Tip of the Day

[jazzpiano88]

On 8/25/2023 at 4:45 PM, o0Ampy0o said:

 

Have read many reviews. Most common complaint? Uneven toasting. 

solution:  professional tool designed for the task.   
 

[bill5]

I tried that, but the toaster rate only goes up to 48khz and the diff between that and 96 is huge! I'll wait until I can afford the better model.

[jazzpiano88]

It’s 0.083 Hz.   300 slices per hour.  
$399.99.  Comes with a poster of Elwood Blues.  

[o0Ampy0o]

15 hours ago, JazzPiano88 said:

solution:  professional tool designed for the task.   
 

 

 

Earlier in the thread I mentioned the best practice of thawing frozen bread before toasting it as opposed to using a toaster setting for toasting frozen bread or thawing frozen bread. I have tried the toaster's option and it might suit you but it worked better when I either allowed the frozen bread to thaw at room temperature or microwaved it then toasted it as regular bread.

 

I would not waste money on a toaster oven. If you can find one that meets your needs a convention oven is the way to go rather than a toaster oven. That professional level toaster is an exception but expensive and consumer level toaster ovens are all POS made with the flimsiest materials. They are also limited to toasting. A convection oven bakes and broils and has that optional air circulation. It has other optional applications like heating leftovers and keeping food warm. Many devices can be used for those applications but there is a difference between an oven warming something and a toaster oven warming something. The heating element matters. A convection oven is also more efficient than standard ovens. 

 

The problem I have found is a non-repairable error code essentially rendering it dead. I had the perfect model in every way until it died. I have read enough reviews that the odds of getting another one that dies of this code deterred me from replacing it. 

 

Tip: Bringing leftover pizza back to fresh baked life.

 

People have preferences for eating leftover pizza. Many like it cold straight from the frig or room temperature. But if you want that leftover pizza to be the closest to fresh baked here is how you do it.

 

Get a large frying pan and a lid that fits the pan. Put a little olive oil in and spread it with a paper towel. Just enough to prevent sticking. It is worth having corn meal around but not required. If you have it sprinkle some in the pan. Place 1-3 slices of cold pizza in the frying pan. You need a large enough pan to fit at least two slices flat without overlapping. Of course you could use a pan that only one slice fits into as well. Turn the heat of a burner on low and cover the pan with the lid. Keep an eye on the cheese. It is going to liquify and bubble like fresh baked pizza. The crust will be crispy not soggy or rubbery. But you cannot rush it by turning the heat up because you will cook the crust faster than the cheese and toppings can come back to life. You can even burn the crust before the pizza is ready. Give it its due amount of time on the low heat and the result will be leftover pizza that could fool people that it is fresh baked.

[jazzpiano88]

One Thanksgiving a few years ago our oven went kaput and I picked up one of these bad boys using some rewards points at work.  The thing is amazing.   Includes standard convection (it is billed as an air fryer).   I can’t remember if air comes on during toast but it does cook a nice even slice and quickly.   Fun to use!  
 

 

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

On 8/25/2023 at 4:21 PM, bill5 said:

No offense meant! And they may have been good back then. All I know is time and again I found them to be lacking to say the least.

No offense taken, we're all good.  The GE of today is virtually a complete different company from the GE of the 50s-60s-70s.  I suppose they still sell appliances but I am sure they're just the cheapest stuff they can get from China but with a GE logo slapped on it.  Home appliances and light bulbs and TVs are probably just a nuisance to whatever their main business is anymore, whatever that is, hedge funds or something LOL. 

[Notes_Norton]

On 8/26/2023 at 7:33 PM, KuruPrionz said:

I own a car to get around. I've lived without a car before. It''s a different world.

I'd love that, but it's impossible where I live.

 

I've visited quite a few cities in Europe, and Latin America where public transportation is all I need. I liked that.

 

6 hours ago, Lou Gehrig Charles said:

No offense taken, we're all good.  The GE of today is virtually a complete different company from the GE of the 50s-60s-70s.  I suppose they still sell appliances but I am sure they're just the cheapest stuff they can get from China but with a GE logo slapped on it. 

If our GE refrigerator is typical, it's exactly what you mentioned. I wouldn't buy another.

 

Notes ♫

[KuruPrionz]

1 hour ago, Notes_Norton said:

I'd love that, but it's impossible where I live.

 

I've visited quite a few cities in Europe, and Latin America where public transportation is all I need. I liked that.

 

Notes ♫

Whatcom county has excellent public transit, primarily bus service. As you know well, being a musician makes public transit much more difficult. Most services to not run late enough and lugging gear around is a total PITA. Add to that, we get a rainy (WET and Windy!!!) season and it's just much easier to drive my own vehicle. So it goes...

[bill5]

If a person with very few posts makes a post with a link in it, hover over that link to see where it goes before clicking.

[Anderton]

9 hours ago, bill5 said:

If a person with very few posts makes a post with a link in it, hover over that link to see where it goes before clicking.

 

They also have similar formats: Opening phrase with exclamation mark! Enough text scraped to form a post for a reply that seems to relate to the post. Then, the "I'm so happy with what this links to" sentence. 

 

I can also check the email the low-post-count + link poster registered under. If it's something like Bobbysdfjoi5489dgsasljsfoj@muktir-laray.com, I'm pretty sure it's not some bass player bro who lives in Texas.

[bill5]

Thankfully y'all have a handle on it here, doesn't seem to be much in the way of that, so props. In another site I mod, we were bombarded with scum, all trying to scam you, mostly with "call 1-800-whatever for (fake reason)!" until some stronger captchas were put in place and mod approval for first few posts was added.

 

I did enjoy calling some of those numbers and ripping them a new one or stringing them along   But it got tiresome after awhile.

[Anderton]

Dave Bryce's new user approval chops keep the site relatively clean of crap! I also give him props for handling this so there's not too much crap. But when you need to get rid of crap, I highly recommend this outstanding toilet paper.

[Notes_Norton]

15 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

Whatcom county has excellent public transit, primarily bus service.

I've spent time in Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Seville), London, Edinburgh, Budapest, Prague, Rome, Mexico City, Merida, Guadalajara, San Jose (Costa Rica), San Juan (Puerto Rico) and others using nothing but public transportation. Buses, trolleys, subway, and mini-busses got me where I wanted to go with minimal waiting time.

 

The cities are built with public transportation in mind, and because more people use them, the wait time is less. Intercity rail is nice in a lot of places. In Spain, we went from Madrid to Barcelona on a comfortable, quiet, train that went a little over 200 mph (ca. 322 km/h). Much better than flying.

 

In our current situation, I could never gig using that kind of transportation. However, if I was just bringing a saxophone or two to work, it would be fine.

 

Mrs. Notes and I like to travel. We live without a lot of possessions, and spend our money on experience. If possible, when I get to my destination, I'd rather not rent a car. Local transportation, local restaurants, local entertainment venues are best. We breeze through the important tourist spots, after all, Stonehenge is important, but so is a bar in a road house in Scotland where there was a local band, and two local guys who joined us. One was impossible to understand, the other knew just enough English to make small talk, but we bought each other a few rounds of drinks and had a lot of great laughs.

 

[Notes_Norton]

When gigging:

 

Get a Power Conditioner / Line Conditioner (goes by either name) and plug everything into the conditioner. Get one big enough for your power draw.

 

The conditioner protects you from both high and low voltage transients. This will save your gear as your electronics don't like power spikes or dips. It also does a good job of eliminating ground loops.

 

I bought one in the 1980s when the stage I was on, was on the same circuit as the ice machine. When it kicked in, the spring reverb would sound like someone jarred it. I don't have the spring reverb anymore, but I haven't had any electronic failures either.

 

At home, I have a UPS which affords the same protection, but it has batteries and is a lot heavier.

 

Notes ♫

[Anderton]

If you have an EQ that shows curves graphically with a variable display range, choose a low range, like 6 or 12 dB, instead of a maximum range like 24 or 30 dB. Some EQ changes look huge when the range is 6 dB, but barely a blip with a  24 dB range. Using a lower range encourages being subtle with EQ, and not letting your eyes trick you into thinking "I can hardly see there's a boost, I should probably boost it more."

[o0Ampy0o]

On 8/29/2023 at 6:09 AM, Notes_Norton said:

I've spent time in Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Seville), London, Edinburgh, Budapest, Prague, Rome, Mexico City, Merida, Guadalajara, San Jose (Costa Rica), San Juan (Puerto Rico) and others using nothing but public transportation. Buses, trolleys, subway, and mini-busses got me where I wanted to go with minimal waiting time.

 

The cities are built with public transportation in mind, and because more people use them, the wait time is less. Intercity rail is nice in a lot of places. In Spain, we went from Madrid to Barcelona on a comfortable, quiet, train that went a little over 200 mph (ca. 322 km/h). Much better than flying.

 

In our current situation, I could never gig using that kind of transportation. However, if I was just bringing a saxophone or two to work, it would be fine.

 

Mrs. Notes and I like to travel. We live without a lot of possessions, and spend our money on experience. If possible, when I get to my destination, I'd rather not rent a car. Local transportation, local restaurants, local entertainment venues are best. We breeze through the important tourist spots, after all, Stonehenge is important, but so is a bar in a road house in Scotland where there was a local band, and two local guys who joined us. One was impossible to understand, the other knew just enough English to make small talk, but we bought each other a few rounds of drinks and had a lot of great laughs.

 

 

David Gilmour of Pink Floyd got his European tour from one to at least one other area using the rail system according to the bonus documentary that was part of his On An Island tour live DVD package.  

[Anderton]

17 hours ago, Notes_Norton said:

At home, I have a UPS which affords the same protection, but it has batteries and is a lot heavier.

 

And check the battery periodically. They don't last forever, and you don't want to find that out when the power goes out.

[Notes_Norton]

4 hours ago, Anderton said:

And check the battery periodically. They don't last forever, and you don't want to find that out when the power goes out.

Correct. And keep spares.

 

Fortunately, my computers are laptops, so they have a bit of built-in-backup if the UPS fails. But the backup allows me to shut down the motors, modules, mixer, and others in a logical order.

 

Notes ♫

[bill5]

Here's the ultimate tip of the day which hopefully most already follow.....

 

Somewhere stashed away in an "out of sight out of mind" kind of way have at least a few rolls of toilet paper for emergencies only, in case another covid-like madness grips the country.  Likewise it couldn't hurt to have an extra roll or two of paper towels and maybe some soap in that same stash.

[Anderton]

4 hours ago, bill5 said:

in case another covid-like madness grips the country

 

Tennessee has more covid cases per capita than anywhere else in the US right now, with an average of 8,300 new cases per day. One of the new variants is much more contagious but also less dangerous than what we were dealing with in the past, so it's trending more toward a nasty cold or flu. Nonetheless, I have a relative who got it and it was no picnic. She was pretty much immobilized for three days. She's starting to get better, but it ain't over yet. She's only 32 and in great physical shape (hikes up mountains for fun, that kind of thing), and had no pre-existing conditions. Another relative got it on top of a pre-existing condition, and ended up in the hospital being treated with Paxlovid. A older neighbor had the same Paxlovid scenario happen to her, she thinks it saved her life. 

 

So here's my tip: covid is still out there - be careful. Don't go nuts and buy cases of toilet paper or anything, there won't be lockdowns. Just exercise caution around crowds, and avoid people who are coughing (the main symptom).

[bill5]

8 hours ago, Anderton said:

Don't go nuts and buy cases of toilet paper or anything

If there's another mass outbreak of that or something else, rest assured people will, hence my tip...!

[Notes_Norton]

8 hours ago, Anderton said:

Nonetheless, I have a relative who got it and it was no picnic.

I have relatives who got the first wave in 2020. They were having a party, and they didn't believe in vaccines or masks.

 

Grandpa died. His son didn't get it, but his wife was on a ventilator, and they were making preparations for her funeral when a miracle occurred. The grandson lost his sense of smell and taste, and 3 years later, still doesn't have it. Doctors said the virus did so much damage to the brain, that there is no area available to relocate those senses. Grandson's family all got it but recovered.

 

The son, who didn't get it, said “We were stupid.”

 

------

 

This variant isn't as fatal, but I know it can affect one's lungs. I make my living with my lungs (sax, wind synth, flute, and vocals) so I will remain extra careful.

 

------

 

Bill5 that was good advice. We have a septic tank, so we buy 36-roll packs of Scott Single-Ply septic safe toilet paper (recommended by our plumber). We have the open pack, and always an unopened pack underneath it in the storage room.

 

------

 

COVID tip. If you are indoors, in air conditioning, locate the return vents and don't sit in front of them. All the not yet filtered air will pass you, and that will increase your risk. My bro-in-law who is a world-famous doctor told me that.

 

Notes ♫

[ProfD]

I've always found the stocking up on toilet paper thing kinda funny. 

 

Granted, every household should have enough toilet paper on hand to meet demand. 

 

But, I cannot help but to wonder how much sh8t people are planning to do during a weather event or lockdown.🤣

 

In fact, it's probably a good idea to eat less.

 

Then, there's the scramble for duct tape, bottled water, flashlights, batteries, etc.😎

[bill5]

2 hours ago, ProfD said:

I've always found the stocking up on toilet paper thing kinda funny. 

 

I found it extremely annoying when the covid thing hit. Society is so saturated with stupidity and an "it's all about me" attitude these days. 

 

As for other stuff selling out, any time we are projected to get even a moderate snowstorm, people freak out about milk and bread, which is even dumber, like they expect a snowstorm in the South to isolate them for weeks (and like milk and bread lasts that long anyway). This isn't the Klondike you idiots! 

[o0Ampy0o]

3 hours ago, ProfD said:

I've always found the stocking up on toilet paper thing kinda funny. 

 

Granted, every household should have enough toilet paper on hand to meet demand. 

 

But, I cannot help but to wonder how much sh8t people are planning to do during a weather event or lockdown.🤣

 

In fact, it's probably a good idea to eat less.

 

Then, there's the scramble for duct tape, bottled water, flashlights, batteries, etc.😎

 

There is a psychological school of thought which would peg you as being afraid of the concerns of others you snicker at. The mind likes to manipulate itself to avoid what it doesn't want to face. It is not 100% always the case but many times things are directly tied to our own past experience committing such atrocities. Somewhere in your past, probably as a child, you were caught with your pants down and out of TP but you have buried and forgotten about it. You needed to and continue to feel above and beyond it observing anything which reminds you of it. "You" as in people in general. The urge to snicker is a good time to exercise compassion and empathy. "People" can be maddening and seeing the best in them at their worst is healthier than seeing the world populated by idiots. Easier said than done too frequently though.

[ProfD]

32 minutes ago, o0Ampy0o said:

 

There is a psychological school of thought which would peg you as being afraid of the concerns of others you snicker at. The mind likes to manipulate itself to avoid what it doesn't want to face. It is not 100% always the case but many times things are directly tied to our own past experience committing such atrocities. Somewhere in your past, probably as a child, you were caught with your pants down and out of TP but you have buried and forgotten about it. You needed to and continue to feel above and beyond it observing anything which reminds you of it. "You" as in people in general. The urge to snicker is a good time to exercise compassion and empathy. "People" can be maddening and seeing the best in them at their worst is healthier than seeing the world populated by idiots. Easier said than done too frequently though.

Thankfully...I'm not that guy but your point is well taken. 😁

 

I was born to find humor in everything. 

 

If *I* had sh8t on myself as a a kid or this evening or in the future as a senior citizen...*I* would think it was the funniest sh8t in the world.

 

If I couldn't get my hands on a roll of TP...I would find it even more hilarious if I had to jump in the shower or wet a washcloth and clean up behind myself.

 

Again, being well stocked on TP is not the issue.  Having a bunker full of it just in case sh8t hits the fan or some other apocalypse is still funny to me.

 

Here is my real tip for today....

 

Use something other than your hands to open and close public doors. 

 

There have been tests to confirm that all types of nasty sh8t end up on door handles.  I'm sure it's not because of a lack of TP....🤣😎

[o0Ampy0o]

That is especially important with restroom doors and doors to stalls.

 

While on the topic,

 

I strongly discourage the use of urinals. There is ricochet and mist that gets on your hands, forearms and clothes. It also gets on the floor. You step in it. It also splashes and the mist floats down to the top of your shoes.  You take all of that with you to your desk, your car and home. It is a good reason for a no shoes in the house policy. I doubt everyone thinks about it when they are washing their hands. Most probably only think of what they have touched in the process so they are focused on the palm side not the back of the hand and not the arms and how the clothing has been contaminated.

[Notes_Norton]

21 hours ago, ProfD said:

Then, there's the scramble for duct tape, bottled water, flashlights, batteries, etc.😎

I live in hurricane prone Florida.

 

A month before the hurricane season, I stock up on non-perishable foods that I will eventually want to eat, gasoline for the generator, toilet paper (since we are on that subject), charcoal plus kindling, and I make sure all the batteries for flashlights, radio, and other essentials are charged. I also keep the gas tank in my vehicle full, topping it off often. Plus, we fill up garbage cans with water, so we can flush the toilet if the power is out (and it probably will be).

 

Way too many people wait until there is a hurricane headed our way, rush the stores, wait in line to try to scrounge up the overpriced items that haven't completely sold out yet and end up not properly preparing for the storm.

 

At the end of hurricane season, the food is eaten, the gasoline goes in our vehicles, and normal life resumes.

 

IMO, there is nothing wrong with stocking up items, as long as they are items you will use before their shelf-live expires.

 

In 2004 we were hit with two hurricanes and one tropical storm. We lost power for 10 days each storm. We live on a small dead-end street and get our drinking water from wells. Before the storm, we all pitch in to help the elderly put up storm shutters and afterward help them take them down. During the storm whoever has prime on their well will share with the neighbors. Generators only run for a couple of hours per day, so when one is on, it's shared with neighbors. In 2004 we had water hoses and extension cords crisscrossing the neighborhood. We never ran out of food, gasoline, water, or wine and had some great hurricane aftermath parties.

 

 

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

[jazzpiano88]

On 9/1/2023 at 9:46 PM, o0Ampy0o said:

I strongly discourage the use of urinals. There is ricochet and mist that gets on your hands, forearms and clothes. It also gets on the floor. You step in it. It also splashes and the mist floats down to the top of your shoes.

Hence my automatic habit of washing my hands after I tie my shoes.  

[bill5]

Hence why I wear docksiders.

 

When I'm at work, there's little choice. Anything getting on one's hands I would hope it moot because you're supposed to wash your hands after going (and I did on occasion see guys not do this...gag). I don't really notice or feel anything getting on my forearms, so anything that minute I don't think will do any damage. My clothes go right in the hamper when I get home. That all said, yeah they do need to come up with a better design, the current one makes no sense. How about instead of that stupid bump in the middle there's just a big hole and anyone with even modest coordination can get it down there so almost no splash?