Let’s See A Show Of Hands

[Norcalbaker59]

who out there has driven out of the gas station with the gas nozzle still in the car, ripping the nozzle of the off the gas pump?

Sigh...s#%* happens.

 

[Becky]

Oh no, that sucks! Never done it myself, here in the UK the pump will only deliver fuel when the handle is pressed, so once you're done you just hang it up then go and pay. Not easy to be distracted when you can't do anything else I guess! I find them quite stiff so I often use two hands. My mum ran out of fuel a fair few times though, that was never fun.

Hope it wasn't too expensive!

The first time we were driving in the US we were so confused by how it all worked. The fact we had to pay for it first was weird, because we didn't know how much it would cost to fill the tank. We handed over $100 because here in the UK it could easily cost £50-60 to fill up our small car, and we were driving a much bigger car in the US. The guy laughed at us, and since the fuel came to something like $25 I could see why. He also apologised that it was so expensive!! Seriously, you guys don't know how good you've got it when it comes to fuel prices

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Oh no, that sucks! Never done it myself, here in the UK the pump will only deliver fuel when the handle is pressed, so once you're done you just hang it up then go and pay. Not easy to be distracted when you can't do anything else I guess! I find them quite stiff so I often use two hands. My mum ran out of fuel a fair few times though, that was never fun.

Hope it wasn't too expensive!

The first time we were driving in the US we were so confused by how it all worked. The fact we had to pay for it first was weird, because we didn't know how much it would cost to fill the tank. We handed over $100 because here in the UK it could easily cost £50-60 to fill up our small car, and we were driving a much bigger car in the US. The guy laughed at us, and since the fuel came to something like $25 I could see why. He also apologised that it was so expensive!! Seriously, you guys don't know how good you've got it when it comes to fuel prices

Yes I remember having to pay by the liter in Europe; we pay by the gallon. In California gas is twice as much as other states. We have stricter auto pollution emissions standards than other states. because we have over 38 million people.

I don’t know what the cost of fixing the pump will be. I gave the station my insurance information, and they haven’t notified me yet of the claim. But BIL made the same mistake; My sister said it was about $300 - $400 to repair the pump house.

In the moment I was mortified, but when I got home I couldn’t stop laughing.

 

[Becky]

In the moment I was mortified, but when I got home I couldn’t stop laughing.

I'm glad you can see the funny side! These things happen, no point crying over spilt milk

 

[rubato456]

who out there has driven out of the gas station with the gas nozzle still in the car, ripping the nozzle of the off the gas pump?

Sigh...s#%* happens.

contemplating the next epic recipe no doubt: ;-)

 

[Norcalbaker59]

@rubato456, funny thing is I found out both my BIL have done this too! I still feel like a butthead though. But it was pretty funny.

 

[Apocalypso]

who out there has driven out of the gas station with the gas nozzle still in the car, ripping the nozzle of the off the gas pump?

Sigh...s#%* happens.

Oh no! I’ve not been on the site for a while. I had to wean myself off baking projects for a while as I was eating way too much!

I’ve never done that but twice in my life I’ve paid for gas in advance and driven off without pumping. Both times were where I had to prepay inside because it was either before we could swipe cards at the pump, or maybe that wasn’t working. Once I got home before I realized and had to go back and sheepishly explain to the clerk. Another time I was in a long road trip and couldn’t go back so I just threw away money. Both times I was really tired I guess, or at least deep in my thoughts.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Oh no! I’ve not been on the site for a while. I had to wean myself off baking projects for a while as I was eating way too much!

I’ve never done that but twice in my life I’ve paid for gas in advance and driven off without pumping. Both times were where I had to prepay inside because it was either before we could swipe cards at the pump, or maybe that wasn’t working. Once I got home before I realized and had to go back and sheepishly explain to the clerk. Another time I was in a long road trip and couldn’t go back so I just threw away money. Both times I was really tired I guess, or at least deep in my thoughts.

Hey, Apocalypso soooo good to hear from you again! How is everything? I totally get the eating too much. I'm up 10 lbs this past year. Today is diet day 1. Salmon, roasted beets and kombucha...oh, and coffee. Cannot live without coffee. Do you know anything about kombucha? Totally new to me...I'm still trying to figure it out. Some taste so bad I wonder how anyone ever thought to drink it, let alone convince people to pay for that experience Others are strangely addictive.

lol, I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only who went brain dead at the gas station. I was so horrified in the moment, but i could not stop laughing once I got home.

Your experience might explain something that recently happened to me. I pulled into the gas station, inserted my credit card; thought it was strange that it didn't request my billing zip code like it normally does. But the pump screen flashed "lift nozzle and pump". I started the pump, then as soon as it hit $15 right on the money, the pump shut off. Try as I might, I couldn't get the pump to restart, so I re-inserted my card, it asked for my billing zip, and I pumped more gas. After reading of your misadventure, I'm wondering if someone ahead of me paid inside, then drove off, forgetting to pump their gas Which means I got $15 of someone's gas I feel terrible....gas is like $3.40 a gallon in California right now.

 

[Becky]

I feel terrible....gas is like $3.40 a gallon in California right now.

Wow, you guys are so lucky! Here in the UK petrol is around 128p per litre, that's over $6 per gallon Plus we think of 128p/l as relatively cheap, it has been much higher.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Wow, you guys are so lucky! Here in the UK petrol is around 128p per litre, that's over $6 per gallon Plus we think of 128p/l as relatively cheap, it has been much higher.

OMG! $6 a gallon! And I thought California’s gas was expensive. I don’t know how anyone could afford to operate a car with those gas prices. At those prices I would be housebound.

Do you have any good public transportation options near you? Years ago I worked as commuter train operator; one of the benefits was I got to use the system for free. But I was low seniority so I always ended up with a shift that was either the last train of the night or one of the first in the morning so I ended up having to drive to the train yard. Catch-22.

 

[Becky]

The public transport is pretty expensive too, although in places like London it's cheaper. Here in Manchester we have a good overground tram network, but from where I live an off-peak day return ticket costs nearly £5 / $6.35 and it's just a 30 minute journey each way. There are big savings if you buy a season ticket, so for daily commuters it's not so bad.

I guess there are ups and downs wherever you live - your gas prices are cheaper than a lot of other places, but other living costs are more expensive (eg healthcare - but let's not open that bag of worms )

 

[Apocalypso]

Today is diet day 1. Salmon, roasted beets and kombucha...oh, and coffee. Cannot live without coffee. Do you know anything about kombucha? Totally new to me...I'm still trying to figure it out. Some taste so bad I wonder how anyone ever thought to drink it, let alone convince people to pay for that experience Others are strangely addictive.

I'm not ready to live without coffee either. I wish I could say I liked coffee without milk, cream or creamer, but only drinking like a shot of espresso or really good Cuban coffee. I'm sure I pile the calories into my morning coffee with milk, but I am also back to adding a few teaspoonsful of Benefiber, or rather the Costco generic equivalent, into my first cup. It does seem to make me feel full.

I have not dived into the kombucha world yet but I know there are local places that make and sell it. The idea doesn't yet appeal to me. I'm okay in general with fermented things, though I don't know how authentic is the kimchi that I've had in my lifetime, etc.

Not a great healthy-eating week for me as I ended up making a big pot of bolognese, though so far I've been measured in the amount of pasta that went with it. And it's really fauxlognese (TM?) - as it does contain beef and pork but also a ton of minced veggies including a box of cremini mushrooms, zucchini, a couple of food processor bowls-worth of veggies. And I'll freeze most of it.

My favorite part about your story is that you were already laughing by the time you got home. Really helps process things we can't help, doesn't it? I remember years ago, a bunch of us women from work went out to eat, and on the way back to the mini-van we'd all ridden in, I tripped on what seems to have been an eighth of an inch difference in the level of the sidewalk and went face-down, skinning both knees and one hand. And, momentarily, knocking the wind out of myself. So I lay there for a few seconds unable to answer the "my God, are you all right?" inquiries. And when I finally was able to breathe, I had to laugh. I remember another woman, not with us, came over and offered me her cell phone to use, which was very kind (back in the late 90s when I didn't have one yet), but also kind of funny considering I was surrounded by five women to help me.

I thought of that this past December as I actually did almost the same thing except I had just left yoga and was by myself walking the half block to my car. And I managed to fall so that both my rolled up yoga mat and my big purse mostly broke my fall. I did skin one knee a bit, through the pants, and disappointingly it is still discolored where it took forever to finally heal. So far this year, no flesh wounds to speak of, though I did manage to have one of my fingers bent back the other weekend. I was dog-sitting a friend's boisterous big doodle puppy, and he was so docile on the leash in the backyard our first time out, until he spotted a lizard and just jerked the leash hard. It's fortunately the middle finger of my non-dominant hand so it hasn't interfered with too much, though I can still not quite make a tight fist.

 

[Becky]

I was dog-sitting a friend's boisterous big doodle puppy, and he was so docile on the leash in the backyard our first time out, until he spotted a lizard and just jerked the leash hard. It's fortunately the middle finger of my non-dominant hand so it hasn't interfered with too much, though I can still not quite make a tight fist.

Ouch, that sounds painful! One of the things stopping us from getting a dog at the moment is that if it suddenly pulled on the lead it could hurt my back. I'd love to have a dog one day though. Hope your fingers feels better soon!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

@Apocalypso, oh I totally understand the cream in coffee. I’ve been drinking French press dark roast for years. I went from drinking it black to drinking it with cream because the coffee seem to get better over the years. But my brother who is involved and coffee import and roasting has been trying to teach me coffee appreciation. When he had me sample some medium roast I wasn’t sure about drinking coffee black.

But since we are exploring opening a retail artisan coffee shop and bakery, he sent me to barista training. That training not only taught me the different brew methods but how to actually taste coffee. So I’ve been drinking my coffee black to better appreciate it and to better develop my palate. I didn’t realize that coffee was very much like wine, that flavors are a result of terroir, roasting, and skill of the barista.

Regarding kombucha... it’s very unusual. I’m still finding my way around it, purchasing different brands. A lot of people apparently brew it at home but I’m just not ready to go there yet. It can be strangely addictive. The tastes vary, but they are definitely acidic and some taste similar to beer given the fermentation. But I find a combination of a good probiotic and kombucha helps alleviate some of the discomfort associated with celiacs.

Wow, getting the wind knocked out of you from a fall must have really been jarring. But yes you’re right laughter really helps process emotions associated with experiences that strip us of control.

I hope the damage to your finger isn’t too severe. Really kind of you to pet sit your friend’s large dog. I think pets do better when they are in a home like setting. When I had my cat, I hired a pet sitter to watch my cat whenever I was away. But after a four day trip I discovered she never came to feed or check on my cat during my absence. After that I started using the vet’s kennel service; she was caged, but at least the vet’s staff fed her.

 

[Apocalypso]

I think the finger is slowly getting better. I can do yoga (and will again tomorrow night), so that's good. I've been battling IT band syndrome, which came out of nowhere about a month ago and keeps recurring, even though I'm not a runner and not doing anything that different (Jazzercise several times a week and yoga one night.) I finally have a working theory that we're doing abductor exercises and not much adductor (inner thigh) so my leg muscles might be unbalanced. And after getting a few massages and stuff, I read the umpteenth article on ITBS and it suggested I foam roller not the IT band, but glutes, hips, quads, and hamstrings, so I've been doing that whenever I can get the cats to let me. (Something about me sitting on the floor makes them come over.) It goes from ok to really painful to bend or turn the leg, and I overdid it Saturday because I covered for someone as a class assistant (little unpaid job of checking people in at class and stuff) so did two classes. So on Sunday it was bad.

Finally back to at least considering baking - as we have a little tapas party with a group of friends. Edgar is making his famous empanadas, and getting-famous shrimp ceviche. I am recreating the wonderful stuffed dates we had at a local restaurant, except replacing the goat cheese with something (possibly Manchego as I saw that in one online recipe), and wrapping in proscuitto. As a possible second dish, I'm weighing either pickled deviled eggs (like another local restaurant used to serve, soaked in a turmeric-laced brine so they're bright yellow on the outside of the whites), or possibly some type of Scotch eggs. My friend Christine usually bakes a sweet item, so I'm waiting to see what she's bringing, but if she's not, I have been eyeing recipes trying to recreate the limoncello cake from yet another nearby restaurant. Basically, a light sponge layer and a lemony filling. I may make it as a cake roll, and make the filling out of homemade lemon curd mixed with mascarpone. I'm even thinking of making homemade mascarpone, since it's so expensive, though Trader Joe's is pretty affordable. I'm going to follow the gist of this recipe for the filling portion, though the cake roll will be my standard Asian-style sponge which contains a little oil. Actually thought of making the cake as mini-cupcakes and piping the lemon-curd-mascarpone filling in (leaving them otherwise unfrosted.) I still might do that. And I'm still wavering on making the whole thing orange instead of lemon! I really loved the orange curd I made last year.

 

[Becky]

Ouch IT band problems can be painful, I hope you manage to loosen it up. I've got a hard foam roller, they're fantastic. There's a good stretch you can do too, although it can be difficult to get it right. Once you've mastered it it's really good though. Basically you cross one leg in front of the other and push your hip out to the side while leaning in the opposite direction (it helps to stand next to a wall for balance). Sometimes takes a little while to locate it, but when you do it's a lovely stretch

Mmmm limoncello cake sounds divine!!

 

[Apocalypso]

Becky, thanks! I've been doing that stretch but it doesn't seem to help as much as I'd hoped. I have a love/hate relationship with the foam roller... It's fine on my back and shoulders (as long as I carefully pull my hair up!) but on the individual leg muscles it hurts like heck. My wussy adaptation is to sometimes wrap an exercise mat around it so it's not so hard.

I really derailed this subject header, didn't I?

As of now, one woman is attempting her first flan, and another is bringing brownies, so I probably won't bring a cake to the gathering. What I'm down for now is the dates, stuffed with cheese and wrapped in prosciutto, and Spanish-influenced deviled eggs (turns out stuffed eggs have a Spanish history anyway). I should have enough bits leftover to put together a small plate with chorizo, Manchego cheese, and some bits and bobs. Now I'm wondering if I can change course and knock out something to feed the volunteers decorating the workout studio on Saturday to kick off our breast cancer fundraising season (it's going to be "pink-out"). Maybe some pink mini cupcakes.

 

[Becky]

I'm a big fan of the stuffed dates, it's one of those flavour combinations that people are always surprised by! Sounds like a great event, I hope it goes well

 

[Norcalbaker59]

@Apocalypso, oh I feel for you on the IT band Strange you are having IT band issues given you do yoga. I was 6 months in PT/2 x wk for IT band issues. I've been a runner most of my adult life, running 40+ miles a week. So IT band issues were inevitable for me. But my physical therapist was deep into yoga, and she keep telling me yoga would be great to relieve my IT band and piriformis syndrome pain.

She had me stretching the glutes, IT band, and back. On PT days she would physically stretched me. which I think helped a lot. At home 3 x wk I had to foam roll; and roll on a lacrosse ball--which hurts like #$%*!. This perform a lot of resistance band work: banded side walks, banded reverse walks; banded abduction leg raises; banded clamshells; banded stability ball hamstring curls, and stability ball back extensions. After of which I had to ice.

Oh tapas party sounds delicious! I could make a meal out of dates and Manchego with a bit of good honey. Any chance Edgar would share the empanada recipe? I've always wanted to make them. And if by brother and I ever get our coffee shop bakery off the ground, I thought empanadas would be a great offering. Savory, delicious, and portable.

I have to figure out a menu for a luncheon in a couple or three weeks. My sister and SIL invited themselves to me house...not that I mind. But I just don't know what to serve. Any suggestions?

 

[Becky]

Any suggestions?

Ever done afternoon tea? It's usually finger sandwiches, scones with jam and cream (clotted cream if you can get it), and any other sweet treats you can think of. Oh, and plenty of tea of course

And if you've got a tiered cake stand to serve it all on, all the better!

I love afternoon tea, it feels so decadent. This is one I had with a friend at Royal Ascot a couple of years ago: