Why Do These Exist?

[moosmom]

I think the answer here, Karen is the fact that the "inventor" might not have thought of it first, but they're the ones who got the patent and ran with it (all the way to the bank)!!

[lizbud]

What do they feed your chicken there that the eggs end up so hard to peel? Do you dump them into ice water right after the boiling water to cool 'em down? (We always have ...) I've just never run into that problem ...

I've found the very cold water is the trick. Pour out the boiling water after
and fill the pan with cold water & let it sit for 4-5 mins. Then peel.

The kitchen items never interested me, but the super duper glue or the
straps to move heavy furniture practically by yourself,, those I always
watch with interest.

[Barbara]

Well, then call me (and my husband) a sucker!! We use the salad spinner every day. We have on in the kitchen and one in the camper. I don't like wet lettuce in my salad. The salad shooter I have no excuse for.

The one I can't understand ANYONE buying? A BANANA SLICER!!?? Have you seen this thing? It's flat, the shape of a banana (sort of) with strings across, so you peel the banana, then place this thing over it to make even slices. REALLY?!

I am using the salad spinner as well. I have a good Swiss one that just spins perfectly- and your salad will be nice abd dry and not water down the dressing.
But in many other things I am rather Luddite. I have no microwave as there are plenty of things you can cook in no time. I have no bread cutting machine but a big nice bread knife.

[sparks19]

The foot scrubber. I can see it's purpose especially for elderly people and pregnant women and people with bad backs... but it's the COMMERCIALS that get me.

"scrubbing ou r feet in the shower is so hard... now just run your feet through the scrubber" and they show some imbecile fumbling all over the place trying to wash their feet like REALLY?

so yeah it's not the product so much as the commercials. "is doing *insert mundane activity* too difficult for you... are you only operating on a select number of brain cells? than this product is for you you big idiot" LOL seriously the commercials are almost insulting. is anyone really that stupid?

My personal favorite is the hands free soap dispenser. Now don't get me wrong I actually think this is a great idea. there are lots of times that my hands are covered in gunk and I don't really want to grab onto the soap bottle to squeeze with gunky hands but they advertise it as a germ saver. really? saves you from germs? you touch the top of the soap dispenser and yes there are probably germs there but... you do realize you are about to wash your hands right? lol

[pomtzu]

What do they feed your chicken there that the eggs end up so hard to peel? Do you dump them into ice water right after the boiling water to cool 'em down? (We always have ...) I've just never run into that problem ...

Yup - always let them sit in cold water before I peel - till they get lukewarm, since I find they peel the best at that temp. Another thing I have found, is the older the egg, the better it peels. I use eggs that have been in the fridge for at least a week, rather than ones I just brought home from the store.

[wombat2u2004]

I like the exercise machines the best. They have a new model out every few months.
Have you seen the ad where a big fat man uses the latest ab machine and a week later he looks just like Johnny Depp ???
Yep, I'm ordering one right now, if I do, I get two for the price of one plus a free set of steak knives, all for $99.99 per month plus postage and handling.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Yes, I agree that most of these products are ridiculous. If I do want to try any of them, I always wait until I can buy them from a store. Then I can return them easily when they don't work. I did buy "Mighty Mendit" from Bed,Bath, and Beyond and I love it. It's a special glue that you put on fabric and it's also machine washable. I've used it on a few things that I don't want to sew and so far it's worked out great.

[momcat]

After seeing them on the tube, I got a Yoshi knife at CVS. I love it! Over at Quakerbridge Mall there's a store called "As Seen On TV" where they actually sell all this stuff.

[Freedom]

Over at Quakerbridge Mall there's a store called "As Seen On TV" where they actually sell all this stuff.

Those stores pop up around here for Christmas shopping. They close end of January.

You can also go to the website, rather than the TV ad phone number.

I figure if the item is any good, it will eventually show up in stores.

I always enjoyed Billy Mays Jr.'s commercials, and was sorry he died so young. The other guy - Vince Shlomi - comes off as a snake oil sales man, IMO. I know Billy Mays couldn't stand him, and it wasn't competition, it was style. That and the fact that Mays felt he had to believe in the product, while Vince, well, he will sell anything if they pay him.

I'd never seen or heard of that teabag timer!

[kitten645]

I will also take exception to salad spinners. I think that's a legitimate tool especially if you eat alot of salad. I wash everything very well and even paper toweling wet lettuce doesn't get enough water off and the dressing does get watered down. Especially creamy dressings like blue cheese. I use my salad spinner for fruit as well. I've found justification after looking at what's left in the water as well..dirt, small leaves....a bug Mine is dishwasher safe so no problems there.

[Lady's Human]

Ever try a colander, the spray nozzle on the sink and a few minutes of dry time?

[tokolosh]

Taking a page from Bloom County, the salad shooter and salad spinner..

Wasn't there a special on a 'combination pocket diaper steamer and turnip twaddler' one day? Lovely image.

I don't think of lettuce as a real substance anyway, so the idea of something to spin it is just a double redundancy in my world.

I don't get 'bottled water', in the Western world.

[sparks19]

Salad spinners are nothing new. My mom had one in the 80's. I loved to use that thing to dry the lettuce and spin other various things when i was a kid.

[Lady's Human]

I don't get 'bottled water', in the Western world.

Take two clear glasses.

Take a bottle of tap water from any municipality and pour it into one glass.

Take a bottle of a common bottled water (dasani, poland springs, take your pick, as long as it's not mineral water) and pour it into the other glass.

Put both glasses on a light table.

You'll understand bottled water.

[tokolosh]

Take two clear glasses.

Take a bottle of tap water from any municipality and pour it into one glass.

Take a bottle of a common bottled water (dasani, poland springs, take your pick, as long as it's not mineral water) and pour it into the other glass.

Put both glasses on a light table.

You'll understand bottled water.

I'm pretty hardy about stuff like that For most of the world's population the criterion for drinkable water isn't 'Does it look nice?' but 'Will I die if this gets inside me?' I can understand shipping it to places where the second answer is 'yes', but just can't get right in my mind about the idea of water as a commercial product in the West, with all the environmental and personal-expense overheads that it involves.