Live data from Hacker News

On Having Enough Socks (2019)

gwern.net

151–160 of 183 posts

Re: On Having Enough Socks (2019)

#151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it really so surprising that we don't (as a rule) have electric kettles? I think the reasons are pretty clear. First, Americans are mostly coffee drinkers, not tea drinkers. The coffeedrinkers are mostly using coffee machines that heat the water for you, so you don't need a kettle to do it. This is true from the low-end $30 drip machine to multi-thousand-dollar espresso machines. Second, America is on 110, not 220…

> Second, America is on 110 Kind of: 240V is fed into homes (along with a neutral), and gets split in half. Most receptacles are 120V for most appliances, because it gets the job done. There aren't many appliances that need more than that. The two main ones that do have 220V plugs are clothes dryers and kitchen ranges (hobs/ovens). If you want a kettle that boils faster change your NEMA 5 socket (and breaker) that do…

Peak HN right here. Absolute PEAK.

Re: On Having Enough Socks (2019)

#152
I’m an older man who doesn’t use his feet very hard, and I came here to say that I just bought another pair of Sockwell moderate compression socks.

40% merino, looks awesome, feels awesome, and not so much of the Precious Bodily Fluid pooling in lower extremities.

I will also +1 the Darn Tough socks. There is an appreciable difference between $6 and $26 for a pair in terms of moisture performance and comfort.

Washing them in a garment bag makes it easier to re-sort.

Re: On Having Enough Socks (2019)

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m Australian, it is mildly surprising. America is the land of convenience, and I’ve found an electric kettle even at 120v is still faster than boiling water on an electric stove, and much faster than boiling on a gas stove.

Yet here I am, in America, with a cheap water dispenser that has hot and cold taps.

I don't know how many hot water dispensers produce water hot enough for a satisfying cup of tea or coffee.

Re: On Having Enough Socks (2019)

#154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We drink a ton of iced tea I forgot about iced tea, but I'm under the impression that how popular it is depends on the region of the US you're talking about. I don't see a lot of people drinking iced tea in my area, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone make it for themselves.

> I forgot about iced tea, but I'm under the impression that how popular it is depends on the region of the US you're talking about. I don't see a lot of people drinking iced tea in my area, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone make it for themselves. Sweet tea is quite regional (the South). Iced tea's popular in much of the country, but I think making it at home has dropped off just like making many other things…

Stupid question, is iced tea always with added sugar? That kind of would change the drink from moderately healthy (plain tea) to every doctor's nightmare.

Re: On Having Enough Socks (2019)

#155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to be clear, don’t put food in the kettle! It’s just a lot faster to get water boiling than starting from cold on the stove.

Very much not the case for me, with a (fairly good) US electric kettle and a natural gas range. They're comparable, speed-wise, for smaller quantities, and if I need to boil more than a liter or so, the stovetop is a lot faster. Elsewhere in the thread voltage difference are brought up—that's probably what does it, typical US wall service is far lower-voltage than in Europe. That, and I've definitely had electric ran…

For me, in Europe, my electric kettle boils water maybe somewhere around 3-5 times faster than my gas stovetop. I usually use it to pre-boil the water when cooking as that saves so much time.

Re: On Having Enough Socks (2019)

#156
post #4

In order to avoid the effort of pairing socks, I once had the genius idea of buying them all the same colors. Then all hell broke loose as the color may be the same, but they were from different pairs still and so became more difficult to pair: you will lose an individual sock but not a pair. I stopped losing socks as I began buying them in bright colors so pairs where trivial to spot in all the sock journey during l…

This is me with black socks. I currently have a bunch of mismatched black socks sitting on top of my dresser, because I swear their matches are in my house somewhere so I'm not giving them up.

I feel you, brother!

Re: On Having Enough Socks (2019)

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I forgot about iced tea, but I'm under the impression that how popular it is depends on the region of the US you're talking about. I don't see a lot of people drinking iced tea in my area, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone make it for themselves. Sweet tea is quite regional (the South). Iced tea's popular in much of the country, but I think making it at home has dropped off just like making many other things…

Stupid question, is iced tea always with added sugar? That kind of would change the drink from moderately healthy (plain tea) to every doctor's nightmare.

No. Sweet tea (obviously) always has added sugar, but iced tea may be sweetened or unsweetened. Restaurants that serve it may offer sweetened or unsweetened, or may offer only unsweetened (sometimes styled "unsweet"), with sugar packets to sweeten it yourself if you so choose. It's rarely (but not never—typically only when bottled, though, this is basically never an option at a restaurant that offers cups of the stuff) offered with artificial sweetener included, but some people add their own to unsweetened iced tea. Restaurants and drive-throughs often have both sugar and one or more artificial sweeteners available, in packets.

Old-school restaurants, and especially diners, may have a mid-sized glass jar[0] of sugar with a metal lid and little metal flap on it (that flips up if you tip it, allowing some sugar out) left on the table, mainly used to sweeten coffee and iced tea. This is getting less common, in favor of little trays of sweetener packets, but you still see it sometimes. Used to be very common, 1990s and earlier.

True sweet tea (huge in the South, i.e. the part of the country that seceded during the Civil War, but much less ubiquitous outside it) is incredibly unhealthy. It contains more dissolved sugar than is easily achievable in room-temp-or-lower water/tea, by adding it during the boil, same as how you can super-concentrate sugar in water when making simple syrup (though it doesn't go that far) and it retains that sugar even when it's refrigerated. Sweetened iced tea has a much broader range of sugar levels, and may be relatively healthy, with only a little sugar, or very sugary.

Outside of the South, you'll often get sweetened iced tea if you ask for "sweet tea". It's fairly uncommon to see the real thing in Northern or Western restaurants. This sometimes leads to confusion, with non-Southerners going to the South and ordering sweet tea and getting something offensively sweet compared to what they're used to, or Southerners ordering it elsewhere and being disappointed with what they're served.

[0] Diner-syle sugar pourer: https://img1.etsystatic.com/040/0/6766475/il_570xN.635748831...

Re: On Having Enough Socks (2019)

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I forgot about iced tea, but I'm under the impression that how popular it is depends on the region of the US you're talking about. I don't see a lot of people drinking iced tea in my area, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone make it for themselves. Sweet tea is quite regional (the South). Iced tea's popular in much of the country, but I think making it at home has dropped off just like making many other things…

Stupid question, is iced tea always with added sugar? That kind of would change the drink from moderately healthy (plain tea) to every doctor's nightmare.

No. You specifically order "sweet" or "unsweet" tea in the South (or "half and half" if you want sweet but not cloying). Anywhere else, I would expect that sweet tea would be unavailable.

Note: this does not apply to bottled/canned teas, which are usually close to "half and half" in sweetness.

Most restaurants here serve soft drinks from a fountain rather than individual cans/bottles, so refills are free. If a restaurant uses individual containers for service, you will have to pay for refills. However, iced tea has free refills everywhere I've ever seen.

Re: On Having Enough Socks (2019)

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Second, America is on 110 Kind of: 240V is fed into homes (along with a neutral), and gets split in half. Most receptacles are 120V for most appliances, because it gets the job done. There aren't many appliances that need more than that. The two main ones that do have 220V plugs are clothes dryers and kitchen ranges (hobs/ovens). If you want a kettle that boils faster change your NEMA 5 socket (and breaker) that do…

For what it’s worth, I make drip coffee with a 120V kettle, and it boils plenty fast for my needs. A several hundred to thousand dollar electrical project seems overkill to save what I assume would be a few seconds to a minute per cup of coffee.

Yes: I generally only fill up a kettle in the 500-750 mL range if I'm only making one cup, and it generally boils fast enough for my tea.

Re: On Having Enough Socks (2019)

#160

I accidentally solved this problem by entirely side-stepping socks, because I could, because I switched from management to programming, and I don't live in a cold country. For about a decade now, I've worn open sandals pretty much everywhere and for almost every occasion. The few times I've had to wear socks (because, dress shoes), I've found some pairs handy in my closet.

Similarly, I've worn boat shoes or vans without socks since I was a freshman in high school and it's great! The only exceptions are dress shoes and when biking.
Post reply on HN