date.

[bilgistic]

1 hour ago, stewedsquash said:

I think home canned goods are also under an expiration. I remember dates being written on the lids, with marking pens. It was neat being able to see different handwriting and knowing who canned it. Same with freezing. The little plastic tubs were marked with dates. 

The dates marked on home-canned goods were the canned dates, though, right? My grandmother never marked anything on her home-canned vegetables, and my mother hasn't canned since I was very young, so I'm guessing.

6 minutes ago, forumfish said:

Last night I posted over in the "what's for dinner?' topic that I had stirred a heaping spoon of cocoa powder into some Greek yogurt. What I didn't mention is that I've been using out of that canister of cocoa powder since May 2009. Kept away from humidity, that stuff never spoils, and a little goes a long way.

We had the same tin of cocoa for seemingly my entire childhood until I figured out that cocoa plus sugar in milk equals hot cocoa. It was the lack of sugar that stumped me as a kid. It said "cocoa" but it didn't taste like chocolate!

We also had the same bottle of Mercurochrome from before my birth until my sisters and I all left home in the 1990s.

[riley702]

My Mom canned a lot, and we did use the dates on the lid to know which to use first. We would only pitch them if it had been years, but that didn't happen often with a family of six.

[auntlada]

I've done Dave Ramsey's program before. I did not follow the program exactly, but it did help me, and I did work my way out of a mountain of debt eventually. It would have helped me more if I had followed the program. Word of warning: It is fairly religious. He talks about God a lot, so I know some of the people here would not be comfortable with that. If you are, or if you aren't but can ignore that part, the financial program is a really good way to get out of debt. It's built on basic principles of paying off debt a little at a time and not spending more than you have. Much like Weight Watchers for losing weight, Financial Peace University is very simple, but absolutely not easy.

[NutMeg]

About eggs, and the floating ones being bad, is that supposed to be true for quail eggs as well? A few of them float, but they're still ok - I should know, I volunteer as the martyr my family is not to know I am, by eating them as I peel them.

Also: why do we need to keep eggs in the fridge when for the most part they are not in the fridge in the supermarket? If there was a rationale not to keep them in the fridge, I could buy more in advance, because we consume lots of eggs... 

[harrie]

I think keeping eggs in the fridge is an American thing (and here's why - I knew I'd read it somewhere).  A former egg purveyor I used didn't refrigerate his eggs until he put them in the carton at the end of the day (for storage until sale). If I caught him at the right time of day, he'd give me a dozen eggs from the ones on the counter waiting to be washed, and he'd tell me I didn't have to refrigerate them. But when I got home, they went into the fridge, because I'm American (and also don't have a safe spot in the kitchen for eggs to sit without getting broken).

Edited March 5, 2017 by harrie