The many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XXI

[shadowplay]

That's actually a little different because you have an agreement with them consenting to that. I'm not talking about stores with which membership is required. I would have no problem at all with the scenario you decribed above. It's with the guys playing store security who follow me out of the store and demand receipts that really gets me. I had a bad experience with one of them years ago and I've been pretty assertive about my rights with them ever since.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Is there anyway to transfer prepaid Visa cards to a checking account? I can't pay off my credit cards with them because they aren't checking accounts with routing numbers and I just want the money off them. It's annoying to have to keep track of how much is on them and remembering to use them instead of my normal cards.

 

[Cutlass]

Go to your bank and talk to them.

 

[Zelig]

Is there anyway to transfer prepaid Visa cards to a checking account? I can't pay off my credit cards with them because they aren't checking accounts with routing numbers and I just want the money off them. It's annoying to have to keep track of how much is on them and remembering to use them instead of my normal cards.

I really doubt you'll be able to do that.

 

[cardgame]

There should be, talk to your bank.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Hmm I will talk to my bank then. Didn't think of that but I should have - they have excellent customer service. That means everyone that answers the phones are polite, are native English speakers and are not robots. You can't ask for more from a bank.

 

[Synobun]

How do you ensure that bread stays fresh for the longest time possible? Moving out soon and rather than buy factory bread, I'm a little interested in getting some better quality bread. However, for that to be my money's worth, I better be sure that it won't go stale before I'm done the loaf. How do you guys keep it fresh? Does it need to be in the fridge? Somewhere warm? Dry? Damp? In a container rather than a bag? Wat do.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

How do you ensure that bread stays fresh for the longest time possible? Moving out soon and rather than buy factory bread, I'm a little interested in getting some better quality bread. However, for that to be my money's worth, I better be sure that it won't go stale before I'm done the loaf. How do you guys keep it fresh? Does it need to be in the fridge? Somewhere warm? Dry? Damp? In a container rather than a bag? Wat do.

Freezer is ideal if you intend on eating a lot of toast. Less so if you want soft fresh bread but still your best bet.

 

[say1988]

For maximum shelf life, store any extra in a freezer. If you only have one loaf and don't want to split it or defrost as needed, the firdge is usually best for a long shelf life.

Storing bread like this will decrease the quality significantly in the short term, but increase it in the long term, compared to on the counter or something. As noted above, if used for toast there isn't a large quality loss.

One thing to be careful of in the fridge is you do not want condensation in the bread,so you usually want it away from teh roof and walls, but you may need to try a few spots to find a good one.

If I am eating it before it goes bad, I just leave it on the counter or in a cupboard, I would try to avoid any place too damp, though as any moisture in the bread just ends badly.

 

[salty mud]

My aunt has been stricken with a peculiar condition since Tuesday morning now. She is suffering from intense vomiting fits, and we aren't quite certain what the cause is. The paramedics were contacted when she felt as if she was losing feeling with her arms and legs and she was taken to hospital. The hospital did a blood test and confirmed that it was not norovirus. We are fairly certain it is nothing contagious as she lives with her husband and 3 sons and none of them have came down with anything. Our main thought at the moment is that it is quite severe food poisoning. The condition seems to calm down and then come back as bad as it can be which I believe is a symptom of food poisoning. She will be visiting the hospital again soon as she shows no sign of improvement.

Any idea what it could be?

 

[Borachio]

For maximum shelf life, store any extra in a freezer. If you only have one loaf and don't want to split it or defrost as needed, the firdge is usually best for a long shelf life.

Storing bread like this will decrease the quality significantly in the short term, but increase it in the long term, compared to on the counter or something. As noted above, if used for toast there isn't a large quality loss.

One thing to be careful of in the fridge is you do not want condensation in the bread,so you usually want it away from teh roof and walls, but you may need to try a few spots to find a good one.

If I am eating it before it goes bad, I just leave it on the counter or in a cupboard, I would try to avoid any place too damp, though as any moisture in the bread just ends badly.

Gah! Keeping a loaf in the fridge is a really bad idea, in my experience. Such as it is. I did try it once a long time ago.

Buy a small loaf and eat it all, fresh, in one or two days. French bread you have to eat all in one day.

Or toast the bread on the second, and third, day. That's what toast is for really - using up stale, or less than fresh, bread.

If there's any dampness in the air (of which there is a lot in a fridge), the bread will go mouldy (though certainly less quickly in a fridge). Some people say you can still eat it, but I'm not so sure.

But if you keep the loaf dry and cool, it will stay consumable for a very long time - much like flour really. And there are some good recipes for stale bread. Like bread and butter pudding, and bread sauce. And coating things like fish in bread crumbs calls for stale bread.

I've gone off bread myself just lately... as you don't really know what's in it. And I've heard dire (probably false) things about modern wheat.

So I eat a lot of rye crispbread at the moment. Which has a list of ingredients on the packet - including too much salt! So I can't win.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

I genuinely would be a lost soul, doomed to wander the earth unsatisfied, were it not for toast and vegemite.

 

[Camikaze]

When you've paid for something and are leaving the store, if an employee demands to see a receipt, I'm pretty much within my rights to tell them to get the hell out of my way, right?

Don't most stores have a sign near the entry stating that they reserve the right to search your bag on your way out?

 

[dutchfire]

How do you ensure that bread stays fresh for the longest time possible? Moving out soon and rather than buy factory bread, I'm a little interested in getting some better quality bread. However, for that to be my money's worth, I better be sure that it won't go stale before I'm done the loaf. How do you guys keep it fresh? Does it need to be in the fridge? Somewhere warm? Dry? Damp? In a container rather than a bag? Wat do.

If you have sliced bread, you can put anything you don't plan on eating today (or tomorrow) in a bag in the freezer, and take it out the evening before you plan on eating it. I've stored bread in a fridge and it is okay as long as you kep it in the plastic bag and make sure the vapour in the fridge can't get to the bread. Don't know if it is better than just keeping it dry outside of a fridge.

 

[Farm Boy]

Bread will mold more quickly outside the fridge. Bread will go stale more quickly inside the fridge. Take your pick based on what you are having more problems with.

 

[Zelig]

If your fridge is humid and/or has condensation on the inside, you've got more pressing fridge problems than any bread problems you might be having.

When you've paid for something and are leaving the store, if an employee demands to see a receipt, I'm pretty much within my rights to tell them to get the hell out of my way, right?

Yes, their only recourse is preventing you from entering the store at a future date.

Why would you not comply? Isn't it in your interests as an honest shopper that thieves are discouraged by every means possible? If the store's losses can reach 20% (according to the article cited above), it is your money that must make up the short fall.

My time is valuable enough that the time wasted with receipt checks is worth more than the amount prices are increased to cover shoplifters.

They should install some cameras that don't waste my time instead.

Don't most stores have a sign near the entry stating that they reserve the right to search your bag on your way out?

I've never seen that, and it's not a right they can legally reserve, it's functionally equivalent to putting up a sign at the entrance that they reserve the right to forcibly detain you for arbitrary amounts of time on your way out.

 

[shadowplay]

Don't most stores have a sign near the entry stating that they reserve the right to search your bag on your way out?

I've never seen this, no.

 

[cardgame]

A loaf of bread can last at least two weeks outside the fridge. There's no point in buying 'quality bread' if you're going to put it in the fridge/freezer, though, because then it's going to taste crappy.

 

[shadowplay]

Real bread gets moldy outside of a fridge pretty fast. It's not like most factory bread that just goes hard and stale.

 

[madviking]

I've been to Sam's [Club] several times and there's always been a nice lady at the door who asks to see the receipt and wishes us a good day. I can't imagine anyone rude keeping their job for long.

Same with Costco. They literally just look at it and mark it.