Amazon'd

[bill_schubert]

I'm trying to cool the impetuous shopping and have been successful. The Wish List on Amazon is analogous to putting your credit cards in an ice tray. I've got stuff in there I HAVE to HAVE and haven't bought it yet. But @taz_39 set off the alarm with a really nice bamboo bread slicer that I've lived without while baking bread for about 25 years but, well, you know..  So it was on my wish list and I got the Amazon alert this morning that it was on sale.  I normally think of those alerts as manipulative and I hate being manipulated and typically delete them immediately.  But I did not delete this one.  It was about 30% off and now the price of four loaves of that bread I returned earlier this week.  So I ordered it.  And, in true Amazon fashion, will have it today.   I'm thinking they had an overstock in the local storage facility.

Meanwhile, back at my huge money making job, I signed up for a fun Prolific study.  They give you a sign in to Duolingo and pay a daily rate for seven days if you do a minimum amount of work.  So sign up and learn a new language for seven days.  Pick one.  I chose Ukrainian.  I do not know even how to order beer or bathroom in Ukrainian (or Russian or even know a Cyrillic character).  Should be fun for a week.  It would be even more fun should I run into a refugee ("I see you take your beer to the bathroom").

Other than that, all quiet on the Western Front.  Toby is recovering well.  Looking for babies to bite.  I encourage it.

Comments

[susandennis]

omg that bread slicer is genius and that price is amazing. i have less than zero need or use for one and even i want one. so glad you got it. and your prolific reports are enticing.

[anais_pf]

They are offering that bread slicer to me for $21.66 (if I order in the next 15 minutes, what the hell?) and while it looks fabulous, I am not in the habit of baking bread (yet?) and when I do buy or make unsliced bread, I am perfectly happy with the thick uneven slices I get with an ordinary knife, so now, this is me, resisting buying that wonderful gadget!

Wait WHAT! I have been doing Duolingo every single day in three languages for 638 days (that's my streak, I missed a day when the power was out a couple of years ago or it would be more like 800) and now they are paying people to do it? Let me know if there are a lot of animal words -- there certainly were when I was learning Czech. Czech for beer is pivo, in Dutch it's bier, in Spanish it's cerveza and in French they drink wine instead. :)

[bill_schubert]

The uneven slicing thing is fine most of the time. I frequently just tear off a chunk if I'm doing it with soup. But if I'm sandwiching I need a standard slice and typically when I try it freehand it comes out too thick. This is an in expensive way to do it. Although I'm annoyed about the extra $3 now.

And I did think of you when I saw the study. I don't know what they are trying to study, what is the hypothesis, but I can do a language for seven days easy enough. I won't remember any of it. I studied German for two or three years and lived in Germany for a couple of months one summer and never could remember what I was trying to say. I have a decent English vocab but can never remember words in other languages. Don't have the synapses for it. Still, this will be fun.

[anais_pf]

I wonder if they will ask you questions about your experience at the end of the week. I also wonder whether I would even be capable of learning a language that has cyrillic characters.

I saved that bread slicer to the "save for later" part of my Amazon basket in case my breadmaking progresses to the point where I would make sandwiches out of the bread, and also for when I have a bigger kitchen. It's back up to $34.99 for me, if that's any consolation. This is my first experience with Amazon prices changing that quickly!

[maju]

We have that bread slicing guide (the version that did not include a knife), and after maybe 18 months of use the slats on the bottom have deep grooves in them from the knife cutting into them. So far it's not a problem but I'm expecting the knife to slice right through at some point.

[bill_schubert]

Ooh... good info. I'll be careful.

If it died, I'd make one myself, I think. Or repair it. But cutting carefully from the beginning is a great idea.

[msconduct]

Please do retort on how the slicer works out, as I'm intrigued. A few years ago I bought a mechanical one (a domestic version of a commercial bread slicer) but it was more trouble than it was worth and I ended up giving it away. My slicing life has improved by making sourdough as it has a lighter texture and so there isn't so much hard yakka (there's another one for you! Hard yakka = hard work) sawing through it. I can slice evenly, but my poor little ladywrist used to kill me.

[taz_39]

Hey, I thought I didn't need it either! And might never have gotten it for myself. That's why I've got Jameson! He so thoughtful :D

Yes, I've noticed grooves in the bottom of mine already and I've only used it a few times.
Mostly I just didn't know when to stop slicing at first. Now I've got the hang of it, and I think it'll be fine. If not, at least this will last several years before needing to be replaced, plus I can't really think of another material that would hold up better (cutting boards of all materials, even glass, get marked eventually)

If it makes you feel any better I HAD to HAVE an Uncrustables sandwich sealer last night. It was only $7!
I've been telling myself, "You can just use a cookie cutter and then seal the edges with a fork", but first of all I know in my heart that it won't seal as well, and secondly I discovered that you can make not only Uncrustables but also hand pies, filled pretzels, and other goodies using the sealer! It'll be here tomorrow and when tour is over the first thing I'm making is toasted PB&J Uncrustables in the air fryer. Shortly followed by pizza-filled Uncrustables. Shortly followed by pretzel Uncrustables filled with ham, brie, and fruit jam.