The First World Whinging Thread

I can buy a tin of 8 hot dogs, but I can't buy a packet of 8 hot dog rolls to go with them.

 

Your hot dogs come in tins?

 

I can buy a sack of seven hot dog buns (rolls), but I can't buy hot dogs. This used to puzzle me, but then I found out people like to use them to eat noodles in, and now I'm terrified.

 

I don't know which is weirder, the SEVEN buns (all in a line?) or the noodles...

 

They've started to go to six now, and you can get Johnsonville Brats in most of the import food stores and some of the better supermarkets, but yeah, used to be seven buns. It may be some sort of a kanji pun/homophone thing? Northeast Asian languages are littered with homophones, and some of them can sound bad. For example, the city of Osaka didn't change its name, but a couple hundred years ago they supposedly changed the Chinese characters used to represent it because if pronounced a different way, they sounded like "samurai rebellion." Needless to say, the people in charge weren't keen on that, so things had to get switched around.

Can't think of a specific Japanese example right now, but in Korean the number 18 is pronounced "ship pal", which sounds like "shiphal", which is pretty much "fuck you." In Korean literature, someone living at #18 is a sign that they're not a good person, kind of like someone living in Apt 13 could be foreshadowing in English.

Again, this is all conjecture, I've actually got no idea why hot dog buns used to be sold in sevens, or why Denny's serves green salad at breakfast alongside your pancakes, or why donuts aren't seen as breakfast food here...all a mystery.

 

I like chicken noodle sandwiches. Haven't had them in a long time though.

 

First world? The classical definitions are that the "first world" was the industrial democracies, the "second world" was the industrial Soviet sphere, and the "third world" was developing countries. I've seen "fourth world" bandied about for extreme failed states like Somalia, but Japan is in its own, non-base ten world system.

There's a particular kitchen knife made by Victorinox that I want. On Amazon.com (the US site), it retails for $64.95. On Amazon.co.jp (the Japanese branch of Mr. Bezos' empire) it goes for 34,528 yen, which, according to xe.com, is $316.96 USD.

Okay, shipping, some sort of import ta--

Wait, let's look at the US site again. The knife will ship to Japan, with customs clearance included, for $5.95 USD. So for $71 USD, give or take a few pennies, I can have it next week. Or in two days for $317 dollars.

From the same corporation.

 

I used to get those. They stay 'edible' for a long time and don't need to be refrigerated, so they're a good idea to have if you've got a spotty power supply.

 

Ah, I remember seeing some sort of German sausages in a jar at the import food shop one time. Looked intriguing and terrifying at the same time. In Chicago, Vienna Beef (company name, not imported from Austria) is the default, 100% beef. Which part? The part you make sausages from, kid.

 

sand-blaster?

 

Yep. Well, you might call it a can. They used to be made of tinplate steel originally, but nowadays they are steel or aluminium.

 

Huh. I had no idea that was a thing.

They come in sort of shrink-wrapped plastic, here. Kinda a mix between a bag and a box?

 

The ones we buy come in jars.

I really want a hotdog now. I do have a packet of "hotdog bites" in the fridge.

First missed lecture of the term. I got the time wrong. I feel like such a failure.

 

If you're curious, those little tins of Vienna sausages you find somewhere between the cans of tuna and sardines taste pretty much the same.

 

Euuuhhh... I've always shied away from those.

 

You want a clacking keyboard??? Well, I still have one! (Ancient, I know, but it clacks and it works a treat. And I can take the keys off to clean them.) The keys are big, including BOTH shift keys. And get a load of my screen, eh? Formac Oxygen. I've had it for nearly ten years, and it's still going strong. (And I have another one upstairs, in case this one finally conks out.) I just keep getting a new MacMini every few years. Everything else is 'vintage.'

 

Your desk is way cleaner than mine.

 

You should see it just now .... I cleaned it for the photo. This was taken a while back. Still have the same equipment, though, although I'm using an updated OS.

 

One day, I'm going to write my books on a fucking typewriter.

 

Do it! Once your forearms get used to typing, you'll be unstoppable.

 

I’m in one of those odd conundrum type places. We got about five inches of snow last night. The city won’t plow our street because it wasn’t more than six. On the other hand, I have no intention of shoveling my driveway because it’s supposed to be 50° or better for the next week, starting tomorrow. I can’t decide if I should be irked or not.

 

This is half of my desk right now. I keep cleaning it, but things manage to accumulate faster than I can take care of them.

Spoiler: for size

 

I don't get why kids think lying to their parents about their teachers I going to do anything but make their life hell.

Parents call the school irate sometimes, and all it takes is for me to read down the phone what the teacher wrote for the parent to realise their kid is trying to triangulate.

The scary thing is, I see more maturity from a pair of 11-12 year olds than I do in a chunk of the older kids, maybe even several of them out together.