Minor things that bother you

[JayhawkCO]

I'm a tea drinker.  Recently, I've started having a cup of coffee before we head to church, but that's it;  otherwise, it's always tea.  It's annoying when a place like a hotel breakfast area pretends to offer tea by having a selection of teabags–but when you actually poke through it, they're all actually herbal infusions like chamomile or ginger or hibiscus or whatever.

Imagine the uproar if none of the coffee on offer had caffeine!  And didn't even taste like coffee...

Agreed. It's always herbal or just plain Lipton black tea which, in my opinion, tastes like garbage. Right now at home I have a Genmaicha and a Lavender Earl Grey.

[kphoger]

I'm a tea drinker.  Recently, I've started having a cup of coffee before we head to church, but that's it;  otherwise, it's always tea.  It's annoying when a place like a hotel breakfast area pretends to offer tea by having a selection of teabags–but when you actually poke through it, they're all actually herbal infusions like chamomile or ginger or hibiscus or whatever.

Imagine the uproar if none of the coffee on offer had caffeine!  And didn't even taste like coffee...

Agreed. It's always herbal or just plain Lipton black tea which, in my opinion, tastes like garbage. Right now at home I have a Genmaicha and a Lavender Earl Grey.

I have a box of Lipton yellow label teabags at home.  Yeah, it doesn't taste great, but it's perfect for mixing things into when you want that black tea flavor to still come through.  For example, a tasty strong "builder's brew" can be accomplished with a dark cup of Lipton, a squeeze of honey, and a splash of whole milk.  Or a nice wintertime treat is equal parts Lipton, Disaronno Originale (amaretto), and half & half.

Otherwise, I use loose-leaf tea.  Today at work, it's a blend of Russian Caravan and Spicy Earl Grey–each of which is itself a blend.

[Takumi]

Rooibos is my favorite tea, but I'm also heavily biased.

[english si]

It's annoying when a place like a hotel breakfast area pretends to offer tea by having a selection of teabags–but when you actually poke through it, they're all actually herbal infusions like chamomile or ginger or hibiscus or whatever.

It also won't have water hot enough to actually make tea, unless America has come along way with their hot water facilities.

In Ireland (which drinks more tea than the British, per capita) - at breakfast at the hotel I was staying at, there was the coffee machines that dispensed hot water, but if you asked someone for tea, they bought out a tea pot.

Also porridge was an 'ask for' option - on a buffet breakfast, and they didn't tell you that there were ask-for options, you had to find out.

But worst of all was that the water dispenser next to the juice had fruit sitting in it, giving it a slight citrus flavour (and occasional bits) - perhaps plain water was something you had to ask for. Who does that? Sure, garnish a drink with fruit, but cut up a couple of oranges and a lemon and dump them in a water butt and have that as your drinking water? Very odd.

[kphoger]

It also won't have water hot enough to actually make tea, unless America has come along way with their hot water facilities.

My experience is that you'll find one of two situations:

1.  The coffee machine has a spigot for hot water.  This water is quite hot, certainly sufficient for making tea from a bag.

2.  There's no hot water at all.  Do you think they wonder why they never have to restock the teabags?

I've never stayed somewhere that only had moderately hot water for tea.

But worst of all was that the water dispenser next to the juice had fruit sitting in it, giving it a slight citrus flavour (and occasional bits) - perhaps plain water was something you had to ask for. Who does that? Sure, garnish a drink with fruit, but cut up a couple of oranges and a lemon and dump them in a water butt and have that as your drinking water? Very odd.

Says the guy from England–the country where I once took mandarin oranges from the breakfast buffet, only to find they'd been marinating in white wine.  Yuck!

[kkt]

I'm a tea drinker.  Recently, I've started having a cup of coffee before we head to church, but that's it;  otherwise, it's always tea.  It's annoying when a place like a hotel breakfast area pretends to offer tea by having a selection of teabags–but when you actually poke through it, they're all actually herbal infusions like chamomile or ginger or hibiscus or whatever.

Imagine the uproar if none of the coffee on offer had caffeine!  And didn't even taste like coffee...

Yes!  I too am a tea drinker.  I think a lot of restaurants just order a case of assorted teabags and don't think about ordering more until they're all gone.

[1995hoo]

In May, our relatives in Pembroke Pines gave us a bag of ground "gold coffee" from Ethiopia. The coffee grounds are indeed a far lighter color than I've ever seen before. We tried it last weekend because I had slept horribly–the bag said it contains 1.5 times the caffeine of normal coffee, so I thought we should try it. The brewed coffee was a strange color, which makes sense given that the grounds were so light, and the flavor was a lot more like a tea than a coffee. We weren't all that thrilled. I may try using it for cold brew next time I make some. It seemed like it might be more palatable for that, although I'm mildly concerned that the grind may be too fine to work well for that purpose.

I bring this up because you folks who like tea might find it interesting to try.

[formulanone]

I'm a tea drinker.  Recently, I've started having a cup of coffee before we head to church, but that's it;  otherwise, it's always tea.  It's annoying when a place like a hotel breakfast area pretends to offer tea by having a selection of teabags—but when you actually poke through it, they're all actually herbal infusions like chamomile or ginger or hibiscus or whatever.

I'm a lot more of a coffee drinker, but I can get a bit more picky about my tea. Probably because Lipton's chalky aftertaste is awful, and it's the default/only tea in most places.

I find a lot of the Hilton and IHG (Holiday Inn) hotels tend to have Bigelow teas, which are more my liking. Usually I'll pick the Earl Grey, the green tea, or the Constant Comment. I'll only choose the herbal stuff when I just need something hot on a cold evening and do not want caffeine. Many other hotels offer just black tea and the quality varies. United Airlines uses Bigelow as well, although I think the choices are little more limited. Delta and American use Lipton, sadly (probably contracts with Coca-Cola).

I'm not sure how hot tea is supposed to be, but I usually let it cool for about 5 minutes or so. It all depends on how long the hot water station has been sitting out.

My mother-in-law likes fancy teas and they're fine, but I just try a few of the items when they appear in the store (Yorkshire and PG Tips are on the shelves once in a while, but not consistently). A box lasts me about a 6-12 months at home, so I tend to wait until I'm out to try another brand.

But worst of all was that the water dispenser next to the juice had fruit sitting in it, giving it a slight citrus flavour (and occasional bits) - perhaps plain water was something you had to ask for. Who does that? Sure, garnish a drink with fruit, but cut up a couple of oranges and a lemon and dump them in a water butt and have that as your drinking water? Very odd.

This seems to a recent phenomenon in places which desire an "upscale" image. It's not terrible but I don't go out of my way to ever ask for it.

[Scott5114]

In the absence of hot water, one can microwave some water to get a cup hot enough to brew tea, although that presupposes you have a microwave-safe cup (and something to put in it to keep the water from superheating, which is a concern when microwaving water). If you're going to go to the lengths to bring those with you, you may as well just get an electric kettle and bring that.

If you can find one of those 5-gallon office-style "water cooler" dispensers that has a working hot water tap, it usually makes water hot enough for brewing something in. But I don't know that they're too common in hotels, and in my experience, the hot water side is often the first to break and rarely gets repaired.

[J N Winkler]

Speaking of hotels, for me these fall in the "minor annoyance" category:

*  In-room coffee service that is so well-hidden you don't find it until it's almost time to check out.

*  No coffee-whitening options other than powdered non-dairy creamer or those little pots of grotesquely oversweetened flavored cream.

*  A breakfast buffet that is never replenished.

*  No washcloths provided in the room.

[kphoger]

In the absence of hot water, one can microwave some water to get a cup hot enough to brew tea, although that presupposes you have a microwave-safe cup (and something to put in it to keep the water from superheating, which is a concern when microwaving water). If you're going to go to the lengths to bring those with you, you may as well just get an electric kettle and bring that.

If you can find one of those 5-gallon office-style "water cooler" dispensers that has a working hot water tap, it usually makes water hot enough for brewing something in. But I don't know that they're too common in hotels, and in my experience, the hot water side is often the first to break and rarely gets repaired.

None of those options generally work for a hotel breakfast area type situation.  Maybe the microwave.

[Scott5114]

None of those options generally work for a hotel breakfast area type situation.  Maybe the microwave.

My general strategy is to retrieve whatever breakfast options look appealing and bring the food back to the room to eat in private. I assume I'm not the only one who does this. Granted, that's not feasible if one is traveling with a large party, but I don't.

[US 89]

Google Maps’s terrain view shades south-facing slopes a darker color than north-facing slopes with the same steepness. This is simply wrong. In the northern hemisphere, where Google and the vast majority of its users are located, the sun illuminates south-facing aspects more.

[zachary_amaryllis]

When a bar of soap gets down to just a little sliver.  Throwing it away makes me feel like I'm wasteful, but I know at some point it's going to break apart and be practically useless.  And, when it does, I'm inevitable going to be in the shower and in no mood to go hunt down another bar of soap.

If the soap is still viable, just small, it becomes handwarshing soap.

[formulanone]

When a bar of soap gets down to just a little sliver.  Throwing it away makes me feel like I'm wasteful, but I know at some point it's going to break apart and be practically useless.  And, when it does, I'm inevitable going to be in the shower and in no mood to go hunt down another bar of soap.

If the soap is still viable, just small, it becomes handwarshing soap.

Or just soap for a scrubbing brush.

[CtrlAltDel]

When a bar of soap gets down to just a little sliver.  Throwing it away makes me feel like I'm wasteful, but I know at some point it's going to break apart and be practically useless.  And, when it does, I'm inevitable going to be in the shower and in no mood to go hunt down another bar of soap.

If the soap is still viable, just small, it becomes handwarshing soap.

Or just soap for a scrubbing brush.

I always just stick the sliver to a new bar of soap.

[ZLoth]

Here is something that bothers me about the movies and television set in the "present day" that I'm asking now that I haven't really asked in the past... lets pull up some popcorn...



Hopefully, I'm not the only one, but when I watch some action, horror, science fiction, and/or superhero flick, I'm starting to question the fiscal, legal, and insurance impacts. Such as....

• How does my car insurance handle a claim when it's "an alien turned my car into a lump of melted metal"?
• Why do people still live in a city that is regularly attacked by a giant monster?
• What criminal charges would a movie villain face for their actions? And, if the villain dies, how would they go about recovering damages?
• Similarly, how long can a superhero keep their "secret identity" hidden? How can some of their "heroic" actions be considered legal?
• This one is directly from Speed, but how would they handle the damages incurred by a city bus that can't slow down below 50 MPH, plus being driven by a person whose license has been suspended?
• Then, there is the "superhero minor" which could also be called the "child soldier". Can we say "child endangerment"?

I know I know, it's just a movie, so I should relax....

[hotdogPi]

• Why do people still live in a city that is regularly attacked by a giant monster?

Property values decrease significantly, meaning living there is affordable for even the poor. Some people who were there before the monster attack are probably too poor to move out.

For an example not related to cost, see Grand Isle, LA, which gets hit by a hurricane about once per year.

[vdeane]

Here is something that bothers me about the movies and television set in the "present day" that I'm asking now that I haven't really asked in the past... lets pull up some popcorn...



Hopefully, I'm not the only one, but when I watch some action, horror, science fiction, and/or superhero flick, I'm starting to question the fiscal, legal, and insurance impacts. Such as....

• How does my car insurance handle a claim when it's "an alien turned my car into a lump of melted metal"?
• Why do people still live in a city that is regularly attacked by a giant monster?
• What criminal charges would a movie villain face for their actions? And, if the villain dies, how would they go about recovering damages?
• Similarly, how long can a superhero keep their "secret identity" hidden? How can some of their "heroic" actions be considered legal?
• This one is directly from Speed, but how would they handle the damages incurred by a city bus that can't slow down below 50 MPH, plus being driven by a person whose license has been suspended?
• Then, there is the "superhero minor" which could also be called the "child soldier". Can we say "child endangerment"?

I know I know, it's just a movie, so I should relax....

If you're up for a bit of reading, the the online serial Worm (complete) is a reconstruction of the superhero genre, basically asking the questions "what would the world actually be like if superpowers were real" and "what would need to be true for the superhero tropes to actually make sense".  It's quite good, but also fairly dark.  The general wisdom is to read through arc 8, and if it doesn't hook you by then feel free to drop it.

https://parahumans.wordpress.com

[kurumi]

If Cthulhu stomps your house, claim will probably be denied as "An act of Elder God"

If Superman used the internet, Facebook/Google/etc. would have figured out he's Clark Kent via browser fingerprinting / IP address / etc.

[kkt]

If Cthulhu stomps your house, claim will probably be denied as "An act of Elder God"

If Superman used the internet, Facebook/Google/etc. would have figured out he's Clark Kent via browser fingerprinting / IP address / etc.

Superman uses an IP forwarding service.

[hbelkins]

Related to "smol," which I saw used to describe a font on a speed limit sign in "There is NO way that is MUTCD-Compliant" yesterday...

thicc

What's the point of the intentional misspelling?

[mgk920]

When a bar of soap gets down to just a little sliver.  Throwing it away makes me feel like I'm wasteful, but I know at some point it's going to break apart and be practically useless.  And, when it does, I'm inevitable going to be in the shower and in no mood to go hunt down another bar of soap.

If the soap is still viable, just small, it becomes handwarshing soap.

Or just soap for a scrubbing brush.

I always just stick the sliver to a new bar of soap.

That's pretty much what I do, too.  I was a bit peeved about 8-10 years ago when Dial changed the shape of their soap bars (they did NOT aim the 'shrink ray' at them, though  ), making that process a bit harder.   

I also have a commercial grade liquid soap dispenser that I also found to be a good way of disposing of some otherwise useless old slivers and bars of motel soap.  I just unwrapped them and tossed them in with its usual supply of generic liquid soap where over time, they soaked in the liquid soap, broke apart, dissolved and were used with the liquid soap.

Mike

[JayhawkCO]

When a bar of soap gets down to just a little sliver.  Throwing it away makes me feel like I'm wasteful, but I know at some point it's going to break apart and be practically useless.  And, when it does, I'm inevitable going to be in the shower and in no mood to go hunt down another bar of soap.

If the soap is still viable, just small, it becomes handwarshing soap.

Or just soap for a scrubbing brush.

I always just stick the sliver to a new bar of soap.

That's pretty much what I do, too.  I was a bit peeved about 8-10 years ago when Dial changed the shape of their soap bars (they did NOT aim the 'shrink ray' at them, though  ), making that process a bit harder.   

Mike

Body wash instead? It's way easier.

[mgk920]

When a bar of soap gets down to just a little sliver.  Throwing it away makes me feel like I'm wasteful, but I know at some point it's going to break apart and be practically useless.  And, when it does, I'm inevitable going to be in the shower and in no mood to go hunt down another bar of soap.

If the soap is still viable, just small, it becomes handwarshing soap.

Or just soap for a scrubbing brush.

I always just stick the sliver to a new bar of soap.

That's pretty much what I do, too.  I was a bit peeved about 8-10 years ago when Dial changed the shape of their soap bars (they did NOT aim the 'shrink ray' at them, though  ), making that process a bit harder.   

Mike

Body wash instead? It's way easier.

And Much more expensive.

Mike