Don’t put anything down the drain if you can help it. I only use the garbage disposal if something falls down into it, so about once a month I turn it on to clear it out.
A few years ago the kitchen sink started backing up fairly regularly. Finally it wouldn’t drain at all. Plumber came and said he needed to replace the entire pipe from the kitchen to the basement out to the street. Well, that would have involved removing a BIG built in cabinet in the basement (floor to ceiling, drawers, hanging closet, shelves) that the previous owner, a carpenter, had put in probably 50 years ago. We found a handyman who was able to snake a tiny hole in the clog and then there was a big whoosh and the suction broke and the clog was gone. BOY did it stink. It was 70 years of built up grease and other things in the pipe! You could smell it down in the basement but it was gone.
So now we are rabid about not putting anything down the drain. We have little screens in the sink to catch all the little bits of food and empty that out every day.
Law will take precedence. However, laws are usually very general and leases very specific. Law will say “no charge for wear and tear” and lease will say, specifically, we’re charging you to repaint and then they clarify that if you live there less than a year it is full charge and half for two year, and no charge for 3 years, showing it is not for wear and tear (there would be more wear and tear in 3 years than 1) as everyone gets a freshly painted apartment at move in but the landlord is amortizing that charge over the years.
That said, a major landlord/management company got hit by a class action lawsuit a year or so ago because in their many (many) contracts they had charges that weren’t allowed by landlord tenant laws but they’d been charging for years. Many apartments in Boulder, Ft Collins, Greeley, so many college rentals. People got big refunds, some for 10 years back.
When my nephew rented in Boulder, his security deposit was $7000! (5 kids in a basement apartment). I reviewed the lease for my sister and told her to kiss that goodbye, as it spelled out all the things they’d be charged for - new keys, paint, cleaning, I think breathing if they’d used up too much air. I think in the end they got about $3500 back because they hadn’t broken all the many rules about trash cans and parking and shoveling during the year.
That’s great! A brooklyn friend was getting floods in their basement. Plumber snaked (used a vacuum I believe) and removed two golf balls from the stormdrain. This discovery forstalls disassembly of backyard deck and removal of concrete slab underneath. Slab is in bad shape.
Interestingly, his house is miles from a golf course, minigolf, or driving range.
I bought Laughing Cow Lite cheese this week at Costco - it’s 4 rounds of all the little individual cheeses. I’ve never had it before (or rarely any of these little individually wrapped “cheese” snacks) but it was on sale for under $5 and I thought maybe it would be a good snack or addition to a “snack plate” lunch.
Tried one yesterday and well, not that exciting or flavorful! I don’t tend to buy “lite” versions - if I want to purchase something give me the full flavor! But now I have all these little cheese servings….any suggestions for ways I can use them in a dish or dip or something where the flavor doesn’t have to stand alone?
I can certainly do a search or randomly throw it like in Mac and cheese or something but looking for ways people may have specifically used this or a similar item.
I’m in need of new cutting boards. Mine are all plastic and they are all full of knife marks and cuts. From what I’ve read plastic boards aren’t the best but I’m at a loss of what to replace them with. Are all woods equal? What about raw meat? Any info would be appreciated.
I am also looking at cutting boards. I will stay away from plastic or glass. I’m reading that maple, walnut or cherry are best for meat - and of course a good cleaning routine.
I’ve been considering getting something “medium” sized that I can leave out on the counter - even though I’m anti too much on the counter - but I use a cutting board daily if not multiple times daily.
We use paperboard, which is a product made from recycled paper that is compressed and glued together. Supposed to be nicer to knives, but I really got it for the eco benefits and it can go in the dishwasher. I’ve been using it for more than 15 years and it holds up great. I stick it in the dishwasher every time. Here’s a high end Williams-Sonoma version, but I think I got mine at Bed Bath and Beyond before it went under. You can probably find it for $15-$20 somewhere more reasonable than Williams-Sonoma, but I don’t do Amazon or Target if I can help it anymore. https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/epicurean-cutting-board-fall-15/
I have an Arcos cutting board I bought in Europe. I really like it. One side is flat and the other has a channel. It’s a cellulose fiber/resin composite.
Titanium is the “latest and greatest” but is expensive for a real one. It is estimated that 80-90% of them sold on-line are fake and contain stainless steel which will ruin your knives.
And even if the magnet doesn’t stick doesn’t mean it’s not stainless steel.
Also I can’t help but think that titanium won’t dull knives any less than glass or very hard woods like bamboo or teak.
Of course, but the large percentage of the fakes use steel that’s magnetic. So that’s an easy first test.
Also agree that titanium would be hard on knives. I use wood cutting boards for veggies, which is the majority of what I chop, and a corian board for meats so it is easier to sanitize.
