Little annoying things

Little annoying things

Date: 2008.12.19 | Category: News | Tags: green potatoes

Actually, it was a pretty good day. After I used all my table salt to get the ice off my steps. And, oh, rats, I just recalled that I forgot to pick up more canned dog food today. But it was still a pretty good day. I took my grand-daughters to the mall to Christmas shop because we’ve all been mostly at home for the past three days. And they were good and we had a good time. Shop at Old Navy. Eat at the food court and play on the kiddie toys. Not a productive writing day at all, but some days we just have to stop and admit that life isn’t entirely about writing.

But even on a good day, there are those little things that just make me go, "Hm. Does that bother everyone, or is it just me? Surely if it bothered everyone, Those People in charge of fixing stuff would fixt that." So. Just for the record. Is anyone else bothered by these little things?

Guys, you can skip this first one. It doesn’t apply to you.
You know those magical self- flushing toilets in malls? Why can’t they make one that doesn’t splash droplets of water up on the seat in the process of flushing? Little girls look at that and say, "someone brought a little boy in here and he peed on the seat." It can take quite a bit of toilet inspecting to find one they will then use. When I consider how my light is spent . . .

Green potatoes. I buy bags that look like nice brown russet potatoes. But when I dump them in the sink, about 80 percent of them turn green as I scrub them. It makes me wonder if the potato marketers have some special brown dust that they put on the potatoes to make them potato colored. You know how potatoes get green? Exposure to sunlight. If you grow potatoes, the ones down deep are the right potato color. The ones that grow too close to the surface and stick out of the mounds turn green. Or if potatoes are stored in light, they turn green. Because they try to photosynthesize, and thus create solanine. Which, my friends, is poisonous. (You do know that potatoes and tomatoes are members of the nightshade family, right? As in deadly nightshade?) Anyhow, that green skin isn’t good for you. Cut it off. Someday, in an excess of zeal, I will discover why so many potatoes in American grocery stores are green. Then I’ll post it here.

Mealy apples. Again, what is the deal here? I mean, I live in Washington State, for heavens sake. In October, there are so many apples growing everywhere that even the birds are sick of them. And they are great apples! But here we are, it’s only December, and I bought what looked like really good Galas. And all of them have the ‘maybe they froze it’ brown inside them. And the texture is awful. Ick.

Glue that dries up inside the bottle. Has anyone in the world ever used a tube of super glue twice? I open one, poke the hole in the spout, use it, and seal it up carefully. The next time I need it, nope. It’s all dried up like a little rock. Maybe that’s why the tubes are so tiny. They know you can only open and use it once.

Okay, enough whining. None of those things killed me today, so I guess I’m stronger now. I should end this on a positive note.

I got really good red and black licorice at Tacoma Boys a few days ago. They had my chewy ginger candy there, too.

The rear defroster on my van windows works better than any rear defroster I’ve ever had.

The new gas fireplace on the main floor actually almost heats Ru’s bedroom. She is almost grateful.

I got really good wrapping paper at Big Lots.

And the marathon of cookie baking proceeds apace, with all going well.

Robin

8 Responses to “Little annoying things”

sizztheseed 08/12/20 13:43

I suspect the green potato problem is often from security lighting. The spuds often stand around in an uncovered state at the packing facility where the sodium lamps burn through the night, then again at the grocery warehouse, and finally in the supermarket. The idea of security lighting is so tightly ingrained in the way people do security here, and with some reasonable cause, but it seems such a waste, especially when flying over the cities at night and seeing all these empty buildings lit like daylight. That sight always makes me feel the vast scale of the problem of electricity waste.

But that can’t be the whole story. We have one local farmer, who also manages to green his potatoes fairly regularly. He’s getting on a bit, and after turning them (turning the soil over and leaving the potatoes out to be gathered), he takes a rest, and that rest can go on for a whole afternoon in the bright sun. Perhaps that also happens on the big farms where they will turn a few acres of potatoes at once, and it may be several hours or a day before they’re gathered up and sent on.

On the other end of the scale is a farmer who keeps all his root vegetables in a converted mushroom cellar, which is photographically dark nearly all year. His spuds are never green, but, ah, he’s a very meticulous fellow.

Good luck with the cookery. We have a lot of baking today as well…
allaboutm_e 08/12/20 18:22

All reasonable complaints , esp. #1, annoying to “big girls” too, IMO.
darkchallenger 08/12/21 02:26

As a guy, I’d just like to say I hate the splashing self flushers too. We have power flushers at the library I work at. Water, water, everywhere. Ugh. I’ll have to check out the wrapping paper at Big Lots this week. Once the sub zero temps have moved on.
robin_hobb 08/12/22 22:49

ah, yes, that would explain green potatoes.

Not excuse, mind you, but explain!

Robin
margaux_de_laac 08/12/23 17:25

For the tube of super glue, try to cut it with scissors,
sometimes it works
sometimes, you just have to throw your scissors

Margaux (from rivages-maudits)
kevsegg 09/02/25 00:17

Hi Robin

What is the ginger candy you mentioned in this post?

I love ginger but i’ve never seen any ginger candy. Maybe we don’t have it here in the UK but I’d love to hunt some out.

Thanks
Kirsty x
robin_hobb 09/02/26 03:21

http://www.gingerpeople.com

I get mine locally from Tacoma Boys. They started out as a fruit and vegetable and plant stand, but my, how they’ve grown. GP make several kinds of ginger candy, but I like the chewy ones the best. They rev up my metabolism and mood settle my stomach if I’ve had too much coffee, and taste really great.

A lot of Asian stores carry candied ginger, and that is also a great way to get your ginger. It can be really hot, so try a small piece first. Seriously, for me it does boost my mood.

My mom was from the UK (Norwich) and she is the one who taught me to love ginger, so I suspect you can find it locally.
lil_kam 09/03/05 14:10

The super glue observation is very concise. Blasted things.

Little annoying things

8 Responses to “Little annoying things”

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