‘Turn to mush’?
True there is humour even in mundane vegetables.
I guess we both know the old adage that food not totally and fully cooked would be incapable of being properly digested.
And now that I’ve said that, “remember to chew every mounthful at least 20 times before swallowing”!
I do miss sitting at that table though! 
I miss McEwans hardware stores where mature, expert, assistants would not only help you find what you were looking for, but, if asked, they would teach you how to do the job you were intending to do.
I do not expect young, friendly, assistants at Bunnings to do that, but I would expect to be directed to the right place to get what I’m looking for.
Had to ask 3 different assistants after being sent to the wrong aisles just to get an under the door draught stopper!
I find that in most shops the emphasis now seems to be in being greeted like a long lost friend. I would rather have expert help from shop assistants.
Hmm I’ll have to investigate the comment “someone mining bitcoin without my permission”.
Is that what happens??
One also needs to install cryptocurrency mining software to partake in mining…it is not something preinstalled in operating systems. If the software isn’t installed, one would be a miner without a shovel.
Only possible if your PC was hacked by a miner, and you leave it online and turned on 24x7 or it wakes from sleep,
And it needed to be a very powerful gaming rig,
And as @phb has pointed out not a risk for most of us.
I miss the drop-side toaster. Yes, it was not automatic, yes, you had to watch it like a hawk and turn the bread around to get it toasted on both sides, but at least you could get it toasted both sides… Most toasters these days start giving up on one or more elements within a year of purchase. I can get burnt on one side and barely beige on the other, or regular on one side and nothing on the other. I usually go down that road and then turn the toast anyway. May as well use a drop-side. Can buy old ones on ebay for ridiculous prices.
Yes, I set the timer low then cook-turn-cook-turn- … repeat until done :).
Indeed. Somebody who knows how to politely tell you if you are wrong and there is a better way. Training in ‘the customer is always right’ may not always produce good outcomes.
I remember these, somewhat fondly. Every caravan and holiday accommodation had them and they worked a treat. The deluxe models also kept the toast warm until it was eaten.
The only problem was that sometimes the bakelite handles were broken off and one had to use ones finger on hot metal which gave the user a first degree burn if one was not quick enough or the doors closed such making then difficult to open. I also recall as a child getting a tingle from the exterior…which possibly meant the metal was not earthed correctly.
Some of the vintage ones were quite ornate and could easily take pride of place in ones kitchen, unlike the relatively bland boxes of the modern automatic toasters:
They are still available second hand on Gumtree,
but then again, the new automatic toaster may be cheaper and less of a safety issue.
Metal cases, cotton wrapped cords and ancient insulators: no thank you very much.
Rubber insulation that perished. Ahhh … memories! I miss that warm glow. 
Part of it can be fear. Last time I was working retail and I told someone what they were doing was a bad idea they threatened to smash my face in.
I’m sorry if I’ ve hurt anybody’s feelings by my comments, I worked as a shop assistant for a while when younger and know that is a difficult job dealing with all kinds of customers. I respect any individual worker, it is the system that sometimes makes me wonder how values have changed with the times.
The mining can and does take place and it does not need to be a powerful rig to do so, it requires a powerful rig in the sense of someone undertaking all the process on a machine but the java scripts are not about making your machine a full blown miner but rather they get your machine to process some part the process in it’s cycles. Every PC/Mac/Tablet/Smartphone has “spare cycles” that we as users are not fast enough to take advantage of. So in it’s normal housekeeping a computer uses some of these cycles/ticks/spare moments to do that unseen background work. The javascript that the cryptominers place on your machine use some of this unseen computational power to run a bit of the overall complete program. SETI also uses a similar process to search for ET contact (https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/), some Cancer Research and other benevolent work is also done this way but they do it only with informed consent and nor does it require 24/7 online connection (the Cyrptominers also do not require 24/7 connection).
Most AV and Malware detectors can now locate errant cryptominer software and will remove it but some sites cleverly/sneakily state that by using their site you agree to the loading of these scripts and get you to ok the processes. Some come via specially constructed ads that contain the scripts, others are more “blatant” in their approaches.
A single machine can no longer reasonably mine a Bitcoin for profit but if a sneaky cryptominer can get their software on 1,000, 10,000 or more machines and not use their own electricity, or hardware they can certainly make money off those who do not use adequate and up to date protection.
After.posting the above this morning, I recalled the Large Dim Sim which used to be cooked and sold in fish shops.
I started eating them when I was about 10 years old and only stopped after the factory burnt down some years ago.
Those awful little dim sims that the fish shops sell cooked and the supermarkets sell frozen ar not even in the same ball park.
Something I miss is solid wood furniture. So much today is chipboard, and a decent bookcase is getting ever more difficult to find.
Yes, solid wood tends to be heavier and is now a lot more expensive; it also tends to be sturdier.
There’s quite enough Pollywaffle when Morrison opens his mouth! (Sorry… I had to)
Beautiful handcrafted wooden furniture is offered by artisans and well worth the price. I commissioned a buffet of a specific size in Jarrah and am delighted with the result. Price was equivalent to shop bought hardwood. So happy I then ordered a bed. Just google bespoke furniture or have a look at the Handcrafted.com site for inspiration.
Some photos of our coffee table created by “The Mobile Prickle Farm” in Somerset in Tasmania in 1998 from a salvaged Bing Billy Pine stump and a plank from a salvaged Huon Pine burl.
The raw timber.
The finished product at our previous residence.
When we listed the house for sale in 2014, everyone who inspected it wanted to know if the coffee table was for sale.
Gorgeous! I do love timber in all its complexity and imperfection. How do you vacuum the rug, do you have a forklift in the shed? One of the little jobs with fat rubber tyres perhaps that will not mark the floor.
