# Life lessons learned the hard way **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 17, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104 "2021-03-17T17:39:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/182 "2021-04-01T16:47:13Z")
Cell phones from your chest pocket make a small and even more expensive “splish”. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/183 "2021-04-01T17:12:44Z")
A D&D cell mate said when he was on the navy he was boarding ship with a case containing about twenty pounds of lovingly painted characters, had a misstep on the gang plank, and lost the case into the harbor. “It made a very loud _ploosh_ sound.” ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/184 "2021-04-01T18:05:56Z")
When you’re adding a powdered or dry ingredient to a dish straight from the can/container, _don’t_. Shake it onto a plate or into your hand first, lest an avalanche inside the can quadruple the amount you intended to add. _(I’m lookin’ at you, cayenne.)_ If you do use a measuring spoon, don’t shake or pour the ingredient from the can/jar into the measuring spoon while holding BOTH over the open pot of \. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/185 "2021-04-02T02:26:42Z")
People looking for further life lessons may be interested in [a thread called _Lessons learned the hard way_](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lessons-learned-the-hard-way/788737), from 2017. (One may also observe that we tend to repeat ourselves. 😃) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/186 "2021-04-02T04:05:26Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > (One may also observe that we tend to repeat ourselves. 😃) A lesson learned the hard way… ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/187 "2021-04-02T05:38:27Z")
Never add an egg directly to the other ingredients. If the egg is bad, you have to throw out all of the ingredients. If you get a piece of shell in the mixture, you’ll have to work harder to find it. Crack the egg into a cup. Use a fork to scramble it a bit. Then you won’t overmix everything else trying to mix the egg. Then add the egg to the other ingredients. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/188 "2021-04-02T13:14:07Z")
Use a trivet or something under the stockpot if you want to sous vide things on your artificial stone countertop. I did steak sous vide (126F for an hour) first. Then I did egg bites (167F for an hour) in mason jars. I heard a CRACK, thought a mason jar had failed. I should be so lucky. The crack goes all the way through the half inch thick top and it’s about 4 inches long. Our research tells us that the artificial stuff we got is made of compressed powder, so it can’t be repaired like real stone. It looks like we’ll be replacing a slab maybe 3 feet x 4 feet is in our future. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/189 "2021-04-02T13:41:54Z")
Wow, I’m surprised. It doesn’t seem like 167 is that hot. I sous vide pork loin at 165 and remove the bag barehanded. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/190 "2021-04-02T14:58:46Z")
I know, right? I used stainless steel, which I guess would conduct heat to the countertop more than the plastic setups some people use. That pot is probably 9 inch diameter wth 4 inches of water in it. And I did have it at 126 for an hour first—if anything I would think that would help avoid the “sharp change in temperature can be bad” thing, but maybe it’s a cumulative thing. Also, where it cracked is just above our dishwasher. I wonder if the countertop is getting heat (routinely) from below and it’s a cumulative thing. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/191 "2021-04-02T15:09:51Z")
Really get to know her (or him) for a really long time before tying the knot. Like a long time. No need to rush things. ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/192 "2021-04-02T20:25:28Z")
Do not vigorously shake a bottle of carbonated beverage and then immediately open it. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/193 "2021-04-03T04:19:07Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Really get to know her (or him) for a really long time before tying the knot. Like a long time. No need to rush things. I was going to say the opposite. If you aren’t ready to get married after, say, 12-18 months, end it. This comes from personal experience. My wife and I dated for a really really long time before we got married. Let me just put it this way. Dating is not marriage is not marriage with children. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/194 "2021-04-03T05:18:40Z")
Do not add cold milk directly to the glass bowl of melted butter hot out of the microwave. Likewise, don’t fill a mason jar with hot [whatever] and put it directly into the freezer. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/195 "2021-04-03T13:32:07Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Really get to know her (or him) for a really long time before tying the knot. Like a long time. No need to rush things. I did not learn the hard way, but this is a good one. And wait before you have kids, too. But not as long as we did (18 years.) ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/196 "2021-04-03T14:32:01Z")
Happens with shotguns and rifles too. Not loaded, but makes a nice curved scratch in the paint as it falls over. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/197 "2021-04-13T16:06:08Z")
Bowls of sugar and bowls of salt look pretty damn similar ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/198 "2021-04-13T21:10:26Z")
Always close upper cabinets after you get what you want out of them because you _will_ hit your head when you turn back around. It’s just a small knot. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/199 "2021-04-13T21:30:17Z")
The freezer door, too. 🥺 ---
**Author:** ![blabbermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/200 "2021-04-13T22:52:57Z")
The microwave door, too (for over-the-counter microwave ovens) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/201 "2021-04-14T02:39:40Z")
And the hatchback trunk. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104.md?page=11)