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June 30

Plant milk ratings

What is the highest rated type of plant milk for use as a creamer in coffee, in terms of taste tests? I'm not talking about brands, but rather the type of plant milk, such as soy, almond, oat, pea, etc. I've been wondering about this for a while, but I've never been able to find an answer. The other strange thing is that the answer appears to change over time, as if taste is a function of trends and market preference, maybe even culture? But surely, someone can point to a specific type of plant milk and say, "our overall taste tests show that people prefer this type in coffee over others". But what if this kind of result is the function of specific populations, where taste is determined by other factors? On the other hand, food science is fairly mature at this point, so it should be quite easy to say "x type of plant milk is preferred by most people in coffee", but not just as a function of sales (because people will often buy what is cheaper, not simply what tastes the best). Is this doable? Can one say which is both preferred and tastes the best? Viriditas (talk) 21:54, 30 June 2024 (UTC)

Advances in food science will hardly be of help. One can imagine a study in which a panel of tasters, say regular cappuccino users, are asked to rank various plant milks. But designing such a study is not easy. There are many confounding issues, including personal preferences, cultural preferences, and significant differences in taste (e.g. sweetness) between brands for the same type of milk substitute. I have a hard time imagining a research council funding an independent study on ranking the suitability of milk substitutes for use as a creamer in coffee. If any such studies have been conducted, they were most likely of the type informally conducted by newspapers or magazines.  --Lambiam 07:22, 1 July 2024 (UTC)

Some plant milks are not suitable for all consumers for medical reasons. Giving almond milk to someone with a nut allergy would not be clever! Martin of Sheffield (talk) 08:44, 1 July 2024 (UTC)

My own original research involving witnessing non-vegan friends opting for plantmilk upgrades at coffee shops would indicate that oatmilk is the preferred creamer for this purpose. I acknowledge the sample may not be representative and few coffee shops stock more than three or four species of non-dairy creamers. Folly Mox (talk) 10:51, 1 July 2024 (UTC)

Which plant-based ‘milk’ is best? (BBC). Alansplodge (talk) 16:59, 1 July 2024 (UTC)

That's very helpful. Thank you everyone. Viriditas (talk) 20:17, 1 July 2024 (UTC)

Resolved

Superfluous frappery

Wikipedia tells me milk comes from mammals. HiLo48 (talk) 00:39, 2 July 2024 (UTC) Milk does, but plant milk does not. I'm sure you're aware that this is far from the only case in the English language where modifying a term does not make the referent an instance of the unmodified term. --Trovatore (talk) 01:31, 2 July 2024 (UTC) Can't its supporters come up with an original name? HiLo48 (talk) 01:34, 2 July 2024 (UTC) Edible slurry. DuncanHill (talk) 01:40, 2 July 2024 (UTC) Samuel Johnson called it "milk" in 1755, so this is not exactly a novelty, as much as it may irritate the National Milk Producers sic for the missing apostrophe Federation and similar industry mouthpieces. --Trovatore (talk) 01:44, 2 July 2024 (UTC) "Ignorance, madam, pure ignorance" DuncanHill (talk) 01:46, 2 July 2024 (UTC) Nonsense. --Trovatore (talk) 01:50, 2 July 2024 (UTC) I'm trying to picture a milking machine attached to a plant. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 16:02, 2 July 2024 (UTC) That's an image the dairy industry put in your head. Look, I like milk and cheese. I have no particular animus against dairy farmers. But their behavior as an industry on this particular issue has been utterly loathsome and reprehensible. You shouldn't be doing their work for them. --Trovatore (talk) 16:35, 2 July 2024 (UTC) Which industry controls your head Trovatore? Or are you a special case, better than the rest of us? DuncanHill (talk) 16:51, 2 July 2024 (UTC) Bit of an overreact there? Everything ok? Folly Mox (talk) 11:24, 3 July 2024 (UTC) Not an over-reaction. DuncanHill (talk) 11:42, 3 July 2024 (UTC) No, that is the obvious first thought when you come across the term "plant milk" ( or any of the various types thereof). No matter how long the terms have been used, they are inherently silly. --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 16:55, 2 July 2024 (UTC) Although EO has some info on "milk",[1] I'm not seeing anything about oats. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 19:09, 2 July 2024 (UTC) Meh, doesn't seem silly to me, calling a culinary substitute the same term as the product it substitutes. *Plant mammary gland secretions or *Teat-expressed baby plant nutrient colloid would be significantly sillier. Folly Mox (talk) 11:24, 3 July 2024 (UTC) So you're ok with calling chicory coffee, or margarine butter, or potato bread wheaten bread? DuncanHill (talk) 11:42, 3 July 2024 (UTC) There's plenty of precedent for naming things after other things that are similar in appearance or purpose, whether it be chicory coffee, herbal tea, laverbread, milk of magnesia, filter cake... AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 12:06, 3 July 2024 (UTC) *Apostrophe is not required. It could simply be a federation of producers; the producers don't necessarily possess the federation. 136.54.106.120 (talk) 02:16, 2 July 2024 (UTC) In that case the plural would not be needed; it would be the "National Milk Producer Federation". I know our British friends sometimes use plural noun adjuncts, but it sounds bad on this side of the Pond. --Trovatore (talk) 05:22, 2 July 2024 (UTC) Oh, and by the way the English genitive does not necessarily imply possession. That's the clamorous error, completely indefensible and I hope you won't try, made by the US Bureau of Geographic Names, when they imposed ridiculous forms like *Pikes Peak, luckily ignored by sensible people. --Trovatore (talk) 05:26, 2 July 2024 (UTC) Hmmm... I live in Kings Langley which has survived without any apostrophe since the 14th century when it was Kyngeslangley. Alansplodge (talk) 15:57, 2 July 2024 (UTC) The apostrophe was not introduced into English until the 16th century. Kings Langley is therefore too old to have used it. -- Verbarson  talkedits 17:21, 2 July 2024 (UTC)

July 2

Kenner Police Academy toys possible reissue

Are there future plans to reissue Kenner Police Academy toys, if its possible? 172.13.193.84 (talk) 15:53, 2 July 2024 (UTC)

Is Kenner Products even still in business? And are there plans to produce another Police Academy movie? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:58, 2 July 2024 (UTC)

I'm afraid not. But, there's still a chance that these toys could be reissued from a different toy company, such as Hasbro, even if its possible. 172.13.193.84 (talk) 16:01, 2 July 2024 (UTC)

The article says they were acquired by Hasbro. You could try contacting Hasbro and see if they have any such plans. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:08, 2 July 2024 (UTC)

July 3

Cambridge, Ontario

I'm trying to find historical population levels for this city. Searching has turned up sources like this, which is great, but only goes back ~20 years. The city was formed in 1973 from the amalgamation of nearby towns/villages; I'd like to know what the population was then (or thereabouts) and a decade later, say 1980-1985 or so. In an ideal situation, I'd like to see the historical population trend, but I'll take what I can get. :-) Matt Deres (talk) 13:27, 3 July 2024 (UTC)

Looking back at past Canadian censuses, I find the following figures 101,429 for 1996; 92,772 for 1991; 79,920 for 1986; 76,300 for 1981; 64,794 for 1976 (needed to go through the PDF version of a poorly printed document for that one). All of these can be found online if you look for Canadian census and the year. More recent figures are in a table in the French version of the article, which I'm sure you have looked at already Xuxl (talk) 15:11, 3 July 2024 (UTC)

Thank you kindly. Matt Deres (talk) 20:20, 3 July 2024 (UTC)

Cambridge was formed by the merger of the city of Galt with two significantly smaller places. Historical populations for Galt may be the appropriate thing to use, depending on your purpose. --142.112.148.225 (talk) 21:18, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

July 4

Publish type label on eBay?

I want to sell an appliance at eBay. Are there any concerns - privacy or otherwise - against posting a picture of the type label? ◅ Sebastian Helm 🗨 13:58, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

I can't imagine any reason why you shouldn't do that, unless it reveals any personal information? You're simply supplying information about the appliance. Shantavira|^{feed me} 18:44, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

Unless you take the photo with a device (eg phone) that embeds the GPS coordinates of where you took the photo in the EXIF. Then a savvy user could stalk you ;-) Commander Keane (talk) 06:38, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

@SebastianHelm: Actually ebay already thought of this and strips the exif, so nevermind. Commander Keane (talk) 06:45, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

Cool! Thanks to both of you! ◅ Sebastian Helm 🗨 02:02, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

July 6

Winston Churchill cigars

Can you tell me which was the actual specific cigar that was named in tribute to Winston Churchill? I got a good friend's birthday coming up. Googling turns up with loads of spam. Iloveparrots (talk) 05:48, 6 July 2024 (UTC)

That would be Romeo y Julieta: The flagship vitola of the brand is named in his honour, a long 7" by 47 ring gauge cigar known as the Churchill. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 06:19, 6 July 2024 (UTC)

I am curious about something. I don't smoke cigars, but I just read in the cigar article that a single premium cigar may contain as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes. Is this true, or nonsense? Viriditas (talk) 10:45, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

A single large cigar can contain as much tobacco as a packet of fags, so it wouldn't be surprising. DuncanHill (talk) 11:20, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

Again, I am quite ignorant about cigars, so excuse my lack of knowledge, but how does this enormous dose of nicotine affect the user? What are the signs and symptoms? For example, I've smoked tobacco before in the deep past, and it's reported there is social bonding due to the shared experience with other smokers, quicker thought processes and reflexes (from what I've read), and appetite suppressive effects from a single cigarette. How does this compare with a cigar in terms of effects? There's a guy in my neighborhood who walks five miles (at least) a day at a rapid pace with a huge, lit cigar. He must be enjoying it while he exercises? Viriditas (talk) 11:27, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

What happened?

If you're driving along Santa Teresa Boulevard, you'll see this along the way. It seems to be a memorial in memory of Nicole Sosa, who, if I'm not mistaken, died in a car crash. Who was she, and is there any more information on what happened? TWOrantula^TM (enter the web) 23:18, 6 July 2024 (UTC)

I'm not finding anything in Newspapers.com. If you can find a nearby library, it's possible someone there will know. But these kinds of things will occasionally turn up for people who are otherwise not well known. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:23, 7 July 2024 (UTC)

It looks like there is something about her fatal accident at The Mercury Sun, if anyone has an online subscription. John M Baker (talk) 05:31, 7 July 2024 (UTC)

Headline: "Woman killed when her SUV crashes into building in San Jose". Other than "a woman", the article does not provide further information about the victim.  --Lambiam 07:32, 7 July 2024 (UTC)

My link says she was 30 and the driver and that the accident was Nov. 18, 2022. John M Baker (talk) 13:33, 7 July 2024 (UTC)

There was a gofundme fundraiser for her son [2] and this instagram page[3] has pictures of her. Modocc (talk) 18:10, 7 July 2024 (UTC)

We have an article about this kind of thing, Roadside memorial. Cullen328 (talk) 18:26, 7 July 2024 (UTC)

July 10

Weird but totally reasonable question

How do I get my voice to sound like Hank Hill? Due to something called puberty, I think I can do a pretty good impression of him if I practice it long enough. also because I want more friends TWOrantula^TM (enter the web) 23:50, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

Here is the secret:

If you want to be chill, like the King of the Hill,
Propane.
It's a flammable gas that's hard to surpass,
Propane.
Do the math, light your path, heat your bath,
Propane.

2601:644:8501:AAF0:0:0:0:9BB0 (talk) 10:12, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

Hank Hill has a central Texas accent. It is very similar to the accent you will hear through central Oklahoma, Kansas, West Missouri, and up into Nebraska and Iowa. Speak from your chest, not your diaphram. It is very breathy. Then, lock your jaw. Don't use your jaw to form sounds. Use only your lips and tongue. It will make the words slur together a bit and words like "wash" and "here" become "wush" and "hur". That is the foundation of the "midwest" accent that the Taxes accent is part of. From there, you need to raise your pitch at the correct times by practicing phases he uses. Then, keep focusing on your jaw. Don't close it when saying anything ending with "ing". It is supposed to come out just "in". Don't try to enunciate your T's, they are supposed to sound like D's. If you get flustered, go into a Boomhowser accent, which is more like the Northmern Midwest and just run it all toghether. Of you REALLY want to learn to speak it correctly, just move to Texas. They'll learn you right. 75.136.148.8 (talk) 23:55, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

It may help to practice with headphones and a mike. You'll hear your voice as it sounds to others.  --Lambiam 06:03, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

July 11

Jeep engine swap

Any idea what is involved in an engine swap for a 2000-era Jeep Wrangler? No I'm not going to attempt it myself, I just want to be able to discuss it intelligently with mechanics. Other than a crane to hoist the motors and a lift to get under the car, is it basically within reach of a clueful backyard mechanic? Any idea what would make the old engine lose oil pressure when it gets hot? There is no blue smoke or anything like that, but out-of-town garage says a replacement engine is needed. Sounds drastic. A remanufactured crate engine is around $2500 which is doable (it's a fairly nice car without too many other problems) but I gotta wonder whether some simpler repair is eluding everyone. Car isn't mine, I'm asking for a friend as the saying goes. It runs fine as long as it's not under too much prolonged load. Oil pump has been replaced, which didn't help. Thanks. 2601:644:8501:AAF0:0:0:0:9BB0 (talk) 07:34, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

I think your chances of finding an experienced Jeep mechanic here are rather slim. You may be better off with a specialised forum like jeepgarage.org for example. Others are easliy found with a Google search/ Alansplodge (talk) 13:48, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

Thanks, yeah, might try that. I'm asking more about the complexity of engine swaps in general though. Closest thing to that I've ever been involved with was a GM transmission swap, done in a friend's garage with the car up on ramps, plus multiple people muscling the stuff around. It has to be a lot easier with real shop tools. Maybe I'll check youtube. 2601:644:8501:AAF0:0:0:0:9BB0 (talk) 18:06, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

It is important to note if you are swapping the engine with the exact same model engine. If it isn't exactly the same, there is no telling what problems might arise that will end up costing more. 75.136.148.8 (talk) 23:48, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

July 12

Marie Van Brittan Brown

Apparently Marie Van Brittan Brown was presented with an award from the prestigious "National Scientists Committee". There are hundreds of references to support this. However I can find no trace of this body, except in said references.

• Does this body or did this body exist?
  • If so, what awards did it make? Is there a list I can consult?
  • If not:
    1. Was Marie Van Brittan Brown and/or her husband Albert L. Brown given any other award?
    2. How do we explain this in the article. "Numerous references claim ... but there is no trace of such an organisation.^{[Citation needed]}"

All the best: Rich Farmbrough 17:38, 12 July 2024 (UTC).

Perhaps the awarding organization was the National Safety Council, which issues a variety of awards, such as its "Distinguished Service to Safety Award".^[4] Someone may have made an incorrect guess what the initialism NSC stands for; others copied without checking.  --Lambiam 19:27, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

Thanks. It could be, but I can't find any matches. I had already tried the National Science Board and Foundation. All the best: Rich Farmbrough 13:51, 13 July 2024 (UTC).

The earliest ref I could find in Google News was dated 7 March 2016. It gives "National Science Committee", a variant that was in the Wikipedia article, but not in its reference. It was introduced to the WP article in this edit, in February 2016. It cites this short article, which is undated, archived by archive.is on 29 April 2016 and by archive.org in January 2016 (It carries "© Copyright, African American Registry, 2000 to 2013" which however looks like a generic sitewide copyright notice).

However another source dated 11 April 2016 here, also mentioning the award, provides sources, namely:

1. Raymond B. Webster, African American firsts in science & technology, (1999);
2. The Inventor of the Home Security System: Marie Van Brittan Brown by Think Protection;
3. Patent: US 3482037 A;
4. “Brown Interview with the New York Times,” New York Times, December 6, 1969.

It's not in 1 or 3. I can't yet find 2, and I doubt it will be in 4, since this was a short while after the patent was granted. It's not impossible that this author (Rebecca Hill) also consulted Wikipedia, which by then contained the claim.

All the best: Rich Farmbrough 13:51, 13 July 2024 (UTC).

OK it's the thinkprotection source. Here at archive.org. No visible author or date, but dated March 2016 by the upload directory. Hence postdating the introduction into Wikipedia. All the best: Rich Farmbrough 14:23, 13 July 2024 (UTC).

A Google search for ["National Scientists Committee" -Brown] does not yield any relevant results, so I recommend removing the statement, clearly incorrect in its present form and as far as we could figure out unfixable. The common origin may be this article, published February 16, 2012, on the website of 107 JAMZ, a radio station based in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  --Lambiam 09:19, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

Serious Facebook Issue

I can’t seem to get into a normal Facebook page. Is there anything you can do to help? The page is for Menchies Frozen Yogurt. Thank you. It just shows a generic page saying “this content isn’t available at the moment” even though I know for a fact the page is exactly as it normally is. Could you please have this checked for me? Thank you. Pablothepenguin (talk) 19:39, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

It works fine for me. This is not a problem that anyone here on the ref desk can help you with. Try again later, reboot your PC, try a different browser. And so on. --Viennese Waltz 19:53, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

Do you know anyone who can help? Pablothepenguin (talk) 20:35, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

What's the URL? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:52, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

Facebook page is here Pablothepenguin (talk) 21:16, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

It works for me, and I'm not even a Facebook user. It's a page full of ads about their products. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:35, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

What do I do to get access to this page again? I need to see it again. Pablothepenguin (talk) 21:52, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

Did you try what Viennese Waltz recommended? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:14, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

Tried on my phone. Still doesn’t work. Pablothepenguin (talk) 22:38, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

It works just fine on my Android smartphone. Cullen328 (talk) 22:57, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

I can see why Pablothepenguin likes the page so much. It has a very interesting color palette that's visually appealing to some people. Viriditas (talk) 09:18, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

Is it possible they have blocked you from their page? If you log out of Facebook and can then view the page, that seems the most likely reason why you cannot view it when you are logged in.-Gadfium (talk) 23:02, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

Tried it when logged out and it worked. How do I ask to have my account unblocked? I’m not sure what to do now. I also don’t understand why I am blocked, as I said nothing vulgar or offensive. I also don’t understand why Facebook can’t just tell me about a block. Pablothepenguin (talk) 23:42, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

For the record, my comments on that page were along the lines of “sounds wonderful”, and “we need you in the UK”. Pablothepenguin (talk) 23:43, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

Does Facebook have a "contact us" kind of thing or a place you can go for customer support? It does seem odd they would block your user ID without telling you. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:12, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

The "owner/operator" of any individual Facebook page has the power to block anybody from that page, without any involvement by Facebook employees. I have blocked many people from my Facebook page for what I consider to be good reasons, but have no obligation to explain why. It is my page. Pablothepenguin, based on your edit history, you are highly focused on this frozen yogurt company, and are repeatedly lobbying them to expand the way that you want them to expand, as opposed to their own internal plans. If their employee responsible for their Facebook page has concluded that you are no longer a welcome presence on their Facebook page, then they have the power and the right to block you from it. Cullen328 (talk) 03:00, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Does the UK have a TV show analogous to Shark Tank? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:39, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Dragons' Den (British TV programme) Rojomoke (talk) 05:42, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

How do I reach out to them to get access back? Pablothepenguin (talk) 08:29, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Pablothepenguin, if the person or people running that Facebook page have decided that you are no longer welcome there, then there is literally nothing you can do about it, except to move on and find another hobby. Cullen328 (talk) 08:37, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Or start your own competing company, drive them out of business with your superior products, and get the last laugh. Clarityfiend (talk) 09:00, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Watch out! The last time I gave them that advice, they got very angry! Viriditas (talk) 09:13, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

The problem is I did nothing wrong and they blocked me by mistake. They even liked and replied to some of my comments Pablothepenguin (talk) 09:02, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Personally, I find that hard to believe. Cullen328 has it right – if your history of contact with this company is anything like your history of comments about it on this ref desk, I'm not surprised they've blocked you. --Viennese Waltz 10:59, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

I can assure you it is true. I only ever leave short comments of a couple of words. I deserve a second change and I also believe the blocking system is unfair. I’ll explain why by reminding you of how blocks work on this very Wiki. As you may know, when a person is blocked here, they will receive a message on their talk page, and will have the ability to submit a block request. I don’t agree with the fact that this doesn’t happen on Facebook. At the very least there should be an official way to dispute a block. Pablothepenguin (talk) 11:05, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Whining about it here won't help you. Go and sort it out yourself. Nanonic (talk) 12:23, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

I will. I just need to work out what to do. I’m thinking of writing a polite letter, but am not sure what to say. Pablothepenguin (talk) 13:08, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Just dropping it...both here and there probably would be a healthy step at this point. Based on your edits on this topic here over the past several months, I'm sure you wore out their patience. People running Facebook pages don't have the same policies on assuming good faith and the like. They don't need a reason to block you. I'm starting to think a topic ban for you on discussing this company in any way on Wikipedia might be good for everyone involved. --Onorem (talk) 13:40, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

I will probably take a break from it for a while at least. I still maintain my innocence and I can assure you once again that my comments on Facebook were polite and not offensive. I will admit they were a bit persistent and repetitive, but they definitely weren’t meant to cause upset or annoyance. Hopefully one day my dream will come true and Scotland and the UK will have the frozen yogurt stores I seek. Until then I have to be patient and not a pain in the rear end. I thank you for you understanding. Pablothepenguin (talk) 19:23, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

@Pablothepenguin While Wikipedia offers a fair process for dispute resolution among its own contributors, Wikipedia cannot give legal advice or formally endorse either side in a complaint you have with a media company and/or a yoghurt supplier. Both are companies that have prerogative to act according to their commercial interests as they see them. However there are other internet social media than Facebook where you with others like you may have your collective voices heard and noticed, in this example by over 200,000 viewers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKDD5t8FIY0 Philvoids (talk) 20:15, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Understood Pablothepenguin (talk) 22:06, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

If you want to talk about Menchies on my talk page, you are welcome to do so. I don't mind talking about it. Viriditas (talk) 09:14, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

Pablothepenguin, a life lesson: even polite and inoffensive-in-themselves comments can be annoying if they are uninvited, unwanted and unrelenting; consider Sealioning, for example.

What you have been doing was not intended maliciously or applied knowingly, so was not sealioning, but consider another scenario: what if a sincere believer from a religion or sect you were not interested in continually pestered you, trying to persuade you to join it, day after day? Even if you had no particular dislike of that religion, I imagine you would soon get pretty annoyed.

It's easy to fall into such behaviour. When I was younger, I would sometimes 'lecture' my parents about some obscure-to-them topic I was interested in until they left the room to get away from me. One has to learn how others are responding to one's conversation (spoken or written), even when the signals are not explicit, and modify one's behaviour accordingly. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.6.82.201 (talk) 09:33, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

Thank you for your interesting comments. I do believe that from what I’ve heard from correspondence, Menchies do favour expanding more. I think that they are taking it very slowly, which annoys me, and I suspect that they would like to have UK stores someday. At the moment, they seem to be focusing on making sure they’ve recovered from post-Covid turbulence. I am quite impatient, so that is why I am the way I am. I am also blighted by the fact that I don’t fully understand how the economy works, so I don’t understand why a business would not prioritise growing as quickly as possible at all times. Pablothepenguin (talk) 10:51, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

Expanding costs money. Recouping these costs takes time, and it is always uncertain whether this will eventually be successful. Companies have gone belly up by expanding too rapidly.^[5] Even if it is only the franchisee who goes bankrupt, this reflects badly on the company that granted the franchise.  --Lambiam 20:54, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

If I was a business owner, I'd prioritize both customer satisfaction and the well-being of my employees over growing the business. Pushing for more growth than is comfortably sustainable will tax the employees and may diminish the quality of the service offered.  --Lambiam 21:00, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

I still think Menchies would like to grow at some point. Presumably UK stores would be part of that. I think what Lambian said reinforces my post that maybe post-Covid recovery is still a more important concern. Hopefully over the next few years, the global economy will continue to recover and get to the point where it is at pre-covid levels. So maybe, the idea is to wait for this to be clearer before expansion is given more priority. Of course, nothing is ever certain in the economic world, and unexpected turbulence may appear, but hopefully if I keep my fingers crossed, things will improve in time. Pablothepenguin (talk) 21:22, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

July 13

Meat preferences

Does it make sense for the same individual to prefer steaks rare and chops well-done? Is it logically rational? 102.33.34.102 (talk) 11:41, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Yes Nanonic (talk) 12:22, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

I'm not sure that there's necessarily anything either "logical" or "rational" about food preferences. It's not uncommon to hear people say that they dislike a certain food except in one particular context or dish. ColinFine (talk) 15:46, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Are you talking beef chops or pork chops? The latter have to be fully cooked. If it's the former, it's likely just a matter of taste. Some folks like liver, which is supposed to be good for you. I hate the stuff. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:38, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Beef chops? Pork chops and lamb chops I know, but beef chops? DuncanHill (talk) 20:46, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

It's not hard to find recipes for beef chops.^[6][7][8] Veal chops are fairly common.  --Lambiam 22:23, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

But where would one buy them? I have never seen a beef chop for sale. And believe me, I pay attention to meat. DuncanHill (talk) 22:43, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

It may be called a "rib chop" where you live. It is basically a vertical cut of lean beef from the rib or loin, usually with a piece of bone attached. Your local butcher may understand the term "veal chop", which is a beef chop from a young cow, also called "veal cutlet". Traditional cuts vary greatly between countries; compare Dutch beef cuts with British beef cuts.  --Lambiam 07:40, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

It's called rib of beef in Britain. Veal is now uncommon here after concerns about animal wilfare. Alansplodge (talk) 12:27, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

The images show a rack rather than cutlets.  --Lambiam 13:40, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

We wouldn't cut a rack into chops. We do have veal cutlets, but veal is not seen as beef. DuncanHill (talk) 20:26, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

Does it make sense for someone to prefer their tea hot and their beer cold? I'm not sure that such questions make sense – I don't even know what they mean.  --Lambiam 22:37, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Food preferences are quite interesting, actually. Are they developed through trial and error, habit, or something that happens in the womb? Speaking only for myself, I think they are a combination of all of the above. However, there are other factors to consider. I've met people whose food preferences have been shaped by fear and traumatic incidents, particularly those that occurred during natural disasters when they were forced to eat certain food to survive. Later in life, they avoid those foods because of the trauma. On other social media sites, I've noticed other factors that are due purely to visual presentation. In other words, there's a subset of people who won't eat food that looks a certain way, regardless of how it tastes. I've always found that to be very odd, but apparently it is very common. I think one of the reasons I don't necessarily understand that approach is because I'm personally not so much a visual person when it comes to food. And that's where I stand out as odd. I'm far more interested in the health aspects and nutritional qualities, which I've discovered has little bearing for most people. Viriditas (talk) 09:05, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

In the novel Lucifer's Hammer, a doctor character claims that you shouldn't eat pork (or long pig in the novel) rare because pigs can catch most of the same diseases as people, while cattle don't. Whether this is true or not, I don't know. Clarityfiend (talk) 12:24, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

The book is from 1977, before the outbreak of mad cow disease in the 1980s and 1990s.  --Lambiam 14:02, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

Trichinella spiralis and Taenia solium were why we were taught not to eat underdone pork. DuncanHill (talk) 20:30, 14 July 2024 (UTC)