Very trivial, but insights can be found anywhere. Look around your dwelling. What do you use for coasters?
We mostly use beer mats stolen from pubs we visit, but what prompted this thread was what is under my bourbon: a ceramic coaster from Ptaclusp & Sons & Sons - General Jobbing, Necropoli, Family Tombs, Mastabas, Needles A Specialty - By Appointment To King Teppicymon IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVI, XXVI, XXVIII.
Oh, I forgot to mention: my primary coaster is actually the end-cap to a cardboard art tube. The tube is long gone, but the end-cap is a perfect size to hold my ubiquitous Diet Pepsi cans.
Cheap white-fabric washclothes. The same cheap white fabric they make bar towels out of. Somehow, I got a big box full of 'em, and they do the job just fine.
One set we have are round glass ones that have inserts underneath for photos.
The second set is the coolest gift my husband (a middle school teacher) has ever gotten from a student’s parents.
One of his kids was Indian and his parents decided one year to take the entire month of December to go back to India to visit the family. Not only did they make sure the kid got all of his homework and did all of the missed assignments while he was gone, his mom visited each and every teacher once they got back to assure her son had completed all his obligations. She gave each teacher in the group a beautiful set of coasters - they came in a teak box, and each coaster is made of teak with a velveteen back. The front has a brass filigree border with a laminated illustration of an elephant in the middle. They are beautiful and very durable. And they had no worries about their son - he did everything he was supposed to - it was not an attempt to bribe anyone just a thank you to the teachers for their flexibility in allowing him to complete his work while out of the country.
No coaster, I drink from a goblet for iced drinks. I tie an old washcloth around the stem and that soaks up the drips. My coffee cup has a footed base so it doesn’t leave heat rings either.
A lot of my furniture is laminate, so I don’t worry about coasters there. I do have a solid wood end table, and on that am using cork-and-wood coasters I apparently acquired around the time I bought my current set of dishes, based on the design of the holder.
Now that I have a couple of “good” tables, I use these hardwood coasters I got in Costa Rica. I also have another set which is round sandstone carved in the form of sunflowers, with a felt bottom. OK, actually the main reason is that I hate putting my arm on the cold puddle…
My mother has a set of Russian-style decorated coasters in their matching box, which I bought for her in San Francisco. The 3yo Niece can spend upwards of one hour playing with them.
I buy furniture that doesn’t require coasters. My one wooden table in the living room, I just let people put their drinks on it, and eventually when I’ve accumulated enough rings and circles and nicks on it I’ll shell out for another table someday.
And I don’t keep my couch covered with plastics, either.
Alright. I’m getting a little paranoid; I just went out and bought coasters - an item I’ve never owned before - two days ago. Are you guys following me around or something?
Anyhoo …
I was sick of wiping up the condensation from my coffee table, so I figured I needed some coasters. I went to Target, but all they had were rubber ones, for out on the deck. They were sold out of the cork ones. Must be a hot ticket. I went to the kitchen store at the mall, only to find out that it’s now a shoe store. I suppose I could have bought some flip-flops and fashion my own coasters, but I’m not that industrious.
William-Sanoma: no dice. Nor JC Penny or Sears. What’s a guy gotta do to get a set of coasters in this town?
Finally I found a set at Newberry Comics. They’re Portal 2 themed. They work well.
