341–348 of 348 posts
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People tend to vastly underestimate the time needed for amateur cooks to do prep work. A lot of people need 5 minutes just to chop an onion.
Yep, I start a "30 minute" recipe and 30 minutes later I've only now gotten the ingredients out of the fridge/spice drawer/cupboard and prepared as per the ingredients list.
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There is a big fallacy here that the people who are going to be working more hours will actually make more money. These people are salaried, and may get better performance pay, etc. for more hours; but it is not guaranteed. Unless you're paid hourly, then the (admitted strawman) "I make $100K, which is like $50 an hour, so its like making money to pay someone $25 an hour." really doesn't work out. The example of Mall…
Many people who work long hours find their work enjoyable and would rather work extra 2 hours than do boring household chores that they hate. I am one of them - cleaning up house is like pulling out teeth for me.
I'm paying an accountant to do my taxes, not because I can't do them; but because I don't want to. I mow my own lawn, because I don't mind doing it. I pay someone to clean my house once a week, not because I think it makes me better off financially, but rather because it is no fun; I would rather do something else (e.g., engage in some kind of home improvement).
I don't feel like ordering things online makes me a shut-in at all - just the opposite. I work a lot, and by spending less time on the drudgery of brick-and-mortar shopping, I have more time to spend on the things that matter to me. Including socializing. Yeah, maybe I leave the house less, but are those trips to the store really "quality time?" Making a run to Wal-Mart or the supermarket to buy toilet paper is time…
One thing I've noticed is the missing "friendly strangers" in my life -- the people you recognize by being visible in your community at all of the places people regularly frequent (or used to at least). Seeing the same people again and even just recognizing they are there reinforces a sense of place for me. I moved out of the big city to a smaller one and was instantly fascinated by people who would say, "Hi," as I p…
In my immediate area, there are folks who know me by face//habits//&c. The neighbours, the comic shop folks, the owner//operators of area restaurants, and so forth... I may not know them on a deep level, but we encounter each other on a semi-regular basis and have a measure of quality in our contact which we both enjoy.
Medium-for-its-purpose type of deal.
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That example is not relevant in the slightest. Setting up a router quite clearly requires prior knowledge, even if that knowledge is something implicit like "familiarity with navigating Web UIs" or "general familiarity with basic networking concepts". Neither of those are applicable to doing laundry. There's literally no knowledge required other than "clothes and detergent go into machine". Hell, you don't even have…
So nobody has ever shrunk clothes before? Or ruined whites? Or mixed ammonia and bleach to clean a floor?
> Or mixed ammonia and bleach to clean a floor?
The first part of your comment was a reasonable point, but what the hell are you talking about here? You do your laundry using bleach and ammonia....on your floor?
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Food :) (everyone loves that!) Beer (great way to meet people -- everyone wants to swap beer). Textiles, beadwork, crappy art. I really am thinking of woodworking -- I would like to make a really nice chair. Or a salad bowl.
Actually, I've been really interested in getting into beer! How easy is it to get started? How long did it take you to get good results?
I had helped a friend a bit with some beer, but it wasn't until a few years later I tried on my own. I started with wine, initially with a book from author of _The Joy of Home Winemaking_ [1]. Apple, blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, elderberry, and also grapes (piesporter, carmenere, barolo, grenache, viognier, etc.). Cabernet / chardonnay are boring choices for boring people; there are so many other choices available.
Good results right away. More extreme experiments, perhaps questionable results, but learned a lot in all of them.
For beer, can't go wrong with _The Complete Joy of Homebrewing_ [2].
I went to my public library and got a dozen books on each subject before going to the bookstore. Besides the techniques and recipes, there tend to be a lot of history and related books on those shelves, so definitely check your library and return for more.
It can seem like a lot of details, but it's not that hard. Easier with a friend. Even easier, you can go to a brew-on-premises place (with a friend). There's probably a homebrew group near you, maybe a meetup; go to your local brewing supply store and check it out--they're knowledgeable and usually pretty friendly too. Relax! have a homebrew.
And don't forget cider, mead, metheglin, cyser, perry, etc.
[1] http://www.joyofwine.net/ [2] http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Homebrewing-Fourth-Editio...
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Yep, I start a "30 minute" recipe and 30 minutes later I've only now gotten the ingredients out of the fridge/spice drawer/cupboard and prepared as per the ingredients list.
To be fair, the "30 minutes" assumes that all the prep work is already done and that all you're doing is following the recipe from there.
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Food :) (everyone loves that!) Beer (great way to meet people -- everyone wants to swap beer). Textiles, beadwork, crappy art. I really am thinking of woodworking -- I would like to make a really nice chair. Or a salad bowl.
Actually, I've been really interested in getting into beer! How easy is it to get started? How long did it take you to get good results?
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/beer-equipment-st... looks like the kit.
Experience: first batch always great. 2nd or 3rd or 4th goes bad because you get overconfident, fail to sanitize something, and something nasty grows. You realize sanitizing is important and have success thereon.
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Okay, here's some suggestions. Test them out and see what happens I guess. Frankly, I have no idea what will happen if you do them: 1) Take a random amount of money... $25...$50... research and donate it to a charity you think is cool. Pick one and do it. Like now. 2) Are you in your house right now? Still on your computer? Go outside and walk around. It doesn't have to be supremely interesting or perfect. 3) Go to a…
1) I've been donating to Doctors without Borders since I was 18 and help fund a project on Kiva every month or so. If anyone's interested in researching where to give I also recommend checking out the Give Well foundation,[0] as it matters more how you give, than whether you give. i.e. there are millions of people who have partial or full blindness due to lack of vitamins. A simple $20 operation will restore their ey…