Strange things you're not used to

[Ontarkie 14,535]

The way they list ground meat with the 20/80 stuf and how they have ground chuck or ground beef all that 30/70 ect stuff on the package is got me confused why cant they just say regular meadium lean or extra lean hahaha.

The 80/20 tells you the percentage of meat to fat in your ground beef. So 80/20 is 80% meat and 20% fat. 90/10 would be 90% meat and 10% fat.

Thanks! Now all we need to do is figure out how that translates into regular, lean, and extra lean.

Ontarkie, I'm going to take a guess:

70/30 = Regular

80/20 = Lean

90/10 = Extra Lean

Thats what i'm thinking too.

[StillThePrettiest 3]

resurrecting this thread

first to say that I've been using my calico shopping bags since day one (including my favourite German bag which fits about five regular plastic bags' worth, and which I've been using for 15 years now ) and mostly packing my shopping myself, and no one has given me a hard time about it yet

and then to add some strange things I'm not used to:

eg how farking difficult it is to recycle

in this enlightened age, you'd think that recycling services would be EVERYWHERE in the developed world, but no; service was withdrawn from our area in April... so I'm stacking plastic bottles and tins and glass jars and paper etc in the garage, and when we have enough to warrant a trip we'll take it to the drop-off

pretty silly though...

another thing that makes me laugh is when Americans go on about 'OMG such high gas prices!!!'

I just think about Australia, and then I think about the UK...

sort of getting used to the huge big flags everywhere, and EVERYTHING being red, white and blue, and decorated with Lone Stars, etc, but occasionally I have to be a smartarse, and out of the blue just gasp, and point at some big-####### flag, and say to Dave, 'look! we must be in America!!' and then he hits me

there's more... can't think of everything right now

[Ontarkie 14,535]

I've noticed the flag thing too.

Well not sure how many ppl noticed this, but me comming from Northern Ontario then moving to Arkansas. I've noticed that no matter how long you let the water run it only gets hotter not colder. I'm used to turning on the tap waiting a min or so and getting ice cold water so cold the tap would sweat from the heat in the air. Now here i tend to forget and one day i let the tap run a few minutes and it actually got hotter not colder and that really sucks cause now i have to make room in the fridge for water. I still tend to forget cold water does not come out of the tap and i get a mouthfull of yukky warm water. EWWWW

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

I've noticed the flag thing too.

Well not sure how many ppl noticed this, but me comming from Northern Ontario then moving to Arkansas. I've noticed that no matter how long you let the water run it only gets hotter not colder. I'm used to turning on the tap waiting a min or so and getting ice cold water so cold the tap would sweat from the heat in the air. Now here i tend to forget and one day i let the tap run a few minutes and it actually got hotter not colder and that really sucks cause now i have to make room in the fridge for water. I still tend to forget cold water does not come out of the tap and i get a mouthfull of yukky warm water. EWWWW

I just know I'm going to do that too!

[christera22 8]

- not having bakeries everywhere with fresh bread and yummy pastries

- not having people filling up the gas for me (i hate having to leave my car for that)

- not having alcohol at the same aisle as the beverages, I have to go to a different store for that

- having to see 1 doctor to get a referal to another doctor and having to wait months for the 1st appointment

- not being able to schedule my therapy weekly for several weird reasons

- pay taxes, the price you see on the product isn't the price you pay to the cashier

- clothing sizes, not being able to find my size cuz they just don't have more than 1 pair of pants that size (if they sell all size 2 on the day it arrives, just order twice as much instead of having a whole bunch of size 18 nobody buys)

- not being able to air the house by opening the windows cuz there's A/C and heating so we're always closed like in a prison

- trying to figure out how many gallons/mile when I'm used to liters/km

- no metric system

- even though i was causasian in brazil here they have a special race if you're white and not born in america but I still haven't figured out which one am I

- tipping everybody

- not finding a seamstress (we would find one every corner in Brazil) to fix my clothes and the one I found is highly expensive

- the absurdly high prices they charge for services that are cheap like manicure, pedicure

I could go on and on with weird things here

When I go to the store, I can never find my size no matter what size I am. Could never find 6s when was a 6, now I'm a 10 and I can't find that.

Though, when I worked retail, there were far less people who needed the size 2s and far more people who needed the in between sizes - even the larger sizes, we got very few of. While there may only be 2 size 2s, it may take 2 months for those to sell as opposed to 2 weeks for the size 8s and 10s and 12s. This is in general, of course. Now, in the juniors section it makes more sense to have more smaller sizes, so we got more in of those, usually. It's just more cost effective MOST of the time. (We got very few 18s if it helps )

As for the special race thing - Hispanic is made up by the US government, I have an issue with that. My husband would just call himself mestizo if he had the choice, but puts Hispanic because he's obviously not "white". If you're white and that's what you consider yourself, I'd just put that

TRUE TRUE ...................... PRICES ARE SO SO HIGH HERE ................ I am from India and its so so different here ............I dnt think people live in that peace as we live there.

a) No socialization between neighbours

B) NO significant evening life apart from movies & drinking

c) Always fear of police , wd they stop you for something.

d) Same medicine , same company in usa costs almost 20 times..............

e) Without health insurance you are a beggar...........

f) Doctors see you only in appointments ..... one doctor doesnt even look if any other part of the body is crating that problem or not. You urself have to ask the doctor and then he may recommend you to someone else.........who again wd extract some good money from you.

g)If someone gives you a cheque and that bopunces then irrespective of what happens to that person, you get a good fine ..... never heard of such a thing in india.

h) Next door neighbor doesnt know me ...................... I am shocked to see if I am alone at home and I fall considerably sick then theres no one to help me .I may die alone .....

i) You have to pay taxes based on how much water u have spent !! In India we give taxes ...omne fixed ...irrespective of how much you have spent.

j) My fiance says walking on streets is dangerous ........ thats the main thing of India ...you can walk and talk to people on streets and its fine.

k) everything is so so costly here !!!

I really miss India and my after work gossips with friends before going back to home.

[StillThePrettiest 3]

wow, I guess it's all relative; I think things are amazingly cheap here

and I've met loads of my neighbours... they've been really friendly

I'm with you on the health insurance; that's been a bit of a stress, specially when I needed some emergency dental work done

[Krikit 1,165]

Yeah, the lack of recycling here makes me mad. And I hear ya on the hot water out of the cold water tap. I was back home visiting this past winter and was in the ladies room of a pub we were at. I turned on the cold water tap because I'm so used to the warmth of the water here, stuck my hands in it, then yelled out "Whooo! That's cold!" The lady next to me looked at me as if I was from another planet.

[*julez* 124]

Yeah, the lack of recycling here makes me mad. And I hear ya on the hot water out of the cold water tap. I was back home visiting this past winter and was in the ladies room of a pub we were at. I turned on the cold water tap because I'm so used to the warmth of the water here, stuck my hands in it, then yelled out "Whooo! That's cold!" The lady next to me looked at me as if I was from another planet.

You mean you aren't????

[DairyFarmer 1]

And why aren't there any REAL bakerys making yummy fresh bread????

If anyone is from south west michigan please prove me wrong.

Edited July 1, 2008 by DairyFarmer

[Ana&D 0]

I can't agree more on the quality of bread - those squares of toast bread are not only tasteless but remind me of sponges Publix stores have excellent bakeries, I usually buy French bagets or Italian loafs there. Oh, and theire Tiramissu is out of this world, especially if you keep in the freezer for a little bit Unfortunatelly they don't have any locations in MI . Maybe try other local supermarkets? Many do have bakeries.

I like Panera Bread pastries. They have some good stuff. I also love Dessert Lady here in Orlando. It's a small coffee-shop/bakery. The cakes they make are nothing like that boxed American stuff

One thing that is so weird to me is the fact that cottage cheese is so different. Very salty and the crumbs are just so huge. Anybody had any luck finding normal variations?

[DairyFarmer 1]

I can't agree more on the quality of bread - those squares of toast bread are not only tasteless but remind me of sponges Publix stores have excellent bakeries, I usually buy French bagets or Italian loafs there. Oh, and theire Tiramissu is out of this world, especially if you keep in the freezer for a little bit Unfortunatelly they don't have any locations in MI . Maybe try other local supermarkets? Many do have bakeries.

I like Panera Bread pastries. They have some good stuff. I also love Dessert Lady here in Orlando. It's a small coffee-shop/bakery. The cakes they make are nothing like that boxed American stuff

One thing that is so weird to me is the fact that cottage cheese is so different. Very salty and the crumbs are just so huge. Anybody had any luck finding normal variations?

Tiramisu - Oh, how I adore thee

Cottage cheese - I wish I could remember the brand I use, I had to use trial and error though until I found one I liked.

[Krikit 1,165]

Yeah, the lack of recycling here makes me mad. And I hear ya on the hot water out of the cold water tap. I was back home visiting this past winter and was in the ladies room of a pub we were at. I turned on the cold water tap because I'm so used to the warmth of the water here, stuck my hands in it, then yelled out "Whooo! That's cold!" The lady next to me looked at me as if I was from another planet.

You mean you aren't????

And why aren't there any REAL bakerys making yummy fresh bread????

They're pretty few and far between here. I find the Fresh Market has great bread. And I've also found a lovely German bakery about 40 minutes away. Yay. I really really miss a proper fruit and veg market, though.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I love Panera Bread too - I miss that from when I used to visit Michigan. Grocery store bread is not great - pretty mediocre. There is a restaurant near by called the Atlanta Bread Company, however, that does make some great fresh variety breads so I will treat ourselves now and then to some of their loaves. I make our own a lot - yay for breadmakers.

[DairyFarmer 1]

Maybe I have just found an opening for a business. I love to bake, maybe I will open a bakery / cafe / bookstore in Bangor Michigan.

Garlic Bread, Sour Dough, Rye loaves, Pumpkin Bread, Cupcakes, Cakes, Scones, biscuits (sorry cookies), vanilla slice, Pull Aparts etc

Edited July 1, 2008 by DairyFarmer

[michellea 0]

I miss a good chinese place for eating. Well I am used to Ontario fake chinese food, and the stuff in TN is YEACK!