Keep your lists on your mobile phone or computer, maybe in anki. Then you can add the extra things when you think of them rather than having to remember to do it when you get back.
That's what I do. I also sync between phone and computers. I use Syncthing because Dropbox got uppity and stopped supporting my Linux, but it probably works fine otherwise, and there are others.
The best I’ve seen on a list is twisting the loose ends of a tied up plastic bag (eg for takeaways) until they become rigid and you can push them out of the knot quite easily.
Nice. I already use some of them. The flu idea is the one that I haven't used but will use next fall.
I have been better at abstaining from no-win arguments about Trump on FB in the last few months. Few of my friends seem to want me to say, "Yes, Trump is horrible on this--and there are a lot of thises--and he's really good on that--and there are a fair number of thats."
I have been claiming, probably mistakenly, to be the only person in the country who doesn't like Trump but approves of reversing the classification of CO2 as a pollutant, hence something the EPA is free to regulate.
Me too! At least 4. Reminds me of a silly joke. 3 logicians walk into a bar. The bartenders asks if they all want a beer. The first says, "I don't know." The second says, "I don't know." The third says, "Yes."
"It apparently had not occurred to them that an insulator would block heat coming in from the sun as well as out from the Earth. It had not occurred to me that arguing with those people was a waste of time. Until I tried stopping."
I found myself getting on Facebook as a time waster. It was eating up a good bit of my time for pretty worthless effect, and even more importantly drew my attention a lot. I deleted the app cold turkey and instantly felt better. My account still exists in whatever state I left it in, and I doubt I'll ever go back.
To keep a nicotine habit under control, I choose one day a week to completely abstain. This consistently resets my tolerance at a lower level and prevents me from gradually increasing my usage. It also increases my overall enjoyment.
A friend, a very heavy drinker, abstained for one month each year.
If one must have a vice, at least it should be an enjoyable one.
Some years back I followed a low-carb diet. It reset my tolerance for sweets to a much lower level. Now, even years later I eat much less sugar and many foods still taste very sweet that didn't taste sweet before I abstained.
1. Apply a thin film of soap to a bathroom mirror before taking a shower - even in a fully steamed up bathroom it remains clear, no need to shave in the fog;
2. To ease over-tight lids to unopened jars, run hot water over it. The differential expansion will free the seizure. This risks making one of our advantages as a sex redundant !
Both were the inspirations of a young French physicist not that she shaved ( but there was always maquillage - Nos défauts sont souvent, à nos yeux, les plus grands charmes de notre personne, had no traction with her…).
It is worth not only the $12, it is worth the space in your kitchen gadgets drawer and the effort to go online and have it sent to you.
Likely there are less expensive versions that do the job about as well (I see one advertised on the page for $7), but I’ll never know, as I suspect this one will be the last one I need to buy for the house.
“My” gadget works for most screw-on lids, and that is mostly what I use it for.
I have long had an older gadget like the one in your link, but I rarely use it any longer, as eliminating the vacuum with the JarPop enables the top to be unscrewed easily (and the older gadget could be finicky).
Oh, yes, I did finally drop participation in a non-discussion board populated by low level academics. It wasn't their anti-Trumpism that got to me, but their anti-economia. I dropped out in such a way that it would be very costly to get back in. A commitment device was necessary to resist the temptation of calling them all stupid.
They are always safe for 99.9% (i.e. non septic owners) of people as you only need to care your pipe to the main. Wether it's safe to the city isn't our problem. They are FLUSH safe as in they won't clog your toilet, exactly as they claim.
They can clog the pipes inside your house as well. And even cause waste to back up into your neighbors' houses, but I don't suppose you care about them either?
Not really, your example works in the case of septic users and other rural solutions. What happens with my garbage once it ends up in the garbage truck isn't my concern anymore, my relationship with them is purely transactional and that ends with them pick it up.
At home my concern is "will it clog my toilet when reasonably used", if no, then they are doing exactly what they advertise.
Nobody is crying about wet wipe caused fatburgs in septic system. Septic systems got their entire different world of issues and likewise mound systems, etc.
Why are calories eaten in the morning apparently less fattening than calories eaten in the evening? One reason is that more calories are burned off in the morning due to diet-induced thermogenesis. That’s the amount of energy the body takes to digest and process a meal, given off in part as waste heat. If you take people and give them the exact same meal in the morning, afternoon, and night, their body uses up about 25 percent more calories to process it in the afternoon than night, and about 50 percent more calories to digest it in the morning. That leaves fewer net calories in the morning to be stored as fat.
Let’s put some actual numbers to it. A group of Italian researchers randomized 20 people to eat the same standardized meal at 8am or at 8pm, and then a week later had them all come back in to do the opposite. So, each person had a chance to eat the same meal for breakfast and for dinner. After each meal, the subjects were place in a “calorimeter” contraption to precisely measure how many calories they were burning over the next three hours. The researchers calculated that the meal given in the morning took about 300 calories to digest, whereas the same meal given at night used up only about 200 calories to process. The meal was about 1,200 calories, but given in the morning, it ended up only providing about 900 calories, compared to more like 1,000 calories at night. Same meal, same food, same amount of food, but effectively 100 fewer calories. So, a calorie is not just a calorie. It depends when we eat them.
Yes, definitely! Of course, the stronger the onions, the more powerful their anti-cancer properties. Chopping helps break down the cell walls that release those beneficial compounds. Ideally, you put them in the blender with water and make a slurry. Then you can cook all the water out. Though they won't brown, if you want the most powerful protection they offer, this is the way to do it. It's easy to do for soups, doesn't take much longer. Onions are one of the five things I try to have every day, following the Nutritarian philosophy: G (greens) B (beans) O (onions) M (mushrooms) B (berries) S (seeds & nuts). G-BOMBS. Both raw and cooked are good.
Key Health Benefits and Usage
Anti-Cancer Power: Onion consumption is linked to a reduced risk of various cancers due to their organosulfur compounds.
Cardiovascular Health: They help lower blood pressure, reduce cholesterol, and inhibit harmful blood clotting.
Blood Sugar Management: They can dampen blood sugar spikes and have been shown to help manage diabetes.
Regarding toilet paper ... I got tired of wondering where the next roll was when visiting friends. Now I keep two rolls on top of the tank, impossible to miss, and on the off chance I get distracted and forget to replace one, there's a backup.
I grew up with the butter dish out of the refrigerator. Immigrants! Nowhere in Europe have I ever seen a butter dish in the fridge.
My family never completely adapted to the low price of space and electricity in the US. Even today, our refrigerator is miniscule by contemporary American standards, humongous by European standards.
Really it depends your climate and cuisine. My butter in Hawaii on the countertop goes rancid vastly faster than I use it, when it doesn't decide to turn into a puddle. But it's a rare occasion I go through more than one stick of butter a month.
“If you want to respect tradition, abstain from Ash Wednesday until just before Easter.”
If you want the Jewish equivalent, abstain from one month prior to Rosh Hashanah, until (and including) Yom Kippur. (In 2026 that would be August 14-September 21.)
Your recommended gadget is ingenious - they will soon have a new sale. But my experience was from well before human invention had reached into this realm. “Obvious” - only to a physicist, perhaps… !
The alternative shoelace knot advice was useful, but I have long been converted to another. The source of this was the same as in my previous comment (being “theoretical “ she had an abiding interest in Knot Theory). It can be tied quickly and with a second loop over is very secure, yet easily released. Until I sought this link:
Keep your lists on your mobile phone or computer, maybe in anki. Then you can add the extra things when you think of them rather than having to remember to do it when you get back.
This is what I do (Google Docs for convenient sharing with my spouse, like with the grocery list).
That's what I do. I also sync between phone and computers. I use Syncthing because Dropbox got uppity and stopped supporting my Linux, but it probably works fine otherwise, and there are others.
The best I’ve seen on a list is twisting the loose ends of a tied up plastic bag (eg for takeaways) until they become rigid and you can push them out of the knot quite easily.
Nice. I already use some of them. The flu idea is the one that I haven't used but will use next fall.
I have been better at abstaining from no-win arguments about Trump on FB in the last few months. Few of my friends seem to want me to say, "Yes, Trump is horrible on this--and there are a lot of thises--and he's really good on that--and there are a fair number of thats."
I have been claiming, probably mistakenly, to be the only person in the country who doesn't like Trump but approves of reversing the classification of CO2 as a pollutant, hence something the EPA is free to regulate.
"... but approves of reversing the classification of CO2 as a pollutant ... ."
Our long national nightmare is over.
If CO2 is a pollutant then the EPA can regulate respiration.
Now we know there are 2. Actually 3. Don Boudreaux thinks the same.
Me too! At least 4. Reminds me of a silly joke. 3 logicians walk into a bar. The bartenders asks if they all want a beer. The first says, "I don't know." The second says, "I don't know." The third says, "Yes."
"It apparently had not occurred to them that an insulator would block heat coming in from the sun as well as out from the Earth. It had not occurred to me that arguing with those people was a waste of time. Until I tried stopping."
I found myself getting on Facebook as a time waster. It was eating up a good bit of my time for pretty worthless effect, and even more importantly drew my attention a lot. I deleted the app cold turkey and instantly felt better. My account still exists in whatever state I left it in, and I doubt I'll ever go back.
To keep a nicotine habit under control, I choose one day a week to completely abstain. This consistently resets my tolerance at a lower level and prevents me from gradually increasing my usage. It also increases my overall enjoyment.
A friend, a very heavy drinker, abstained for one month each year.
If one must have a vice, at least it should be an enjoyable one.
Some years back I followed a low-carb diet. It reset my tolerance for sweets to a much lower level. Now, even years later I eat much less sugar and many foods still taste very sweet that didn't taste sweet before I abstained.
More life hacks:
1. Apply a thin film of soap to a bathroom mirror before taking a shower - even in a fully steamed up bathroom it remains clear, no need to shave in the fog;
2. To ease over-tight lids to unopened jars, run hot water over it. The differential expansion will free the seizure. This risks making one of our advantages as a sex redundant !
Both were the inspirations of a young French physicist not that she shaved ( but there was always maquillage - Nos défauts sont souvent, à nos yeux, les plus grands charmes de notre personne, had no traction with her…).
For the jars, a bottle opener also usually works to break the vacuum.
My JarPop jar opener gadget does this *so* well.
It is worth not only the $12, it is worth the space in your kitchen gadgets drawer and the effort to go online and have it sent to you.
Likely there are less expensive versions that do the job about as well (I see one advertised on the page for $7), but I’ll never know, as I suspect this one will be the last one I need to buy for the house.
https://www.amazon.com/Brix-OPENER-JAR-JARPOP/dp/B01MSLKIVB/
Are you referring to jar lids that screw on, in which case Alan's point is appropriate, although I thought obvious? I have a gadget that works for those: https://www.amazon.com/Kichwit-Opener-Grippers-Keychain-Included/dp/B0CTMFRQS2/ref=sr_1_4_sspa?crid=2H7BOK4HG0R29&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.9CIi3z76_dOTlc6g3yTzgn3bD2o1fU0H0rMRrBGecoa8MfXoPZCI3ZpFq1iDdf4SBtYtQW06-fFoYxpz5Ai2h3zmqZJYF9sOBTXJHFutgDjj3T5Mtg6nDuriScuh1XQu2nlZc8E0QhmFpI7fFsnCJ76pzWqQHX2sXBbe0XZ6FUZwNUo3FFFbIHnVwUtpX1RLpnYLJd5Tg7apwQOnSPoHtbmtB7nFyWn40x6nikRyqt_-9-SsVDelrEnKQc8w9ezN2gS_9Pusc4A8MHpWnWhEFKIPXBpwsL9zzmYlOSYkUtA.k5zKu3PGEe7g2BGJQ0bbvohOui0lDBNZIkOEzKXHi_8&dib_tag=se&keywords=jar%2Blid%2Bopener&qid=1771374653&sprefix=jar%2B%2Caps%2C186&sr=8-4-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1
Mitch and Andy seem to be referring to pop on lids.
The text on my gadget refers to seniors with weak hands. I am a senior with strong hands but still find it useful.
No. I'm referring to screw on lids. You can use a bottle opener to pry up an edge to break the vacuum.
“My” gadget works for most screw-on lids, and that is mostly what I use it for.
I have long had an older gadget like the one in your link, but I rarely use it any longer, as eliminating the vacuum with the JarPop enables the top to be unscrewed easily (and the older gadget could be finicky).
Oh, yes, I did finally drop participation in a non-discussion board populated by low level academics. It wasn't their anti-Trumpism that got to me, but their anti-economia. I dropped out in such a way that it would be very costly to get back in. A commitment device was necessary to resist the temptation of calling them all stupid.
1. Depending on your rate of consumption, it is also more pleasant, though maybe not as life-changing, to keep jam out of the refrigerator.
2. Toilet paper? A truly fantastic quality of life upgrade is a washlet.
Or disposable flush safe wet wipes, you can buy them in bulk Costco for cheaper than toilet paper
Wet wipes are never actually flush safe, no matter what it says on the package. See e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet_wipe#Effect_on_sewage_systems
They are always safe for 99.9% (i.e. non septic owners) of people as you only need to care your pipe to the main. Wether it's safe to the city isn't our problem. They are FLUSH safe as in they won't clog your toilet, exactly as they claim.
They can clog the pipes inside your house as well. And even cause waste to back up into your neighbors' houses, but I don't suppose you care about them either?
And cyanide is swallow safe. What follows is not the concern of the swallower.
Not really, your example works in the case of septic users and other rural solutions. What happens with my garbage once it ends up in the garbage truck isn't my concern anymore, my relationship with them is purely transactional and that ends with them pick it up.
At home my concern is "will it clog my toilet when reasonably used", if no, then they are doing exactly what they advertise.
Throw a stick of dynamite in with your garbage and see where your responsibility ends.
Not really the point, but 20-25% of Americans have septic systems. In New England it's almost half.
Nobody is crying about wet wipe caused fatburgs in septic system. Septic systems got their entire different world of issues and likewise mound systems, etc.
1. Placing onions in the freezer for 10–15 minutes (or the fridge for 30–45 minutes) slows down the enzyme activity that releases the irritating gas.
2. You can eat more total calories if you shift your calories toward morning and noon. Here's a partial transcript from a video clip at https://nutritionfacts.org/video/eat-more-calories-in-the-morning-than-the-evening/ (It goes on to say that calories in the morning are used to build muscles, and at night to add to fat stores.) But the biggest, easiest way to be thin and healthy is to make a large salad your lunch daily, using a nut-based dressing or added nuts/seeds instead of an oil or cream-based one. See: https://www.drfuhrman.com/blog/162/perfect-salads-made-perfectly-simple?srsltid=AfmBOoqWR78McIHL-VJS0LfA6u4-pqDP_RpG2tN3MfGWedRNvfHI1ue-
Why are calories eaten in the morning apparently less fattening than calories eaten in the evening? One reason is that more calories are burned off in the morning due to diet-induced thermogenesis. That’s the amount of energy the body takes to digest and process a meal, given off in part as waste heat. If you take people and give them the exact same meal in the morning, afternoon, and night, their body uses up about 25 percent more calories to process it in the afternoon than night, and about 50 percent more calories to digest it in the morning. That leaves fewer net calories in the morning to be stored as fat.
Let’s put some actual numbers to it. A group of Italian researchers randomized 20 people to eat the same standardized meal at 8am or at 8pm, and then a week later had them all come back in to do the opposite. So, each person had a chance to eat the same meal for breakfast and for dinner. After each meal, the subjects were place in a “calorimeter” contraption to precisely measure how many calories they were burning over the next three hours. The researchers calculated that the meal given in the morning took about 300 calories to digest, whereas the same meal given at night used up only about 200 calories to process. The meal was about 1,200 calories, but given in the morning, it ended up only providing about 900 calories, compared to more like 1,000 calories at night. Same meal, same food, same amount of food, but effectively 100 fewer calories. So, a calorie is not just a calorie. It depends when we eat them.
We keep our onions in the refrigerator. You are saying they would be even worse if we didn't?
When I have them available, a great trick I learned for chopping onions is to smell a strawberry.
Yes, definitely! Of course, the stronger the onions, the more powerful their anti-cancer properties. Chopping helps break down the cell walls that release those beneficial compounds. Ideally, you put them in the blender with water and make a slurry. Then you can cook all the water out. Though they won't brown, if you want the most powerful protection they offer, this is the way to do it. It's easy to do for soups, doesn't take much longer. Onions are one of the five things I try to have every day, following the Nutritarian philosophy: G (greens) B (beans) O (onions) M (mushrooms) B (berries) S (seeds & nuts). G-BOMBS. Both raw and cooked are good.
Key Health Benefits and Usage
Anti-Cancer Power: Onion consumption is linked to a reduced risk of various cancers due to their organosulfur compounds.
Cardiovascular Health: They help lower blood pressure, reduce cholesterol, and inhibit harmful blood clotting.
Blood Sugar Management: They can dampen blood sugar spikes and have been shown to help manage diabetes.
Regarding toilet paper ... I got tired of wondering where the next roll was when visiting friends. Now I keep two rolls on top of the tank, impossible to miss, and on the off chance I get distracted and forget to replace one, there's a backup.
I just moved to a bidet two decades ago, never looked back, problem solved.
So the wet wipes are just an fu to the rest of the town?
No, my gf hates the bidet.
Assaulting freezer ice with a chisel risks puncturing the freon.
- Signed, alumni of the school of experience
I grew up with the butter dish out of the refrigerator. Immigrants! Nowhere in Europe have I ever seen a butter dish in the fridge.
My family never completely adapted to the low price of space and electricity in the US. Even today, our refrigerator is miniscule by contemporary American standards, humongous by European standards.
So, not genius. Just luck.
I'm an outie, my wife is an innie. We shall never agree.
Really it depends your climate and cuisine. My butter in Hawaii on the countertop goes rancid vastly faster than I use it, when it doesn't decide to turn into a puddle. But it's a rare occasion I go through more than one stick of butter a month.
“If you want to respect tradition, abstain from Ash Wednesday until just before Easter.”
If you want the Jewish equivalent, abstain from one month prior to Rosh Hashanah, until (and including) Yom Kippur. (In 2026 that would be August 14-September 21.)
Get a butter crock. It's even better for fresh, room-temperature butter. Amazon sells them for under $20.
Your recommended gadget is ingenious - they will soon have a new sale. But my experience was from well before human invention had reached into this realm. “Obvious” - only to a physicist, perhaps… !
The alternative shoelace knot advice was useful, but I have long been converted to another. The source of this was the same as in my previous comment (being “theoretical “ she had an abiding interest in Knot Theory). It can be tied quickly and with a second loop over is very secure, yet easily released. Until I sought this link:
https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm
I thought that I was the only surviving user.