My bits-and-pieces file is full, so it’s time to purge.
First up, I realize this is a bratty, First-World “problem” to mention, but Costco forced me to do what I never wanted to do: shop online. But I had no choice. Costco stopped carrying one of the only things I count on buying at Costco: Kirkland clear wastebasket liners. My bags have never seen the inside of a wastebasket. Instead, I use them when cooking. I asked a manager about the bags being out of stock and he said that they’re only available for purchase online. In fact, the Redding Costco folks use those bags, too (probably for their intended purpose), and they have to order them online, just like the rest of us.
There are 500 bags to a box, which lasts me a long time. I don’t know where the time went because I’m down to just a few bags. I use them for all sorts of things, such as marinating meat. And I use them to cover my KitchenAid while dough is resting, or to keep ingredients from splattering outside the bowl.
Then, when I’m making sourdough bread, I use that same bag to cover the bowl after I’ve removed the attachment so the dough can rise.
Finally, I use the same bag to place over the baking tray as the dough is rising in the pans.
I ordered my bags, which should arrive any day. Who knows, maybe I’ll grow to like shopping at Costco online.
I’m not there yet.
Dish soap loves silicone
I few months ago I had melted butter in a silicone measuring cup, and was using a silicone pastry brush to spread the melted butter on the top of just-baked bread. But instead of smelling the aroma of baked bread, I smelled dishwasher soap. The smell came from the silicone measure cup and the silicone pastry brush, both of which had been washed in the dishwasher. Now, I wash silicone kitchen supplies by hand in hot water with some liquid detergent, and skip the dishwasher.
I prefer pastry brushes with real hair, but they often fall out. So it looks like we’re stuck with silicone until something better comes along.
Downtown Redding driving can drive a driver crazy
I live near downtown, and am a frequent visitor to the Yuba Street Post Office. But this area has issues, starting with traveling south on Court Street and making a left turn onto Yuba Street. There’s no turn lane, so vehicles pile up behind the drivers making that turn, leaving the post-office-bound vehicles with their rears stuck out on Court Street. It always feels unsafe, and it jams up the traffic flow.
But once you make it down Yuba Street, there are some new challenges. If I were the queen of Redding, I’d say that vehicles cannot turn from Placer Street onto Oregon Street unless they have post office business. As it is, many drivers use that short Placer-to-Oregon street area as a shortcut, and often they’re bombing through there, nearly hitting cars that are trying to leave the post office parking spaces. Plus, if you’re one of the vehicles attempted to back out of those diagonal post office parking spaces, you need to inch out a bit at a time, watching for the impatient short-cutters. Just yesterday I was honked at by a speeding short-cutter. Usually, I solve this problem by parking across the street from the diagonal parking spaces, in front of the office building, if there are spaces available.
See that maroon SUV parked beyond the former Carnegie’ restaurant? Doni parked in front of that vehicle for a recent post office visit.
Today’s final problematic downtown street is Tehama between West and Court streets, especially weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., when people are visiting the County Administration Building or Shasta County Courthouse.
In a situation similar to the Oregon Street post office area, driving from West toward Court via Tehama Street is difficult to navigate because there’s an abundance of diagonal parking spots on both sides of Tehama, leaving just a small center strip available for traffic. For some reason that I’ve never understood, many of the vehicles are pickups, which need lots of space to back out without hitting through-traffic vehicles. I avoid it except on weekends.
Something good
Redding has more and more murals and public art, such as this beauty near Sequoia Middle School. I don’t know the artist, or how this came to be, but it makes me smile. What a great question: What is the best that could happen?
Word associations
Some words really bug me. There are two words that are like nails on a chalkboard (I know I’m, dating myself): The first contender is “bougie“, as in, the women ate at a bougie restaurant. The second word is zhuzh – which is another way to say something has been gussied up. Alternate spellings include zhoosh or jeuje. Part of what makes the word zhuzh so annoying is that when people say it, they tend to close their eyes and make a corresponding head-tilting affected facial expression that invariably accompanies the word.
Another semi-related term is “chef’s kiss”, which often includes the gesture of fingers flying from the lips, as if throwing kisses. I think what bougie, zhuzh and chef’s kiss all have in common is they sound pretentious, which bugs me.
Speaking of words, have you ever noticed that some words tend to follow others automatically? Case in point: Filthy is often followed by dirty, as in, “The kid’s room was a filthy-dirty mess.” And when making reference to a tough cut of meat, often the description is that the meat was as “tough as shoe leather” — not just leather, or not just tough as a shoe, but it was tough as shoe leather, which takes us back to a time when most shoes were made with shoe leather.
I’m sure you can think of other examples.
NPR Puzzlemaster
I’ve been following the National Public Radio’s Puzzlemaster hosted by Will Shortz for many decades. I used to think it would be cool to be selected to be on the show. I often yell out the answers with glee, feeling pretty dang smug. But sometimes, as some brilliant contestant is trying to solve word puzzles, I come up completely blank — I mean completely blank — and am so glad that it’s not me in the hot seat, left to look completely ignorant as answers escape me. Behold, some examples:
Question: Name the only thing that fits between Bashful and Dopey alphabetically in its category.
Answer: Doc (The Seven Dwarfs)
Question: Name a 10-letter object found in a kitchen. Drop its 6th letter to get something on a keyboard. Then, drop that new word’s 5th letter to name something no one wants to get.
Answer: Refrigerator -> Backspace -> Bacteria.
Pedicure shaming
I love pedicures, but they’re something I treat myself to infrequently, because they’re spendy. Therefore, there’s shame involved as I imagine that the technicians usually conversing with each other in their own languages, are judging the state of my neglected feet. I’ve tried lying, and saying things like, “please forgive the state of my feet because I’ve been hiking barefooted for a few months.” But one thing nearly every nail technician I’ve ever visited does that I really, really hate, is they feel compelled to turn the micro-planer over to show progress made on callouses. It’s gross, and it’s humiliating. I wish they would stop. The day they stop doing that is the day when I can stop leaving town for pedicures.
A word with women’s clothing designers
All blouses, shirts and dresses, even fancy ones, should have deep pockets. Pockets are so appreciated and so rare in dresses in particular that if you compliment a woman on a dress, she’ll proudly
exclaim, “It has pockets!” (only if it has pockets, of course). Deep pockets would allow women to ditch purses and carry important things as men do, in pockets. We could carry money, Kleenex, lipstick and even pepper spray.
Also a request to women’s clothing designers, can you please create more tops and dresses with 3/4 length sleeves, or sleeves with elastic just below the elbow? Thank you, signed, women of a certain age.
Important travel advice: The most important medication
One of the most horribly memorable travel events I ever experienced was many years ago on a tour bus after we’d just spent the day in Warsaw at a Christmas market filled with all kinds of specialty foods. We ate something in the sausage-and-potato category. I loved the food, but my body wasn’t a fan. I was suddenly stricken by a severe wave of gastrointestinal catastrophe, made worse by the fact that I was trying to downplay the severity of the attack, in a city where tourists pay to use restrooms. We eventually made our way to our tour bus for a drive that took more than an hour for the return to the Czech Republic. I truly thought I would die on that bus. I manage to hold everything in during the trip, but it was sheer agony. Since then, I never leave home without an antidiarrhea medication. Never! And you shouldn’t, either. Our guts are unique, and food that was no problem for the rest of my family was a disaster for me. The pills are so tiny. No excuse to leave home without them.
What the heck is the deal with Dubai chocolate?
About a year ago I noticed the prevalence of Dubai chocolate sold everywhere, in a variety of forms and shapes; such as bunnies for Easter and Santas for Christmas. What’s up with that? It’s everywhere. I tried it. I don’t like it, mainly because I don’t like the bright green pistachio filling. And besides, it’s really expensive. I made the mistake of doing a quick online search about Dubai chocolate and found some disgusting posts that had nothing to do with chocolate. (I’m warning you. It’s ugly. Gosh, I feel so old and clueless.)
Before I wrap up this column with a cautionary tale, please allow me to interrupt and remind you that A News Cafe is largely supported by sustaining memberships from generous readers. If you are already a subscriber, then thank you! If you’re not, then what are you waiting for? Thank you!
Summer: Just in time for cautionary tales
I am mortified to admit this, but just before the nearby high school broke for summer, I nearly ran over a teenager in a cross walk. I’m admitting this so I can explain what happened and perhaps prevent you from repeating my mistake. I had pulled my car up to the stop light near the high school. I look right, and left, and right again. The coast was clear and the light was green. There were no students on the corner, so I proceeded, but then slammed on my breaks. There had been some students half way down the block, and when the light turned green a girl sprinted to cross the road. I’m not sure if she realized how close I’d come to hitting her, but I’m still shaken by what happened. Now, if there’s a cross walk and the light turns green, I crane my neck way behind me to the right to see if there are pedestrians in the vicinity, ready to run for the light.
Your turn
OK, let’s hear your least-favorite words and expressions. And any cautionary tales. And Redding streets that most bother you. And something you wouldn’t dream of traveling without it. And what are your suggestions for clothing designers? Finally, what is the best that could happen?
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