Minor things that bother you

[kphoger]

~)-:

I assume this is the emoji emoticon for "unhappily eating ramen made in a slightly-too-tall short microwave".

FTFY.  Pretty close.

[The_Ginger]

I'm annoyed when a microwave makes you press the "Time Cook" button to enter a specific time. Our current and previous microwave allow you to enter a custom time my just selecting the numbers and clicking "Start". There's also a 1 minute button as well.

I'm not annoyed either way.  I just wish all microwaves were the same way. 

Commie.

He'd hate ours. Ours doesn't have buttons to type in the time (other than the "Add 30 sec" button). Instead, you turn a dial. And before someone calls it an antique, I'll note that it's new within the past five years or so. The previous one simply died and we got a new GE that has both microwave and convection modes.

I've also seen microwaves like this, especially newer ones, like the ones being discussed. I don't like that I can't type in 19, 7, 22, or 34 seconds on a keypad.

[The_Ginger]

Some of you folks are a little too beholden to only being interested in driving only what is on Travel Maps. 

Various county (secondary) roads in my area are amazing drives.

[1995hoo]

I'm annoyed when a microwave makes you press the "Time Cook" button to enter a specific time. Our current and previous microwave allow you to enter a custom time my just selecting the numbers and clicking "Start". There's also a 1 minute button as well.

I'm not annoyed either way.  I just wish all microwaves were the same way. 

Commie.

He'd hate ours. Ours doesn't have buttons to type in the time (other than the "Add 30 sec" button). Instead, you turn a dial. And before someone calls it an antique, I'll note that it's new within the past five years or so. The previous one simply died and we got a new GE that has both microwave and convection modes.

I've also seen microwaves like this, especially newer ones, like the ones being discussed. I don't like that I can't type in 19, 7, 22, or 34 seconds on a keypad.

I can't help but wonder why you want to type in those sorts of oddball numbers. Or is it just that you want the ability to do so even if you never will?

[Max Rockatansky]

Some of you folks are a little too beholden to only being interested in driving only what is on Travel Maps. 

Various county (secondary) roads in my area are amazing drives.

A lot of the best stuff in my area is on mountainous backroads.  Even the letter county route system in California has a lot to offer which frequently exceeds the scenery found on the State Highway System. 

[The_Ginger]

I'm annoyed when a microwave makes you press the "Time Cook" button to enter a specific time. Our current and previous microwave allow you to enter a custom time my just selecting the numbers and clicking "Start". There's also a 1 minute button as well.

I'm not annoyed either way.  I just wish all microwaves were the same way. 

Commie.

He'd hate ours. Ours doesn't have buttons to type in the time (other than the "Add 30 sec" button). Instead, you turn a dial. And before someone calls it an antique, I'll note that it's new within the past five years or so. The previous one simply died and we got a new GE that has both microwave and convection modes.

I've also seen microwaves like this, especially newer ones, like the ones being discussed. I don't like that I can't type in 19, 7, 22, or 34 seconds on a keypad.

I can't help but wonder why you want to type in those sorts of oddball numbers. Or is it just that you want the ability to do so even if you never will?

It makes no difference, but I do type in these numbers occasionally, typing 22 or 17 instead of 20 or 15.

Again, if the microwave doesn't have a keypad, then it's back to the additional press of a button or two to enter a custom time.

[kphoger]

I can't help but wonder why you want to type in those sorts of oddball numbers. Or is it just that you want the ability to do so even if you never will?

What increments does yours use?

For reheating a single serving of food, I frequently use such "oddball numbers".  For a small plate of leftovers, there can be a huge difference between, say, 45 seconds and 60 seconds.

[1995hoo]

I can't help but wonder why you want to type in those sorts of oddball numbers. Or is it just that you want the ability to do so even if you never will?

What increments does yours use?

For reheating a single serving of food, I frequently use such "oddball numbers".  For a small plate of leftovers, there can be a huge difference between, say, 45 seconds and 60 seconds.

15-second increments. When I use the reheat feature, I often pause it once the time appears on the display because I've found that if I let it go the full time, things get too hot. But that's not a situation where I'd benefit from the ability to punch in arbitrary time settings because the microwave uses a sensor to decide how long it needs.

[kphoger]

the microwave uses a sensor to decide how long it needs.

Yeah, no thanks.  "How long it needs" depends on how much time I expect it to get cooling off between microwave and mouth.

[The_Ginger]

With all this talk about microwaves, here's the one in our current place of residence. The frame was from the previous one.

[1995hoo]

the microwave uses a sensor to decide how long it needs.

Yeah, no thanks.  "How long it needs" depends on how much time I expect it to get cooling off between microwave and mouth.

Notice I said I tend to stop the reheat cycle early. You know, it's funny, earlier in the thread I think you brought up the popcorn button. I always found it interesting that pretty much every brand of microwave popcorn tells you not to use that button and instead to set it to some amount of time and then listen for the popping to slow down. With our old microwave, I found that if I used the popcorn button I would typically get burned popcorn. With our current one, I find that button does pretty well. There are often some unpopped kernels, but that usually seemed to be the case with the old one too.

As to the general issue, our current one meets our needs, so it isn't really any skin off my nose if someone else likes a different system better. And I really like the convection bake mode because it effectively gives us a third oven (in addition to the regular oven and the toaster oven) that either provides extra room, like at Thanksgiving, or lets us bake an item too large for the toaster oven without heating up the room as much as we would if we used the regular oven (important during the summer).

[kphoger]

I tend to stop the reheat cycle early.

And you wonder why we'd prefer to enter an "oddball" number...

You know, it's funny, earlier in the thread I think you brought up the popcorn button.

That was Scott.  I think popcorn is like eating Styrofoam.

[kphoger]

Minor thing that bothers me: the popcorn button in the new one sucks. Good microwaves have a humidity sensor in there and use that to determine how long the popcorn button lasts (when the humidity drops that means the kernels are no longer releasing steam, so it shuts off). Not-so-good ones ask you how big of a bag of popcorn you have, and then have a time programmed into them based on the size of the bag. My new one is the latter kind, which I'm not thrilled about, especially since the smallest bag option available is now, with shrinkflation, larger than the bags that Conagra actually makes.

I always found it interesting that pretty much every brand of microwave popcorn tells you not to use that button and instead to set it to some amount of time and then listen for the popping to slow down. With our old microwave, I found that if I used the popcorn button I would typically get burned popcorn. With our current one, I find that button does pretty well. There are often some unpopped kernels, but that usually seemed to be the case with the old one too.

As with many things nerdy, there's a Technology Connections video for that:

[Scott5114]

As with many things nerdy, there's a Technology Connections video for that:

Where do you think I found out about the two different types of popcorn button from?

Alec has also influenced my can-opener and dishwasher-detergent buying habits, and I have my eye on the heat-pump water heaters and clothes dryers he's covered (both of which would work phenomenally in Southern Nevada).

[kphoger]

Where do you think I found out about the two different types of popcorn button from?

It just seemed like the kind of thing you know.

Alec has also influenced my can-opener and dishwasher-detergent buying habits

We've had a Pampered Chef can opener for several years now (like this one) that cuts like in that video.  We'd never used one like that before and thought it was pretty nifty.  We had no idea it's old-school tech, and my mind was blown when I saw his video.  I've always liked the typical scissors-looking kind, but I'd been having bad luck finding a good quality one.  We love the PC one.  The only downside I've found is that, when I drain a can of tuna after opening it, I like to smash the lid down onto the fish and squeeze as much water as I can out of it—but, with this style of can opener, the lid doesn't want to smash down into the can.

And yes, we switched dishwasher detergent after those videos too.  We now buy the Dillon's store brand powder.

[vdeane]

The NPS closed a road through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area three years ago.  Normally I wouldn't care, but it got added to Travel Mapping and I have everything except the NPS roads clinched in that part of New Jersey.  I thought a roadmeet being planned in NJ this year could be the perfect opportunity to clinch these (among a few other things), but nope, guess not.  They should either fix the road so that it can be clinched or close it permanently so that it can be removed from TM.

Especially annoying as I rarely have reason to clinch things in that area.  I have most everything I want, so the urge is to either clinch things elsewhere or just make time passing through the state on the interstates.

How long is the road? Hikeable?

It's about a mile, but given that it's closed due to a landslide/slope failure, I doubt they want anyone on it.  And it's no like there would be parking on the other end either.

The NPS closed a road through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area three years ago.  Normally I wouldn't care, but it got added to Travel Mapping and I have everything except the NPS roads clinched in that part of New Jersey.  I thought a roadmeet being planned in NJ this year could be the perfect opportunity to clinch these (among a few other things), but nope, guess not.  They should either fix the road so that it can be clinched or close it permanently so that it can be removed from TM.

Especially annoying as I rarely have reason to clinch things in that area.  I have most everything I want, so the urge is to either clinch things elsewhere or just make time passing through the state on the interstates.

How long is the road? Hikeable?

Or bikeable?  I had to hike long closed Foresta Road along the western boundary of Yosemite National Park a couple years ago to get that road in.  In theory I could have taken a bike on it, but the uphill climb was massive.  Similarly, I just hiked the OHV segment of Hites Cove Road since I don't have a vehicle capable of getting down a sustained two mile long 15-20% descent.

Alas, I never managed to learn how to ride a bike without training wheels.  Too afraid of falling.

They should either fix the road so that it can be clinched or close it permanently so that it can be removed from TM.

The NPS -- or any other governmental administrative body -- has zero interest in clinching roads or Travel Mapping. Why should they?

I was stating why I want this resolved - not that they should make clinching roads are core purpose of the national parks.  Regardless, I can't stand when "temporary" things are left indefinitely.  Just like the rest area closures in NY.  Of the ones "temporarily closed" in 2011, Hastings (I-81 south) and Lewis (I-87 south) are still "temporarily closed".  And then there's Schroon on I-87 south, officially closed permanently per NYS sources but the signs and pavement have never been removed - from a motorist's perspective, it's no different from Lewis (Hastings, meanwhile, is signed solely as a truck inspection site - the only evidence of the rest area is the vacant space on the signs).  Personally, I don't really care what happens to those three, but I would like to see them either reopened, turned into parking areas, or closed permanently (including removing the signage and whatnot) rather than remain in limbo.

(personal opinion)

I'm annoyed when a microwave makes you press the "Time Cook" button to enter a specific time. Our current and previous microwave allow you to enter a custom time my just selecting the numbers and clicking "Start". There's also a 1 minute button as well.

I'm not annoyed either way.  I just wish all microwaves were the same way. 

Commie.

He'd hate ours. Ours doesn't have buttons to type in the time (other than the "Add 30 sec" button). Instead, you turn a dial. And before someone calls it an antique, I'll note that it's new within the past five years or so. The previous one simply died and we got a new GE that has both microwave and convection modes.

I've also seen microwaves like this, especially newer ones, like the ones being discussed. I don't like that I can't type in 19, 7, 22, or 34 seconds on a keypad.

What is even the point of replacing the keypad with a dial?  Are they actively trying to make it more work to use the microwave?

[Max Rockatansky]

What road is this exactly?  A mile sounds like a piece of cake to knock out if there is somewhere to pull over.

[vdeane]

What road is this exactly?  A mile sounds like a piece of cake to knock out if there is somewhere to pull over.

NPS 615.  But like I said, they probably don't want people there, and portions could be impassible (landslide/active slope failure - it's basically the CA 1 scenario, but with no timetable to fix).

[D-Dey65]

More barriers to using my PC. Yahoo kicked me out of my e-mail account and forced me to use some verification method I forgot about. For the record, clicking the "Stay Signed In" box on any website is no guarantee you really will stay signed in.

[Max Rockatansky]

What road is this exactly?  A mile sounds like a piece of cake to knock out if there is somewhere to pull over.

NPS 615.  But like I said, they probably don't want people there, and portions could be impassible (landslide/active slope failure - it's basically the CA 1 scenario, but with no timetable to fix).

People told me hiking Foresta Road wasn't a good idea also but I still did it.  Crossing the Lower Foresta Falls Bridge in particular was hazardous no matter how I approached it.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=32275.msg2777510#msg2777510

Similarly I've driven, hiked and cycled all the closed parts of the Old Ridge Route (old US 99).  That corridor has a huge closed section that has been filling up with debris for decades. 

Wasn't it Corco who hiked the entirety of the closed portion of CA 39?  People hike that all the time despite the slide risk and signage from the CA 2 side. 

I can't fathom any closed road on the east coast road is nearly as hazardous for slides as the above three examples.  I guess the question I'd ask myself is if this section of road is interesting enough to merit a hike.   This just sounds like an easy scenario to resolve either by hiking it or just letting the fact that it is on Travel Maps go. 

[kphoger]

Wasn't it Corco who hiked the entirety of the closed portion of CA 39? ... I can't fathom any closed road on the east coast road is nearly as hazardous ...

Yeah, but did he do it in heels?

[kphoger]

Cluster Box Units

My parents' neighborhood uses CBUs instead of individual mailboxes.

This morning's conversation with my wife:

—  We should take that invitation up to Mom and Dad today.

—  Right.  When do you want to do that?

—  When we're up taking the boys to church.

—  We'll need to make sure they're going to be home.  They might be going out for dinner or something.

—  Yeah.  Well, we could always just leave it in their mailbox.  Oh, no, wait, we can't, because they don't have a mailbox. 

[Max Rockatansky]

Wasn't it Corco who hiked the entirety of the closed portion of CA 39? ... I can't fathom any closed road on the east coast road is nearly as hazardous ...

Yeah, but did he do it in heels?

Unclear, footwear wasn't specified:

https://corcohighways.org/?p=6869

[kphoger]

You are no longer able to provide feedback about Google AI results. You have to just live with the factual or logical errors Google AI generates and can't either report them for human review or submit feedback to train the AI tool to give correct results.

What a shame. It still insists that Bridgeport ends in "D"

This morning's Google search:

{us cities ending in g}

Results:

Common U.S. Cities Ending in "G"
* Washington (DC)
* Colorado Springs (CO)
* Springfield (Multiple states, including IL, MA, MO)
* Arlington (VA, TX)
* Anchorage (AK)
* Longmont (CO)
* Englewood (CO)
* Lansing (MI)
* Reading (PA)
* Eugene (OR)
* Gilbert (AZ)
* Garland (TX)
* Gaithersburg (MD)
* Golf (IL)

[formulanone]

You are no longer able to provide feedback about Google AI results. You have to just live with the factual or logical errors Google AI generates and can't either report them for human review or submit feedback to train the AI tool to give correct results.

What a shame. It still insists that Bridgeport ends in "D"

This morning's Google search:

{us cities ending in g}

Results:

Common U.S. Cities Ending in "G"
* Washington (DC)
* Colorado Springs (CO)
* Springfield (Multiple states, including IL, MA, MO)
* Arlington (VA, TX)
* Anchorage (AK)
* Longmont (CO)
* Englewood (CO)
* Lansing (MI)
* Reading (PA)
* Eugene (OR)
* Gilbert (AZ)
* Garland (TX)
* Gaithersburg (MD)
* Golf (IL)

Sorry kids, Google will not be allowed to play outside today, it needs to stay home and do homework after it finishes its chores.