What Are You Buying Right Now? (non-OT version)

sumoconnell said:
First thing I did was separately bag the contents of my wife’s purse. I thought she’d notice, but with remote car keys she didn’t notice until she was dropping the car off for trade in later that day. I think that makes the story even better, but she disagrees. 

That there's funny!  

Eoin said:

Some spices from the Indian shop in Lincoln. The tiny packs in the supermarket are double useless - too small and too expensive.

Is that THE East India Trading company?

Eoin said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Eoin said:

Some spices from the Indian shop in Lincoln. The tiny packs in the supermarket are double useless - too small and too expensive.

Is that THE East India Trading company?

East End. Anyway, who cares, it's cheap (£4 for 400g of corriander seeds).

We have a similar situation hear.  Grocery stores charge an arm and a leg for small bottles of spices.  Go to en Ethnic Market, Mexican, Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, etc and you get big bags of fresher spices for much cheaper.

Just got back from Dizzy Pig. Picked up some Rockwood, Frutia Post Oak, new band assembly, warranty base replacement and a couple rubs.

Can’t say enough about Chris and his team. After failed attempts with my original dealer to replace my base, I chatted with Chris on here and called his team and with 3 weeks (shipping from BGE), I had my new base. 

Great customer service!

Thanks Chris!

Canugghead said:

Eoin said:

Some spices from the Indian shop in Lincoln. The tiny packs in the supermarket are double useless - too small and too expensive.

Guess you didn't need cumin seeds this time 
A story to share...we stopped buying pre ground garam masala. Tried a commercial pack of garam masala whole spices and liked it, so I unashamedly reverse engineered it  Even with 1 or 2 missing ingredients it's close enough. We now roast and grind small batches as needed.

What are you using for a grinder?  AND is it easy to clean?

kl8ton said:

Canugghead said:

Eoin said:

Some spices from the Indian shop in Lincoln. The tiny packs in the supermarket are double useless - too small and too expensive.

Guess you didn't need cumin seeds this time 
A story to share...we stopped buying pre ground garam masala. Tried a commercial pack of garam masala whole spices and liked it, so I unashamedly reverse engineered it  Even with 1 or 2 missing ingredients it's close enough. We now roast and grind small batches as needed.

What are you using for a grinder?  AND is it easy to clean?

I just use a small blade type spice / coffee grinder.  For a coarse grind, I use a pestle and mortar.

Delta shipped my new faucet under warranty for my 17 year old kitchen faucet they no longer make.  It's very heavy duty, thick stainless... except for the sprayer. It's flimsy plastic. Why they would cheap out on the only part you actually touch when using is a big let down. 

https://www.deltafaucet.com/kitchen/product/9690-AR-DST.html

SonVolt said:

Why they would cheap out on the only part you actually touch when using is a big let down. 

If you run a lot of hot water through the sprayer, plastic will insulate your fingers better than metal would.  
Just spitballing here.  

SonVolt said:

Botch said:

SonVolt said:

Why they would cheap out on the only part you actually touch when using is a big let down. 

If you run a lot of hot water through the sprayer, plastic will insulate your fingers better than metal would.  
Just spitballing here.  

They could have used a true stainless veneer over the plastic internals for this part. The cheaper Kohler faucets I checked out at Home Depot were designed this way. It's just a minor quibble, but disappointing nonetheless. 

even the german grohe faucets i put in the bathroom have a plastic chromed shower head. i think they designed the set to be upgraded at some point and yes its disappointing at these price points

nolaegghead said:

Plastics were a high-end novelty back in the 50s.  Synthetic materials range in properties and quality across the spectrum.   I could argue that they can be  superior to metal based on the application and quality/selection of polymer. 

"Plastic" has become a derogatory term in consumer goods.  Point is, much of the hatred of plastic parts is simply a cultural response, not an engineering one.

Was just going to say basically the same thing, but you wrote it so well, I will just agree.

Kayak said:

nolaegghead said:

Plastics were a high-end novelty back in the 50s.  Synthetic materials range in properties and quality across the spectrum.   I could argue that they can be  superior to metal based on the application and quality/selection of polymer. 

"Plastic" has become a derogatory term in consumer goods.  Point is, much of the hatred of plastic parts is simply a cultural response, not an engineering one.

What should my cultural response be to this six year old item?

Plastic is not always the best choice either.  My automatic gate rams had plastic mount points.  They eventually deteriorated due to UV exposure.  The replacements were metal.

Trade-off: longevity, cost, manufacturability, weight, etc.

Also, tell the kids towel racks are not jungle gyms.

nolaegghead said:

Plastics were a high-end novelty back in the 50s.  Synthetic materials range in properties and quality across the spectrum.   I could argue that they can be  superior to metal based on the application and quality/selection of polymer. 

"Plastic" has become a derogatory term in consumer goods.  Point is, much of the hatred of plastic parts is simply a cultural response, not an engineering one.

nolaegghead said:

Plastics were a high-end novelty back in the 50s.  Synthetic materials range in properties and quality across the spectrum.   I could argue that they can be  superior to metal based on the application and quality/selection of polymer. 

"Plastic" has become a derogatory term in consumer goods.  Point is, much of the hatred of plastic parts is simply a cultural response, not an engineering one.

Aesthetics and tactile feel are equally important to me as the engineering that went into it, especially at this price range*. That said, I have no problem with plastic. It's the abrupt transition in materials & weight from heavy duty steel to light weight plastic that irks me.  They could have at least weighted the spray nozzle to give it heft so it feels more inline with the rest of the faucet. Maybe this will change once water is flowing through it.  This is also some type of counterweight that slides onto the hose under the sink that pulls the spray nozzle up and back into its housing, that may also help with the feel. 

*I did not pay for this faucet