Anyone else do somewhat strange things to make life easier?

[Midwayman]

I got married so I wouldn't have to cook or do laundry.

How's that working out for you?

 

[Muse]

What do you do with the beans, do you eat them by themselves? Do you season them? You started with dry beans?

Started with 1.5lb dry beans. Washed, put in 6qt Instant Pot with 55oz water and about 1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt, delay start ~8 hours. Pressure Cook 22 minutes ("Keep Warm" turned off). I drained the beans saving the liquid for whatever (will probably use that liquid to cook more rice later, meantime keeping in the fridge).

I use those beans for:

1. Red beans and rice - my own recipe:

Large fry pan, high heat with some olive oil:

Diced onions,
then chopped sweet peppers, chopped celery, sliced 1/2 sausage
1 teaspoon dry rosemary
1 teaspoon dry thyme
1 clove garlic, diced
salt and pepper to taste
Stir in an equal volume of beans and rice
A spare drizzle with Tabasco sauce tops it off
- - - -
2. Refried beans

The cooked pinto beans added to fried onions, some diced bacon and then seasoned with New Mexico chili powder, 1/4 teaspoon Mexican oregano, salt

Served with brown rice or basmati rice

All topped with extra sharp cheddar and my home made hot sauce made with home grown vine ripened tomatoes and jalapeno peppers (which I can in jars)
- - - -
3. For a quickie just some beans, some rice, topped with some hot sauce and cheese in a ceramic bowl, all heated in the microwave

 

[TXHokie]

For me it was so I didnt have to do laundry or clean, but, as compromise, I generally do most of the cooking.

Same here. I am too picky about how my food is prepared so I do the cooking/grilling. But laundry, it's amazing I just toss it in the corner and it magically reappears folded neatly in my drawers couple days later.

 

[Muse]

My fridge magnets as described in post #44:

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...make-life-easier.2584223/page-2#post-40257184

 

[pmv]

I probably have 20 tape measures. Took me only 10 minutes to find one to measure something earlier today.

I pretty-much do that with scissors, pens and screwdrivers. Yet somehow, whenever I need one, there's never one in the room I'm in at the time.

On a related-note, people say to me things like 'you should have a particular place where you always keep particular things, so you always know where it is'. I say, if you do that and you look in that particular place and it isn't there, you are stuck. Whereas if you leave things all over the place in all sorts of random places, you have lots more places to look, therefore much greater chance of finding the thing you are looking for. For example, if my keys are not in my desk-drawer, I know there about 20 other places where I've sometimes left them, so I still have hope of finding them in one of those places. Whereas if I had a rule of always leaving it in that drawer, when I failed to find it there I'd be stumped.

 

[highland145]

I pretty-much do that with scissors, pens and screwdrivers. Yet somehow, whenever I need one, there's never one in the room I'm in at the time.

On a related-note, people say to me things like 'you should have a particular place where you always keep particular things, so you always know where it is'. I say, if you do that and you look in that particular place and it isn't there, you are stuck. Whereas if you leave things all over the place in all sorts of random places, you have lots more places to look, therefore much greater chance of finding the thing you are looking for. For example, if my keys are not in my desk-drawer, I know there about 20 other places where I've sometimes left them, so I still have hope of finding them in one of those places. Whereas if I had a rule of always leaving it in that drawer, when I failed to find it there I'd be stumped.

Perfectly illogical.

 

[Muse]

On a related-note, people say to me things like 'you should have a particular place where you always keep particular things, so you always know where it is'. I say, if you do that and you look in that particular place and it isn't there, you are stuck. Whereas if you leave things all over the place in all sorts of random places, you have lots more places to look, therefore much greater chance of finding the thing you are looking for. For example, if my keys are not in my desk-drawer, I know there about 20 other places where I've sometimes left them, so I still have hope of finding them in one of those places. Whereas if I had a rule of always leaving it in that drawer, when I failed to find it there I'd be stumped.

I do get stumped sometimes. Those are interesting times. There is a silver lining to misplacing or losing something. In looking for it you see a lot.

Now (one of) best ways to find something is to remember where I put it. That happens a lot, fortunately.

I do have certain places where I keep things. A LOT! That usually works.

Now, I saw it said by a presumed expert on self-organization that you should resolve to stop the practice of putting anything in any place "for the moment." IOW, develop a means of having a place for everything. Easier said than done, but maybe really the way to go.

I saw it said that a place for everything and everything in its place is anti-revolutionary. That's been stuck in my head for decades! However, Benjamin Franklin, one of the wisest Americans to ever live (or world citizens, should I say?) would, I think, recoil at that sentiment... he was, after all, a printer by trade and if he didn't have a place for things his business would have failed miserably. Unfortunately Ben Franklin is dead and I can't ask him, I just have to imagine what he'd say.

 

[pmv]

Perfectly illogical.

I think you'll find the illogic is immaculate.

 

[pmv]

I do get stumped sometimes. Those are interesting times. There is a silver lining to misplacing or losing something. In looking for it you see a lot.

Now (one of) best ways to find something is to remember where I put it. That happens a lot, fortunately.

I do have certain places where I keep things. A LOT! That usually works.

Now, I saw it said by a presumed expert on self-organization that you should resolve to stop the practice of putting anything in any place "for the moment." IOW, develop a means of having a place for everything. Easier said than done, but maybe really the way to go.

I saw it said that a place for everything and everything in its place is anti-revolutionary. That's been stuck in my head for decades! However, Benjamin Franklin, one of the wisest Americans to ever live (or world citizens, should I say?) would, I think, recoil at that sentiment... he was, after all, a printer by trade and if he didn't have a place for things his business would have failed miserably. Unfortunately Ben Franklin is dead and I can't ask him, I just have to imagine what he'd say.

Is Ben Franklin dead or just temporarily misplaced?

 

[Muse]

I think you'll find the illogic is immaculate.

You probably have a very interesting and effective life style. I have too many things, it's clear. Many wonderful things, but too many. You probably don't have that problem, at least to the extent I do. Many people are much better than I at discarding things. Yesterday was trash day at my house but there was very little in the trash can... too little.

 

[Muse]

Is Ben Franklin dead or just temporarily misplaced?

Well, I'm in the middle of reading his wonderful autobiography, so maybe, shall we say, set aside! It's on my Kindle Paperwhite, right next to me.

 

[Greenman]

How's that working out for you?

It's only been 37 years, but so far it's worked out. I'll let you know once I have a long term base to judge from.

 

[pmv]

Well, I'm in the middle of reading his wonderful autobiography, so maybe, shall we say, set aside! It's on my Kindle Paperwhite, right next to me.

I really need to go back to reading books again. Seriously, seem to have been taking an extended break from reading (ever since I started needing glasses, to be honest...though also since getting a gaming-capable PC). I had gradually-shifted from reading fiction to reading history and biographies. Got to a point where I decided life was too short to spend time reading what some posh bloke in Hampstead made up. I'll add that book to my list of 'things to do after I die' (I find that takes the pressure off, compared to the 'things to do before you die' type lists)

 

[Muse]

I really need to go back to reading books again. Seriously, seem to have been taking an extended break from reading (ever since I started needing glasses, to be honest...though also since getting a gaming-capable PC). I had gradually-shifted from reading fiction to reading history and biographies. Got to a point where I decided life was too short to spend time reading what some posh bloke in Hampstead made up. I'll add that book to my list of 'things to do after I die' (I find that takes the pressure off, compared to the 'things to do before you die' type lists)

I have about 10 books, great books, stacked ON my bed with me. I've been buying a lot of books, also checking them out of the library, both at a pace that's for me off the charts. Seriously, I need to up my reading game. I'm on these forums a lot, maybe too much (but I enjoy them and the exposure is multidimensional and unlimited) and I have a subscription to the NYTimes, plenty of projects in my life to keep me busy too, some of them open ended. I never have the idea that there's nothing to do. If I feel that way I know it's just me not very awake!

 

[pmv]

I have about 10 books, great books, stacked ON my bed with me. I've been buying a lot of books, also checking them out of the library, both at a pace that's for me off the charts. Seriously, I need to up my reading game. I'm on these forums a lot, maybe too much (but I enjoy them and the exposure is multidimensional and unlimited) and I have a subscription to the NYTimes, plenty of projects in my life to keep me busy too, some of them open ended. I never have the idea that there's nothing to do. If I feel that way I know it's just me not very awake!

There's plenty to do, I find, just rare that I feel well enough to do any of it, is my problem. I used to be an obsessive reader but reading is one of the many things I no longer seem to have the concentration-span for. My book-buying habit rather lagged my book-reading habit, in terms of the downard curve, so I still have a bookshelf backlog probably comparable to my Steam backlog! Number one on the list of "things I want to feel well enough to do again" would be cycling, though.

 

[snoopy7548]

I always run my dishwasher on Saturday night, and I have it all planned out so that it's always full. Throughout Sunday, and sometimes part of Monday, I'll hand-wash all of my dishes and silverware just so I'll have enough to last until Saturday night, and so the dishwasher will be full for the weekly washing.

 

[highland145]

I always run my dishwasher on Saturday night, and I have it all planned out so that it's always full. Throughout Sunday, and sometimes part of Monday, I'll hand-wash all of my dishes and silverware just so I'll have enough to last until Saturday night, and so the dishwasher will be full for the weekly washing.

You could save some time if you just let them wash the dishes. Do you pay by the hour? What does running accomplish?

 

[snoopy7548]

You could save some time if you just let them wash the dishes. Do you pay by the hour? What does running accomplish?

Well, your wife is pretty expensive so that's why I limit it to once a week.

 

[Manta19]

I cannot sleep if I heard any human voice, but I can sleep with the TV playing, hahaha

 

[brianmanahan]

i avoid relationships completely to prevent rejection

does that count?

 

[highland145]

Well, your wife is pretty expensive so that's why I limit it to once a week.

Damn right she is. Thanks for the help.

 

[Muse]

i avoid relationships completely to prevent rejection

does that count?

Um, maybe does. I often think of this one:

Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none. - Benjamin Franklin

74 days until the big one! Vote... vote early, vote Democratic!

 

[Muse]

I prepare mixes:

For instance, I just made my hot cocoa mix:

3 ounces gourmet cocoa
6.8 ounces sugar
9 ounces nonfat dry milk powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

I put those in a large covered container and shake, tumble, tumble, shake some more to get it all mixed together and then remove to a smaller jar. From that jar, when I have a notion to make hot cocoa, I measure out a few ounces of water (let's call that X ounces) to a sauce pan and bring to a boil. While that's coming to a boil, I weigh out X/3 ounces of my cocoa mix into a cup. Then pour the boiling hot water over the cocoa mix, stir and I have my gourmet hot cocoa! So easy, so simple, so fast, so delicious!

I've been rotating between several brands of cocoa: Droste (my favorite), Caullebaut, Valrhona, Pernigotti.
- - - -

I also have a mix for waffles and pancakes to which I only have to add water and flour and optional oil.
- - - -
Napping can be beneficial. Impressive nappers include Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Napoleon, Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein.

74 days until the big one! Vote... vote early, vote Democratic!

 

[Charmonium]

What kind of glue do you use? I use epoxy or contact cement.

I used to rip those neodymium magnets out of hard drives and worn out electric tooth brush tips and glue them to little rectangles of wood and use them as refrigerator magnets. They work great. I still do this but bought a large pack of neodymium magnets instead. I probably have something like 75 of these homemade goodies to hang things from steel surfaces. I paint them a beautiful shade of yellow and paint all the corners with a sharpie. I put a dot in the middle of the outside surface, the bigger the dot, the more powerful the magnet (sos I knows).

The thing with those neodymium magnets is that without something to grab onto (my little wooden rectangles) they are so strong that it's a bit of a struggle to get them to release from a steel surface. I have one I have some tiny screws hanging from that I didn't glue to a piece of wood. Now, for hanging ferrous objects I have those big donut ring magnets you find in microwave ovens. I have ripped around 8 or so of them out of old MW ovens that either died on me or I found on the sidewalks around here. People are always discarding them on the sidewalks. Those big ring magnets are fantastic. You can hang a dozen or more things from a single one.

My fridge magnets: View attachment 28353

I'm not sure I could take a microwave apart and know what I was looking at. But that and the hdd's sounds like a great idea. If I ever throw away a hard disk, I'll remember to try that. I'm a bit of a hoarder.

I think the best glue to use is something flexible like rubber cement or silicon caulking. In the past I have normally used super glue but the problem with that is that it completely inflexible. So if repeatedly hang something from it, the vibrations from when the object slams into the magnet because of the intense magnetic field, those vibrations eventually cause the glue to fail. So in the future I'm going follow my own advice and try rubber cement.

 

[Muse]

I think the best glue to use is something flexible like rubber cement or silicon caulking. In the past I have normally used super glue but the problem with that is that it completely inflexible. So if repeatedly hang something from it, the vibrations from when the object slams into the magnet because of the intense magnetic field, those vibrations eventually cause the glue to fail. So in the future I'm going follow my own advice and try rubber cement.

Rubber cement, in my experience (I used to buy it but haven't for many years) is very like contact cement. Are you familiar with that? It's great and very versatile. Caveat: Make sure you use it in a well ventilated space. The fumes aren't good for you, bad for you! However, it's terrific stuff. And it IS flexible, remains flexible. Epoxies are also extremely useful and there are many kinds. They aren't very flexible. I have had really bad luck with the super glues. Just terrible. I haven't used any in years for that reason. Never had success with them. I have around 1/2 a dozen jars of contact cement, also a pint can and some of it's solvent... which I'm careful with on the rare occasions when I use it because, like I say, the fumes are toxic.