32 this morning, black ice on the roads, a light drizzle occasionally.
After some showers in the morning, yesterday was a pleasant day for our drive to pick up some buys from a dealer in a nearby town. We came home to unload, sort and clean it all, and get it sorted into totes for our booths. That took the better part of the afternoon. Then I had items to list on eBay from this haul.
But I did stop long enough to make sloppy joes from ground venison, and also made some cole slaw, something I rarely make even though we love it. I don't know why I put off making it, because with the food processor it's really not difficult at all.
In the process of all this, I decided that there must be some conspiracy against us older people. Why is it that so many things are made more difficult than they need to be? Take opening a jar of silver cleaner, which I needed for this cute little cream pitcher from the old Hotel Statler in Cleveland.
First, just getting a grip on the wide lid wasn't easy with the way my fingers are these days. My left index finger only bends at the largest knuckle and the rest of my fingers don't bend too well either. Then when the lid is off, there's a foil or plastic seal over the contents which must be peeled away--again needing nimble fingers to grip the thin, thin edge provided for that purpose.
Opening the barbecue sauce for the sloppy joes was another problem. Once I got the pop-up top to actually pop up---no small feat--what do you know, there's another plastic seal to be dealt with. I couldn't get the lid off the bottle, so resorted to getting out the ice pick and punching holes in the seal.
I know these seals are for safety purposes, but geez. Add in pill bottles that take body-builder strength to open, printed instructions in print so small that even my most powerful reading glasses won't work and I have to get a magnifying glass, bags of flour or sugar with the seals glued so tightly that the bag almost has to be ripped apart to get it open...this list can go on and on, can't it? Do you run into these issues? And if so, what are your work-arounds?
As a leftie, I constantly run into another issue: utensils and dishes made for the right-handed user. It's not really noticeable but there is often a slight tilt to the pour spouts on pitchers, and ladles will have a little pour spout that is, you guessed it, on the side where a right-hander would pour from. Scissors are a given that they will be tricky for a lefty. Even tape dispensers tear the tape more easily if pulled by the right hand.
Well, I shouldn't complain. I'm still upright and reasonably healthy, I can see and hear and walk. If only my eyes and my hands were not so worn out. Next visit to the doctor, I am definitely going to ask about my hands though, and see if there's anything that might help. I kinda need them!
I agree with you, manufacturers are selling to the young people these days...or have been told by some safety standard to close things up so tight. Us elders should drive our trucks to the capital and honk our horns...just kidding. I do have a fairly large piece of that green plastic drawer liner that I use to get more grip. I always have to get the inner liner open with a knife, once I poke a hole, then I cut out to the edge all around. That leaves a bit of the stuff stuck on the edge, but I don't really care. I have a pair of pliers which open enough to use on some bottles. I opened my wine bottle that way - the cheap kind without a cork. I had to buy a new corkscrew in the last few months...I actually broke the metal part on the last one. Life is ok though...look for the silver lining of all the clouds! Oh, I did get some exercises to help my hand muscles...I think a neurologist looked at them, then sent me downstairs to the occupational therapist. I hope you get some help for yours.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on being a leftie. I write right handed but do so many things left handed which I cannot do right handed. I have some cast iron pans with pouring spouts which are so awkward to pour right handed. Come to think of it I don't have any other utensils which I find difficult to use so maybe I consciously think about that before I buy something. You can get left handed scissors now and many other left handed tool, I remember when we were little my mum wanted to buy these for our family (my brother is a leftie too) and she could not find them anywhere then. Schools here only allowed you learn to write left handed about fifty years ago which seems positively draconian now
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