Regional Differences

[Minnesota!]

OK, just catching up. Interesting reading!

When we bowl we usually bowl candlepin, not duck pin.
Some people put "snow tires" on their cars for winter driving. They are studded to grip better in the snow.

I have never heard of either??? We just bowl. No special name attached to it..

And I have never ever seen anyone with snow tires.

Here too, it's just part of your wedding planning, where to put the gift table (AWAY from the door) and who is responsible for getting all the gifts to where ever the gift opening is.

Yep...and always furthest from the door

Property taxes on our first house were $400/year, yes, HUNDRED, not thousand

My mom lives in a smaller town about 2 hours north of the cities. Her yearly property taxes are under $500...

Working hours here (at my company) are 8 - 445. 8 hours actually working and then 45 minutes unpaid for lunch.

NO WONDER we have so many issues getting responses from east coast affiliates! Seriously - how is that you can work part time for full time??

And golfgal is right - most dinners are prepped before hand so only minimal work has to be done at home. Spaghetti sauce in crockpot, so just need to boil noodles and make salad. Taco meat done, just needs reheating, etc.

 

[golfgal]

Well, last night I made my variation on this recipe, and before that, it was this one (which I have jazzed up and I think is much better than Martha's ), and before that it might have been tacos or sloppy joes or fajitas or sauteed marinated pork tenderloin medallions or stir-fried something or hoppin' john or alfredo/spaghetti sauce (you need something for those spaghetti noodles you're boiling, right?)... I just don't do a whole lot of casserole or baked meals, and didn't realize that stovetop cooking was considered atypical by anybody.

I would call this baking . Sure, we brown meat etc. on the stovetop but the "cooking" is done in the oven. Browning hamburger is done on the stovetop but I guess I don't really consider that "cooking" either-it's just browning hamburger. For meals like that people would have thawed hamburger ready to go, takes what, 10-15 minutes to brown and season for tacos. Cut up the tomatoes while you brown the hamburger and you have a meal in 15 minutes-so if you get home at 5:00, meal is on the table by 5:30 .

 

[golfgal]

Just to clarify, my hours are 9-5. I do not get paid for lunch and I get paid for a 35 hour work week. Maybe it's because I work for attorneys, but they are adamant that you MUST take a minimum of 30 minutes for lunch because IT"S THE LAW.

For people paid hourly it is, not salaried employees (exempt vs non-exempt).

 

[snapppyd]

Just to clarify, my hours are 9-5. I do not get paid for lunch and I get paid for a 35 hour work week. Maybe it's because I work for attorneys, but they are adamant that you MUST take a minimum of 30 minutes for lunch because IT"S THE LAW.

That's how it was where I worked for 30 years, then the last two they upped it to a 40 hour week, but said you had to take a lunch hour. I hated that because it made the day so long, I would rather be able to skip lunch.

And just because we had to take lunch did not mean we were "never" at our desks, as a PP said was the case with "east coasters".

 

[punkin]

I would call this baking . Sure, we brown meat etc. on the stovetop but the "cooking" is done in the oven. Browning hamburger is done on the stovetop but I guess I don't really consider that "cooking" either-it's just browning hamburger. For meals like that people would have thawed hamburger ready to go, takes what, 10-15 minutes to brown and season for tacos. Cut up the tomatoes while you brown the hamburger and you have a meal in 15 minutes-so if you get home at 5:00, meal is on the table by 5:30 .

Do you eat anything besides ground beef? I cook on the stove all the time. Granted, most of my weekday meals are fairly easy to make, but even with that, it still takes me at least an hour to put a meal on the table. Besides who gets home at 5? Doesn't anyone have a commute?

 

[tlbwriter]

I would call this baking . Sure, we brown meat etc. on the stovetop but the "cooking" is done in the oven. Browning hamburger is done on the stovetop but I guess I don't really consider that "cooking" either-it's just browning hamburger. For meals like that people would have thawed hamburger ready to go, takes what, 10-15 minutes to brown and season for tacos. Cut up the tomatoes while you brown the hamburger and you have a meal in 15 minutes-so if you get home at 5:00, meal is on the table by 5:30 .

I'm confused. None of the meals I listed involve an oven at all. So how is any of that "baking?"

 

[golfgal]

Do you eat anything besides ground beef? I cook on the stove all the time. Granted, most of my weekday meals are fairly easy to make, but even with that, it still takes me at least an hour to put a meal on the table. Besides who gets home at 5? Doesn't anyone have a commute?

Sure, most commutes here are under 30 minutes. DH is usually home around 5:00 if he drives or 5:30 if he takes the bus (because he gets on the bus later, not that it takes longer). We usually eat around 5:30-6:00. I was a SAHM for most of our marriage so I cooked. It's funny because people in the metro area here complain about "traffic" . Our worst days are better than most cities best days. We never have gridlocks where you sit in traffic not moving or barely moving unless there is a major accident that blocks all the lanes. At worst you might have to slow down to 40 in a 55.

 

[golfgal]

I'm confused. None of the meals I listed involve an oven at all. So how is any of that "baking?"

Well, the link you posted for the chicken starts off "preheat the oven to 400"--to me that is baking in the oven???

 

[tlbwriter]

Well, the link you posted for the chicken starts off "preheat the oven to 400"--to me that is baking in the oven???

Whoops - you're right, I forgot that recipe has an oven step, since I skip that part in my variation of the recipe. But even if you follow the recipe, most of it is done on the stovetop (before and after the oven) so it's nothing you'd be able to do on a time bake setting (which I would never use anyway - does that mean you leave your chicken in the oven all day waiting for the timer to turn it on at the right time?) None of the other recipes require an oven.

 

[design_mom]

Most people I know that have two working parents plan ahead and put something in the crock pot or make it up the night before so they just have to put it in the oven, or they use the time bake setting on their oven and the food is mostly ready when they get home. Dh's office is only about 10 miles away and takes 15 minutes, depending on how you hit the stop lights....

Crockpots don't work very well for us because it has to be in/on for 11+ hours between the time I leave the house in the morning and when I could serve it up. Most crock-pot recipes specify 6-10 hours. It's overcooked mush by the time we get home and can eat it.

My oven doesn't have a timer thing (and don't think I'd want to leave food unrefrigerated in it till cook time anyway). I rarely bake meat because it takes too long. I have a plethora of cookbooks that claim "30 minute meals" or "desperation dinners." My grill pan and my electric skillet are my most used kitchen appliances. Or we do easy stuff like tacos, spaghetti with jarred sauce (or homemade if I've made ahead and frozen it), etc.

What other kinds of straws are there?

There's "straw" like the kind that's used as bedding for animals... but one would think that the context would indicate which type someone is asking for. Ours say "drinking straws" on the box, but if you ask someone in a restaurant or grocery store for a straw, they will know what you mean.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

For people paid hourly it is, not salaried employees (exempt vs non-exempt).

Obviously. There's a huge difference between exempt and non-exempt. Lunch hours/breaks/overtime/salaried/benefits. I was merely speaking of people in my position.

As for never reaching anyone in the east, at least for us, completely untrue. We are required to coordinate lunches/breaks with our co-workers in order to always maintain phone/office coverage.

 

[golfgal]

Whoops - you're right, I forgot that recipe has an oven step, since I skip that part in my variation of the recipe. But even if you follow the recipe, most of it is done on the stovetop (before and after the oven) so it's nothing you'd be able to do on a time bake setting (which I would never use anyway - does that mean you leave your chicken in the oven all day waiting for the timer to turn it on at the right time?) None of the other recipes require an oven.

I don't know, I am a SAHM mostly. I am sure people put frozen chicken in the oven and let it thaw and then bake or something like that. I know people that have timers on crockpots and do something similar. Even with making chicken, etc. it isn't like it takes 3 hours to bake a chicken breast. If you get home at 5:30 even, you can still have dinner on the table in 30 minutes .

 

[mjkacmom]

No, most people I know work from 8-5, they work 8 hours and get an hour unpaid lunch. Most people I know don't actually TAKE a lunch break either, they just eat at their desk--which is why no one wants to work with eastcoasters here, they are never in the the office....
:

Well, I don't know about the eastcoasters you know, but the suits here work LONG days, with a lot of the dads getting home after the kids are in bed. DH runs right to the fridge when he gets home - he doesn't waste his lunch hour eating lunch (he's in sales, so he schedules his day). He hasn't taken a sick day since the kids were babies, and although he gets 6 weeks of vacation, never takes it all.

It's really expensive to live here, especially on one salary, so people put in a lot of hours (DH worked almost 20 years in NYC, is now in the burbs, but there is always a chance he'll have to go back to the city).

 

[snapppyd]

Must be nice to be home by 5:00. My Dh leaves at 6:15 a.m. and doesn't get home til 6:30-7:00 p.m. most nights. We will not eat anything out of a microwave or crockpot. I do almost all my meals on top of the stove.









(and I give cash at weddings )

 

[tlbwriter]

I don't know, I am a SAHM mostly. I am sure people put frozen chicken in the oven and let it thaw and then bake or something like that. I know people that have timers on crockpots and do something similar. Even with making chicken, etc. it isn't like it takes 3 hours to bake a chicken breast. If you get home at 5:30 even, you can still have dinner on the table in 30 minutes .

I wasn't disputing that. I was just confused about the fact that most of the people you know who works apparently do all of their cooking in the oven or crockpot. Seems counterintuitive to me, since stovetop cooking is generally faster. And like a previous poster said, if you don't have a 6 hour workday, you're likely to have a crockpot full of mush when you get home.

 

[allison443]

Well, I don't know about the eastcoasters you know, but the suits here work LONG days, with a lot of the dads getting home after the kids are in bed. DH runs right to the fridge when he gets home - he doesn't waste his lunch hour eating lunch (he's in sales, so he schedules his day). He hasn't taken a sick day since the kids were babies, and although he gets 6 weeks of vacation, never takes it all.

It's really expensive to live here, especially on one salary, so people put in a lot of hours (DH worked almost 20 years in NYC, is now in the burbs, but there is always a chance he'll have to go back to the city).

I am also outside NYC and I agree with you. I don't know any salaried person (not hourly) who takes daily lunch, who works only 40 hours, or takes all of their vacation. My dh gets 6 weeks of vacation also. The most he's ever taken is three.

 

[golfgal]

Well, I don't know about the eastcoasters you know, but the suits here work LONG days, with a lot of the dads getting home after the kids are in bed. DH runs right to the fridge when he gets home - he doesn't waste his lunch hour eating lunch (he's in sales, so he schedules his day). He hasn't taken a sick day since the kids were babies, and although he gets 6 weeks of vacation, never takes it all.

It's really expensive to live here, especially on one salary, so people put in a lot of hours (DH worked almost 20 years in NYC, is now in the burbs, but there is always a chance he'll have to go back to the city).

I am also outside NYC and I agree with you. I don't know any salaried person (not hourly) who takes daily lunch, who works only 40 hours, or takes all of their vacation. My dh gets 6 weeks of vacation also. The most he's ever taken is three.

Apparently you didn't read this thread where all the eastcoasters have said they work 35 hours and get paid for 40???

 

[Conservative Hippie]

I'm a SAHM and I don't cook on the stovetop (or from scratch) every single night. I don't use a crockpot, either. We eat dinner at 5:30-6:30, whenever it's done. Wednesday nights are hard for us, because DH gets home at 5:30 and we have to leave for church by 6:15, so I have started feeding the kids before he gets home, and we eat later after church. It's the only night we don't all sit down together (unless it's Mom's Night Out!).

 

[allison443]

Sure, most commutes here are under 30 minutes. DH is usually home around 5:00 if he drives or 5:30 if he takes the bus (because he gets on the bus later, not that it takes longer). We usually eat around 5:30-6:00. I was a SAHM for most of our marriage so I cooked. It's funny because people in the metro area here complain about "traffic" . Our worst days are better than most cities best days. We never have gridlocks where you sit in traffic not moving or barely moving unless there is a major accident that blocks all the lanes. At worst you might have to slow down to 40 in a 55.

Most salaried/professional people I know don't normally work 8 hours and get to leave at the same time every day. Does your dh just work 8 hours and leave?
My dh works for a company with offices in MN. He is on many late conference calls with them. So some people in MN are working late.

 

[allison443]

Apparently you didn't read this thread where all the eastcoasters have said they work 35 hours and get paid for 40???

Did you read my post? I referred to salaried workers, not hourly. Meaning professionals, or as another poster called them "suits". They get paid the same whether they work 40 or 80 hours a week.