I use the pen clip sometimes. I wouldn’t say I love the things.
I have a specific favorite pen that I use for crosswords. The point and ink are perfect, but it does have an aggressive little clip on it that all too often sits wrong against my hand and requires slight rotation before proceeding.
The trials of my life are many.
mmm
Re: the perpetual lease.
Other - Pay a lawyer to break the lease. Which shouldn’t be too difficult, this one sounds like the landlord wrote it himself.
Agreed. And “Other” = 12/12 is quite the indicator.
I picked “stay there forever”. If I’m too stupid to recognize an obviously unenforceable contract I deserve a life sentence 
Yeah, I’ve got to fight the hypothetical on the apartment question too. If there are no stipulations to cover one party’s death, it’s a very badly-written contract, and one that should be pretty easy to get out of with a modicum of competent legal assistance.
Yeah. I can’t imagine that’s going to hold up in court.
And why did you sign that thing in the first place, if you thought it was enforceable? What if the roommate had had a fight with you and absconded? Or just quit paying the rent, but wanted to stay put so wouldn’t sign off on your leaving, and you didn’t want nonpayment and eviction on your record?
The best implement’s going to depend on who’s using it. And even just for me, it’s going to depend on the situation and the mood I’m in.
I love self-checkout, but hate the fact that it’s badly designed for bringing your own bags, produce, multiples of the same item, etc.
I was a cashier when we bagged people’s groceries for them, and I liked the work. I have feelings about the labour issue but they’re solvable: just pay someone to manage a few self-checkouts at a time, and actually DO THAT rather than sixty other things that leave the area at the mercy of capricious machinery.
Yeah, “love the things” is pretty strong. But my pens sit in my breast pocket so often that the clips certainly serve a purpose. A pen without the clip would be a problem.
Re Eating rice…
I lived in Africa where eating rice dishes with your (right) hand is the norm. I tried, but I never got used to it. I’ll happily eat fufu and kenke with my hand, but for rice I really prefer a utensil.
Agree. I like pen clips, and often use them. But it’s not something i think about very often. I waffled on how to vote, and don’t remember whether i voted “love” or “tolerate”, but me feelings definitely lie between those poles.
I don’t like open-plan design, either in my house or in somebody else’s; but you do you, if it’s your house and you like it I’m not going to complain about it.
And it’s only partly about privacy; it’s partly about function – some activities aren’t all that compatible with each other, so if two or more people want to do different things at the same time it’s good to be able to close areas off.
But it’s also good to be able to open them – pocket doors or the like – depending on who does what. So I think the ideal is for part of the space to be convertible between open and closed.
I don’t know whether I’d like self-checkout if I got used to it. Whenever I’m in a store that has it: either the store’s not busy so it’s just as easy to go through the staffed line which is what I’m used to; or else the store is busy, in which case I don’t expect they want to put up with my taking time to learn how to use the self-checkout, so I’d better go through the staffed line which is what I’m used to. And by the time I’m at the checkout lanes, I generally just want to get back out of the store; so I don’t want to bother taking time to learn how to use one, either.
Regarding open concept floor plans. I really like them for kitchen and surrounding areas. We also have a “primary suite” that leads into a bathroom and walk in closet without doors. I draw the line on the toilet, though.
I’m seeing houses on HGTV and other places with no door between the bedroom and where the toilet is. That’s a hard no for me. We once stayed in a very cool hotel in Nashville. The only problem was glass walls on the bathroom. Some were partially frosted, but there was no privacy for bathroom things. I don’t care about showers and sinks, but what’s with the exposed toilets?
Re: Gatorade. I do stock their G Fit brand. It’s electrolyte solution, watermelon juice, and just enough stevia to bring the 10 oz bottle up to 10 calories. When I get dehydrated I’m usually queasy too (stupid lifesaving cancer treatments have made me much more prone to this) and it doesn’t taste gross or sweet at all, goes down easy without nasty aftertastes and doesn’t worsen my nausea like artificial sweeteners (and even just plain water) can. I also avoid the empty calories in the sugar-laden versions.
Exactly this. I like to keep it on hand for re-hydration purposes, with all the benefits you mention.
I really don’t care for open concept. I don’t like having the kitchen in my living space. I’d prefer some separation. When I look at local real estate, I’ll see some of the older houses (built in the 40s and 50s) with an almost completely open concept. It makes them look smaller and gives the impression of a converted garage. No likee.
Re: self-checkouts - I like them very much and generally prefer them to checking out with a cashier, but I am generally of the opinion that they represent a social ill and erode a class of jobs which are essential for their accessibility to folks without much experience or education. I’m happy to use my less-preferred method of checkout if it means someone keeps their job.
Maybe that’s for people who’s shit doesn’t stink?
Yeah, that’s a bad idea. I prefer not having a line of sight to the shower and tub, either.
That windows poll was written by someone who doesn’t have air conditioning. Or tolerates much higher temps than i do. When it’s hot, i not only close the windows, i often close the shades. (Which i hate to do, but it’s worth it sometimes.) I like to open the windows when it’s nice out, and sometimes i feel like airing out the bedroom in the winter, and open the windows for a bit even though it’s cold out. But not when it’s warm out.
However, altho a cheap apartment is cool- the pool did not stipulate whether or not you could get a new room-mate. If you cant, then you have to pay double the rent in effect.
If i have a small complicated order, I use self-checkput to save time.
Since I have my own bedroom, that is not a big deal for me. Mind you it is in another room, and the toilet has three walls.
In the SCA the 'rule of thumb" is that if gatorade tastes good, you need it. However, Gatorade does not supply much potassium.
Here in So-cal, we live in a somewhat higher elevation microclime. During the day, it can get very hot, but still cool at nite (unless the temp gets like 104 or higher). So to save electricity, we open the windows when it gets cool and turn the air conditioning off.
Same here (NorCal). If it was hot during the day, but not too hot, I’ll open the windows and run the whole house fan at night. That cools the house quite effectively at a fraction of the cost of AC. Then close the windows in the morning and the air conditioner barely has to run during the day.
But if it was really hot during the day, then even the nighttime temperature won’t be cool enough to make a difference, and I just bite the bullet and use the AC.