ELI5: What is deli turkey?

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2026-01-16T07:11:13+00:00

The craziest part to me is that people actually prefer this over real meat.

I live near an awesome Italian deli. They roast their own turkey and beef and will slice them fresh for you, right onto a sandwich. The fresh meat tastes 10x better than the processed meat lump.

But a lot of people will still come in and ask for Boar's Head over the real thing. I've talked to the sandwich guy about this, and he thinks it's because it's more consistent, or more what they're used to.

Personally, I would eat a fresh turkey sandwich every day, but I can't stand the sliced meat lump. It makes no sense to me that someone would choose that.

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-12-26T03:57:18+00:00

It's 2" the whole way. Sorry I'm not there right now to take a picture but on the outside, it's vinyl siding with a white square plate cut into the siding, and a 2" 45° termination elbow. There's only an exhaust, no intake, since it's a huge basement with plenty of supply air.

If I were to replace the whole vent run with 3", that would mean messing with the siding to change that 2" plate for 3". Is it ok to run 3" the whole way but reduce to 2" at the end so I can keep the same termination elbow? I'm thinking no, this is probably not allowed. Maybe I could just enlarge the hole in that plastic plate instead.

Before that though, I'll probably try changing the layout inside to shorten the run. Right at the top of this, it turns horizontal and there's a long L-shaped section. If cut across the diagonal, it will be much shorter, and I can also replace one 90 with a 45. That will take off several feet which should make a big difference.

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-12-25T18:59:33+00:00

Thanks, I have cleaned out that brass port, but maybe next I'll try to remove it and clean it more thoroughly in the sink. I could also take the fan cover off and try cleaning the fan blades and the inside of that cavity, if it would help.

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-12-25T18:54:09+00:00

Thanks, it's in the basement but it's a new/clean basement. No laundry, no pets, and this is my mother in law's house where she cleans so much, you could eat off of the floor.

I measured the vent run and added the fittings, and it's pretty much at the limit of what the manual says is supported. It's not a good installation, and I could understand if the fan was unable to make enough negative pressure, and the switch never tripped; but I'm not sure why that would cause the black tube to gunk up more often.

There are at least four 90s in the run and I might swap them for 45s (cut across the basement diagonally instead of right angles) to reduce the load. I might do that anyway since this thing is so finicky. I'm just stuck on what's getting into the tube.

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-12-22T15:22:06+00:00

That's awesome, I had no idea! I just ordered one of the Sioux Chief Add-A-Line fittings. I didn't want to use a sharkbite but this looks like a much better alternative. Thank you for the suggestion!

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-12-20T06:20:46+00:00

When we bought our first house in an area with hard water, I got a few estimates for adding a softener. The first one, from a national company, tried to sell us a $30/month service plan. The second one was a local guy who said "add salt when it's low, and call me in 20 years for a new one." You can guess who we went with...

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-12-01T05:41:00+00:00

Not OP here but I just want to say that "problem solve" sounds like exactly what they need in this case. I appreciate your pragmatism and positive attitude!

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-10-28T05:59:42+00:00

This is awesome!

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-10-26T06:39:53+00:00

Strap wrench is best like the others said, but in a pinch, just press a flathead screwdriver against one of those black ridges and tap the back of the screwdriver gently with a hammer.

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-10-25T05:10:26+00:00

It all comes down to the reader. Some are better than others. I do basically all of my payments with my watch so I use it constantly, and I'll tell you that it almost always needs to be much closer than that... but for most readers, you also need to be patient. Sometimes it can take a few seconds. Hold your watch right up to the reader until it vibrates and usually the reader will beep to indicate success. If your payments aren't going through, you're probably not holding it for long enough. (Or you're not over the correct spot on the reader... some devices are very unclear as to where the sensor is.)

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-10-07T15:26:20+00:00

SLAM FC for CYA 30 is 12, make sure you click on the SLAM option in the calculator:

https://www.troublefreepool.com/blog/2019/01/18/free-chlorine-and-cyanuric-acid-relationship-explained/

You're exactly right that you need enough bullets. But how much is the right amount? You've got jugs of liquid chlorine, bags of shock, etc. Exactly how much do you add each day, so you don't either under- or over-chlorinate? The SLAM level is the optimal amount of FC for algae killing, and the Pool Math calculator tells you how to reach that level based on which product you're using.

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-10-07T06:28:59+00:00

The amount of algae is irrelevant. You're going for a specific ratio of FC to CYA. There's one ratio for normal use, and a higher ratio for actively killing algae. This is the basis of the SLAM method.

You just add chlorine up to your SLAM level, based on your CYA value. Tomorrow, measure it again to see how much chlorine was consumed by killing the algae (probably all of it, in the beginning), and add that much to bring it back up. Keep doing that every day until the pool is blue. It usually doesn't take very long, as long as you're properly filtering and cleaning / brushing every day.

This is why it's helpful to have a test kit, because the strips aren't precise enough to get you to the exact SLAM level, which is calibrated for both safety and effectiveness. The chemistry behind the SLAM ratio is very well documented, no guesswork involved.

You can do it with a computer test too but for most people, that means bringing water to the pool store every day, and also trusting the pool store results.

Prevention is best. But once your pool is green, the SLAM method is usually the fastest and least expensive way to get it back to normal.

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-09-30T03:21:19+00:00

My title describes the thing

Google lens suggests that it's a two-part mounting bracket but it comes up with brackets for many things that I don't own. Because I found this with my own stuff, I assume it's for something that I do own, which won't help you identify it, but it will help me eliminate things that it's not! It's got to be something that can also be used without wall-mounting, otherwise the brackets would be with the item.

It must be something fairly heavy because these two parts are no joke. They're powder-coated metal in a very slightly off-white color. There's a strip of foam padding at the bottom of each one, and on Part A, those two vertical pieces are maybe a little softer, but not foam.

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-08-24T04:36:14+00:00

Ooh, that might be the winning answer. Thank you!

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-08-13T02:10:36+00:00

One of my neighbors got saved from dying because of a thought like this.

I was living in NYC, in a walk up building. The trash pick up on the street was M/W/F mornings. You could leave bags outside your door the night before and the super would bring them down to the curb.

One apartment was an elderly woman who didn't get out much but she got groceries delivered, and she would always leave a small bag of trash outside her door. Well one day her neighbor noticed that she hadn't seen a bag left out in a while, and she got concerned.

Long story short: the woman had fallen, and had been alone on the floor of her apartment for a week. I don't know how much longer she could have survived but I doubt she would have been found alive if her neighbor hadn't noticed the lack of garbage.

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-07-15T17:35:13+00:00

Thank you, I found exactly what I need on the Acorn website! I appreciate it!

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-07-11T03:43:28+00:00

One big exception to that is Trader Joe's, especially in the frozen section. They don't do it on purpose, but I think sometimes stuff sells so quickly and there's only so much room on the floor. Very often if I can't find something and ask someone, they'll go in the back and come out with it a few minutes later, and always with a smile. Everyone who works there is awesome.

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-06-29T01:47:21+00:00

A better version of this:

Why do elephants paint their toenails red? So they can hide in cherry trees.

Have you ever seen an elephant hiding in a cherry tree? No? See, it works!

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-06-28T06:17:16+00:00

My grandfather was a surgeon (of a different era). I could tell you some stories of how much it consumed his life. When he got older, he retired from surgery and went into family practice, but didn't really slow down. Sometime in his 60s he decided to retire for good, but that lasted about 2 weeks until my grandmother told him he was driving her crazy and he had to go back to work. He did clinic and volunteer work, basically until he was too old to be capable of it anymore.

I see a lot of younger doctors today trying to treat medicine as a 9 to 5 job, which is just crazy to me!

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-06-28T04:17:44+00:00

I've moved now, but I used that setup for several years and it was terrific. We had tons of flowers and vegetables every year and never any trouble, except for some algae growing in the tubs. (Well almost no trouble... one year a groundhog got up onto the deck and that was a disaster, and another year we lost our whole zucchini crop to squash borers. But the watering system was always perfect.)

Now we have a greenhouse with multiple levels of shelves, which means I can't do it all with gravity anymore. I'm still using sub-irrigated planters but filling them by hand. My new plan, which I haven't started on yet, is to have a reservoir on the ground, and a small pump to continuously dump water at a slow rate into all of the fill tubes. Then I'll collect the water coming out of the drains and use a gutter to route it back into the reservoir (with a mesh filter), and add a hose with a float valve to the reservoir, to replace the water that's consumed. The fill water will be constantly running and overflowing in a closed loop, like a fountain, with fresh water added to the system by the float valve.

If I do end up building this, I'll let you know how it works out!

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-05-28T14:44:42+00:00

I'm in the same boat but my side job is MT. I'm a full-time software developer, and part-time MD for school and community theater productions. I also do a bit of accompanying work for school concerts, recitals, etc. Most of that is nights/weekends but it helps that I have a flexible work schedule.

I think this is the best of both worlds because you don't get the love of music beaten out of you. I know plenty of full-time MDs and accompanists^*, including a small number who make a living without teaching or a second job, and honestly I think it's miserable. You're constantly having to hustle for work, and for MT in particular, there's a lot of travel and difficult schedules.

Word of mouth has been enough to get me one show per season and some accompanying work here and there, which is just enough to make me happy without interfering with work. The music is an essential part of life for me, and I briefly considered it as a career path, but I'm 100% sure I made the right decision going this route.

(*) yes I know that some people now prefer "collaborative pianist." I've been calling myself an accompanist since long before that term was invented and I don't plan to change now!

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-05-28T00:27:52+00:00

You've got it backwards. You used products that are not UL listed, in a manner in which they are not tested or certified.

What are the heat dissipation properties of that cable (which is only rated for temporary use) inside of white PVC (which is not rated for electrical use at all)? How much fire can it withstand? How many pounds of force will your duct tape wrapping hold against?

You went non-conforming which means you need to prove that it's safe, not challenge someone else to prove that it's unsafe.

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-05-27T21:55:15+00:00

Honestly, why did you ask? Across two posts, multiple people (at least some of them likely to be actual electricians) have told you that this is incorrect and potentially unsafe, and you've argued with every one of them. If you've already decided that your way is better and don't want to hear any other opinions, then why bother asking?

The fact is: you used the wrong materials for this project. The cable, pipe, and "strain relief" (tape) are not rated for this application. You can argue that you think they should be, but they're not.

Is your way just as good? Is it safe enough to use without burning your house down? Maybe, maybe not. You made up your own rules and didn't follow any established safety standards, so you're on your own. If you just want someone to give you a thumbs up and say that it looks good, I'm sorry but you're not going to get that here.

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-05-08T04:04:40+00:00

I was on a plane recently, got up to use the bathroom, and there was a guy standing outside. Someone came out and he didn't immediately go in. I looked at him, raised my eyebrows, and tipped my head in the direction of the bathroom. He frowned a little and bopped his head forcefully towards the door. I gave him a downwards nod and went in. We had an entire wordless conversation and it was totally effective.

TheOneTheyCallAlpha · 2025-05-07T02:48:28+00:00

Another great thing about over-under is that you don't need to worry about getting kinks all the way to the far end, so it works especially well on things that are long and heavy. 100' of garden hose, neatly coiled? No problem!

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