Is there anything wrong with...

[Abdula]

Not at all shinta. I, like you and Buff and Animeniax despise crab sticks for the same reasons in fact. There are plenty of things I hate on principle, food being the least. Speaking of food though, I hate rice. I really really despise rice, I am so tired of any and all things rice.

Anyway I just want to get at Buff. I was going to write a long detailed post about the issue but I am too tired to do so at the moment. If you are looking for an out in your relationship just get out, don't try to rationalize or justify it. Self improvement is fine and if you think someone else has better qualities that is fine too. Relationships don't work because people are soul mates or some crap. Good relationships work because both parties are committed to and continually work at improving not only their relationships but themselves. Any talk of settling sounds to me like you have some deeper issue with some aspect of your relationship and you should probably discuss that with the person you are with. As you stated the attributes you like about your partner are not unique to her. There will always be someone smarter, or more beautiful, or kinder, or more successful or whatever. The funny thing about relationships is that the qualities that people tend to see in others are mostly subjective and they are not static since people are constantly changing.

I am not with the woman I am with because I completely adore her and happen to think she is an amazing human being and one of the kindest, toughest, and certainly the most conscientious person I have ever met. She has a lot of good qualities and even some bad ones but I am not with her because of some quantitative or qualitative assessment. I am with her for one very very simple reason. I like who I am when I am with her.

[Animeniax]

How do you tire of rice? You're probably eating one of the less flavorful varieties. Try jasmine rice, it tastes great.

[Buffalobiian]

Anyway I just want to get at Buff. I was going to write a long detailed post about the issue but I am too tired to do so at the moment. If you are looking for an out in your relationship just get out, don't try to rationalize or justify it

So you don't think one should think about the why? Just go with the fact that they're no longer happy with the relationship "just because"? It isn't necessarily that they're unhappy with the current situation, but that they predict that they could be happier elsewhere or with someone else.

"I like who I am when I am with her. " - I find that idea interesting and worth thinking about. It doesn't change the core of my question though. So if I flow with your reasoning.. what if someone thinks that they might "like who they would be more when they are with another"? Is that a good enough reason to test/consider/try out?

Do you suggest that we have our own judgement regarding the matter, so if someone is already "considering", it automatically means that their current relation isn't satisfactory?

[Ryllharu]

For the tea drinkers of gotwoot:

Is there anything wrong with not washing out your teapot? Because I don't. It gets preheated with boiling or near boiling water at every use. At most I rinse it with boiling water, and wipe it out when it is dry if there is some mineral scale in there.

Some sources say it is superstition (bad luck to wash it out), some say it adds better flavor to the tea.

[Kraco]

Take some other hard container of similar size and material wise preferably of roughly similar heat conductivity, thoroughly washed, and prepare the exact same tea in both at the same time. Pour into two cups and taste from both a few times. I doubt there's going to be much difference, though, but surely that's the only way to know for yourself.

I'm not a heavy tea drinker and I prefer tea with some extra taste, like fruit, so for me it would make absolutely no difference.

[Buffalobiian]

I've left a cup in my room long enough to grow mould. Couldn't that happen to a teapot?

[Ryllharu]

I've left a cup in my room long enough to grow mould. Couldn't that happen to a teapot?

Mold happens when you don't let it dry out, or you have something producing a lot of mold spores nearby, like the dirt in many types of houseplant pots.

I always remove the lid on the pot and let it dry. At work I wipe out the mug I use after each cup with a napkin or whatever. That does get washed out because I also use it for instant soup packets.

[Animeniax]

I guess it depends on what kind of teapot you use. I have a cast iron tea pot with enamel coating, so a quick rinse is all it takes to clean it. If you're pouring boiling water into it with each use, I imagine that kills anything nasty, as least on the surfaces it contacts, plus the steam would sterilize the rest.

[Shadow Skill]

Wow this really got derailed in one day lol.

[enkoujin]

I think it's OK to not wash your teapot because of the aforementioned reasons (sanitation, etc.)

Personally, I like to rinse my ceramic teapot with lukewarm water from time to time when I'm emptying out old tea leaves. It keeps the taste of the tea more pure.

[Animeniax]

It's weird that some will go to great lengths for hygiene and sanitation in some aspects, then forego basic methods of cleanliness in others. Tea gets stale and flavorless if it sits, so there is little additional flavor from making tea in a pot with residual tea from previous brewings. It sounds like classic Asian superstitious nonsense. Better mix in some dried deer penis while you're at it.

[Ryllharu]

I think boiling water is pretty sterilizing. It's not really a question of sanitation.

Tea leaves gets stale if they are exposed to sunlight or get enough oxygen. Tea left in a pot molds.

[Animeniax]

Yes but tea left in a pot stales and loses flavor long before it molds. If the point to reusing a teapot without cleaning it is to add flavor from previous brewings, I think it's probably just a mind trick.

[Buffalobiian]

In cultures that recognise the "rude finger", is there anything wrong with pointing with that finger? Does it count as "giving someone the finger" if you point it wards them, or does the gesture only mean something when the finger is viewed dorsally?

[Animeniax]

My dad does that all the time, and it isn't to be rude or a dick. It feels awkward to me to point with that finger.

It reminds me of the scene in Inglorious Basterds where the nazi knew the British guy was a fake because of how he counted 3 on his fingers. Different cultures use their fingers differently.

[Kraco]

I wouldn't personally make a habit of using the middle finger for pointing at things. Although I have yet to meet anybody so sensitive they would take offense if you were using the finger for some work and thus accidentally giving them the finger. But if you do it all the time, instead of using the index finger like most people, somebody might start to wonder if it isn't intentional.

If the orientation is unconventional, they will just think you are so gangsta you can't hold anything properly, not even a finger.

[Buffalobiian]

I was eating potato chips with my hand, so my thumb and index finger were soiled. I naturally pointed at him while we were in a group conversation talking about something or other, and he asked if I "off-ed him". I asked in what that meant, then denied so. After that I re-enacted the action and saw that I was indeed using the prerequisite finger, but not in a way that I'd associate with being offensive.

I've always thought of the act requiring an erect display of the finger (orientation doesn't really matter so much as long as you're looking dorsally), so it's the first time someone picked me up on pointing at them like that.

[Kraco]

Sounds like an easily offended type if he didn't realise it was only you not wanting to spread salt and spices around from your index finger. But didn't you just answer your own question? If there's no visible reason, it's a risky habit.

[Buffalobiian]

If there's no visible reason, it's a risky habit.

I was wondering what qualifies as the "gesture", particularly the pointing part when you're not even looking face on at the "fist". Japanese don't give a shit about it, for example.

[Ryllharu]

The middle finger only has two appropriate uses. The widely-known derogatory gesture, and pushing one's spectacles back up one's nose (very rarely even mistaken as offensive, even when talking to someone and looking them in the eye).

Why the hell would you point with it unless you're missing an index finger? Point with two fingers sure, but why use just the middle?