Petty Vents II

[taxlady]

I'm reminded of the time that Stirling cut up some sort of chilis with no gloves on. He did wash his hands. But, a short while later, he went to the washroom and came out talking about "Great Balls of Fire".

 

[caseydog]

I'm reminded of the time that Stirling cut up some sort of chilis with no gloves on. He did wash his hands. But, a short while later, he went to the washroom and came out talking about "Great Balls of Fire".

You only do that once. Washing your hands is not enough, especially if you grow your own jalapeños. I wear mechanic's gloves, which are twice as thick as nitrile surgical gloves.

CD

 

[Andy M.]

I don't usually use chili peppers hotter than a jalapeño. When I've sliced and diced them, I "wash" my hands with a splash of white vinegar then again with soap and water. Never had an issue.

The vinegar, an acid, neutralizes the alkali in the pepper. Some people recommend lemon juice but vinegar is a stronger acid and cheaper as well. I keep a squeeze bottle of white vinegar in a cabinet with my other spices, oils and vinegars.

 

[caseydog]

I don't usually use chili peppers hotter than a jalapeño. When I've sliced and diced them, I "wash" my hands with a splash of white vinegar then again with soap and water. Never had an issue.

The vinegar, an acid, neutralizes the alkali in the pepper. Some people recommend lemon juice but vinegar is a stronger acid and cheaper as well. I keep a squeeze bottle of white vinegar in a cabinet with my other spices, oils and vinegars.

Homegrown jalapeños get hotter and hotter as the season goes on, especially down here where the ground get's hotter and drier as summer progresses. My jalapeños are super mild in early May, and scorching hot by mid September.

CD

 

[Marlingardener]

I don't grow or use hot peppers. My husband likes a little "heat" with some dishes, so he gets tabasco sauce and I pass on the thermodynamics. I don't prepare Mexican dishes, so there's really no need for hot peppers. When we have some Cajun dishes (red beans and rice, gumbo, dirty rice) he pulls out the tabasco.
I don't understand the urge to burn out your taste buds with the first couple of bites of something. Is your cooking that bad that you don't want to taste it?

 

[dragnlaw]

Like you Marlingardener, I like to taste my food but I also like a bit of heat, just not so much to ruin the taste (for me). I stick to jalapeno, poblano and a tiny red Thai chili (aka Bird). I've had a bunch in my freezer for several years. They're losing their heat but I only ever used one at a time, split and seeds removed. Now having been frozen (for eons) although they are still hot I can actually use two.
I see them sold in large bunches at the grocers (tiny red and greens) and I have several recipes from Elaine of Szechuan and even Woks of Life that use 8 - 10 peppers! Gah... I wouldn't even be able to taste water!
Often poblano's are milder than jalapeno's. I was stuffing them with 1 each Italian mild and spicy, l/o rice, chopped red sweet, a bit of l/o chopped carrots & celery. These were big and long poblanos (3 for $1.50/sale). I cut out a wedge down the length as I didn't have enough stuffing to fill 6 halves. Chopped the wedge into the rest of the mixture. Guess I figured "mild poblanos, naw I don't need gloves. Hah!
Later while nursing my lip, I realized I had a 1/4 - 1/2 inch burn on the back of a thumb and a ring finger - never had that before, perhaps tiny dry skin cracks there?
It's morning! I survived!
Thanks for the vinegar tip taxy - never knew that! I'll be sure to try that next time.

 

[taxlady]

Thanks for the vinegar tip taxy - never knew that! I'll be sure to try that next time.

I don't remember mentioning vinegar in this context. It seems to have been @Andy M. who mentioned the vinegar.

 

[dragnlaw]

oops, my bad... yes so... thanks for the vinegar tip @Andy M. !!

 

[bbqcoder]

I've been getting calls from some d-bag debt collector and decided to call him and politely ask him to stop calling me. I would have just blocked his phone number, but if they know who you are, and your phone number, they know where you live, and it is better to nip this kind of thing in the bud.

My iPhone has the silent unknown caller feature where if they’re not in my contacts, they get sent to voice mail. I wouldn’t bother picking those debt collector calls. If they keep leaving a voice mail, then I would block the number.

 

[Linda0818]

My iPhone has the silent unknown caller feature where if they’re not in my contacts, they get sent to voice mail. I wouldn’t bother picking those debt collector calls. If they keep leaving a voice mail, then I would block the number.

Well, I mean, debt collectors call for a reason. I hate them too, but they're just doing their jobs.

Unless it's some moron trying to collect a debt from 25 years ago, like I had to deal with one time. Granted, it was still my debt that I didn't pay (I was flat broke at the time) but the statute of limitations had run out loooooong before they started pestering me. They just suddenly showed back up like 25 years later. They were trying to 'cut deals' with me and saying if I paid the full amount of half of the debt, that would give me a discount, etc, and they would consider the debt paid in full. I finally just told them on the phone one day "Listen, your time ran out a long time ago to hound me about this and if you keep calling me and sending me letters through the mail, I'm contacting my attorney (that I didn't have, but I was trying to sound all badazz) and filing a lawsuit against you for harassment and then you'll be paying me" as I reminded them of the statute of limitations thing.

That was the last I heard from them

 

[dragnlaw]

I understand a lot of these 'debt collectors' are not collecting for stated company's but they have "purchased" the debts at a highly reduce rate in hopes of collecting the greater amounts for themselves.

 

[dcSaute]

if you have delinquent debts, then calls you can expect.
I don't have any debts for any company to collect, or sell.
blocking their "number" is useless. they use software to fake/fool caller ID utilities.

same routine as "Our records show that you have unpaid taxes . . . "

there are multiple free/no cost/no subscription methods to stop any and all callers except those you explicitly allow to ring you phone.

 

[Linda0818]

I understand a lot of these 'debt collectors' are not collecting for stated company's but they have "purchased" the debts at a highly reduce rate in hopes of collecting the greater amounts for themselves.

Yep, you're most likely correct. That had to have been where these people came from. If I remember correctly, they stated they were collecting the debt for said company that literally just wrote it off several years prior.

 

[dragnlaw]

Those said company's are more than happy to sell bad debt. Better a little something than nothing at all.

 

[Linda0818]

Those said company's are more than happy to sell bad debt. Better a little something than nothing at all.

Yep, I totally get that. And they're no doubt successful at some of the attempts to collect money, even years later.

The one debt I was talking about just kind of died out. I did make payments, but they were few and far between, since I was living on my own at the time and, by the time I paid my rent, utilities and bought what little food I could afford, I didn't have much money for anything else. So I would send them what I could, when I could. I guess they just eventually gave up on me and the notices and phone calls stopped. Then I just completely forgot about it.

Then 25 years later, here comes this other person trying to get the money out of me (which was hundreds and hundreds of dollars by then because of accrued interest) and presented me an offer that if I paid them 50% of the total right now, they would leave me alone. I told them I didn't have that kind of money and that's when I did a little investigating to discover what the collection was for, how old it was and discovered the statute of limitations had long passed. When I presented them with that little bit of knowledge (that I'm sure they were hoping I was unaware of) and told them if they kept hassling me that I would contact my attorney, they disappeared.

Oops, sorry, I'm rambling. I'm distracted by the thought of the chocolate cream pie I'm making for Sunday dessert, LOL.

 

[dcSaute]

years back,,, I kept getting calls from a debt collector.
apparently a typo, or an intentional lie, somebody gave my phone number as 'contact' - which I had for ~15 years, at the time - so it was not a number re-assignment issue....

I politely told them I had never done business with, never crossed the threshold of the 'offended' business. they refused to give up. so I contacted the local police department. they made a call inquiring for the source of their "information" and suddenly the debt collectors decided to give up....

at least in my jurisdiction, the police will consider issues of "harassment"
a lawyer may also work - but that is more expensive than a visit to the local cop shop....

 

[Linda0818]

years back,,, I kept getting calls from a debt collector.
apparently a typo, or an intentional lie, somebody gave my phone number as 'contact' - which I had for ~15 years, at the time - so it was not a number re-assignment issue....

I politely told them I had never done business with, never crossed the threshold of the 'offended' business. they refused to give up. so I contacted the local police department. they made a call inquiring for the source of their "information" and suddenly the debt collectors decided to give up....

at least in my jurisdiction, the police will consider issues of "harassment"
a lawyer may also work - but that is more expensive than a visit to the local cop shop....

It is indeed. I didn't have the money for a lawyer at the time. But the 'threat' worked to get them off my back.

 

[dcSaute]

yup. as soon as they know they are pinned for illegal activities by the callee, they give up.

 

[dragnlaw]

Yes, in most cities there are many departments in the cop shop. From Abuse (Seniors, child, etc.) to Special Needs people, that look into a diverse menu of complaints. It's not just traffic and emergency response. All you can do is ask.

 

[caseydog]

My iPhone has the silent unknown caller feature where if they’re not in my contacts, they get sent to voice mail. I wouldn’t bother picking those debt collector calls. If they keep leaving a voice mail, then I would block the number.

I never answer calls from numbers I don't know. They go to voice mail. With the debt collectors, I eventually call them and ask them to stop calling me. When I tell them the person they are looking for is my EX-wife, all but that one jerk were polite, and stopped calling.

BTW, I did later talk to a colleague of the jerk, and she was more reasonable. I told her I was reporting them to the Frisco Police, and the calls stopped immediately.

CD