Crew with a mental block

[Hasbeen]

I hate running engines unless absolutely necessary. I could go for weeks without starting one, unless I needed to drive the sewing machine for sail repairs. Thus I chose a gas fridge. A 20Lb bottle of gas would drive it for over a month, so with 3 bottles, one for cooking, I could go over 2 months between wanting to find somewhere I could get gas. These are often far apart in the islands.

Gas fridges need to sit upright to work, so I installed mine near the stove for easy gas access, & gimballed to keep it level. By accident I had installed a lovely gimballed table/work bench by the stove. It was so useful I built a heat resistant fiddled top for it.

I had been cruising many years before I met my lady. She joined me on the boat, & quickly became an extremely competent sailor. However there was one minor chore she never mastered, making coffee.

Now I had chosen a top opening fridge, as the most efficient, & with its gimballed top was the best place to make coffee, but you had to remember to get the milk out first. In 6 years, & many thousands of miles, I doubt she got this right more than a couple of dozen times. She had some kind of mental block about that fridge top.

I had to be so careful not to laugh, or even smile, when she was handing me a couple of mugs of coffee to hold, as she got the milk out. Even today, 30+ years later, I would be unwise to mention it.

[denverd0n]

Everybody has their little mental blocks and blind spots. You can be thankful that her's is so minor, and so easily rectified!

[barnakiel]

arggghhhhhh ;-))))

I have very similar 'blocks'. I will always get to the dock gate and only then remember that a card key is required to open it. The card that is so neatly deposited on our nav table. ;-)))))

Getting the milk out up first is nearly like putting your intimate underwear over your pants. We would be less lovable if we were perfect. Or at least this is what I chose to believe in! ;-)

b.

[LoudMusic]

It is our imperfections that make us perfect.

[Fiveslide]

I have a single cup coffee maker. Not a k-cup, I think they create too much non recyclable waste, but one with a metal reusable filter.

Every single person that uses it, at some point, has forgotten to put a cup under it and coffee goes all over the counter until they realize their mistake. I've even done it a few times in the years I've had it. You fill your cup with water, transfer it to the machine, then set the cup on the counter while you add grounds to the filter, then forget entirely about putting the cup under the machine. It doesn't help that we usually aren't very sharp before that first cup in the morning.

[Snore]

Okay I will stick up for the lady.


Maybe she knows real men drink their coffee black.

[Hasbeen]

I never forget to put the cup under the spout Fiveslide, But I do sometimes forget to put the coffee in, & get a nice cup of slightly dark water.


denverd0n we have 4 grand kids together, so I couldn't have found it a particularly bad mental block, just funny

[Diesel Bill]

I make the coffee on the boat and my wife makes the coffee at home. Seems to work out pretty good. Last week I thought I would be helpful at home and put the water in the coffee machine. The little gauge glass looked empty to me so I poured in a carafe full of water and overflowed the machine that was already full of water. I learned a valuable lesson then. Don't help unless you know what your doing

[buzzstar]

Do not mess with success. Maybe a key to the whole thing has been not mentioning it! How about milk that comes in small packages and does not need to be refrigerated? I used to have it on board when my kids lived on cereal in the morning.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by Snore

Okay I will stick up for the lady.


Maybe she knows real men drink their coffee black.

That reminds me of the line a girl says in the movie "Airplane."

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Simple solution: pour the needed amount of milk into the cup or mug, place the milk container back into the frig, then make the coffee and pour coffee into the cup.

That keeps the milk container in the cool space, which is good for milk, and lets the Refrig top be used for a surface on which to prepare the meal, and in most small sailboats that refrig top is needed space.

[LoudMusic]

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

That reminds me of the line a girl says in the movie "Airplane."

------

Simple solution: pour the needed amount of milk into the cup or mug, place the milk container back into the frig, then make the coffee and pour coffee into the cup.

That keeps the milk container in the cool space, and lets the Refit top be used for a surface on which to prepare the meal.

Proceed with caution when adding milk first. The results could be treacherous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCuaWqhVvIc

[hpeer]

We have discovered Latin dried milk (Nido?). INFINITELY superior to the American white water. Maybe get another sugar bowl and put some powder in there. You may want to mix it in some cooler water first, so also keep a bottle of water handy. Will also reduce the load on your fridge as you won't open it as much.

[Sailorbob8599]

I traveled all my working days & drunk a million gallons of black coffee in far flung places; some drinkable, some would better serve as Drive Axle Oil. The worst java I ever drank, was in a shack of a restaurant on a long lonesome mining trail, somewhere in the far north of the Yukon & a hundred miles from anywhere. OMG it was so thick & black, it must have stewed on the back of that old range for a week or more. Result? I couldn't fall asleep for 24 hours after two mugs of that gear lube. There was just no other choice of drink.

Prior to my traveling days, I always added milk & sugar to both my tea or coffee.

Now we all know most folk want their java to taste the same every time &, when I first started traveling, I found my drinks would often taste different depending on what was available as milk or cream - there are so many options. You know, 1%; 2%; Pure Milk; 1/2 & 1/2; Creamo; Real Cream; White Powder; etc. etc. Then you can run into problems when 'they've' run out of a whitener & you have to wait while they find more. Sometimes they forget to return with it or whatever & I will never wait for anything.

I got so ticked off, I decided to dispense with whiteners & go all black. It took a couple of drinks to get used to it, but since then, my coffee always tastes the same & I've never looked back. Occasionally, someone will bring me one with milk or cream added & I find I just can't drink it.

I remember a time long ago when I quit cold turkey & gave up smoking. I also gave up sugar in my drinks. Not because of taste, but because I simply decided to make a change in my life. Sugar was the easy thing to give up, & I don't miss it one bit. Apart from all that, it is so easy to ask for "black coffee please" at the coffee stop.
So, why are you spoiling a good cup of coffee by putting milk in it? Be a man & take it straight . . . just like Rum or Whisky. Aarrrrrrrghhh!

[hellosailor]

From here it seems like the OP has the problem, not his SO.

His first mistake was allowing, even encouraging, a woman to make the coffee.

Compounded by his second mistake, of ruining good coffee with milk. And probably sugar. That's the road to Starbucks, where you can't taste the burnt coffee because they've made it into candy.

Third and biggest mistake, really? Keeping boxed or jarred milk, homogenized and pasteurized no doubt, in the ice box, instead of carrying a proper milk cow onboard and using the fresh stuff.

I'd say she was a very tolerant and kind woman to put up with all that stuff without making a fuss.

[wolfgal]

Over these last few years, I've been simplifying life in all kinds of ways so to (hopefully) become a liveaboard and cruiser (please send me a good wish everyone).

Drinking my coffee black was one of the easiest decisions I've made, the easiest step I've taken toward my goal.

The thing is, I can already hear myself apologizing to my (future) guests on board for having neither creamer or milk. Not so certain there will be any sugar either...