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Inspired by the STW POSITIVITY THREAD!!
I thought it would be nice to have a thread of useful tips.
To start:
Reminders Apps on your phone often have the facility to share lists with other people. These are great for shopping and task lists if you live with someone else.
Also you can save lists as templates, which are useful for packing lists etc.
2.15 at Epsom - Mercian Warrior.
No need to thank me.
"Best by" dates on food don't actually mean the food goes bad on that day. Sniff it. If it smells ok, it's probably safe.
If you use washing liquid and use the little plastic containers that go in the machine filled with the liquid, keep the container in the detergent draw of the washing machine.
Don’t whistle with a mouthful of blancmange
Is that a euphemism for some sex pervert action?
That’s why I said don’t thank me
My "life hack":
Perfectly separating eggs. Crack an egg into a bowl or whatever. Take an empty plastic pop bottle, give it a squeeze, put the neck next to the yoke and stop squeezing. The pressure will suck up the yolk leaving the albumen behind.
You don't actually need the bottle.
Cycling is hard.
Many people will sell you stuff to make it "easier".
Cycling gets easier if you cycle more. Or you get an ebike😀
“Don’t buy upgrades, ride up grades” – Eddy Merckx
Stuff that get me out the house and make more rides possible- exposure lights, gore water proof stuff are excellent things for me to spend on. They help to reduce the number of excuses I make that stop me getting out the door and get my lazy bum on my bike. Which I almost always love.
“Ride as much or as little, as long or as short as you feel. But ride” – Eddy Merckx
My favourite bikes rides are with mate or in the middle of nowhere. The best have been in the middle of nowhere with mates. Onr month I did exactly the same ride in 2h and in 4h ( with more cake, chatting and looking at the view). They were both excellent.
Commuting by bike has let me get further out and made the fun rides more fun. They are all still hard.
Do not buy knives in sets to go in a knife block, the carving and bread knives will be shorter than optimal.
Weakness is a crime.
Don’t be a criminal
2.15 at Epsom – Mercian Warrior.
4.15 at Kempton - Dusty Carpet. Never been beaten.
1.20 at Ripon - Dripping Tap. Keeps on running.
2.30 at Musselburgh
Hoof Hearted
3.30 at Musselburgh
Ice Melted
The pressure will suck up the yolk leaving the albumen behind.
Does the yolk come cleanly out of the bottle?
Wouldn't mind knowing how to remove my track pumps extension without letting some air out.
2.15 at Epsom – Mercian Warrior.
No need to thank me.
It was last! 😂😂😂😂
thols2
Full Member
“Best by” dates on food don’t actually mean the food goes bad on that day. Sniff it. If it smells ok, it’s probably safe.
I think you mean 'Use by' dates. 'Best by' dates mean sweet FA and should be ignored entirely.
Need to separate an egg?
Don't waste time fannying about with bottles just crack it over your slightly spread fingers.
Don't crack eggs over edges. Tap the side on a flat surface.
Arm warmers are ace if out early on a long spin, especially this time of the year.
Those things you pull out to put stuff into are called drawers.
Knickers
Don’t crack eggs over edges. Tap the side on a flat surface.
I hit the egg with a knife blade to ensure a nice clean crack to split the shell.
Don’t crack eggs over edges. Tap the side on a flat surface.
Pfft. Amature...
I had a jug that had the most perfect egg cracking edge. It was nice and hevy too so it stayed put til you did it. Just perfection, made me wonder what all the fuss was about. Then I broke it and ever since then I have never totally succesfully cracked an egg. It's been years.
Clickbait video titles often claim you're doing something wrong. However the person who wrote the title is making an assumption. You might not be doing the thing wrong.
Brace yourselves, I've got 3 tips in one!
Metal USB stick... this one is probably ten years old and still works, never falls off your keys as metal! Never lose it again!
Over key metal bottle opener/multi tool -self explanatory, but also saves space on keyring!
Sim card removal tool, perfect for removing sim cards and popping childrens balloons, but more importantly even perfecter for when you realise you have dirty fingernails at an inconvienent moment!
Most of our clothes are washed inside out, also dried and pegged outside, inside out. It helps prevent fading and clothes don't age as quickly.
You might not be doing the thing wrong
Unless you’re giving betting tips…
Make clothes last much longer, don't wash them.
Brace yourselves, I’ve got 3 tips in one!
Metal USB stick…
Oh look:
I have a SIM prodder on my actual keyring, comes in handy for all sorts of things.
If you mix Caesar salad dressing and ketchup, you get a sauce that tastes slightly different to ketchup.
I hit the egg with a knife blade to ensure a nice clean crack to split the shell.
I'm with @joshvegas on this one. I spent years cracking eggs on an edge before discovering the flat surface approach is much cleaner. Done half a dozen today, all perfect, no mess.
As for separating eggs just pour between the two half egg shells retaining the yolk and allowing the white to overflow to a bowl. Then make your Iles Flottantes.
AVOID being late for your doctor’s appointment by arriving 35 minutes late.
With all due respect to the great peeps at the NHS, avoid being early at your Doctor's appointment by arriving 35 minutes late 🤣
"Use by" date means use it by (or on) this date, don't eat it after the date. It could be unsafe and make you unwell
"Best before" date is the date beyond which the manufacturer believes the product will no longer be at its best. Still fine to eat though.
Sauce https://www.oddbox.co.uk/blog/best-before-date-use-by-date-sell-by-date-what-does
My tip for Doctors appointments is to book two or three and turn up for the last one.
Avoid excessive expenditure recarpeting your house by getting a free carpet sample, cutting out foot shape pieces and attaching to feet with velcro strips. (thanks Viz) 🙂
“Use by” date means use it by (or on) this date, don’t eat it after the date. It could be unsafe and make you unwell
Those dates are always very conservative. If it smells ok, it's probably ok to eat.
Those dates are always very conservative. If it smells ok, it’s probably ok to eat.
Did you even read the link? As an individual you can decide whether to ignore the date, but what you're saying is wrong to give as general guidance. It's exactly how people get food poisoning
following on from these cracking egg tips.
To remove shell from your omelette mix after trying both TF and Joshvegas's tips, another piece of shell will attract the bit and make it easy to remove, whereas a spoon seems to repel it.
As an individual you can decide whether to ignore the date, but what you’re saying is wrong to give as guidance. It’s exactly how people get food poisoning
Technically of course you're right. But I do wonder what happens at midnight on the Use By date that turns my sausage from a delightful delicacy to a deathtrap.
In a similar vein; bottled water. It's taken this glacial melt water millions of years to filter down through miles of rock, how lucky are we that it arrived at the bottling plant exactly a year before it goes bad.
Cycle maintenance tips I have picked up over the years
#1 Always remove the valve core when first inflating a tubeless tyre on installation. It will allow vastly more air into the system in one go and will help seat the tyre. If you have a compressor this works every time.
#2 Right tighty, lefty loosy. Works on everything EXCEPT pedals and bottom brackets hey? However, if you ALWAYS work from the drive side when doing pedals then regardless of whether you use a pedal spanner or an allen key on the rear of the pedal then the saying is still correct. Turn it left to loosen it and right to tighten it. Won't matter which pedal or which method you use. Always the same. Just remember to stand on the drive side (reaching through the frame to work on the NDS)!
Car drivers.
Let people know which direction you intend to move in by using the factory fitted indicator light system available at your fingertips.
In a similar vein; bottled water. It’s taken this glacial melt water millions of years to filter down through miles of rock, how lucky are we that it arrived at the bottling plant exactly a year before it goes bad.
I believe thats to do with the plastic leaching into the water? could be a urban myth
Always buy 'the best you can afford'. It's often a false economy to scrimp.
Young ones - get yourself Paying into some kind of pension pot asap.
Save on ⚡ no need for a washing machine or powder, take your manky clothes down to the local thrift shop.
They wash and iron them, hang them on the rails for you and buy them back cheap as chips
Blame it on Viz again
Wash clothes at 20C, all detergents are now designed to work well at that temperature.
No bottle opener needed. Open bottle caps with a spoon, fork/knife handle etc. Grip the neck of the bottle and lever against your knuckle/hand. Works every time. Try it.
You can't tell how hot or cold it is outside when you're inside looking out through the window.
… unless you’re looking at a thermometer outside the window.
Right tighty, lefty loosy
Never understood that statement. Whichever way you turn a bolt one side of it is always going left and one side is always going right.
When renewing sealant, use a meat baster sucky thing, preferably one with liquid measurements on it. No need to take the whole tyre off and next to zero mess.
Just don't put it back in the kitchen drawer afterwards.......
Whichever way you turn a bolt one side of it is always going left and one side is always going right.
Do you often undo bolts from the threaded end?
Wouldn’t mind knowing how to remove my track pumps extension without letting some air out.
I suggest that the air you can hear escaping is mostly coming from the pump and hose rather than out of the tyre. In which case, it doesn't matter.
In which case, it doesn’t matter.
If the hose remained pressurised it would save me at least two or three stokes of the pump next time though.
If the hose remained pressurised it would save me at least two or three stokes of the pump
We've all been there.
If the hose remained pressurised it would save me at least two or three stokes of the pump next time though.
But then you'd need a valve of some sort to retain the pressure in the pump, when the downstream pressure was lower. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to get the air from the pump to the tyre when you wanted. And if you wanted to have a handy reservoir of air which you could supply on demand to the tyre, you might as well pump up a large chamber with an electric motor, so that it is always available. I think you might have just invented the air compressor.
Right tighty, lefty loosy
Never understood that statement. Whichever way you turn a bolt one side of it is always going left and one side is always going right.
Yeah, depends on your point of view and whether 'righty' means the direction in which you move your hand holding the spanner or if its something to do with the nut or bolt itself.
Is 'right' hand/spanner movement or to do with rotation?
The nut or bolt cannot move right or left. It can only rotate clockwise or anti clockwise.
Righty loosey here (taking your hands rightwards) Or are we looking at the very top section of the bolt and rotating that right?
If you gave a spanner to that apprentice above there and said, right, put that spanner on that nut and remove it, and remember, it's lefty loosey! He might put it on the bolt, move his hands left, but be tightening the bolt.
Even more confusing when left hand threads come up, or in the case of a bike, things can get more confused when it's upsidedown, spanner pointing upwards or downwards, or you're leaning over an upturned bike and removing the pedal on the other side.
Might be over analysing this 😊
EasyJet and Ryanair's free small cabin bag is usually big enough for all the clothes you need on a typical 3-4 day business trip.
The full fat paid for cabin bag is big enough for most folk for a 2 week summer holiday of you pack carefully.
(Pity I've not worked out how to only manage cabin baggage when going skiing and taking boots 🤔 )
In a similar vein; bottled water. It’s taken this glacial melt water millions of years to filter down through miles of rock, how lucky are we that it arrived at the bottling plant exactly a year before it goes bad.
Theres no requirement for bottled water to have an expiration date of any kind on it. I think its a shame that 'use by', 'sell by' and 'best before' dates are printed in a vary similar manor on packaging it leads the obvious confusion where people imagining they all mean the same thing - as ones quite safety critical for the consumer and very much requires their attention the others are really of use and interest only for the retailer and manufacturer. 'Best before' is an educated guess at how long the contents will still look/taste pretty much as it did when it left the factory - they can't guarantee exactly what a tin of beans will be like in 100 years time but they're confident it'll be consistent in look, taste and texture over a shorter time span. Sell-by dates can often have nothing to do with the contents - theyre a stock control tool.
Breakfast cereal doesnt go off. But cereal manufacturers sell advertising space on the packets. The 'sell by' date relates to the advertising, not whats inside the box. It the date they want it off the shelves because they will have sold the next tranche of advertising and need to get it on view. Its more important the shelves are cleared of the older stock - whether thats by selling at a loss or simply throwing it all in a skip becuase the advertising is where the money is.
You can’t tell how hot or cold it is outside when you’re inside looking out through the window.
But you can hear whether water is hot or cold
Edit - ooh thats weird YouTube videos seem to play sound only in safari (perfectly apt for this link) but work fine in chrome. Any other safari users not seeing that
Right tighty, lefty loosy
Forgive me if I read this on here, but in Spanish, its said that:
la derecha oprime y la izquierda libera
Which translates as:
the right oppresses and the left liberates
Switch your current account as often as possible to hoover up the joining bonuses. It's piss-easy and I've made literal thousands doing it over the years. Just make sure that you keep a record of switch dates and bonuses received so that you're able to readily discern whether you're eligible for future bonuses if returning to bank you've been with previously.
Also, "stoozing" - do all your everyday spending on a 0% interest credit card and put the corresponding amount in a high interest savings account, pocketing the interest. You just need to be disciplined and make sure the savings are accessible in time to pay off the balance at the end of the 0% period.
👆 This is why I'll never be rich.
I couldn't even begin to imagine being arsed to do any of that 😂
👆 This is why I’ll never be rich. I couldn’t even begin to imagine being arsed to do any of that 😂
Mate, honestly, it's so easy. For switching current accounts it's 15 minutes filling in an on-line form. If I told you that an ATM 15 minutes walk away would dispense a free £200, would you be lacing up your shoes?
Stoozing takes a bit more ongoing effort, but it's only 5-10 minutes oversight a month to make sure that your spending and savings match up. With the number of instant access savings accounts paying decent interest at the minute, you can make hundreds over the course of a year.
From nothing.
Loads of stuff on both on Money Saving Expert.
Teach your kids to prepare their kit/bag etc for school or activity as young as possible.
Also let them have to deal with the fallout when they forget to pack pants when they go swimming and have to cycle home in shorts pantless (this was post Covid when you had to turn up for swimming lessons with your swimming costume/trunks already on).
I've now got him changing his own tyres ahead of bike training/races. Can't wait for him to be 17 so he will be able to pick me up from the pub, he's currently 10. 😂
Right tighty, lefty loosy
I've taught my son that that to tighten a bolt/screw clockwise as you look at it. And counter clockwise to slacken a bolt/screw.
Throw a tea towel in the dishwasher once it stops it's cycle and close the door.
The masses of tupperware my wife seems to get through comes out much drier.
Right tighty, lefty loosy
This work for Props.
Never twigged that - I played in the backs and up front was a terrible mystery, thank goodness.
Might give the tea towel in the dishwasher trick a go.
When replacing damaged snooker balls don't attempt to save money by purchasing ping pong balls. They're rubbish.
I just open the door of the dishwasher when it finishes.
When replacing damaged ping pong balls don’t attempt to increase longevity by purchasing snooker balls. They’re more painful when they hit you in the face and don't bounce so well.