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Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

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Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#261

Post by mrguyorama »

hgsgm wrote: post #99
muzani wrote: post #29

Pasta and sauce are not meant to be separate. Once you cook the pasta, drain it, and immediately toss with the sauce. This is part of the reason it was meant to be al dente, to absorb and deliver the flavor of the sauce better. Unlike rice, it's fine to "soak" pasta in the sauce; it expands when freshly cooked but not when cool. Also most sauce recipes are probably overcomplicated. Most need less than 5 ingredients.…

> it expands when freshly cooked but not when cool. Make noodle soup and let it sit in the fridge for a week. It will expand.

Yeah but "let sit in fridge for a week" is probably not a great instruction in the middle of an easy weeknight dinner.

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#262

Post by dougmwne »

FujiApple wrote: post #230
rjmill wrote: post #152

When my then-gf/now-wife and I first moved in together, I got really mad at her because she kept "hiding" my stuff when I left it out for more than a day. I couldn't find anything! At some point, I yelled, "It's like you don't even want to see any of my things when I'm not using them!" Then I stopped for a second. For the first time in my life, it made sense. The whole point of putting things away is to hide them! No…

You know you’re in a long term relationship when your better half starts throwing away your stuff without asking.

Oof, no please ask. 15 years in and manners still matter.

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#264

Post by lisper »

Not using a meat thermometer, especially when cooking fish, and extra especially when cooking halibut, which is ridiculously touchy and easy to overcook. Now I used a thermometer to get the interior to exactly 120F and it comes out perfect every time.

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#265

Post by pc86 »

Nesco wrote: post #59

I realised most of my basic health routine was useless to detrimental: - Soap: it disrupt the skin microbiome. Only useful for hand washing and to clean private parts / the bottom. Even then use high quality soap like Marseille soap or Aleppo soap. Note: Also as mentioned in the comments if you avoid soap / deodorant you *will* probably need to shower two times a day even without doing physical activities. Three time…

I can smell this comment.

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#266

Post by ThalesX »

thyrox wrote: post #83

Worrying and arguing about things in the future. I wasted so much time and energy on this but as I get older I've realised there is so little of what we can actually control vs what we think we can do. Most of the time just saying Yes and waiting for things to actually happen is so much easier. A lot of time what you worry about never happens and if it does it isn't always as bad as you make things out to be in your…

I argue for the future so much. I hope to be able to at one point get rid of my anxiety about it. But:

> Also when you say yes to people, a lot of time the other person never actually follows through the thing you didn't want. Otoh if you would argue or say No beforehand it always has the opposite effect.

I recently started doing this and it's amazing. I was the one saying 'no' to so many 'offers' (as a full stack developer, from idea people), and always ended up being the negative guy that doesn't want to do things.

Recently I've started enthousiastically saying "Yeah, that sounds great! In order to get started, I'd need from you.". Up till now no one has followed up. When we talk about it next, I am as excited as in the beginning and mentioned the thing that they need to do again, and they usually go like "Oh yeah! I need to do that." and then I never hear about it again. It's a shocker to me.

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#267

Post by giantg2 »

bxhsjbaian wrote: post #255
yamtaddle wrote: post #79

Not using an electric toothbrush. First time I used one it felt like I'd had a proper dental cleaning. An extremely half-assed effort with that kind of brush beats a thorough one with a manual brush. I thought they were a gimmick, but no, they're amazing.

I switched back from an electric toothbrush to a regular one. My biggest issue withthe electric tooth brushes, distractions. You have 2 mins, 30 seconds for each quadrant. If while I brush someone talks to me e.g. what do you want for breakfast, or you see something that distracts you e.g s spec of dust on the mirror that you quickly clean up. I end up feeling like I didnt do a good job on one of the quadrants. Yes y…

Somebody asks you what you want for breakfast?

Clearly youve figured something out and I've been doing something wrong my whole life.

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#268

Post by Broken_Hippo »

b0sk wrote: post #49
mtlynch wrote: post #33

Staying warm. In the winter, I used to stay warm by turning up the thermostat. Then I discovered (via HN) the Low-Tech Magazine article, "Insulation: first the body, then the home." [0] The article argued that it's much more efficient to focus on heating yourself rather than your whole living space. I invested in high-quality wool clothes that I wear in layers and warm slippers. Now, I keep my home about 5 degrees F…

The issue is it doesn't work for people who tend to sweat easily.

That isn't true at all.

You simply need layers and good enough deodorant. A bit of experience helps as well - you learn how warm to keep your base layer after some time. If you sweat in non-standard places (like under breasts), spray deodorant might be your friend.

I personally deal with this because of hormones - I'm a female in my mid-40s, so I get to have hot flashes and night sweats during part of my cycle right now.

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#269

Post by Georgelemental »

Frost1x wrote: post #132
yamtaddle wrote: post #79

Not using an electric toothbrush. First time I used one it felt like I'd had a proper dental cleaning. An extremely half-assed effort with that kind of brush beats a thorough one with a manual brush. I thought they were a gimmick, but no, they're amazing.

On a similar dental hygiene note, I was told I should brush before having breakfast, coffee etc. It always stood to reason to me that it makes more sense to just eat my first meal and drink, then brush, to keep a cleaner state of my teeth for longer but supposedly according to a few dentists I spoke with, the protection you get from the first brush is more significant than removing those first food particles. Chances…

Seems to me like one should just not eat a sugary breakfast?

Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?

#270

Post by kirso »

yamtaddle wrote: post #79

Not using an electric toothbrush. First time I used one it felt like I'd had a proper dental cleaning. An extremely half-assed effort with that kind of brush beats a thorough one with a manual brush. I thought they were a gimmick, but no, they're amazing.

Literally discovered this only a month ago :( I wish I've done it sooner.
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