COVID personal experiences

[Zardnaar]

- in the annual parade

- at the Folk Festival

- at the Highland Games (though not all day; I once lived 3 blocks from the site where they were held and was hearing bagpipes even when they weren't playing)

- when the Legion pipe band is practicing; they used to do this at the Armouries, just up the block from where I used to live; I'd put the dog on the leash and we'd go over, sit on a log, and have a free concert

- on Remembrance Day

- at the symphony; one of the pieces was "Amazing Grace" played under a single spotlight by a lone piper. When he was finished, most of the audience was openly crying.

- for fun; one time I heard bagpipe music coming from the street across from my house and saw a guy standing outside, playing. I went outside and when I got over there, he expected to be yelled at. He was surprised when I thanked him and said I'd enjoyed his music.

*Of course, all the above is based on the supposition that the pipes are properly tuned and the player knows how to play.

Piper's are also useful for Operation Human Shield.

 

[H4run]

Point.

I didn't mind this song.

They forced fit the bagpipe, really sound like something that got trap in a crowd that it cannot blend in. Turisas able to incorporate violin with power metal quite nicely, but yes it ending up sound like a guitar after the distortion kicks in.

 

[Farm Boy]

I like Malort. Who am I to judge?

 

[civvver]

Finally did a huge shopping trip and got eggs, milk, bread, and tons of other stuff. But those were the things we were out of completely. I had eggs over easy with toast to dip with some tabasco sauce and butter. It was heavenly.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Ode to American Toilet Paper

A few weeks into the lockdown, let’s assess where we are. First, we’re all germophobes now. Handshakes are so ye s t e rd a y. We’re caught up on “Tiger King” episodes on Netflix. We appreciate Amazon same-day delivery now that most orders take a week. We miss sitting in restaurants and milking a table over meaningless conversations. Same for sports, which provided a great background noise to life. Grocery supply chains still seem to work. And given which shelves are bare at Costco and most supermarkets, we see clearly that Americans have a weird fascination with not running out of toilet paper.

This last one should come as no surprise. It’s part of what separates us from the, err, “unwashed” masses. Anyone who has traveled outside the U.S. knows exactly what I’m talking about. I was warned not to shake hands in India.

But why are Americans different? We obsess because, like French wine or Italian coffee, we have the best, so we flaunt it. Be thankful for the glories of two-ply—my kingdom for a 12-pack of 1,000-sheet rolls, still hard to come by. No surprise that in what was definitely not a slow news day on Wednesday, there was national coverage of an overturned 18wheeler near Dallas because its load of thousands of rolls was burning.

Sure, toilet paper may be controlled by the patriarchy: the Scott brothers, Clarence and Edward, and ol’ Mr. Whipple, who insists that you “don’t squeeze the Charmin!” But once you go two-ply, you can never go back. No wonder Americans hoard.

The first commercial toilet paper was introduced in 1857 by a New Yorker named Joseph Gayetty. It was sold as Gayetty’s Medicated Paper— with aloe. It even had his named embossed on the flat sheets. Rolls were first patented in 1891. By 1935 Northern Tissue started advertising that its toilet paper was “splinter-free”—another reminder that you really didn’t want to be born before then. Two-ply was invented in England in 1942, around the same time as electronic computers.

But take a trip to parts of Europe or Asia or especially South America, and you’ll learn quickly that they’re stuck in the past. Their toilet paper, and facial tissue for that matter, is awful. It can feel almost waxy, like the bags in which your mom used to pack your fluffernutter sandwiches. Or worse, they have the texture of 100grit sandpaper. Ouch.

And don’t dare flush it. Oh no. Instead you need to place it into an aptly named wastebasket next to the toilet. Has the rest of the world not discovered 3-inch PVC pipes? Thankfully, even Al Gore’s low-flow toilets didn’t lower the American standard to that of the worthless, underflushing commodes overseas.

The Japanese have tried to finesse the whole toilet-paper thing, and even one-up us. They are rightly proud of their electronic toilets. Toto, which is short for Tōyō Tōki, or “Oriental Ceramics,” was the first to perfect the high-fidelity toilet and, as only the Japanese can, market it nonsensically as “the pursuit of toilet happiness.”

Amazon had a sale years ago and I bought a Toto Washlet add-on. It has lots of buttons and even an LCD remote. I’ll readily admit that I can’t live without it. Our Toto pre-mists, though I’m still not sure what for. It has more warm streams than Netflix and I’ve tried them all—rear, front (OK, just once), oscillate, and my favorite, pulsate. And yes, it has a dryer and seat warmer. With the right reading material, you can spend hours.

Of course we hoard it. The soft stuff sets us apart from our one-ply peers overseas.

But wait a second, I did a little research and it turns out that Toto got into the business as the original Japanese distributor of the Wash Air Seat (the name says it all), invented in 1963 by a Brooklyn entrepreneur, Arnold Cohen. Ha, I knew it. It was good old American ingenuity that Toto copied and then perfected. I’m not complaining; it’s that kind of globalization that saved my marriage, as the Toto closes the seat and lid 30 seconds after use. Brilliant. Kohler and other vendors now have similar features. But, but, but, at the end of the day, none of the waterworks functions can replace toilet paper— not even close.

As usual, American capitalism and competition have kept pushing the state of the toilet paper art and roll toward the future. Forget two-ply! Quilted Northern came out with an Ultra Plush® three-ply: “Three cushiony and absorbent layers,” 100% biodegradable, flushable and septic-safe, and Sustainable Forest Initiative certified! And proving there is no end to American innovation, Quilted Northern is developing a (gasp!) four-ply toilet paper, with megarolls to be sold in a commemorative tin. Now worth hoarding.

By Andy Kessler

 

[AmazonQueen]

Made a banana nut loaf today which is very nice.
Sadly its more cake than bread and I still can't get any more bread flour.
May try making soda bread as that only needs normal flour which I have loads of.

 

[Hrothbern]

Made a banana nut loaf today which is very nice.
Sadly its more cake than bread and I still can't get any more bread flour.
May try making soda bread as that only needs normal flour which I have loads of.

Oat-banana cookies easy, already sweet from banana and you can mix in anything you like like nuts, berries etc
I make it when I forget to eat my bananas fast enough and they get overripe

In weight: 1 part oats + 2-3 parts banana (mashed with a fork)
20 minutes at 180 C

 

[civvver]

Made a banana nut loaf today which is very nice.
Sadly its more cake than bread and I still can't get any more bread flour.
May try making soda bread as that only needs normal flour which I have loads of.

I was thinking of some soda bread too because I have no yeast.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Kleenex is in short supply at my grocery store now. The first thing the person on the phone said was, "We don't have any toilet paper," and I said, "I wasn't going to ask for any."

I still have enough for awhile. I just hope I can get the tylenol/acetaminophen I was told they had.

 

[Samson]

Oat-banana cookies easy, already sweet from banana and you can mix in anything you like like nuts, berries etc
I make it when I forget to eat my bananas fast enough and they get overripe

What I do with old / excess bananas:
Roughly slice them, about 5 - 10 mm thick
Put in the freezer in a plastic bag.
Take out the freezer when almost or completely frozen.
Put them in the food processor with a metal blade, and turn it on until it is a smooth paste.

This paste tastes almost completely like banana ice-cream, but is just banana so healthy(er). You can add other stuff too, like berries or chocolate.

 

[Hrothbern]

What I do with old / excess bananas:
Roughly slice them, about 5 - 10 mm thick
Put in the freezer in a plastic bag.
Take out the freezer when almost or completely frozen.
Put them in the food processor with a metal blade, and turn it on until it is a smooth paste.

This paste tastes almost completely like banana ice-cream, but is just banana so healthy(er). You can add other stuff too, like berries or chocolate.

That looks like a nice one

gonna try it

 

[Grisu]

amid all the bad stuff, at least the whole crisis had some good side effects for me as well

- we've been baking and cooking a lot more with the kids. Since we don't go shopping now, we bake our own bread every other day now.
- I haven't been to the nearby forest as often as now since I was a kid.
- getting to eat every lunch and dinner with the family is a nice boon too

 

[Oruc]

I'm essential so I still have to work, but if I'm so essential I should be paid more then all these office workers who don't have real jobs.

 

[Hrothbern]

I'm essential so I still have to work, but if I'm so essential I should be paid more then all these office workers who don't have real jobs.

Do you not answer yourself that question in your subscript: "The simple suggestion of a true change scandalizes and terrifies modern man"

 

[Lexicus]

I'm essential so I still have to work, but if I'm so essential I should be paid more then all these office workers who don't have real jobs.

[Soviet music swells in background]

 

[Oruc]

Do you not answer yourself that question in your subscript: "The simple suggestion of a true change scandalizes and terrifies modern man"

How is me lining my pockets instead of someone else true change?

[Soviet music swells in background]

I'd take a tankie* over a captialist

 

[Hrothbern]

How is me lining my pockets instead of someone else true change?

I have never understood the actual reality regarding the value that people deliver in their job and the money they get from it.

IDK what kind of work you do, but in simple terms it has always since time immemorial been so that talkers closer to the warmth of the power get more money than people doing hard work, whether manual or with their head.

If for example a low-paid blue collar sitting on his fork truck has a bad day and makes a collision with a piece of machinery, in the shopfloor... the direct damage, the breakdown and production disruption damage for your company and for your customers is far bigger than a typical office clerk can achieve. Not even mentioning the mostly high noise level, the worse coffee, the time punching for breaks and the time loss at breaks and end of service for washing hands, etc etc.
And yet the income difference and secondary advantages for an office clerk are written in stone since time immemorial.

And you, subscribing to traditions, want to change that tradition of traditions just from one minor dip ???

 

[AmazonQueen]

I was thinking of some soda bread too because I have no yeast.

Been considering making sourdough too (very hipster) but making the starter is a pain.

 

[Hrothbern]

Been considering making sourdough too (very hipster) but making the starter is a pain.

Perhaps it is not a pain:
https://www.theperfectloaf.com/7-easy-steps-making-incredible-sourdough-starter-scratch/

 

[Zelig]

If for example a low-paid blue collar sitting on his fork truck has a bad day and makes a collision with a piece of machinery, in the shopfloor... the direct damage, the breakdown and production disruption damage is far bigger than a typical office clerk can achieve.

Sure, typical. But for some office employees, a computer security mishap results in dozens of executions and endangers national security.

Botched CIA Communications System Helped Blow Cover of Chinese Agents

Of course, qualified people who work on those comm systems could make several times more money by going to work in SV, thinking about how to make people click ads, and having no real consequences for their mishaps.