The Vent and Rant Thread

[PeterT]

Is http://www.ift.org/Food-Technology/O...a-in-eggs.aspx of any interest on eggs?

[cromag]

The universal 3-inch replacement flapper valve that I bought doesn't fit the 3-inch fitting in my toilet.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by cromag

The universal 3-inch replacement flapper valve that I bought doesn't fit the 3-inch fitting in my toilet.

OMG, that's just perfect, isn't it? I guess it must fit in a different universe--perhaps a parallel one. ;-)

Hitch

[Rumpelteazer]

On the 31st last week I ordered a lot of crafting stuff at an online store. I knew several items weren't in stock but those were expected to arrive the 14th of this month. Since then the date has been changed from the 14th to the 16th to the 20th, then the 21st, a couple of days later to the 26st and now it's the 27th. Not the end of the world, but annoying. I expect it has something to do with the big CHA fair in the US this weekend, a lot of new items are released for it.

Next time I should break the order up into one of items in stock and one of items out of stock, even if it means I have to pay extra for shipping.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I haven't seen a refrigerated egg being sold in the last 25 years. It just isn't done in Asia. And oddly enough, there are no outbreaks of Salmonella poisoning!
Stitchawl

Originally Posted by PeterT

Is http://www.ift.org/Food-Technology/O...a-in-eggs.aspx of any interest on eggs?

I didn't got to PeterT's site; perhaps it covers this. But I learned recently what the difference is. The USA insists on *washing* its eggs before selling them. The water removes some covering and exposes the microscopic pores in the eggshell. After that, you DO need to refrigerate them. The rest of the world more sensibly sells eggs the way nature creates them, with their natural protection intact. Thus, they keep quite well at room temperature. As they have done for the past several millenia when we haven't had refrigerators. But, oh they might look a little dingier and dirtier, and we USA dumbies probably wouldn't tolerate that!

@Hitch: you don't have a picture of Clancy in the butt up position, do you? That sounds charming! That was a lovely story. I was going to say tale ....

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

@Hitch: you don't have a picture of Clancy in the butt up position, do you? That sounds charming! That was a lovely story. I was going to say tale ....

No, sadly, I don't. I do wish I did. He was a lovely, sweet, quiet cat, and deserved better. (Than to become so sick so early; there wasn't anything that could be done for him, poor fellow.).

Hitch

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

The USA insists on *washing* its eggs before selling them.

Good grief. What a very silly idea. If they're dirty enough to need washing, I wouldn't want to buy them because the hens must be living in terrible conditions.

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Good grief. What a very silly idea. If they're dirty enough to need washing, I wouldn't want to buy them because the hens must be living in terrible conditions.

Well yes, they do. The washing was instituted to remove feces from the egg shells and combat the presence of bacteria contained therein.

[cromag]

We could always scrub 'em clean and then shellac 'em again.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Honest to crap, gang...

<snip>

Hitch

Writing just sounds like IT.

"The Boss" tells customers that it's no problem: of course you can have that new function by next Friday. (It's now Monday.)

Then he 'asks' his employees if this function can be written, tested, and documented before Wednesday (looking very surprised when the answer is 'no'), so the customer can take a look at it on Tuesday, offer some suggestions regarding changes to be made, after which this update can be installed on the customer's 37 systems on Friday.

True story. I've encountered in numerous times in more than one company.

And no, I don't mean

function Hello()
{
echo "Hello World!";
}

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Writing just sounds like IT.

"The Boss" tells customers that it's no problem: of course you can have that new function by next Friday. (It's now Monday.)

Then he 'asks' his employees if this function can be written, tested, and documented before Wednesday (looking very surprised when the answer is 'no'), so the customer can take a look at it on Tuesday, offer some suggestions regarding changes to be made, after which this update can be installed on the customer's 37 systems on Friday.

True story. I've encountered in numerous times in more than one company.

And no, I don't mean

function Hello()
{
echo "Hello World!";
}

Well, icing on the cake:

(Or...insult added to injury)...after I told them how to cover their butts for the "pre-sale" thing on Amazon, BUT then told them, no, I couldn't have this book (474 pages, 181 images, poetry, yadda) done by the 15th, they went with "another conversion house" that said that they could.

Now...I know what this means. It means, that house is going to run this POS through Calibre, tweak it ever so slightly, and give them a MOBI (that is either made with C or with KG). But...it also means that this book will NOT be properly made; the images won't be optimized for all the HD issues; it won't have media-queries to address the KF7 devices; and the poetry won't line-wrap correctly. But, bygod, the "other conversion house" will tell them to look at it on K4PC, and, "yowza!" it will LOOK PERFECT.

Right up to the point that some poor buyer actually buys it and downloads it.

What kills me--what really bloody kills me--is that you CANNOT explain these quality issues. People don't care. They want their crap fast, and if it looks like a cake with icing, well, then, howdy, it's all good. They don't use Previewer; they don't test the books...it's so damn frustrating. The lower-quality houses just have them all download K4PC or K4Mac, in which almost everything LOOKS great, and bobs-yer-uncle.

(n.b.: I received a mostly-complete book that a former, now-gone competitor of mine had done. I was SHOCKED to see how badly the book was coded. Absolutely gobsmacked. That, atop this...makes me want to shut my bloody doors. They were charging SUBSTANTIALLY more than we.)



Hitch

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Good grief. What a very silly idea. If they're dirty enough to need washing, I wouldn't want to buy them because the hens must be living in terrible conditions.

They are indeed in Canada at least. Factory farming and most chickens go insane.
In BC about 10 years ago IIRC, a tax was imposed on free range eggs because they were less than double the price of factory farmed eggs where the chickens live in wire baskets under very unhygienic conditions. We Canadians are very cruel to the creatures that provide us sustenance.

We focus instead on killing techniques. Does a cow really care if it is shot through the head with a rusty nail or a shiny one?

Helen

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Well, icing on the cake:

(Or...insult added to injury)...after I told them how to cover their butts for the "pre-sale" thing on Amazon, BUT then told them, no, I couldn't have this book (474 pages, 181 images, poetry, yadda) done by the 15th, they went with "another conversion house" that said that they could.

Now...I know what this means. It means, that house is going to run this POS through Calibre, tweak it ever so slightly, and give them a MOBI (that is either made with C or with KG). But...it also means that this book will NOT be properly made; the images won't be optimized for all the HD issues; it won't have media-queries to address the KF7 devices; and the poetry won't line-wrap correctly. But, bygod, the "other conversion house" will tell them to look at it on K4PC, and, "yowza!" it will LOOK PERFECT.

Right up to the point that some poor buyer actually buys it and downloads it.

What kills me--what really bloody kills me--is that you CANNOT explain these quality issues. People don't care. They want their crap fast, and if it looks like a cake with icing, well, then, howdy, it's all good. They don't use Previewer; they don't test the books...it's so damn frustrating. The lower-quality houses just have them all download K4PC or K4Mac, in which almost everything LOOKS great, and bobs-yer-uncle.

(n.b.: I received a mostly-complete book that a former, now-gone competitor of mine had done. I was SHOCKED to see how badly the book was coded. Absolutely gobsmacked. That, atop this...makes me want to shut my bloody doors. They were charging SUBSTANTIALLY more than we.)



Hitch

I am thinking in cases like this you need to become more snooty. Raise your prices or submission requirements for people like this. Tell them if someone can do this substantially better for the same price that you will give them their money back provided they in no way use your work to build upon.
Let them know you can tell if they do whether you can or not.
I am thinking the squawking might subside to squeaking and then to worship given a few months.

Helen

[CRussel]

We have our own hens, and it's absolutely true that you don't have to refrigerate eggs. Yes, some times an egg needs a bit of a scrub, and then should be refrigerated. But with unwashed eggs, you should not need to.

[PeterT]

Not really a rant, but I know some of you (Stichawl I think) own Tilley Hats. They're for sale...

http://www.thestar.com/business/2015..._for_sale.html

The legendary Canadian hat maker and travel clothing retailer Tilley Endurables is up for sale.

“I am 77 and it’s time,” founder Alex Tilley said in a telephone interview late Tuesday, after running a newspaper ad inviting potential buyers to make an offer.

The announcement raised doubts about the future of the company’s made in Canada policy and its Don Mills factory.

“We’re hoping a Canadian investor will find it interesting. It’s not a matter of money. I’ve got to have the right person, with a similar philosophy, who wants to do the very, very best,” Tilley said.