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

[Maharincess]

19 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I'm waiting to hear if I got a part-time job that will possibly pay $10.50 an hour. I'd happily take $16! That's more than most entry-level and early career jobs pay here.

Move out here and you can get the job. She works for a home warranty company. My daughter is in charge of hiring for her department. 

[Isle Of Why]

6 hours ago, GaT said:

I like real books, I used to read the short stories on my phone, but it annoyed me so I stopped. I still feel like they're ripping me off.

I get that. I originally switched to Kindle because I can embiggen the text to accommodate my poor vision, but have almost completely opted to have Alexa read them to me now while I play online games.

[BookWoman56]

7 hours ago, Isle Of Why said:

In an author-related peeve, I've been reading a lot of self-published mystery series and they're so much alike I almost think it's one person writing under 15 different pen names. They're around 200 pages and a new one comes out every 2-3 months. If the stories don't exactly end on a cliffhanger, it's close enough that the next one in the series picks up at the same place.

I don't claim to understand the economics, but the silly things only sell for around $3.99. I get them free with Kindle Unlimited. After publishing expenses, the authors must take home maybe $1.50 for each sale? I just looked up one of the more popular authors, and her latest release is #405,173 in book sales and #882 in Kindle. Nobody's making bank on those numbers.

It's throwaway entertainment for me but I still wish the authors would take time to plot out a complete story arc that ends with a danged crime being solved. Charge the standard $8.99 or whatever. It's not that a short story or novella can't be fun to read, but at least call it what it is.

Your question got me intrigued enough to try and find some info on how the economics work, at least from the author's point of view, and found this article on self-publishing on Kindle. It's actually pretty interesting and answers a lot of questions I would have about how the finances work. A few other articles I saw suggested that on average, authors make maybe around $1000/year from self-publishing on Kindle, and many of them make under $500/year. But for some who can write reasonably well and invest the time in marketing themselves, it sounds as if it can be fairly lucrative. I had mistakenly assumed that the authors were willing to put their books on Kindle Unlimited strictly in hopes of getting readers to read one or two of their books for free, so to speak, and who then might be more willing to pay for one that's not available through Kindle Unlimited. For me, at least, I am happy to pay the monthly charge for Kindle Unlimited, simply because it gives me access to a wide variety of books/authors that I probably would not try out if I had to pay a specific amount for a book. I have a lot of titles in my Kindle library that are sole titles by a specific author, but also many where I have several titles by the same author, that I bought after reading one book via Kindle Unlimited, then trying one or two more, and then deciding I liked the writing style enough to purchase several more titles. 

My pet peeve about Kindle books is that I wish it were easier to filter to select genre books and specify no romance. I know I've seen that filter on at least one genre, but I think  you have to go down two or three levels in filtering to get to it. I read a lot of murder mysteries, science fiction, and fantasy, and unfortunately, there are way too many books masquerading as belonging to those genres, mysteries especially, where at least half the book is romance with lip service paid to the mystery aspect. I don't object to some romantic elements, but I don't want the focus of the book to be romance; if I did, I'd be reading romance novels. I'm just tired of alien invasion or other post-apocalyptic novels in which people should be 99% focused on surviving and then dealing with romance afterwards, instead of 25% survival and 75% romance. 

[Brookside]

Abbreviations on message boards beyond RSVP and a few other commonly used ones.  I shouldn't have to stop to deconstruct what I'm reading.

MUA

TBH

OR

SMH

IIRC

POC

AF

HVR

BAU

KUO

[GaT]

4 hours ago, Brookside said:

Abbreviations on message boards beyond RSVP and a few other commonly used ones.  I shouldn't have to stop to deconstruct what I'm reading.

MUA

TBH

OR

SMH

IIRC

POC

AF

HVR

BAU

KUO

I'll take it further & say people using abbreviations & then putting what it means after it: LOL (laugh out loud). Either use the abbreviation, or spell it out, don't use both.

[Bastet]

11 minutes ago, GaT said:

I'll take it further & say people using abbreviations & then putting what it means after it: LOL (laugh out loud). Either use the abbreviation, or spell it out, don't use both.

I've never seen anyone do that, but it reminds me of how Rachael Ray would always say "extra virgin olive oil" after she said "EVOO," and that drove me nuts.

I think IIRC is readily understood enough to be used, and POC is usually clear given the context, but I don't even know what several of the entries on the original list stand for.  MUA, BAU, and KUO look like international airport codes.  And HVR = Hidden Valley Ranch thanks to the Commercials forum.

[auntlada]

The only BAU I know of is from "Criminal Minds," and that's what they call it on the show.

[GaT]

13 minutes ago, Bastet said:

but I don't even know what several of the entries on the original list stand for.  MUA, BAU, and KUO look like international airport codes.  And HVR = Hidden Valley Ranch thanks to the Commercials forum.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=MUA

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=BAU

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Kuo

The Urban Dictionary is great for this kind of stuff :-)

[tinkerbell]

On ‎1‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 12:22 PM, annzeepark914 said:

Aww...so sad to see the unlove for lima beans.  I disliked them as a kid in NY, but while living in Raleigh, I asked a real southerner how to make them taste like the ones at the public cafeterias. After she told me what to do, I've been making them that way ever since (a little butter, flour, some good seasonings + some cooking water, then pour back into the pot, & let them cook until they're no longer hard as a rock!) This probably won't tempt the anti-lima bean folks, though and I completely understand. 

The lima beans I had as a child were the ones in the can of "mixed vegetables".  I would eat the peas, carrots, green beans, corn, etc., and separate out the limas.   If I was caught, I couldn't leave the table until I ate them.  Hence, the life-long aversion.  

I do eat all sorts of other beans, so I'm sure if I had not had that experience, I'd be fine with lima beans.   But I'll never know.  

[tinkerbell]

5 hours ago, Brookside said:

Abbreviations on message boards beyond RSVP and a few other commonly used ones.  I shouldn't have to stop to deconstruct what I'm reading.

MUA

TBH

OR

SMH

IIRC

POC

AF

HVR

BAU

KUO

I know a couple of those.   But, like you, I dislike having to stop and decode what I'm reading.   I tend to read very fast, and it's like my eyes STOP on an abbreviation and it interrupts the flow of what I'm reading.  Yes, I can go look it up, but I don't.   If I come across an actual WORD I'm unfamiliar with, I enjoy looking it up, and adding to my vocabulary.  But in general I dislike abbreviations.   Many abbreviations that are common on social media, have different meanings in other contexts, like professional, medical, business.  

Example:   OR -  to me it means either Oregon or Operating Room

AF - I know it's supposed to mean "as fuck", to put after an adjective.  But to me it's Atrial Fibrillation

POC - Point of Contact, Person of Color,  Products of Conception, also Plan of Care

[peacheslatour]

Quote

I would eat the peas, carrots, green beans, corn, etc., and separate out the limas.   If I was caught, I couldn't leave the table until I ate them.  Hence, the life-long aversion. 

WHY do parents do shit like this?

[annzeepark914]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

WHY do parents do shit like this?

I had to sit forever, on my yellow stepstool high chair, until I finished my glass of increasingly warm milk, many nights. Hated milk and still do (as a beverage). I guess our parents were worried that we weren't getting enough nutrients by not eating enough veggies or drinking milk (I think also that ad agencies/lobbyists were going OTT pushing this stuff on our parents). Still have that yellow stepstool, out in the garage and my nieces all want it.

[walnutqueen]

3 hours ago, auntlada said:

The only BAU I know of is from "Criminal Minds," and that's what they call it on the show.

Brilliant!  (I watch it, too).   

 

3 hours ago, GaT said:

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=MUA

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=BAU

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Kuo

The Urban Dictionary is great for this kind of stuff :-)

Urban Dictionary can suck it.  I don't care.

[peacheslatour]

20 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

I had to sit forever, on my yellow stepstool high chair, until I finished my glass of increasingly warm milk, many nights. Hated milk and still do (as a beverage). I guess our parents were worried that we weren't getting enough nutrients by not eating enough veggies or drinking milk (I think also that ad agencies/lobbyists were going OTT pushing this stuff on our parents). Still have that yellow stepstool, out in the garage and my nieces all want it.

Same here. I quit drinking milk as soon as I could get away with it, probably high school. I forced myself to drink it when I was expecting my son. I've never done it since. Bleh, nasty stuff.

[Kelly]

2 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

WHY do parents do shit like this?

I agree...it's weird.  

My husband grew up in a house where they HAD to eat everything on their plate.  If they didn't - they had to sit there til they did.  There is a family tale of his one brother who would not eat something. and sat at the table til late at night...was sent to bed and then served the dinner plate in the morning.  They all talk about it, like it was very amusing.  To me, it just seems so...stupid.

In my house growing up, you served yourself and if you didn't like something...fine.  Don't eat it.  But don't complain about it.  Seemed to work out fine.

My mother-in-law is really strange about leftovers.  And of course she makes a TON of food for family dinners.  Always.  After the meal she starts in with who is taking what home.  It's almost as if she gets angry that she will have the leftovers.  My one brother in law, depending on his mood, will sometimes just refuse to take anything, and it really gets her worked up.  LOL  It's kind of amusing.  I just take what she gives me...sometimes the dog gets some, sometimes I just throw it out.  What she doesn't know, doesn't hurt her.  :)

[ParadoxLost]

2 minutes ago, Kelly said:

I agree...it's weird.  

My husband grew up in a house where they HAD to eat everything on their plate.  If they didn't - they had to sit there til they did.  There is a family tale of his one brother who would not eat something. and sat at the table til late at night...was sent to bed and then served the dinner plate in the morning.  They all talk about it, like it was very amusing.  To me, it just seems so...stupid.

My parents didn't do this.  I had a friend whose parents did.  They demanded I eat broccoli.  I did so and then I threw up on their dining table.

[auntlada]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

Same here. I quit drinking milk as soon as I could get away with it, probably high school. I forced myself to drink it when I was expecting my son. I've never done it since. Bleh, nasty stuff.

One of the worst things for me when I was pregnant was the smell of milk. I had to stop drinking it because no matter how new it was, it all smelled and tasted spoiled. I had to eat yogurt and cheese instead for dairy. That also worked out because I had to eat lots of small meals and snacks because I had horrible heartburn and morning (ha!) sickness if my stomach was ever empty.

[TattleTeeny]

My parents would tell me to my face that there weren't onions in things when I could clearly see, smell, and taste them! They would even say, "You can't even taste them" (so why put them there then?). And I was so consistent with knowing when they were in my food (and hating it) that I cannot understand why they just couldn't just accept that I legitimately did not like them and wasn't simply being a weird, finicky kid! It's not like I snubbed food all the time--and, really, how much nutrition would a child be losing by not eating onions?

Edited January 14, 2019 by TattleTeeny

[tinkerbell]

4 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

WHY do parents do shit like this?

because: 

"It's a sin to waste food!"  (then don't put it on my plate - eat it yourself)

"there are starving children in Africa/India/China who would love to have that food"  (then send it to them) 

Funny story, a family I knew, who also followed the "clean your plate"  rule,  had a  dining room table that had a drawer on one side - a silverware drawer, built into the table, that they never used.   When the mom died, they were cleaning the furniture getting ready  to sell, including the dining room set.  the drawer was stuck.  When they finally were able to force it open.  One of the sons, an adult by that time, confessed that he had used the drawer to "clean his plate"  of mashed potatoes  - many times, many years ago. 

[DrSpaceman73]

We started drinking soy milk recently and I have to say, its quite good.  Better than "real" milk". 

[TattleTeeny]

44 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

We started drinking soy milk recently and I have to say, its quite good.  Better than "real" milk". 

I recommend the cashew milk too. I grabbed it by mistake the other day and was pleasantly surprised!

So, food peeve: I just ate some kiwi and my mouth is all itchy. I ate kiwi a few days ago (and throughout my life!) and never had this! And of course I looked up kiwi allergy and it says it's not uncommon in people with latex allergies (check! I'm fun) and also said that bananas and avocados could also do the same to latex-allergic people! Damn it! It also said it could cause anaphylactic shock, but here I am typing here, so that's good, I'd say.

[BookWoman56]

8 hours ago, GaT said:

I'll take it further & say people using abbreviations & then putting what it means after it: LOL (laugh out loud). Either use the abbreviation, or spell it out, don't use both.

That seems to be a variation of what is typically done in business writing, where you spell out the term on first use and then put the acronym in parentheses. The difference is from that point on in that specific piece of business writing, you use only the acronym so that people aren't having to read the full term every time. That technique is used mostly in documents over a couple of pages long, though, rather than emails or memos. In shorter items like those, I avoid acronyms or abbreviations unless the acronym is so familiar to the intended audience that they would have a WTF reaction if I spelled it out. All that said, though, social media (for personal use) and business writing are two very different things. I have often cautioned students not to include social media acronyms in their business communications, but to accept that many fields have commonly used acronyms that will often appear in various communications, and not to assume that acronym ABC in one field means the same thing in another field.  

I'll give someone who uses an acronym/abbreviation and then spells it out the benefit of the doubt, that maybe he/she is trying to make it easier for someone who might not know the acronym, as long as the person doesn't use the same combination multiple times in the same post/message/whatever. Maybe it's a generational thing; I have occasionally used an acronym when texting with my older sister that she doesn't know, and then had to explain it to her, so frequently if I  use an acronym in a text and am unsure if she will know it, I put the meaning in parentheses so that she doesn't have to look it up, but also so that she will be familiar with it the next time I use it. 

Edited January 14, 2019 by BookWoman56

[ratgirlagogo]

14 hours ago, Brookside said:

Abbreviations on message boards beyond RSVP and a few other commonly used ones.  I shouldn't have to stop to deconstruct what I'm reading.

MUA

TBH

OR

SMH

IIRC

POC

AF

HVR

BAU

KUO

So, these are the ones I think I know.  MUA = Make Up Artist.  TBH = to be honest. SMH = shaking my head.  IIRC = if I remember correctly.  POC = people of color.  AF = as fuck. BAU = business as usual.  

I don't know what OR, HVR, or KUO mean.

[annzeepark914]

15 hours ago, Brookside said:

Abbreviations on message boards beyond RSVP and a few other commonly used ones.  I shouldn't have to stop to deconstruct what I'm reading.

MUA

TBH

etc.,

This reminds me of how annoyed I'd get with myself when I'd try to figure out those wacky vanity plates on cars while waiting for the light to change. For some strange reason, either I don't do this anymore or it's become so easy to figure them out that I don't realize I'm doing this now. Yes, I'm an odd duck.

[walnutqueen]

3 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

SMH = shaking my head. 

Well, SMH.  I always thought that meant Slap My Head.  Now I am slightly abashed.  :-)

Edited January 14, 2019 by walnutqueen

[theredhead77]

7 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

SMH = shaking my head.

 

3 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

Well, SMH.  I always thought that meant Slap My Head.  Now I am slightly abashed.  :-)

I always thought SMH was smacking my head. Like head-desk

[GHScorpiosRule]

8 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

SMH = shaking my head.

 

4 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

Well, SMH.  I always thought that meant Slap My Head.  Now I am slightly abashed.  :-)

 

17 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

 

I always thought SMH was smacking my head. Like head-desk

I've seen it used as So Much Hate. But I'm not one who uses acronyms in place of words, just like smooshing names of two people in shows, popular culture.

[partofme]

I've always thought SMH was so much hate.

Speaking of abbreviations, someone upthread used the term "FFS", what does that mean?  In my job that stands for fee for service, but I know that's not what the poster meant.

[Katy M]

5 minutes ago, partofme said:

I've always thought SMH was so much hate.

Speaking of abbreviations, someone upthread used the term "FFS", what does that mean?  In my job that stands for fee for service, but I know that's not what the poster meant.

For f (you know the word)'s sake.

[walnutqueen]

7 minutes ago, partofme said:

I've always thought SMH was so much hate.

Speaking of abbreviations, someone upthread used the term "FFS", what does that mean?  In my job that stands for fee for service, but I know that's not what the poster meant.

for fucks' sake.

I swear (a lot) and enunciate every syllable.  AND I spell it out in these forums.  None of that cu-asterisk-t shit for me - I will call a c*** a c***.

Edited January 14, 2019 by walnutqueen

[PRgal]

Does OR have any other meaning besides operating room or Oregon?  Or do they mean Original Recipe (as in the original version of a TV show rather than the reboot/remake)?

OG = original, until some women from my high school started using it to abbreviate Old Girl (i.e. alumna(e)) on social media.  Funny, since "Old Girl" has been used for at least a century, if not longer (the school itself is over 150 years old).  Took more than a second for it to click.

[KittyMom4]

18 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Quote

I would eat the peas, carrots, green beans, corn, etc., and separate out the limas.   If I was caught, I couldn't leave the table until I ate them.  Hence, the life-long aversion. 

WHY do parents do shit like this?

I'm not sure of @peacheslatour 's age, but my childhood was in the early 70's, we had very little money and my mom & dad refused to waste food. I sat at the table for 2 hours staring at 4 very cold brussell sprouts because I refused to eat them. I was sent to my room for the rest of the evening (as if that was a bad thing for a reader!). Anyway, the mindset these days is much different with childhood obesity on the rise I think the majority of pediatricians don't promote the 'empty plate' rule. 

[DeLurker]

When I went to college and lived in the dorms, I just cooked for myself since I knew I wouldn't eat cafeteria style food much.  I shocked my dorm mates when I would stop eating when I was full - most had been raised that you eat everything on your plate.  If it were meat or something that I would eat as leftovers, I would save it.  If it was something I wasn't going to eat as leftovers, I would toss it.

I was shocked by how much it reflexively bothered them - especially throwing stuff away.  If I have a part of a 1/4 baked potato skin and 4 bites of corn I am not going to eat, why would I save it?  Hungry or not, a lot of them would eat what I was going to toss just so it didn't get "wasted".

It lead to interesting discussions about our attitudes towards food and how they are shaped.

[PRgal]

20 minutes ago, GoodieGirl said:

I'm not sure of @peacheslatour 's age, but my childhood was in the early 70's, we had very little money and my mom & dad refused to waste food. I sat at the table for 2 hours staring at 4 very cold brussell sprouts because I refused to eat them. I was sent to my room for the rest of the evening (as if that was a bad thing for a reader!). Anyway, the mindset these days is much different with childhood obesity on the rise I think the majority of pediatricians don't promote the 'empty plate' rule. 

I grew up in the 80s and 90s (Xennial here), but I STILL feel uncomfortable wasting food.  I probably did A LOT when I was little (and really HATED hearing stories of "starving kids in Africa" from my (visiting) paternal grandparents), but these days?  Ugh.  It's not really about people in food deserts not getting healthy food, but what's left over is always in that "still something substantial-ish left, but not enough to put away for another day."

Another pet peeve:  My husband isn't a big vegetable fan.  He'll eat them, just not a lot.  I, on the other hand LOVE vegetables.  I made salad bowls yesterday and portioned them out.  He left a good 1/3, maybe even close to 1/2 of the greens.  He also likes things drenched in sauce.  I like sauce, just not too much of it.  

[walnutqueen]

I'm poor, so I mostly eat what I buy, but I can always rely on my backyard critters (raccoons, possums & skunk) to hoover all my leftovers.

Pet peeve?  People who insist on calling them vermin, and acting upon such prejudice.

[Sun-Bun]

37 minutes ago, DeLurker said:

When I went to college and lived in the dorms, I just cooked for myself since I knew I wouldn't eat cafeteria style food much.  I shocked my dorm mates when I would stop eating when I was full - most had been raised that you eat everything on your plate.  If it were meat or something that I would eat as leftovers, I would save it.  If it was something I wasn't going to eat as leftovers, I would toss it.

I was shocked by how much it reflexively bothered them - especially throwing stuff away.  If I have a part of a 1/4 baked potato skin and 4 bites of corn I am not going to eat, why would I save it?  Hungry or not, a lot of them would eat what I was going to toss just so it didn't get "wasted".

It lead to interesting discussions about our attitudes towards food and how they are shaped.

Xennial here, but my Baby Boomer mother was a firm and strict member of the Clean Plate Club—-I remember having to force down tons of food I wasn’t even hungry enough to eat just because my mom insisted on fixing my plate for me, which always bugged me. Portion control is an issue for me and to this day, I’d rather be underserved than overserved thanks to her crazyassed big portions; wasting food really bugs me to this day. But on the flip side, I’d always beg her to quit overserving my brother and me! Sometimes he’d literally throw up because she and my granny both would overserve us, my brother in particular.

Which is why kids should always be allowed to serve themselves and not be pushed to eat a certain amount; it messes up their natural sense of being full and it sets up harmful eating patterns otherwise. I still have trouble knowing when I’m full or not due to years of her food conditioning.

Thank goodness I wasn’t a picky kid and pretty much still will eat most anything to this day; she always forced us to eat ALL her food, burnt/cold, whatever! I suppose the food enforcement from parents was truly a generational thing—-but on the flip side, I have no patience for parents who claim their otherwise normal kids “only eat” certain things. Kids don’t come out of the womb only craving pizza/PBJ’s/macaroni and cheese; don’t cater to that ridiculousness.

[Stenbeck]

I completely agree.

My friend's kid "will only eat": chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, eggs and pasta. Not any pasta, mind you, the $15 pasta from an expensive hotel restaurant nearby.

AND she asks him "What do you want for dinner?" which leads to her running all over town looking for whatever crazy thing he ordered.

I was taught to eat whatever was placed in front of me. 

[PRgal]

1 hour ago, Sun-Bun said:

Xennial here, but my Baby Boomer mother was a firm and strict member of the Clean Plate Club—-I remember having to force down tons of food I wasn’t even hungry enough to eat just because my mom insisted on fixing my plate for me, which always bugged me. Portion control is an issue for me and to this day, I’d rather be underserved than overserved thanks to her crazyassed big portions; wasting food really bugs me to this day. But on the flip side, I’d always beg her to quit overserving my brother and me! Sometimes he’d literally throw up because she and my granny both would overserve us, my brother in particular.

Which is why kids should always be allowed to serve themselves and not be pushed to eat a certain amount; it messes up their natural sense of being full and it sets up harmful eating patterns otherwise. I still have trouble knowing when I’m full or not due to years of her food conditioning.

Thank goodness I wasn’t a picky kid and pretty much still will eat most anything to this day; she always forced us to eat ALL her food, burnt/cold, whatever! I suppose the food enforcement from parents was truly a generational thing—-but on the flip side, I have no patience for parents who claim their otherwise normal kids “only eat” certain things. Kids don’t come out of the womb only craving pizza/PBJ’s/macaroni and cheese; don’t cater to that ridiculousness.

The problem is many people our age don't know how to cook (and if you turn back the clock to our childhood, many of our parents were just too busy to make proper meals (I think it was the 80s when kids' menus began to appear at restaurants.  A generation later, it's still the same sort of thing.  Really, why do kids' pizzas only come in cheese or cheese/pepperoni?  And why is the chicken option fired?  Why can't kids' menus be smaller portions of adult food?) 

 

Speaking of parents, my dad has zero clue about nutrition.  To him, carbohydrates only come from grains or potatoes.  He refuses to acknowledge that butternut squash is a carb.  And both parents seem to believe that nutrition charts on containers mean per meal, rather than a total day's worth.  

[ABay]

Earworms. That's my pet peeve of the day. I was doing a crossword and one of the clues was about the song "The Girl from Ipanema." Get out of my head!

[walnutqueen]

10 minutes ago, PRgal said:

The problem is many people our age don't know how to cook (and if you turn back the clock to our childhood, many of our parents were just too busy to make proper meals (I think it was the 80s when kids' menus began to appear at restaurants.  A generation later, it's still the same sort of thing.  Really, why do kids' pizzas only come in cheese or cheese/pepperoni?  And why is the chicken option fired?  Why can't kids' menus be smaller portions of adult food?) 

 

Speaking of parents, my dad has zero clue about nutrition.  To him, carbohydrates only come from grains or potatoes.  He refuses to acknowledge that butternut squash is a carb.  And both parents seem to believe that nutrition charts on containers mean per meal, rather than a total day's worth.  

Child of the 50s & 60s.  My working Mum cooked, and knew how to do so very well.  I must've learned by osmosis, since my meals are epic, but shared by none.

[walnutqueen]

"Smoothies" are oversold, like every other flash in the pan.  You aren't missing shit.

[peacheslatour]

13 minutes ago, walnutqueen said:

Child of the 50s & 60s.  My working Mum cooked, and knew how to do so very well.  I must've learned by osmosis, since my meals are epic, but shared by none.

Child of the sixties/seventies. My mother also worked (she owned a business with two locations) and she had dinner on the table every night by seven.  We never ordered pizza or any other takeout/delivery but we did go out to eat at least once a week. My dad traveled a lot for business but when he was home he cooked too.

[ABay]

In my family, we learned to cook in self-defense.* 

*I think we stole that from Erma Bombeck.

[2727]

I'll get a sore mouth if I eat too much pineapple, but that's about it. Right now I'm sneezing and thinking I'd happily trade my weed and pollen allergies for something food-related. Dairy would be the hardest to forego, but it'd be worth it to lose the chronic congestion,  bleary eyes, and post nasal drip that wakes me up at night from coughing.

So, cockroaches. I'm phobic to start with and living in Florida doesn't help. I have one trapped in my walk-in closet now. I saw it scuttling yesterday but it roached under something when I ran to get the Raid and swatter. I took out a pull-on knit dress, shut the door and stuffed toweling in the gap at the bottom. The Internet tells me roaches can only live maybe three days without water, but I'm giving it a week. Or two.

It's not like I don't pay for quarterly pest control!

[bilgistic]

"Roached under!" Ha!

[theredhead77]

48 minutes ago, forumfish said:

*Staying on topic, my peeve is the number of yummy-sounding smoothie recipes that have bananas as the main ingredient.

I only like bananas as... a banana or in [banana] bread shaped form. I despise bananas in anything else, especially smoothies. For me, it's not texture, it's taste. Which I find hilarious since I like bananas. 

 

42 minutes ago, walnutqueen said:

"Smoothies" are oversold, like every other flash in the pan.  You aren't missing shit.

Smoothies have been around for over 2 decades.  I'd hardly call that a flash in the pan.

 

52 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Child of the sixties/seventies. My mother also worked (she owned a business with two locations) and she had dinner on the table every night by seven.  We never ordered pizza or any other takeout/delivery but we did go out to eat at least once a week. My dad traveled a lot for business but when he was home he cooked too.

Child of the early 80s. My mom went back to work when I was in the 3rd grade but she and my dad cooked dinner every night - dining out was a once, maybe twice a week thing. 

My current peeve is a literal peeve: inconsistent hair days. I can't figure out what I do differently to have amazing hair one day and WTF hair the next.

[janestclair]

20 minutes ago, 2727 said:

I'll get a sore mouth if I eat too much pineapple, but that's about it.

I get that too. I love pineapple, so to get around it, I stick with canned or frozen. That's (probably) actually not an allergy but rather your mouth being "digested" by the enzyme in pineapple.  It's that same enzyme that makes it impossible to put fresh pineapple in Jello if you ever want the Jello to actually set. Remember the old days of Jello salads?  Do people even do that anymore?  

I have a tree nut allergy so all those nut milks are off limits to me.  Regular milk; however, is delicious.  In fact, I just drank a glass.  

I was raised by "clean your plate" parents too, but my mom mostly cooked things we all liked, so it wasn't a huge issue.  Though my younger sister went through a phase where she would only eat scrambled eggs, hot dogs, or apples, so that's what my mom made for her instead of wasting food.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

My current peeve is a literal peeve: inconsistent hair days. I can't figure out what I do differently to have amazing hair one day and WTF hair the next.

Ugh, I have that too. Every time I get frustrated that I can't get it to look as cool as it did yesterday, I remember that my hair has a mind of it's own and it doesn't pay to worry about it. It will probably look amazing tomorrow.

[Mindthinkr]

2 hours ago, Stenbeck said:

I completely agree.

My friend's kid "will only eat": chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, eggs and pasta. Not any pasta, mind you, the $15 pasta from an expensive hotel restaurant nearby.

AND she asks him "What do you want for dinner?" which leads to her running all over town looking for whatever crazy thing he ordered.

I was taught to eat whatever was placed in front of me. 

Reminds me of someone’s child. We will go out and she will order that $12 Mac and cheese. Decide that it’s not to her liking and then want a grilled cheese. She won’t eat the crust so only three bites are taken of each halve. Of course she has room for that extra large desert that gets devoured. I wouldn’t care, but cringe because this kid is below normal height and weight for age. Way below. Think starving child look. The child needs protein and vegetables. Yes I know said child well enough to say this. Breakfast is usually a pop tart or sugared donut. Lunch is a hot dog or a picked apart school lunch offering. Dinner can be a bowl of cereal or something else, but it is not what I consider food to grow on.  Almost a teen the child weighs in the 70 lb range. Money is no issue. Control is. 

[auntlada]

2 hours ago, PRgal said:

Really, why do kids' pizzas only come in cheese or cheese/pepperoni?

That drives me crazy. In that situation, my son gets cheese because he doesn't like pepperoni. He says it's too hot, which is weird because the meat topping he prefers is spicy Italian sausage. And he wants it with fresh tomato, which not all pizza places have, but should.

I was a child of the '70s and teen of the '80s, and my mom cooked almost every night. If she couldn't for some reason (like when she went back to school to get a master's degree), my dad cooked. It was best if he didn't cook, though, since he would use whatever was in the refrigerator or cabinets. That's how Spam stew came into being. I don't recommend it. We didn't eat out much because we didn't have a lot of extra money. We were probably poor, certainly poorer than many of my friends, but I didn't know it then. We had a house we (well, Mom and Dad) owned in a nice although not fancy neighborhood, two cars (always used and one was usually pretty old), enough to eat and clothes to wear. I had pretty nice clothes because some wealthier people at our church had three daughters and the youngest was a year older than me, so I got her hand-me-downs. Then when I outgrew them, if they were still good, we passed them on to another family with a daughter two years younger than me. I thought that was just how people did things -- passed on stuff they didn't need to people who might need it. Now I look around and want to pass on my son's outgrown but still good clothes and can't find anyone I think would want them and wouldn't be offended -- which is OK because we donate them to our church's clothes closet, where people who need clothes can get them.