981–990 of 1001 posts
This video explains it very well:
My father said to me: "I like a shower better than a bath, but ugh, that first blast of cold water when you turn it on is always a bit shocking." Me: "Why don't you turn on the shower, wait for it to get warm, then get in?" Him, realizing he'd been using a shower wrong for over 6 decades: "... huh."
The army method: stand there and take it like a man. The Superman method: put your hand up to block the blast. The Spiderman method: jump to the opposite side of the shower to avoid the blast. The clever method: turn on the shower and wait outside.
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…
Congratulations...
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.
I used to always cut open packages in the kitchen with a sharp knife (typically a steak knife). When I got married, my SO was a big fan of kitchen shears, so I was introduced to them. Using shears is a far better experience, and they're useful for pizza too.
One of the worst thing I did for many decades was drink bottled water and/or tap water. For many years I bought bottled water for home consumption. I eventually learned about under-sink reverse-osmosis water filtration systems and invested in one. For the last ~15 years, I've used such systems, following scheduled filter replacements. The water tastes and feels better than bottled water. Last year, my county water ut…
Can you recommend a brand? They are expensive and there are the usual low quality, planned obscelesence game playing techniques to sort through.
OK here's a dumb one. You know how the label on EVERY toilet bowl cleaner bottle always says "Step 1: flush toilet"? I always dutifully followed those instructions, thinking "hmm, the extra splashing water must be pretty important and help it mix or something." But no. One day I realized it's just that my toilet always started from a flushed state... like a normal person. But they knew somewhere out there, someone wo…
Mental health. Haven't seen it mentioned yet. Never think of yourself as wrong, invalid, defective or unworthy. That's wrong. Don't do it. For about 90 % of my life I've thought about myself as defective in many ways. - In puberty I thought I was defective because other boys were talking about their crushes, how they'd like to f--- this girl or that girl or how they got a boner just looking at them. Later almost ever…
Yes, knowing and understanding that you're not alone in your feelings and experiences is super important too. Another piece is understanding your body's feelings and your emotions. Many people aren't taught how to understand their feelings and emotions, especially men. This is NOT automatic. It is not difficult, but it can be very hard and unpleasant. Everyone needs to be taught how to process emotions, emotionally h…
I have always taken my good relationship with my father for granted. Not sure how to properly express this in english, but I don't remember having issues with him. We were present in each others' lives but while at the same time not connected. Yesterday while visiting him it just struck me like a lightning strike that I had no connection with him. Our world views are so fundamentally different that I might have disre…
I have a somewhat similar issue. He was never really present in my life (working too much etc.) and so we never connected. But he's also just a... somewhat unpleasant person to be around. If it's more than a few hours, it starts to get too much, so I rarely stay overnight in my home town. Recently (last Christmas) he's been making an effort to connect with me, but it's just so awkward and makes visits for me even mor…
I guess this is why my family has become so important lately. The perils of fatherhood away from any support just push me in this direction.
OK here's a dumb one. You know how the label on EVERY toilet bowl cleaner bottle always says "Step 1: flush toilet"? I always dutifully followed those instructions, thinking "hmm, the extra splashing water must be pretty important and help it mix or something." But no. One day I realized it's just that my toilet always started from a flushed state... like a normal person. But they knew somewhere out there, someone wo…
Ooooooohhhhhhhhhh. I often thought: It seems like flushing first makes much of the cleaning product run right into the water rather than sticking to the bowl, but there must be a reason they say to do it.