In article >, says...
>
> "dsi1" > wrote in message
> ...
> > On 10/21/2013 12:17 AM, Ophelia wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> "dsi1" > wrote in message
> >> ...
> >>
> >>> The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and
> >>> the water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil
> >>> water. Amazing!

A kettle. Virtually every Brit home has one.
> >>>
> >>> There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the
> >>> same unit. Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the
> >>> dryer. How is this done?

With an internal condenser. Not as efficient as having a vent to
outside; but useful in properties the machine isn't located near a
suitable external wall.
> >>
> >> That is a surprise! I don't think I have been anywhere in Europe in the
> >> past 50+ years that didn't have an electric kettle! As for the dryer, I
> >> think ours are much safer. The lint filter is in the unit so has no
> >> chance of backing up in the wall.

Every dryer I've ever had over 40 years has an efficient lint filter
in the door for easy access. The air is lint-filtered before it enters
the vent, so you don't get a build up of lint in the vent pipe (less
accessible, so potential fire risk) or lint blowing around the garden.

> > You're probably right about the electric kettle being a ubiquitous
> > appliance in Europe. My guess is that it's because Europeans drink a lot
> > of tea.

We use them for far more than making tea.

> > As far as the dryer goes, it's an interesting system but I can't imagine
> > that it would be very energy efficient. Our washer/dryer combo could only
> > handle a small load and it took forever to dry the load.

They are usually only provided in rentals or where space is limited
and I agree they are very slow and less efficient. The washers tend not
to have a fast enough spin program to get enough water out for fast
drying.

We've always had separate washer and dryer units; both work better and
there's the obvious benefit of being able to start another wash load
while the previous one is drying.

> > Europeans would probably think the American's love of the ice cold
soft
> > drink strange.

Plenty of home fridges, offices and workplace canteens have push-
button ice and iced water dispensers.

>> The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not reached your
> > shores.

Yes, it has. But I wouldn't eat in such places here. UK employers are
heavily taxed and have to pay serving and wait staff a legal minimum
wage. The cost of endless refills, "kids eat free" etc can only be
shaved from the menu prices or the quality of ingredients.

Janet UK

On 22/10/13 10:13 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>
> "Xeno Lith" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On 22/10/13 8:01 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>>>
>>> "dsi1" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> On 10/21/2013 12:17 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "dsi1" > wrote in message
>>>>> ...
>>>>>
>>>>>> The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and
>>>>>> the water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil
>>>>>> water. Amazing!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the
>>>>>> same unit. Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the
>>>>>> dryer. How is this done? The dryer is a closed system and the air is
>>>>>> recycled. Water vapor is removed by running the air throw a
>>>>>> refrigeration coils which changes the vapor into liquid water which
>>>>>> then goes down the drain. The system doesn't work as well as a vented
>>>>>> open system but that water pot made up for it.
>>>>>
>>>>> That is a surprise! I don't think I have been anywhere in Europe
>>>>> in the
>>>>> past 50+ years that didn't have an electric kettle! As for the
>>>>> dryer, I
>>>>> think ours are much safer. The lint filter is in the unit so has no
>>>>> chance of backing up in the wall.
>>>>>
>>>> You're probably right about the electric kettle being a ubiquitous
>>>> appliance in Europe. My guess is that it's because Europeans drink a
>>>> lot of tea. The hot drink of choice in America is coffee which
>>>> requires a brewing system, not a separate hot water kettle. OTOH, my
>>>> brother in law was quite happy when he saw the kettles in the places
>>>> we stayed. He seemed to always be drinking instant coffee. Mostly, he
>>>> has a taste for instant coffee because he spends a lot of time in a
>>>> small boat and that's what is available to him. He probably uses a 12V
>>>> immersion heater for his hot water.
>>>>
>>>> As far as the dryer goes, it's an interesting system but I can't
>>>> imagine that it would be very energy efficient. Our washer/dryer combo
>>>> could only handle a small load and it took forever to dry the load.
>>>> The containment of the lint is a good feature. Venting the hot air
>>>> does tend to create a linty mess through the hoses and ducts.
>>>>
>>>> Europeans would probably think the American's love of the ice cold
>>>> soft drink strange. When my wife and son ordered them, they'd get a
>>>> rather ordinary glass filled with a little ice, which melted in a
>>>> couple of minute. The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not
>>>> reached your shores. You might be somewhat repulsed to see people
>>>> walking around with huge 32 oz cups of ice and soft drink. I wouldn't
>>>> blame you if you did. It's a heck of a thing.
>>>
>>> Actually, my brother and SIL were in England in the 80's. They
>>> discovered a pizza hut that gave huge soft drinks and free refills.
>>>
>>> Here in WA, coffee is the big drink and most people are walking around
>>> drinking that. I'm one of the odd ones who drinks diet soda instead of
>>> coffee. I guess it all depends on where you live as to what you drink.
>>
>> Or how you value your health! Soft drinks are so loaded with sugar
>> that drinking them on any sort of regular basis will really put the
>> pounds on.
>
> In my entire lifetime I mostly always consumed diet soda. I did have

I was never at ease drinking anything with a pretend sweetener in it.

> some regular at a family reunion as a kid. My uncle did buy some diet
> but not enough for us kids to have it. I hate regular soda so after
> trying to choke down a bottle or two, walked with my cousin to the store
> and bought my own Tab. Also took a few sips of it at the airport while
> in a hurry. I bought something from a machine, didn't look at it before
> drinking it and realized right away that there as a problem. I probably
> had it a time or two at some party as a kid but in those days it was
> more common to serve Kool-Aid or fruit punch.
>
> And here, most regular soda has HFC and not sugar. Jones is one
> exception and I think also Hansen's.

HFC is actually worse than sugar by about 5%. It's the fructose that
causes the issue and HFC has 5% more fructose than regular sugar.

--

Xeno

On 22/10/13 11:22 PM, Janet wrote:
> In article >, says...
>>
>> "dsi1" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> On 10/21/2013 12:17 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "dsi1" > wrote in message
>>>> ...
>>>>
>>>>> The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and
>>>>> the water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil
>>>>> water. Amazing!
>
> A kettle. Virtually every Brit home has one.

Every Aussie home has one as well.

>>>>>
>>>>> There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the
>>>>> same unit. Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the
>>>>> dryer. How is this done?
>
> With an internal condenser. Not as efficient as having a vent to
> outside; but useful in properties the machine isn't located near a
> suitable external wall.
>>>>
>>>> That is a surprise! I don't think I have been anywhere in Europe in the
>>>> past 50+ years that didn't have an electric kettle! As for the dryer, I
>>>> think ours are much safer. The lint filter is in the unit so has no
>>>> chance of backing up in the wall.
>
> Every dryer I've ever had over 40 years has an efficient lint filter
> in the door for easy access. The air is lint-filtered before it enters
> the vent, so you don't get a build up of lint in the vent pipe (less
> accessible, so potential fire risk) or lint blowing around the garden.

Should do a lint clean every use!
>
>>> You're probably right about the electric kettle being a ubiquitous
>>> appliance in Europe. My guess is that it's because Europeans drink a lot
>>> of tea.
>
> We use them for far more than making tea.

Ours is mostly used to tea and coffee. Occasionally we need boiling
water for other purposes but it's minimal.
>
>>> As far as the dryer goes, it's an interesting system but I can't imagine
>>> that it would be very energy efficient. Our washer/dryer combo could only
>>> handle a small load and it took forever to dry the load.
>
> They are usually only provided in rentals or where space is limited
> and I agree they are very slow and less efficient. The washers tend not
> to have a fast enough spin program to get enough water out for fast
> drying.

We get enough sun here that a dryer is hardly needed. We don't even have
one.
>
> We've always had separate washer and dryer units; both work better and
> there's the obvious benefit of being able to start another wash load
> while the previous one is drying.
>
>>> Europeans would probably think the American's love of the ice cold
> soft
>>> drink strange.
>
> Plenty of home fridges, offices and workplace canteens have push-
> button ice and iced water dispensers.

33 years ago I bought a fridge/freezer that didn't even have auto
defrost. We STILL have it and it still runs perfectly.
>
>>> The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not reached your
>>> shores.
>
> Yes, it has. But I wouldn't eat in such places here. UK employers are
> heavily taxed and have to pay serving and wait staff a legal minimum
> wage. The cost of endless refills, "kids eat free" etc can only be
> shaved from the menu prices or the quality of ingredients.
>
> Janet UK
>
They have it here also but when I go there the only item I have is the
coffee. It's reasonable coffee, quick, strong and quite convenient when
driving on long trips - typically in excess of 1,000 miles. Most other
occasions I frequent proper coffee houses.
>
>


--

Xeno

"Julie Bove" wrote in message ...


"jinx the minx" > wrote in message
...

> Yes, those washer/dryer all in ones exist in the U.S. too, but they are
> hard to find. I used to own one. It was perfect for my small apartment,
> but it never completely dried my clothes.

Hmmm... Never seen one.

------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.splendide.com/index.htm

Out of Clackamas , OR

On 10/21/2013 8:10 PM, Xeno Lith wrote:

>>
>> That's how I feel about every applicance I've never had and don't use! A
>> toaster, for instance, is useless, when you realize you can stick a fork
>> in it and hold it over an open fire.
>
> Useful IF you have an open fire. Did that when I was a kid and we had an
> open fire. Not so now though.

That is another advantage of cooking with gas, open flame.

It may be handy for somethings, but I still make my toast in a toaster.
If you want to talk marshmallows though. . .

On 2013-10-22 03:18:01 +0000, dsi1 said:

> On 10/21/2013 7:22 AM, gtr wrote:
>>
>> I never reheat rice the following day. I don't have amicrowave so
>> that's out. I also don't refridgerate it as I've never found a way to
>> reheat it that didn't leave it with a change in texture.
>>
>> Instead, I leave the remaining rice in the cooker over night
>> unrefridgerated. We look forward to this left-over rice for making a
>> couple of onigiri or rice-balls. We load them with some of the
>> left-over fish from the night before. In fact we tend to avoid eating
>> all the fish the from dinner because we so greatly look forward to the
>> onigiri for the following days lunch.
>
> I have never heard of making musubi with cold leftover rice.

Never heard it called musubi; didn't know it had alternative names.

> I assume it's possible since that's what you do. I've only seen it made
> with hot rice. The method is to wet your hand in cool water and
> sprinkle your hand liberally with salt. The hot rice is placed on the
> hand and the musubi is shaped. I make it with really hot rice. It's
> painful but experts know how to handle it really hot.

I don't use the salt and don't use the laver/nori, though I prefer it.
You have to keep that fresh till the last second or it just becomes
leather.

Frequently I don't go through any of this ritual. When it's lunch time
I fill a bowl with the left-over rice, put a shake of fukikaki
seasoning over it, a squirt of soy, I take a sheet of nori and using
scissors whittle it into bits, and then add my left over rice.

Honest to god, for whatever reason, it is one of my favorite lunches.

> I love the traditional iconic shape of the triangular musubi. My
> aunties could make beautiful ones. My problem is that the small pickled
> umebushi no longer seem to exist.

They are always in my fridge. I like to eat one in the morning, but
sadly forget they are there. I'm glad you mentioned it because they are
NEVER part of my rice bowl/onigiri making--never even thought of it.

Ah--it occurs to me you may means the small hard ume, rather than the
big soft umeboshi.

When we eat it Japanese restaurants my wife invariable orders a bowl of
rice, usually near the end of the meal. This queues me to order a yaki
onigiri, which is just an onigiri that that salt grill, sometimes with
a little soy. I've never made these, but I love that crunch exterior.
When I order these they are alost always loaded umeboshi.

> These were placed in the center and provided a salty and sour lip
> puckering hit. It's a tragedy.

Hmm. Now it does sound like regular umeboshi, of which there are
generally two varieties, the sweet (and light brown colored) and the
regular tart ones (usually more red colored), frequently both are made
with tiny squares of what looks like nori. I have never found even the
tiniest Japanese market that doesn't have these.

On 2013-10-22 03:52:45 +0000, sf said:

> On Mon, 21 Oct 2013 15:24:15 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> > wrote:
>
>> A lot of people that I know use only the noodles from the
>> packet and not the soup part.
>
> Me too - although that hasn't happened for a very long time. It was a
> way to make "lazy" chow mein for a few years (a long time ago).

I always made it using from 1/2 to 3/4's of the powered stuff.

On 2013-10-22 08:36:52 +0000, dsi1 said:

> You're probably right about the electric kettle being a ubiquitous
> appliance in Europe. My guess is that it's because Europeans drink a
> lot of tea. The hot drink of choice in America is coffee which requires
> a brewing system, not a separate hot water kettle.

Just a wild-ass prediction: I think coffee has had its day. The market
is so glutted with shops and products. I have noted more tea drinkers
with each passing year; frequently they pursue tea through Chinese and
Japanese shops and pay plenty for their tea, go through a lot of
"cooling" processes (Chinese) and lots of other claptrap. We'll see.

> Europeans would probably think the American's love of the ice cold soft
> drink strange. When my wife and son ordered them, they'd get a rather
> ordinary glass filled with a little ice, which melted in a couple of
> minute. The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not reached your
> shores. You might be somewhat repulsed to see people walking around
> with huge 32 oz cups of ice and soft drink. I wouldn't blame you if you
> did. It's a heck of a thing.

I found it strange in France when I asked for a Martini (which
generally means a vermouth as in "Martini & Rossi), that I was
frequently asked "Two ice cubes or one?"

Xeno Lithp wrote:
>
>I was never at ease drinking anything with a pretend sweetener.

WTF not, everything about you is pretend, Lithp.

On 23/10/13 2:51 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On 10/21/2013 8:10 PM, Xeno Lith wrote:
>
>>>
>>> That's how I feel about every applicance I've never had and don't use! A
>>> toaster, for instance, is useless, when you realize you can stick a fork
>>> in it and hold it over an open fire.
>>
>> Useful IF you have an open fire. Did that when I was a kid and we had an
>> open fire. Not so now though.
>
> That is another advantage of cooking with gas, open flame.
>
> It may be handy for somethings, but I still make my toast in a toaster.
> If you want to talk marshmallows though. . .
>
Haven't had marshmallows for at least 4 decades or more..

--

Xeno

On 2013-10-22 23:15:06 +0000, Xeno Lith said:

> On 23/10/13 2:51 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>> On 10/21/2013 8:10 PM, Xeno Lith QUOTED:
>>
>>>> That's how I feel about every applicance I've never had and don't use! A
>>>> toaster, for instance, is useless, when you realize you can stick a fork
>>>> in it and hold it over an open fire.

Of course I was going over the top, for those who didn't note, with my
"why bother with a car, a horse is friendler" argument.

>>> Useful IF you have an open fire. Did that when I was a kid and we had an
>>> open fire. Not so now though.
>>
>> That is another advantage of cooking with gas, open flame.
>>
>> It may be handy for somethings, but I still make my toast in a toaster.
>> If you want to talk marshmallows though. . .
>>
> Haven't had marshmallows for at least 4 decades or more..

On 10/21/2013 10:58 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
> When I got my new washer and dryer, I had let the laundry go. The
> washer I had been using didn't remove much water so it took forever to
> dry the clothes.
>
> I did about 5 loads in a row and began to realize that it was like a
> sauna in here. I knew something was wrong when I went to open to front
> door to try to cool things off and the door was soaking wet!
>
> I had tried to look behind the dryer but could not. Both the washer and
> dryer weigh a ton and were bigger than my old ones so I couldn't get
> around them. And they were taller so I couldn't look over.
>
> I finally made it my career to look back there. I can't remember how I
> did that now, but there was the dryer hose with the clamp not clamped,
> sitting on the floor and not connected to the vent. Mm hm.
>
> They did come back (the next day I think) to fix it.

Dose guys forgot to tighten the vent hose clamp and it just blew off the
flange. They must have felt pretty dumb. Maybe they were dumb.

On 10/21/2013 11:01 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>
>
> Actually, my brother and SIL were in England in the 80's. They
> discovered a pizza hut that gave huge soft drinks and free refills.
>
> Here in WA, coffee is the big drink and most people are walking around
> drinking that. I'm one of the odd ones who drinks diet soda instead of
> coffee. I guess it all depends on where you live as to what you drink.

Next time we're in Europe, we're gonna have to find a Pizza Hut. I can
only drink diet because of my diabetes. As unlikely as it might seem, I
prefer it to sugared soft drinks.

On 10/21/2013 11:08 PM, Ophelia wrote:
>
>
> "dsi1" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> You're probably right about the electric kettle being a ubiquitous
>> appliance in Europe. My guess is that it's because Europeans drink a
>> lot of tea. The hot drink of choice in America is coffee which
>> requires a brewing system, not a separate hot water kettle. OTOH, my
>> brother in law was quite happy when he saw the kettles in the places
>> we stayed. He seemed to always be drinking instant coffee. Mostly, he
>> has a taste for instant coffee because he spends a lot of time in a
>> small boat and that's what is available to him. He probably uses a 12V
>> immersion heater for his hot water.
>
> Hmm each to his/her own eh? <g>

Poor guy!

>
>
>> As far as the dryer goes, it's an interesting system but I can't
>> imagine that it would be very energy efficient. Our washer/dryer combo
>> could only handle a small load and it took forever to dry the load.
>> The containment of the lint is a good feature. Venting the hot air
>> does tend to create a linty mess through the hoses and ducts.
>
> I don't have a combo. I have two separate units. My SIL had a combo
> which was forever going wrong and as you say, didn't dry the clothes
> properly.
> I have to say, I've never had any linty mess or any mess from my dryer
> come to that. There is a pull out tank at the top of mine where all the
> water from the clothes goes. I never fail to be amazed at the amount of
> water it collects!
>
>
>> Europeans would probably think the American's love of the ice cold
>> soft drink strange. When my wife and son ordered them, they'd get a
>> rather ordinary glass filled with a little ice, which melted in a
>> couple of minute. The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not
>> reached your shores. You might be somewhat repulsed to see people
>> walking around with huge 32 oz cups of ice and soft drink. I wouldn't
>> blame you if you did. It's a heck of a thing.
>
> All true) Did you see much of that when you were here?

Nobody was interested in big-ass drinks, unlike America. We're a thirsty
bunch! I'm betting that a lot of it is due to the rampant undiagnosed
diabetes in this country. It's gonna have a big impact on our health
care system. That's my prediction anyway.

In London there were some coffee shops. Starbucks for one. Costa is the
local business. They pretty much borrowed the Starbucks model and
expanded the menu items. My opinion is that they improved upon the SB
concept. The good news is that, unlike here, they weren't filled with
snooty Americans. The bad news is that it looked like there was a lot of
Persian organized crime types holding meetings in the joint. :-)

>
>

On 10/21/2013 11:59 PM, Xeno Lith wrote:
> On 22/10/13 6:56 PM, dsi1 wrote:
>> On 10/20/2013 11:38 PM, Xeno Lith wrote:
>>> On 21/10/13 6:42 PM, dsi1 wrote:
>>>> On Sunday, October 20, 2013 6:43:38 PM UTC-10, Xeno Lith wrote:
>>>>> On 21/10/13 11:21 AM, gtr wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 2013-10-20 12:03:27 +0000, Xeno Lith said:
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>> We use our rice cooker, a 5 cup version, on a daily basis. It it the
>>>>>
>>>>>>> second most used appliance here, behind only the electric jug.
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Same here, though we use it twice a week. I assume by "electric jug"
>>>>>> you
>>>>>
>>>>>> mean a machine that keeps water hot? Likely our most used
>>>>>> applicance. We
>>>>>
>>>>>> drink tea all day.
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> That's the one. It's the only appliance that we use more than the rice
>>>>>
>>>>> cooker. We don't use one for keeping water hot - we call them electric
>>>>>
>>>>> urns over here - we just use it to boil water on an as needed basis.
>>>>>
>>>>> Probably 5 to ten times a day on average and, yes, we are tea drinkers
>>>>>
>>>>> too! ;-)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Xeno
>>>>
>>>> The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and
>>>> the
>>> > water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil
>>> water. Amazing!
>>>
>>> Been using this kind of thing for as long as I can remember. I still
>>> recall the old kettles which had an exposed element at the bottom. Every
>>> now and then the element would break and a judicious repair was effected
>>> by connecting the two broken elements together and twisting them around
>>> each other. Worked like a charm! Can't do that with these new fangled
>>> ones! ;-)
>>
>> The new ones are pretty slick, so much so that the design has taken over
>> the market and only the cheapest ones have an immersion element. The
>> kettle uses an induction base to heat the water. The European electric
>> kettles have an advantage over the US in sheer horsepower. The American
>> ones are rated at about 1500 Watts or less. The one we used was rated at
>> 2700W. Oh my!
>>
> We have the advantage of 230-240 volts here... I don't know what out
> kettle's rating is but 2 or 3 minutes gets the water boiling unless I
> fill it. I like it because I can heat as little as one cup of water if
> that's all I need.

In the electrical world, there's no substitution for a lot of watts. Our
112V system is at a big disadvantage.

>>>
>>>>
>>>> There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the
>>>> same unit.
>>> > Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the dryer.
>>> > How is this done? The dryer is a closed system and the air is
>>> recycled.
>>> > Water vapor is removed by running the air throw a refrigeration coils
>>> which
>>> > changes the vapor into liquid water which then goes down the drain.
>>> > The system doesn't work as well as a vented open system but that
>>> water
>>> > pot made up for it.
>>>>
>>> Well, car air conditioning systems are dehumidifiers so I wouldn't be
>>> surprised if the same principle could be used to dry clothes. Seems to
>>> be a bit of an overkill however.
>>>
>> Using a heater in conjunction with a refrigeration system seems like an
>> inelegant way to remove moisture from the air. A washer and dryer combo
>> is more complex than two dedicated units. Adding a refrigeration system
>> makes the complexity factor go through the roof.
>
> Our hot water system was a heat pump, effectively a refridgeration
> system working in reverse... Talk about complexity!

Our condo uses a heat pump for central hot water. Some genius, long ago,
decided to place the air handlers for the evaporators on the roof of the
storeroom which was on the third floor. I would get up at night and it
would sound like there were 747s taxiing in the parking lot. They've
moved the evaporators into the utility room below and on hot days, I can
see kids and dogs sitting below the exhaust vents to cool off.

>
> http://tinyurl.com/lakxxa7
>
> We had a 250 litre system and it was noisy and, to my way of thinking,
> inefficient.
>
> I replaced it with a 300 litre solar hot water system with an electric
> booster for cloudy days. The silence is golden! When it was installed, I
> had the electrician put an externally accessible switch on the booster
> element. I'm told it should see through 2, maybe 3, cloudy days before
> we need to turn the boost element on. So far, in 3 months, the boost
> element has never been turned on. Much better way to go. Must point out
> that I live in an area that gets a lot of sunny days.

Such a system works great in Hawaii. I don't think it would work on a
condo such as ours since there isn't enough surface area available in
tall buildings.

>

On 10/22/2013 2:22 AM, Janet wrote:
> In article >, says...
>>
>> "dsi1" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> On 10/21/2013 12:17 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "dsi1" > wrote in message
>>>> ...
>>>>
>>>>> The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and
>>>>> the water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil
>>>>> water. Amazing!
>
> A kettle. Virtually every Brit home has one.

This is my observation. My guess is that coffee is not big in Wales
because I was surprised that we got served instant coffee at the
restaurant in the resort we were staying.

>>>>>
>>>>> There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the
>>>>> same unit. Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the
>>>>> dryer. How is this done?
>
> With an internal condenser. Not as efficient as having a vent to
> outside; but useful in properties the machine isn't located near a
> suitable external wall.

Paradoxically, the part the condenses the water out is called the
"evaporator." My guess is that the condenser is used to heat the cold,
recycled, air. It's a clever and closed system but it's not as fast as a
vented system.


>>>>
>>>> That is a surprise! I don't think I have been anywhere in Europe in the
>>>> past 50+ years that didn't have an electric kettle! As for the dryer, I
>>>> think ours are much safer. The lint filter is in the unit so has no
>>>> chance of backing up in the wall.
>
> Every dryer I've ever had over 40 years has an efficient lint filter
> in the door for easy access. The air is lint-filtered before it enters
> the vent, so you don't get a build up of lint in the vent pipe (less
> accessible, so potential fire risk) or lint blowing around the garden.
>
>>> You're probably right about the electric kettle being a ubiquitous
>>> appliance in Europe. My guess is that it's because Europeans drink a lot
>>> of tea.
>
> We use them for far more than making tea.
>
>>> As far as the dryer goes, it's an interesting system but I can't imagine
>>> that it would be very energy efficient. Our washer/dryer combo could only
>>> handle a small load and it took forever to dry the load.
>
> They are usually only provided in rentals or where space is limited
> and I agree they are very slow and less efficient. The washers tend not
> to have a fast enough spin program to get enough water out for fast
> drying.
>
> We've always had separate washer and dryer units; both work better and
> there's the obvious benefit of being able to start another wash load
> while the previous one is drying.
>
>>> Europeans would probably think the American's love of the ice cold
> soft
>>> drink strange.
>
> Plenty of home fridges, offices and workplace canteens have push-
> button ice and iced water dispensers.
>
>>> The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not reached your
>>> shores.
>
> Yes, it has. But I wouldn't eat in such places here. UK employers are
> heavily taxed and have to pay serving and wait staff a legal minimum
> wage. The cost of endless refills, "kids eat free" etc can only be
> shaved from the menu prices or the quality of ingredients.

Unfortunately, we never got a chance to eat at one of these places.

>
> Janet UK
>
>
>

On 10/22/2013 6:23 AM, gtr wrote:
> On 2013-10-22 03:18:01 +0000, dsi1 said:
>
>> On 10/21/2013 7:22 AM, gtr wrote:
>>>
>>> I never reheat rice the following day. I don't have amicrowave so
>>> that's out. I also don't refridgerate it as I've never found a way to
>>> reheat it that didn't leave it with a change in texture.
>>>
>>> Instead, I leave the remaining rice in the cooker over night
>>> unrefridgerated. We look forward to this left-over rice for making a
>>> couple of onigiri or rice-balls. We load them with some of the
>>> left-over fish from the night before. In fact we tend to avoid eating
>>> all the fish the from dinner because we so greatly look forward to the
>>> onigiri for the following days lunch.
>>
>> I have never heard of making musubi with cold leftover rice.
>
> Never heard it called musubi; didn't know it had alternative names.
>
>> I assume it's possible since that's what you do. I've only seen it
>> made with hot rice. The method is to wet your hand in cool water and
>> sprinkle your hand liberally with salt. The hot rice is placed on the
>> hand and the musubi is shaped. I make it with really hot rice. It's
>> painful but experts know how to handle it really hot.
>
> I don't use the salt and don't use the laver/nori, though I prefer it.
> You have to keep that fresh till the last second or it just becomes
> leather.
>
> Frequently I don't go through any of this ritual. When it's lunch time
> I fill a bowl with the left-over rice, put a shake of fukikaki seasoning
> over it, a squirt of soy, I take a sheet of nori and using scissors
> whittle it into bits, and then add my left over rice.
>
> Honest to god, for whatever reason, it is one of my favorite lunches.
>
>> I love the traditional iconic shape of the triangular musubi. My
>> aunties could make beautiful ones. My problem is that the small
>> pickled umebushi no longer seem to exist.
>
> They are always in my fridge. I like to eat one in the morning, but
> sadly forget they are there. I'm glad you mentioned it because they are
> NEVER part of my rice bowl/onigiri making--never even thought of it.
>
> Ah--it occurs to me you may means the small hard ume, rather than the
> big soft umeboshi.

Yes, that's the one. Have you seen any of those around? Their
disappearance is a mystery to me.

>
> When we eat it Japanese restaurants my wife invariable orders a bowl of
> rice, usually near the end of the meal. This queues me to order a yaki
> onigiri, which is just an onigiri that that salt grill, sometimes with a
> little soy. I've never made these, but I love that crunch exterior. When
> I order these they are alost always loaded umeboshi.
>
>> These were placed in the center and provided a salty and sour lip
>> puckering hit. It's a tragedy.
>
> Hmm. Now it does sound like regular umeboshi, of which there are
> generally two varieties, the sweet (and light brown colored) and the
> regular tart ones (usually more red colored), frequently both are made
> with tiny squares of what looks like nori. I have never found even the
> tiniest Japanese market that doesn't have these.

Those are the only ones that I see in stores. I wouldn't know what the
hell to do with one of those!

>

On 10/22/2013 6:28 AM, gtr wrote:
> On 2013-10-22 08:36:52 +0000, dsi1 said:
>
>> You're probably right about the electric kettle being a ubiquitous
>> appliance in Europe. My guess is that it's because Europeans drink a
>> lot of tea. The hot drink of choice in America is coffee which
>> requires a brewing system, not a separate hot water kettle.
>
> Just a wild-ass prediction: I think coffee has had its day. The market
> is so glutted with shops and products. I have noted more tea drinkers
> with each passing year; frequently they pursue tea through Chinese and
> Japanese shops and pay plenty for their tea, go through a lot of
> "cooling" processes (Chinese) and lots of other claptrap. We'll see.

Us Americans need our daily caffeine fix so I have to disagree with you.
OTOH, I never would have guessed that America could have become
practically smoke-free in such a short time so I suppose that anything
could happen.

>
>> Europeans would probably think the American's love of the ice cold
>> soft drink strange. When my wife and son ordered them, they'd get a
>> rather ordinary glass filled with a little ice, which melted in a
>> couple of minute. The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not
>> reached your shores. You might be somewhat repulsed to see people
>> walking around with huge 32 oz cups of ice and soft drink. I wouldn't
>> blame you if you did. It's a heck of a thing.
>
> I found it strange in France when I asked for a Martini (which generally
> means a vermouth as in "Martini & Rossi), that I was frequently asked
> "Two ice cubes or one?"
>

Those crazy-ass French peoples!

"Janet" > wrote in message
t...
> In article >, says...
>>
>> "dsi1" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > On 10/21/2013 12:17 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> "dsi1" > wrote in message
>> >> ...
>> >>
>> >>> The hot water pot we used in Wales was a gas. You put water in it and
>> >>> the water is boiling in a few minutes. It's the fastest way to boil
>> >>> water. Amazing!
>
> A kettle. Virtually every Brit home has one.
>> >>>
>> >>> There was also a clothes washer that also dried the clothes in the
>> >>> same unit. Pretty slick. The weird part was there was no vent for the
>> >>> dryer. How is this done?
>
> With an internal condenser. Not as efficient as having a vent to
> outside; but useful in properties the machine isn't located near a
> suitable external wall.
>> >>
>> >> That is a surprise! I don't think I have been anywhere in Europe in
>> >> the
>> >> past 50+ years that didn't have an electric kettle! As for the dryer,
>> >> I
>> >> think ours are much safer. The lint filter is in the unit so has no
>> >> chance of backing up in the wall.
>
> Every dryer I've ever had over 40 years has an efficient lint filter
> in the door for easy access. The air is lint-filtered before it enters
> the vent, so you don't get a build up of lint in the vent pipe (less
> accessible, so potential fire risk) or lint blowing around the garden.
>
>> > You're probably right about the electric kettle being a ubiquitous
>> > appliance in Europe. My guess is that it's because Europeans drink a
>> > lot
>> > of tea.
>
> We use them for far more than making tea.
>
>> > As far as the dryer goes, it's an interesting system but I can't
>> > imagine
>> > that it would be very energy efficient. Our washer/dryer combo could
>> > only
>> > handle a small load and it took forever to dry the load.
>
> They are usually only provided in rentals or where space is limited
> and I agree they are very slow and less efficient. The washers tend not
> to have a fast enough spin program to get enough water out for fast
> drying.
>
> We've always had separate washer and dryer units; both work better and
> there's the obvious benefit of being able to start another wash load
> while the previous one is drying.
>
>> > Europeans would probably think the American's love of the ice cold
> soft
>> > drink strange.
>
> Plenty of home fridges, offices and workplace canteens have push-
> button ice and iced water dispensers.
>
>>> The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not reached your
>> > shores.
>
> Yes, it has. But I wouldn't eat in such places here. UK employers are
> heavily taxed and have to pay serving and wait staff a legal minimum
> wage. The cost of endless refills, "kids eat free" etc can only be
> shaved from the menu prices or the quality of ingredients.

Don't come to Washington state then! Restaurant workers have to be paid
minimum wage here too. And almost every place has free refills. Exception
being taverns and pubs that don't have separate restaurants. They can get
away with charging for refills. At other places? No free refills? People
will just go elsewhere. There aren't a lot of "kids eat free" places here
but the places that do offer this only do it on certain days of the week and
during certain hours.

"bhigh" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> "Julie Bove" wrote in message ...
>
>
> "jinx the minx" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> Yes, those washer/dryer all in ones exist in the U.S. too, but they are
>> hard to find. I used to own one. It was perfect for my small apartment,
>> but it never completely dried my clothes.
>
> Hmmm... Never seen one.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> http://www.splendide.com/index.htm
>
> Out of Clackamas , OR

Interesting! Thanks!

"dsi1" > wrote in message
...

> Nobody was interested in big-ass drinks, unlike America. We're a thirsty
> bunch! I'm betting that a lot of it is due to the rampant undiagnosed
> diabetes in this country. It's gonna have a big impact on our health care
> system. That's my prediction anyway.

I think you are probably right. I see overweight kids here who are always
holding a bottle of some kind of fizzy drink. You never see a thin kid
doing that. (Or I haven't)! Do yours not drink the low sugar drinks?
(dunno about ours)

> In London there were some coffee shops. Starbucks for one. Costa is the
> local business. They pretty much borrowed the Starbucks model and expanded
> the menu items. My opinion is that they improved upon the SB concept. The
> good news is that, unlike here, they weren't filled with snooty Americans.
> The bad news is that it looked like there was a lot of Persian organized
> crime types holding meetings in the joint. :-)

lol I rarely get into one. I think the last time was a couple of years
ago. I had taken my great grandmother's opera glasses to a shop in Glasgow
that deals in binoculars because they needed a little work. He asked us to
return in an hour. I got fed up with walking around (I am not big on
shopping) We went into Starbuck (first time ever) I suppose the coffee was
nice enough but not nice enough to pay those prices. The place was full of
people working on their laptops.
--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

On Tue, 22 Oct 2013 21:41:58 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> wrote:



>>>> The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not reached your
>>> > shores.
>>
>> Yes, it has. But I wouldn't eat in such places here. UK employers are
>> heavily taxed and have to pay serving and wait staff a legal minimum
>> wage. The cost of endless refills, "kids eat free" etc can only be
>> shaved from the menu prices or the quality of ingredients.
>
>Don't come to Washington state then! Restaurant workers have to be paid
>minimum wage here too. And almost every place has free refills. Exception
>being taverns and pubs that don't have separate restaurants. They can get
>away with charging for refills. At other places? No free refills? People
>will just go elsewhere. There aren't a lot of "kids eat free" places here
>but the places that do offer this only do it on certain days of the week and
>during certain hours.

The free refills is very profitable. It makes you feel good paying
$2.49 for 5¢ worth of syrup because you can get more for "free".

McDonalds often offers any size drink for $1.

"Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 22 Oct 2013 21:41:58 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> > wrote:
>
>
>
>>>>> The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not reached your
>>>> > shores.
>>>
>>> Yes, it has. But I wouldn't eat in such places here. UK employers are
>>> heavily taxed and have to pay serving and wait staff a legal minimum
>>> wage. The cost of endless refills, "kids eat free" etc can only be
>>> shaved from the menu prices or the quality of ingredients.
>>
>>Don't come to Washington state then! Restaurant workers have to be paid
>>minimum wage here too. And almost every place has free refills.
>>Exception
>>being taverns and pubs that don't have separate restaurants. They can get
>>away with charging for refills. At other places? No free refills?
>>People
>>will just go elsewhere. There aren't a lot of "kids eat free" places here
>>but the places that do offer this only do it on certain days of the week
>>and
>>during certain hours.
>
> The free refills is very profitable. It makes you feel good paying
> $2.49 for 5¢ worth of syrup because you can get more for "free".
>
> McDonalds often offers any size drink for $1.

I think the kid sized drinks at Target are $1.00. But you can use the
Cartwheel to save 5% and your Red Card for another 5%. Refills are free but
you only have a certain amount of hours to get them. The kid sized are very
tiny though. Like joke sized!

On 23/10/13 10:35 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>
> "Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On Tue, 22 Oct 2013 21:41:58 -0700, "Julie Bove"
>> > wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>>>> The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not reached your
>>>>> > shores.
>>>>
>>>> Yes, it has. But I wouldn't eat in such places here. UK employers are
>>>> heavily taxed and have to pay serving and wait staff a legal minimum
>>>> wage. The cost of endless refills, "kids eat free" etc can only be
>>>> shaved from the menu prices or the quality of ingredients.
>>>
>>> Don't come to Washington state then! Restaurant workers have to be paid
>>> minimum wage here too. And almost every place has free refills.
>>> Exception
>>> being taverns and pubs that don't have separate restaurants. They
>>> can get
>>> away with charging for refills. At other places? No free refills?
>>> People
>>> will just go elsewhere. There aren't a lot of "kids eat free" places
>>> here
>>> but the places that do offer this only do it on certain days of the
>>> week and
>>> during certain hours.
>>
>> The free refills is very profitable. It makes you feel good paying
>> $2.49 for 5¢ worth of syrup because you can get more for "free".
>>
>> McDonalds often offers any size drink for $1.
>
> I think the kid sized drinks at Target are $1.00. But you can use the
> Cartwheel to save 5% and your Red Card for another 5%. Refills are free
> but you only have a certain amount of hours to get them. The kid sized
> are very tiny though. Like joke sized!

That the drinks are actually kid sized might not be such a bad thing! ;-)


--

Xeno

In article >, says...
> >>> The concept of free, unlimited, refills has not reached your
> >> > shores.
> >
> > Yes, it has. But I wouldn't eat in such places here. UK employers are
> > heavily taxed and have to pay serving and wait staff a legal minimum
> > wage. The cost of endless refills, "kids eat free" etc can only be
> > shaved from the menu prices or the quality of ingredients.
>
> Don't come to Washington state then! Restaurant workers have to be paid
> minimum wage here too.

Washington state MW is below UK minimum wage rates. PLUS all UK
employers must contribute a fixed rate to their staffs' National
Insurance taxation ( pays towards the the NHS and state benefits and
pensions etc) AND provide statutory holiday, sick, and maternity leave
pay.

IOW, in UK food outlets, high labour costs are unavoidable.

Janet UK.

In article >, lid
says...

.. My guess is that coffee is not big in Wales

Mistake

> because I was surprised that we got served instant coffee at the
> restaurant in the resort we were staying.

:-( The hall-mark of downmarket.

"Restaurants" in Wales normally serve real percolated or expresso
coffees.

Janet UK

On Wed, 23 Oct 2013 04:35:09 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> wrote:

> The kid sized are very tiny though. Like joke sized!

I always liked "kid sized" versions of things. I certainly don't
expect a kid size to be sufficient for any kid that eats adult
portions, but they are perfect, if not too much, for the 3 and under
crowd. My kids never ate like sumo wrestlers anyway (even as
teenagers), so I don't look for huge portions of food. I'm with mayor
Blumberg on that one. If anyone wants more - they should exert a
little energy and get a refill or buy two of them.

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

On 2013-10-23 01:53:36 +0000, dsi1 said:

> On 10/22/2013 6:28 AM, gtr wrote:
>> On 2013-10-22 08:36:52 +0000, dsi1 said:
>>
>>> You're probably right about the electric kettle being a ubiquitous
>>> appliance in Europe. My guess is that it's because Europeans drink a
>>> lot of tea. The hot drink of choice in America is coffee which
>>> requires a brewing system, not a separate hot water kettle.
>>
>> Just a wild-ass prediction: I think coffee has had its day. The market
>> is so glutted with shops and products. I have noted more tea drinkers
>> with each passing year; frequently they pursue tea through Chinese and
>> Japanese shops and pay plenty for their tea, go through a lot of
>> "cooling" processes (Chinese) and lots of other claptrap. We'll see.
>
> Us Americans need our daily caffeine fix so I have to disagree with you.

Tea has caffeine; so far no disagreement. I just think it's being
oversold, and Americans are also rabid about novelty and fashion, in
"health marketing" too, as in all other things. As I sad, we'll see.

> OTOH, I never would have guessed that America could have become
> practically smoke-free in such a short time so I suppose that anything
> could happen.

There you go. Eventualy lynching was abandoned, racism has to be vastly
more discreet, and even the "she was asking for it" defense of rape is
passe. Who knows, we may even begin to distrust corruption and a basic
mode of operation.

>> I found it strange in France when I asked for a Martini (which generally
>> means a vermouth as in "Martini & Rossi"), that I was frequently asked
>> "Two ice cubes or one?"
>
> Those crazy-ass French peoples!

That's why I loves 'em!

On 10/22/2013 10:55 PM, Ophelia wrote:
>
>
> "dsi1" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> Nobody was interested in big-ass drinks, unlike America. We're a
>> thirsty bunch! I'm betting that a lot of it is due to the rampant
>> undiagnosed diabetes in this country. It's gonna have a big impact on
>> our health care system. That's my prediction anyway.
>
> I think you are probably right. I see overweight kids here who are
> always holding a bottle of some kind of fizzy drink. You never see a
> thin kid doing that. (Or I haven't)! Do yours not drink the low sugar
> drinks? (dunno about ours)
>

My son and wife will drink diet sodas - I'm not sure how that came
about. Now they prefer it.

>> In London there were some coffee shops. Starbucks for one. Costa is
>> the local business. They pretty much borrowed the Starbucks model and
>> expanded the menu items. My opinion is that they improved upon the SB
>> concept. The good news is that, unlike here, they weren't filled with
>> snooty Americans. The bad news is that it looked like there was a lot
>> of Persian organized crime types holding meetings in the joint. :-)
>
> lol I rarely get into one. I think the last time was a couple of years
> ago. I had taken my great grandmother's opera glasses to a shop in
> Glasgow that deals in binoculars because they needed a little work. He
> asked us to return in an hour. I got fed up with walking around (I am
> not big on shopping) We went into Starbuck (first time ever) I suppose
> the coffee was nice enough but not nice enough to pay those prices. The
> place was full of people working on their laptops.

I never feel like I belong in a Starbucks. It's like "The Village of the
Damned" where I'm thrown in amongst a group of kids with glowing eyes.
Well, maybe their eyes aren't glowing but I know that they can all sense
my apprehension as a group while I linger about in their territory. I
don't want to belong to this group of trendy people with their Apple
laptops - mostly I want a cup of coffee that's not all burnt to hell so
I'll order the brewed coffee. I always get the brewed coffee when I find
myself in these alien places.

On 10/23/2013 3:33 AM, Janet wrote:
> In article >, lid
> says...
>
> . My guess is that coffee is not big in Wales
>
> Mistake
>
>> because I was surprised that we got served instant coffee at the
>> restaurant in the resort we were staying.
>
> :-( The hall-mark of downmarket.

The Resort had just changed owners so you're probably right. OTOH, I was
surprised at the amount of instant coffee on the shelves at Tesco. The
people of Wales were not into whole bean coffee if the shelves are any
indication. As we all know, the shelves never lie.

>
> "Restaurants" in Wales normally serve real percolated or expresso
> coffees.
>
> Janet UK
>

"dsi1" > wrote in message
...
> I never feel like I belong in a Starbucks. It's like "The Village of the
> Damned" where I'm thrown in amongst a group of kids with glowing eyes.


lol

> Well, maybe their eyes aren't glowing but I know that they can all sense
> my apprehension as a group while I linger about in their territory. I
> don't want to belong to this group of trendy people with their Apple
> laptops - mostly I want a cup of coffee that's not all burnt to hell so
> I'll order the brewed coffee. I always get the brewed coffee when I find
> myself in these alien places.

I'll leave you to your coffee bar. I think I'll give it a miss)

--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

On 10/23/2013 7:03 AM, gtr wrote:
> On 2013-10-23 01:53:36 +0000, dsi1 said:
>
>> On 10/22/2013 6:28 AM, gtr wrote:
>>> On 2013-10-22 08:36:52 +0000, dsi1 said:
>>>
>>>> You're probably right about the electric kettle being a ubiquitous
>>>> appliance in Europe. My guess is that it's because Europeans drink a
>>>> lot of tea. The hot drink of choice in America is coffee which
>>>> requires a brewing system, not a separate hot water kettle.
>>>
>>> Just a wild-ass prediction: I think coffee has had its day. The market
>>> is so glutted with shops and products. I have noted more tea drinkers
>>> with each passing year; frequently they pursue tea through Chinese and
>>> Japanese shops and pay plenty for their tea, go through a lot of
>>> "cooling" processes (Chinese) and lots of other claptrap. We'll see.
>>
>> Us Americans need our daily caffeine fix so I have to disagree with you.
>
> Tea has caffeine; so far no disagreement. I just think it's being
> oversold, and Americans are also rabid about novelty and fashion, in
> "health marketing" too, as in all other things. As I sad, we'll see.
>
>> OTOH, I never would have guessed that America could have become
>> practically smoke-free in such a short time so I suppose that anything
>> could happen.
>
> There you go. Eventualy lynching was abandoned, racism has to be vastly
> more discreet, and even the "she was asking for it" defense of rape is
> passe. Who knows, we may even begin to distrust corruption and a basic
> mode of operation.

I was talking to a guy about the trip and he said that Europe was a
couple of hundred years behind the US. I was startled. I never got that
feeling. The incredible wave of immigration in Europe gave me the
feeling of vibrancy and change - at least that's what I felt on the
streets. It seemed to me that you guys are in for some exciting times.

OTOH, I'm disappointed with our country. The British abolished slavery
30 years before we did and they didn't have a civil war to make it
stick. It's a war the this country is still fighting, or at least, still
sore about. I was surprised when a politician referred to it recently in
TV, as "the war of Northern aggression." Evidently there are still some
people that never figured out what the Civil War was all about.

Make no mistake about it, currently this country is fighting another
civil war. The only purpose of this was is to get rid of the black guy
in the white house and burn all traces of his legacy. We're not above
taking down this country and others to do it. So great is some people's
hate of the black man in the white house.

Then there's the war to keep health care out of the hands of people that
need it. Why any country that values the pursuit of happiness would do
this is a mystery. It's time that America joined the rest of the
civilized world. Maybe there's a county that's a couple of hundred years
in the past but it's probably not in Europe.

Ha ha, that's all I got to say about that.

>
>>> I found it strange in France when I asked for a Martini (which generally
>>> means a vermouth as in "Martini & Rossi"), that I was frequently asked
>>> "Two ice cubes or one?"
>>
>> Those crazy-ass French peoples!
>
> That's why I loves 'em!
>

On 10/23/2013 9:31 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>
>
> "dsi1" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I never feel like I belong in a Starbucks. It's like "The Village of
>> the Damned" where I'm thrown in amongst a group of kids with glowing
>> eyes.
>
>
> lol
>
>> Well, maybe their eyes aren't glowing but I know that they can all
>> sense my apprehension as a group while I linger about in their
>> territory. I don't want to belong to this group of trendy people with
>> their Apple laptops - mostly I want a cup of coffee that's not all
>> burnt to hell so I'll order the brewed coffee. I always get the brewed
>> coffee when I find myself in these alien places.
>
> I'll leave you to your coffee bar. I think I'll give it a miss)
>

The cult of the burnt bean has no appeal to you. Me neither but
sometimes I just don't have the locomotion to go very far for a coffee
fix. I just have to buck up and walk boldly through those doors and
order my medium Americano and hope they don't hassle me for my misuse of
the word "medium" and my lack of taste. :-)

"dsi1" > wrote in message
...

> The cult of the burnt bean has no appeal to you. Me neither but sometimes
> I just don't have the locomotion to go very far for a coffee fix. I just
> have to buck up and walk boldly through those doors and order my medium
> Americano and hope they don't hassle me for my misuse of the word "medium"
> and my lack of taste. :-)

Such a brave man!!! Do what you have to do ...

--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> The free refills is very profitable. It makes you feel good paying
> $2.49 for 5¢ worth of syrup because you can get more for "free".
>
> McDonalds often offers any size drink for $1.

I love the fast food restaurant food but I only go to one maybe 4
times a year. That seldom, it's always a treat for me. I always get
take out though and never buy the overpriced drinks.

G.

On 10/23/2013 11:16 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>
>
> "dsi1" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> The cult of the burnt bean has no appeal to you. Me neither but sometimes
>> I just don't have the locomotion to go very far for a coffee fix. I just
>> have to buck up and walk boldly through those doors and order my medium
>> Americano and hope they don't hassle me for my misuse of the word
>> "medium"
>> and my lack of taste. :-)
>
> Such a brave man!!! Do what you have to do ...
>

A man's gotta do...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN3eBvZvUXk

"sf" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 23 Oct 2013 04:35:09 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> > wrote:
>
>> The kid sized are very tiny though. Like joke sized!
>
> I always liked "kid sized" versions of things. I certainly don't
> expect a kid size to be sufficient for any kid that eats adult
> portions, but they are perfect, if not too much, for the 3 and under
> crowd. My kids never ate like sumo wrestlers anyway (even as
> teenagers), so I don't look for huge portions of food. I'm with mayor
> Blumberg on that one. If anyone wants more - they should exert a
> little energy and get a refill or buy two of them.

Angela didn't usually like whatever food was on the kid's menu so I rarely
ordered from it for her. I can not eat a full meal either so I generally
just ordered one meal and we split it.

"dsi1" > wrote in message
...
> On 10/23/2013 11:16 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>>
>>
>> "dsi1" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> The cult of the burnt bean has no appeal to you. Me neither but
>>> sometimes
>>> I just don't have the locomotion to go very far for a coffee fix. I just
>>> have to buck up and walk boldly through those doors and order my medium
>>> Americano and hope they don't hassle me for my misuse of the word
>>> "medium"
>>> and my lack of taste. :-)
>>
>> Such a brave man!!! Do what you have to do ...
>>
>
> A man's gotta do...

That's the one <g>

--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/