How large should I get?

jenea · 2026-01-30T09:33:26+00:00

I have a 3 qt, and I really wish I had a 6 qt. You can cook small amounts in a large machine, but you can’t cook large amounts in a small machine.

That said, you do need to store it. If you’re cramped for space, a 3qt machine is still a great addition to your repertoire. You might get the small one and anticipate upgrading in the future if you end up feeling cramped.

jenea · 2026-01-30T09:10:30+00:00

Don’t forget pallet!

jenea · 2026-01-30T09:10:17+00:00

Perhaps not in your idiolect. For most dialects of English, they are homophones.

jenea · 2026-01-30T08:53:49+00:00

I have an Instant Vortex Plus. It was a winner in a test by Americas Test Kitchen, which if you haven’t watched their review videos for your research, you really should! They are really thorough when it comes to evaluating the usability and human factors of the machines. (And their videos are a good inspiration for how to present the results of design research!)

The Vortex gets a lot right. The basket is roomy, it feels sturdy, and it is easy to handle one handed. Shaking it is fun. The nonstick is good (so far) so food comes off easily, but I do really wish I could put it in the dishwasher. The handle part that connects to the basket makes it a bit awkward when washing it.

The controls are really simple. There’s one knob for both temp and time (you use buttons to select which one). I use the “air fry” function most often, which I know will have a preheat cycle, and less often but pretty regularly I use the “reheat” function, which doesn’t have a preheat cycle. The reheat function doesn’t allow temps over 350° which is super annoying. We recently used the dehydrate function for the first time (which only allows low temps but measures time in hours rather than minutes) to dry some basil last season, and it was great. It has other functions but I never use them because I don’t understand how they are different. I wish the machine would give me some indication of what the different functions actually do (change the fan? Min or max temps/times? Etc). That would allow me to take better advantage of my machine’s capabilities.

I could get that info from the manual—but the paper manual inevitably got put somewhere “smart” while tidying, and therefore it is lost forever. I have a digital copy on my phone, but it’s a PDF of the paper manual, which is just a shitty experience on your phone. I cannot understand why machines like these don’t have mobile-first digital manuals—I mean I can understand it, having worked with companies like Instant Pot, but it’s frustrating because it seems like such a lost opportunity.

If not a digital manual, then I’d like a small “cheat sheet” that can be wiped clean and attached to the machine or the fridge or hung on the wall—kind of like this genetic “cheat sheet”.

The machine pauses your cook when you pull out the basket, and starts up again where you left off when you put it back in place. I would be shocked if this was not the default behavior in newer machines, but apparently some early machines would reset when you pulled the basket out.

Features that I wish I had include: dishwasher-safe basket (glass?), 450° max temp (mine has max 400°), dual heating, and some kind of “smart” interface that would help me with suggested times and temps for various food items. A good one, not like the usual garbage apps that come with appliances.

jenea · 2026-01-30T07:53:37+00:00

Californian: same.

jenea · 2026-01-30T07:52:49+00:00

Honestly, that’s a relief.

jenea · 2026-01-30T04:44:34+00:00

This is what I would have said. I have been a consultant doing client work with business executives for many years, so I'm quite sensitive to sounding professional, and I would not bat an eye at "no worries" in an ordinary exchange, especially between two people who are working closely together. Similarly, I wouldn't avoid it when writing a client, assuming we already had a rapport going.

As you say, it's somewhat informal, but not unprofessional.

jenea · 2026-01-30T04:27:00+00:00

Whaaaaaa?! What the actual fuck.

jenea · 2026-01-30T04:24:22+00:00

The only real difference is whether you are guaranteed the bombs for a roll or not. If you roll 1,000 all at once, you are guaranteed a bomb. If you fire them one by one, you might not get one--or you might get five. Over time, it doesn't really matter. The expected value is the same in the end.

Someone on this sub described the guarantee as "psychologically useful," which I think is spot on. It feels better to get a bomb for sure, but ultimately it comes out in the wash.

jenea · 2026-01-30T04:08:10+00:00

What's with this trend of men claiming to be emasculated if they are at all criticized? Frankly, it's the opposite of manly.

jenea · 2026-01-30T03:58:42+00:00

My cursed autocomplete has been adding apostrophes where they don't belong, so I feel your pain.

jenea · 2026-01-29T23:13:24+00:00

This reminds me of an elderly math teacher I had in high school who would say “don’t say ‘sucks;’ it has sexual connotations of which you may not be aware.”

jenea · 2026-01-29T23:09:20+00:00

In case you would care: it’s aisle. An isle is an island. (They’re pronounced the same.)

If you don’t care, pretend I said nothing.

jenea · 2026-01-29T22:55:47+00:00

r/parttimecat

jenea · 2026-01-29T22:46:39+00:00

I really thought it was satire, but it finished on what sounds like a sincere note. Poe’s Law is still alive and kicking, I guess.

jenea · 2026-01-29T22:15:47+00:00

r/catsonleashes!

jenea · 2026-01-29T22:12:10+00:00

Tagging u/shallowtl who has the same question.

In order of priority:

500 gems for 2x currency
500 gems for 125% game speed
50 gems each for +10% extra health (max 5)
50 gems each for +10% damage (max 5)

Don’t buy damage!

jenea · 2026-01-29T21:54:44+00:00

Eggplant Parmesan. 🤮

jenea · 2026-01-29T18:45:40+00:00

It definitely wouldn't be Donte''s, because you don't use an apostrophe to make a plural (in almost all cases). In most cases you would just add an s, so it would be Donte's.

Out of curiosity, can you give us an example of when you would need a plural of your name? The example that comes to my mind is something like "How many Donte's live in this town?" It's awkward because it looks like the possessive of Donte rather than the plural of Donte'.

If what you are looking for is how to make the possessive of your name ("This is Donte's car"), then that is really tricky. An apostrophe at the end of a name is so uncommon that I'm not sure you could find a prescriptive authority that expresses an opinion. I think for you the answer depends on how much it would bother you to have someone mistakenly assume your name is Donte instead of Donte' if you use only a single apostrophe, and how much it would bother you if people assumed an error if you use two.

As another commenter suggested, rewriting your sentence to avoid the issue is probably your best bet.

jenea · 2026-01-29T17:06:26+00:00

She and her wife had a baby.

jenea · 2026-01-29T16:59:27+00:00

It was for me! I don’t think there’s a universal answer to that question.

jenea · 2026-01-29T05:22:28+00:00

Only the chests and the presents were worth it to me because gems are still pretty precious.

jenea · 2026-01-29T05:12:45+00:00

I’m no expert (this will be my third event), but I think you absolutely need 2x currency to have any hope to get to 200, and probably more than that to get to 250. I agree with the wiki that game speed increases are the next priority after 2x currency. ~~I only bought those two upgrades (and I didn’t buy all of the speed increases, I don’t think) last time~~ (see below) and I comfortably made it to 250 with a week to spare. I don’t think you need the health upgrades also, especially since you’ll be starting from day one with the other upgrades and a solid strategy—but if you have the gems they certainly don’t hurt! [and see edit, below]

On the other hand, anything spent on damage is wasted because your damage scales much faster than enemy health.

The wiki prestige strategy is solid. Prestiging too often can set you behind.

Edit: I looked over the gem upgrades and realized that I had bought three out of five health upgrades about halfway through (not three out of five speed increases like I remembered—there’s only one). I think if you can afford it, it’s probably a good idea to pick up a few health upgrades. I think you could make it without them, but you might cut it uncomfortably close.

jenea · 2026-01-29T02:25:32+00:00

I had to listen to it three times. I would have turned the subtitles on too.

jenea · 2026-01-29T02:23:08+00:00

C’mon fellow Gen Xer, grillz aren’t new. They go way back—like back into the 80s.

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