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Anonymous
Met with a nutritionist recently whose main rec was I need to start eating more meat. Thing is I’ve NEVER cooked meat at home. I get it as takeout occasionally. But if I’m going to eat more of it, I need to cook as I’m in a suburban area with limited restaurant options.
Handling raw chicken worries me. I just worry that if you need to mix in spices, tiny splashes of chicken juices are ending up on the counter or as you sauté, typically tiny amounts of oil splash out of the pan as you sauté anything and in this case it’s oil with raw meat juice.
Having watched my parents do this over the years seems like SO much work. They wash raw meat – which I thought you weren’t supposed to and how much is that cleaning anything – then the sink gets scrubbed down with comet. Then any bowl the raw meat was in gets washed but not using the sponge, using a make shift sponge made out of paper towels and then it goes in the dishwasher to wash again. IDK how the pot used for cooking is washed – sponge or paper towels and then dishwasher. The stove is cleaned. The thought of doing all this exhausts me – yet IDK the majority of the population eats meat on the regular is it can’t be as impossible as I’m making it.
So I guess I’m asking how do I make this easy but clean from a cooking and clean up perspective? I live in an apt – minimal counter space, so I can’t just designate one counter for meat prep and nothing else. Also any super easy recipes? I have a regular oven under the stove but no air fryer or insta pot.
Vicky Austin
You can:
-choose recipes that use marinades so you don’t need to put spices into a hot pan
-turn down your burners so the chicken juices don’t spatter as much (even just for a few seconds while you put things in there)
-get a good disinfectant cleaner for your countertops and clean around your stove regularly
-run the utensils, pots or bowls that touched raw meat through dishwasher like you would anything else
-get/use a sprayer so you can rinse the dishes out without contaminating your sponge/dish brush if that’s a concern to you
The best thing you can do is wash your raw-chicken hands before touching anything else, including the pan handle or the salt shaker. And you don’t need to wash the chicken itself, I promise.
Anon
I like to buy pre-cooked shrimp from Trader Joe’s and add that to salads or other dishes. Same with canned tuna. You can also get frozen fish where all you have to do is thaw the filet (often wrapped in plastic) and then dump onto a cookie sheet and put under the broiler in the oven.
Something like ground meat also doesn’t make as much mess. You can just dump it into the skillet and then add spices as it cooks, or you can just mix it with spices or onions in one bowl.
There are lots of non-meat protein options as well, even including things like protein shakes. But also edamame, tofu, tempeh, eggs, etc.
At the end of the day, I do think it’s important to be mindful of safety, but you are also overthinking the “meat juice” part a bit. Even if there is a bit of splashing from the pan as you cook, it’s not harmful. You can just wipe up after cooking like you normally would and that’s sufficient. Some people do have a separate cutting board for meat, but as long as you’re washing your hands well and not using the same cloth to clean up after raw meat as you do to clean up after cooking, then you will be okay. Oh, and making sure not to use any bowls or plates that have touched raw meat after the meat is cooked.
Senior Attorney
I agree with this last paragraph.
I read somewhere recently that you should skip washing the meat because all it does it spread the germs all over the sink. I just pat it down with paper towels, which can then be thrown away. I don’t think you need to worry about the grease spatter because the high temps should kill any raw meat germs.
Anon
You’re not supposed to wash raw meat, it just spreads the germs around.
If you’re not picky about your meat is cooked, a slow cooker is the most hands-off option. You can transfer the meat directly from the packaging to the slow cooker bowl, clean your hands, add whatever spices or sauces you like and then set it to cook. The cooking processes will sterilize the slow cooker bowl (although you should still put it in the dishwasher when it’s done) and there’s no countertop to clean or dishes/cutlery that touched raw meat. Slow cooker meat tends to be very tender and easy to shred. Slow cooker chicken is good for things like enchiladas, pot pies, stir frys, etc. You can also only do it once every week or two and freeze the cooked meat.
Anon
My family of origin didn’t cook much, and I rarely (almost never?) cook meat for myself because…it’s just too much work/takes too long, etc. Ways around it:
– The slow cooker thing mentioned here, 1000% – meat goes from the package straight into the dish
– Using ground meat in soups and stews – browning is easy and quick
I used to make this all the time when I was single because it’s literally just opening some cans and dumping things into a bowl. (I buy the pre-cut onions in the fridge section because I’m that person who wants cooking to be as easy as possible.) https://www.skinnytaste.com/crock-pot-chicken-taco-chili-4-pts/
Anon
So I am a vegetarian and don’t actually eat meat, but when I sometimes cook it for my family I tend to buy the already marinaded kind. If I want to marinade chicken myself, I open the package and lift the chicken with tongs into a plastic bag. The mixing happens in the bag and after it sits for awhile, I can use tongs to put it directly in the pan. No rinsing is involved. Use your vent fan if you’re cooking on the stove, but mostly I put it on a foil lined tray and bake it in the oven. If I were to do some prep I thought might be messy, I’d line the counter with saran wrap for easy cleanup.
Anon
First, why do they think you need to eat more meat? Is eating more plant based protein, eggs, or dairy a reasonable option instead? Second, why not just buy semi-processed meat that doesn’t require much prep. If it’s about protein, you could do canned salmon or tuna, frozen burgers of various types, or other frozen or prepped meals that just need reheating? It’s hard to imagine that you really need to start cooking raw chicken if you don’t want to. There are lots of other ways to get protein.
Anon
I know quite a few young women friends who have become malnourished eating mostly vegetarian/vegan or just from eating too much…. junk/on the run foods. You actually need to be pretty thoughtful to make sure you get enough protein and several important vitamins/nutrients. Many people are not so careful. Life. Also, we’re learning that some of us have higher protein needs.
I eat very healthy, only lean proteins and I still don’t get enough protein for my goals many days. And sometimes when I look at the recommendations for the amount of different types of foods we are supposed to eat per day it is actually absurd. I would gain so much weight and be eating way past being full.
Eating is tricky.
Anon
It is really hard with low calorie demands. I have a normal size brain, heart, etc. but I am short, my thyroid is slow, and I have a desk job. So the foods I do eat need to be pretty nutrient dense!
Meat/fish does help because even lean cuts can have a ton of B vitamins, including the choline that I always struggled to get from plant based foods (it’s possible, but I struggled). When I do a day or two of diet tracking to see how it is going, it is easy to see how these meals add a lot of food value and just make it all easier.
Anon
But none of that requires cooking raw chicken. Eat some beans, Greek yogurt, a couple eggs, canned salmon, a frozen precooked something, protein powder if you really need it, and you’d be more than set, right? If you want to eat chicken, that’s fine, but I don’t see how why OP needs to. There are lots of other options.
Anonymous
Whatever lie makes you feel better about yourself
Anon
Lie about what?
anon
I don’t wash chicken, though recognize there is a lot of cultural beliefs some people have around it.You can buy a small slow cooker for relatively cheap (30-ish). You can slow cook chicken super easy, just toss it in with salsa, or some chicken broth and seasonings.. cook on low 3-4 hours. That way the only dish i am dirtying is the slow cooker itself. I also like to oven bake chicken. I put them right on a foil lined baking sheet, drizzle oil, season with whatever and bake (400 generally 20-30 min, but thermometer is key to check for done-ness). Ground meet is another option, you can saute in skillet, avoiding other bowls to mix. Then i use that in various salads and grain bowls. If you really aren’t comfortable cooking, rotisserie chicken is an easy buy. Costco even sells pre shredded rotisserie chicken in a bag, which i find to be super helpful. You could also buy chicken sausages/ keilbasa and other cooked meats that you are just reheating.
Anonymous
I would take that suggestion with a giant lump of salt. Anyone can call themselves a nutritionist, dietician is the legally protected term with educational requirements.
Anonymous
Do you have a crockpot? Super easy to just put frozen chicken, beef, pork tenderloin, whatever into the crockpot – because it’s frozen going in there’s no juices, and because it’s cooked when you take it out you don’t have to do crazy cleanup. You can also airfry things directly from frozen.
Also, you can find a lot of precooked things – at Costco you could get frozen chicken sausage, Canadian bacon, chicken cauliflower burrito bowls, chicken nuggets and stuff like that.
Sybil
Just as an fyi for someone worried about food safety, you’re not supposed to put frozen meat in a slow cooker. I have in the past and never had issues, but it’s not advised.
Anonymous
You shouldn’t put it in at low heat — if we’re doing it from frozen we either do it on high for the first hour, or high for the entire period. If it’s on low then the frozen food heats up too slowly, but if it’s on high it’s ok.
Anon
Yeah I always heard high was fine.
Anonymous
It is NOT safe to cook frozen meat and poultry in a crockpot. It needs to be defrosted first.
Anon
They say this, but I know tons of people, including myself and everyone in my family, who cooks meat from frozen in the crockpot and no one has ever gotten sick. Crockpots today operate at higher temperatures than the ones from the 1970s and 1980s.
Anon
Speaking as someone who’s extremely food safety conscious due to GI issues, your parents’ cooking process is absolutely insane.
– Do not wash raw meat. It splashes bacteria everywhere without removing any bacteria from the meat. Also…cooking instantly kills the bacteria on the outside of the meat.
– Avoid extra dishes by prepping your vegetables first. Slice all your veggies on a cutting board, move them to the plate you’re going to eat off of, then slice your meat on the cutting board.
– You can put raw meat in your pan using a fork that immediately goes in the dishwasher. Or you can just wash your hands. I turn on the faucet and pump the soap using my clean hand. Plenty of people don’t and they still survive.
– Once the outside of the meat is cooked I briefly rinse the spatula. Once the outside is cooked there’s no longer bacteria on the surface, so you can use the same spatula for the rest of the cooking process.
– I use a meat thermometer ($20 OXO that lasts for years) so I’m reassured that the meat is safely cooked but can avoid over cooking it.
– To clean my dishes I use warm water, dish soap, and a sponge. The bacteria found on meat is fragile so soap immediately kills it.
– Generally it’s better to use a separate towel or sponge to clean your counters and stove. But honestly I use my sink sponge. If my delicate stomach hasn’t been poisoned yet it’s gotta be fine.
ALT
+1 to all of this. I season my meat in the container and use a fork or tongs to flip and transfer to a pan. That fork or tongs then goes immediately in either the sink or dishwasher where I won’t use it again.
I slice my veggies first and put them in a bowl so they’re not just laying out on a cutting board. I use a lid when cooking meat, mostly due to fat splatters.
When I’m done, dishes go in the dishwasher and I wash my pots and pans either in the dishwasher or with hot water and soap. Counters get wiped down with a kitchen cleaning spray and a clean rag, the rag is thrown in the washer afterwards. I’ll wipe my counters down with a Clorox wipe after the spray is dry, but there is very little (if any) “meat juice” on the counter in the first place.
This all takes minimal time and I haven’t ever gotten sick!
anonshmanon
Adding that if you are going to put something in a dishwasher, it makes very little sense to prewash it. You are correct that many (most?) people don’t go through the acrobatics that you learned from your parents and they are fine.
Don’t cut veggies on the board that is full of raw meat juices. Don’t use the meat marinade in your sauce unless it gets cooked through. And be careful about storing raw meat cold and using it up quickly. A single splatter isn’t the issue here.
In terms of cooking tricks, if you want to go for chicken, chicken thighs are a great start because you can cook them for a long time without them getting dry. This means you never have to worry about hitting the short window when they are just cooked through and before drying out, like you do with chicken breast.
Anon
I unwrap chicken next to the sink, do whatever needs to be done to it in the same spot. For example, open the package, put the pieces on a plate, I already have my spices standing by (already measured into a small ramekin or whatever) and apply those to the chicken on the plate.
I throw away the wrapper, wash my hands, use tongs to put the chicken into the cooking pan or onto the baking sheet, then I put the plate and the ramekin into the dishwasher. I don’t worry at all about oil splashes because it’s hot oil and nothing is surviving that. Obviously I’m careful about food safety, but doing this is so routine to me it takes no time.
Mpls
I cook my frozen chicken breast from frozen. Just plop them on a cooking sheet (I like the quarter sheet sized pans from Nordic Ware), grind some salt and pepper over the top and put them in the oven. The bag has instructions. I always check with a thermometer that the internal temp has hit at least 165 degrees. You can sauce over the top when they come out. I get the store brand which is brined (?), and they are always pretty juicy.
If you want to work with raw, thawed chicken, pat dry with a paper towel so its not overly juicy when you are coating with spices. I personally don’t worry about the hot oil/chicken juice combo – the hot oil has decimated any chance of salmonella in the tiny bit of chicken juice. Clean up is…soap and water. I don’t pre-wash before the dishwasher.
I mostly watch what I do with my hands. I try to always wash them (soap/water) after touching raw/thawed chicken before touching anything else.
Anonymous
Here’s my system:
Do not wash raw meat
Wash all knives, cutting boards, utensils, bowls, etc. that have touched raw meat before reusing
Wash hands after touching raw meat and dishes that have come in contact with raw meat
Clean counter with sanitizing kitchen spray after cutting or preparing meat for cooking; put cleaning rag in the laundry and wash hands
Use clean utensils, cutting boards, and dishes for cutting vegetables and taking cooked food out of the pan
I like to use precut chicken and ground chicken to avoid having to cut it up. When pounding raw chicken to tenderize it, I put it inside a plastic bag to avoid splashing meat juice, then clean the counter afterwards. I open messy poultry and fish packages in the sink so the juices don’t get everywhere, and move the trash can next to the sink for drip-free disposal. I then clean the sink and wash my hands.
Anon
I do none of that and haven’t died yet. I take chicken directly from the package or butcher pack and put it in the pan. I think roasting is the easiest method, closely followed by braising. Just wipe down your counters like normal when you clean up. You’re not running a surgical center.
Anonymous Grouch
This. Chicken is not poisonous. Don’t cut raw chicken and then use the same board for salad vegetables, but beyond that don’t worry so much. Given the anxiety radiating from your post, you might want to save yourself the trauma and just get a different nutritionist who can advise on non-meat sources of protein. Or just get a burger or salad with chicken on it for lunch once or twice a week and be done with it.
anonshmanon
I actually thought the OP seems completely reasonable, describing what she observed her parents doing and then asking ‘is this a bit much?’.
Anonymous
This. Roasting all the way. Buy the skinless boneless chicken breasts from costco and freeze them individually in freezer bags. Pop out of freezer bag into oven pan, toss in chopped fresh veg or frozen veg, add various seasonings/oil/sauce depending on if you want a greek/mexican/asian vibe. Roast at 400 for like 20 mins and you’re done. Check temp obv.
Frozen turkey meatballs tossed into tomato sauce is another easy way to do meat. Or throw frozen burgers on the grill. I cook meat all the time but always by roast and I never touch it with my hands and never buy anything that has bones or skin. Might be weird but shrug – you can find tons of recipes online to use.
Anonymous
You are way overthinking this.
Get a cutting board you use for meat (or don’t; just clean it by hand between prepping meat and veg). Unpack the meat on the cutting board. Use paper towels to wipe off juices. Wash your hands. Season the meat on the cutting board and place the meat to cook. While it is cooking, wash your hands and rinse the cutting board using hot water and then put it in the dishwasher. Briefly rinse out the sink. Don’t worry about hot oil spattering from the pan — the temperature does the work for you. Complete the cooking and eat the food. Wipe down your oven/cooktop/counter, not because of raw meat juices but to prevent a buildup of grime, just as you should when cooking vegetarian meals.
Note: I bought a set of thin plastic cutting board liners that I place on top of my butcher’s block and just switch out between prepping meat and other items. I wash them all in the dishwasher or by hand using a brush and do not designate one for meat except for that day’s prep. Daily cooking and still kicking.
Nesprin
You seem like you’re a great candidate for precooked chicken- how about rotisserie chicken or frozen precooked chicken patties or chicken strips?
IL
Like other posters have said, your parents’ method for cooking chicken is unnecessarily complicated and I wouldn’t use it as the basis for your own life.
I’m going to go out on a limb here: why don’t you sign up for a cooking class at a local cooking store? It would help you reset your impressions about how to cook meat in a neutral setting where people are happy to be engaging in the activity. It may expand your horizons and build your confidence. What I’m getting from your post is a lot of discomfort and hesitancy about this, and I think a local cooking class would help on both counts.
Explorette
This is a really good suggestion. I think having an objective third party teach you how to work with raw meat will help overcome some of the anxiety your parents have instilled in you. For the record, how they do it is completely insane. My process: cut raw meat on its own cutting board with separate knife, wash before using for anything else (as in, put it straight in the dishwasher without washing in the sink first), cook, clean up as normal. It really is that simple.
Anonymous
Not OP but I love the suggestion for a cooking class.
Anon100
If you have an Asian supermarket near you, I’d recommend buying some of the thinly pre-sliced pork and beef for hot pot to ease yourself into cooking meats. Since it’s already presliced for you, to limit bacterial contamination once you’ve opened the package, use a clean fork or tongs or chopsticks to remove the slices from the package, drop directly in saute pan or boiling pot of water, and once it’s fully cooked through which usually takes less than a minute or two, remove food from pan with clean utensils. eat food. If you don’t use the entire package in one go, the remaining slices can be frozen for future use.
Wash utensils and pan with hot soapy water, or if you’re really worried about bacterial contamination, wash in dishwasher. Then wipe down stove and countertop with either mix of white vinegar solution or antibacterial cleaner. Wash hands thoroughly again. Writing it out sounds exhausting but doing it really isn’t! Any bowl or plate raw meat was in doesn’t have to be pre-cleaned before it goes into the dishwasher.
Agree with everyone else that raw chicken does NOT need to be washed before cooking. That’s the most up to date food science. At most you can pat dry a bit with paper towels to soak up excess juice before marinating or salting.
Anon
Several others have already discussed how they cook meat, so I won’t get into that. But, a few other ideas / comments:
– Is your nutritionist a Registered Dietician? Always a good place to start.
– My RD wants me to increase my protein. She’s said that increasing meat is one of the easier ways to do so, but has left how I do it up to me. In addition to eating more meat (I ate meat maybe 4-5x a week before, I now eat it at least daily if not 2x a day), I have also added in protein powder (started doing a daily fruit smoothie with protein powder) and more eggs to my diet.
– If you don’t want to cook meat, there are several workarounds: rotisserie chicken, lunch meat (which, yes is “ultra processed” but my dietician said as long as it’s not an every day thing it’s okay), frozen options (I like “healthy” frozen nuggets in the air fryer), and Trader Joe’s pre-cooked chicken.
– Do you eat / cook fish? I always have frozen shrimp in my freezer. It’s very easy to toss some raw (though they do sell frozen pre-cooked, but I don’t care for the texture) into a pot of boiling water, cook them, and then use them in all sorts of meals.
– If I need a quick meal, I run to the Whole Foods or Wegman’s hot bar. Not the healthiest, but good in a pinch.
anon
All great suggestions. If you live in a city, I’d look into meal prep services – your dietician may know some or your local gyms certainly do. Most come in at more expensive than cooking yourself but cheaper than take out.
And, on your parents chicken prep, mine go through the same routine but have added some extra bleach steps. It is exhausting, and I hide the bleach when they come to visit which results in their going through half a tube of clorox wipes. So trust me, this internet stranger hears you. I’d also add, of the meats to touch, steak is probably the least gross and, mentally, was the easiest to get over the parents ritual as you “can” eat it raw. Might be a good starting place for your foray into cooking meat.
anonypotamus
Oooo are we sisters?! Except that it is my mother who is paranoid – my dad’s methods are reasonable. He would always joke that he could tell when we were going to have meat for dinner because he would come home from work and the house would smell like bleach.
Moose
My main tip for someone not used to cooking meat is to get an instant-read thermometer – no guesswork as to whether the meat is done, which I’ve found is where a lot of the anxiety is for some. Bonus – no dry, overcooked meat!
Anon
I just don’t agree that the solution to whatever issue you’re facing is eating meat, and I say that as a former vegetarian that now eats meat. It takes thoughtfulness and a degree of discipline to get sufficient protein and amino acids from a vegetarian diet, but it’s absolutely doable. Unless you just want to start eating more meat, I would find a more vegetarian-friendly nutritionist or dietician and talk to them, before making big dietary changes.
I didn’t eat meat for 12 years and then went back to eating it (I don’t eat it a lot; I would say I’m about 70% vegetarian), but I wasn’t unhealthy as a vegetarian and would not have started eating meat again based on someone’s assessment that I “needed” to, without some firm scientific evidence backing up that assessment. There are entire large populations of people in the world who don’t eat meat and they are healthy; in some cases healthier than Americans. I would get a second opinion.
Anon
Maybe you grew up with parents that had some kind of germophobia, because I’ve never ever heard of this level of cleaning after cooking chicken. Yes, you should not eat raw chicken or chop your salad veggies on the cutting board you just used for chicken. But worrying about the oil splash and cometing your sink is way too much. Soap is enough. You can use a vinegar and water spray if you’re super concerned. Cooking the chicken in the pan – the pan gets hot enough to kill germs. Here is what I do: use a separate plastic cutting board for raw meat, which gets a quick hot water rinse and then washed with my normal kitchen sponge, and then goes in the dishwasher. Use a different pair of tongs to flip cooked chicken than the same tongs used during the cooking process. Make sure it’s not pink in the center. You can also go by the CDC guide: https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/chicken.html
Anonymous
Your parents have anxiety and you probably do to. It’s not that hard.
Anon
Nice. Really helpful. Another loser post.
Anon
Why not just buy pre-cooked meat, like the rotisserie chickens at Costco?
Anon
They’re not super healthy to eat on a regular basis (tons of added sodium). Definitely not a big deal on occasion but not something I’d want to eat every night.
Anonymous
For some reason I keep checking Twitter even though I think we all know there won’t be any miraculous ending to the OceanGate story.
Anonymous
The Coast Guard is giving a briefing right now. They found the wreckage.
Anon
Honestly, that’s the best case scenario. They weren’t going to survive in any event, and dying due to lack of oxygen, hypothermia or lack of water would have been a much more painful death. At least they died instantly.
Anon
Yes, while obviously it would have been great for them to be found alive, if the submersible imploded it was over for all of them very fast, and they likely didn’t suffer for hours, in dwindling oxygen, waiting for a rescue. IMO, having seen the alternative, a quick death is a blessing, just not usually the blessing that is hoped for.
Anon
I’m getting sweaty palms just imagining being in that tube for an ordinary mission, much less one that went so badly wrong. At this point, I just hope that these people haven’t been suffering for days.
Vicky Austin
It sounds like it was an implosion due to the shoddy construction, rather than getting lost and slowly running out of oxygen.
Anon
I feel like this is the best outcome, rather than them not being found in time and the What Ifs that the families and rescue crews would have had to deal with for the rest of their lives.
Anon
(Best other than being found alive, of course!!)
anon
And this suggests they died basically instantly vs slowly suffocating.
Anon
Totally Agree
Vicky Austin
Agree. Best possible outcome, since being found alive was vanishingly unlikely.
A coworker and I have been discussing it and she read that the thing was so poorly constructed that even if they had survived to the end of their oxygen supply, they probably would have been adversely affected by the lack of environmental supports – hypothermia, vomiting, pressure, etc – long before dying from lack of oxygen. That’s extra horrifying, and I’m glad it was avoided.
Another thing she shared with me that I’m confused by – the wreckage was found like right by the Titanic itself. And yet they searched over 10,000 square miles before finding it. Why not search right near the intended destination first? Or is there a logistical barrier to doing that as the first step?
anon
@Vicky Austin My understanding is the wreckage was on the floor (which is like 13,000 feet down) and they didn’t have a ROV that could go all the way down until yesterday. Previously all the searches were focused on what might be in the water column/on the surface because that’s what the equipment they had could detect. The visibility is virtually nil down there and the Titanic wreckage is large, so even once they had the ROV, it took some time to locate it.
Based on the account of a previous passenger, it took almost two hours for them to find the Titanic wreck on that dive, even though they dropped down to within a few hundred feet of it.
Anon
They didn’t have the vehicle to go to the sea floor until last night. Not many boats can go to that depth.
Anon
They searched 10,000 square miles of ocean surface. The Titan had a number of systems that would send it to the surface in the event of emergency (if it had been intact), but the occupants would be riveted inside and would need to have an outside party help them.
Vicky Austin
@ anons 4:02 and after, thank you! I suspected something like that but wasn’t sure.
Anon
“Shoddy construction” isn’t the conclusion the USCG or any experts have yet to state, Vicki.
This is important because the vessel had been down at depth several times. Over time, even amazing construction can fail: the repeated stresses of pressure and temperature changes cause the materials to give out.
The scientists and engineers will perform an analysis on whatever they are able to find and may be able to determine what failed. That hasn’t been done yet.
Anon
Yes, it’s shoddy construction. Their own employees raised multiple concerns about the design and materials. But Stockton Rush publicly bragged about how they were too innovative to follow industry standards.
Anon
I have a degree in materials science. You obviously don’t. Let’s let the experts do their analysis and then wait for a conclusion.
Anonymous
yeah seriously just read an article about how they built it with off the rack items to keep costs down — have also heard about alllllll the employees raising concerns over the past 5 years that it wasn’t constructed well enough to go that deep.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12222283/Titanic-sub-deliberately-designed-low-tech-save-costs-says-man-helped-build-it.html
Anon
I don’t think you’ve read anything about the craft if you don’t think it was shoddy. Or at least very likely shoddy. But good try, OceanGate, PR.
Vicky Austin
I never claimed to have the knowledge afforded by a materials science degree, but I don’t think I need one to understand that the thing was built out of haphazardly collected parts from Camping World and Nintendo. To judge it by the standards of “amazing construction” is not honest, and I think you know that.
Anon
That. Is. Not. The. Conclusion. That. The. Scientists. And. Experts. Have. Made.
I am not disagreeing that corners were cut. I am telling both you and Vicky Austin that you need to sit tight and wait for the analysis to come through before stating that this was the method of failure.
I would encourage both you and Vicky to watch the press conference. The presenters were all very careful with their language: note how they said “consistent with” an implosion or catastrophic failure, for example. They explicitly stated that they would try to find the cause of failure. NOTHING was stated about “shoddy construction” being the cause. Nothing.
Then you both go running your mouths about how it’s already been determined that “shoddy construction” caused this. If you can’t understand why you’re getting pushback, you’re quite foolish.
Perhaps it was. Perhaps it was not. What is important is that we don’t know exactly what failed and how, and we should wait for that analysis before spouting ill-informed opinions on the internet that the actual experts on the scene are very much not supporting.
Anon
Vicky, I never said “amazing construction,” not anything close to it. In fact, for you and the other midwits, I have been very careful to not imply anything about the construction either way.
Pray tell, why do you lie about things that are right there in black and white? Not a good look. It’s even a worse look than not understanding the difference between a search of the surface of the ocean and a search of the seabed.
Anonymous
Their own expert pointed out that the viewport was not rated for the depth. Among other issues he raised.
Anonymous
There is a reason steel is used for most subs. Carbon fiber is great for boats and things where weight matters, not the right material for repeated extreme pressures. The fact that it was used for structural elements in a deep sea sub means that this was probably inevitable. The hull probably developed micro-fractures each time it went up and down. (and I also have a materials science degree and work on patents in that field now)
Anonymous
When they did tests, it was derated to 3000m because it showed signs of cyclic fatigue. As far as I know, they didn’t change anything to make sure the repaired sub didn’t have the same problem. I assume it was either cyclic fatigue of the carbon fiber, or failure of the window which was reportedly not rated for the full depth. Which may not be exactly “shoddy” but is certainly poor design.
Vicky Austin
Jesus Christ, okay.
1 – Whoever posted at 4:03 used the phrase “amazing construction.” I didn’t get it from nowhere, and I certainly don’t make a habit of lying about things that are right in front of me and everyone else I’m conversing with. Excuse me for not being able to tell the difference between two people using the handle “Anon.”
2 – I said I didn’t understand why you wouldn’t search the seabed near the intended destination first, not that I didn’t understand the difference between that and searching the rest of the ocean. I don’t think that’s a stupid question.
3 – I did not accuse any experts of having reached a conclusion. Maybe this wasn’t clear enough, so I’ll make it clear: I, Vicky Austin, conclude that the thing imploded because it wasn’t built well. There is plenty of evidence that it wasn’t built well. As a layperson, for me, that is enough. I apologize to everyone who comes to Corpor3tt3 for their scientific misinformation.
Maybe you can lay off me now?
Anon
Hey Anon at 5:03: I don’t know if you work for the company that made the sub, but if you do or did, what you’re doing here is a really bad look and absolutely not helping the company. If you don’t work for the company, then you’re just being an A-hole and it’s still a really bad look. If you engineered this thing, or know the people who did, obviously this was a major f-up and arguing with people on an anonymous message board and calling them liars is not going to help the situation at all. Read back what you’re writing before you post it. You’re being unreasonable, gross and irrational and you need to stop now, please.
Anon
First post on this thread. I’m very, very curious to hear the OceanGate apologist’s background and connection to the company… a neutral bystander would not be this defensive.
Anon
Also first post on this thread and I think the defensiveness is very interesting too! I don’t have a materials science degree (although I do have an engineering background), but I think it’s very clear that this company was cutting corners and not putting safety first. The fact that two employees who expressed safety concerns about the design and construction of the Titan were fired (and one was later sued when he filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA) is… not a good look for the company, to say the least. And it doesn’t take any background in materials science or engineering to see that.
Anon
Sounds like it was instantaneous death. Not a topic I often like to think about for myself, but I guess that’s the preference to languishing for 5 days until you can take your literal last breath of oxygen.
I sincerely hope they make the company pay for as much of the rescue as they’re able to afford. Absolutely absurd.
Anonymous
The estates of the billionaire passengers can make up the difference.
Anonymous
I’ve been hearing news about inflation rates declining – does this mean it is a good time to refinance, or will be soon? I purchased a home at the height of mortgage rates due to several other important factors and while I can afford the monthly mortgage payment, it is pretty painful to know I’m paying 7.5% when most of my peers are paying 3% mortgages from homes they refinanced in 2020.
Anonymous
No you can’t refinance right now. You bought at a 7.5 rate, the rate now is 6.9 – any differential there will be eaten up by fees because you pay closing costs on refinancing which depending on area and type of loan are something like 2 to 5 percent of the mortgaged amount.
In terms of whether it’ll be time to refinance later, maybe? If we tilt into recession and rates go down then yes but we aren’t there yet and won’t be at least this year. In terms of your friends being in at 3, I’m sorry but that’s not happening again anytime soon – maybe in five years or something but not like next year. I’m not trying to bag on you, you are way ahead of me, I didn’t even buy when there were houses on the market and now there aren’t any.
Anon
Nope. https://apnews.com/article/inflation-interest-rates-hikes-federal-reserve-economy-984566ca72823143288cb5cb3957b12d
anonshmanon
I’m right there with you, but I am not holding my breath for rates going down anytime in the next 1-2 years.
Anon
Nope. You won’t see 3% again. If you see a 5% it’s probably worth grabbling but we’re multiple, multiple months away. Sit tight.
Anon
We were originally going to stay in this house another 5 years and then move. Now, I don’t know if we’ll ever move because we don’t think we’ll ever be able to get a 2.75% interest rate on a mortgage ever again. We may just die here.
Anon
That’s a very good interest rate, but I don’t think I would let that alone dictate my major life decisions.
Anon
I was joking, Francis.
anon
+1 to 4:08. We bought our house four years ago and since then have had another child and our parents both visit a fair amount, plus my job is now FT WFH. We are in desperate need of more space but we have a 2.5% interest rate and cannot bear to lose it.
Anon
Powell just told the Senate Banking Committee a couple hours ago that they’re looking at one, maybe two, more rate hikes this year. Hang in there. I’m at 6% (there was a good week in February!!), and while I know it’s not historically high (my ILs paid like 12% or something stupid on their first home in the late 70s), I still wish it were lower.
anon
An inflation rate is not the same thing as the Fed’s rate which is not the same thing as the rate your bank is offering on new mortgages. The only one of these things that is pertinent to your question is that last one – is your bank offering lower rates (>1.5% lower) than the one you currently have? You can tune out the rest of the noise and just focus on that aspect of it to figure out when to refinance.
Anonymous
Depending on your loan amount, even a 0.5% to 1% decrease in interest rate could lead to significant monthly savings. For example, a $600k loan amount saves $400 a month if you refi to 6.5%. Rates aren’t there yet, but keep an eye on them.
Don’t pay points or fees to refinance either. As we head into this recession, rates will likely continue to come down, and you can refi every 6 months. The money you spend paying points or fees will be wasted if you go to refinance again as they come down (which is very likely).
Link to follow on no-cost refis and why they make sense.
They probably won’t get to 3%, but mid-4s and 5s are probably within reach sooner rather than later.
Anonymous
Regarding no cost refinance: https://www.jvmlending.com/loan-types/no-cost-refinance/
Highly recommend if you see a few refinances on the horizon which is likely in a falling rate environment.
Anonymous
Can we play a good/better/best game w/r/t healthy eating? I’m making a breakfast list for my son, so I’ve got things like:
Good: Cereal
Better: Cereal with a scoop of protein powder
Best: Yogurt with cereal for crunch
Good: Sausage/bacon
Better: Chicken sausage or Canadian bacon
Best: Meatless sausage or crumbles
Good: Oatmeal with hot cocoa powder or chocolate chips
Better: Oatmeal with frozen or fresh berries
Best: Overnight oats w/ chia
DC Pandas
I would maybe avoid using good/better/best labels with food. Maybe use time labels instead- “in a pinch” “5 mins” “prepped in advance”?
Snacks:
in a pinch: granola bar
5 mins: apple w cheese or pb
prepped: hummus & pita w/ sliced veg
Anon
I don’t like classifying food like this. There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of these! And starting your classification system at “good” doesn’t make it any different. Also, there’s no one definition of healthy or list of foods that are healthy or not healthy.
Anon
There’s nothing wrong with anything she’s suggested but many of them can certainly be improved!
Anon
I don’t think this really makes any sense. A healthy diet involves variety and no one meal or food is “bad”, but I’d say that any of the oatmeal or cereal options are better than any of the sausage options, and the cereal options will vary more on the type of cereal than whether you’re adding protein powder or not. Presumably he’s eating it with milk that has protein? I feel like breakfast in particular is very subject to individual preferences about what you can stomach first thing in the morning and sometimes that’s more important than ideal nutrition, as long as things balance out over the day.
Anon
I mean I eat bacon or oatmeal on occasion, but avoiding or limiting ultra processed meats is an important part of a healthy diet (though, I don’t think it’s better to replace with processed meatless options either). Oatmeal is perfectly fine but not nutritious enough on its own for many people.
Anon
Good: gets the job done in a pinch
Better: gets the job done and tastes good
Best: gets the job done, tastes good, and holds you over so you have enough energy for the day
Anon
Now this makes sense to me though sausage/bacon would be “best” on this ranking! (It is not actually a problem for me personally anyway though; I’m on a “eat more salt and get your cholesterol up” diet!)
Anon
These rankings all seem completely made up to me. Foods aren’t really healthier or less healthy (the category of food implies that it’s something we can eat for nutrition; if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be food); it’s entire diets that are nutritionally adequate or not, and that are adapted to specific health needs or not.
Anon
+1000000000
Anonymous
so you both think that Fruit Loops is just as healthy as All Bran? Absolutely no difference between the two in a daily diet?
anon
Not an anon above, but absolutely correct. Because I don’t assess my diet on a daily basis or a one-meal basis. Balance and over time. Length of time is subject to debate/perspective, but surely not just 24 hours.
Anonymous
I don’t eat the same thing every day. Fruit loops once a week mixed with other cereals and sausages and eggs and non-‘breakfast foods’ is perfectly fine. I don’t need every meal to be the most perfect choice ever made. I just need my diet overall to meet my nutritional needs, micro and macro. Lots of ways to do that.
Anon
+1 to anon at 4:22, it’s insane to pretend otherwise!!
Nesprin
I’m going to go with the maintenance phase approach:
Good: whatever you want
Better: whatever you want
Best: whatever you want.
Anon
+1
Anon
Cereal with protein powder seems like a crime to me, but for what it’s worth I don’t think some of these are better nutritionally than the others
Anon
Right? There’s no way I’d be able to keep that down in the morning!
anon
Yeah, and it may reflect imposing adult nutrition goals on a child with developmentally different nutritional needs. To be clear, that is neither a good nor better thing!
Obviously, I’m not meaning to push back on whatever your pediatrician tells you.
anon
Agree, that sounds horrid and like a waste of a good bowl of cereal.
Anonymous Grouch
You’ll never convince me that processed food, even if it doesn’t contain meat, is better than actual, minimally processed food that came from a plant or an animal. So I would not consider “meatless sausage or crumbles” to be automatically superior to pork sausage or bacon. I do, however regard bacon and sausage (and all processed meats), as a treat that I have occasionally (<1/month), not a regular part of a good diet.
Anonymous
+1
OOO
Is this a mental calculus that you do every time you eat? Is this diet culture anxiety really something you want to pass on to your son?
Anonymous
All of your “best” options are gross.
anon
How about we don’t.
Anonie
Missing from this list: any fruits or vegetables.
Anonymous
Right? Like I hate this way of thinking about food but it’s not hard to eat fruit at breakfast?
Anon
Good: chocolate
Better: high quality dark chocolate
Best: high quality dark chocolate with almonds
Anon
Ha! Except I would replace almonds with almond butter. TJ’s dark chocolate almond butter cups omg
Anonymous
Ewww why? This is disordered trash do you want to give him lifelong issues?
Anon
I think I get your intent, but like others, the examples you lay out seem flawed. What is your goal here? To help your son develop a taste for healthy food choices? This list seems like it would guilt him into making psuedo-healthier substitutes that may really make him hate the idea of eating healthy foods at all.
For instance, many meatless crumbles aren’t really a great long-term source of nutrition given how processed and full of fillers they are. Fine in a pinch or if you are trying to move towards less meat, but beans or some other real-food source of protein would likely be healthier than fake meat. And if he really craves sausage, meatless crumbles are going to be a sad substitute.
Anon
I understand what you’re trying to get at, but it’s very fraught. Please read Fat Talk to ensure your good intentions don’t create a lifetime of eating disorders.
Vicky Austin
OP, check out @real.life.nutritionist on Instagram. She’s a registered dietitian in Canada with a great, compassionate approach she calls “nutrition by addition” that I think achieves what you’re trying to get to here. I’ve learned a lot from her.
Anonymous
any cereal that has reasonably good glycemic index (I like cheerios and grapenuts) with milk or yogurt as preferred and some fruit
a slice of bacon with fruit and toast
oatmeal with walnuts, berries, and chocolate hummus or oatmeal with an egg, some spinach and some pesto
I aim to get some carb, some protein, and some fruit or veggie into me with each meal. Beyond that, variety is most important to me.
Anonymous
Thanks for the recommendation for the book “The Good Enough Job”. I listened to a couple of podcasts that interviewed the author and then decided to get the book. It’s a very good read! I had an unfortunate political situation while in a C-suite role that forced me to step down and re-evaluate my career goals. That happened one year ago and while I’m in a much better place, I appreciate reminders about the cost of making work your central identity. I think this especially true in fields like education and healthcare where people feel like their work is a calling. I hope the PIP poster from this morning can find peace moving forward.
Anonymous curiousity
I know there is no correct answer here but curious how much people are giving for cash wedding gifts these days.
NY suburbs, 2 parents and 2 small kids attending, distant cousin relationship, if that matters.
Anon
Small Midwest city, attend weddings as a couple. We typically give $100 except to close friends and younger family members to whom we give $200. We’ve given more in certain situations, but that’s our default.
Anon
I should add that due to a combination of dumb luck and very scattered friends and family, we have yet to attend a wedding that didn’t involve airplane travel. If/when we attend a wedding we can drive to, we will have a higher gift budget. And we have upped our gift budget in situations where, e.g., the bride and groom or their parents paid for our hotel rooms (although I certainly don’t expect them to!)
anon
$200-$400 depending on your families overall affluence and how warmly you feel about this cousin.
Anonymous
Minimum $100 per adult attending, $50 per kid younger than 12
Anon
This. I generally give $100-$150 per adult and sometimes $200 depending on relationship. My cousin got married last summer in Brooklyn and I gave $300 for my bf and myself.
Anon
I’d do at least $300 in this situation
Cat
$200-$300, maybe higher if you’re in an affluent family.
Anon
$300-400
Anon
Midwest and apparently in a social circle that is not nearly as affluent as many on this board.
When we ourselves got married, our largest cash gift was $100 from my well-to-do auntie. Most were in the $20 to $50 range. I honestly cannot remember attending a wedding where one or both of us were not in the wedding party (and these are the types of events where the wedding party also does the set up, decorations, and clean up). Since that means we not only paid for a bridesmaid dress and suit rental already but also contributed manual labor, we stick with $50.
Anonymous
I live in NYC and just sent my cousin in Ohio $100 for his wedding reception. My husband and son and I will be attending. But we’re also paying to travel to get there and do not work in finance or something. Or maybe we are just cheap.
Anon
You know how so many tech companies invent solutions to problems that didn’t exist? I need one to invent a solution to the problem of assisted living and memory care facilities all hiding their prices until I get a specific quotes from each one, usually involving selling my phone number and email in the process. It’s a huge waste of time to go through that process for facilities that are thousands of dollars over the budget. *headdesk*
Anon
Right?
Anonymous
They do this on purpose. They think that budgets are something you arbitrarily set so they want to sell you on how great the facility is first and then you will change your mind about the budget. I don’t know why they want to waste their time trying to sell to people who can’t afford it, but whatever.
JTM
Same problem with daycare! How hard is it for people to just list their rates on the website instead of forcing people to get a tour/sales pitch before the quote?
Anon
I would honestly be more likely to opt for the expensive facility that was transparent upfront than a slightly cheaper one that made me do a tour first. I don’t like giving my business to companies that act secretive and waste my time.
Anonymous
Yesss why do daycares make it so hard to find out their rates???
Vicky Austin
Seriously!!
Anon
Our former daycare lists their rates on the website! I didn’t realize daycares being obtuse about tuition was a thing.
Although apparently I should have investigated tuition more closely because I realized a month before our child left for kindergarten that we had been overpaying for five years (tuition is tiered by income and I assumed the numbers referred to your salaries and apparently it’s your AGI on your taxes, which for us is way lower). Oops. Oh well, we loved the place, I guess we chalk it up to a (very large) donation.
anon
Depending on where you are, there are concierge services that gather all the info for you from all of the facilities in the area and present it to you all at once. A friend used one in Minneapolis. They just put them all together, she visited the best candidates and then decided. They’re paid on commission from the facilities.
Anonymous
This is what we did.
brokentoe
I’m in the Twin Cities – tell me more
anon
Just asked her—it was a place called Twin Cities Care.
brokentoe
Thank you! :)
Anon
We used a service like this in the small town where my MIL lived before she passed. Saved us so much time and effort.
Senior Attorney
Agree with this. There’s one called A Place for Mom that I think is nationwide in the U.S.
Anon
TIL this is a national care-finding service. I always heard their ads and assumed it was a local assisted living facility!
Anon
Totally agree.
Even worse, some of them offer different prices to different people, can change their prices at any time…… It’s just so terrible.
Anon
Also for literally any service where I need some preliminary idea of pricing to decide if it’s remotely within the realm of possibility.
Anonymous
When I needed this a few years ago, there was a social worker at the hospital where my FIL was being treated who had a ton of information about the local assisted living facilities. He was able to provide me with a list of the best options in the price range that FIL could afford. His list also included what services each provided. Not sure how to find that person if your loved one is not in the hospital but people with that information do exist!
Clara
Idk if this helps or not, but BI tool vendors do this too. Same reason, trying to get you attached to the product/service before you give the price. Just tell me the price up front, if its too expensive its a waste of all of our time!
Anon
Does anyone have a high waisted bikini bottom that they really like and can recommend?
Anon
Albion Fit
anon.
I just got the convertible bottom from Soma and it is GREAT. I’m a regular sized 4-6 and got a S and it’s perfect. I like it better than much more expensive ones I have from Left on Friday and Lulu.
Moose
Aerie! High Cut bikini bottoms are surprisingly cute. Have different levels of coverage.
Anon
Is it ok to be an adult worker bee? Someone who just likes to do the tasks given to them? Should all of us be driving the business forward, bringing in clients, creating new ways of doing things, identifying solutions to problems, etc, etc?
I’m 41, and I just got a Talking To yesterday about being more proactive and visionary, etc. I…that’s not who I am. I’m really great at you give me a mission and I’ll do the mission, but you want me to identify, create, and execute the mission? That’s just not me.
I am a Grown Up Honor Society Goody Two Shoes (TM), and it feels wrong to just sit back and not strive and achieve all that, but… How much of it is just real life in my 40s that that’s not what I want and maybe it’s ok to know that about myself and find something that really plays to what I’m good at?
Anon
Yes, it’s ok, but you need to accept that the tradeoff is likely going to mean a stagnant salary and watching younger people get promoted above you. That’s fine with me (I derive my fulfillment from things outside work and I just want to put in my hours and collect my paycheck), but it’s something you should be prepared for.
Shelle
This is where I am too. I like logging off with enough time to make happy hour and I look forward to working for my coworker when she’s promoted to my boss.
Seafinch
100% I am in the army and love being static. I don’t want to trade my very reasonable hours and fascinating work so I can manage other lawyers and work 70 hours a week for 5-10k extra. I love the liberation of doing the work and forgetting about it. I am very happy to click my heels and get on with it, then come home and enjoy my big, crazy family.
Anonymous
You want to be a senior individual contributor, not a leader. Even a senior individual contributor is expected to come up with better ways of doing her tasks, though.
Clementine
I think it’s good to know what you want!
But I also think that it’s natural for managers to attempt to help their staffers grow. At a certain point, I can’t promote you unless you are driving solutions and bringing things forward (as you say). If you’re okay with that, COOL! But also – I have people who are mad that they haven’t been promoted who actually full on refuse to do anything more than their duties. Here, you top out at a certain level as a technical expert/do-er and the ‘next level’ is managerial. If you acknowledge that, GREAT!
One of the happiest people I know has a mediocre job that allows them to spend a ton of time at their hobby. They’re cool with it and love that they don’t have the pressure that people who have continued to strive have.
Anonymous
Yes, it is okay to be the adult worker bee.
Anon
Absolutely.
Most of us are.
Anonymous
Totally fine to be an adult worker bee.
But if it was your boss who gave you that Talking To, it may not be OK to be an adult worker bee in this role, for that boss.
There is no moral obligation to Become an Achiever or be someone who Drives the Business. It is not wrong in any way not to want to be that person. It’s a very good thing to know yourself and what you do/don’t want.
Anon
It’s completely fine to be a worker bee but it sounds like you’re in a role that they expect you to be more than that. So if you want to stay a worker bee, you’re going to have to get into a position where you can just show up, do what’s handed to you, and that’s it. If you stay in your current role, your output will not meet their expectations, and you can expect to be downgraded on your performance review (and take a corollary hit to your pay increases), or possibly even get managed out/lose your job.
I work with a ton of people who basically just show up and punch a clock every day, but they’re doing exactly what we need them to do. I could not do that and the people on my team can’t do it because we’re in jobs where we’re expected to innovate, and offer new ideas, and move the organization forward. I wouldn’t hire someone for my team who was just a “worker bee” but I could refer them to a person who hires nothing but “worker bees” for their team. However, the work on that team is monotonous and not very creative or exciting, and those worker bees get paid a lot less than my employees get paid. They are also not ever going to be considered for upward movement in the company or assignment to the cool exciting projects. So think about what trade-offs you’re willing to make to remain a worker bee; only you can decide if those are worth it. There is no such thing as being a worker bee who gets rewarded like a star performer who innovates, goes above and beyond, and puts themselves out there. Just FYI.
anon
+1.
I manage someone who is Just a Worker Bee. And that would be FINE, except that we’re in a field where you are expected to keep evolving. The consequence of his not being able or willing to think bigger is that he gets more of the boring, rote tasks that honestly could be done with someone with half as much experience as he has. That seems to be fine with him, from what I can tell, but he’s in his 60s and doesn’t have 20 years of work ahead of him. I would be very very careful about stagnating in your 40s. You don’t need to be a strategic visionary – that’s definitely not for everyone – but you do have to show that you care about improving the organization or its processes.
Anon
Marathoners, what do you eat while training? I know I’m going to have to up my caloric intake and my nutrition when I start my training plan in July.
I already work out 3-5x a week and eat pretty healthily but once my mileage increases I know I’m going to need to eat a lot more!
Live alone, work longish hours so prefer to not have complicated meals, prefer to meal prep. I eat everything.
Anon
I eat the same things as I do any other time – I’m a human raccoon. I eat a wide variety of food, mostly nutritious – mostly of beans, rice, whatever veg and fruits are in season. Very little, but not zero meat. Plenty of pizza.
Unless you’re already really thin, you don’t actually need to eat that much, if any, more.
The only time I really think about what I’m eating is the night before a long run, simply to avoid bathroom issues. Vegetable fried rice is my go-to. Until you’re well familiar with how your body handles certain foods, I recommend planning your long runs in and around neighborhoods with lots of new construction and remodels so you’re never far from a port-a-jon. Doing the walk of shame to the Circle-K to blow up their bathroom sucks.
While I’m running, I’m not a huge fan of gels – they will turn my stomach if I’m not careful. I carry (or stash on my route) pretzels and animal crackers. In general, I don’t carry anything for runs 10 miles or less, but everyone is different on that account.
anon
My advice is to listen to your body – trust me, your body will find a way to get the extra calories it wants and you will subconsciously put more protein on the plate (and, a bit more dessert). One thing I notice is that I have to be extra diligent about remembering to eat all three meals a day, because overall the margin of error on my blood sugar crashing becomes much smaller. With a summer start, I’d also recommend plotting out your routes so that you are staying the shade, have plenty of places to get water if you need it (run with your credit card), and avoiding completely out and back runs (e.g., running 7 miles north of your house, then turning around — think more running a circle from your car/house so you won’t have more than a few miles to get back).
PSA
Two sale alerts since I can’t buy all the things today!
The fold sale on site – use coupon code JUNFREESHIP for free shipping to US
Sue sartor – use code SALE25 on sale items
Cat
Interesting – it used to be they offered free shipping but charged for returns. That was offputting enough to keep me from ordering. Might give it a try now that it looks like US returns are free!
Anon100
Paging Iceland poster from yesterday afternoon – I have tips! Just returned from Iceland yesterday.
– Wear hiking boots on plane. But bring a pair of indoor shoes or hotel slippers to wear inside hotel room or even a light pair of sneakers to walk about town.
– Definitely bring a rain jacket and rain pants. Plus points if the rain jacket is warm, if not, a packable down parka is an absolute must to wear under the rain jacket if you are visiting Gullfoss, Seljandfoss, Skogafoss, and some other waterfalls where you get drenched.
– Temps were about 60F every day, and started off fairly drizzly, sometimes it dried off around 4 pm, sometimes not. Parts of Iceland were extremely windy.
– Can definitely get away with re-wearing pants and outer shirts, but I’d recommend full sets of under layers and socks. Laundry amenities were hard to find, but some hotel bathrooms had heated drying racks. Bring extra socks.
– Bring your own soap or shower gel. I was shocked that some hotels didn’t provide at least soap!
– You don’t need gloves if you’re doing the Golden Circle and South Coast circuit. May need them if you’re going north.
– don’t worry about nicer “going out” clothing, unless you are eating at a fancy place in Reykjavik. When we went to eat at a nicer place in the Snaesfellnes Peninsula, every diner including us were wearing hiking clothes and none of the staff blinked. They’re used to tourists coming in and not being dressed up for dinner.
– bring water bottle, sunglasses, and sleeping eye mask.
Anon
Thank you! I realized after reading the thread yesterday I need a lot of new clothes for this trip so I placed a big LL Bean order.
Hollis
I need an easy, but impressive-looking dessert to bring to a dinner party on Saturday. Anything with fruit in it. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Senior Attorney
How about a Pavlova? I feel like it doesn’t get much more impressive-looking than that.
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/pavlova-recipe
Senior Attorney
You should transport the filling separately and fill it right before serving.
Senior Attorney
Ug, mod…
You should t r a n s port the filling separately and fill it right before serving.
Anon
I was also going to suggest a Pavlova! It’s one of my favorite desserts during summer because you can put whipped cream on top with fresh cut fruit. It’s light and highlights the fruit perfectly. And it’s sooooo easy.
PolyD
I do this, but put cocoa powder in the meringue to make a chocolate pavlova.
Anon
I don’t know if crisps or cobblers count as impressive looking, but they’re easy and I’m always very happy to eat them- much happier than I am to eat a pavlova or any of the fancier looking things, but maybe that’s because I don’t really like meringue or whipped cream (ice cream on top is good, though!). Strawberry rhubarb or peach-berry would be my favorite combinations.
Anon
+1. I make peach cobbler from my grandma’s recipe and bring along a half-gallon of super-premium vanilla ice cream. Never come home with any leftovers. To me, delicious IS impressive. People would rather eat something that tastes great but maybe isn’t visually stunning vs. eating a great-looking dessert that tastes mediocre.
Senior Attorney
I have to agree that I would rather eat a crisp or cobbler than a Pavlova. Here’s my favorite recipe:https://bakeorbreak.com/2012/06/mixed-berry-cobbler/
OOO
https://www.marthastewart.com/318066/grand-raspberry-trifle
Anonymous
I made the blueberry banana cream pie from this months food and wine for Father’s Day and everyone cleaned their plates in a very NOT dessert loving crowd. It was easy to make too.
OOO
This easy cake is always a hit: https://www.marthastewart.com/343437/tres-leches-cake
Anonymous
I need some outside perspective.
Inlaws are in their late 70s and live 2000 miles away. They are relatively mobile and healthy, but are terrified about their health status at all times. They are also super anxious about Covid. They will get on a plane to see family, but other than that, don’t see people in person or go anywhere. For example, they’re staying with us now and don’t want to go out to eat, see a show, go to a museum, or do anything. They’ve stopped going to church, volunteering, etc. because of the Covid risk.
It is really hard to see how small their worlds have gotten. They both seem unhappy to me – anxious, depressed, lonely. They’re sniping at each other. They see their doctors all the time (that’s their main form of entertainment) but have no interest in an SSRI or other antidepressant.
How can I help them?
Anonymous
Given the season, can you ease them into being around people again? Like Shakespeare in the Park or a visit to the Botantical Gardens – those often have a nice outdoors cafe even if they can’t do a lot of walking. Many municipalities often have music in the park concert series in the summer as well.
For my parents, I think they actually get overwhelmed in big groups in a way they did not when they were younger. Covid is just a reason. But they are clearly more comfortable in their routines.
For the winter, I encourage my mom to take small size daytime art classes (like 4 people once a week). She masks in the classes and that hasn’t been an issue but it’s gotten her out quilting and painting again.