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Buzz Feed
2 hours ago
- General
- Buzz Feed
People Are Sharing The Dumbest People They've Ever Met
A little while back, we shared stories from Reddit's r/StoriesAboutKevin, where people share their best stories about "Kevins," i.e. people who are staggeringly unintelligent, clueless, or incompetent. Well, members of the BuzzFeed Community chimed in with their own stories, so we rounded them up here along with some new ones from the subreddit (we also added the original post's entries at the end for good measure). Enjoy! This will make you feel smart! "Kevin once brought soup for lunch. Not in a container. Not in a thermos. Nope, he brought it in a Ziploc bag. A floppy, sad, cold bag of soup. At lunchtime, he asked where the microwave was. We said it was broken. Kevin went, 'Oh, okay, I'll just heat it up on the stove.' We assumed he'd pour it into a pot like a normal person. We were so wrong. He literally plopped the Ziploc bag directly onto the burner. We noticed the smell of burning plastic before we saw the flames. Kevin stood there poking the bag with a spoon. He said, 'I don't get it. It worked when I did it in the fireplace that one time.' It melted, of course — soup and plastic were everywhere." "I was in the checkout lane at TJ Maxx, and the couple in front of me were looking at last-minute items. The lady said, 'Oooh, Lemon Mint Tea! That sounds delicious.' She then examined the box and howled, 'Made in China?!' The man replied, 'China?! What do the Chinese know about tea?'" "A friend I had in high school burned most of his hair off because he didn't realize that lighting matches and holding them near his head would do that. He wasn't injured, but you'd think he was with the amount of bitching he did about having to shave his head. When asked why he had the matches near his head in the first place, he claimed he was trying to 'hear the fire.'" "I was going to watch Tipping the Velvet with one of my exes, and I was telling her, 'This show is British, it's from the BBC.' She very seriously replied, 'So its gonna have subtitles?'" "I worked with a guy whose teenage son crapped in the cat's litter box to see if anyone would notice. They did, within less than 60 seconds." "My friend, whose actual name IS Kevin, almost got shot by an armed guard at the US Capitol in 2012 because he started walking toward some door and either somehow didn't hear or didn't listen when they started yelling at him to stop. Then the NEXT DAY, he did the EXACT SAME THING when we were walking past the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building." "When I worked at a hair salon, I had more than one Kevin/Kevina who, when scheduling their next appointment IN THE FUTURE, would ask 'Will he/she be running on time?'" "I (29F) work the graveyard shift at a local gas station. One night, a blonde-haired Kevina comes in. She grabs a small pack of Oreos worth about $2.50 and comes up to the counter, trying to pay with a crisp one-dollar bill. She claimed she had read somewhere that one-dollar bills are actually worth four dollars. I told her that wasn't true and that I needed an additional $1.50. She kept insisting that the bill was worth four dollars and that she had enough. Eventually, she relented and scrounged up some change to pay for the Oreos. I know some older dollar bills can be valuable, but this was a brand-new, crisp one-dollar bill. There was no way it was worth more than one dollar. And honestly, even if it somehow was worth four bucks — why would you spend it at a gas station, of all places?" "I once stopped Kevin from microwaving a can of corn. As in, an unopened can." "My husband once wanted to make us scrambled eggs, but we didn't have milk to make them fluffier, so instead he decided that using French vanilla creamer was a good idea. It was as bad as it sounds. Later, upon retelling the story, he somehow convinced himself that I was the one who did it (I grew up in kitchens and worked in restaurants my whole life)." "My Dad (a Kevin) once went to a hotel and decided that he really wanted to know what an elevator shaft looked like. So, he forced open the doors to an elevator while waiting in the hallway, which caused the elevator to jam. Somebody was inside. Dad was asked to leave the hotel. The kicker? The elevator shafts were made of GLASS. So yes, he forced open the doors of the elevator so he could see the shaft when the entire fucking thing was already transparent." "This was many years ago. During a meeting, we needed a copy to be made of something, so 'Kevin' was asked to run down the hall to one of the main copiers. Kevin ambled off, but 10–15 minutes later he still wasn't back and the meeting was almost over so I went to find him. I found him standing around watching someone fix the copier. I asked him why he didn't just use a different copier around the corner. He thought it was more important to call someone to fix it and wait for them! We finally had to let him go. His response? 'Oh that's okay, I'm going to law school this fall anyway.'" "I work for a guy whose 15-year-old stepson is the most Kevin person I've ever met. Now, I've known some dumb teenagers in my time. Hell, I used to be one. But this kid is just on another level. Two examples: 1. He licked a lit match because he thought fire would taste like a Flamin' Hot Cheeto; 2. He once dropped a bowl of cereal and milk, and rather than clean the mess with a towel, he soaked up the spill with his sock. A sock that was still on his foot. He then put on his shoes, went out to catch the bus, and went to school with a soaking wet milk sock. Later that day, he went to the school nurse because he was convinced that his foot was bleeding and soaking through his sock." "I used to work part-time at a phone repair shop, and one day Kevin walked in looking like someone just told him the Earth was flat. He plopped a melted Samsung on the counter and said, 'I think my antivirus didn't work.' I ask what happened. He says he was browsing some shady website, clicked a link, and his phone 'started acting possessed.' Classic malware. I nod and tell him I can probably help if he didn't do anything drastic. Then he goes, 'Yeah, so I microwaved it for, like, 40 seconds to kill the virus. Like how hospitals sanitize stuff.' I just blinked. My coworker choked on her water. This man cooked his phone like a Hot Pocket because he thought heat would kill malware. And the best part? He wanted to claim it under WARRANTY." "A client called our grooming shop for the price of a bath and nails. I asked her what kind of dog it was. She said, 'I don't know what it is now, but when it grows up, it's going to be a black lab.' I was dumbfounded, literally. I asked her how old it was, and she said it was three months, so I'm thinking maybe 20 lbs max, so I told her maybe $20–$25. Swear to God, the lady brings 'Red' in, and he is a POMERANIAN, a POM. I said, sorry, but this is a Pomeranian, and she told me, 'Well, I know it's going to be a black lab because I have papers at home.' I pulled up pictures of labs and Poms on the computer, but I still think she believes it will be a black lab. I'm going home to drink wine." "One of the stupidest people I've ever met was a 26-year-old male who turned up to work for me an hour and a half late the first day. He was brought in by his mum, which I thought was kind of odd for a grown man. I let that slide, but then things just got worse. It was a small roadside cafe/eatery, so I thought I'd ease him into the way of the place with some small duties. I asked him to put new toilet paper in the toilets — a minute or so later, I heard him yelling, 'It won't fit on the toilet roll holder!' I'm like what? That's a pretty simple thing. I tell him to bring it to me so I can show him — he's carrying a roll of paper towels; it's almost three times the length of the toilet paper holder." "My friend told his wife about an article he read about people in Siberia digging up frozen mammoth tusks and selling them. Her: 'That's terrible!' Him: 'Why is it terrible?' Her: 'They'll sell all the frozen ones, and then people will start killing mammoths for their tusks, and pretty soon they'll all be extinct!'" "I used to work in emergency medicine. Obviously, the emergency department sees many people who've had moments of foolishness that have caused them suffering. To err is human. I would not mock such victims of mere mortal frailty. Kevin was special. Kevin arrived by car, bloodied and battered. Kevin had fallen off a ladder. Since coming to get checked out was very sensible, it's not surprising that someone else insisted. Kevin was carefully checked over, his scrapes treated, and his bones imaged. Kevin was sent home. An hour later, Kevin was back, looking rather worse for wear. The staff, concerned, questioned him closely as to what had happened this time. Kevin had fallen off the ladder again. Kevin's friend had insisted that Kevin rest rather than climb the ladder again, so Kevin was determined to prove he was perfectly fine to go up the ladder. Kevin was not fine." "My husband owns a small plumbing business and participates in a job-readiness program with the local high school. This semester, he got a Kevin. One of Kevin's biggest jobs is to answer the phone. On his first day, he was instructed to pick up and say, 'Custom Quality Plumbing, don't forget to ask about our seasonal maintenance deal specials, how can we help you today?' Instead, he answered the business phone, 'Kevin residence, who's calling, please?' When confronted, he explained that he had forgotten the greeting and that this was how his mother had taught him to answer phones." "When I was in high school, some of the jocks decided that Home Economics would be an easy A. One of the jocks was an absolute Kevin. So, the Home Ec class was learning how to use sewing machines. Kevin was sewing merrily away, with his thumb sticking out perpendicular to his left hand, putting it on trajectory toward the needle. Not surprisingly, he ran his thumb through the feed dogs and punctured it several times. He called out to the teacher for help. She came over and asked, 'What did you do?' Kevin replied, 'I did this,' and proceeded to repeat his actions, including going through the feed dogs and getting additional puncture wounds to his thumb." "Sage started dating Kevin about two years before this incident. Things seemed to be going all right between them. She told me he was a bit of a derp and sometimes incredibly oblivious. He couldn't pick up subtle cues, and even suggestions flew over his head with about a mile of airspace between his skull and the suggestion. She initially chalked it up to him being on the autism spectrum, as she has a few other friends who have similar problems picking up cues. So she switched her behavior from 'talking to neurotypical' to 'talking to neurodivergent,' and the bumps smoothed out for a while. Then the talk of taking the relationship seriously came up. Marriage. Becoming a family. And that's when the plane hit the mountain with a cartoonish bang. Kevin said he wanted to DNA test Sage's kids to ensure they were his. The kids were 5 and 3 when Sage and Kevin started dating." "I may have married a Kevin. He initially doesn't strike you as a Kevin, because he had a very successful career working for a government alphabet agency. But once he gets a notion in his head, you cannot remove it with dynamite. If his mother or his teacher, Sister Mary Godzilla, told him something 50+ years ago, then that was Revealed Truth and could not be changed. Sister MG told him men have one less rib than women. It has to be that way because God took Adam's rib to make Eve. I had to show him side-by-side images of male and female skeletons in a medical encyclopedia and make him count the ribs before he believed Sister may have been mistaken." "My husband's ex wondered why planes and helicopters didn't crash into the moon." "Kevin wanted to 'grow his own fruit' because he saw a TikTok about 'living off the land.' Respectable…until he pulled up to our local community garden with a bowl of chopped fruit. No seeds. No whole fruit. Just literal fruit salad. Mangos, bananas, grapes, and a strawberry or two diced, marinated, and probably taken from a hotel breakfast bar. He dug little holes and carefully spooned fruit chunks into the soil. Like he was planting flowers. He even watered them with pineapple juice because 'they'll grow faster if you feed them what they like.' We tried to tell him that's not how fruit works, but he insisted it would 're-form in the dirt' and 'find itself again through nature.' Bro thought fruit had a respawn point. He came back two weeks later, mad nothing sprouted, and blamed the 'vibe of the soil.'" "My sister used to work with a lady who was a total Kevina. One day, she called out from work because she was in the hospital, on IV fluids, from dehydration and heat exhaustion. After returning to work, my sister asked her how she got so dehydrated. Poor Kevina had no idea, although I'm certain they tried hard to explain it to her at the hospital." "In the early '90s, I knew this kid (15) whose mom asked him to vacuum the house while she was at work. Kevin didn't want to — he just wanted to sit in his room, smoke pot, and listen to music — so he hatched a brilliant plan to get out of vacuuming. He knew the vacuum left lines in the carpet when run over it, so, without plugging in the machine, he ran it over the house's carpet so that it would leave the lines. Voila! Kevin got out of his vacuuming chore!" "One night, I got to meet this girl who my friends said was a perfect description of a 'Kevina.' We were eating some fast food (burgers and fries) when she asked, 'I really wonder what fries are made of? Flour?'" Know a Kevin or Kevina, LOL? Let us know in the comments or by using the anonymous form below and you could be featured in a future BuzzFeed post!
Calgary Herald
3 days ago
- Climate
- Calgary Herald
Summer reading: The healing power of 'blue space' infuses Water Borne
Article content We pull into a practically empty parking lot beside the beach, where the sand has been raked into a mesmerizing carpet of Zen. A good sign. Footsteps of weekend visitors expunged, a blank canvas ahead. It's mild — not too hot, not too cold — with almost no wind. Favourable conditions for the 30 miles I'm hoping to paddle today. There's a guy on the water doing some sprint training on his SUP. Another good omen. The skies are very hazy, however, choked with forest-fire smoke that has drifted into the Ottawa Valley from Quebec. I smell charred wood and get an acrid, ashy tang at the top of my throat. Local health authorities have issued air quality warnings. Schools have cancelled outdoor activities. And it's just the start of a wildfire season that will ultimately become the most ruinous ever in Canada, at least for now. Article content Not a good sign. Article content But I'm not bothered by the smoky bouquet as I pump up and load my board. After months of planning, I'm stoked to finally be hitting play. And I know that regardless of the risks ahead (a rather banal list that includes sunburn, sunstroke and broken sunglasses) this is a wholly privileged endeavour. As a white man, I'll blend in more than somebody with Black or Brown skin and likely won't face the type of unwanted attention that could endanger a woman travelling alone. To ensure that my body was ready, I had the time to run, lift weights and, depending on the season, cross-country ski or paddle far too many miles for somebody with a job and a family. Even accounting for the middle-aged, not-listening-to-my-body back/leg/muscle/nerve injury that sent me to the emergency room in an ambulance less than a year ago, I'm in the best shape of my life. The credit card in the Ziploc bag that will serve as my wallet all summer helps too. Article content Article content Article content I've chosen Petrie as my launch point for a few reasons. Article content First, I've paddled the stretch of river from downtown to this park many times, including two training runs with all of my gear not long after the ice had melted. (I walked from my house to a nearby bus stop, rode a few blocks downhill to the Rideau, put in beside a busy bridge, ran a set of rapids and paddled about five miles to the Ottawa, portaged a mile to a rowing club and then paddled another twelve — and then the ungainly bus-train-bus rigamarole home, easily the hardest part, lugging my bags through the after-work transit station bustle.) So there's no need to cover this stretch again. Article content Second, why not prune my total distance wherever possible, within reason? Remember, this is not a man-slam-dunking-on-nature quest. My ground rules for this trip wouldn't satisfy Guinness World Records scrutineers, and I'm fine with covering most but not necessarily all of the route under my own power. Partially because I'm setting up meetings at various stops, and though I would like to surrender wholeheartedly to natural rhythms, normal people have schedules to keep and are not obstacles but central to my journey. Partially to avoid injury. Article content Article content Third, Petrie makes sense because I usually stop paddling here and am always tempted to keep going. To see what's around the next bend. Article content I kiss Lisa and glide away from the beach under an eerie yellow dome, a blurry smudge of sun reflecting on the glassy bluish-brown water. The river is almost a mile wide here, and the lazy late-spring current doesn't provide much of a boost. Settling into a moderate cadence, my thoughts begin to wander. Article content After scooting past one of the ferries that make the short trip back and forth from shore to shore, I'm beside a row of luxurious houses lining the northern, Quebec side. For about two thirds of its length, the Ottawa forms the boundary between two provinces, with residential and recreational properties on long stretches of both shorelines. Contemplating the pair of 'hundred year' floods this region has experienced in the past decade — floods that swamped several thousand homes and caused millions of dollars in damages, floods that are prompting insurance companies to stop issuing policies and lenders to stop offering mortgages — I wonder how much this jurisdictional line matters. And whether these homes (these provinces, for that matter) will even exist by the start of the next century. Article content While providing no insights, my first day of paddling is a reprieve from global-crisis angst, like leaping into a lake on a suffocatingly hot day. Eight hours, 30 easygoing miles. Osprey and eagles overhead, herons and ducks and geese galore, songbirds in the shoreline trees. I swim and stop to eat a sandwich while sitting on my board, legs dangling into the water, cattails tickling my ears, holding the slightly sulfurous aroma in my lungs and feeling the loam begin to accumulate beneath my fingernails. Already, my skin seems to be developing a grungy, glistening film of perspiration, soil and eau de toilette rivière — maybe a catalyst, the moment of inception, when Swamp meets Thing. I say hello, aloud, to a fox and later bid adieu to an otter. Why not talk to animals? I'm already getting a little lonely, and hours go by when I make more eye contact with these locals than with the two-legged kind. Article content Article content I reach a marina campground in a small Quebec town not long after four o'clock. Setting up my site on a grassy field beside the river is simple, and I stroll up to the main street supermarket for a cold beer to savour with the first of far too many dehydrated suppers-in-a-bag. I actually like freeze-dried camp meals. But after a few days, whether pork pad Thai or broccoli and cheddar pasta, they all start to taste the same. Worse, the plentiful gas smells the same. Article content By the time my bowels stop gurgling and the smoke-shrouded crimson sun dips below the hills, I'm ready for bed. Zipped into my tiny, malodourous tent, I'm drifting off to the muted sounds of FM rock radio from the car of somebody fishing on the pier. Then an HVAC unit behind the nearby fromagerie clicks into gear, and I toss and turn until the next fuzzy sunrise. Article content
New York Times
7 days ago
- New York Times
How The New York Times's Frugal Traveler Packs for Any Trip Imaginable
While Glusac often takes a hard-sided spinner carry-on when she's traveling to a single destination, most of the time she prefers a carry-on backpack. 'I like a backpack for trips where I'm moving a lot, like on and off trains or buses. I find it's easier to manage to keep my stuff together safely if it's on my back.' For this purpose, she loves the Patagonia Black Hole Pack 32L, which is simple, ergonomic, and relatively small, so it works best for her frame and height. But sometimes she opts instead for the Cotopaxi Allpa 35L Travel Pack, which is larger and has a clamshell design that makes it easy to keep organized. (It's also our pick for the best small carry-on travel backpack for most people.) This pack is Elaine Glusac's go-to carry-on. She says it's ergonomic, simple, and perfect for her small frame. It has a zippered main compartment, a padded laptop compartment, a breathable back panel, and padding at the shoulders and sternum. This durable bag's clamshell design makes organizing your stuff easy. And its strap design allows you to wear it on your back or carry it in your hand while you're on the move. To save space, she packs her clothes in gallon-size Ziploc freezer bags, which she reuses from trip to trip. 'You can really press all the air out of it, [and it] just saves so much space,' she told me, saying she can fit four T-shirts in a single bag. She also uses a liter-size Ziploc bag for her liquids. (She wondered if this was actually good advice, but she, and you, can rest assured: We tested seven TSA-compliant clear bags, including several from major travel brands, and we were surprised to find that a Ziploc freezer bag performed the best.) This leakproof kitchen staple comes in handy if you need to separate your liquids for airport security. Although it is single-use plastic, it is sturdy enough for multiple uses and meets even the strictest security requirements. Glusac also uses gallon-size Ziploc freezer bags as compression storage bags. $12 from Walmart (100 count) In her carry-on, she also stows bags for use at her destination, including a simple canvas tote and a packable hiking backpack. She likes the REI Co-op Flash 18 Pack because it's especially lightweight (less than 10 ounces), it packs well, and it has chest and waist straps to help distribute the weight (though it's missing a water-bottle pocket). Incidentally, it's one of the bags we highlight as a pack worth considering in our packable daypack guide. This durable, lightweight, water-resistant backpack for day trips easily fits in a carry-on. It has a chest strap and waist straps to distribute weight, but it lacks a water-bottle pocket. While sledding in Switzerland, Glusac used the REI Co-op Flash 18 Pack, a lightweight, packable daypack. Dave Bartusek 'You don't have to reinvent yourself,' Glusac said when I asked her about packing clothes. 'You are yourself wherever you go.' She tries to pack versatile pieces that she can easily mix and match. She also recommends being respectful to local customs: 'Pay attention to what the locals are wearing and maybe try to mirror that,' she suggested. Among her most-worn pieces are the PrAna Stretch Zion Halle Pants, which have a whopping six pockets. 'I just love pockets when you're traveling; there's just so much you're trying to keep track of,' she said. She uses them to stash local currency, receipts, her phone, and even a power bank. The pants also have a side zippered pocket and a hidden zippered pocket for items you want to keep a little extra secure. Beyond that, the pants don't wrinkle, they're lightweight, they're forgiving, and they're comfortable in many different climates, she said. (In fact, she loves them so much, she now owns four pairs.) Glusac's go-to travel pants have six pockets, including a hidden zippered pocket for stashing valuables. They also have a water-resistant coating and UPF 50+ sun protection. The PraNa Stretch Zion Halle Pants, which she donned on this trip, are Glusac's favorite travel pants. Anne Marie Mitchell For tops, she usually packs Tasc's All Day Short Sleeve T-Shirts, which she said are super soft and long-lasting. Plus, she likes that they wick moisture away, don't seem to smell, and dry quickly, so they're great for hiking and other activities. Glusac raved about this simple T-shirt, noting that it's incredibly soft and lasts a long time. Plus, it wicks away moisture, doesn't seem to smell, and dries quickly, so it's great for hiking and other activities. $44 from tasc Performance Glusac always brings a long-sleeved button-up shirt as a lightweight layer that she also uses for sun protection. Although she owns shirts from several brands, she particularly likes the Columbia Women's Silver Ridge Utility Long Sleeve Shirt because it has several pockets. It also packs down small and is made with breathable, moisture-wicking material that has a UPF 50 rating. For a lightweight layer and sun protection, Glusac loves this long-sleeve button-up, which is made from moisture-wicking material, offers UPF 50 protection, and has back vents for breathability. It also has two front pockets, which you can open from the side and top, as well as an interior pocket. For cooler weather, she packs a long-sleeved base layer. She loves Kari Traa's base layers because the shirts are long, partly going over the hips to keep more of the body warm. They're available in different weights, as well as neutral colors and fun designs, which add a little variety to a neutral travel wardrobe; Wirecutter mentions the wool-blended shirts as an option worth considering in our guide to the best thermal underwear. She also frequently travels with a SmartWool Gaiter, which is soft, warm, lightweight, and easy to put on and take off. Kari Traa's base layers — which are available in different weights and colors, including patterns and solids — are Glusac's go-to, in part because they're extra long. This slim-fit style is made from a merino-wool blend that is quick-drying, moisture-wicking, and odor-resistant. The shirts have performed well in our testing but are sold only in women's sizes. And she always travels with a knit beanie, even in the summer. They're great for cooler outings, such as a trip on a ferry. Another staple is a baseball cap from Mammut that has a unique folding brim, which makes it easy to pack or carry around in your day bag. 'It's so vital to have the right shoes, but they also have to be versatile,' said Glusac. 'It's hard to find durability, comfort, and style in one shoe. Ideally they can go day-to-night or trail-to-town.' She hasn't found the perfect pair yet, but she does love her Danner Inquire Chukka boots. She said they worked on her recent London trip, both on the trail and in the city, where they blended in. We also recommend a pair of Danner hiking boots as an option worth considering in our guide to the best hiking boots for the very same reason Glusac likes hers: They're leather boots you can wear around town. Glusac loves these hiking boots, which have a full-grain leather upper, because they work on the trail but are also suitable for wear around town, without looking out of place. Danner says they're lightweight, waterproof, and supportive, with a removable OrthoLite footbed, and Glusac finds them comfortable. Glusac loves these comfortable, durable rain boots, which she says are popular in Alaska. This pair is a former pick that we still like. It's high-quality, it's flexible at the ankle, it offers super-sticky soles, and it has stood the test of time. But we found that tiny rocks and debris got wedged in the treads and required picking out by hand. For wet weather, her go-to is a Legacy boot from Xtratuf. The brand, she says, is extremely popular in Alaska. 'I've seen people in Juneau wear them with suits,' she said. 'They're super waterproof and really comfy.' We agree: Xtratuf's ankle boot is a pick in our guide to the best rain boots due to a rounded toe that makes them 'more comfortable to walk in for extended periods than other boots.' Plus, they outperformed other models in our traction tests. While you may have already figured out that you'll want your sunglasses on a beach vacation, Glusac has discovered some less obvious things that make certain kinds of trips run smoother. For beach adventures, she brings a lightweight wrap, similar to a sarong. It rolls down small, dries out quickly, and, she says, is better than a towel at the beach. 'You can use it for anything,' she told me, like a picnic blanket or as a curtain for a quick 'surfer change' in the parking lot. She also likes to corral her swim gear — which includes a swimsuit and goggles — in an Aloha Small Pouch, which is splash-proof and comes in bright colors and fun patterns. To keep other small accessories organized, she uses small Topo Designs Accessory Bags, which pack flat. For cold-weather trips, she owns layers that she can pack separately or wear together, such as a lightweight puffy jacket (hers is similar to this jacket from New Zealand brand Macpac) and an outer shell for wet conditions. Her shell is from the climbing brand Black Diamond. 'It has all these zippers that you can adjust for the temperature,' she said, 'but it moves really well because it was made by climbers that [are] stretching in a lot of different directions.' Glusac loves this waterproof, lightweight, packable shell. It's designed by a climbing brand, so it stretches well. Plus, it has pit zips for breathability, as well as five pockets. For road trips, Glusac always brings a headlamp. Her model, the Black Diamond Spot, has been Wirecutter's favorite headlamp for over a decade because it's easy to use, reliable, and equipped with a long-lasting battery. Glusac likes it because it's lightweight enough that it doesn't drift down on her forehead when she's using it. She says it comes in handy if she ends up camping or just has to look for something in the trunk when it's dark. The Spot 400 is an easy-to-use, bright-enough headlamp that provides long-lasting battery life and reliable performance, year after year. Glusac uses it for road trips and likes that it's lightweight enough that it doesn't slip down her forehead. Glusac used her Black Diamond headlamp while van camping in Death Valley National Park. Anne Marie Mitchell Glusac starts packing about a week before her trip. 'I'll just put my case out somewhere like a closet … and throw a bunch of stuff in that I think I might want,' she told me. 'From there, I gradually edit and pull things out.' She also keeps a few essentials packed and ready to go, including sunglasses, dental floss, and a contact-lens case. And she has a travel drawer of accessories to choose from, depending on the trip. She simply opens the drawer and asks herself, 'Oh, is this the trip where I need the adapter? Is this the trip where I need the headlamp?' Or, she joked, 'Is this the trip where I need a flask?' But that joke speaks to a truth: Even a great trip can be a challenge. The packing part? That doesn't have to be. This article was edited by Hannah Rimm and Maxine Builder. What I Cover I'm a writer on the discovery team covering travel products, along with related news, fun facts, and tips.
New York Times
7 days ago
- Lifestyle
- New York Times
Packable Beach and Picnic Recipes
CHRISTINE: I'm Christine Cyr Clisset. CAIRA: I'm Caira Blackwell. ROSIE: I'm Rosie Guerin, and you're listening to The Wirecutter Show . CHRISTINE: This episode is called: 'Packable Beach and Picnic Recipes.' ROSIE: Hey there, this is Rosie. Earlier this week, we published an episode all about the gear you might want to consider to help you level up your beach experience. We talked about shades, chairs, coolers, and more. But we didn't talk about one super important thing: food! Everyone has their own ideas for what makes a great beach snack. Some ice-cold fruit from the cooler? A delectable lunch of salads and dips? Or maybe just a bag of chips? Well, no matter your style, our friends over at New York Times Cooking have some ideas of ways to elevate your beach-snacking game. And today, we're bringing you a conversation about just that with Tanya Sichynsky. Tanya is an editor at NYT Cooking who writes the weekly newsletter The Veggie, and she recently wrote a piece for The Times that included a bunch of great recipes for a beach day or picnic. CAIRA: Tanya, welcome to the show. TANYA: Hi, guys. Thanks so much for having me. CHRISTINE: We're glad to have you. ROSIE: Thanks for coming. Well, so obviously anyone can bring anything to a beach, a park, a picnic. We know that. What are your general rules, Tanya, for the kinds of recipes and foods you want to pack for a day at the beach, for a picnic? TANYA: Obviously, this is all incredibly subjective, but if you're asking me — which you are — I'm going to tell you, it's trying to avoid really soggy food. You don't want something that's going to get real wet in a cooler or in a tote bag. So nothing super mayonnaise-y with soft bread, like that … to me, it's ripe for sogging. You want stuff that's really, I'll say packable and stackable. Whether you're working with a cooler or a big tote bag, you want stuff that will kind of Tetris into your vessel of choice and not get crushed. So if you're talking potato chips, you actually shouldn't decant your potato chips into a Ziploc bag if you can help it, because all the air in the bag will protect it. That kind of stuff. I think part of it is 'cooler versus tote bag' will tell me what kind of recipes I want to pack. CHRISTINE: So, like, a tote bag, meaning you're not going to keep it cool. TANYA: Well, I'm so glad you asked. I know that we want to talk about no-cooler recipes, but I will implore anybody, if they plan on being outside for a really long time, a great hack is just a water bottle. Put it in the freezer the night before and put it in the bag, because by the time you get to where you're going, the water will be semi-thawed, mostly thawed. You will have insulated the bag in some way by just packing a bunch of stuff into it, and it will keep some element of your meal cool. So if you're going with a couple people, just throw three frozen water bottles in there, and you'll stay hydrated, and your food will stay semi-cool. CHRISTINE: Oh, I love that tip. And also, if someone's going to freeze a water bottle, remember to leave an inch — TANYA: Always. CHRISTINE: — at the top, right? TANYA: Always. CHRISTINE: That is not filled so that the water can expand in the freezer. TANYA: Yes, it's multi-use in some ways. CHRISTINE: There we go. CAIRA: And just throw it in the trash when you're done. TANYA: And just throw it in the trash. And also, a lot of beaches — ROSIE: Recycle. CAIRA: That's what I meant. ROSIE: What are you, nuts? CAIRA: Just don't throw it in the ocean. That was my point. TANYA: No, there, exactly. We're recycling it. And then, really, for me, it's just, like, 'What am I not going to turn my nose up at if it's been outside for two hours?' We are not — at least, I'm not right now — talking about 'Is it adhering to the FDA standards of not outside for more than 90 minutes?' Look, we've all eaten weird stuff off a picnic table that we know that has been there for more than a few hours, more than the window. But won't you feel a little bit icky about eating? So that kind of brings me to the mayonnaise of it all, which is pretty shelf-stable. I don't worry about it too much, but if I'm doing, say, a chickpea salad or a pasta salad, maybe I will cut the mayonnaise down significantly and use more tahini or something like that, something that is okay at room temperature. It's essentially a nut butter. It's a seed butter. So if you're going to lug a peanut butter and jelly, and you feel cool about that, you probably would feel good about tahini or something like that in a chickpea salad. CHRISTINE: I love that. I never think about swapping tahini for mayonnaise, but I should probably do that more often. TANYA: We have over at New York Times Cooking a lot of salad recipes that are, like, chickpea-based salads that have some sort of configuration of tahini, mayonnaise, yogurt, more or less of each. And, really, it's completely … most of those recipes are really amenable, so you can just modify them to your tastes. If you're not really a mayonnaise person, you can do half-and-half yogurt/tahini, that rules. If you don't like tahini or you're allergic to sesame, mayonnaise/yogurt. If you are vegan, maybe you're using a combination of vegan mayonnaise or tahini. I've made vegan mayonnaise before, it's actually quite easy. CHRISTINE: What is it? Just oil? CAIRA: What is it? Yeah. TANYA: You use aquafaba, which is all the stuff at the bottom of a can of chickpeas. Yeah. So let's say you're making a chickpea salad. You have regular mayonnaise that makes you feel icky. You don't want to use yogurt. You have tahini. And you obviously have the can of chickpeas, because you're putting it in the salad. You drain the aquafaba, which is the liquid at the bottom of the can. And with an immersion blender, which I'm sure there is a Wirecutter pick for. CHRISTINE: Oh, we do have a pick. TANYA: Oh yeah. It's just the juice and the chickpeas, white vinegar, salt, sugar, lemon juice, some dry mustard, and then a really neutral oil, so we used a sunflower oil. And I'm telling you, it was like doing a magic trick when we did it. It immediately emulsifies. It tastes like mayonnaise. CHRISTINE: And it sounds like the ingredients in vegan mayonnaise, at least that recipe, those are pretty shelf-stable. You could take those out for a day without them turning bad. TANYA: Absolutely. CHRISTINE: Right. TANYA: Absolutely. And, again, if you have a little bit of a — I'm holding up a water bottle, for the folks at home — an insurance policy of semi-frozen water bottles, it will be cool enough, even if you did want to use regular mayonnaise, which tons of people will take to the beach, and it's never an issue. CAIRA: I'm a salt-and-vinegar-chips girl for life. Is there a salty snack you like to take to the beach? TANYA: Okay. I'm a sucker for BjornQorn. CHRISTINE: Oh, you're telling me all of the things that my kids want to eat. You all should go out on a picnic together. TANYA: I'm taking the kids to the beach. ROSIE: What is BjornQorn? CAIRA: Yeah, what are those? ROSIE: And why do you like it? TANYA: Okay, BjornQorn is vegan, cheesy popped popcorn. Very, very minimal ingredients. So if you are trying to cut down on super ultra-processed foods, this is a, I think, great alternative to something like a white-cheddar popcorn, Smartfood. So BjornQorn is made with nutritional yeast; nutritional yeast is dried, edible yeast. It usually comes in flakes. So good. I will make, frankly, a version at home of a BjornQorn. We have a recipe also on Cooking that is a vegan cheesy popcorn, same kind of combination of flavors. But, yeah, so BjornQorn. Okay, I always have hot dogs — from the editor of The Veggie. ROSIE: You always have hot dogs. TANYA: From the editor of The Veggie. ROSIE: Can you say more about that? TANYA: Yeah. Hebrew National, all-beef hot dogs, live and die by them. I love a hot dog, and I am taking hot dogs to the beach. CHRISTINE: No. TANYA: Yes. Hear me out. Okay, I did this last summer. So I will split-top a hot dog, so, like, butterfly it. I'll griddle it in my little cast iron skillet or on a griddle-top pan. I'll make two hot dogs a person, and then I will put the hot dogs and the buns in little aluminum foil roll-ups. You don't want to crush them. So I'll put them at the top of the bag with everything. If you will eat a ballpark hot dog some guy has been toting around through the stands of MetLife — ROSIE: I mean, fair. TANYA: — you will eat a beach hot dog. CAIRA: But that's not the same. TANYA: No, it is the same. CAIRA: Because a ballpark hot dog is still hot. What are you eating? A cold hot dog on the beach? TANYA: No, it is a — CAIRA: You warm it up in the sun? TANYA: It is room temperature. Sometimes it's still warm. Here's the kicker, though: Because I brought my frozen water bottle in the bag, I am bringing a topping, and the topping is pico de gallo. CHRISTINE: Oh, this is … you're hitting my heart here. I think this sounds like a delicious beach meal. TANYA: This is the perfect beach meal, and you've got the crunchy, crisp freshness of tomatoes and jalapeños, onions. Maybe you want to throw some scallions in there, definitely cilantro on top of the hot dog. Because you've butterflied the hot dog, it holds the pico de gallo in the hot dog. It's not going to just roll off. ROSIE: She's beauty and she's grace. TANYA: I made us put a recipe for this on New York Times Cooking. It is just a hot dog with pico de gallo, and the two tricks are the butterflying of the hot dog … I also put mayonnaise on the bun when I griddle them, so I will griddle the buns too. So also this helps with … if you're worried about your hot dog getting crushed, the outside might get a little crushed, but the inside, if you grill it on a cast iron skillet or a grill top, the inside of the bun will be a little bit harder, and it will protect the dog. CAIRA: Oh, you protect those dogs. ROSIE: Protect the dog. CAIRA: Well, let's say someone's at the beach all day, and they're packing a lunch, but they don't have a cooler. It might get a little warm in here. So what are some lunch ideas that you'd recommend for that and just generally things that won't go bad in the sun? TANYA: So I'm saying hot dog. I'm also saying Andy Baraghani has this extra-green pasta salad that I am obsessed with. It is my lunch today. It's downstairs, not in the fridge, just sitting at my desk. CHRISTINE: What's in this? TANYA: So you're using some short-cut pasta, whether it's rigatoni or a fusilli, but when I say 'short-cut,' I mean short tubes. You don't want a long noodle here. Snap peas, English peas, are the vegetables that are in here. And then the sauce is really, really easy to make, and it's made mostly of greens, so raw spinach, baby spinach or arugula, or a blend of both. And then basil, similar to how you would make a pesto, this is kind of … the sauce is really kind of like a looser pesto. ROSIE: Tanya, I'm looking at your article on The Times about easy recipes to take outside this summer, and I see something called a ham and jam sandwich. Talk about it. TANYA: Oh, absolutely. Okay, ham and jam sandwich, very straightforward. Similar to a French-style ham and butter sandwich that has been beefed up by the addition of some sort of fruit preserve, which is just a nice combination of flavors. It's really, really simple. If you are going to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or, I don't know, a turkey and cheese sandwich, the ham and jam sandwich is just like its kind of sexy, dignified cousin. It just feels like a fancy thing to eat at the beach, when really it's just, like, ham and cherry jam and some butter and a nice baguette. ROSIE: Let's say people have taken our advice to heart, Kit's advice to heart, and gotten a great cooler. What recipes do you recommend if we're lugging a big old cooler to the beach? TANYA: Yeah, I think this is where you're going crazy with the pasta salads and the dips. Any sort of dairy-based dips, a yogurt-based dip. We've got this great fresh ranch dip from Naz Deravian, which is really just like zhuzhed-up yogurt. So smart, great use of pantry seasonings, fresh chives. Ali Slagle also has a dill-pickled tzatziki, which is really fun. I don't know, I feel like pickles are so summery. ROSIE: We are a big pickle family. TANYA: Yeah, you got to get on the dill-pickled tzatziki train. It's just garlic, Greek yogurt, olive oil, finely chopped dill, and then a ton of grated pickles. CAIRA: So I know we talked about the popcorn, which is always a good, healthy snack, but what are some other things that you love to bring to the beach that won't get soggy or crunched, but is also still healthy? TANYA: Okay. Fruit feels like a cop-out answer, but I love a frozen grape. CAIRA: Oh my God. TANYA: So a Tupperware of frozen grapes, a little Baggie of frozen grapes. I'm popping them in the freezer. If you put a little lime juice, citric acid — CAIRA: Citric acid is my go-to. TANYA: — that is a really great — CHRISTINE: Wait, you guys, stop. What is citric acid, and why are you putting it on your grapes? TANYA: Okay, citric acid is a powder that looks just like granulated sugar, but it is a powder version of the naturally occurring acid that exists in citrus fruits. So it is a fine dusting powder that you could cover grapes with. This is what brings pucker to a Sour Patch Kid. So imagine frozen grapes tossed with a little citric acid, maybe a little bit of sugar. ROSIE: Do you put sugar on yours too? TANYA: Yes. ROSIE: You just do sugar? TANYA: Yeah. Okay. CHRISTINE: Hardcore. TANYA: So that is, like … and, I mean, the grapes are already sweet, so they don't really need any extra sugar. But yeah, toss those in citric acid. By the time you get to the beach, the grapes probably won't be frozen grapes anymore. If you are packing them in a cooler with ice, they might stay frozen. But if you're using them as the cooling element by just tossing them into a tote bag, they'll thaw by then. But they'll still be delicious, and they will hold some of their shape because they'd been frozen for most of the time. But that's a really, really easy, simple, healthy snack. I mean, again, fruit, okay. You didn't bring me on here to tell you to eat fruit, but that's a fun — CAIRA: That's a fruit in a fun way. CHRISTINE: That is delicious. TANYA: That's fruit in a fun way. ROSIE: Tanya Sichynsky, you are a legend. Thank you so much for being on our show. TANYA: This was so fun. ROSIE: This was really fun. TANYA: This ruled. ROSIE: Have fun at the beach, everybody. TANYA: Thanks. ROSIE: If you want to try out any of the recipes Tanya talked about today, you can find them in our show notes, or on the New York Times Cooking website. And if you want more of Tanya's recommendations, you can subscribe to the weekly newsletter The Veggie . That's it for us. Thanks for listening. The Wirecutter Show is executive produced by Rosie Guerin and produced by Abigail Keel. Engineering support from Maddy Masiello and Nick Pitman. Today's episode was mixed by Catherine Anderson. Original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, Elisheba Ittoop, and Diane Wong. Wirecutter's deputy publisher is Cliff Levy. Ben Frumin is Wirecutter's editor-in-chief. CAIRA: I'm Caira Blackwell. CHRISTINE: I'm Christine Cyr Clisset. ROSIE: And I'm Rosie Guerin. Thanks for listening.
Buzz Feed
17-07-2025
- Health
- Buzz Feed
25 Simple Life Hacks People Actually Swear By
There are so many little life tips and tricks that when you finally learn them, you think, "Why didn't anyone tell me this before?" Like SERIOUSLY, how am I in my twentysomethings and only hearing about the cure for the hiccups NOW?!? So when Reddit user Huge-College4381 asked, "What's a life hack that actually works?" I grabbed the nearest pen and began taking notes. Life is about to get a LOT easier for us all. Listen up... "When the weather is terrible, people cancel their appointments at the last minute. So you can call doctors, vets, opticians, and many more, and see if there are any same-day appointments available." "Freeze a wet sponge in a Ziploc bag and use it as an ice pack in your lunchbox. It stays cold for hours, and when it melts, you have a clean sponge to wipe up any spills. Mind = blown." "On some mobile keyboards, you can hold and slide your finger left or right across the spacebar to move the text cursor." "For many subscriptions, if you try to cancel, they'll give you a significantly discounted rate for a few months in an effort to keep your business." "Never leave a room empty-handed. Look around for at least one item that belongs to the place you're going. This often manifests in taking my drinking glass downstairs to the kitchen or my laptop upstairs to my room." "Drop frozen grapes into white wine instead of ice cubes. They chill it without watering it down, and you get a boozy snack later." "A glob of peanut butter will cure the hiccups right away. Around two tablespoons does the trick." "I get restless leg syndrome at night. I once read a scientific journal that tying a tube sock around your foot helps. I can testify; it works like a charm." "After you renew your driving license, immediately create a reminder on your phone calendar for 5 years from then. Saved my ass so many times." "When looking at recipes online, click the 'print' button. This cuts out the unnecessary backstory and random musings before the recipe. You can also save the recipe as a PDF to your computer this way." "Put your phone in a Ziploc bag when cooking or baking. You can follow recipe videos and scroll through ingredients without getting the screen all messy with flour or sauce. Plus, the touch screen still works perfectly through the plastic!" "Electrical tape works in Scotch tape dispensers." "If you can't open things with lids on them, wear rubber gloves." "Set an alarm for an hour before you want to go to sleep. It'll remind you to start getting ready for bed." "Anything I need for the day (keys, wallet, phone), I put on a small end table and move it in front of the door. Since I can't open the door without moving the table, I never forget anything." "I have a hard time taking care of myself, but it's super easy for me to care for others. So I've made 'future me' into a separate person. Example: 'If I do the dishes now, future me doesn't have to deal with it.' It works really well." "Walk. Take walks. Walk instead of driving whenever possible. Walk to clear your head, walk to enjoy it. It will truly improve your health, well-being, and overall quality of life. Just take walks." "Grocery shopping after eating definitely cuts impulse purchases." "If you whisper to a screaming toddler, they'll often quiet down to hear what you have to say. Especially if you sprinkle in some barely audible words like 'ice cream,' 'Bluey,' or 'playground.'" "Immediately make your bed after waking up. It sounds small, but it gives you a sense of accomplishment that sets the tone for the rest of the day." "Drink a glass of water before you eat, then one immediately after. It makes you feel full without extra calories, it keeps you hydrated, and it helps with digestion." "Always carry a book with you. Read it instead of looking at your phone all day." "My mantra is 'if being a dick to yourself worked, you would already have achieved all of your goals.'" "If your phone gets wet, put it in a bag of uncooked rice. Silica gel packets work even better." And finally: "Put lemons in your garbage disposal for a nice scent." In the comments, tell me the best life hacks that you have learned along the way. Or the life hacks that you think are overrated. For me, the best life hack I recently learned about is "voice isolation mode" on your iPhone. Game changer. And make sure you follow BuzzFeed Canada on TikTok and Instagram for more!
