I absolutely agree. I'm happy to switch to a new technology as long as it performs at least as well as my current implementation.
I have a few cast iron and carbon steel pans, but most of my cooking vessels are thick copper (not copper inserts, full 3mm or more copper). Copper pans are superior to any other material (unless you prioritize cost) and are sadly incompatible with induction.
Don't even talk to me about electric element (non induction) stoves, they're garbage for heat control.
no booze or cannabis on nights I actually have to sleep well
a completely dark room, no little lights on electronic devices, blackout curtains, etc..
a bed (I won't mention the brand unless asked) that adjusts to my sleep patterns. It measures my breath rate, heart rate, how often I move, if I'm snoring (rare), etc.. It then knows how well I'm sleeping and can soften or firm up, and tilt my upper body up or down. Depending on how my vitals change it learns how best to accommodate my sleep.
If I have trouble due to stress or the neighbors are making noise I'll throw on an eye mask and ear plugs.
I'm basically comatose 15 minutes after hitting the pillow and wake up before my alarm.
I live walking distance from the ocean, so it's nice to set a pellet up and monitor it from the beach. Run back when it's time to wrap/spray/etc, and then hang on the sand until the internal temps remind me it's time to head home and rest everything in a cooler.
All of my sausage, fish, and jerky goes in the vertical smoker. I have to manually tend the fire on that, but the temp swings and fuel consumption are much more stable, so it's generally quite a bit easier than minding my normal offset.
Chilling in the yard to tend fire and empty a 30 rack with the neighbor is fun for sure, and my stick burner develops better bark than the pellet, even if I use wood in it. So when I want to go all in on a competition, or I'm doing like 8 briskets at a time for a huge event I'll run the stick burner. Otherwise it's something in the pellet smoker.
I generally agree with this order, but my journey took me in a different order. After having propane forever I moved to a Weber and the snake method, but then I went with an offset with a real fire box.
After getting really good results but not always having enough time to stoke the fire for 12+ hours I bought a very high end pellet smoker that I converted to also use charcoal and wood.
My stick burner gets used maybe once a year now. I'll go pellet at least once a week, and charcoal or wood in the converted pellet at least once a month. I also can build a makeshift konro inside my pellet smoker, and I use that all the time.
Oh right, I also have an offset vertical smoker, and hunt a lot of my own protein, so yeah, it's a deep hole I've dug into.
If I sharpened my knives after every 30 minutes of use I wouldn't have any steel left after a couple of months, tops. My knives are shaving sharp, I use them for several hours every day.
If your knives hold an edge and are profiled correctly, sharpening every 30 minutes (even a quick touch up) is entirely unnecessary. Professional meat cutters and fishmongers annihilate cutting for 10 hours a day and require razor sharp tools, and they don't spend even close to as much time as you've claimed touching up their edges.
Don't get me wrong, I love sharp knives, but either you're exaggerating or doing it wrong.
I live near beach, it's pleasant year round. Much of my living space is permanently open to the elements, the rest of it has sliding/french doors and large windows that are open most of the time the dwelling is occupied.
It's definitely a shelter.
That said, stuff from outside sometimes gets inside. I clean, no biggie.
Absolutely. You can buy caffeine by the kilo and incidentally it sort of looks like really stepped on coke.
But I'm not kidding about the accurate scale tho. I LOVE caffeine, but the last time I tried to eyeball 200mg I ended up feeling like I was going to die.
They pay the business who owns the ad space, who in turns pays the website or app for their space. You pay for the app or website content by watching the ad.
It's a terrible model, but you are being paid (in content) for watching ads.
This actually happens very frequently in the US. When hunters harvest a bird they report their kills in compliance with hunting regulations. If any of your birds have leg or neck bands you report that information as well. The bands have a tracking number on them, and scientists use them to monitor populations and migration patterns. It's literally part of their plan.
You get to keep the bands as well (I only have experience with banded geese and ducks). They're a neat memento.
How do I plan for job instability? By interviewing at many places continuously. By keeping my job skills and interviewing skills sharp, while interviewing continuously. By keeping my eye on the market and my value, by interviewing continuously, and evaluating the incoming offers.
It's not easy, but it's pretty straightforward. I picked a job sector with lots of opportunities and upward mobility, but also tons of instability. I picked a place to live which gives me physical proximity to those opportunities. I work smart and stay agile. All of that without a college degree.
Stuff is expensive and we don't always have everything we want, but we're secure enough to have everything we need, with a healthy risk management plan.
I do live in a major city in the US, so I have more local opportunities than someone in a small town. But I'd argue that my decision to live near where there are job opportunities was part of my planning process.
I mean, yeah, I plan for that. If you're a wage earner like me, you should know you're employed at the will of some company, and they don't give a shit about you.
I plan for this by interviewing for other jobs at least once a month. I turn down offers every few months. I keep my skills sharp and my eyes open, and change employment when it makes sense.
The longest I've been at one company is 7 years, but it's not unusual for me to change companies after 18-24 months.
I don't plan to get laid off, but it happens a lot in my industry, and I roll with it. It is planned out, risk management, or whatever you want to call it.
So the economy made it so people who were planning ahead suddenly woke up one day with an unplanned 2 year old?
Sure, money and housing are tougher than they used to be, but don't pretend like an embarrassing number of people just don't care to plan ahead, and when they get into deep shit they look to blame everyone else.
I absolutely agree. I'm happy to switch to a new technology as long as it performs at least as well as my current implementation.
I have a few cast iron and carbon steel pans, but most of my cooking vessels are thick copper (not copper inserts, full 3mm or more copper). Copper pans are superior to any other material (unless you prioritize cost) and are sadly incompatible with induction.
Don't even talk to me about electric element (non induction) stoves, they're garbage for heat control.