Minor things that bother you

[J N Winkler]

This is probably a controversial one, and I know I'm probably in the minority.

I'm with you.  Yes, this is super-controversial, and yes, we are in the minority.

It bothers me when people pile their dirty dishes in the sink instead of putting them on the counter.  If you're not going to wash your own dish, then don't make me have to navigate around it to wash mine.  And, if I'm about to wash all the dishes, then I don't want to have to take them all out before filling the sink.

I like to keep the taps unblocked and free for others to use, not least because the need for running water and a drain can be urgent--e.g., to wash off soil, blood, or feces.  So when I need something to soak, I typically just put in a few drops of dish soap, fill it with hot water, and set it aside on the counter.

There is a school of opinion (often evident in memes) to the effect that you are slovenly if you don't put a dirty dish in the dishwasher just as soon as you're finished with it.  I never do:  instead, I put it on the counter next to the sink, which I use as a staging area so I can load the dishwasher in a single operation.

[1995hoo]

This is probably a controversial one, and I know I'm probably in the minority.

It bothers me when people pile their dirty dishes in the sink instead of putting them on the counter.  If you're not going to wash your own dish, then don't make me have to navigate around it to wash mine.  And, if I'm about to wash all the dishes, then I don't want to have to take them all out before filling the sink.

Somewhat related, my wife likes to bake, and she has a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer with a fairly large bowl (not the largest size one with the two arms to support the bowl, the size below that). She will often put the various spatulas and stuff in the bowl, fill it with water, and leave it to soak. All of which would be fine if she would push it the heck out of the way to the other side of the sink so that the faucet remains accessible for other purposes, but often there will be something else over there that I then have to move in order to move the large mixing bowl out of the way.

When I was in college, my roommates used to leave stuff in the sink (we didn't have a dishwasher). I never did, primarily under the theory that if I always cleaned my dishes immediately, nobody could claim it was my turn to clean the pile of stuff in the sink.

[JayhawkCO]

This is why, when we remodeled our kitchen, I wanted a single basin sink. It's much easier to have two little piles of things in the sink and still have accessibility to the faucet without a barrier 50% of the way across the sink space.

[kphoger]

Somewhat related, my wife likes to bake, and she has a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer with a fairly large bowl (not the largest size one with the two arms to support the bowl, the size below that). She will often put the various spatulas and stuff in the bowl, fill it with water, and leave it to soak.

And then, the hours later, asks you to wash the dishes.  So you have to reach into the cold, slimy, murk and root around with your fingers for who-knows-what utensils are down there.

And, if I'm about to wash all the dishes, then I don't want to have to take them all out before filling the sink.

This is why, when we remodeled our kitchen, I wanted a single basin sink. It's much easier to have two little piles of things in the sink and still have accessibility to the faucet without a barrier 50% of the way across the sink space.

Doesn't solve the problem I mentioned.  When I wash the dishes, I do certain things first, and then certain things after that, and so on—for the sake of where they go after that to dry.  So, no matter how nice your piles are in the sink, I'd be taking them out before filling the sink with wash water.  And, if people have rinsed things off since you put those items over there, then I'm now having to handle a bunch of wet and slimy dishes to do so.

[JayhawkCO]

And, if I'm about to wash all the dishes, then I don't want to have to take them all out before filling the sink.

This is why, when we remodeled our kitchen, I wanted a single basin sink. It's much easier to have two little piles of things in the sink and still have accessibility to the faucet without a barrier 50% of the way across the sink space.

Doesn't solve the problem I mentioned.  When I wash the dishes, I do certain things first, and then certain things after that, and so on—for the sake of where they go after that to dry.  So, no matter how nice your piles are in the sink, I'd be taking them out before filling the sink with wash water.  And, if people have rinsed things off since you put those items over there, then I'm now having to handle a bunch of wet and slimy dishes to do so.

Well, I wash 90% of what we have in our dishwasher, so, as I'm parsing through that stuff and putting it in the washer, it doesn't necessary matter what is where. My main issue is when a sink is so full you can't get under the faucet to simply rinse something out/off because there are too many dishes piled up.

[hbelkins]

Well, Poiponen13 has at last been dealt with, so he is no longer a minor thing that bothers me.

Was he banned, or did he get a stern talking-to?

[kkt]

This is probably a controversial one, and I know I'm probably in the minority.

It bothers me when people pile their dirty dishes in the sink instead of putting them on the counter.  If you're not going to wash your own dish, then don't make me have to navigate around it to wash mine.  And, if I'm about to wash all the dishes, then I don't want to have to take them all out before filling the sink.

I agree with this.  If the dishes are stacked in the sink, I have to begin washing by moving all of them so I have some space to work.

[hotdogPi]

Well, Poiponen13 has at last been dealt with, so he is no longer a minor thing that bothers me.

Was he banned, or did he get a stern talking-to?

Banned.

The way to tell is to click "Members" and navigate to where that person's name would be. If the name isn't there, there are only two options: a rename or a ban, and in this situation, it obviously wasn't the former.

[Scott5114]

Every place I've lived has a double-basin sink. So protocol is that the basin with the garbage disposal (which, in Oklahoma, is conventionally on the right, but my sink in Nevada has it on the left) remains clear at all times and dirty dishes are staged in the other basin. Then they go from there into the dishwasher when dishes are done about once a week or so (I only pre-rinse dishes and load the dishwasher immediately before running it to ensure the pre-rinsing warms up the pipes so the dishwasher has access to hot water).

Putting dirty dishes on the counter has the drawbacks of using quite a lot of counter space for an extended period of time, as well as creating the hazard of the dishes being knocked off the counter by someone trying to get at the clean dishes or prepare food. I also don't like the idea of something dirty being stored on a counter that is also sometimes used for food prep. Meanwhile, keeping the 2nd basin clear doesn't really get me anything, since the only dishes I wash by hand are overflow that won't fit in the dishwasher or items with food stuck on so badly the dishwasher can't handle it, so I'm not regularly filling it up with water anyway.

[Rothman]

I prefer two-basin sinks and do not like dished piled in either of the basins.

[1995hoo]

This is why, when we remodeled our kitchen, I wanted a single basin sink. It's much easier to have two little piles of things in the sink and still have accessibility to the faucet without a barrier 50% of the way across the sink space.

We have a two-basin, but it's definitely not a 50–50 split. More like 75–25 or even 80–20. The left side is pretty small and is where the disposal is.

[J N Winkler]

Every place I've lived has a double-basin sink. So protocol is that the basin with the garbage disposal (which, in Oklahoma, is conventionally on the right, but my sink in Nevada has it on the left) remains clear at all times and dirty dishes are staged in the other basin. Then they go from there into the dishwasher when dishes are done about once a week or so (I only pre-rinse dishes and load the dishwasher immediately before running it to ensure the pre-rinsing warms up the pipes so the dishwasher has access to hot water).

I've lived in places with single- and double-basin sinks and prefer the latter because they allow a dish drainer to be positioned immediately above the plughole.  I'm not a fan of countertop drying racks.

We use our dish drainer heavily for cutting boards that have been rinsed off but will soon be reused.  Since I typically try to eat at least five servings of vegetables daily from at least three different non-potato vegetables, I have a cutting board out and dripping dry at least three days a week in the winter and seven days a week in the summer.

The garbage disposal is usually on the right in Kansas too.

Putting dirty dishes on the counter has the drawbacks of using quite a lot of counter space for an extended period of time, as well as creating the hazard of the dishes being knocked off the counter by someone trying to get at the clean dishes or prepare food. I also don't like the idea of something dirty being stored on a counter that is also sometimes used for food prep. Meanwhile, keeping the 2nd basin clear doesn't really get me anything, since the only dishes I wash by hand are overflow that won't fit in the dishwasher or items with food stuck on so badly the dishwasher can't handle it, so I'm not regularly filling it up with water anyway.

In our kitchen, we have two separate areas of countertop, and the one that has the sink and the staging area for dirty dishes is hardly ever used for food preparation.  If we're not putting a dish in that area to soak, we usually rinse it first.  I typically load and run the dishwasher every night, rarely using more than a tablespoon or so of detergent--a full container of it lasts about a year around here.

Often I reuse dishes the same day after I rinse them.  For example, I usually eat both oatmeal and bean soup out of the same bowl.

I can't remember the last time a breakable item got knocked to the floor from the staging area, though there was one episode a while ago where a food storage container fell over and spilled soapy water on some papers in a pile at the end of the counter.

Since I eat raw carrots every day and fill the sink with an inch or so of water while I scrub them with a woven-plastic scouring pad, soaking dishes in either basin is not a good option for us anyway.

[kphoger]

... dirty dishes are staged in the other basin. Then they go from there into the dishwasher when dishes are done about once a week or so (I only pre-rinse dishes and load the dishwasher immediately before running it to ensure the pre-rinsing warms up the pipes so the dishwasher has access to hot water).

We have plenty of items that we don't put in the dishwasher:  anything likely to rust, such as kitchen knives and most of our pots and pans;  cutting boards;  fragile glassware, such as cocktail glasses or crystal wine glasses;  anything with rubbers seals, such as travel mugs and our most-used storage containers;  etc.

When it's time to hand-wash after dinner, we generally have more than one basin-full of dishes to wash at a time.  Therefore, we can't simply put all the dirty dishes into the soapy water.

Putting dirty dishes on the counter has the drawbacks of using quite a lot of counter space for an extended period of time ...

Putting dirty dishes in the other basin has the drawback of not leaving that side of the sink available for rinsing what we've just scrubbed.

... as well as creating the hazard of the dishes being knocked off the counter by someone trying to get at the clean dishes or prepare food.

In our experience, we're much more likely to break something inside the basin than on the counter or by dropping on the floor—especially with a bunch of dishes all willy-nilly in the basin.  Breaks are almost always against the side of the basin, or even against another dish.

I've lived in places with single- and double-basin sinks and prefer the latter because they allow a dish drainer to be positioned immediately above the plughole.  I'm not a fan of countertop drying racks.

We have both an over-the-sink and a countertop dish drainer, and we use both regularly.

In our kitchen, we have two separate areas of countertop, and the one that has the sink and the staging area for dirty dishes is hardly ever used for food preparation.  If we're not putting a dish in that area to soak, we usually rinse it first.

Our process moves from right to left as follows:
right side of the sink:  dirty dishes
right sink basin:  for scrubbing dishes
left sink basin:  for rinsing dishes
left side of the sink:  staging area for clean dishes to drip-dry or for the towel-drying backlog

[Scott5114]

... dirty dishes are staged in the other basin. Then they go from there into the dishwasher when dishes are done about once a week or so (I only pre-rinse dishes and load the dishwasher immediately before running it to ensure the pre-rinsing warms up the pipes so the dishwasher has access to hot water).

We have plenty of items that we don't put in the dishwasher:  anything likely to rust, such as kitchen knives and most of our pots and pans;  cutting boards;  fragile glassware, such as cocktail glasses or crystal wine glasses;  anything with rubbers seals, such as travel mugs and our most-used storage containers;  etc.

When it's time to hand-wash after dinner, we generally have more than one basin-full of dishes to wash at a time.  Therefore, we can't simply put all the dirty dishes into the soapy water.

My philosophy is that if something is too fragile to make it through the dishwasher, or has special cleaning needs precluding it from going in the dishwasher, it is too high maintenance to have a place in my home.

I've never had issue with kitchen knives or pots and pans rusting, for what it's worth. My cutting board is thick glass so running it through the washer isn't a concern.

[kphoger]

I've never had issue with kitchen knives or pots and pans rusting, for what it's worth. My cutting board is thick glass so running it through the washer isn't a concern.

We've had knives rust.  And we paid good money for our stainless steel pots and pans back when we first got married nearly 18 years ago, so we're not taking our chances.  Besides that, though, we have other pans that certainly don't go in:  a cast iron skillet, an enamel Dutch oven-type pot, a large countertop electric skillet, air-bake baking sheets.  We only actually have two pans that we trust to not rust in the dishwasher—ones I've owned forever, back from before we were married.

And you only have one cutting board?  We have probably a dozen:  a bunch of cheap flimsy plastic ones that came as a couple of sets, a thick sturdy plastic one, a couple of butcher block wooden ones, a couple of ancient wooden ones that have split in half and we just use whatever half is left, a gigantic tempered glass one that wouldn't even fit in the dishwasher if we tried.

But you and Renee seem to have quite a different lifestyle than we do.  We only eat out at a restaurant about once every two weeks.  Otherwise, we're eating home-cooked dinners.  And we have a family of five, so we're surely making much larger quantities than you.  Today, for example, we had tomato soup with vegetables and tortellini, cooked in the crock pot:  much fewer dishes that usual to wash afterward, but the crock pot sure as heck wasn't going in the dishwasher.  Other days, we might end up using two or three cutting boards, two pans, maybe even the food processor.

[J N Winkler]

I've had mixed luck changing out utensils that can't go in the dishwasher for ones that can, at least in theory.  When I retired an old aluminum colander in favor of a stainless-steel one, we discovered that while the strainer part won't rust, the handles will.

I also hand-wash my workhorse stainless-steel skillet and kitchen knives.  They are awkward to fit in the dishwasher--especially the eight-inch chef's knife--and I worry about the detergent tearing up the plastic handles.  A cheap "self-sharpening" knife with a thin blade and an ABS plastic handle is easy to get rid of if it turns out not to tolerate detergent well, but won't prep vegetables nearly as efficiently as the professional-grade equivalent with a much heavier blade.

[Rothman]

We had knives rust.  Pretty frustrating.

But, a dozen cutting boards seems like overkill to me.  We have one large teak one and three or four smaller plastic ones.

We wash and clean up the kitchen pretty well after we cook, though.  Leaving dirty dishes piled up leads to bugs and other varmits.

[jeffandnicole]

We only have room for a single basin sink.  They do make a few double basin sinks that are 22" wide or so, but they seemed so impractical we just got the single basin when we remodeled the kitchen, albeit with a small curve in the back (basically, this one: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Karran-Undermount-Quartz-Composite-24-in-Single-Bowl-Kitchen-Sink-in-Black-QU-671-BL/305313107 ).

We also got a dishwasher when we remodeled.  We'll still handwash the good kitchen knives, most pots and pans, and certain glassware with designs.

We have way too many cutting boards.  Told the wife we need to cut down on them.  She did, although I don't think the ones she took away were tossed so they're hiding somewhere.

[Scott5114]

My cooking doesn't involve much manual cutting; I don't have much patience for chopping things up (probably because my knives need to be sharpened but I very much don't have the patience to do it myself and I've never bothered to find a place that will do it for me). Instead I usually try to buy pre-sliced things, run it through the food processor, or just avoid recipes that would require chopping entirely (I make a lot of pastas and things like tacos with meat minced in the pan and with no vegetables). Therefore, I've never needed more than the one cutting board.

[SSOWorld]

I don't leave any dishes in the sink - the cat would only be too happy to "clean" them. The Dawn spray soap works wonders in this matter.

[roadman65]

I let the sales person connect my phone to the car and then realized what happened the last time I did that on my previous car. The phone and the car's minds merged and became permanently attached.

It wasn't until I got my replacement phone i decided not to join it, so I was free of the connection. Now, I am attached again, and stuck.

I disconnected the two first on my phone, but it reconnected by itself. I then retried. Did it again. I went on the car's computer and found out how to disconnect it from that end. Needless to say it worked but days later I saw a battery icon on my dashboard screen which made me curious to why the car's battery is displayed with half a charge on a new car. Then I realized both my phone and car found each other by themselves once again.

Now I turn my phone off while driving to avoid robo calls and unwanted solicitations during my favorite Clapton or Pink Floyd song.

[1995hoo]

My cooking doesn't involve much manual cutting; I don't have much patience for chopping things up (probably because my knives need to be sharpened but I very much don't have the patience to do it myself and I've never bothered to find a place that will do it for me). Instead I usually try to buy pre-sliced things, run it through the food processor, or just avoid recipes that would require chopping entirely (I make a lot of pastas and things like tacos with meat minced in the pan and with no vegetables). Therefore, I've never needed more than the one cutting board.

Here's a chicken recipe for you. Unless you buy bone-in chicken and remove the bone yourself, you don't need a knife to make this.

(edited to add: I forgot that may be paywalled for you—we subscribe to the Post for weekend delivery, so the paywall doesn't affect me. If you can't view it, let me know. The recipe is for "chicken thighs with a creole mustard orange sauce.")

[kphoger]

a dozen cutting boards seems like overkill to me

I've had a couple of them since before we were even married.  I don't see the point in throwing them away if they still work.  The wood has warped enough that they don't lie flat on the counter anymore, but otherwise they're fine.  One or two of them have split, and all we have left is half, but that half makes a nice small-ish cutting board, so why throw it out?

Years ago, we bought a pack of flimsy plastic cutting boards—four or five in a pack.  We used them for years but, after years of knife cuts, they started to frequently get moldy.  Tired of bleaching them every so often, we bought a new pack of similar-type ones.  But we still have the old ones too, because why throw them away?

One or two of them—the biggest ones—have been Christmas presents over the years.

The huge tempered glass one...  I don't remember where that came from.  We only use it very rarely.  But I see no reason to throw it out.

[kphoger]

My cooking doesn't involve much manual cutting; I don't have much patience for chopping things up (probably because my knives need to be sharpened but I very much don't have the patience to do it myself and I've never bothered to find a place that will do it for me). Instead I usually try to buy pre-sliced things, run it through the food processor, or just avoid recipes that would require chopping entirely (I make a lot of pastas and things like tacos with meat minced in the pan and with no vegetables). Therefore, I've never needed more than the one cutting board.

Yeah, you and I have very different cooking styles, then.  Even if I'm just doing a quick-and-simple pasta for Sunday lunch, then I'm still likely to cut up some onion and carrot to sauté before adding the jar of sauce to the pan.  A typical weekday dinner in our family involves chopping onion and garlic and peppers and maybe zucchini or mushrooms, and there's a decent chance we're trimming and/or pounding meat.

[formulanone]

I let the sales person connect my phone to the car and then realized what happened the last time I did that on my previous car. The phone and the car's minds merged and became permanently attached.

It wasn't until I got my replacement phone i decided not to join it, so I was free of the connection. Now, I am attached again, and stuck.

I disconnected the two first on my phone, but it reconnected by itself. I then retried. Did it again. I went on the car's computer and found out how to disconnect it from that end. Needless to say it worked but days later I saw a battery icon on my dashboard screen which made me curious to why the car's battery is displayed with half a charge on a new car. Then I realized both my phone and car found each other by themselves once again.

Now I turn my phone off while driving to avoid robo calls and unwanted solicitations during my favorite Clapton or Pink Floyd song.

If it has CarPlay, and your phone was attached using that method (as well as Bluetooth), you have to "forget" the vehicle from your phone, as well as the original Bluetooth request.

On an Apple, it's Settings > General > CarPlay > find it under My Car > Forget This Car