domestic, um, something or other

[jazzfish]

uilos: And that's why I make you cook lima beans. Because you are capable of putting them on to cook and leaving them there.
Me: Well, yes. That's what the directions say to do.
uilos: But how do you know they're cooking if you don't poke at them and stir them?
Me: Because the directions SAY they're cooking.
uilos: You don't know that! You have to DO THINGS to make them cook!
Me: No, the DIRECTIONS SAY... how did we end up with duelling OCDs[1]?
uilos: I don't know about you but I don't have OCD.
Me: ... I am totally telling LJ about this.

---

[1] "Neuroses" would have been a better (more accurate, less potentially hurtful) term to have used, here.

Comments

[marcmagus]

I'm glad that sounds like you were both amused by that rather than intensely frustrated.

The "CDO" thing really sets me on edge, because CDO doesn't mean anything and so it's wrong, even if the letters are alphabetized. Y'know, speaking of duelling OCDs.

[N.B. I do not have a diagnosis for OCD. While I find some descriptions of the experiences of people who do resonate very strongly with me, I don't know how similar my experience actually is, and am open to correction.]

[jazzfish]

Yeah, there was definitely muffled (at least) laughter during all parts of that conversation. And I'm with you on the CDO thing, myself.

And, that's actually a very good point. For me it isn't even close to OCD; it's more like an overdeveloped instinct to follow Authority, such as a written recipe, which in some situations can end up looking like OCD from the outside. uilos has her own stuff, which may or not be anything like actual diagnosable OCD. Thank you for pointing that out; I've updated the post accordingly. (Footnote because editing a transcript seems Wrong, to me.)

[(Anonymous)]

I am using CDO as a way to poke fun at one of my very specific OCD tendencies - the need to put things in some kind of quantifiable order, most especially alphabetical. I've had semi-serious 'discussions' about how to shelve books within an author - I prefer alphabetical, but Tucker likes print date.

I don't know if I have what counts as a diagnosis for OCD. My psychiatrist asks about 'my OCD' at every appointment, but it hasn't really come up as a big thing with my psychologist.

[marcmagus]

Yeah, I get the joke and appreciate its humor. It just also makes me uncomfortable whenever I hear it in much the same way that, say, a shelf of books out of order makes me. Thus, I think my reaction compared to other people finding it funny is amusingly similar to the discussion you were having. (Sorry if that was unclear)

I've had that conversation a few times. My preference is more similar to Tucker's, but kind of idiosyncratic. (For one, I strongly feel sort should be right-to-left so you can read "down" the shelf...)

[(Anonymous)]

Ah, gotcha, I think. :)

I also have a stong opinion on how books should be shelved when there are multiple shelves in a row, what order to put series in, where to put anthologies, ect, ect. Part of it is my own personal neuroses, but part of it is that my very first job was shelving books in a public library.

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

I follow and trust recipes. If they say "cover and heat on low for 30 minutes", and doesn't mention "stir occasionally", I'll leave it be until the timer goes off. :)

[jazzfish]

Yeah, that's pretty much my attitude as well.

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

Riss trusts recipes, but doesn't generally bother to follow them; she'd prefer to wing it, and it generally comes out quite well.

However, she lets me do the baking. :D

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

Incidentally, I'm impressed that this journal relay thing you have going on relays LJ-based comments to DW automatically with OpenID.

[jazzfish]

Sadly, it's not quite automatic; I have to tell it "go import comments now." But the OpenIDness is kinda nice.

[marcmagus]

I wonder if DW would be ok with someone setting a daily cronjob to do imports. Hourly? I also wonder if they'd be willing to set up scheduled mirroring as a [paid] feature.

[jazzfish]

I keep thinking "I should read up on the suggestions process and submit 'scheduled import of comments' as a suggestion, since I cannot be the only person who runs into this,'" and not quite having the motivation to do so. Talking about it with someone else seems to have kicked that into gear, though, so, thank you!

[jazzfish]

Suggestion responded to by denise with "yep, it's already in bugzilla but nobody's claimed it yet." So, yay, and someday.

[pictsy.livejournal.com]

I kind of enjoy poking and stirring, but I don't feel like it needs to be done.

[jazzfish]

Me too! That's why I like sauteeing things, it gives me an excuse to keep poking at them.

[rbandrews]

I remember when we were living with Patrick, you were making pasta and actually measured out one cup of pasta rather than just dumping in however much you felt like eating. I thought it was peculiar. :)

About the only thing I won't poke at while it's cooking is rice, since I know that it really messes up rice if you do that. Everything else, since I don't time things either, I feel like I should go poke it occasionally to make sure it's not burning or sticking to the pan. Most of my recipes are along the lines of "combine these ingredients, apply heat until it's food".

Also, it's surprising that the version of this post in the Dreamwidth dimension has more comments than the Livejournal instance.

[jazzfish]

I still do that at times, actually, because I had (and still have, depending on the type of pasta) a very poor grasp of how much dried pasta it takes to make a "meal," especially when pouring it into boiling water.

Now, I'll own up to having formerly measured out the amount of /water/ to boil it in. That, I'll admit, was rather neurotic.

Partly that's because I cheat, by importing comments from LJ to DW. Ideally the comments at DW will always be a superset of the LJ comments. But yeah. I'm happy to see discussion going on over there. (It has a "Preview Comment" button! What's not to love?)

[uilos.livejournal.com]

I'm fine if I can't see the food cooking. So rice in a rice cooker is safe. Things in a crock pot are safe. Things in the oven are safe. But if I'm standing right there next to the food, I can't stop myself from poking at it, even if the directions specifically say not to.

[rbandrews]

Me either, I just usually cook stuff where that's not a problem. I guess I have to refrain from messing with pancakes when I make those. But anything on a grill I'll constantly be moving it around and poking it.

[absolutliz.livejournal.com]

I loled at this. My first thought was "who eat's lima beans?"

[jazzfish]

Bah. :) Just don't overcook them, and add a little bit of pepper or paprika and some butter once they're done, and they're absolutely delicious. They're also one of the few veggies that I actively like, as opposed to tolerating (carrots), disliking (squash), or being unable to eat due to odor (broccoli).

[selki.livejournal.com]

Curry! Curried lima beans! mmm

[jazzfish]

I've not actually tried curry on them but I can see where that would be quite tasty.

[mrstickman.livejournal.com]

Have you tried parsnips? They're, like, the most underrated vegetable out there.

[elvenyukiryu.livejournal.com]

that whole conversation made me remember just why I'm glad to have you guys as friends! *hugness*

[jazzfish]

Aw. :) Because we "argue" about whether to follow directions no matter what or to keep messing with things even if they might not need it? *hug*

[elvenyukiryu.livejournal.com]

the whole conversation made me smile... I think the dueling OCDs and the so telling livejournal part settled it. :)

[playing-tragic.livejournal.com]

Okay, the "dueling OCDs" made me laugh. Until I realized I'm now going to heard banjos all night long.

Next time nuke that damn beans.

[jazzfish]

... but they taste better when you cook them with fire.

(Okay, so I haven't actually tested this theory. I just assume that things cooked with fire taste better than things cooked with micro-waves, because there must be SOME reward for all that extra effort, right?)

[playing-tragic.livejournal.com]

Nope, that's just your inner cave man talking. I think all guys are pyromaniacs to some degree. (though I do agree roasted corn on the cob is fantastical).

I do recall reading that microwaved vegetables retain more nutrients than boiled ones because they cook quicker and use less water. (the nutrients leach out into the water). I think that's also partly why frozen is better than canned (though fresh is best!).