@yakkoTDI exactly. Not all coffee is equal and that’s especially true of hotels and medical institutions the two places that frequently have complimentary coffee and it’s almost universally bad and not drinkable.
But if I find someone with good free coffee… I’m on board.
@kittykat9180 True but 99.9% of the time mine aren’t up there. I created loud avalanches piles if they got up there that would fall very easily and then one got a roach sticky trap stuck on himself and freaked out. Pretty much has cured them of kitchen countertop action.
@Kidsandliz@kittykat9180 I use training tapes. Three-inch-wide strips of clear packing tape a foot or two long, laid near the edge of the counter with the sticky side up. Works pretty well.
@Kidsandliz@kittykat9180@werehatrack
My cat just doesn’t do that. Of course, the counters are small and there’s very little room where he could because there’s a lot if stuff on them.
@kittykat9180@unksol Yeah if I had more cats than I do likely I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with restacking the avalanche pile when needed and so would have been less successful. Of course the cat freaking out with a sticky mouse/roach paper stuck to his side is proof they still, on occasion, try even with the avalanches.
@unksol mouse traps on the countertops is a quick cure to that problem. A less invasive way is sticky pads.
“I can just wipe all the cat shit paw prints off the counter” mentality is the reason I don’t eat other people’s food.
@kittykat9180 well deterrent sprays don’t work. Scat mats kinda do. It got them to stop pissin on my grandmas buffet/where the tv is. Still need to deploy elsewhere.
@kittykat9180 also…just. What?
“I can just wipe all the cat shit paw prints off the counter” mentality is the reason I don’t eat other people’s food.
Like do you prepare food directly on the counter instead of using a bread board or a cutting board? I assume you have washed, sanitized the surface you’re going to prepare food on.
I don’t prep a raw chicken on the counter cause I’m not a savage. But if I were going to. I’d clean it first, clean it after cause the bacteria from the chicken.
Please tell me you at least don’t rinse your meat
There’s a whole group of people who think you need to wash chicken. Ffs
@unksol If the chicken needs washing, it’s already over the hill. (Exceptions may exist for people with highly compromised immune systems or allergies to certain things, but that’s rare.) That said, I can see an argument for rinsing off the crap that the packing house drenched it with, but even then, if it’s been on the chicken since packing, then it’s in the chicken at this point. (“May contain up to 5% of a solution of chicken broth.”)
@unksol, in kitchens where people “wash” their chicken, even after cleaning 14% of them still had bacteria present on surfaces. It would be logical to assume the same would be true of cat poop countertops.
I understand that the standard of cleanliness in my household surpasses that of the average household. Again, that’s why I don’t eat other people’s cooking.
That you can guarantee during the preparation process no part of the food, your hands, or cooking instruments touch any surface of the countertop is amazing. I can’t make that same guarantee, you must be a more skilled cook.
I’m not sure why you are reacting in a defensive way to my comments. I’m sharing my opinion, it’s not a personal attack. You’re the only one who needs to be satisfied with the cleanliness of your home. Further, I doubt you and I will ever be in a situation where you’re offering to cook for me and I’m turning it down.
@kittykat9180 I’m quiet literally not being defensive. But I can’t stop the cats being on the counter. They use it on the way to the top of the cabinets. And the bay window. Point was that’s not an issue because I would both sanitize the counter and be using a cutting board like I said. It’s not that big a deal. If I were your friend and you came into my home and were that judgy I would probably be offended. But you’re not. So meh.
If you wash chicken you are spreading bacteria so… Eh. That stat is expected.
But your correct I wouldn’t have any one over by my choice, I’m just not that social. And on top of that yes the cats are a lot and figuring out how to responsibly reduce the number would be good. There are other issues. There’s cat fur everywhere that constantly needs to be wiped down/cleaned up
There are litter boxes to deal with daily how gross.
@unksol If there is a PetsMart near you, xheck the cat adoption area and get the name of the group running it. Contact them and expain your situation. Any group doing cat placement via a PetsMart is going to check out potential adopters carefully.
@werehatrack I mean the places to go for help would obviously be the two local county humane societies but I’m also unwilling to just drop them off to live in a shelter. Id much rather deal with their maddening chaos than do that. Asking them if they have some ideas on placing them without putting a burden on the shelter is probably the logical approach but I may just be stuck with the herd. Which is also fine.
@unksol Adoption groups that use those Petsmart adoption rooms generally don’t use a shelter, they wait until there’s going to be an opening at the adoption room, and then have you drop them off. Until then, you typically would be expected to continue to foster them. Well-behaved cats that are willing to engage with strangers typically get adopted fairly quickly. This time of year, the shelters up north are not yet overrun with kittens, improving the chances. Or you could just decide that no, really, you’re cool with being the cat guy.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@werehatrack some of them do weird things so weather or not I’m cool with it may be stuck with them.
Also I named them all so. Let’s be honest id miss the fuckers. But some of the behavior problems may be volume related. They just don’t get enough attention.
And they’ll probably all calm down as they get older
@unksol @kittykat9180 - So I have to assume that you never eat at restaurants either? Because I’ve worked in them and I can assure you that not everyone upholds the standards for cleanliness that you’d want. Kind of rules out take-out and delivery, or any food that someone else prepares.
@Kyeh, I’ve never seen cats walking on countertops at restaurants. But, no, I rarely eat out. My food is better and less expensive at than most restaurants.
@kittykat9180 There are other kinds of feces - rat turds, cockroach droppings - shall I go on? The world is full of germs and also chemicals that can make you sick. You could end up like Howard Hughes if you dwell on it too much!
But proper cleaning makes things sanitary so it’s more a problem of do you trust people to clean properly or do you think they’re being lax about it?
@kittykat9180@Kyeh if we’re going to be squeamish. There’s almost certainly more poop in a container of dried oregano than on a counter top that’s been appropriately cleaned before food preparation, no matter how many cats have been on it. FDA allows so many mg of poop per spice, and so many insect particles. 60 insect fragments are allowed per 100 grams of chocolate.
Not that I’m proposing we add any more poop or bits of insect than we need to. There’s animal.poop.and bits of cockroach in just about everything you buy. Herbs, chocolate and peanut butter probably the worst. We all eat the equivalent of several cockroaches a year when you add up the fragments in common ingredients.
@kittykat9180@OnionSoup Well, being too sanitary is evidently not that good for you - they say that that may be why modern kids have so many more food allergies than kids in the past.
@kittykat9180@Kyeh yes… And first born kids are more likely to develop allergies than youngest kids. The theory is kids are dirty, unhygienic creatures and parents keep a sanitary environment for the oldest but younger kids they may relax a little… Or the younger kids are just exposed to all the filth from their older siblings… And the filth from the older kids keeps the younger kids from developing allergies.
Also, only child, children develop highest levels of allergies of all.
@kittykat9180@Kyeh@OnionSoup also, I hope you grow all your own food and never, ever shop at the grocery store. All those goods are transported through tucks and warehouses. Very unsanatary conditions. Bugs, vermon, etc tend to hang around warehouses and do crawl on boxes. Sure they are packaged, but liquids seep into cardboard.
Then when it gets to the grocery store who knows what crawls on the shelved items at night. I mean Ive seen birds in the store from time to time. Who knows what other critters scurry around at night.
That being said my generation, where I grew up, was free from lead paint and lead pipes. Which I know is not the case everywhere and still an issue. Those are probably way more detrimental. As are cancer causing issues and diet.
Everyone know about toxoplasmosis. Cooking kills it. So even if I wanted to roll my raw chicken on a counter my cat walked on. It would kill it. It’s no different than keeping your raw veg separate from your chicken.
But just so you know https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8823692/
“The search was performed in databases including PubMed, WoS, Scopus, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and ISC from 2000 to 2019 in Persian and English. The main inclusion criteria were the prevalence of toxoplasmosis among livestock and poultry and the prevalence indices by sample size. During these 20 years, the overall prevalence of toxoplasmosis in livestock and poultry was 28.3% (95% confidence interval (CI) 25–31.9%) using the random-effects meta-analysis model”
It’s in everything
Wash your veg. and cook your meat. Don’t cross contaminate. If your not immunocompromised you’ll be fine.
If you can keep your cat off surfaces, and everything constantly lysoled and Swiffered. congrats. You might be horrified here, and that’s. Fine.
@werehatrack appreciate the PetSmart suggestion but the nearest is a hour away in a major city so. I expect they are booked. Problems getting there with work Etc.
I actually have relatives in new Hampshire and apparently there is a constant cat shortage up there, to the point my cousin picked up two kittens on her way home from further south after her childhood cat died last year. Maybe year before. I told her she could take a few lol.
I’m guessing low temps/deep snow lead to low survival rate of strays/just cats not being out to do their “business” vs our shelters being flooded. Because people let their cats be outside cats here… Which. Mixed feelings
Granted I can’t be judgemental… I confined them in a fixed space and didn’t get to the vet so. Forgone conclusion…
Kittens just destroy things but we are also dealing with 1.5 to 2 year olds now. So. Some ingrained behavior. Most will come when called. Sleep on me. Sometimes against my will. Snuggle. Alot are squirmy being picked up and carried though. Vs KitKat who would ride on my shoulders or just love being picked up.
You know. What you expect from a cat can. Vary.
Never mind despite all the scratching post and trees some think the couch might be appropriate. Granted heres were climbing curtains. I have no idea how that guy @kyeh linked with 300 + 45 on the way did anything…
Granted I’m well aware you can’t trust news to report any scientific study accurately, they like the click bait titles. But it’s been long known that using antimicrobial soaps when not needed just breeds the resistant bacteria, and I assume your issue with the cats is parasite related. I hope. But. Still was a little funny it popped up tonight. Not trying to pick on you just. Was an odd coincidence
They didn’t site any studies or have published peer reviewed anything that I can tell. Just a theory and some correlation. And someone wrote a book they want to sell. So. You know. Grain of salt.
Then when it gets to the grocery store who knows what crawls on the shelved items at night.
Many years ago, I had a summer job with a builder who was remodeling a local Safeway grocery store. We started work just after 10PM (when the store closed) and worked until opening in the morning.
There was also a small night crew of store employees (all early 20-somethings) that cleaned the store, restocked shelves, etc. They were a fun-loving bunch, who spent their breaks holding shopping cart races through the aisles, raiding the shelves to build huge group snacks and other merriment.
They also had (at least one) pet mouse that lived among the shelves, that they had named and fed every night. So yeah, you probably don’t want to think about what goes on behind the scenes too much.
@kittykat9180@Kyeh@OnionSoup@tinamarie1974@unksol
Oh, and I just remembered about remodeling the butcher area of that store - while they outwardly appeared fairly clean, there was blood soaked clear through the sheetrock walls. As you might imagine, the smell was horrific. You don’t want to know what it was like under the meat display cases…
@kittykat9180@Kyeh@macromeh@OnionSoup@unksol three thoughts. Years ago I worked for a logistics company that contracted various types of.commercial installations. So installing furniture/artwork at hotels when they remodel, installing new equipment for restaurants or placing furniture in their dining rooms
I worked with a vendor who was installing new sleep # mattresses at a particularlly well known international hotel chain. Had to store the mattresses, deliver them to the hotel and dispose of/donate the old ones. You have no idea how gross the old mattresses were or what types of paraphernalia/drugs/wtc were found under thre mattresses when they lifted them for removal. I actually had crews refuse to come back. BTW high end hotel, not Motel 6.
I oversaw an install for a new customer at a mall in NJ. Swapping out table tops in their food court after hours. Was in the back hallways (employee only) and the spot where the tables were. Dont want to think about what I saw scurrying around where it was dark and quiet.
Company oversaw the thre install of new grills at a particularly well known fast food chain in the North East. Was a pilot program. The warehouse that was storing the new grills and holding the old ones until we could get them disposed of/recycled/whatever quit. Said they were dusgustingly dirty and my favorite commemt was he stepped on the electric cord and I dont remmeber how many roaches came crawling out I cannot eat at that cahin anymore and its been over 20 years ago.
@kittykat9180@macromeh@OnionSoup@tinamarie1974@unksol
Yuck. And yet … most people travel and eat in restaurants and don’t get deathly ill - I think our bodies are pretty good at defending themselves as long as we’re not seriously immunocompromised. I took a chance last night and ate a sandwich with a chicken patty in it that I’d forgotten and left on the counter for several hours; I was wondering if I’d regret it today but I’m fine. It was a precooked patty but I know the USDA would not approve!
@macromeh@OnionSoup@tinamarie1974@unksol I knew a woman who was brought up traveling and living in various Central and South American countries as a child, and she could eat in any country and not get “Montezuma’s Revenge” or any of the stomach bugs most of us in the US would get.
I guess, yes, even if I know it’s Folgers. The church ladies are glad when I thank them for making it. That makes it worth suffering through what I would normally skip.
I have to need it to drink just about any coffee nowadays. I noticed some years ago that it wasn’t actually doing much when I needed a kick so I quit drinking most caffeinated anything and a month or so later my body started regulating its energy levels again like it did when I was young. I drink it on big projects or disaster recovery sites or things like that (where the coffee is uniformly complimentary but also uniformly terrible, and possibly made with someone’s uniform) but otherwise I just never got back in the habit.
@Salanth
can I drool with you?
I have had bad coffee at those though. One year this Brazilian grower brought coffee in. They were trying to do what a couple of the Kona places in HI do and grow, roast, brew, sell their product. It was so so so so nasty
I used to get the free Home Depot coffee by the contractor desk in the mornings. I think it went away during COVID times. But honestly it was usually pretty bad, and I no longer even check to see if it’s there.
On the other hand my Credit Union had nice Fair Trade Organic coffee generally pretty fresh in an air-pot by the entry. Back when I used to get paper checks for things I’d go to make a check deposit in person so I could withdraw a nice cup of coffee from the transaction. But I rarely get paper checks for anything anymore….
@OnionSoup Hmmm… I came up with this analogy several years ago. I’m not sure how that add-on would go…
“But sometimes it’s worth paying for good coffee, instead of getting the free coffee”
In my last job, I had free coffee in the office. It wasn’t terrible, but it certainly wasn’t good. Just downstairs (<2 minute walk) was a GOOD local coffee shop. It was a day-to-day struggle on which won out - my frugality or my taste buds.
@smyle I go middle of the line. I have a cheap French press and buy cheap coffee and make my own. There’s a couple of brave souls who will touch the coffee at work but most people can’t stand it.
We have a Keurig at work (which I hate on general principle, I’m a coffee snob), but I bring my own decent pods for the damn thing. (Not the flavored crap everyone else seems to prefer.)
Anyway, it’s good to have some drinkable coffee at work. Amazon had some Kauai Coffee Co on sale recently, very good stuff!
@Kyeh@OnionSoup I’m guessing(?) that’s different for guys. I’m a guy, but not a subject matter expert (1 sexual partner in my life and married to her for 30+ years).
@Kyeh@OnionSoup@smyle
Not sure how we got here on coffee.
But. I mean… I’m a guy and while I’m not married. And haven’t bothered to find a ton of girlfriends. The clitoris is right there. Not a mystery… I know the tropes that exist. I’m not sure if they are accurate or not as far as guys not letting women climax.
But you know. I enjoy making the other person feel good. And if your doing it wrong… Feedback loop. Doesnt seem like it should be hard.
Well I guess something should be hard. But. Technically not necessary.
@Kyeh@smyle@unksol I don’t think it’s the clitoris men have difficulty finding… It’s the g spot. I’d be very surprised if a guy had a hard time finding the clitoris.
I wouldn’t recommend pouring hot coffee on either spots though. Especially if it’s complimentary coffee. If you’re going to pour coffee on a clitoris, make sure it’s shade grown 100% organic Arabica.
@Kyeh@OnionSoup@smyle i think the general idea is that men are selfish and don’t spend enough time on the erogenous zones. Where they are exactly probably variers but there are some obvious ones.
And maybe most men do skip. IDK.
@Kyeh@smyle@unksol coffee water should never be boiled. Loses oxygen which impacts flavour and it’s more dangerous when poured in someone’s lap. About 200F is usual coffee temperature.
@Kyeh@OnionSoup@smyle@unksol After much experimentation, I have found that water heated to ~175F works best for my brewing equipment, beans, process and taste preferences. Cooler makes it too weak and hotter just adds bitterness (again, for my personal preferences - YMMV).
@macromeh@OnionSoup@smyle@unksol
I made coffee a little while ago; I let the kettle come to a boil and poured it over the grounds in a one-cup filter holder. I stuck a thermometer into it after it finished dripping and it was at about 170. So here at around a mile high, even boiling the water doesn’t result in a very high brewing temperature.
@Kyeh@macromeh@smyle@unksol so what you need is a hyperbaric chamber. Heat the kettle inside the hyperbaric chamber when you need coffee.
Not a physics expert… But you may have to drink the coffee whilst still in the chamber (or at least wait for it to cool. I suspect if you step out the hyperbaric chamber with a cup of freshly made coffee it will immediately boil over the edges dangerously.
@macromeh@OnionSoup@smyle@unksol
Eh, it’s fine - it’s just been a nuisance in the past when we used to go to coffee shops where the employees were trained by the national chain to not boil the water, so we’d end up with lukewarm lattés and such.
If it’s the available beverage and coffee, hot, black. Probably.
Can’t remember the last place I was that just had it… Maybe a discount tire or tire world?
I let Walmart do the tires finally because there was a near black Friday deal. Something like $650 on decent 265/70R17 tires. And they had been going for years/wasn’t sure on the life of the truck originally.
Still spent an hour plus just sitting in the tire department watching cause boredom but they did correctly torque the lug nuts/no tires rolled off
Actually BTDT. I was driving (1965 Impala SS) early in the AM on the Interstate to Vail to go skiing years ago and spun off 4 lugs on the left front tire then snapped off the last one. Tire took off down the road, car showered sparks where the brake drum was getting ground off flat. Managed to get the car pulled off the road and thought “well shit… now what?” Pulled the spare out of the trunk, put in on the 4 good lugs and stole one off each of the other wheels to get it attached to the car. About that time a trooper pulled up and helped me find the errant wheel that had shot across the interstate and down the mountain. We walked the opposite side til we found the scuff mark where it hit the side rail and there it was, down the mountain a few dozen yards.
Drove to the next town and bought lugs to fill out the ones missing, drove the rest of the way to Vail and went skiing as planned then went home at the end of the day. Kind of a PITA each time I hit the brakes since the drum was a bit out of round…
Found out later that the vast majority of times folks over compensate and ‘shoulder roll’ the vehicle in similar situations. Who knew?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@chienfou there all those just rolled in with guy installed custom tires/lugs. That didn’t fit. Wrong size. One factory lug nut holding it on.
Always ends with customer declined repairs… Usually it’s them but you also hear reports of shitty mechanics/driving out of Walmart. I definitely had the covers off when I took it in, visually inspected, drove it 10 miles home. Torqued them. Drove another 80 miles and torqued them again.
They did a perfectly good job. I wouldn’t let anyone do much else to my cars but tires… Not worth the trouble
If it is good I do.
@yakkoTDI exactly. Not all coffee is equal and that’s especially true of hotels and medical institutions the two places that frequently have complimentary coffee and it’s almost universally bad and not drinkable.
But if I find someone with good free coffee… I’m on board.
This implies I drink coffee and I don’t like this insinuation at all.
Depends on whether it is complementing me for my looks or abilities.
KuoH
@kuoh coffee normally compliments my belly.
@kuoh @OnionSoup Oh, that’s a burn.
Most of the time, no. However I have been desperate
Yeah, but sometimes is doesn’t quite add up to 90
@Mehlachi
ISWYDT!
I don’t drink any coffee, complimentary or otherwise, because it’s always gross.
@kittykat9180 yep I so agree!
@kittykat9180 @mycya4me ditto!
@kittykat9180 Exactly. And the ruin perfectly good ice cream by adding coffee flavor to it as well.
@Kidsandliz, absolutely. Why take something good and turn it into something yucky?
@Kidsandliz @kittykat9180 And don’t get me started on coffee in brownies
@Kidsandliz @kittykat9180 @werehatrack what about MJ in brownies? tee hee
@Cerridwyn, I don’t like chocolate nor do I use mind altering substances.
@Cerridwyn @kittykat9180 I think for some people chocolate IS a mind-altering substance. Coffee certainly is, for me.
@Cerridwyn @kittykat9180 @werehatrack No coffee in anything ever. I don’t put cat litter in my food either.
@Cerridwyn @Kidsandliz @kittykat9180 @werehatrack
Did you have to go THERE?
@Kidsandliz, those who allow their cats on countertops may as well put litter in their food.
@kittykat9180 True but 99.9% of the time mine aren’t up there. I created loud avalanches piles if they got up there that would fall very easily and then one got a roach sticky trap stuck on himself and freaked out. Pretty much has cured them of kitchen countertop action.
@Kidsandliz @kittykat9180 I use training tapes. Three-inch-wide strips of clear packing tape a foot or two long, laid near the edge of the counter with the sticky side up. Works pretty well.
@Kidsandliz @kittykat9180 @werehatrack
My cat just doesn’t do that. Of course, the counters are small and there’s very little room where he could because there’s a lot if stuff on them.
@Kidsandliz @kittykat9180 look. There are 20 cats. I don’t “allow” them to do anything. They just do shit.
Cats on the counter is one of the least of my worries. You can just wipe that down before you use it.
If you would like a cat you’re welcome to one I’m well aware it’s too many and refuse to tell people that number in person where they can see my face.
Mistakes were made
@kittykat9180 @unksol Yeah if I had more cats than I do likely I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with restacking the avalanche pile when needed and so would have been less successful. Of course the cat freaking out with a sticky mouse/roach paper stuck to his side is proof they still, on occasion, try even with the avalanches.
@unksol mouse traps on the countertops is a quick cure to that problem. A less invasive way is sticky pads.
“I can just wipe all the cat shit paw prints off the counter” mentality is the reason I don’t eat other people’s food.
@kittykat9180 well deterrent sprays don’t work. Scat mats kinda do. It got them to stop pissin on my grandmas buffet/where the tv is. Still need to deploy elsewhere.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CK6QWVL9?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
@kittykat9180 also…just. What?
“I can just wipe all the cat shit paw prints off the counter” mentality is the reason I don’t eat other people’s food.
Like do you prepare food directly on the counter instead of using a bread board or a cutting board? I assume you have washed, sanitized the surface you’re going to prepare food on.
I don’t prep a raw chicken on the counter cause I’m not a savage. But if I were going to. I’d clean it first, clean it after cause the bacteria from the chicken.
Please tell me you at least don’t rinse your meat
There’s a whole group of people who think you need to wash chicken. Ffs
@unksol If the chicken needs washing, it’s already over the hill. (Exceptions may exist for people with highly compromised immune systems or allergies to certain things, but that’s rare.) That said, I can see an argument for rinsing off the crap that the packing house drenched it with, but even then, if it’s been on the chicken since packing, then it’s in the chicken at this point. (“May contain up to 5% of a solution of chicken broth.”)
@werehatrack I think it’s usually says saline solution or something here. I feel two ways about that.
A. They’re increasing the price by adding water because it’s a per lb situation.
B. Well you basically brined my chicken for me and I can’t do anything about it anyway so. Meh. Let it go.
@werehatrack also we could get down a whole rabbit hole about best by dates and sell by dates.
If it doesn’t smell or look weird. I’m not throwing out food. I’m not dead yet
@unksol, in kitchens where people “wash” their chicken, even after cleaning 14% of them still had bacteria present on surfaces. It would be logical to assume the same would be true of cat poop countertops.
I understand that the standard of cleanliness in my household surpasses that of the average household. Again, that’s why I don’t eat other people’s cooking.
That you can guarantee during the preparation process no part of the food, your hands, or cooking instruments touch any surface of the countertop is amazing. I can’t make that same guarantee, you must be a more skilled cook.
I’m not sure why you are reacting in a defensive way to my comments. I’m sharing my opinion, it’s not a personal attack. You’re the only one who needs to be satisfied with the cleanliness of your home. Further, I doubt you and I will ever be in a situation where you’re offering to cook for me and I’m turning it down.
@kittykat9180 I’m quiet literally not being defensive. But I can’t stop the cats being on the counter. They use it on the way to the top of the cabinets. And the bay window. Point was that’s not an issue because I would both sanitize the counter and be using a cutting board like I said. It’s not that big a deal. If I were your friend and you came into my home and were that judgy I would probably be offended. But you’re not. So meh.
If you wash chicken you are spreading bacteria so… Eh. That stat is expected.
But your correct I wouldn’t have any one over by my choice, I’m just not that social. And on top of that yes the cats are a lot and figuring out how to responsibly reduce the number would be good. There are other issues. There’s cat fur everywhere that constantly needs to be wiped down/cleaned up
There are litter boxes to deal with daily how gross.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@unksol If there is a PetsMart near you, xheck the cat adoption area and get the name of the group running it. Contact them and expain your situation. Any group doing cat placement via a PetsMart is going to check out potential adopters carefully.
@werehatrack I mean the places to go for help would obviously be the two local county humane societies but I’m also unwilling to just drop them off to live in a shelter. Id much rather deal with their maddening chaos than do that. Asking them if they have some ideas on placing them without putting a burden on the shelter is probably the logical approach but I may just be stuck with the herd. Which is also fine.
@unksol @werehatrack
Then you’d have vet bills for broken cat legs.
@unksol @werehatrack
Of course you can’t. They have a job to do up there.
@Kidsandliz Broken toes, maybe. It would take a rat trap to break a leg on an adult cat.
@Kidsandliz @werehatrack yeah… I chose not to respond to that idea. But. Wtf. Regardless of what it broke
@unksol Adoption groups that use those Petsmart adoption rooms generally don’t use a shelter, they wait until there’s going to be an opening at the adoption room, and then have you drop them off. Until then, you typically would be expected to continue to foster them. Well-behaved cats that are willing to engage with strangers typically get adopted fairly quickly. This time of year, the shelters up north are not yet overrun with kittens, improving the chances. Or you could just decide that no, really, you’re cool with being the cat guy.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@werehatrack some of them do weird things so weather or not I’m cool with it may be stuck with them.
Also I named them all so. Let’s be honest id miss the fuckers. But some of the behavior problems may be volume related. They just don’t get enough attention.
And they’ll probably all calm down as they get older
@unksol
@kittykat9180 - So I have to assume that you never eat at restaurants either? Because I’ve worked in them and I can assure you that not everyone upholds the standards for cleanliness that you’d want. Kind of rules out take-out and delivery, or any food that someone else prepares.
@Kyeh, I’ve never seen cats walking on countertops at restaurants. But, no, I rarely eat out. My food is better and less expensive at than most restaurants.
@kittykat9180 There are grosser things than cats walking on countertops …
@Kyeh, what’s grosser than feces?
@kittykat9180 There are other kinds of feces - rat turds, cockroach droppings - shall I go on? The world is full of germs and also chemicals that can make you sick. You could end up like Howard Hughes if you dwell on it too much!
But proper cleaning makes things sanitary so it’s more a problem of do you trust people to clean properly or do you think they’re being lax about it?
@kittykat9180 @Kyeh if we’re going to be squeamish. There’s almost certainly more poop in a container of dried oregano than on a counter top that’s been appropriately cleaned before food preparation, no matter how many cats have been on it. FDA allows so many mg of poop per spice, and so many insect particles. 60 insect fragments are allowed per 100 grams of chocolate.
Not that I’m proposing we add any more poop or bits of insect than we need to. There’s animal.poop.and bits of cockroach in just about everything you buy. Herbs, chocolate and peanut butter probably the worst. We all eat the equivalent of several cockroaches a year when you add up the fragments in common ingredients.
@kittykat9180 @OnionSoup Well, being too sanitary is evidently not that good for you - they say that that may be why modern kids have so many more food allergies than kids in the past.
@unksol @werehatrack
Did you see this story?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/24/charity-steps-in-to-rehome-cats-man-in-canada
@kittykat9180 @Kyeh yes… And first born kids are more likely to develop allergies than youngest kids. The theory is kids are dirty, unhygienic creatures and parents keep a sanitary environment for the oldest but younger kids they may relax a little… Or the younger kids are just exposed to all the filth from their older siblings… And the filth from the older kids keeps the younger kids from developing allergies.
Also, only child, children develop highest levels of allergies of all.
@kittykat9180 @Kyeh @OnionSoup also, I hope you grow all your own food and never, ever shop at the grocery store. All those goods are transported through tucks and warehouses. Very unsanatary conditions. Bugs, vermon, etc tend to hang around warehouses and do crawl on boxes. Sure they are packaged, but liquids seep into cardboard.
Then when it gets to the grocery store who knows what crawls on the shelved items at night. I mean Ive seen birds in the store from time to time. Who knows what other critters scurry around at night.
Quite a conundrum!!
/giphy rodents
@kittykat9180 @Kyeh @OnionSoup @tinamarie1974 look. All I know is we drank from the hose and we are fine… So far.
And learned quickly to let it flow a bit first.
That being said my generation, where I grew up, was free from lead paint and lead pipes. Which I know is not the case everywhere and still an issue. Those are probably way more detrimental. As are cancer causing issues and diet.
Everyone know about toxoplasmosis. Cooking kills it. So even if I wanted to roll my raw chicken on a counter my cat walked on. It would kill it. It’s no different than keeping your raw veg separate from your chicken.
https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/toxoplasmosis-cats
But just so you know
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8823692/
“The search was performed in databases including PubMed, WoS, Scopus, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and ISC from 2000 to 2019 in Persian and English. The main inclusion criteria were the prevalence of toxoplasmosis among livestock and poultry and the prevalence indices by sample size. During these 20 years, the overall prevalence of toxoplasmosis in livestock and poultry was 28.3% (95% confidence interval (CI) 25–31.9%) using the random-effects meta-analysis model”
It’s in everything
Wash your veg. and cook your meat. Don’t cross contaminate. If your not immunocompromised you’ll be fine.
If you can keep your cat off surfaces, and everything constantly lysoled and Swiffered. congrats. You might be horrified here, and that’s. Fine.
@Kyeh @werehatrack yikes. Even I’m not that insane. 300+ and 15 pregnant… That’s another 60 coming.
@werehatrack appreciate the PetSmart suggestion but the nearest is a hour away in a major city so. I expect they are booked. Problems getting there with work Etc.
I actually have relatives in new Hampshire and apparently there is a constant cat shortage up there, to the point my cousin picked up two kittens on her way home from further south after her childhood cat died last year. Maybe year before. I told her she could take a few lol.
I’m guessing low temps/deep snow lead to low survival rate of strays/just cats not being out to do their “business” vs our shelters being flooded. Because people let their cats be outside cats here… Which. Mixed feelings
Granted I can’t be judgemental… I confined them in a fixed space and didn’t get to the vet so. Forgone conclusion…
Kittens just destroy things but we are also dealing with 1.5 to 2 year olds now. So. Some ingrained behavior. Most will come when called. Sleep on me. Sometimes against my will. Snuggle. Alot are squirmy being picked up and carried though. Vs KitKat who would ride on my shoulders or just love being picked up.
You know. What you expect from a cat can. Vary.
Never mind despite all the scratching post and trees some think the couch might be appropriate. Granted heres were climbing curtains. I have no idea how that guy @kyeh linked with 300 + 45 on the way did anything…
@kittykat9180 @Kyeh @OnionSoup @tinamarie1974
Lol just saw this on colbert
Our Homes Are ‘Too Clean,’ Should Be Seeded With Germs, Says Researcher
https://www.newsweek.com/home-cleaning-exposure-bacteria-allergies-1879791
Granted I’m well aware you can’t trust news to report any scientific study accurately, they like the click bait titles. But it’s been long known that using antimicrobial soaps when not needed just breeds the resistant bacteria, and I assume your issue with the cats is parasite related. I hope. But. Still was a little funny it popped up tonight. Not trying to pick on you just. Was an odd coincidence
They didn’t site any studies or have published peer reviewed anything that I can tell. Just a theory and some correlation. And someone wrote a book they want to sell. So. You know. Grain of salt.
@kittykat9180 @Kyeh @OnionSoup @tinamarie1974 @unksol
Many years ago, I had a summer job with a builder who was remodeling a local Safeway grocery store. We started work just after 10PM (when the store closed) and worked until opening in the morning.
There was also a small night crew of store employees (all early 20-somethings) that cleaned the store, restocked shelves, etc. They were a fun-loving bunch, who spent their breaks holding shopping cart races through the aisles, raiding the shelves to build huge group snacks and other merriment.
They also had (at least one) pet mouse that lived among the shelves, that they had named and fed every night. So yeah, you probably don’t want to think about what goes on behind the scenes too much.
@kittykat9180 @Kyeh @OnionSoup @tinamarie1974 @unksol
Oh, and I just remembered about remodeling the butcher area of that store - while they outwardly appeared fairly clean, there was blood soaked clear through the sheetrock walls. As you might imagine, the smell was horrific. You don’t want to know what it was like under the meat display cases…
@kittykat9180 @Kyeh @macromeh @OnionSoup @unksol three thoughts. Years ago I worked for a logistics company that contracted various types of.commercial installations. So installing furniture/artwork at hotels when they remodel, installing new equipment for restaurants or placing furniture in their dining rooms
I worked with a vendor who was installing new sleep # mattresses at a particularlly well known international hotel chain. Had to store the mattresses, deliver them to the hotel and dispose of/donate the old ones. You have no idea how gross the old mattresses were or what types of paraphernalia/drugs/wtc were found under thre mattresses when they lifted them for removal. I actually had crews refuse to come back. BTW high end hotel, not Motel 6.
I oversaw an install for a new customer at a mall in NJ. Swapping out table tops in their food court after hours. Was in the back hallways (employee only) and the spot where the tables were. Dont want to think about what I saw scurrying around where it was dark and quiet.
Company oversaw the thre install of new grills at a particularly well known fast food chain in the North East. Was a pilot program. The warehouse that was storing the new grills and holding the old ones until we could get them disposed of/recycled/whatever quit. Said they were dusgustingly dirty and my favorite commemt was he stepped on the electric cord and I dont remmeber how many roaches came crawling out
I cannot eat at that cahin anymore and its been over 20 years ago.
@kittykat9180 @macromeh @OnionSoup @tinamarie1974 @unksol
Yuck. And yet … most people travel and eat in restaurants and don’t get deathly ill - I think our bodies are pretty good at defending themselves as long as we’re not seriously immunocompromised. I took a chance last night and ate a sandwich with a chicken patty in it that I’d forgotten and left on the counter for several hours; I was wondering if I’d regret it today but I’m fine. It was a precooked patty but I know the USDA would not approve!
@kittykat9180 @Kyeh @macromeh @OnionSoup @unksol the USDA wouldnt but honestly my grandma would leave food out for hours and no one wver got sick.
@macromeh @OnionSoup @tinamarie1974 @unksol I knew a woman who was brought up traveling and living in various Central and South American countries as a child, and she could eat in any country and not get “Montezuma’s Revenge” or any of the stomach bugs most of us in the US would get.
If I can add cream and sugar, if other people are drinking, if they are still standing, then sure, I will imbibe.
I guess, yes, even if I know it’s Folgers. The church ladies are glad when I thank them for making it. That makes it worth suffering through what I would normally skip.
I have to need it to drink just about any coffee nowadays. I noticed some years ago that it wasn’t actually doing much when I needed a kick so I quit drinking most caffeinated anything and a month or so later my body started regulating its energy levels again like it did when I was young. I drink it on big projects or disaster recovery sites or things like that (where the coffee is uniformly complimentary but also uniformly terrible, and possibly made with someone’s uniform) but otherwise I just never got back in the habit.
@jsfs I am sorry for your loss
Only if it’s good coffee, like at a specialty coffee event.
@Salanth
can I drool with you?
I have had bad coffee at those though. One year this Brazilian grower brought coffee in. They were trying to do what a couple of the Kona places in HI do and grow, roast, brew, sell their product. It was so so so so nasty
I used to get the free Home Depot coffee by the contractor desk in the mornings. I think it went away during COVID times. But honestly it was usually pretty bad, and I no longer even check to see if it’s there.
On the other hand my Credit Union had nice Fair Trade Organic coffee generally pretty fresh in an air-pot by the entry. Back when I used to get paper checks for things I’d go to make a check deposit in person so I could withdraw a nice cup of coffee from the transaction. But I rarely get paper checks for anything anymore….
In the Before Times, Publix had free coffee. I would partake and sip my coffee while shopping.
@sjk3 Now they have Starbucks inside them and charge $10 for the same cup.
@Weboh Unfortunately, not mine in my area.
@sjk3 Meijer used to have that when I was a kid. I used to beg dad to let us get one too… Completely forgot about that… Had to be like 30 years ago
Coffee is like sex…
You always want good coffee. But even bad coffee is better than no coffee.
@smyle can I quote you?
@Cerridwyn I would consider it an honor if you did
@smyle I disagree. You just haven’t had bad-enough coffee… or bad-enough sex
You should try the complimentary coffee at my office… everyone does… once.
/ no complimentary sex at the office, although I imagine it would be just as bad.
@OnionSoup Hmmm… I came up with this analogy several years ago. I’m not sure how that add-on would go…
“But sometimes it’s worth paying for good coffee, instead of getting the free coffee”
In my last job, I had free coffee in the office. It wasn’t terrible, but it certainly wasn’t good. Just downstairs (<2 minute walk) was a GOOD local coffee shop. It was a day-to-day struggle on which won out - my frugality or my taste buds.
@smyle I go middle of the line. I have a cheap French press and buy cheap coffee and make my own. There’s a couple of brave souls who will touch the coffee at work but most people can’t stand it.
@OnionSoup @smyle I’d rather have really bad coffee than really bad sex. I think most women would agree.
@OnionSoup @smyle Why just “cheap” coffee at work?
We have a Keurig at work (which I hate on general principle, I’m a coffee snob), but I bring my own decent pods for the damn thing. (Not the flavored crap everyone else seems to prefer.)
Anyway, it’s good to have some drinkable coffee at work. Amazon had some Kauai Coffee Co on sale recently, very good stuff!
@Kyeh @OnionSoup I’m guessing(?) that’s different for guys. I’m a guy, but not a subject matter expert (1 sexual partner in my life and married to her for 30+ years).
@OnionSoup @robson The benefits of my current job (100% remote). Coffee is never made by somebody else, but it’s always top quality.
@Kyeh @OnionSoup @smyle
Not sure how we got here on coffee.
But. I mean… I’m a guy and while I’m not married. And haven’t bothered to find a ton of girlfriends. The clitoris is right there. Not a mystery… I know the tropes that exist. I’m not sure if they are accurate or not as far as guys not letting women climax.
But you know. I enjoy making the other person feel good. And if your doing it wrong… Feedback loop. Doesnt seem like it should be hard.
Well I guess something should be hard. But. Technically not necessary.
@Kyeh @smyle @unksol I don’t think it’s the clitoris men have difficulty finding… It’s the g spot. I’d be very surprised if a guy had a hard time finding the clitoris.
I wouldn’t recommend pouring hot coffee on either spots though. Especially if it’s complimentary coffee. If you’re going to pour coffee on a clitoris, make sure it’s shade grown 100% organic Arabica.
@Kyeh @OnionSoup @smyle i think the general idea is that men are selfish and don’t spend enough time on the erogenous zones. Where they are exactly probably variers but there are some obvious ones.
And maybe most men do skip. IDK.
I like finding them. And the response when you do
@Kyeh @OnionSoup @smyle also low temp wax IF they/you are into that. Boiling water… No
@Kyeh @smyle @unksol coffee water should never be boiled. Loses oxygen which impacts flavour and it’s more dangerous when poured in someone’s lap. About 200F is usual coffee temperature.
@OnionSoup @smyle @unksol Up here in the high altitude states, you do need to boil water to get decent coffee.
@Kyeh @OnionSoup @smyle
/youtube erogenous zones friends
@Kyeh @OnionSoup @smyle @unksol After much experimentation, I have found that water heated to ~175F works best for my brewing equipment, beans, process and taste preferences. Cooler makes it too weak and hotter just adds bitterness (again, for my personal preferences - YMMV).
@OnionSoup
[must resist the urge to ask if they charge for it…]
@werehatrack I have my suspicions about some of the other departments.
@macromeh @OnionSoup @smyle @unksol
I made coffee a little while ago; I let the kettle come to a boil and poured it over the grounds in a one-cup filter holder. I stuck a thermometer into it after it finished dripping and it was at about 170. So here at around a mile high, even boiling the water doesn’t result in a very high brewing temperature.
@Kyeh @macromeh @smyle @unksol so what you need is a hyperbaric chamber. Heat the kettle inside the hyperbaric chamber when you need coffee.
Not a physics expert… But you may have to drink the coffee whilst still in the chamber (or at least wait for it to cool. I suspect if you step out the hyperbaric chamber with a cup of freshly made coffee it will immediately boil over the edges dangerously.
@macromeh @OnionSoup @smyle @unksol
Eh, it’s fine - it’s just been a nuisance in the past when we used to go to coffee shops where the employees were trained by the national chain to not boil the water, so we’d end up with lukewarm lattés and such.
@OnionSoup @smyle You add enough sugar and cream, and either will be passable.
@Kyeh @OnionSoup @smyle You can forget one, but not the other?
@pakopako I’ll take a large no-coffee with sixteen cream, a shot of raspberry and one sugar, chilled with liquid nitrogen, please.
If there’s a choice between coffee, kombucha, AG1, and any of the various “superfruit” juices, I’ll be in the corner dehydrating.
If it’s the available beverage and coffee, hot, black. Probably.
Can’t remember the last place I was that just had it… Maybe a discount tire or tire world?
I let Walmart do the tires finally because there was a near black Friday deal. Something like $650 on decent 265/70R17 tires. And they had been going for years/wasn’t sure on the life of the truck originally.
Still spent an hour plus just sitting in the tire department watching cause boredom but they did correctly torque the lug nuts/no tires rolled off
@unksol
Actually BTDT. I was driving (1965 Impala SS) early in the AM on the Interstate to Vail to go skiing years ago and spun off 4 lugs on the left front tire then snapped off the last one. Tire took off down the road, car showered sparks where the brake drum was getting ground off flat. Managed to get the car pulled off the road and thought “well shit… now what?” Pulled the spare out of the trunk, put in on the 4 good lugs and stole one off each of the other wheels to get it attached to the car. About that time a trooper pulled up and helped me find the errant wheel that had shot across the interstate and down the mountain. We walked the opposite side til we found the scuff mark where it hit the side rail and there it was, down the mountain a few dozen yards.
Drove to the next town and bought lugs to fill out the ones missing, drove the rest of the way to Vail and went skiing as planned then went home at the end of the day. Kind of a PITA each time I hit the brakes since the drum was a bit out of round…
Found out later that the vast majority of times folks over compensate and ‘shoulder roll’ the vehicle in similar situations. Who knew?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@chienfou there all those just rolled in with guy installed custom tires/lugs. That didn’t fit. Wrong size. One factory lug nut holding it on.
Always ends with customer declined repairs… Usually it’s them but you also hear reports of shitty mechanics/driving out of Walmart. I definitely had the covers off when I took it in, visually inspected, drove it 10 miles home. Torqued them. Drove another 80 miles and torqued them again.
They did a perfectly good job. I wouldn’t let anyone do much else to my cars but tires… Not worth the trouble