Mundane Thoughts or Comments

[Opsimath]

They aren't chocolate, they are caramel!

Just like these:



walrus

Yum to all, and to Black Cow, the chocolate coated caramel on a stick!

 

[Opsimath]

Is there a worse chocolate candy than Tootsie Rolls? You can’t even give them away. The rest of the candy someone brought in from home disappeared weeks ago.

From our halloween variety bag, the Snickers are ending up alone in the jar. I used to like Snickers quite a bit, but for whatever reason don't much anymore.

 

[walrus]

Leftover Halloween candy does not last long in our house...

walrus

 

[GGJaguar]

I used to like Snickers quite a bit, but for whatever reason don't much anymore.

When I was a kid I liked Three Muskateers bars a lot. At Halloween I'd trade for them. Now... blech. Why did I like them?!

 

[Opsimath]

I miss Butterfinger candy bars. They were my favorite since I was about 6. But Nestle sold it to Ferrero and they ruined it. Now it tastes more like a Reese cup (Ack!) and I'll never have another real Butterfinger. I hope Heaven has Nestle's recipe.

 

[kitniyatran]

Tootsie Rolls are among the best baits for rat traps. The rats like it and it lasts forever. It can sit in a trap in an attic for months at a time and still look like it did when it was put there.

 

[Teleguy61]

Tootsie Rolls are among the best baits for rat traps. The rats like it and it lasts forever. It can sit in a trap in an attic for months at a time and still look like it did when it was put there.

I can't decide if this is useful information or not.....

 

[davismanLV]

I can't decide if this is useful information or not.....

So funny. I was just laughing to myself thinking of the strange stuff I learn from hanging out here!!!

 

[jp]

Tootsie Rolls are among the best baits for rat traps. The rats like it and it lasts forever. It can sit in a trap in an attic for months at a time and still look like it did when it was put there.

Ooooh! Thanks for the tip. My wife has a giant clematis growing by the side of our garage, and I discovered that some of these nasty urban denizens decided to shack up there. Ugggh!

 

[kitniyatran]

You're welcome. Over 42 years in pest control, at your (virtual) service. Two years later, I still remember something!
This caused me some reluctance to partake of Tootsie Rolls for personal consumption. If they hold up that well in hot attics, what kind of powerful preservatives are in them, and what do they do in a human digestive system!?

 

[jp]

I bet a Twinkie or a McDonald's Cheeseburger would also hold up just as well.

 

[davismanLV]

I bet a Twinkie or a McDonald's Cheeseburger would also hold up just as well.

I've heard they really like Churros..... but maybe that's a West Coast thing.....

 

[fronobulax]

I bet a Twinkie or a McDonald's Cheeseburger would also hold up just as well.

Perhaps urban legend but I recall stories about excavating landfills after 50 years (various reasons, including criminal investigations where evidence was believed to have ended up in the dump) and hot dogs (or portions thereof) were found perfectly preserved after several decades. There was no signs of "bio-degrading". I still eat hot dogs occasionally but I do wonder just what is being preserved and whether I really want that

 

[GAD]

Perhaps urban legend but I recall stories about excavating landfills after 50 years (various reasons, including criminal investigations where evidence was believed to have ended up in the dump) and hot dogs (or portions thereof) were found perfectly preserved after several decades. There was no signs of "bio-degrading". I still eat hot dogs occasionally but I do wonder just what is being preserved and whether I really want that

There’s more to it than preservatives. Something about landfill environments not always being good for decomposition if I recall.

 

[fronobulax]

There’s more to it than preservatives. Something about landfill environments not always being good for decomposition if I recall.

Yes. But as the story or legend was passed on the hot dogs were unique in their lack of decomposition. Other discarded food products showed some degradation. Hot dogs didn't.

But legends being what they are here is a 1992 article that challenges the general claim that food degrades in a landfill and backs it up

https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/13/nyregion/seeking-the-truth-in-refuse.html

PDF because I can't discern the paywall status.

 

[Midnight Toker]

^ True. Food items typically need air and sunlight to decompose properly. If you leave a hot dog on a plate outside, I bet it would be shriveled to nothing in a matter or weeks. Landfills are getting more scientific and environmentally friendly though. (At least in states that rightfully require it) 30 years ago it was just drive in, dump your waste, no matter what it was, they fill the area to a certain point, then cover it up w/ dirt and hydroseed grass , and that was it! Today, my local landfill gradually fills several areas at a time, turning layers over, adding (? enzymes/microbes), then they cover large areas w/ nonporous sheeting and install piping that have methane burners at the top. It's a whole process that people in lab coats watch over. A far cry from the days of almost all the workers being convicts on work release w/ a "out of sight out of mind" mentality.

 

[Nuuska]

Do you also have landfill-gas collecting pipes that lead to a filtering unit - and from there to combusting engine turning generator?

Just to think of all the disgusting things we were doing only 50 years ago. Now the old "Dump-It-Place" has turned into modern assorting centre that produces new material of most of the stuff - some part will be burnt for getting energy - and only minimal amount remains as actual "litter".

 

[fronobulax]

Do you also have landfill-gas collecting pipes that lead to a filtering unit - and from there to combusting engine turning generator?

Just to think of all the disgusting things we were doing only 50 years ago. Now the old "Dump-It-Place" has turned into modern assorting centre that produces new material of most of the stuff - some part will be burnt for getting energy - and only minimal amount remains as actual "litter".

I'm not sure most of the US had made it there, yet. My local dump is still a dump and cover operation. Compared to the dumps of my youth there is more of an effort to segregate some kinds of trash so they are not buried but beyond that, not much.

 

[Westerly Wood]

I'm not sure most of the US had made it there, yet. My local dump is still a dump and cover operation. Compared to the dumps of my youth there is more of an effort to segregate some kinds of trash so they are not buried but beyond that, not much.

My mom lives in a town that has a town dump still, there is not trash pickup like out here.
Every Tuesday or Thursday, when I am visiting her, I drive her truck with all her trash bags/recyc in back and dump it, and it is divided up into different areas etc. It's pretty fun, as this is what I did with my dad as a kid when I grew up. Saturday was dump run day. I remember trees and woods and other cars and station wagons and pungent odors. And birds.

 

[fronobulax]

My mom lives in a town that has a town dump still, there is not trash pickup like out here.
Every Tuesday or Thursday, when I am visiting her, I drive her truck with all her trash bags/recyc in back and dump it, and it is divided up into different areas etc. It's pretty fun, as this is what I did with my dad as a kid when I grew up. Saturday was dump run day. I remember trees and woods and other cars and station wagons and pungent odors. And birds.

We live in town and there is trash pickup but sometimes it's easier to go to the dump ourselves. We had curbside recycling but the private company doing so discontinued the service because their drivers had difficulty with large trucks and narrow streets with on street parking. I understand that to mean they were losing money because of insurance claims. We now haul our recyclables to the recyclable bin at the dump even though we know doing so is not profitable for anyone these days and there is no guarantee that they won't end up in some out of sight portion of the dump or trucked to another dump instead of being recycled.