u/Eeyor-90

I’m not sure if this is the right sub for this question, so please redirect me if needed.

I fly on at least two regional flights each week. Typically these are small planes that only require one flight attendant. Recently, the FA was in the middle of beverage service when we encountered some rather intense, but brief turbulence. The FA struggled to control the beverage cart, a passenger who was making their way to the lavatory lost their balance and nearly fell, many people spilled beverages, etc. My question is, if something like this were to happen and the flight attendant was seriously injured, how can the passengers alert the pilot?

You don’t need much water (or much scrubbing) to clean a stainless steel pan that has burnt-on food with the right cleaning agent. There are probably a few similar cleaners, but the cheapest one I can find that meets my needs is Bar Keeper’s Friend. It is great for low-effort cleaning. I was cleaning a skillet that had been coated with burnt scrambled egg after my husband cooked and it occurred to me that folks here might find this useful. I sprinkle a bit of the powdered Bar Keeper’s Friend in the skillet, add enough water to cover the bottom, and let it sit for at least ten minutes. After 10 minutes, the burnt-on food scrapes away very easily and everything rinses away cleanly.

Typically, my husband will fill the skillet with water, add a drop or two of dish soap, and put the skillet on the stove to boil for five to ten minutes. He then lets it cool and scrubs out the mess with steel wool. The right cleaning agent reduces the water needed, eliminates the fuel/energy needed to boil, and reduces the scrubbing.

I’ve heard that Dawn Power Wash works well, but I haven’t tried it. I’ve also heard that The Pink Stuff is good, but it’s much more expensive here. I don’t use non-stick pans, so I don’t know if the Bar Keeper’s Friend will damage them, but $3 for a can that lasts me 3-6 months is hard to beat.

What other cleaning tips do you folks have that can save water, fuel/electricity, time, and energy/effort (aka: elbow grease)?

I can think of a few likely scenarios where I would be making meals from my deep pantry, would want to conserve water, and would absolutely not want any leftovers after a meal. Canned foods meet this criteria, except there are only two people in my household and standard size cans are often too much when mixed into recipes. I’m able to find some items in the small, 8 or 8.5 ounce cans (fruit cocktail, green beans, corn, tomato sauce, baked beans, pineapple), but I’d like to get a few more options like black beans, red beans, chili, various fruits, and other pantry staples in small cans.

Does anyone know of a good source? I don’t want the plastic “lunchbox” style cups, I want proper cans for long term storage.

I travel a lot for work and often the small towns I frequent only have a Hampton Inn or a True if I want a Hilton brand. I recently checked in to a Hampton Inn I have frequented in the past that has been renovated since my last stay. The nice work area I used to have has been removed and a shelf that is barely larger than my laptop and is attached to the mini-fridge cabinet has taken its place. This tiny shelf doesn't have an accessible outlet nearby, isn't big enough to have a laptop and a mouse (forget the external travel monitor) and is an absolute pain to use. At least I was able to move the chair over to the shelf easily; there is no desk chair now. The Hampton Inn chain is often populated with business travelers, why remove their ability to do work in their rooms? The new layout resembles a True but is somehow less functional (I really don't like True).

We have our water bill set up for auto-pay, so I don’t look at it unless the amount seems off. We received a paper copy a few days ago and I was curious, so I opened it. My household of 2 adults and 2 large dogs uses an average of 60 gallons of water per day. This seemed outrageous, I was certain that we had a leak…until I Googled what is normal for an American household: 80-100 gallons per person(!) per day. My household is surprisingly well below average. We “should” be using closer to 200 gallons per day.

The average American uses 100 gallons of water per day when life is “normal”. That’s making me rethink my emergency water plan which allows for 2 gallons per person per day and 1 gallon per dog per day (I swear a dog only swallows 25% of the water they drink, the rest just drips out of their face). I know how to live comfortably on minimal water, but I never really measured what that minimal amount is; I’ve just used guidelines. My stash of 6 gallons per day suddenly seems very small.

Currently, the likelihood that we will have a scenario where there is absolutely no access to water anywhere is very, very low. An outage that lasts several hours is common where I live (about every 6 weeks), an outage that lasts several days has happened, but other parts of the city were not affected so we could go somewhere else nearby if needed. If we start having to deal with heavy rationing, this may not always be the case.

Has anyone here actually measured how much water they would use per day if services were out for a few weeks? Water for drinking, cooking, washing hands, bathing, pets/live stock, gardens, cleaning, laundry, toilets, etc? I know that I don’t need 60 gallons per person per day. If I conserve and am diligent, that number would be much lower, but I don’t know the real number.

I’m suddenly very aware of how much water is simply going down the drain.

After I left the airport and drove several hours, I found a bag that is tagged from a flight last week in my rental car. I reported it with the rental car company but couldn't find any way to report it with American Airlines. All I could find with American was how to report that I lost something. Is there a website or phone number I overlooked that I can report this to? I will return the vehicle and the bag to the rental car company in four days.

This is an old post that I did not make, but it’s very interesting to see how clothing colors can affect how much heat is absorbed:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/s/t9Ao5ZiPeq

I’ve started looking at fridge and freezer alarms that will notify me when the internal temperature exceeds a set value. The options are overwhelming. I need 4 of these devices to monitor my stuff, so I’m looking in the price range of $20-$40 each. Does anyone here have suggestions?

Screwworm has been found in Texas. The good news is, Texas is very serious about their cattle and will likely work hard to reduce the spread.

https://www.tahc.texas.gov/emergency/nws.html

EpiPens are expensive, but are absolutely necessary for many people. My insurance company told me that I need to ask my doctor to write the prescription for "epinephrine auto-injector". If the doctor uses the name brand, the pharmacy can only issue the name brand. The generic works exactly the same. With my insurance, 2 generic pens cost $12. I fill the script every month so I have a decent stash.