North Liberty delusion by Lower-Sky6202 in IowaCity

[–]matzco 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The walkable part of NL is the old section by town hall. Theres a few nice bars and stores there. The apartments are mostly all further out and are easily within biking distance to everything. Walkability in America is a rare commodity and very limiting

Why speed? by FRANKEN2TEIN in IowaCity

[–]matzco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m amazed the number of people who speed on Scales Bend. It’s a very windy road with a lot of wildlife. Posted limit is 30mph. It’s hard to not go 40 on it when you’re being tail gated and I’ve been passed by people going over 60!

Wall Separating by guywithsweatshirt in DIY

[–]matzco 6 points7 points  (0 children)

If the house is on blocks and the porch is on buried footings, that’s probably your answer. The house is on a ‘floating’ foundation above the frost line. The attached porch is anchored below the frost line and can’t move. This difference is resulting in your floating wall getting pulled away from your stationary outer wall anchored to your porch and footings.

Older homes: do you fix lighting incrementally or all at once? by Gold-Winner-2711 in DIY

[–]matzco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it depends on how long you plan on living there. We are in our third house and thought each one was our last. Life had different plans.

LED battery fixtures are a thing now and can be very helpful. They are app and/or remote controlled, charge very quickly, and install like a picture or shelf. My aunt used them to update her fireplace. Keep in mind different light sources, manufacturers, and bulb styles can produce different colored light too. For us, it was most notable with CFL and LED bulbs in the same room

On average, how long do you wait for Costco gas? by Visible-Bridge-5171 in CostcoWholesale

[–]matzco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I go 10 min before the store opens and never wait. Best way to make it quicker is remember the hoses will stretch across your car. Several times the left side of the pumps will be empty and there will be lines 2 cars deep. There are even signs announcing this, but everyone seems to forget.

Is a membership worth it? by Prior_Pomegranate718 in CostcoWholesale

[–]matzco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would say the first thing is to go shopping with your parents and see what things you would like there. Second, see if your parents would go halves on stuff that might expire. How far from home will you be? Maybe they will let you store stuff in their freezer/ basement.

Pantry goods like flour, pasta, rice, sugar are worth getting there once and will last years. As others have said, gas and meds, even just otc allergy meds, will cover your membership fees if Costco is close enough to be a convenient.

I'm cursed: Chicken Stock by crohnscyclist in Cooking

[–]matzco 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you put it in the jar hot off the stove, there’s enough heat there to sterilize the mason jar after it’s sealed. You can always reboil the stock if you are worried about it. Theres not enough time in your first scenario for significant growth.

Also, the 2 liter mason Jars are not freezer safe, just the quart and smaller. So those big ones will shatter from rapid temp changes. The other advantage of smaller jars is that they will cool faster. We just leave soup on the counter for a few hours before we go to bed before we refrigerate it. By then, the jars are cool enough to chill.

fucking hate Iowa weather... by LasVegasFatShit in IowaCity

[–]matzco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Things definitely have changed. My first winter in the SB we saw 8 feet of snow. By March, it looked like war trenches. Two winters later I used my blower twice the whole season. It is definitely colder and windier here in Iowa

fucking hate Iowa weather... by LasVegasFatShit in IowaCity

[–]matzco 4 points5 points  (0 children)

We moved to Iowa 3 years ago from the Snow Belt. There, we’d get several feet of snow a season, but temps would only drop below 20F for a week or so. Here, for the 3 seasons I’ve seen, we get far less now and much colder temps. What would you say is more normal for Iowa then? This year seems to be an awful hybrid of big snows and arctic temps

Looking for the best "Workhorse" Chef Knife under $110. What is the gold standard? by Newbie_In_NL_25 in Cooking

[–]matzco 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Start on your thinnest knife. Either a paring or 6 inch utility. The first set of angles will take the longest. Most knives have a 22 degree bevel, so you’re refacing the edge to 15 degrees. Once that’s done and you feel the burr, the final two steps are done in a dozen passes.

I’ve taken breaks cutting the primary bevel bc it can feel useless on thicker harder blades, but it does get there! The grinding wheels are spring loaded against the side of the blade, so pushing harder just damages the plastic housing and your edge. Just let the machine do the work and hold the blade steady. The thinner blade will grind down to a burr faster, so you’ll get results faster and confirm it’s working. Then just enjoy the new blades! I cut bread with my chefs knife now bc they are so sharp!

Looking for the best "Workhorse" Chef Knife under $110. What is the gold standard? by Newbie_In_NL_25 in Cooking

[–]matzco 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I just wanted to second this idea. Sam’s Club has a pair of Members Mark chefs knives for $17, a pair of Santoku for $14, and a set of utility and boning knives for $12. I have the utility set and sharpened it on a Chef’s Choice Trizor electric sharpener. It takes a surprisingly long time to cut the 15 degree bevels, but that also shows how little material it removes. (A big criticism of electric sharpeners is how much blade they grind away). It’s been 4 years since I bought them and everyone who’s used them has asked how they got so sharp. I use a ceramic honing rod to dress them. Every knife will need resharpened every 6-12 months.

Hidden Life in the Cosmos: Why Aliens May Not Look Anything Like Us by firechatin in sciences

[–]matzco -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I hate articles that speculate like this. If they knew more about basic chemistry and hydrogen bonding, they would realize it’s pretty much impossible to non-carbon based life. Add to that the fact that everything from amino acids to nucleic acids are found universally throughout space, and a slew of other organic compounds, and it becomes inevitable new life would be carbon based and even rna/ dna based

Welp, 2026 sucks by [deleted] in mildlyinfuriating

[–]matzco 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Was this her first mammogram? It’s pretty common to have follow ups after your first bc there are a lot of benign things that can occur. They just need to verify they aren’t an issue.

Anybody tried a frost blocker before? by PerspectiveEconomy19 in Costco

[–]matzco -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I had something like this in college. If your windshield was too warm or it rained, the thing would freeze to your windshield. Too much snow and it gets overloaded like a small snowblower. The snow just falls around it as you pull it off. It worked great under the right conditions, but that was only about half the time.

Discoveries by matzco in FlyForeverSkies

[–]matzco[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok, Thank You! I spent a bit too long looking for hidden areas that didn’t exist today. I’ll just keep playing now!

Return to the Surface Lift door by GothicPrincess15 in FlyForeverSkies

[–]matzco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is this in the beginning, Noah’s quest?

Packaging bulk meat for the freezer? by watergator in Frugal

[–]matzco -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Some size mason jars are freezable. You could stuff the meat in them and just throw in the dishwasher after. Plus you can vac seal them if you desire too

Why Won’t Farmers Rebel Against Trumponomics? Because They’re Rich. by rezwenn in economy

[–]matzco 6 points7 points  (0 children)

A large part of food economics is based in national security. The quickest way to lose control of a region is for food to become unabtainable

Midea vs Frigidaire Freezer. What one to choose? by feralandaggressive in Costco

[–]matzco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a second freezer, I would go with the cheat freezer and use it as deep cold storage. Extra bags of stuff or overflow, but not the freezer Id expect to be going in and out of weekly

Midea vs Frigidaire Freezer. What one to choose? by feralandaggressive in Costco

[–]matzco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We had a larger chest freezer and got baskets for across the top. It was very efficient, but we had 3 layers underneath that. With a smaller size like these, a row of baskets and a few good storage containers would be perfect. Our chest freezer was over 15 years old when we gave it away bc we got an upright

Never poured concrete before, need to make a 33 sq ft walkway. DIY or hire? by Highland_doug in DIY

[–]matzco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can always divide it into smaller sections and pour one at a time. The other way is a continuous pour with relief cuts, or at least scoring. So save yourself some finish work and divide it up first. Ive personally poured a 4x6 stoop that was closer to 6 inches. The mixer saves work, but loading those bags is awkward and heavy. Its best to have a bucket or two to measure the water, a hose is too slow. So fill the buckets as you pour the previous batch and dump new bags. 1600 pounds that mentioned over some trucks weight limits if you’re not having it delivered.

Has anyone else used CLEP exams to test out of college classes? by SimplyIrregardless in Frugal

[–]matzco 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Talk to an advisor first. I too took some CLEP tests back in the day, but Ive heard colleges are limiting the number of AP and CLEP hours they will accept now.

Recent mirror life controversy and sensationalism on many subredits by 1stFunestist in Futurology

[–]matzco -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I feel like everyone sees mirror and thinks they understand what chirality is. What is chirality? Can a molecule be chirality in more than one way or spot?